The X-Captor
I'd like to begin this fanfic quick, so I'll make this explanation short and sweet. This story takes place 6-7 years after Syaoran went back to China, and their confessions that they loved each other. His betrothal to Mei Ling was broken long ago. Syaoran is now the Li Clan's leader.
Now without further ado, here is the story
---Sakura---
Sakura was in a forest, running as fast as she could, for what reason, she could
not remember, but she knew it was important. The sky was changing colors rapidly-
becoming black and purple and grey before reverting to it's normal blue- only to change
colors yet again. Yet she knew that where she was going, what she had to do, was more
important that understanding what was happening to the sky. She ran harder.
Soon, an elegant building came in view at the top of a cliff; It's refined gates
open, wrecked and barely hanging on their hinges. She slowed down to a walk upon
entering them, the feeling of imminent danger slowly creeping away. She walked towards
the building.
With a crash, the doors burst open. Sakura immediately ducked, while putting one
arm up to shield her eyes, the other to reach for her staff, still in key form. She looked up,
and felt her mouth open in shock and fear, before she screamed...
"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Sakura yelled, immediately waking up from her dream.
Her shout was accompanied with someone else's shout, a yellow furred, white winged
someone.
"AAAAHHHH" Keroberos shouted along with her, taking into startled flight
before looking at Sakura, who was still shivering despite the warm summer air from her
dream. "What was that for, Sakura? You scared me half to death, screaming like that you
know," the teddy bear-sized guardian said irately, looking, in Tomoyo's words, even
more "kawaii" than usual. He got even angrier at seeing Sakura stifle a shaky giggle
despite her recent fear- Kero just looked so cute when he was angry.
"I'm sorry, Kero, I just had a nightmare again" she answered the guardian, fondly
watching the winged guardian before sitting up on her bed.
"Another nightmare?" Kero asked, concernedly, worry written in his eyes.
"Sakura, these nightmares are happening too often," he stated, before adding, "And I'm
beginning to think that they may be prophetic." He looked at her seriously, knowing that
Sakura's prophetic dreams always warned of great danger in the future- the more often
she had them, the more serious the matter. 'And from the number of dreams she's had so
far, I'd say this new danger will probably be one of her worst trials, even more trying
than battling the reincarnation of Clow Reed.'
He snapped out of his reverie as Sakura finished changing, deciding on wearing a
cute little jean skirt and an pretty pink spaghetti strap shirt, with matching hair clips and
flip flops, stunning as usual.
"Kero, I think you're right about my dreams," she said sincerely, brushing her
hair back from her face as she went to make her bed. "I have the same nightmare every
time, you know, the one where I'm in the forest and find that mansion..." It was Sakura'a
turn to drift off in her thoughts, as she remembered the dream. What came out of the
doors of that place that could scare her so badly? For some reason, she could not
remember. Kero just grumbled about being hungry as she sat down on her newly made
bed, puzzling over it.
"Well, we'll have to discuss this later if you want to make it to your summer job
in time AND, most importantly, feed me" Kero said gleefully. "Today, could you get me
lucky charms for breakfast?"
He looked up at her happily, his eyes round, but Sakura barely paid attention to
his second comment. "HOE!" She said, looking at the alarm clock on her bedside table,
"IT'S EIGHT TWENTY! (Her work starts at 8:30) I GOTTA GET TO WORK!!!" And
with that, Sakura ran out of her room at top speed, officially starting her day.
---Syaoran---
Meanwhile at the same time in China at the Li residence...
Li stood in front of a group of eight year olds, each one holding a wooden practice
sword. He himself had a practice sword, his magic wielding sword hanging about his
neck in pendant form. He balanced the wooden sword up with one finger, its flat side
resting on his flesh.
"When you sword fight, the first and foremost thing you need is a good blade,"
Syaoran said to the gaggle of students, children of the Li clan, his clan. He continued
speaking to the class.
"Most people think that the most important thing about a sword is it's sharpness,
However, you can change the sharpness of a blade easily. What you cannot change is a
sword's balance." He then lightly threw the wooden sword he was balancing in the air
and deftly caught it, getting awed looks from his little students.
"The balance of a sword greatly affects it's effectiveness in a fight. With a better
balanced blade, you will be able to parry with greater ease, execute harder moves with
less error, and strike with more accuracy." He did one of each said move, again amazing
the children.
"So today, I'd like you to learn how to tell a good sword from a bad one." He
pointed to a wall of swords marked with numbers, all dull lest the children hurt
themselves. "What you will do is use the technique I taught you to balance each sword,
and put them in order, from worst to best, on how balanced each sword is. Everyone
works alone. Write down your findings on this paper," he said, handing out a sheet. He
gave the class a small smile before saying, "Now get to work."
