Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Night's Heart ❯ A Trick at Dawn ( Chapter 5 )

ForeverDestiny: Hello all of you in Internet-Dom! Today we have a special guest, my English teacher, Ms. Asbury! Hi, Ms. Asbury! We had a creative writing assignment due tomorrow and she's letting me let this chapter be my assignment. You heard it right, Sakura-san! Typing Chapter 5 is HOMEWORK! Hehe. So, for the use of Ms. Asbury, and all of you faithful fans who have a very short memory, as I just uploaded Chapter 4 two days ago, I will provide a brief summery of the plot:

Sakura, princess of the Kinomoto Kingdom, is being attacked by strange creatures called `bird-beasts' in league with an evil woman, and has recently been betrothed to Prince Syaoran Li of the Li Kingdom, who is also to be her protector until the wedding. Lady Tomoyo is her best friend and Lord Eriol is the Prince's best friend and also Lady Tomoyo's protector. There have been two attacks on the Princess's life, one ending in the fainting of Sakura, for there was no Syaoran at the time, and one ending in a duel between Syaoran and the main bird-beast, Seito. The result was Seito's vowed revenge. Recently, it has been revealed that Syaoran is a Mock Orithi of Light, a shape-shifter with odd powers.

Wow, it's hard to summarize four chapters and a prologue in a paragraph! Well, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.

Night's Heart

Chapter 5

A Trick at Dawn

Eriol gently set Syaoran on his bed; Syaoran still out cold. Sakura had followed quietly the whole way from the gardens. Eriol was a bit worried but was afraid to say anything. Sakura had a lot to think about tonight. He didn't want to over nerve her.

Still nervous, he threw a quick glance her way. She stood there in the moonlight, contemplating Syaoran, as he lay asleep on his bed. Her face held concern, her eyes worry. Eriol felt it was time to get her to sleep.

"Sakura-chan?" She quietly but quickly glanced at him, eyes questioning his intentions. He knew she would be on her guard for the next few days.

"What, Eriol-kun?" Her voice was a bit harsher than normal. He winced a little, and her eyes softened. He gave her one of his patented smiles.

"Don't you think you should get some sleep? You'll have a long day tomorrow and it is past dawn, as our friend Syaoran here proved with his little magic trick." She nodded slowly, as if questioning his judgment. This mistrust was beginning to hurt him. In the few short days they had known each other, he felt almost like a brother to this girl. The sudden showing of dubiousness was unnerving, to say the least.

"Yes, Eriol-kun. I think I will get some sleep. I'll be in my bedroom. Oyasumi nasai." She walked out of the room. Eriol sighed.

"Goodnight to you too, Princess."

~***~

It had been relatively easy to sneak into their kitchens. Even easier than the little spell I used to turn myself human for the next few hours. The small vial clutched in my hand, hidden from view, reminded me of my purpose. I managed to convince the kitchen staff that I was new, from serving detail, and that I was told to make the Prince his breakfast.

Cooking was a bit difficult, I admit, but in a kitchen, there is always someone there to lend a hand. A little over a half an hour later, a good breakfast of bacon, bread, an apple, a small sticky bun, and milk sat in front of me. Unbeknownst to the rest of the kitchen staff, I slipped a little of the liquid from the red vial into the milk, which mixed with the liquid, blending in perfectly. I even let myself give a small chuckle before I hid the rest of the vial, about half full, underneath the sticky bun. Clearly labeled, any nitwit would know what the vial contained.

I went up to the nearest scullery maid, a girl named Chiharu.

"Here, girl. Take this to the Prince's chambers." She looked a bit confused. Were my orders unclear?

"But, Seito, weren't you supposed to take them up yourself?" Of course! Man, was I a baka!

"I, uh, just got another order to make Lord Akira's breakfast. Yeah, that's it!" She gave me a weird look but took the meal and headed for the door. That was close.

