Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura
Chapter 6
First morning
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The forest outside the Li training grounds. Eleven years ago…
A young Syaoran lay on the floor, wincing in pain. He could feel the rain hitting his body and the sound of the thunder roaring through the skies. He slowly opened his eyes; his vision was uncoordinated and blurry, yet he could still make out what was happening in front of him. His father, Li Yuen, was fighting with a man in green robes bearing a resemblance to those worn by members of the Li clan. Unfortunately, it wasn't Yuen who was winning the battle.
"Not good enough…" the man smirked as he avoided one of Yuens thrust kicks, then countered by slamming his fist straight into his stomach.
Yuen felt the force of the strike travel through his body. He then became unable to stand, and fell backwards to the ground.
"I have proven that you are not strong enough to be the true leader. And that boy of yours…I will show that he isn't as strong as the Elders believe he is" the man narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward.
Yuen Looked over towards Syaoran, and noticed he was slowly regaining consciousness. He managed to rise to his feet, and moved towards his opponent
"I'll take you down, you treacherous bastard!" Yuen shouted in a fit of rage
Syaoran watched as his father bolted forward, throwing a punch at his opponent. He couldn't believe what had happened next. He saw the man avoid his fathers attack, hook a punch to the side of his ribs, slam his foot into the back of his knee and elbow strike the back of his head all in a blink of an eye. His father fell face down to the ground, defeated.
"F-father…" Syaoran groaned in pain, reaching his hand out to his fallen parent.
"You're next…" the man said darkly, as he shifted his eyes towards Syaoran.
Syaoran… He heard a faint voice and the world that surrounded the young boy began to fade. The last images of that man with his cold, glaring eyes disappeared into darkness. Syaoran, wake up…'Sakura?'
Mr Syaoran, please wake up… '…?' 'Why did you call me 'Mister'?'------------------------------------
The ancient city of Shenhua
Opening his eyes, he saw a young woman standing next to his bed looking over him. Syaorans eyes widened in surprise.
"WHOA! WHO THE…!WHAT THE…!" Syaoran rolled out the other side of the bed, both very shocked and very confused.
"Are you all right, Mr Syaoran?" The woman asked in concern "It seems you were having some sought of bad dream"
"Who are you?" Syaoran asked while he frantically looked around the room. It was very large, with dark green carpets and darker green walls. Chinese style wall scrolls hung in place next to the large bed which he slept in.
"And Where am I?" Syaoran stood confused, while the woman lightly smiled.
"This is Shenhua, Mr Syaoran. You and your friends arrived here yesterday, which reminds me. Mr Stranger, Miss Raine, Mr Hiirigizawa and Lady Chen have already left for the meeting. They shall return later today"
"Shenhua, meeting…?" Syaoran began to think, until he suddenly remembered. He was travelling through different worlds with Sakura and two odd people, and at this moment he was in a city somewhere in the desert.
"Oh…" he was feeling slightly embarrassed because he forgot, and for the way he acted just now.
"Mr Syaoran, I was asked to awaken you as it is already thirty minutes past the hour of eleven. There are some clothes you could wear in the wardrobe, seeing as the outfit that you have may not be a suitable choice during these times" The woman then drew open the curtains allowing the bright sunlight to completely fill the room.
"You should head downstairs for something to eat. See you downstairs, Mr Syaoran" She left through the door while Syaoran stared out of the window, viewing the city.
'Eleven-thirty? I never sleep that late' Syaoran thought to himself, before deciding to get dressed.
He pulled a bundle of clothes out of the wardrobe and placed them onto his bed. He noticed that they were very similar to what the ancient Chinese wore. It didn't take him long to decide which one to wear, he immediately picked up a dark green suit with black trousers, complete with a grey wolf design on the front.
Syaoran thought for a moment. 'That dream, the memory of that night eleven years ago. That man my father fought with, could it really be him who…no. That can't be possible'
Clearing the thought out of his head he finished changing, left his room and headed down stairs. The hallways were very big, but luckily they happened to resemble those back at his house so it wasn't that hard to find his way around. After much walking, he found himself in a large seating room where the rest of the group waited. Sakura sat on a red sofa wearing something similar to Syaoran, except pink in colour with white trousers. Next to her was Tomoyo, who was complementing her dress, Meilin sat in an armchair across from Yukito and Nakuru while Kero and Spinel sat on a small table.
"Syaoran, you're awake!" Sakura immediately noticed his presence when he entered the room."Good morning, Sakura" Syaoran smiled, and sat down on the sofa next to her. "Good morning everyone"
"Syaoran, you're up later than usual" Meilin said in surprise as she looked at her watch "and you look dark around the eyes"
"Yeah, well. I just had a bad dream"
"A bad dream? What was it about?" Sakura asked him both curiously and worriedly
"Nothing, really. I can't even remember half of it" Syaoran lied, hoping he wouldn't worry anyone too much. Fortunately everyone believed him.
