Sakura Kinomoto walked along the sidewalk toward the library, her footsteps causing the half-dead leaves
that were scattered across the pavement. For the first time in the year, it was just cool enough in upstate
New York to need a jacket but, at the same time, it was warm enough that - after only a few minutes of walking
through quad - Sakura found herself taking off her jacket and slinging over her shoulder.
"The Legend of the Clow." What kind of legend was that? She had pre-read all the sheets she was supposed
to, and it had only led her to the conclusion that Professor Terada was going out of his way to torture her. Then
again, perhaps she deserved it; she and Chiharu, together, HAD been late three days in a row because they had
stopped at the Union to get coffee. Maybe this was payback.
Sighing, she paused in the middle of the sidewalk, hanging her head. "It just figures that I get the
one masochist teacher in the universe," she muttered to herself with a shake of her tresses. "I mean, how could
I POSSIBLY find out anything about a legend from Hong Kong? Some idiot probably came up on it while on opium and
decided it would be a fun way to play with the minds of innocents."
Pink. She blinked at the sudden dot of pink in her vision, and offered forth a hand. The tiny sliver -
a flower petal, it seemed - fell gently into her palm, its touch soft against her skin.
She frowned, her lips pursed. "A cherry blossom?" she breathed, watching as a gust of wind caught it
and pulled it from her grasp. "But... Cherry blossoms only bloom in the spring..."
Green eyes watched the pink sliver dance on air before, shrugging, the young woman started down the
sidewalk toward the library.
========================
"An American Cardcaptor"
A Cardcaptor Sakura Alternate Universe Fanfiction
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler (duncan@avenew.com)
Chapter One: "Special Collections"
========================
The elevator music seemed three times louder than usual as, impatiently, Sakura rode her way from the
first floor of the library toward the sixth, where the special collections were held. Students rarely dared go
up to the top-most floor of the building for anything, let alone books; the library itself was a musty, stuffy
building, and the sixth floor seemed to make the entire bibliophilic experience more horrible than necessary.
Doors opened with a ping and the brunette hopped out of the elevator and onto the floor. At first breath,
she nearly choked, the stuffiness nearly suffocating her. "How in the world can this place be so nasty?" she
muttered to herself with a shake of her head, wandering through the dingy lighting as she headed toward her goal.
"All the drapes and windows are open, and it still feels like it's a hundred miles underground."
"Perfect place for a monster," commented a voice from behind her, a voice deep and chiding. "Seems like
you fit right in here, Sakura."
"Hoe?!" She nearly tripped over herself as she whirled around on her heel, green eyes lowering dangerously
at the young man behind her. "Touya, I should have guessed," she huffed, tossing her pigtails haughtily. "I
suppose you're up here doing some of your obnoxious graduate school work huh?"
Dark eyes rolled as the young man stepped somewhat away from her. For the first time, Sakura realized
that he was holding an enormous stack of think, age-worn books. "I'm here for my part-time job, remember? Not
all of us are smart enough to get our educations funded to the nth-percent." He took the top-most volume off the
stack and shoved it between two other tomes on what seemed to be a random shelf. "Besides, it's easy for a monster
to get a scholarship; everyone feels sorry for her."
Sakura harrumphed and stuck out her tongue. In all the nineteen years since she had been born, her brother
had gone out of his way to pick on her, a habit that failed to halt once he was a third-year graduate student.
Even after so long, he still gave her the nickname of "monster" and constantly teased her about everything,
whether it was her measly height of five-foot-two or her constant insistence to - even as a college sophomore -
wear pigtails in her hair. Still, she knew - or at least, figured - that he loved her; he had gone out of his
way to transfer graduate schools just so keep and eye on her.
"So, what brings you up here, anyway?" questioned Touya with the arch of an eyebrow. "There's not much
for a history major around here; it's all old literature anthologies and stuff."
"Actually, I'm here for special collections." The comment warranted a mighty smirk from her sibling.
"What?" she protested loudly, stomping a foot. Old, immature habits seemed to die harder and harder, these
days. "You make it sound like I can't possibly learn!"
Touya shook his head of dark hair, still smiling. It looked almost as though he was hiding a hilarious
joke. "Oh, it's just that you missed Yuki," he responded with a shrug as he gathered a few more books off the
reshelving cart. "He just left about ten minutes ago to go down to the cadaver lab."
A small blush crossed her face, but it was unduly brief as she pushed her insane spark of jealousy
away. "That's fine," she responded calmly, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I wasn't coming here to see him,
anyway. I was coming here to see the Clow book."
"Clow?" blinked her brother, his brow furrowing as he spoke. "You're studying the Clow?"
"In my stupid Myths and Legends course, yeah," she nodded, a bit confused by her brother's sudden
interest. What would he, busy pursuing his Master's Degree in Education, really care about a historically stupid
book? "I just want to look at it and try to figure out where to start in my paper."
There was a pause as her brother set down his armful of books and dug into his blue jeans pocket, pulling
out a key chain with but a single key. He tossed it toward her, ignoring her cry of "hoe!" as she nearly fell
over in a rather poor attempt to catch it. "It's in case 4B, bottom shelf," he told her with a shrug. "Don't
tell anyone I gave you a key, either, or I'll get fired."
