Chapter Text
‘Syaoran.’
Cards drifted throughout the city of Hong Kong, shifting along the drift as a boy stood one lone building, a strange yellow animal floating alongside him.
‘Syaoran Li.’
His amber eyes seemed focused on the building ahead of him, a mystical sword in his grasp, clutching it if the world was ending. Soon, he started to speak, but all was heard was a deafening silence, wings now clung onto his shoes.
‘Syaoran. Li.’
One step. Two steps. Three steps. One foot above the other, he was soon closing on the edge, determined, as his legs lifted off, snapping away from the building’s grasp and falling towards--!
“SYAORAN LI, WAKE UP ALREADY!” A booming voice cut off the boys dream, his eyes opening in fright and a startled scream shaking out his mouth. His eyes quickly wandered the room, landing on a black-double bun tailed girl, a pout resting on her face as she crossed her arms against her chest. “Jeez, you’re finally up! I’ve been calling out your name over and over again, yet you never woke up!” The boy, rubbing his eyes, gave out a small frown and a sigh.
“Sorry, Meiling….” he mumbled out, his eyes glancing over at his clock on the wall. It was exactly 7’oclock, so that meant he had an hour to get ready. “I’ll be out soon, tell Mother I’m awake.” The girl’s pout never went away, but she consented as she backed away from his bed, having him sit up.
“Make sure it’s quick! Wei’s already prepared breakfast for us!” She yelled out as she exited the room, slamming the door behind her as the boy sighed, rubbing his head and started off his day to clean himself up. Today was September 1st and Syaoran Li’s first day of 4th grade, a boy founded in a rich household. The youngest and only male within the family, a lot of responsibility had been passed down on to him. Practice to become the next Li heir required plenty of work as his mother always reminded him, so he had to make sure not to slack off too much. Keeping his grades high, obtaining a proper reputation on school grounds, taking self-defense classes with the sword and learning martial arts, alongside many, many, other things, Syaoran Li was pretty busy. But it’s the most normal life he’s ever known, and he isn’t quite sure if he would want things to change or not. Stepping away from his bed, he decided to change out of his green pajamas, off to grab his school uniform.
Syaoran’s room, by all looks and purposes, was simple and clean. Light, ivy walls surrounded the child’s room, decorated by old scrolls in Chinese writing that Syaoran had mulled over many a time. He had a full white carpet dressing the floor of his room and a soft bed with silk fabrics and simple leaf designs resting on his sheets. He had a desk settled into the corner, filled with finished schoolwork over the summer and a few items of interest. Some were gifts from his sisters and Meiling, such as soft plush toys and letters for special holidays. They always kept pushing him to put a bit more “oomph” into his room, but he always denied their reasonings and said his room was fine as is (although he never had the heart to throw out their gifts). Nearby was a sheathed practice sword, alongside belts that signified his talent in martial arts, and then his lone, black backpack, ready to be reused by Syaoran again. Wiggling into the final piece of clothes, he grabbed his backpack and went towards the bathroom, making sure nothing was out of place.
For his elementary school, his school outfit had made him wear a white, collared shirt, alongside a blue-plaid tie and navy dress up pants. White socks and tied black shoes finished the look, now fixing his bedhead and brushing his teeth, his mind slowly wandered back to dream he was having before he was rudely interrupted by his cousin. Ever since school time was approaching, Syaoran kept having these strange dreams of cards, a strange yellow plush animal, and atop a tall building, staring down a famous landmark known all over Hong Kong: the International Commerce Centre. Syaoran was always one to ignore dreams, focusing his sights more on reality then daydreaming of the impossible. Sure, he did want to do things other than being the heir of the Lis, such as exploring the culture of the world, and the history behind it. He never admitted it to his family, not wanting to disappoint them, but he always admired archeologists, watching them from afar and seeing their studies on how the world was in the distant past. It was no secret that history has been his favorite and most appreciated subject, besides math and gym. But, he was getting ahead himself. The reason this dream was bothering him so much was that it kept reoccurring, over and over, the same sequence of events happening without pause. He held a hilt of a gleaming sword and saw himself speak words he could never figure out, watching as wings grew on his shoes and watch himself fly across buildings with ease, his legs guiding him closer and closer to the Centre before he woke up, either alone or Meiling whining at him to wake up already. It really shouldn’t be something that would be bothering him, but something was nagging at him. Eating him away like at any moment, something could happen. But there was no possible way that something like that existed. Magic was only a dream in fairy tales, after all.