Syaoran watched with amusement the children picked up a sword and tried to find
their balances, some of them, dropping their swords from inexperience, others giving
looks of concentration as they tried to figure out exactly what master Li, the leader of
their clan, was trying to teach them. 'Was I ever this bad with a sword?' he wondered
mentally, trying to picture himself as one of those little kids struggling to unsheathe a
sword, and failed. He knew he had not started out as a good swordsman, but he had been
unnervingly good for a beginner, remembering the stunned looks on his peers faces as
he'd master a tricky move in a few weeks while it took them months. Sword fighting
came naturally to him; the magical Li Clan sword was like a part of his body.
His thoughts ended as Mei Ling, Syaoran's cousin came into the room with a
troubled expression on her face. She walked up to him through the group of sword-
fumbling students, gave a quick bow in respect to the young leader, and talked to him.
"Master Li, the Elders request your presence immediately," she said nervously,
wringing one of her long black pigtails.
Syaoran, forgetting all formalities, asked her concernedly, "Mei Ling, what's
happening? You look really worried."
Mei Ling looked around the room to see if there were any adults watching, before
dropping her formal attitude and began speaking to him as a friend. "Li, something big is
going on in America," she said hastily. "I don't know too much about it, but five men in
our clan were found dead there." Syaoran looked grave.
"Is that all you know, 'Ling?" he asked her, eying her still agitated state.
"There was something unusual about how they died, I know that much..." she
said, looking down. "And I know they are going to send you there to investigate it." She
looked up at him again, worry written all over her face. "Syaoran, I know I don't have
any magical abilities, but I have a bad feeling about this."
"Me too, me too..."
"J-just be careful." She still cared deeply for him as he loved her, though now
they came to mutual terms that they liked each other only as friends. He thought that Mei
Ling would take it badly, but it did quite the opposite: they became even closer. To
Syaoran, their friendship was invaluable.
"I will," he said kindly. "Thanks for telling me Mei Ling. Oh, and, could you take
over the class for me?" She smiled and nodded as he again gave his thanks before the
young leader left to find the Elders. He distractedly left the room.
"Good luck," she whispered, "You need it."
I'd like to begin this fanfic quick, so I'll make this explanation short and sweet. This story takes place 6-7 years after Syaoran went back to China, and their confessions that they loved each other. His betrothal to Mei Ling was broken long ago. Syaoran is now the Li Clan's leader.
Now without further ado, here is the story
---Sakura---
Sakura was in a forest, running as fast as she could, for what reason, she could
not remember, but she knew it was important. The sky was changing colors rapidly-
becoming black and purple and grey before reverting to it's normal blue- only to change
colors yet again. Yet she knew that where she was going, what she had to do, was more
important that understanding what was happening to the sky. She ran harder.
Soon, an elegant building came in view at the top of a cliff; It's refined gates
open, wrecked and barely hanging on their hinges. She slowed down to a walk upon
entering them, the feeling of imminent danger slowly creeping away. She walked towards
the building.
With a crash, the doors burst open. Sakura immediately ducked, while putting one
arm up to shield her eyes, the other to reach for her staff, still in key form. She looked up,
and felt her mouth open in shock and fear, before she screamed...
"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Sakura yelled, immediately waking up from her dream.
Her shout was accompanied with someone else's shout, a yellow furred, white winged
someone.
"AAAAHHHH" Keroberos shouted along with her, taking into startled flight
before looking at Sakura, who was still shivering despite the warm summer air from her
dream. "What was that for, Sakura? You scared me half to death, screaming like that you
know," the teddy bear-sized guardian said irately, looking, in Tomoyo's words, even
more "kawaii" than usual. He got even angrier at seeing Sakura stifle a shaky giggle
despite her recent fear- Kero just looked so cute when he was angry.
"I'm sorry, Kero, I just had a nightmare again" she answered the guardian, fondly
watching the winged guardian before sitting up on her bed.
"Another nightmare?" Kero asked, concernedly, worry written in his eyes.
"Sakura, these nightmares are happening too often," he stated, before adding, "And I'm
beginning to think that they may be prophetic." He looked at her seriously, knowing that
Sakura's prophetic dreams always warned of great danger in the future- the more often
she had them, the more serious the matter. 'And from the number of dreams she's had so
far, I'd say this new danger will probably be one of her worst trials, even more trying
than battling the reincarnation of Clow Reed.'