Green eyes blinked, a bit confused by the key. "You mean...it's not just in the normal shelves?" she
asked, as though this was the strangest thing she had ever or would ever hear of. "Why is that?"
"If I knew, I probably wouldn't be allowed to tell, anyway," he admitted as he hefted the stack of books
back into his arms and started down the stacks, passing her. "Just be careful, okay?"
Sakura frowned, staring down at the key. "Okay..."
===
"No, Mr. Kinomoto, she just left," sighed Tomoyo into the phone, her fingers clattering across the
keyboard as she listened intently to the man on the other end. In all her time knowing Sakura - which consisted
solely of the first and now, second year of college - she had come to know only small bits about her friend's
family. She knew that Sakura's older brother was a graduate student who lived off campus, but that was about
it. And, as much as she wanted to ask, she never found a way to edge in a comment without sounding nosy. Even
when Mr. Kinomoto called, a bi-monthly experience, she couldn't bring herself to ask her friend anything. "Yeah,
she's working on school stuff. Something about a...Crow?...book in special collections. Clow? Yeah, that sounds
about right."
She paused to double click on Adobe Photoshop, watching as her background - a photo of Sakura from the
previous year's Halloween Social, dressed as Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Saturn - disappeared and was replaced by the
program's blank canvas. "Yeah, I'll tell her you want her to be careful. Mmm-hmm. Bye, Mr. Kinomoto."
As the dark-haired teen placed the telephone back into its cradle, she couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Be careful?" she repeated, blinking. "What in the world is there to be careful about? It's just an old book..."
===
The lock snapped open with a surprising amount of ease, something that probably should have bothered the
young history major. Unfortunately - or was it fortunately? - she didn't give it a second thought as she reached
into the glass case and slowly, carefully, picked up the Clow book.
"What a simple-looking thing," she muttered absently as she pushed the case's door halfway closed. Her
fingers ran across the cover almost of their own accord, tracing the natural creases in the red-brown leather
before feeling over the metal, embossed design. An animal that looked like some sort of cross between a dog
and a lion stared out across the front, wings on either side of its face, with a sun under its chin. On the right-
most side of the book was a latch much like those on little kid's diary, the keys attached with a little linked
chain.
A shiver ran up Sakura's spine, a shiver so annoying and uncomfortable that she almost dropped the book
on the floor. Regaining her composure, she crossed the room and seated herself at one of the many cubicle-
style desks. As soon as she set down the book, another shiver ran up her spine, this one more intense than
before.
For a moment, she entertained the thoughts of a ghost or demon attempting to take over her soul, and the
thought caused her to first panic and then to laugh. "I am such a big baby!" she chided herself with a small
blush, fidgeting as she sat down in front of the Clow book. "It's just a book, that's all! This Clow Reed guy,
or whoever, just had a sense of humor." Another shiver, a shiver so strong that her teeth chattered, attacked,
and she flinched. "I hope so, at least..."
Time passed as she stared at the lion-dog, her green eyes studying the cover. Nothing out of the ordinary,
she decided inwardly as she reached for the tiny keys. They were so smooth and thin that they felt as though they
were made of cheap plastic, but her feeble attempt to bend them with her fingers failed. They were real metal,
a metal so well-refined that it seemed fake, man-made.
"Talk about weird," she shrugged, raising the first of the two keys just above the lock. A brief sense
of dread washed over her, a sense of dread that begged and pleaded that she not open that book. Still, curiosity
mingled with her determination to beat her professor at his own game won over her own sense of fear, and she
inserted the key into the lock, twisted, and pulled the latch away from the cover.
Nothing. Not a sound, not a motion... Nothing.
"Heh, I WAS just getting all worked up over nothing!" chided the brunette to herself, blushing at her
own blatant stupidity. Her fingers moved to cover, slowly flipping it open. "Next thing you know, I'll be
thinking that my dorm room is haunted and that - "
Light. Light and wind. Sakura screamed and jumped up, shocked to see cards flying from the innards of
the strange book. They flew around her, over her and under her, hitting walls and shelves before disappearing in
a flash of color.
"HEEEEEEELP!!!" she hollered, diving under the desk as the cards flew around her. She clenched shut
her eyes and covered her head. "HEEEEEEELP!!! TOUYA!"
"Sakura!" The door slammed hard against its stopper as Touya rushed in, his arms still full of books. His
footfalls thumped loudly against the carpeting...and then stopped.
....silence....
After a few moments - they could have been seconds, but they seemed more like hours - a green eye peeked
open, only to meet with brown. "HOE!" shrieked the brunette, jumping in surprise. Her head smashed against the
underside of the desk, and she yelped in pain. "Oooooowwwww...."
"You really ARE a monster, Sakura," chided her brother, tossing what appeared to be a stuffed animal
at her feet. She blinked up at him, clambering out from under the desk. "To scream just because a book with a
toy in it scares you..."
His sister frowned, bending down to pick up the so-called "toy." It was a small, orange doll that looked
something like a cross between a teddy bear and a cat, only it had two yellow-white wings sewn to its back.
Dull, empty black eyes peered up at her with the glossy and unblinking stare of plastic.
"Eh, eheheheheheheheheh... I guess I got carried away," she admitted with a blush, rubbing the back of
her neck. "I just..." She glanced at the abandoned Clow book. All it was, she realized, was a block of wood with
a strange slot cut out of it. The slot looked about the size of a tarot card...
