"What a day…"

Kaoru kicked his sandals off and simply collapsed backward onto his bed, contemplating the events of the day. It had been a strange one indeed — far and away the strangest he had ever experienced.

Maybe I was imagining it all, he pondered. Maybe I've been under too much stress lately. Moving, new school, and all that… He shook his head vigorously, as if hoping that he would suddenly come to his senses and everything would be right, be normal again. Sitting upright, he glanced toward the desk in the corner of his room, and saw — precisely where he had set them, before dinner — the pendant, book, and card.

What are they? What was it that he had seen, when he opened that book in the library? Could someone have been playing some sort of prank on me? Was it meant for someone else? His mind grasped for a logical explanation. It had to have been some sort of trick. Things like this just don't happen in the real world. It just doesn't make sense. There aren't really any magical cards that vanish when you open a book…

And yet, another part of his mind countered, there is an empty book on that desk, with the last of those cards sitting right beside it. Massaging his temples as he mentally struggled to devise some explanation, Kaoru stood and crossed to the desk, to once again examine the trio of objects. A pendant…a book…and a card. He reached for the card as if to pick it up, but hesitated, as if he expected it to somehow come alive in his hand. His curiosity soon got the better of him, however, as he carefully took it from the desk and held it up, looking closely at the front side. It depicted a strange looking creature, perhaps some variety of fox, in a pose that suggested it was running. And the name at the bottom — "THE DASH", it read — seemed to reinforce that suggestion, if his limited English vocabulary served him right. He turned it over, gazing on the ornate diagram on the back. The moon, the sun, lots of stars… It almost looks like a magic circle right out of some anime. He set it back on the desk and turned to the book. It bore many of the same symbols as the card — particularly the sun, moon, and stars — as well as the name Sakura, embossed in gold on the front cover.

Lastly, he turned his attention to the pendant. Again, the gold star, mounted within the 'handle' of a pink-colored key with a pair of tiny white wings attached to either side, hanging from a mid-length chain. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed like just a little girl's charm necklace…except for that star.

There's a star on the pendant, and lots of stars on the card and the book. They're all pink. He still cringed at that particular detail. Not for the first time, he asked himself: just what ARE they?

A long yawn cut his train of thought short. He looked at the alarm clock on his desk; it was already quarter to ten.

Well, nothing's likely to happen if I just keep staring at these things all night… Yawning again, he decided that the best option was probably to sleep on it for tonight, and worry about it after school tomorrow. With that, he stood, and started dressing for bed.

As he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, Kaoru found himself quite unable to fall asleep. Whether it was due to the day's strangeness or simple sleeplessness, he was unsure (though he suspected the former), but he was starting to feel annoyed at himself. Tomorrow is likely to be a long day as it is, even without going through it half-asleep… He turned to lay on his side, gazing toward the window…

…and found that there was someone gazing right back at him.

He froze, not daring to move, even to breathe. He resisted the urge to shout, "Who's there!" — perhaps it was merely another illusion, his tired eyes playing tricks on him again.

But when the window opened of its own accord, and a tiny figure silently glided into his room, he began to realize that, just perhaps, this was no mere figment of his imagination. Figuring that the thing probably already knew he was there, Kaoru slowly sat upright, reached for the bedside light, and turned it on.

Sitting cross-legged on the desk next to the day's finds was probably the last thing Kaoru had expected to see there: a small plush animal, a tawny brown in color, with beady black eyes, a pair of tiny white wings on its back, and a long, thin tail with a bushy white puffball at the tip. It sat there motionlessly, its gaze fixed on Kaoru as if waiting for him to make the first move.

Kaoru opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, unable to think of what to say first. Finally, he posed a simple question to the strange apparition: "Who — or what — are you?"

The plush toy adopted a thoughtful expression, causing Kaoru to catch his breath with surprise — it reallycan move! "Hmm…where to begin," it spoke in a clear, high-pitched voice.

It can talk, too!

"I'm Kerberos, the Beast of the Seal. I was created a long time ago by a powerful magician named Clow Reed, to be the guardian of his creations, the Clow Cards — vessels of magical power that possess many different abilities. Each Card is unique — they have their own personality, their own power, and a distinct physical form. Clow created them for various purposes…some for battle, some for pleasure, and some for no logical reason whatsoever…but I digress." The toy — Kerberos, Kaoru mentally corrected himself — somehow caused the card on the desk to float in the air beside it. "Before he passed on, Clow left the Cards in the care of myself and Yue, the Judge, until another would come along to become our next master.

"For many years we waited for the one Clow predicted. Meanwhile, the Cards were sealed away in the book you have right here. Eventually, someone came along, found the book, and opened it… and the seal on the Cards within was broken, and they were scattered.

"The one who found the book was named Sakura, and it was she who I realized was the one Clow had foreseen, the one who would become the next master of the Cards. I made myself known to her and appointed her the Cardcaptor: the one destined to recapture the scattered Cards and to become their new master. Over the course of the next year, she sought out and recovered the Cards, facing challenges and even great danger in her task. Ultimately, she prevailed, and became master of the Cards.