“Syyaaoraaannn!!! Don’t make me break your door down!” He flinched at Meiling’s voice from downstairs, quickly closing the bathroom door and shooting downstairs.
“I’m here! I’m here. Don’t worry, I’m fine.” He sighed out, the strange dream out of sight and thought. Right now, he needed to focus on getting to school and preparing himself for the rest of the day.
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The day proceeded by as normal. As he ate breakfast and was out the door, he and Meiling tailed all the way to the familiar gates of their elementary school: Kowloon Tong School. The scent of the nearby waters as they passed by ran into their noses, the sun rising above the sea. As Meiling and Syaoran arrived, they went their separate ways, heading to their differing homeroom classes. Wandering up the school steps he recognized, no hesitation was in his steps he found his class: 3-A. Opening the doors, only gave small nods to those who waved hello to him, his feet taking him to the back room window seat. He settled his backpack on his chair, eyes wandering around the room. Everyone in the class was a familiar face, especially when you knew practically half of them all your life. But none were closer than the Japanese transfer students who had come about a year or so from 3rd grade. Out of a strange twist of fate, Syaoran had somehow befriended his much too friendly classmates, picking them out from the crowd. The one he was closest to was the only boy to transfer in, Takashi Yamazaki. Also, the one to be the most efficient in picking up Chinese the quickest, Yamazaki always told him the most interesting of things. Since Yamazaki knew a lot of things about Japan, he was happily ready to tell anything Syaoran wanted to know, and it had piqued Syaoran’s curiosity a lot. Coming close friends, Syaoran could trust the boy, although his trust wavered whenever the next person, a girl named Chiharu Mihara, who always spouted out that he was “lying again”, and that Syaoran shouldn’t believe him. Despite her annoyance with Yamazaki, she was actually pretty friendly, also active in sports as she quickly joined the cheerleader squad. Rika Sasaki was the next one, and the most mature out of the Japanese transfer students. If Syaoran ever needed advice and couldn’t rely on Yamazaki, he went straight towards Rika, who never hesitated to help him. It was also useful to have someone who could understand some similar issues he was going through, through the struggles of doing your best for your family and doing all you can to not let them down in an unwavering loyalty. It was something the Chinese boy could appreciate if nothing else. And finally, there was Naoko Yanagisawa. A fan of horror stories, she was always prepared with an interesting tale to tell everyone she knew. Putting her in theater, she had her freedoms of a writer to script out a play, as she was doing this year. She was always enthusiastic and although Syaoran was never one to be afraid of ghosts or anything of the sort, he could still enjoy the details Naoko dropped within these tales she either read or wrote herself.
But even with these friends of his, it was because of their willingness to befriend him that he even knew them so well. It did annoy him at first, trying to focus on his work or ignore their efforts, but bit by bit, they had somehow sneaked into Syaoran’s point of view. Meiling had even teased him multiple times that a loner like him even made friends other than her, but he knew that she was glad that he wasn’t so lonely anymore (even if it prompted another argument when she kept teasing him relentlessly). But even with these friends of his, he was still fine off his own most the time. Not to say he didn’t appreciate their company, but he enjoyed the intervals of silence whenever he had the chance to.
“Hey, Li!” A familiar voice dropped him out of his thoughts, Yamazaki with a smile settled onto his lips as Syaoran returned with a tiny smile back.
“Yamazaki. It’s nice to see we’re in the same period” Syaoran mentioned, as his friend sat in his seat next to him.
