Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura- that much is obvious.
Summary: I've decided that writing fan fics has a satisfaction about it, so hell, I'll do another. This is my first non one-shot. It is the story about a girl called Sakura who falls in love with a boy who saves her life (Syaoran). Unknown to her, Syaoran has a secret! By daylight he is the cold, handsome boy Syaoran, but by nightfall, immersed in the enchantment of moonlight he becomes the mysterious white wolf of the forest. Will Sakura learn of Syaoran's secret before all hope is lost?
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The Wolf of the Snow
Chapter 1:
The sun sank somewhere in the distance as Sakura strode purposefully across the desolate, snow- covered terrain, silent but for the faintest sigh of icy wind through bare- branched trees, the sound of snow crunching underfoot and the mournful cry of a bird resonating through the valley. Inch by inch as darkness swallowed the dusk, she hurried her pace hoping somewhat to reach the forest's edge before night's icy cloak finally drowned the last glimpse of mellow winter sky. Somewhere an animal screamed and Sakura jumped nervously.
She mentally berated herself. "How foolish can I be?! If I had only started for home sooner! Damned if I ever go to Aurana ever again!"
Sakura broke into a run, her long hooded travelling cloak bristling behind her. She didn't care if the stories were true, she would NOT let herself be in the Dark Forest when night fell!
Suddenly, Sakura stopped in her tracks. She had heard a noise, a tiny, barely audible noise, a gurgling from within the black veil of the forest's depths before her. Her turquoise eyes darted nervously around, searching for the source of the sound.
And again. That noise, this time she recognised it. Sakura's eyes widened fearfully.
Two ice- blue eyes appeared in the gloom. And then another two. And another two.
And it seemed there were five, maybe six pairs watching her, surrounding her!
Before long, the eyes became heads, neck, bodies and tails, grey as slate. The wolf standing directly in front of Sakura issued another low growl, gleaming white teeth bared.
Sakura let out a tiny, fearful whimper and slowly reached around to the back of her belt for her travelling blade. She felt its empty holster and silently cursed herself again for her forgetfulness. She was completely defenceless.
The wolves were closing in.
Suddenly, one of the wolves, the pack leader, lunged for Sakura's throat. Sakura shut her eyes tightly and threw her arms around her head, anticipating certain death. But it never came.
Instead, she heard a sharp crack, and a whimper. A wolf had just had the wind knocked out of it.
When Sakura carefully opened her eyes again, blinking back tears, she saw a young man standing before her. He was probably no more than her own- age, with dark brown hair that fell in bangs down his forehead, partially concealing brooding, amber- coloured eyes. He was dressed in a long, worn-out hooded cloak. Sakura thought he must have been a traveller. He was very handsome.
"Are you alright?" He asked Sakura with a sharp glance. Sakura was taken aback by the crispness of his tone, the coldness of it.
"Y-yes" Sakura stammered. She was still recovering from the initial shock of the attack. Sakura looked from the boy to the snow- covered ground. A few metres away from where they stood, a wolf lay unconscious, its grey body sprawled awkwardly at the base of a tree.
"I hit it." said the boy as he followed her gaze. He held up a thick branch in his hand for Sakura to see. There were spatters of crimson blood along one edge. He tossed it aside.
For a time, Sakura didn't say anything, as she was still gathering her scattered, traumatised wits. At last, staring down at her feet she finally spoke.
"Thank you." She said shyly.
The boy stared at Sakura in surprise, and then his amber eyes softened. He gazed quietly at her for a time. She had soft caramel- coloured hair that fell delicately to her shoulders, and the brightest, jewel- like turquoise eyes he had ever seen. He had to admit, for a silly girl wandering around the Dark Forest at night, she was rather pretty.
The boy managed a small smile. "You're welcome." He said quietly.
Sakura returned her smile sweetly. 'This boy,' she thought to herself, 'he seems so cold…but, I feel…safe with him.'
"Who are you?" Sakura asked just then. The boy's smile vanished instantly and his eyes narrowed into the initial cold glare once more.
"That's none of your business." He spat defensively. Sakura blinked in surprise.
"No…I mean, what is your name? You saved my life; I want to know what to call you."
The boy growled and stared down at the ground. After a moment he replied, "Syaoran…my name is Syaoran."
Sakura smiled warmly, "I'm Sakura Kinomoto."
Again, Syaoran's amber eyes seemed to soften with warmth, if only for an instant before they hardened with renewed suspicion. Sakura observed him with silent compassion.
"You have to leave," He told Sakura firmly, "The other wolves have run away but they'll be back to avenge their leader soon. Your life is still in danger as long as you stay here."