Cards! She blinked, suddenly remembering what had happened. Tossing the stuffed animal onto the table
she dove onto her hands and knees, peaking under the desks and shelves. "There were cards in the Clow Book!" she
exclaimed as she crawled about, groping under some of the darker shelving units in search of something - ANYTHING.
"They all started flying about as soon as I opened the cover! Honest!"
Touya seized her by the neck of her sweatshirt and tugged her roughly to her feet, glaring down at her.
"You either need to cut down on the anime or just plain stop trying to play practical jokes on me," he growled,
his face becoming the epitome of strictness as he spoke. "I've had ENOUGH of these games of yours, Sakura. If
anyone else had been around, I would have been fired on the spot."
"...sorry," she muttered, blushing. She watched guiltily as her brother stalked out of the room, slamming
the door behind him as he mumbled something about taking his coffee break. She sighed and collapsed into the
seat she had previously occupied. "Why me?"
"I dunno, but I think you've gone done a good thing!" chimed in a voice, its Southern drawl peppy and
cute. "Then again, I ain't really got any say in this matter, but wakin' me up has gotta be the best thing that's
happened to the Clow in a long time!"
Sakura smiled, her mood a bit pacified. "Thanks!" she chirped, turning her head to glance at the grinning
stuffed animal that was standing on the desk. "I think Touya's ready to ki - HOE?!"
The chair tipped backwards as the brunette tried to get away from the stuffed animal. Her legs flew up
in the air, but she managed to ignore it as she covered her face. "There is NOT a talking little orange thing
sitting there! This is all the result of an overactive imagination and one too many episodes of Sailor Moon!"
"Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" questioned a voice, and a green eye peaked open to see the stuffed animal
floating in midair, the yellow-white wings flapping just the smallest bit. The teen frowned and hopped off
the toppled chair, backing away from it. It followed, blinking black eyes. "The name's Keroberos, and I'm the
Guardian of these here Clow cards!" It fluttered down to the ground and stood before Sakura, stifling a bow.
"If you hadn't gone and waked me up, them there cards mighta escaped and then we'd REALLY be in a heapload of
troubles!" Little eyes slanted shut as the creature grinned. "So, tell me, wheredya put them cards?"
Swallowing hard, the young woman took a deep breath, still staring at the talking toy. "You... You want
the cards?" she asked, blinking.
"Yup!" smiled Keroberos, nodding eagerly at the brunette. "Where are they?"
"Well, uh, there was a breeze..."
"Mmm-hmmm."
"...and a bunch of lights..."
"Yup!"
"...and they all flew away."
"Oh, okay, so they - WHAT?!?!"
In all her nineteen years, Sakura had never seen anything, living or otherwise, move as quickly as that
stuffed toy moved that day. It took to the air and went jetting across the special collections room. "They got
out!" it moaned as it landed atop the desk, peering into the empty hole where the cards had been. "The Clow Cards
are lose in the world! This ain't gonna be pretty!"
Sakura climbed slowly to her feet and crossed the room, coming to stand over the desk. The little creature
had its tiny head buried in its paws as it perched on the edge of Clow book. Still in the slot was a pendant of
sorts that looked somewhat like the shape of a bird's head, and...
"Here's one," she apologized, holding out the one last card that had been in the very bottom of the book.
Keroberos glanced up at her as she offered forth the card. On the front of it was a picture of what appeared to
be a woman in long, flowing clothes, with long hair streaming around her. "I'm sorry that the rest of them got
away like that..."
Sniffling, the little animal accepted the card, staring at it. "Windy..." it sighed, shaking his head.
Then, a smile crossed its face. "If Windy stayed, that means that you're the one I'm supposeda be lookin' for!"
it exclaimed merrily. The card was discarded to the side of the desk as paws reached into the cards' hole and
pulled out the pendant. "I didn't think that it would be comin' from a college girl, but whatever! You're her!"
Green eyes blinked. Once, twice, SEVERAL times. "Huh?" she questioned, not really able to formulate
words as Keroberos took to the air and looped the pendant around her neck. "I'm who?"
"The Cardcaptor!" it announced with a smile, still hovering in midair. "The one who the cards will obey...
Well, once you've gone found them again!"
"FOUND them?" shot the brunette angrily, grabbing the floating plushie around the waist and shaking it
furiously. "It's not MY fault that they got out! If you were the guardian, you probably shouldn't have be - "
"What in the name of God are you doing?" questioned a voice, and Sakura turned quickly on her heel to
see her brother standing in the doorway, eyeing her curiously. Blushing, she stowed a now-struggling Keroberos
behind her back, smiling embarrassedly. "I could have SWORN I heard you talking to that little stuffed thing that
was in that book."
She grinned, waving her empty hand in his direction. "I was just mentally pre-writing my paper," she
lied, green eyes sparkling as truthfully as she could force them to. "I was thinking about discussing why the
Hell Clow Reed would put a stupid little stuffed animal into his - OWW!" She dropped said stuffed toy on the
floor and popped her bleeding finger into her mouth.
Brown eyes lowered slightly in her direction, and she chuckled. "It still has its swig tag," she lied
quickly, ignoring the grunt from the plushie as it hit the floor. "And the swig tag got a hold of me."