He snapped out of his reverie as Sakura finished changing, deciding on wearing a
cute little jean skirt and an pretty pink spaghetti strap shirt, with matching hair clips and
flip flops, stunning as usual.
"Kero, I think you're right about my dreams," she said sincerely, brushing her
hair back from her face as she went to make her bed. "I have the same nightmare every
time, you know, the one where I'm in the forest and find that mansion..." It was Sakura'a
turn to drift off in her thoughts, as she remembered the dream. What came out of the
doors of that place that could scare her so badly? For some reason, she could not
remember. Kero just grumbled about being hungry as she sat down on her newly made
bed, puzzling over it.
"Well, we'll have to discuss this later if you want to make it to your summer job
in time AND, most importantly, feed me" Kero said gleefully. "Today, could you get me
lucky charms for breakfast?"
He looked up at her happily, his eyes round, but Sakura barely paid attention to
his second comment. "HOE!" She said, looking at the alarm clock on her bedside table,
"IT'S EIGHT TWENTY! (Her work starts at 8:30) I GOTTA GET TO WORK!!!" And
with that, Sakura ran out of her room at top speed, officially starting her day.
---Syaoran---
Meanwhile at the same time in China at the Li residence...
Li stood in front of a group of eight year olds, each one holding a wooden practice
sword. He himself had a practice sword, his magic wielding sword hanging about his
neck in pendant form. He balanced the wooden sword up with one finger, its flat side
resting on his flesh.
"When you sword fight, the first and foremost thing you need is a good blade,"
Syaoran said to the gaggle of students, children of the Li clan, his clan. He continued
speaking to the class.
"Most people think that the most important thing about a sword is it's sharpness,
However, you can change the sharpness of a blade easily. What you cannot change is a
sword's balance." He then lightly threw the wooden sword he was balancing in the air
and deftly caught it, getting awed looks from his little students.
"The balance of a sword greatly affects it's effectiveness in a fight. With a better
balanced blade, you will be able to parry with greater ease, execute harder moves with
less error, and strike with more accuracy." He did one of each said move, again amazing
the children.
"So today, I'd like you to learn how to tell a good sword from a bad one." He
pointed to a wall of swords marked with numbers, all dull lest the children hurt
themselves. "What you will do is use the technique I taught you to balance each sword,
and put them in order, from worst to best, on how balanced each sword is. Everyone
works alone. Write down your findings on this paper," he said, handing out a sheet. He
gave the class a small smile before saying, "Now get to work."
Syaoran watched with amusement the children picked up a sword and tried to find
their balances, some of them, dropping their swords from inexperience, others giving
looks of concentration as they tried to figure out exactly what master Li, the leader of
their clan, was trying to teach them. 'Was I ever this bad with a sword?' he wondered
mentally, trying to picture himself as one of those little kids struggling to unsheathe a
sword, and failed. He knew he had not started out as a good swordsman, but he had been
unnervingly good for a beginner, remembering the stunned looks on his peers faces as
he'd master a tricky move in a few weeks while it took them months. Sword fighting
came naturally to him; the magical Li Clan sword was like a part of his body.
His thoughts ended as Mei Ling, Syaoran's cousin came into the room with a
troubled expression on her face. She walked up to him through the group of sword-
fumbling students, gave a quick bow in respect to the young leader, and talked to him.
"Master Li, the Elders request your presence immediately," she said nervously,
wringing one of her long black pigtails.
Syaoran, forgetting all formalities, asked her concernedly, "Mei Ling, what's
happening? You look really worried."
Mei Ling looked around the room to see if there were any adults watching, before
dropping her formal attitude and began speaking to him as a friend. "Li, something big is
going on in America," she said hastily. "I don't know too much about it, but five men in
our clan were found dead there." Syaoran looked grave.
"Is that all you know, 'Ling?" he asked her, eying her still agitated state.
"There was something unusual about how they died, I know that much..." she
said, looking down. "And I know they are going to send you there to investigate it." She
looked up at him again, worry written all over her face. "Syaoran, I know I don't have
any magical abilities, but I have a bad feeling about this."
"Me too, me too..."
"J-just be careful." She still cared deeply for him as he loved her, though now
they came to mutual terms that they liked each other only as friends. He thought that Mei
Ling would take it badly, but it did quite the opposite: they became even closer. To
Syaoran, their friendship was invaluable.
"I will," he said kindly. "Thanks for telling me Mei Ling. Oh, and, could you take
over the class for me?" She smiled and nodded as he again gave his thanks before the
young leader left to find the Elders. He distractedly left the room.
"Good luck," she whispered, "You need it."