“Yeah, yeah. But there’s something I gotta tell you! Chiharu wouldn’t stop interrupting me since she thought I was lying again, but I’m not!” He exclaimed, Syaoran’s eyes sharpening with curiosity with what Yamazaki had found out. Yamazaki’s eyes usually weren’t open, but whenever he had told Syaoran something interesting or a fact he knew, the Chinese boy felt as if he was gleaming, a bubbly excitement to tell anyone his next tale (although, never for Syaoran to learn anytime soon, he was also usually feeling pretty mischevious, especially around Syaoran). “I heard that recently this cool antique shop opened up nearby! Having all sorts of knick-knacks from all over! Yanagisawa is the only other one that was interested, but sadly both I and she are too busy to see it today….” a sigh drifted out of the boy’s mouth, but quickly perked up when he pointed at Syaoran, “but I’m sure if you look for us, you can see some amazing stuff!”
“Me? I mean, I don’t mind but….” Syaoran quieted down before finishing the sentence, holding his hands together nervously as Yamazaki quickly spoke once more.
“Now Li, can’t you make a little bit of room out of your schedule to visit it? Besides, I know how much you like to study old stuff, so this your chance to learn more!” Yamazaki beamed, the other biting down his lip. Yamazaki did have a point. It was only the first day back to school, so it wasn’t like he’d be busy with homework today. He didn’t have any after-school classes either, so that wasn’t an issue either. What he did have to worry was Meiling following him and bothering him the whole way there or her dragging him somewhere else totally unrelated and losing any chance of exploring. So he had to make total sure he wouldn’t be followed after school.
His nose twitched in newfound determination, looking back at his friend. “Yeah, okay. Just make sure you don’t tell Meiling where I’m going, okay?”
Yamazaki grinned at his response, feeling a strange sense of pride at his answer. “Of course, a favor for a favor! Thanks a lot, Li!” By the signal of Yamazaki’s thanks, the bell rung and their teacher arrived, cutting away all class chatter and everyone to their seats. He shuffled in his seat, focused on the teacher, but anxious to the day that awaited him. Things seemed...to be lining up in his favor, so far.
He hoped it would stay that way.
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As soon the clock struck its final toll to end the day, Syaoran sprinted away from his class, down the stairs and soon, outside the school building. He had to keep looking around, making sure no one, or more specifically, Meiling was following him, but as he doubled--no, tripled checked, he gave a sigh of relief to see he was off on his own. He would have to thank Yamazaki later, but for now, he had a store to visit! Clutching the straps of his backpack, his feet made its way towards the directions of the shop. He made sure to get them from Yamazaki during lunch, memorizing them in his mind as took some sharp turns, his ears hearing the faded away conversations of people as he stood toe-to-toe with the so-called “Mysterious Shop”. Giving a blank stare at the unoriginal name, he opened the door, the twinkle of a bell sounding his entrance as he cautiously peeked around. His amber eyes brightened at all the old antiques spaced around the store, a stream of ancientness that Syaoran wanted to explore and research. Allowing his childlike wonder to get the better of him, he started to wander around, a smile slowly growing on his face as he passed by artifacts and all sorts of stuff passed by different eras and places all over. Passing by section to section, he had reached a whole stack of old books, waiting to be read. Carefully, he took one of his fingers and traced across each title of each book, curiosity striking him at every angle, his want to know more being fed as his eyes fell at what he thought to be the strangest looking book out of the pile. His hand grasped out for the red book, eyes staring over at it.