She turned around and looked me in the eye. I felt as if she were straight through me. Finally, she allowed a small smile to creep across her face.

"You owe me, Seito, but I'll keep your secret. Just don't let the girl down. Marry her!"

She winked at me and walked out of the room. I sweat dropped. She thought I was going to see a girl? Well, as long as she didn't tell that miserable Prince that `Seito' made his breakfast. I didn't know if this `Li-san' knew my name, but I didn't want to risk it.

~***~

Syaoran woke up around noon with a pounding headache and a terrible pain in his stomach. He let out a small groan, alerting Eriol of his presence. His friend put on a sarcastic smile and made his way to Syaoran's bedside.

"You know, if you know that you will be in wolf-form when you're supposed to meet someone, you could not show up and think of an excuse." Syaoran looked at Eriol, wide-eyed.

"Baka," he growled. "You know I can never remember anything that happens while I'm transformed! What are you talking about?" A flicker of horror crossed his face. "I didn't hurt Sakura, did I?"

Much to Syaoran's surprise, Eriol burst out laughing. This did not make Syaoran happy. He death-glared Eriol until Eriol took notice, making him laugh harder. Finally, Syaoran lost it.

"WHAT HAPPENED, FOUR-EYES?"

Eriol, still chuckling slightly, took off his glasses and wiped tears from his eyes. After composing himself, Eriol gave Syaoran one of his infuriating smiles.

"Well, you didn't hurt her but she beat the heck outta you!"

Suddenly, it clicked. Why he hurt so much. Why the wolf half of his brain felt so dejected. Why he was sitting in bed at noon. Sakura, thinking him a dangerous wolf, tried to kill him. No wonder Eriol had laughed so hard.

A knock on the door brought them out of their little world. Eriol called for them to come in. At the doorway stood Sakura, Tomoyo, and another girl with brown hair in two, long pigtails. Sakura introduced her as Chiharu and told him that she had his breakfast. Syaoran thanked her and she left, the breakfast tray sitting on the bedside table.

After a long talk which involved quite a bit of gasping as Syaoran found out Sakura knew his past and Tomoyo found it out, the breakfast was remembered. Eriol offered to get it for Syaoran while Tomoyo and Sakura talked about Tomoyo's latest dress design. Syaoran, greatly hungry, quickly gobbled his bacon and went for a swig of milk.

The milk went down fine but as soon as it reached his stomach a strange feeling overtook him. His face grew green.

"Syaoran?" Sakura mumbled.

Syaoran leaned over the side of the bed and vomited. (FD: I know its disgusting but its necessary!) After emptying his stomach of bacon and whatever else could have been there, he fainted. The others rushed to his bedside.

"What's the matter, Eriol? Is he okay?"

"I don't know, Sakura-chan." Eriol searched through Syaoran's food, until he found the red vial hidden beneath the sticky bun. He gasped.

"It couldn't be."

"What is it, Eriol-kun?"

"If it's what I think it is, Tomoyo-chan, Syaoran's in trouble. And if the King sees this-"

Eriol was cut off as the door swung open, revealing King Fujitaka, smiling at them.

"If the King sees what? I just came to check up on you kids. What's that, Lord Eriol?" The King's eyes widened as he saw the red vial.

"That couldn't be a vial of Corain, could it?" It was mumbled but the words rang clearly in the other's minds. Then, the King saw Syaoran, lying unconscious on the bed. Sakura could see the gears turn in her father's head. Corain plus unconscious Syaoran equaled…

"HALF-BREED!"

To Be Continued…

FD: Well, I ended with one of my trademark cliffhangers! What did you think? Please R+R everyone! And thanks for letting this be my homework, Ms. Asbury! Hope you liked it! ^_^ Heh, Sakura-san must be so jealous! Well, I better wrap it up! R+R again! Until next time, this is your authoress, ForeverDestiny, saying `Goodbye and have a pleasant tomorrow!'