Deceiving Appearances
A Cardcaptor Sakura fan fic by *blinkblink*
Disclaimer:
I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura or the characters. They appear here purely for my
enjoyment. Please don't sue me.
Chapter 4
Sakura looked into the face of her savior, illuminated by the Light card.
"Oh, oh no. Syaoran!?!" It was indeed that boy who was lying
unconscious in front of her. Sakura looked around at the blizzard. 'I'll never
be able to get him back to the cabin. And I can't leave him here. We'll have to
stay here.' Sakura leant over Syaoran protectively. Even if he had cheated on
her, she couldn't let him die, not when he had saved her all these times.
----------------------------------
"Shield card! Release and protect us from the storm!" The magic red
dome formed around her, and she found herself in the eye of the storm. Syaoran
opened his eyes slowly, and peered at her. She smiled down at him. He pushed
her away from himself, but then realized it was too late, and she knew who he
was. He pulled himself up into a sitting position, grimacing as he moved.
Sakura made to push him back, but he stopped her.
"Lying in the snow isn't going to help anything, I'll just end up with
hypothermia." She backed off, looking sadly at him. Syaoran, for his part,
held his hand up in front of him and chanted slowly. A green light glowed
around him, then disappeared. He stood, without pain, and Sakura deduced that
it had been a healing spell. She didn't see the pain in his eyes, because he
kept them carefully focused on the ground.
'I don't have enough power to heal properly, not to the extent needed now, but
this will do for a short while. I have to get her out of her. Shield won't last
all night, and those sweaters are preposterous.' Indeed, Sakura had started to
shiver, and her exhaustion was starting to kick in. Shield started to short
out. Syaoran turned to her.
"Look, you have to get back to your camp. Shield won't last for another
five minutes. I'll help you." Sakura, not totally in control of herself,
walked over to him and slapped his face. He looked at her, stunned, but made to
move in return.
"That's for kissing her. Why did you?"
Syaoran looked exasperated.
"I didn't! But now isn't the time, Sakura. Look, I swear it wasn't me,
okay? I'll put it in writing for you, but right now, we have to go, staying out
in the middle of a blizzard is not a good idea!" Sakura looked thoughtful.
"Okay, I'll come." He sighed with relief. He wasn't in the best
condition, and carrying her would have been a large strain. He took her hand,
and led her out into the storm.
Shield moved with them, protecting for the predicted five minutes, but after
that Sakura called it back. She was too tired to keep it up. The winds pulled
at her, trying to separate her and Syaoran. She shivered and fell, up to her
thighs in snow. Syaoran stopped and, taking off his cloak, wrapped it around
her again. She tried to stop him, but she couldn't. He dragged her to her feet
and they made it about a hundred meters before she fell again, lying in the snow
and closing her eyes. Syaoran picked her up and held her in his arms, walking
as fast as he could, shaking her every few seconds to keep her awake. She
groaned, and mumbled at him, but he paid her no heed.
A quarter of an hour later Sakura woke up, and found herself in Syaoran's arms
in the middle of a blizzard. She blushed. Her memory was foggy, she couldn't
remember what had happened. She was wrapped in something warm. The man's cloak!
What had Syaoran done with him?
"What did you do to him?!?" Syaoran looked down at her in shock.
"What?"
"The man with the cloak! This is his! Where is he?" Syaoran was
confused.
'But, she knows that was me, she saw it was me. It must be the cold.'
"Uh, that was me Sakura." It was her turn to look confused, but not
for long.
"It couldn't have been! Put me down!" She hit his chest as hard as
she could.
"What have you done to him?!? Where is he?!?" Syaoran grimaced as her
blows hit home. Although not strong, they were connecting right where she had
landed on him, and, pretty as she was, she was definitely not as light as a
Sakura blossom. He kept on walking, through the snow he fancied he could see
lights.
"I am him! He is me! We are right here! Could you stop hitting me,
please?" Sakura looked suspicious.
"Only if you put me down!" She continued hammering away. Syaoran kept
walking, but was going much slower now.
"Promise you won't try to go to sleep again?" Sakura was confused
again.
"Why should I be sleepy?"
Syaoran sighed and put her down, and she ceased whacking him. He took her by
the corner of his cloak and led her towards the light. They arrived, and found
it was her cabin. She looked at him, standing alone in the snow.
"Er, thank you, Syaoran. I don't know if you were who you say you were,
but you did get me back here. Thanks." She walked inside and went to bed.
Syaoran waited for a few minutes to make sure nothing more happened, then
started walking towards the woods. Half way there he tripped and fell, groaning
in pain as he hit the ground. He pulled himself up again, sneezing, and trudged
a few meters farther before falling again. This time he did not get up. Sakura
didn't see any of this, nor did she see the black shadow which enveloped him
and spirited his unconscious form away.
-------------------------------
Sakura woke up to find it was morning, and the storm had blow itself out. The
wet cloak was still lying in a pile at the foot of her bed where she had left
it the night before. She leapt over to it and shoved it under her bed. The
other girls were beginning to wake. She dropped back into her bed until a few
of them were up, then got up as well, stunning them with her prompt awakening.
She smiled in what she hoped was a disarming manner, and they all got ready for
breakfast.
After breakfast she managed to get Tomoyo away from the others a little ways
away from the path, and told her all she could remember of the previous night.
"So, Syaoran's here, and he's the guy in the cloak?" Tomoyo tilted
her head in a questioning manner.
"Well, he's certainly here. As I said though, I'm not sure if he's the
cloak guy or not. But, but, I think he is. Or, maybe, maybe I ..." Sakura
looked at the floor.
"You want him to be?" She blushed and nodded. Tomoyo smiled.
"Relax, Sakura. I'm sure Syaoran wouldn't lie to you. If he says he is,
than he is." Sakura smiled, and they turned to go back, something behind
them began to shine. Sakura pulled out the key and transformed it into the
wand. The light took the form of a ball, as it had before. Sakura and Tomoyo
backed off. The ball showed the man who had appeared in it before.
"Hello, Cherry Blossom."
Sakura gasped as she recognized him, although she hadn't expected it to be
anyone else.
"Who are you?"
The face smiled.
"Ah, you wouldn't know my name. But you can call me Shinigami."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, and he laughed.
"I was rather put out to find that you had survived, I had been hoping for
a more negative effect. However, that is beside to point. I have something here
which might interest you." The man moved aside, to reveal Syaoran lying,
unconscious, on a stone slab. Sakura moved forwards quickly, bending down so
she was right in front of the globe.
"Syaoran! What have you done to him?" The face re-appeared.
"Ah, that's the beauty of it. I did nothing. It was you."
Sakura's face must have shown her confusion, because he went on to explain.
"He was injured protecting you from me. And now, he will die." The
man stepped over to Syaoran and raised a knife.
"Wait! What do you want from me?" The man turned back.
"Want? I want to be the strongest, the best magician in the world. And
while you two are here, that is a little troublesome. So, I think I will
eliminate you. It's very simple, really."
He moved back to Syaoran, and the knife flashed as it flew through the air
towards the unconscious boy.
----------------------------------------