Fallout
Chapter 1: The Dream

"No..."

I groan from the corner, slowing bleeding to death from a deep wound in my shoulder. On the other side of the moonlit chamber, a magician tried to fend off a tall, imposing attacker, to no avail. Slowly she weakened, until at last collapsed upon the floor, and watched the dark figure draw near.

"I shall ask you one last time," said the tall man, and drew a glowing black sword from a sheath. "Will you join me, and forsake this useless world?"

"I will NEVER join forces with you. Not only do you reek of evil, but Syaoran is MY special person!" The slight girl boasted proudly, but somehow the voice seemed familiar; a little too familiar. I struggled to get a better view of her face.

"Then so be it. You have chosen, and the penalty for that is death!" Drawing my last remaining amount of energy, I leap off the floor and attempt to distract the man. Yet he immediately raised his left hand and conjured a magic wave, which threw me back against the wall, hard. By the time I recovered enough to look back, the poor girl had been impaled by his black sword, and her face was lighted clearly by the moonbeams. I stared in horror.

It was Sakura.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"


A slight touch brought Syaoran back to reality, gasping for breath and staring at the seat straight in front of him. Beside him, Sakura and the other passengers watched him as he slowly recovered.

"I'm fine. Sorry, just a bad dream." Syaoran turned and tried to smile at the passengers, most of whom just shrugged and turned back to their work or tried to get more sleep. Sakura, however, looked on worriedly, asking silently with her eyes.

"Are you sure you're all right? Do you want something to drink? Or do you want to tell me about the dream?" Sakura stopped a passing flight attendant and asked for a bottle of water, and then turned back to Syaoran. Syaoran just smiled at his childhood friend and as cheerfully as possible assured her that he was fine. When the water was brought, he downed the entire bottle in a few seconds, and then leaned back in his chair, thinking over his dream.

"What a nightmare. It seemed so real though," he thought silently, and watched Sakura play games on the TV screen in front of her. She occasionally looked over at him, at which Syaoran turned away and blushed slightly. He had a slight crush on her ever since middle school, when he starting noticing how much she had grown. Since then he had been somewhat protective of her, scaring most of the guys who had interest in her, and occasionally threatened the more persistent ones. This had led to several protests from Sakura, who reprimanded and reminded him that she was old enough to handle her own affairs. Yet he still secretly watched over her, making sure none of the guys did anything strange with her. It was fortunate for him that she decided to tag along with him after high school, even if he didn't know the reason why.

"All passengers, please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts. We are starting our descent and will be landing in Taiga Domestic Airport shortly."

Syaoran was officially recruited into the Japanese Military Command two years ago, shortly after his graduation from high school. He had been singled out for his achievements in physical education, and been given the rank of Specialist after completing a dangerous recon mission against the Knights of Roland. Some military commanders had noticed his ability to sneak in undetected, and had him reassigned to the main front in Taiga, where the Knights were actively attacking military targets. Thankfully, they allowed Sakura to accompany him when he told the commanders that she had no other place to go.

"Syaoran?" Syaoran opened his eyes and met Sakura's face not two centimeters away from his. He jumped and tried backing away, but was already all the way back in his chair. "You really all right? You haven't been looking well after that dream you had."

"Really, Sakura, I'm fine. Really. Would you please back away?" Syaoran looked away and tried hard not to stare back at Sakura. Sakura stared at him for a while before turning away to continue her game. Suddenly, the shuttle rocked hard and Sakura's TV flickered before going blank.

"ALERT. All passengers, please return immediately to your seats and fasten your seat belts. The aircraft is under attack by unknown forces. Again, all passengers..."

Another tumble shook the craft, and then the screaming of Splicer missiles and explosions could be heard. Sakura, who had neglected to wear her seat belt, was thrown forward into the seat in front of her, and then into Syaoran's seat.

"Hooeeee, why now?" Sakura struggled to get back into her seat while Syaoran tried not to get excited and thought about the situation. Once Sakura was off him, he decided to go ahead with his plan.

"Sakura, stay here, you hear me? I'm going to the cockpit to see if I can help."

"WHAT? Wait a sec, you're not thinking about doing that, are you?"

"The shuttle is in danger, we could be blown up any minute!"

"Well, if you're going, so am I." As she said this, there was a look of determination in her eyes, and Syaoran knew it was futile trying to dissuade her.

"Fine. Be careful though." The two jumped into the aisle and raced up to the front of the shuttle as wide-eyed passengers and flight attendants watched with surprise.


Whew, first chapter done. I thought I was NEVER going to finish this...

Btw, all CCS characters are property of CLAMP. Any other characters are mine. Finally, any similarities between this story and any other works are purely coincidental.