Touya rolled his eyes before shaking his head. "Whatever," he grunted, turning around. "Library closes
in ten minutes."
The door shut, and Keroberos immediately popped directly into her vision, causing her to stumble backwards
in surprise. "Who do ya think you are, mouthin' off like that? You HAVE to complete this mission and get them
cards back! Do you KNOW what will happen if ya - "
Closing her hand around the creature's face, Sakura lowered her eyes. "Let's get you and this book of
yours somewhere where we can talk more openly," she growled, stuffing the little orange toy into the book's hole
along with the single "Windy" card. "We'll discuss this 'capturing' thing back in my dorm."
"But, wait, you - "
The slam of the cover muffled the screams of a Clow guardian as Sakura stuffed the book into her jacket,
zippered it, and snuck out of special collections.
===
"Okay, one more time?"
Groaning, Keroberos - or "Kero," as he insisted on being called - slammed his head into the side of the
computer monitor, making the whole thing shake. "I SWEAR, y'all have cotton in your ears!" he hollered at his
captive audience of teens, his Southern drawl so loud that Sakura feared people in the hallway would hear.
Tomoyo waved a hand, trying to pacify the howling guardian. "I just want to make sure I have it all
typed out right," she fibbed, her fingers placed on the keyboard, ready for action. A half-empty notebook file
was open on the screen, with bullet points highlighted along the edge. "After all, if we're going to properly
document all this, I have to be sure I have it right."
"D-document?" blinked her roommate, staring. "Is this anything like why you're always taking digital
pictures of me and stuff?"
Purple eyes arched shut in delight. "Kinda, yeah!"
Sakura sighed and hung her head.
"Alright, I'm gonna say this ONE MORE TIME for y'all," sighed Kero, hopping atop the monitor before
crossing his little arms over his equally minute chest. "My name is Keroberos, and I am the guardian beast of
the Clow. The Clow is a book of cards, and all of them have lotsa different powers." He gestured toward the
pendant around Sakura's neck with a rather idle paw. "THAT is the Key of Clow, and it'll go and turn into the
Staff of Sealin' should you ever need it. And you're gonna need it, 'cause you're the Cardcaptor."
Straightening her reading glasses, the dark-haired one smiled indulgently. "So, then, Sakura has to
run all over the country and world trying to capture these cards?" she asked, her eyes going starry as she
spoke. "This will be WONDERFUL! I can video tape Sakura in all sorts of exotic locations, busily - "
"Not quite, no," cut in the guardian with a wag of his paw. "Ya see, them cards are gonna stick near to
Sakura, seein' as she's the Cardcaptor. They're gonna wanna challenge her, see if she's up to the task of makin'
them her cards."
Fingering the Key of Clow, Sakura frowned slightly. To think that her stupid legend homework was real!
It was almost frightening. "And...what if I'm not up to it?" she asked softly, her green eyes rising to look
into Kero's black beads.
He forced a grin, a grin that said 'Shit, she asked the one question I didn't want to answer.' "Let's
just go and hope that that kinda thing doesn't go and happen, 'kay?" he suggested, cocking his head to one
side. "See, if you CAN'T capture the cards, then - "
Suddenly, the room shook as it had been hit by something. Sakura shrieked as she was tossed from her
seat next to the computer and landed in a heap with Tomoyo. "A Clow Card!" hissed the orange animal, fluttering
toward the window. "I didn't think they'd go and act this fast!"
"Act HOW fast?" muttered the brunette, clambering to her feet. Outside, she could hear the floor's
advisor, a normally quiet girl named Naoko, yelling for everyone to calm down. She clutched onto the edge of her
roommate's desk for support as, carefully, she inched toward the window. The closer she got, the more her eyes
widened until, finally, her jaw gaped open of its own accord.
Outside, in the midst of the quad, sat an enormous bird, a bird larger than any of the buildings
surrounding it. Its feathers, so white that they were almost transparent, shone in the early evening light.
The bird unfurled its wings, flapping them gently. The room shook as the wind from under the wings
slammed into the side of the dorm building.
"That's..." Sakura's jaw moved, trying to form words, but nothing seemed to work correctly.
"Ya gotta go!" announced Kero, grabbing her by a pigtail and dragging her toward the doorway. "That's
the Fly card!" He grunted in effort as the teen still stood, flabbergasted in front of the window. "If ya don't
hurry up, it'll go on the offense, and then we'll be SCREWED!"
Blinking, Sakura's eyes lowered at the bird-thing outside her window. She whirled on her heels and stared
toward her friend, who was busily rooting through her desk drawers for something. "I went and let these stupid
cards out, and I'm going to make sure they all go back to where there's supposed to be!" she announced, tugging
the pendant from her neck. "Let's get to it!"
Her guardian beast groaned from where he had been thrown against the wall. "Inna minute..."
As the brunette bent down and tried to reawaken the passed-out plushie, Tomoyo hopped to her feet,
grinning. "I've got it!" she announced, brandishing a small, black piece of plastic that looked like a piece of
a model truck.
"What?" questioned her friend as she scooped Kero into her pocket.
"A blank vid-disk for my camcorder!" grinned her roommate as she stuffed the little square into the
back of her digital video recorder. "Let's roll!"
Sakura did nothing more than groan.