This time he grabbed Sakura roughly by the shoulders and steered her back toward the direction of the forest path. "Go on, you're not safe here!"
Sakura moved obligingly forward, whisking her hood over her head and gathering her cloak more tightly around herself as she stepped onto the path. With a meaningful glance back at her rescuer, she asked, "But Syaoran…what about you?"
"I'll make sure they don't follow you" he said quietly. He then turned his back to her.
"But…when can I see you again?!" Sakura asked with slight desperation. She hadn't found a way to properly thank him for saving her life. She felt indebted to him.
"You can't. Now go!" Syaoran urged, still refusing to face her.
He was becoming impatient now. What was she waiting for? Why wouldn't she leave? He was running out of time, the moon had already risen half way up the sky! If she didn't leave soon she might see….
Sadly, Sakura turned to leave. She broke into a run toward the edge of the forest.
Syaoran breathed a sigh of relief as her figure disappeared into the gloom of the thicket. He turned his attention to the deep, blackened sky overhead, to the moon that rose steadily higher.
The great white orb of the moon glowed radiantly, magically.
Syaoran closed his eyes with silent anticipation. Once the moon had risen to its highest peak in the sky, the transformation would begin…
Soft pale moonbeams slinked across the dark ground, illuminating the snow in a brilliance of light. They inched their way between the trees, pushing effortlessly through the shadows, and finally, poured into the forest clearing where Syaoran stood waiting.
He sighed in resignation. All those nights he had tried to hide from the moonlight, from its power, it had never ceased to find him. And it would find him again tonight.
Finally, the moonlight touched the tip of Syaoran's shoe. It then crept slowly up his legs, his body, his head until it immersed every part of him.
Syaoran felt the familiar jolt and doubled over so that he stood panting on his hands and knees. Sweat poured down his face and he tore into the ground with his fingernails, wishing beyond hope that the pain would go away.
As the pain finally came to a climax, Syaoran let a final howl of pain escape his lips before he bit down hard on his tongue.
He felt the molecules of his body shift.
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Somewhere, in a small, rather cosy cottage in the little town of Jas'myyn on the mountain, the girl Sakura heard a blood- curdling howl in the night. She shivered and pulled her blankets closer around her shoulders. She had excused herself from the concerned enquiries of her father and brother and decided to go straight to her room without supper, claiming to be tired and wanting her bed. In truth, she was not the slightest bit tired. Though she tried to sleep her mind kept wandering to memories of the night's events; the Dark Forest, the wolves, and more especially, the handsome, but cold boy; Syaoran who had saved her life.
Sakura blushed suddenly as she thought of him, and then shook her head as if to ward off a bad spell. She could not be getting butterflies over a boy whom she had just met! Still, the more she thought of him, the more she wanted to see him again, at least so that she could thank him properly. That's if she ever saw him again. He was such a strange boy! So cold and yet with a kindness beneath that. And a secret. He had seemed in such a hurry to get her out of that forest, and not just to protect her from the wolves. There was something else…
Sakura sighed with resignation and rolled over in her bed.
Just then, Sakura sat up in bed again. She couldn't explain it to herself, but she had a strange desire to look outside the window. She carefully removed her bedcovers, tiptoed quietly across her small room and drew the curtain of her window aside.
She stared out into the night. She could see the warm lights emitting from the windows of other cottages in town, trails of smoke billowing from the chimneys, and the snow- covered ground, illuminated under the full moon. Just beyond that, she could see the black outline of the Dark Forest's edge, where her almost disastrous evening had taken place.
She saw nothing unusual and turned to go back to bed. Suddenly, something caught her eye. A glimmer of white moving quickly along the forest's silhouette. Sakura stared at the glimmer and as though summoned by her thoughts, it stopped moving and looked at her. It was in fact an animal. A wolf, but not like one that had ambushed Sakura that night. It was a white wolf, its fur as pure as the fresh snow itself.
Sakura watched the creature, completely mesmerised by its beauty.
The wolf acknowledged her silently, before it disappeared gracefully, ghost- like, back into the black depths of the forest, its amber eyes flashing in the dim.
'Those eyes' thought Sakura as she drew her curtains shut and climbed slowly into bed once more, 'They remind me of…'
Sakura slept heavily that night, finally overcome with the exhaustion that came of the night's events. She dreamt of amber coloured eyes in the darkness.
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DM: This story is far from over people! It's just about to get interesting- Sakura and Syaoran WILL meet again, and Sakura will come a little bit closer to learning about his secret! But of course, the faster you REVIEW, the faster I update…