“The Clow….? What kind of book is this?” He muttered to himself, his eyes locked onto the lion that resided at the book. Unintentionally, his hand touched the lock on the side, a small snap! noise indicating its opening. Syaoran, panicking, tried to pin the lock back in place, but it was of no use. His hand was barely pressing on the lock! Was it really that fragile? He bit down his lip, opening the book, just in case he didn’t ruin anything on the inside either. When the cover fell into his other hand, relief went through him as he saw nothing else seemed to be broken, but confusion struck him as he finally saw the contents inside the book. Cards….? All with names and strange designs too. He picked up the first card from the deck, looking around. He didn’t notice at first, but the shop was...strangely quiet. He didn’t hear the shopkeeper’s voice, nor anyone other shoppers gazing around the aisles. Was he all alone? Walking to make sure, he went back to the entrance, only to be greeted by an empty desk and the stillness inside the shop. He looked back at his hands, one clutching the book, the other gripped with a card. He had to be sure to put this back and apologize when the owner came back, but his eyes soon snapped back to the curiosity of what this book was. Unnoticed by Syaoran, the mist started to dust around his legs, his lips opening up to say the words written on the card:
“The Thunder.” As soon as Syaoran muttered those words, faster then he could even realize, the room crackled and boomed, clouds gathering among the ceiling and wind dusting through the shop. Syaoran, of course, screamed in shock, his grip on the book and card as something of a mixture of a roar of a lion and a boom of lighting, the other 18 cards flew through the walls in the chaos, amber eyes filled with horror, shock, confusion, and just a horrid jumble of emotions swishing through him. What was going on!? What felt like years, the storm calmed down, leaving in its quake a mess of a shop and a lone Syaoran, with only the card of the name he called out and the strange Clow Book. His knees shook, falling to the floor as he blinked in his pure shock.
“Wh...what was that….!? What even...h-happened?!?!” His mind was going at a million miles a minute, the fourth grader not even given a moment to think nor rest as the next strange happening appeared right before his very eyes. The book started to glow, as a yellow figure started to rise from the depths within the red cover. Syaoran’s mouth gaped in shock, his eyes moving as such said yellow thing started to moving, yawning and stretching, coming to life!
“Ahhh, that was a good nap! Napping for 30 years really is a nice timeframe for a guardian like me!” The flying yellow plush moaned out, seemingly having not noticed Syaoran as the boy was struck in silent confusion, amber eyes not moving away from the yellow thing that moved in front of him. He felt like he was dreaming, that this was some strange hallucination he had imagined up. But the constant pinching on his arm, with its stringing pain, made him fully aware that this was real and that this was anything but another dream.
He quickly stood up, fear and confusion crowded his mind, but he had to keep calm, even in the face of the unknown. However, his voice was anything but calm when he finally spoke up. “Wh...what is….?” Syaoran stumbled out some words but was unable to get anything coherent out as the small yellow plush, thing, made a small “ah!” noise, turning around to face the fourth-grader with beady, black eyes.
“Howdy there kid! I was wondering how I got out of the Clow Book, but it seems you’re the one who woke me up!” It said ever so cheerfully, leaning in closer as Syaoran immediately stepped back, hissing and trying to make himself look tough, although confusion was still clear in his eyes.
“Don’t get near me, w-whatever you are! Explain to me what’s going on! Who are you and what is that weird book? And those cards, too!” He accused, his mind burning with a billion questions swirling as the plush toy sighed in exhaustion.
“Jeez kid, I won’t hurt ya! I’m the Beast of the Seal, Kerberos! I’m even been inside this book to guard the Clow Cards out of harmful hands and make sure disaster doesn’t fall upon the public.” Kerberos struck a pose, grinning from ear to ear as he looked at Syaoran. “I’m pretty cool, right!?”
Syaoran gave a dumbfounded look, blinking as he pointed at Kerberos with a frown. “But you’re just a plush toy.”
“Excuse me!? What did you just call me, brat? I’ll have you know that my true form will scare your pants off! Watch this--!” As a punch to pride was hit, the yellow creature started flapping its wing and concentrating a certain yellow glow appearing around it. But as hard it might, Kerberos couldn’t seem to show off his “true form”, shock appearing over his face. “The cards! I can’t...feel any of the cards!” He gasped, his beady eyes staring over at Syaoran with a newfound glare. “Hey, kid! Show me what’s inside the book!”
Syaoran hesitated a little, afraid of what might happen if he opened the book again, but opened the red cover once more, turning it around to show all the cards had disappeared, and with Kerberos replying with a sound and loud: “WHAT!? YOU ACTUALLY LOST ALL THE CARDS!?!”