===
End Chapter 1
===
that were scattered across the pavement. For the first time in the year, it was just cool enough in upstate
New York to need a jacket but, at the same time, it was warm enough that - after only a few minutes of walking
through quad - Sakura found herself taking off her jacket and slinging over her shoulder.
"The Legend of the Clow." What kind of legend was that? She had pre-read all the sheets she was supposed
to, and it had only led her to the conclusion that Professor Terada was going out of his way to torture her. Then
again, perhaps she deserved it; she and Chiharu, together, HAD been late three days in a row because they had
stopped at the Union to get coffee. Maybe this was payback.
Sighing, she paused in the middle of the sidewalk, hanging her head. "It just figures that I get the
one masochist teacher in the universe," she muttered to herself with a shake of her tresses. "I mean, how could
I POSSIBLY find out anything about a legend from Hong Kong? Some idiot probably came up on it while on opium and
decided it would be a fun way to play with the minds of innocents."
Pink. She blinked at the sudden dot of pink in her vision, and offered forth a hand. The tiny sliver -
a flower petal, it seemed - fell gently into her palm, its touch soft against her skin.
She frowned, her lips pursed. "A cherry blossom?" she breathed, watching as a gust of wind caught it
and pulled it from her grasp. "But... Cherry blossoms only bloom in the spring..."
Green eyes watched the pink sliver dance on air before, shrugging, the young woman started down the
sidewalk toward the library.
========================
"An American Cardcaptor"
A Cardcaptor Sakura Alternate Universe Fanfiction
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler (duncan@avenew.com)
Chapter One: "Special Collections"
========================
The elevator music seemed three times louder than usual as, impatiently, Sakura rode her way from the
first floor of the library toward the sixth, where the special collections were held. Students rarely dared go
up to the top-most floor of the building for anything, let alone books; the library itself was a musty, stuffy
building, and the sixth floor seemed to make the entire bibliophilic experience more horrible than necessary.
Doors opened with a ping and the brunette hopped out of the elevator and onto the floor. At first breath,
she nearly choked, the stuffiness nearly suffocating her. "How in the world can this place be so nasty?" she
muttered to herself with a shake of her head, wandering through the dingy lighting as she headed toward her goal.
"All the drapes and windows are open, and it still feels like it's a hundred miles underground."
"Perfect place for a monster," commented a voice from behind her, a voice deep and chiding. "Seems like
you fit right in here, Sakura."
"Hoe?!" She nearly tripped over herself as she whirled around on her heel, green eyes lowering dangerously
at the young man behind her. "Touya, I should have guessed," she huffed, tossing her pigtails haughtily. "I
suppose you're up here doing some of your obnoxious graduate school work huh?"
Dark eyes rolled as the young man stepped somewhat away from her. For the first time, Sakura realized
that he was holding an enormous stack of think, age-worn books. "I'm here for my part-time job, remember? Not
all of us are smart enough to get our educations funded to the nth-percent." He took the top-most volume off the
stack and shoved it between two other tomes on what seemed to be a random shelf. "Besides, it's easy for a monster
to get a scholarship; everyone feels sorry for her."
Sakura harrumphed and stuck out her tongue. In all the nineteen years since she had been born, her brother
had gone out of his way to pick on her, a habit that failed to halt once he was a third-year graduate student.
Even after so long, he still gave her the nickname of "monster" and constantly teased her about everything,
whether it was her measly height of five-foot-two or her constant insistence to - even as a college sophomore -
wear pigtails in her hair. Still, she knew - or at least, figured - that he loved her; he had gone out of his
way to transfer graduate schools just so keep and eye on her.
"So, what brings you up here, anyway?" questioned Touya with the arch of an eyebrow. "There's not much
for a history major around here; it's all old literature anthologies and stuff."
"Actually, I'm here for special collections." The comment warranted a mighty smirk from her sibling.
"What?" she protested loudly, stomping a foot. Old, immature habits seemed to die harder and harder, these
days. "You make it sound like I can't possibly learn!"
Touya shook his head of dark hair, still smiling. It looked almost as though he was hiding a hilarious
joke. "Oh, it's just that you missed Yuki," he responded with a shrug as he gathered a few more books off the
reshelving cart. "He just left about ten minutes ago to go down to the cadaver lab."
A small blush crossed her face, but it was unduly brief as she pushed her insane spark of jealousy
away. "That's fine," she responded calmly, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I wasn't coming here to see him,
anyway. I was coming here to see the Clow book."
"Clow?" blinked her brother, his brow furrowing as he spoke. "You're studying the Clow?"
"In my stupid Myths and Legends course, yeah," she nodded, a bit confused by her brother's sudden
interest. What would he, busy pursuing his Master's Degree in Education, really care about a historically stupid
book? "I just want to look at it and try to figure out where to start in my paper."
There was a pause as her brother set down his armful of books and dug into his blue jeans pocket, pulling
out a key chain with but a single key. He tossed it toward her, ignoring her cry of "hoe!" as she nearly fell
over in a rather poor attempt to catch it. "It's in case 4B, bottom shelf," he told her with a shrug. "Don't
tell anyone I gave you a key, either, or I'll get fired."
Green eyes blinked, a bit confused by the key. "You mean...it's not just in the normal shelves?" she
asked, as though this was the strangest thing she had ever or would ever hear of. "Why is that?"
