3. Syaoran
"Be Careful, it's a Clow Card! This is Dark!"
And then she was gone. Had she heard him? He had the horrible feeling she hadn't.
"Dammit!" he cursed aloud, half hoping that someone would hear him and chastise him for using language like that in school. But no one did and considering how small the stage actually was, at least one of the teachers or aides should have heard him in quiet of the dark. But this wasn't normal dark - it was Dark.
He knew it was the Dark. He'd sensed it before SHE had. He'd tried to tell her, to warn her, though god only knew why since she was really only in the way of his destiny...
He needed to get up off the stupid prop bed and capture the damned card. He struggled a moment, reaching into the neck of his dress, then cursed again. In addition to being tricked into the damn dress and wig in the first place (somedays he swore it was like she had powers of her own), he'd allowed Daidouji to convince him he wouldn't need his amulet onstage. His sword was off in the Dark somewhere.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
Did nothing go his way?
He'd gotten to Tomoeda late, only to discover that SHE'd already started collecting the cards. She'd been a rank amateur and yet she'd refused to hand over the cards. Since then he'd watched her grow into the position until he was almost sure that she'd make a formidable opponent if he wasn't careful.
Of course if it came to that, he did have his own magic in addition to the Clow Cards.
Yeah, right. He shuddered as he remembered the look on her face when she'd confronted Firey and then again when she'd used the Firey card against Snow.
As if he hadn't learned the "don't piss off girls" rule early in life?
Maybe she had heard him say it was the Dark card! That was half the battle won, there, right? And maybe the Plushy had told her about the Dark so she'd know what to do next!
He rolled his eyes and shoved his closet-optimism back into the closet.
Yeah, right. And maybe the snow would be warm this year.
But maybe she would be able to handle this. She'd done okay alone with other cards, not knowing anything about them beforehand. And how many had she captured before he'd arrived? She'd be fine.
He waited a few more moments, then impatience won: "Dammit! You're not stupid! Why can't you figure this one out?"
Which really wasn't fair, he admitted as he sat alone in the Dark and brooded. When he'd been given Clow's puzzle that was to prepare him for the capture of Dark, he'd been stumped. And he'd had training for years and was given complete access to Clow's journals as well as any number of magical tomes. SHE still had trouble with basic math and the only magic book she'd opened in her life was the Clow book that started the whole mess.
The darkness flickered. For a moment he could almost make out the outline of a figure standing in front of him. Her. But she'd only just named it, he guessed, since the darkness soon swallowed up again the small pink glimmer of her outline.
Dark was truly the worst card. Not that he understood or liked all of them (and why *did* Clow need a card that could only make flowers?), but Dark he was almost afraid of confronting.
He'd managed to solve the first half of the clue that Clow had left behind. He knew that the only way to capture Dark was to use Light. He knew that. He also knew that while SHE didn't have the Light card, it would be nearby. It had to be because the journals all agreed that Dark was never without Light and Light was always with Dark. One had even suggested that they were meant to be sealed together and he'd wondered at the time if that was even possible. (But with HER it was probably possible. She'd already shown it was possible to use two elemental cards together.)
But the clue to where Light could be found always puzzled him: "Light will hide in the brightest place it can find, and will shine in the Dark where it cannot be seen until it's found."
He grabbed his skirts, and stood, struggling to keep his footing on the not-constructed-for-standing-on prop bed, and pondered the puzzle again. The brightest place - where was the brightest place in the darkness? He tried to think, but the only thing that came to mind was his mother's face the night she'd assured him that her barrier would keep out all the bad things his sisters had convinced he were lurking in the shadows. He shook his head and sighed. He tried again and this time it was HER face that came to mind.
"Dammit." He whined.
"Be Careful, it's a Clow Card! This is Dark!"
And then she was gone. Had she heard him? He had the horrible feeling she hadn't.
"Dammit!" he cursed aloud, half hoping that someone would hear him and chastise him for using language like that in school. But no one did and considering how small the stage actually was, at least one of the teachers or aides should have heard him in quiet of the dark. But this wasn't normal dark - it was Dark.
He knew it was the Dark. He'd sensed it before SHE had. He'd tried to tell her, to warn her, though god only knew why since she was really only in the way of his destiny...
He needed to get up off the stupid prop bed and capture the damned card. He struggled a moment, reaching into the neck of his dress, then cursed again. In addition to being tricked into the damn dress and wig in the first place (somedays he swore it was like she had powers of her own), he'd allowed Daidouji to convince him he wouldn't need his amulet onstage. His sword was off in the Dark somewhere.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
Did nothing go his way?
He'd gotten to Tomoeda late, only to discover that SHE'd already started collecting the cards. She'd been a rank amateur and yet she'd refused to hand over the cards. Since then he'd watched her grow into the position until he was almost sure that she'd make a formidable opponent if he wasn't careful.
Of course if it came to that, he did have his own magic in addition to the Clow Cards.
Yeah, right. He shuddered as he remembered the look on her face when she'd confronted Firey and then again when she'd used the Firey card against Snow.
As if he hadn't learned the "don't piss off girls" rule early in life?
Maybe she had heard him say it was the Dark card! That was half the battle won, there, right? And maybe the Plushy had told her about the Dark so she'd know what to do next!
He rolled his eyes and shoved his closet-optimism back into the closet.
Yeah, right. And maybe the snow would be warm this year.
But maybe she would be able to handle this. She'd done okay alone with other cards, not knowing anything about them beforehand. And how many had she captured before he'd arrived? She'd be fine.
He waited a few more moments, then impatience won: "Dammit! You're not stupid! Why can't you figure this one out?"
Which really wasn't fair, he admitted as he sat alone in the Dark and brooded. When he'd been given Clow's puzzle that was to prepare him for the capture of Dark, he'd been stumped. And he'd had training for years and was given complete access to Clow's journals as well as any number of magical tomes. SHE still had trouble with basic math and the only magic book she'd opened in her life was the Clow book that started the whole mess.
The darkness flickered. For a moment he could almost make out the outline of a figure standing in front of him. Her. But she'd only just named it, he guessed, since the darkness soon swallowed up again the small pink glimmer of her outline.
Dark was truly the worst card. Not that he understood or liked all of them (and why *did* Clow need a card that could only make flowers?), but Dark he was almost afraid of confronting.
He'd managed to solve the first half of the clue that Clow had left behind. He knew that the only way to capture Dark was to use Light. He knew that. He also knew that while SHE didn't have the Light card, it would be nearby. It had to be because the journals all agreed that Dark was never without Light and Light was always with Dark. One had even suggested that they were meant to be sealed together and he'd wondered at the time if that was even possible. (But with HER it was probably possible. She'd already shown it was possible to use two elemental cards together.)
But the clue to where Light could be found always puzzled him: "Light will hide in the brightest place it can find, and will shine in the Dark where it cannot be seen until it's found."
He grabbed his skirts, and stood, struggling to keep his footing on the not-constructed-for-standing-on prop bed, and pondered the puzzle again. The brightest place - where was the brightest place in the darkness? He tried to think, but the only thing that came to mind was his mother's face the night she'd assured him that her barrier would keep out all the bad things his sisters had convinced he were lurking in the shadows. He shook his head and sighed. He tried again and this time it was HER face that came to mind.
"Dammit." He whined.