“Ow! Let me explain!” He flinched, closing the book as he showed off the Thunder. “I didn’t mean to! I-I just called out this cards name and suddenly thunder and wind were all around me, and the cards just flew away! I had no intention of losing the cards, so don’t accuse me of such!” Syaoran loudly pointed back, Kerberos squinting at the kid.
“An accident, huh? But since you opened the book, that does mean you do have some magic in you...but you just know nothing. Ahhh, this is bad!” Kerberos groaned, the boy squinting back.
“Stop complaining! Besides,” Syaoran glanced around the shop, it still in total disarray after everything, quickly taking off his backpack and carefully placing the book and card inside, “we can’t stay in here for long. So get inside my bag so no one will see us!”
“Now wait just a moment kid, I need to explain--” Kerberos was soon muffled by Syaoran’s hand, forcefully grabbing him and hiding him away, closing it a quick zip and putting it back on.
“You can explain everything when we get back to my room! I’d really rather not get caught with this.” He sighed mournfully, quickly booking out the front door and away from the shop as fast as he possibly could. He was still horribly confused and his mind burned with a million questions, but he had to stay calm and focused. His feet pushed on, gripping the straps of his backpack tight as he bolted all the way home.
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“Clow Reed created the Clow Cards?”
“Hme fure dfid!”
“Swallow your food first before talking, plush toy.” Syaoran sighed out, drinking his homemade tea as on the other he watched Kerberos gobble down the plentiful of snacks he grabbed while rushing up into his room in a hurry. He was lucky that his Mother was busy and his sisters were doing after school activities, though he had no idea where Meiling was. He could only hope she won’t try to break his lock and barge in on why he left her alone. But he was here in his room, listening to Kerberos on the Clow Cards, how they worked, and now, Clow Reed in strange intrigue. Not once had Syaoran believed fairytales dreamt with magic, but after this whole fiasco of a day, he was certainly rethinking his choices.
Kerberos gulped down his food, a content sigh leaving his mouth as he brought his attention back to Syaoran. “As I said, he sure did! He’s practically known as one of the most, if not, a powerful magician of all time! Though he’s long gone now and has left the cards in my care.” Drinking through a straw, he sipped the tea, as Syaoran went a bit wide-eyed at this.
“The most powerful magician? I would’ve never guessed….though I feel bad he would such a lazy guardian in the care of the cards.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know brat that I’m perfect for the job, Clow Reed said so!” He huffed out, as Syaoran raised a suspicious look back, but he simply ignored it and kept going. “However! Now that the Clow Cards are gone, we’ll need to recapture them! And you, my friend, are gonna be the one to get ‘em back!”
“Wait, what?” Syaoran blinked, trying to process what he heard as his body went rigid, quickly shaking his head. “I-I can’t do that! I’ve seen what one card can do, the others would kill me, and with this limited knowledge, I don’t even know how I would get them back!” He barked back, gritting his teeth as Kerberos gave a nonchalant wave, suddenly pointing at himself with a smirk on his face.
“That’s where I come in, of course! I’ll help ya along the way, and you’ll be turned into a Cardcaptor!” He proudly proclaimed as Syaoran watched in a baffled nature.
“A….Cardcaptor? What even is that?”
“Exactly as it sounds! You’ll be given the tools to recapture the cards and I’ll make sure to help you, promise!” Kerberos raised his nub of a hand, smiling as he said each word. Syaoran could only think of all the possibilities of what could even happen if he became a Cardcaptor. He knew for a fact it would be dangerous, deadly even. But….he knew the loss of the other cards was his fault. Along with the fact that Kerberos stated earlier that if they didn’t catch all the cards, that “disaster would fall upon the world”, or so the guardian confessed to him. So with a deep breath, Syaoran opened his eyes, a glint of determination harboring in his amber eyes.
“Fine, I’ll help reclaim the cards.” He bluntly proclaimed, Kerberos lighting up as he flew up.