"Hey Syaoran, that outfit you're wearing…it looks very good on you" Sakura shyly smiled, gazing at the wolf design on his shirt
"R-really? You think so?" Syaoran blushed slightly and Sakura nodded furiously
"Sakura-chan is right Li-kun, That outfit looks very nice. In fact…" Tomoyo quickly whipped out the video camera "When you both sit together in those costumes it looks super Kawaii!"
Just then a young girl, aged around 12, entered the room. She had long dark hair with blue eyes, and wore a light blue dress.
"So he is finally awake then" She looked at Syaoran, who returned a confused look
"Oh! This is…" Sakura went to introduce the young girl to Syaoran, but was cut off
"Maggie Chen, I'm the Regents daughter. It is nice to meet you Wolfie" the young girl bowed
Whilst most people in the room giggled, Syaoran raised his eyebrow
"No, my name is Syaoran, not Wolfie"
"Really? Mr Stranger told me it was 'Wolfie'" the young girl looked away in confusion
"What is that guys problem…?" Syaoran groaned and shook his head
"Would you like something to eat?"
"No thanks. I'm not all that hungry"
"You probably wouldn't get much anyway seeing as Kero had eaten half of what's in the kitchen" Sakura whispered in Syaorans ear, who then chuckled
"By the way, what are those?" Maggie pointed to the small creatures sitting on the table
"Stuffed animals" Meilin simply replied
While Spinel ignored the comment, Kero flew into the air and yelled
"Hey, I'm not a stuffed animal! I am Keroberos, guardian beast of the Clow cards"
"Wow, that's really amazing!" the young girl smiled
Kero, now puffing up his chest with pride, floated towards Meilin
"You hear that, brat? Somebody thinks I'M amazing!"
"So that makes two of you…" Meilin grinned
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Green Market Quarter
While waiting for the others to return from the meeting, Maggie decided to take them out to the Green Market Quarter to look around the stalls. Being market day, it was expectantly busy. Hundreds of people crowded the area, buying all sorts of strange things.
"Everyone be careful, you don't want to get lost!" the young girl called back as she led them through a large crowd towards the main centre
"They certainly have lots of interesting things for sale here" Sakura noted, "What currency do they use here?"
"Here we use Imperial Silver. If you want anything, I can buy them for you!"
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Of course! If you're the ones who's going to help my father then I'll buy you whatever you want"
That last statement made everyone stop and think
'What did she mean by that?'
"Hey, come on! Over here!" The girl waved her hand in the air as she ran towards a stall outside a large restaurant.
"Lady Maggie, it's nice to see you this fine morning" The woman who ran the stall greeted the girl, then she noticed the group following her "Oh, are these friends of yours?"
"Yep. They're from out of town" she smiled back
"O-out of town? Are they the…uh…" the woman seemed to be getting nervous
"There is no need to worry, they're all nice people!" the young girl reassured her.
"Hey Sakura! Can I try something from in there?" Kero pointed inside the restaurant
"Kero, we've just had breakfast"
"Yeah, but I'm STILL hungry" Kero dropped his head
"Oh, would you look at all of these!" Tomoyo began to admire a stall which sells various clothes and costumes "Sakura-chan you would look so adorable wearing this!"
Tomoyo picked up a yellow dress and held it in front of her friend
"Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura sighed
Meanwhile Syaoran, Yukito and Nakuru where looking at a stall selling sculptures and ornaments
"You're outsiders, eh? Why don't you take a look at some of my wares, see if you like anything" The street vendor smiled as he waved his hands over the items on his stall
"You're very cheerful. Most people here seem to be afraid of us" Syaoran looked at the man suspiciously
"Well my good sir, I don't care where anyone comes from as long as they've got money" the man said with a strange glint in his eye
"Well, these are quite interesting" Yukito said as he picked up a small wooden horse "Maybe I could by something for Touya"
"That's a great idea!" Nakuru said "I'm gonna buy LOTS of presents!" with that, she started grabbing random items off the stall
Syaoran began to view the items Nakuru hadn't snatched. One item particularly caught his eye
"How much is this?" Syaoran asked as he picked up necklace with a small wooden bear hanging from it
"Ah excellent choice. That's a very interesting necklace. The bear is hand carved from wood that belonged to a tree which is now long gone. Nearly 600 years it's been, I believe. You'll notice the small engraving on the bears' chest which reads 'Love for Eternity'. I take it you'll be giving it to a very special lady eh?" The man gave a very wide grin as Syaoran blushed and quickly glanced in Sakura's direction
"Ah! Found you at last" A loud voice called over
Everyone turned to see Captain Terada marching towards them. He stopped in front of Maggie, and saluted.
"Your mother has finished with the meeting. It would be best that you return home immediately"
A/n I should've had this up earlier, but it's been a real mad week. A dog attacked my sister; my cat nearly got shut in a fridge freezer and after celebrating my older brothers 21st birthday I had too much to drink (I woke up the next day stuck in a tree somewhere in central London dressed as a raccoon) the next chapter I'll try to get up faster