"If I knew, I probably wouldn't be allowed to tell, anyway," he admitted as he hefted the stack of books
back into his arms and started down the stacks, passing her. "Just be careful, okay?"
Sakura frowned, staring down at the key. "Okay..."
===
"No, Mr. Kinomoto, she just left," sighed Tomoyo into the phone, her fingers clattering across the
keyboard as she listened intently to the man on the other end. In all her time knowing Sakura - which consisted
solely of the first and now, second year of college - she had come to know only small bits about her friend's
family. She knew that Sakura's older brother was a graduate student who lived off campus, but that was about
it. And, as much as she wanted to ask, she never found a way to edge in a comment without sounding nosy. Even
when Mr. Kinomoto called, a bi-monthly experience, she couldn't bring herself to ask her friend anything. "Yeah,
she's working on school stuff. Something about a...Crow?...book in special collections. Clow? Yeah, that sounds
about right."
She paused to double click on Adobe Photoshop, watching as her background - a photo of Sakura from the
previous year's Halloween Social, dressed as Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Saturn - disappeared and was replaced by the
program's blank canvas. "Yeah, I'll tell her you want her to be careful. Mmm-hmm. Bye, Mr. Kinomoto."
As the dark-haired teen placed the telephone back into its cradle, she couldn't help but frown slightly.
"Be careful?" she repeated, blinking. "What in the world is there to be careful about? It's just an old book..."
===
The lock snapped open with a surprising amount of ease, something that probably should have bothered the
young history major. Unfortunately - or was it fortunately? - she didn't give it a second thought as she reached
into the glass case and slowly, carefully, picked up the Clow book.
"What a simple-looking thing," she muttered absently as she pushed the case's door halfway closed. Her
fingers ran across the cover almost of their own accord, tracing the natural creases in the red-brown leather
before feeling over the metal, embossed design. An animal that looked like some sort of cross between a dog
and a lion stared out across the front, wings on either side of its face, with a sun under its chin. On the right-
most side of the book was a latch much like those on little kid's diary, the keys attached with a little linked
chain.
A shiver ran up Sakura's spine, a shiver so annoying and uncomfortable that she almost dropped the book
on the floor. Regaining her composure, she crossed the room and seated herself at one of the many cubicle-
style desks. As soon as she set down the book, another shiver ran up her spine, this one more intense than
before.
For a moment, she entertained the thoughts of a ghost or demon attempting to take over her soul, and the
thought caused her to first panic and then to laugh. "I am such a big baby!" she chided herself with a small
blush, fidgeting as she sat down in front of the Clow book. "It's just a book, that's all! This Clow Reed guy,
or whoever, just had a sense of humor." Another shiver, a shiver so strong that her teeth chattered, attacked,
and she flinched. "I hope so, at least..."
Time passed as she stared at the lion-dog, her green eyes studying the cover. Nothing out of the ordinary,
she decided inwardly as she reached for the tiny keys. They were so smooth and thin that they felt as though they
were made of cheap plastic, but her feeble attempt to bend them with her fingers failed. They were real metal,
a metal so well-refined that it seemed fake, man-made.
"Talk about weird," she shrugged, raising the first of the two keys just above the lock. A brief sense
of dread washed over her, a sense of dread that begged and pleaded that she not open that book. Still, curiosity
mingled with her determination to beat her professor at his own game won over her own sense of fear, and she
inserted the key into the lock, twisted, and pulled the latch away from the cover.
Nothing. Not a sound, not a motion... Nothing.
"Heh, I WAS just getting all worked up over nothing!" chided the brunette to herself, blushing at her
own blatant stupidity. Her fingers moved to cover, slowly flipping it open. "Next thing you know, I'll be
thinking that my dorm room is haunted and that - "
Light. Light and wind. Sakura screamed and jumped up, shocked to see cards flying from the innards of
the strange book. They flew around her, over her and under her, hitting walls and shelves before disappearing in
a flash of color.
"HEEEEEEELP!!!" she hollered, diving under the desk as the cards flew around her. She clenched shut
her eyes and covered her head. "HEEEEEEELP!!! TOUYA!"
"Sakura!" The door slammed hard against its stopper as Touya rushed in, his arms still full of books. His
footfalls thumped loudly against the carpeting...and then stopped.
....silence....
After a few moments - they could have been seconds, but they seemed more like hours - a green eye peeked
open, only to meet with brown. "HOE!" shrieked the brunette, jumping in surprise. Her head smashed against the
underside of the desk, and she yelped in pain. "Oooooowwwww...."
"You really ARE a monster, Sakura," chided her brother, tossing what appeared to be a stuffed animal
at her feet. She blinked up at him, clambering out from under the desk. "To scream just because a book with a
toy in it scares you..."
His sister frowned, bending down to pick up the so-called "toy." It was a small, orange doll that looked
something like a cross between a teddy bear and a cat, only it had two yellow-white wings sewn to its back.
Dull, empty black eyes peered up at her with the glossy and unblinking stare of plastic.
"Eh, eheheheheheheheheh... I guess I got carried away," she admitted with a blush, rubbing the back of
her neck. "I just..." She glanced at the abandoned Clow book. All it was, she realized, was a block of wood with
a strange slot cut out of it. The slot looked about the size of a tarot card...