“I knew you’d come around kid! Alright, it’s time for the initiation process! Come over here.” The creature flew to a more open space of the room, as he made the book float in front of him. Syaoran followed after, focusing carefully as a necklace soon floated away from the book, in the middle of looked like the shape of a sword pendant. Kerberos floated the book away, as the necklace floated in the air, and then suddenly, a circle of magic appeared beneath both of them, as Syaoran felt a hard hit of wind collide with his body, yelping in surprise as he tried to keep his ground. “Now, go over to necklace! When it’s around your hands, make sure to yell “RELEASE!” And then you’ll become a Cardcaptor!” Kerberos yelled out as the gusts of wind blew around Syaoran, nodding as he trained his focus to the key only, carefully moving in the magic circle towards it. Step by step, he fought against the wind, his hands reaching out until finally, he made it to the center, putting his hands around the necklace, and followed Kerberos’s instructions.
“RELEASE!” Syaoran screamed out, as the necklace started to rotate, a blinding light covering the boy as suddenly, the pendant grew and grew, transforming itself into a sword! The hilt melted into Syaoran’s right hand, it hovered over the circle, and with that, the wind faltered and the first thing he heard was Kerberos’s cheering.
“Ya did it, kid! Ya became a Cardcaptor, just like I knew you would!” He flew towards Syaoran, swirling around the blade of the sword. “This is your sealing wand! Or I guess in this case, sealing sword! After you’ve weakened the card enough and got it in its true form, you yell out “return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!” and it’ll turn back into a card! Pretty simple, right?”
Syaoran only nodded, looking back at the sword in awe. At the hilt, two red pieces of strung itself from the bottom. It was both in the colors of gold and green, two gleaming gems of red both at the bottom and top of it. The blade itself was long but perfect for Syaoran’s height and weight, gleaming with a light sharpness that Syaoran wouldn’t even dare to touch to know it’d do some serious damage. He moved the sword around, easily swinging it around without hitting anything as he mimicked the moves he does for practice. It’s certainly a good thing he was taking sword classes, or else this would’ve been much more difficult. The blade itself seemed so well-fitted for Syaoran, too. It was almost if he was fated to do this, as if--
“Oi, kid! Stop spacing out and look outside! Hurry!!” Kerberos snapped out of his trance, as he rushed over to the window and opened it up, his eyes widening at what beheld him. Winds blew harshly in the evening sky, a sunset blinded by a majestic, white bird that was almost as large as the sky itself, each beat of its wing screeched wind back at Syaoran and the land itself. The creature screeched out a calling, and at the same time, Kerberos screamed back in return, “that’s Fly! C’mon, we gotta go capture it before it makes a mess!”
Syaoran let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, rapidly looking over at Kerberos after he heard the creature tell him what to do. “R-right.” He meekly responded back, nodding as Kerberos flew out the window, Syaoran carefully following after and down the roof towards the ground, did the boy stood closer with the bird.
“Okay kid, here’s the plan. Your only card is The Thunder, right?” Syaoran nodded at his question, taking it out of his pocket as Kerberos hummed in thought as stared at the card. “Alright! So you know how on the card, it shows Thunder’s form? That it’s a beast? Well, you’re gonna use that to your advantage!” Syaoran looked a bit confused, looking back at Fly, and then at Thunder, his mind blanking out a bit until it suddenly hit him.
“You want me to RIDE this thing!?” Syaoran exclaimed at his sudden realization, only to be brought back with a smile and a nod from the yellow plush animal.
“Correct, I’m glad you picked it up quickly! Don’t worry so much, because Thunder is one of my underlying cards, and usually, it’s extremely aggressive. However, something about it has...changed. It’s still aggressive, but it has a sort of fondness towards ya kid.” Syaoran dumbly pointed at himself, and Kerberos only nodded again. “I think it likes you! Here, just summon it so I can prove my point.”
Syaoran only looked back at the card, hesitant as he threw the card up in the air, and gave a small chant that Kerberos had taught him earlier. “Oh, Card created by Clow, lend me your powers to this key! By transferring the magic within the card to this key, become my power! THUNDER!” As the card fell back down, Syaoran stabbed his sword at the exact time, causing a burst of magic to erupt and summon the beast called Thunder. Obviously, Syaoran’s interaction with the card at first wasn’t so...friendly. So he was hesitant to see what the card would do if had brought it back out. The last thing the boy was expecting was said aggressive card, tackle him to the ground and start licking his face and hair in an affectionate manner, as he yelped out in surprise at it.
