CHAPTER 4
Author's Notes: Yes, I realize this chapter is short… very short. The shortest yet. But, in my opinion, it's the best one so far, and it does a lot more for the characters than everything up to this point. Enjoy!
Li screamed. Nothing. Nobody was noticing him. He yelled at the top of his lungs at the mages busy waging a bloody battle. Nobody turned to look towards the hysterical boy. Angrily, he turned away from the front ranks, towards the back where he knew a general was waiting. Either Clow Reed. Or Deshi.
A man in the back was floating, without the aid of any instruments. Merely floating above the heads of his troops, shouting orders in a firm but compassionate voice. Li knew instinctively that it was his great ancestor, Clow Reed, and not the evil traitor he was fighting.
For the first time since arriving in this strange world, Clow turned towards Li, smiling kindly. "Hello, Li Syaoran, one who bears my blood."
He gasped. How could he see him? He wasn't actually here… he was dreaming. This wasn't real! "Clow Reed…" he managed to say, petrified.
The smile and genuine kindness on his face was not extinguished, despite the harsh surroundings, the screams filling the air, steam rising off of charred bodies.
"Be careful, Li Syaoran. The burdens you carry, the trials you must face… they are more difficult than anyone else's. Especially for you. You are being targeted."
"I know that!" Li said, feeling his grip on his dream fading, being brought back to a world he had just left. Not yet, he struggled. He had more questions. "About the cards! What are they? How many more are left?"
"Look around, Li. Your friends already have the answers to the questions you seek."
And suddenly, Syaoran was back. His eyes shot open, and just as before, Sakura's face was watching over him, at the side of the bed.
"Kinomoto-chan," he said, catching himself. "Where am I? Why am I here?"
Tears welled up in her eyes, her face was bright red. "Oh, Li-kun. You really don't remember?"
"Remember what?" Li asked, his dream still fresh in his mind. "I remember ice cream… then this."
Explaining his plight seemed to be a very difficult task for Sakura to handle. A tear rolled down her cheek, and fell, staining his bedclothes. She breathed in some air before trying to explain the situation to him. "You were being controlled. By another card." She brought her hand out from under the bed and handed him another card.
"The Control," he read. "That thing took me over? Did I hurt anyone?" He asked, alarmed, searching his unconscious mind for some memory of his capture.
Sakura shook her head, "No, Li-kun. No you didn't. You almost killed yourself though."
Li's head shot straight up. "What?" He asked, disbelievingly.
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. You threw yourself off a cliff. You almost died."
Syaoran flipped the card over in his hand, saw the pentagram. He remembered Clow Reed's words, in his dream. 'Your friends already have the answers to the questions you seek.'
"Kinomoto," he began. "Do you know what these things are yet."
She nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. They're called penumbra cards. And your mother was right. These were definitely created by someone who bitterly hates Clow Reed."
"I had the dream again," he decided to tell her. She looked at him. She, too, had had her own dream that night, but she didn't want to bother him with it. "What happened?" She asked.
"I talked to Clow Reed. He told me that I'm in the most danger of everyone. Even more than you."
She nodded again. "I'll believe that. Those things are specifically going after you because you're related to him. I was thinking, and everyone agrees with me. Until we capture all of these penumbra cards… you should just stay out of this."
Li shot up out of the bed, sending his covers flying to the other end. His eyes flared angrily, and the ailments that had been plaguing him forgotten. "Don't forget who you're talking to, Kinomoto! I'm Li Syaoran! When have I ever backed away from a fight just because it was dangerous?"
"Never, Li." Sakura said, still softly, not at all defended by Li's anger. "You've never backed away from a fight, never retreated. And maybe that's the problem, Li-kun. You have to know when to stop. And right now is that time. You're in danger. You didn't see that battle, you didn't see what that card made you do, Li-kun."
"I can never stop fighting," he said simply, containing his emotions.
Sakura was beginning to be annoyed by his stubbornness. "Look around, Li! How many times are you going to end up on this bed? Every time we capture a penumbra card, you want to be one step closer to being destroyed? If those cards were specifically targeting me, I'd stop. I'd let you take over!"
"I wouldn't." Li said simply, and ended the conversation at that.
Sakura slammed the door to her room angrily, and stomped in. Kero-chan had been admiring the beautiful tapestry of twinkling stars. He looked at her as she vehemently stomped over to her bed, and let out a scream. Kero toppled over, alarmed by his friend's temper. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" He flew over to her. Her face was buried in her hands, and she was shaking uncontrollably in sobs.
"Li-kun." She said amidst tears. "He's so stubborn! He's going to get himself killed! Why doesn't he understand?"
Kero-chan's heart was breaking at seeing his best friend so miserable, but he would never admit it. "Because he's Li. When has he ever listened to reason?"
Sakura giggled in spite of her self. "Kero-chan, my dream… if he keeps on fighting the penumbra cards, eventually it'll come true."
Kero put a paw to her chin and lifted her head up to gaze out the window into the endless sea of stars. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Li will do what is right."
Li hitched the sword onto the belt of his robes. Checking to see if his Rashinban was with him, he opened the door to Wei's room. "I'm leaving, Wei." He announced.
The old man, sitting on a chair, as if deeply disturbed by something, sighed. "I have tried to convince you otherwise, Syaoran. But you are too much like your father. You shall go, regardless what I say. But what about that girl, Sakura? She seems to want you to live more than I do!"
Li shut his eyes. Wei did not know that he had hit on perhaps the only regret he had for leaving. "It's her I'm worried about. She's still not as good a cardcaptor as I am. I have to capture the penumbra cards."
"She will not be happy. Should you not at least tell Meiling?"
Li shook his head, and gently shut the door to his cousin's room. Walking across the living room, he slid open the door that led to the outside world. The night air calmed his nerves, and he started to think about his decision. Was it really wise to set out and capture the cards on his own, especially when he could barely seal them even with Sakura? "Yes," Li said aloud. "I have to see. If Clow Reed was right."
As he walked down Tomoeda Road, he looked up at the night sky, completely unaware that, across the city in a small yellow house, Sakura Kinomoto and Cerberus were also staring at the exact same star.