Cards! She blinked, suddenly remembering what had happened. Tossing the stuffed animal onto the table
she dove onto her hands and knees, peaking under the desks and shelves. "There were cards in the Clow Book!" she
exclaimed as she crawled about, groping under some of the darker shelving units in search of something - ANYTHING.
"They all started flying about as soon as I opened the cover! Honest!"
Touya seized her by the neck of her sweatshirt and tugged her roughly to her feet, glaring down at her.
"You either need to cut down on the anime or just plain stop trying to play practical jokes on me," he growled,
his face becoming the epitome of strictness as he spoke. "I've had ENOUGH of these games of yours, Sakura. If
anyone else had been around, I would have been fired on the spot."
"...sorry," she muttered, blushing. She watched guiltily as her brother stalked out of the room, slamming
the door behind him as he mumbled something about taking his coffee break. She sighed and collapsed into the
seat she had previously occupied. "Why me?"
"I dunno, but I think you've gone done a good thing!" chimed in a voice, its Southern drawl peppy and
cute. "Then again, I ain't really got any say in this matter, but wakin' me up has gotta be the best thing that's
happened to the Clow in a long time!"
Sakura smiled, her mood a bit pacified. "Thanks!" she chirped, turning her head to glance at the grinning
stuffed animal that was standing on the desk. "I think Touya's ready to ki - HOE?!"
The chair tipped backwards as the brunette tried to get away from the stuffed animal. Her legs flew up
in the air, but she managed to ignore it as she covered her face. "There is NOT a talking little orange thing
sitting there! This is all the result of an overactive imagination and one too many episodes of Sailor Moon!"
"Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" questioned a voice, and a green eye peaked open to see the stuffed animal
floating in midair, the yellow-white wings flapping just the smallest bit. The teen frowned and hopped off
the toppled chair, backing away from it. It followed, blinking black eyes. "The name's Keroberos, and I'm the
Guardian of these here Clow cards!" It fluttered down to the ground and stood before Sakura, stifling a bow.
"If you hadn't gone and waked me up, them there cards mighta escaped and then we'd REALLY be in a heapload of
troubles!" Little eyes slanted shut as the creature grinned. "So, tell me, wheredya put them cards?"
Swallowing hard, the young woman took a deep breath, still staring at the talking toy. "You... You want
the cards?" she asked, blinking.
"Yup!" smiled Keroberos, nodding eagerly at the brunette. "Where are they?"
"Well, uh, there was a breeze..."
"Mmm-hmmm."
"...and a bunch of lights..."
"Yup!"
"...and they all flew away."
"Oh, okay, so they - WHAT?!?!"
In all her nineteen years, Sakura had never seen anything, living or otherwise, move as quickly as that
stuffed toy moved that day. It took to the air and went jetting across the special collections room. "They got
out!" it moaned as it landed atop the desk, peering into the empty hole where the cards had been. "The Clow Cards
are lose in the world! This ain't gonna be pretty!"
Sakura climbed slowly to her feet and crossed the room, coming to stand over the desk. The little creature
had its tiny head buried in its paws as it perched on the edge of Clow book. Still in the slot was a pendant of
sorts that looked somewhat like the shape of a bird's head, and...
"Here's one," she apologized, holding out the one last card that had been in the very bottom of the book.
Keroberos glanced up at her as she offered forth the card. On the front of it was a picture of what appeared to
be a woman in long, flowing clothes, with long hair streaming around her. "I'm sorry that the rest of them got
away like that..."
Sniffling, the little animal accepted the card, staring at it. "Windy..." it sighed, shaking his head.
Then, a smile crossed its face. "If Windy stayed, that means that you're the one I'm supposeda be lookin' for!"
it exclaimed merrily. The card was discarded to the side of the desk as paws reached into the cards' hole and
pulled out the pendant. "I didn't think that it would be comin' from a college girl, but whatever! You're her!"
Green eyes blinked. Once, twice, SEVERAL times. "Huh?" she questioned, not really able to formulate
words as Keroberos took to the air and looped the pendant around her neck. "I'm who?"
"The Cardcaptor!" it announced with a smile, still hovering in midair. "The one who the cards will obey...
Well, once you've gone found them again!"
"FOUND them?" shot the brunette angrily, grabbing the floating plushie around the waist and shaking it
furiously. "It's not MY fault that they got out! If you were the guardian, you probably shouldn't have be - "
"What in the name of God are you doing?" questioned a voice, and Sakura turned quickly on her heel to
see her brother standing in the doorway, eyeing her curiously. Blushing, she stowed a now-struggling Keroberos
behind her back, smiling embarrassedly. "I could have SWORN I heard you talking to that little stuffed thing that
was in that book."
She grinned, waving her empty hand in his direction. "I was just mentally pre-writing my paper," she
lied, green eyes sparkling as truthfully as she could force them to. "I was thinking about discussing why the
Hell Clow Reed would put a stupid little stuffed animal into his - OWW!" She dropped said stuffed toy on the
floor and popped her bleeding finger into her mouth.
Brown eyes lowered slightly in her direction, and she chuckled. "It still has its swig tag," she lied
quickly, ignoring the grunt from the plushie as it hit the floor. "And the swig tag got a hold of me."
