Miles away, Kinomoto Sakura and Hiiragizawa Eriol squirmed in the grasp of a thing. Sakura had been walking to a store to buy a present for Yukito, and had been captured by a dark being of some sort. He looks to be made purely of shadow and residual angst… Sakura thought, wondering where that came from. She tried to call her cards, held in the being's third arm. The cards did not respond, sleeping deeply in response to the being's dark aura and persuasive nature.

In the show being's second arm was Eriol. The creature, having some type of vendetta against all that is Clow, squeezing him until he went unconscious with a slight crunching sound. He now hung limply, his guardians just as asleep as Sakura's cards. He had returned to Tomoeda at the presence of evil, and had walked perfectly, directly into the preset trap by the dark thing.

Sakura was now being squeezed in the same manner as Eriol. She couldn't breathe! She felt her chest being compressed, pain shooting through her every nerve, reverberating inside her head, making it pound. She bent her head, pressure and lack of oxygen weighing heavily on her. She felt a silver aura approaching as the world slipped away and gave into nothingness.

Yue stared at the hideous black thing holding two people that the world could not afford to lose. Without a second thought, Yue formed a celestial crystal orb, sending thousands of ice crystal shards toward the creature. He gasped as they bounced off of it, sending them into the woods somewhere. The dark being turned to Yue. Although Yue could not see the being's eyes, he could feel them glowing in hatred at him.  The dark being dropped Sakura and Eriol ungracefully, causing them to hit the hard ground. Touya ran to Sakura, not at all concerned for his own safety. The dark being paid him no mind.

"You… sadistic pet of Clow Reed… angel of all that is unfeeling and cold… I want nothing more than to rip you apart. But to do so would kill you, which is what you want. You want to be with your precious DEAD master. No, I will make you suffer." The dark being spoke to Yue, a voice clearly male, but a bit effeminate at the same time.

Yue sneered at the dark being. "Dark Lord of all that is emptiness and hatred, name yourself so that I may know of whom I have killed." Yue said between tightly clenched teeth, preparing a lunar arrow.

The dark being began to take shape, slowly but surely. Yue kept his arrow steady. Before long, an obscured figure, presumably male by stature alone, stood before him. The figure wore a very long black hooded cloak of the richest velvet, trimmed with a large red cabochon at the neck. Beautifully constructed, albeit cliché slightly. The figure lifted its head, revealing startling eyes that varied constantly in shade from a burning crimson to an intense orange. The effect of the eyes was hypnotizing to Yue. He felt a sudden urge to sleep…

Through sleep hazed eyes, Yue saw the figure coming at him. The world closed in on him, and all was gone.

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Sakura awoke to excruciating pain.  Several ribs were broken, she knew it. Her chest crunched when she breathed, but the sight in front of her made her cry out in pain. A man in a dark cloak had Yue pinned against a tree! She looked beside her to find a sleeping Touya and Eriol. The trickle of blood out of the corner of Eriol's mouth made her want to cry, but she hadn't the time to check on him. She stood on shaky legs, walking calmly toward the ominous man. When she was a few yards away, she saw the man lift a hand to Yue. Instead of hitting him, however, he forced Yue to convert, leaving a sleeping Yukito against the tree.

It was too much for Sakura to bear.  She raised her hand simply, the key inside metamorphosing into a long elaborate staff.  The dark figure turned to face Sakura, startled. He had not expected her to awaken so quickly. He flashed a brilliant white, albeit razor sharp, smile. She took a defensive pose, staff extended at full length in front of her. Her white velvet cape flew behind her like moonlight, as she looked at her enemy with a cold gaze.

Sakura quickly brought a hand in the air, two fingers pointing to the sky. "Shield." She commanded in a low growl. She had protected himself from the effect of the dark one's eyes. She distractedly admired them, like fiery coals from the purest fires of hell. His hooded cloak suited him well. The dark one shook his head, letting the hood fall to the nape of his neck. A cascade of golden spirals and ringlets flowed like molten sunlight, nearly as long as his knees. Sakura gulped. This young man was drop dead gorgeous. He smiled that enchanting smile again, unleashing a torrent of black lightning bolts straight at Sakura. She dodged with Fly, never taking her eyes off the handsome young adversary.

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Eriol stirred a few yards away. He sat up slightly, causing him to immediately start to cough, blood spilling onto the ground and his hands. Every breath hurt like a piercing blaze of fire in his chest. His glasses lay next to him, shattered and bent. He looked up hazily, eyes widening at the sight of Sakura in battle. He hoped that the beautiful creature she was fighting didn't notice him. He knew of the effect the dark one's eyes had, and wanted none of it. He had no choice but to simply lie still until he could somehow be of use, or… wait to die.

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As Sakura battled wildly with the mysterious dark fellow, she felt herself growing weaker. Someone was siphoning her magic! It wasn't the dark one, she would have noticed, plus Shield would have alerted her to it's presence. It wasn't Yukito or Yue, their silver aura was one she recognized easily. It was the aura of Clow Reed.  Eriol… Sakura thought, resisting the urge to turn and look at him, lest the dark one notice and look at him as well. She knew that he would have to be in bad shape to call to her in such a way. She realized that her magic was the only thing keeping him alive.