"Because the Cards were created using Clow's power, after he passed, the Cards slowly began to lose their power — because Clow was no longer around, the power that allowed them to exist slowly faded. Because Sakura cared so much for the Cards, she realized that in order to keep them from fading away completely, she had to recreate them all using her own magical power. What you see here," he said, indicating the card hovering beside him, "is a Sakura Card, which she created using her own power." Kerberos' expression fell.

"Six months ago, Sakura, myself, and Yue encountered a powerful being who appeared out of nowhere. It attacked Sakura, and while we fought back, none of our powers had any effect on it. It managed to ambush Sakura, and she vanished into darkness." Kerberos fell silent for some seconds.

Kaoru was bewildered by the story he was being told. It seemed entirely too ridiculous to be believable…and yet, something suddenly occurred to him. There had been a disappearance from Tomoeda right around six months ago…and if he remembered correctly, it had been a girl from the high school he was now attending. He wasn't entirely sure, but the girl's name might indeed have been Sakura…

"When she disappeared," Kerberos continued, "Yue and I were cut off completely from Sakura's power. The Cards were once again sealed within the book, and I was left with the tasks of looking for Sakura, and watching over the Cards once again." He paused, looking directly at Kaoru. "And that brings us to the present.

"The book you found in the library is the book in which the Cards were sealed. When you opened the book, the seal was broken. The Cards, awakened from their slumber, scattered to the winds in search of their master." He paused again, as if choosing his words carefully. "As the one who found the book and the key, it therefore falls to you to find the Cards, recapture them, and… and hopefully…" Another pause. "…And hopefully, to find Sakura." With that, Kerberos looked at Kaoru with an expectant look on his tiny, round face.

For some moments, Kaoru was at a complete loss for words. This is entirely, patently ridiculous! The dominant, logical side of Kaoru's mind was still insistent that some part of this was a joke that had gotten completely out of hand, that there was still some reasonable explanation for what he was seeing. I'm just a normal high school student. There's absolutely nothing special about me, no magical powers, nothing! This sort of thing only happens on TV, not in real life…

And yet against all reason, when he looked up again, the self-proclaimed Beast of the Seal sat patiently atop his desk, the pink card floating in the air beside it, waiting for his response.

Drawing a deep breath, Kaoru finally spoke. "Do I have any say in this? Why do I have to get them all back?"

"Because the book would only appear to the one best suited for the task," came the reply. "You would not have been able to see it if you were not uniquely qualified. Nor would you have been able to find the key," Kerberos said, levitating the pendant into the air towards him. "This is the key to both sealing and using the power of the Cards. It too would only reveal itself to the one deemed worthy of using it." The key floated lazily through the air, until it hovered about a foot from Kaoru's face. He reached toward it slowly, unsure of what would happen if he touched it. Gingerly, he tapped it with a finger; when nothing happened, he took hold of it and held it in his cupped hands. He looked up at Kerberos with a quizzical expression.

"And what am I supposed to do with this 'key'?"

The creature simply smiled and said, "just wait and see!"

"Eh?"

"Key of the Stars…" Kerberos began. Kaoru cocked his head to the side, perplexed…then jumped, startled, as the mysterious circular diagram had suddenly appeared on the floor beneath his feet, glowing a bright golden yellow in the dim light. What the…!

"Here is one wishing for a contract with you. A boy, named…umm…" With a sheepish look on its face, the diminutive Beast of the Seal looked up. "Just what is your name?"

"K…Kaoru. Kaoru Tanaka."

"Kaoru, got it. Ahem." Resuming its look of concentration, it continued. "A boy, named Kaoru. O Key, grant him your power! RELEASE!"

The key suddenly jumped out of Kaoru's hands and into the air before him, glowing with a bright golden aura. Before his eyes, it transformed — elongating into a sort of makeshift staff, bearing the same encircled, winged golden star at the head. Bewildered, Kaoru could do naught but look across the room at Kerberos, who had assumed a dramatic pose. "Now, take the staff!"

Too bewildered to do anything but obey, he gingerly grasped the handle of the staff. Instantly, a bright flash lit the entire

"And, DONE!" Kerberos punched the air enthusiastically. "Once again, a Cardcaptor is on the job!"

"Wha…" Kaoru was now thoroughly, utterly confused. "Card…captor? Huh?" His logical mind was taking a metaphorical beating from being inundated with these strange, impossible events. Slowly, though, something Kerberos had said began to dawn on him. "Wait…what was that about being 'on the job'? What did you just do?"

"Well, I thought that I made it pretty obvious. You opened the book and allowed the Cards to scatter…so, naturally, it now falls to you to get them back — with my invaluable assistance, of course." Kerberos floated over to him and held out a paw. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Cardcaptor Kaoru!"

Feeling utterly ridiculous holding the shiny pink staff and talking to a flying stuffed toy, Kaoru grudgingly shook said toy's paw. Despite the lingering hope that this was all just a stress-induced dream (or maybe a nightmare), he had a feeling that his life had just become much, much more difficult.

Authors notes: Holy mother of mayhem, this chapter took a while. Having surgery to repair a hernia and being confined to bed for an entire week, to say nothing of floating around somewhere off the East Coast might have had something to do with it. In any case, it's up. I'm sure you all know the drill by now - read, review, critique, point out obvious inaccuracies (since I wrote this in the middle of the night, there's bound to be a few), and generally let me know if you like it!