Touya rolled his eyes before shaking his head. "Whatever," he grunted, turning around. "Library closes
in ten minutes."
The door shut, and Keroberos immediately popped directly into her vision, causing her to stumble backwards
in surprise. "Who do ya think you are, mouthin' off like that? You HAVE to complete this mission and get them
cards back! Do you KNOW what will happen if ya - "
Closing her hand around the creature's face, Sakura lowered her eyes. "Let's get you and this book of
yours somewhere where we can talk more openly," she growled, stuffing the little orange toy into the book's hole
along with the single "Windy" card. "We'll discuss this 'capturing' thing back in my dorm."
"But, wait, you - "
The slam of the cover muffled the screams of a Clow guardian as Sakura stuffed the book into her jacket,
zippered it, and snuck out of special collections.
===
"Okay, one more time?"
Groaning, Keroberos - or "Kero," as he insisted on being called - slammed his head into the side of the
computer monitor, making the whole thing shake. "I SWEAR, y'all have cotton in your ears!" he hollered at his
captive audience of teens, his Southern drawl so loud that Sakura feared people in the hallway would hear.
Tomoyo waved a hand, trying to pacify the howling guardian. "I just want to make sure I have it all
typed out right," she fibbed, her fingers placed on the keyboard, ready for action. A half-empty notebook file
was open on the screen, with bullet points highlighted along the edge. "After all, if we're going to properly
document all this, I have to be sure I have it right."
"D-document?" blinked her roommate, staring. "Is this anything like why you're always taking digital
pictures of me and stuff?"
Purple eyes arched shut in delight. "Kinda, yeah!"
Sakura sighed and hung her head.
"Alright, I'm gonna say this ONE MORE TIME for y'all," sighed Kero, hopping atop the monitor before
crossing his little arms over his equally minute chest. "My name is Keroberos, and I am the guardian beast of
the Clow. The Clow is a book of cards, and all of them have lotsa different powers." He gestured toward the
pendant around Sakura's neck with a rather idle paw. "THAT is the Key of Clow, and it'll go and turn into the
Staff of Sealin' should you ever need it. And you're gonna need it, 'cause you're the Cardcaptor."
Straightening her reading glasses, the dark-haired one smiled indulgently. "So, then, Sakura has to
run all over the country and world trying to capture these cards?" she asked, her eyes going starry as she
spoke. "This will be WONDERFUL! I can video tape Sakura in all sorts of exotic locations, busily - "
"Not quite, no," cut in the guardian with a wag of his paw. "Ya see, them cards are gonna stick near to
Sakura, seein' as she's the Cardcaptor. They're gonna wanna challenge her, see if she's up to the task of makin'
them her cards."
Fingering the Key of Clow, Sakura frowned slightly. To think that her stupid legend homework was real!
It was almost frightening. "And...what if I'm not up to it?" she asked softly, her green eyes rising to look
into Kero's black beads.
He forced a grin, a grin that said 'Shit, she asked the one question I didn't want to answer.' "Let's
just go and hope that that kinda thing doesn't go and happen, 'kay?" he suggested, cocking his head to one
side. "See, if you CAN'T capture the cards, then - "
Suddenly, the room shook as it had been hit by something. Sakura shrieked as she was tossed from her
seat next to the computer and landed in a heap with Tomoyo. "A Clow Card!" hissed the orange animal, fluttering
toward the window. "I didn't think they'd go and act this fast!"
"Act HOW fast?" muttered the brunette, clambering to her feet. Outside, she could hear the floor's
advisor, a normally quiet girl named Naoko, yelling for everyone to calm down. She clutched onto the edge of her
roommate's desk for support as, carefully, she inched toward the window. The closer she got, the more her eyes
widened until, finally, her jaw gaped open of its own accord.
Outside, in the midst of the quad, sat an enormous bird, a bird larger than any of the buildings
surrounding it. Its feathers, so white that they were almost transparent, shone in the early evening light.
The bird unfurled its wings, flapping them gently. The room shook as the wind from under the wings
slammed into the side of the dorm building.
"That's..." Sakura's jaw moved, trying to form words, but nothing seemed to work correctly.
"Ya gotta go!" announced Kero, grabbing her by a pigtail and dragging her toward the doorway. "That's
the Fly card!" He grunted in effort as the teen still stood, flabbergasted in front of the window. "If ya don't
hurry up, it'll go on the offense, and then we'll be SCREWED!"
Blinking, Sakura's eyes lowered at the bird-thing outside her window. She whirled on her heels and stared
toward her friend, who was busily rooting through her desk drawers for something. "I went and let these stupid
cards out, and I'm going to make sure they all go back to where there's supposed to be!" she announced, tugging
the pendant from her neck. "Let's get to it!"
Her guardian beast groaned from where he had been thrown against the wall. "Inna minute..."
As the brunette bent down and tried to reawaken the passed-out plushie, Tomoyo hopped to her feet,
grinning. "I've got it!" she announced, brandishing a small, black piece of plastic that looked like a piece of
a model truck.
"What?" questioned her friend as she scooped Kero into her pocket.
"A blank vid-disk for my camcorder!" grinned her roommate as she stuffed the little square into the
back of her digital video recorder. "Let's roll!"
Sakura did nothing more than groan.
===
End Chapter 1
===