Kerberos, however, was chuckling. “See? It likes ya! I don’t know how you managed it or why, but it shows that no one else can do this but you!” Syaoran gave a squint at the plush toy for laughing at him but looking back at Thunder, his heart went soft. Maybe it was because Thunder was Syaoran’s first card that it was tame? Or did it...sense Syaoran’s fear and respected him as a Cardcaptor now? He could hear the soft purrs coming from the card, and a smile tugged at his lips, sitting up to pet the beast. He could do this. He had to do this. As Kerberos said, he’s the only one that truly could.
Thunder stepped back as Syaoran went to stand up again, dusting himself off he looked back at Fly. “Wish me luck.” He breathed out back to Kerberos, hesitantly boarding on Thunder’s back and as Kerberos gave him a thumbs up, Thunder roared, backing up as shot up into the sky like lightning, Syaoran gripping onto Thunder to not fall, although a scream didn’t fail to escape his mouth either. Thunder zipped up above Fly, making an opening to have Syaoran fall on the bird. A deep breath, he gripped onto his sealing sword, and thus launched himself towards Fly, although it was anything but graceful. Tumbling and stumbling, his quick instincts made him grab the fur, grunting as he felt the full force of Fly’s winds, the bird calling out another screech as Syaoran made his landing. He looked back up at where Thunder was, shapeshifting back into a card, and that’s when Syaoran made his cue to do another chant, ending this once and for all. “Oh, Card created by Clow, become as deadly as lightning and as powerful as thunder to strike down your opponents! THUNDER!” As the card struck his sword once more, crackles of lightning struck Fly in large amounts, and unable to fight back, it screamed in pain, its flight path straggling towards the ground. Thunder appeared back in its beast form, grabbing Syaoran and jumping off Fly before making its clumsy landing, Thunder and Syaoran following in tow as the boy quickly went in front of the weakened card, Kerberos quickly flying over.
“Now, kid! This is your chance!”
“Return to the guise you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!” Syaoran recalling the words, pointing the sword at the beast, sucking itself back towards him and returning to its form of a card. The card floated back on the air and drifted towards Syaoran, catching it with his hand as Thunder also reverted back, holding both of them in his left. Kerberos finally caught up.
“That was amazing, kid! I knew ya could do it!” The guardian cheered, Syaoran giving a sigh of relief that all of that was over. “But hey, let’s try out that new card! It’s pretty useful since you can fly anywhere with it!” He chimed back in, as Syaoran carefully placed back Thunder in his pocket, and threw up Fly in the air.
“FLY!” Summoning it, rather than be greeted by the form of a beastly bird, his sword transformed. The blade molded into a duller shape of a spear, wings appearing on the hilt as Syaoran stared at it wide-eyed. He held the duller part, no longer sharp to do any harm, and lifted it under his legs. As soon as he sat on it, Fly took flight, and so did Syaoran. He screamed in surprise, closing his eyes tight as he felt lifted into the air, and after a few moments, he heard Kerberos’s carefree laugh, slowly opening his eyes to a beautiful sight. As he sat on the staff, he could see the lights of his city below him, bustling streets of people and the land and waters surrounding it. The glow and wonder made him stare down in awe, a quiet victory in his first capture of a card. Of being a fully-fledged Cardcaptor.
At the start of the day, Syaoran Li could never fathom tales of magic or the miracles of fantasy. He all thought of it to be fake, to be nothing more than something to escape from reality and to fill the imagination of young children. But now...now, there was nothing denying that this was fake. This was his life now. His real life. Syaoran gave a tiny smile, as Fly drifted above his hometown. Forgetting about everything else, and just enjoying the moment brought to him, as Kerberos flew alongside him underneath the clouds and stars.