Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Upon A Dark Road ❯ Sunrise ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Upon A Dark Road
Prologue - Sunrise

Author's Note: Okay, this'll be a long note. Where to start, where to start..ah, I know.

Okay, okay, I know what you're all thinking "oh look...he scratched a story and started another one...again." right? Well, I can't help it if I lose all interest in DBZ, henceforth losing all interest in a story based off of it. It was just another ultimate evil threatens to destroy all of reality story anyway, so no big loss. Besides, now I get to work on the story that I've been wanting to work on for such a long time ^_^

There's just a few things you need to know to start off. And yes, these could have been put into the story itself, but I'm a lazy bastard. So sue me...wait, don't, I don't have a lot of money. *hides from bloodthirsty lawyers* Anyway:

1. I have found out without a shadow of a doubt that the name is Syaoran Li (in that order), so that's what will be used.

2. In this story, Sakura and Syaoran have been married for about a year, and living in america for nearly 6 months. As you can guess, they are also much older, both being around 26. Although they've been living there for only 6 months, they both attended canadian universities (^_^) in the years before they were married. So their english is pretty much flawless...well, as close as you can get anyway. They still toss in a japanese word here and there. Nothing major though (in other words, nothing beyond my comprehension ^_^"). I would have Syaoran use Chinese words instead, but I don't know any -_-".

3. On the subject of Sakura's use of "ho'e" (or however you would spell that), I figure she probably would have grown out of using it. Plus having gone to a canadian university, she's probably more than likely picked up on more english speaking quirks (such as "eh?"). Plus "ho'e" does sound a bit little-kiddish to me. I also don't think it would look very good just writing "ho'e", it's more of a sound than a word anyway. Whatever the case, it won't be in here.

4. If any characters seem OOC, I have one thing to tell you: It's been about 16 years since the end of CCS! I'm plenty sure that they would have gone through at least a little bit of an attitude change. Though I will try my best to stay true to their original mindsets, they are obviously going to be at least a little different.

5. I'm not entirely sure of my grasp on the magic system, and so if something happens that you know probably shouldn't have, let me know. Of course, I'm going to tinker with it anyway, but still...

6. Bear in mind that this story is written by someone who has only seen as far as episode 8 in the series itself, and so some things will undoubtedly be inaccurate. But hey, you can just tell me what they are when they arrive and I'll do my best to fix them. I just hope it doesn't end up being anything major that detracts from the appeal of the story. Oh well, I only write for fun anyway ^_^

Okay, that's it. Read my prologue? Please? *glittering anime eyes*

P.S. this is written in the style of a tv series, so chapters are actually episodes.
P.P.S. (7/15/01) Yes, for those who remember, this used to be called "Until The End, and After". Well, I changed it while I was revising the prologue ^_^ This is the final title, no changing it after this. And this will also be the ABSOLUTE ONLY time I post this prologue again. I had a few things to change from the original, and I was going nuts not writing something, so I fixed it up and here it is. There are only a few changes here and there, so please, those who have reviewed already, don't review again, just read it so you can catch all the changes ^_^. As you can tell, I'm keeping all the original author notes, just in case some new people read this :P

***

The golden light of the sunrise had just started touching the roof of the yellow New York cab as it pulled into a small driveway, at the end of which stood an equally small townhouse (colored a sickly pastel green). The cab came to a screeching halt not two metres from the wall, and shuddered as the driver pulled the parking brake on and turned off the engine. The driver's door opened with a metallic click, and out stepped the cabby, a rather short asian man with a dirty face and jet black hair that seemed to have been the home of a pair of rats recently. He pulled out of one of his grubby pockets a small piece of folded scrap paper. He unfolded it, and took a quick glance at the writing which was on it, then he looked at the number on the house and nodded.

"This is place" he said turning back to the cab.

In response, the two passenger doors each opened simultaneously, allowing a rush of fresh air to fill the lungs of the cab's two other occupants, a man and a woman. They stepped out quickly, sucking in deep breaths of the non-stagnant air and allowing their lungs to recover from the beating they had taken within the cab.

The woman was only somewhat taller than the cabby, being around 5'3". She had chestnut hair, which fell in somewhat organized strands mostly behind her ears, with the rest occupying the area around her face. She was wearing a white dress that reached all the way down to just past her knees, and a pair of white tennis shoes. Her emerald green eyes gazed about the area, taking in every detail.

Across the cab from her stood a lightly built brown-haired, brown-eyed man. He was the tallest of the trio, but still short by most standards, standing around 5'6". His hair was short and dishevelled, and yet it looked as if it were meant to be that way. He wore a loose-fitting green t-shirt, which was tucked into a pair of blue jeans, and black running shoes. He stood solid as a stone, scanning the house with a piercing gaze, scrutinizing every detail of it.

The house was in rather a state of disrepair. There were shingles missing from the roof and the paint was chipped and faded. Not to mention that most of the windows on the front of the house were either broken or missing. What could be seen of the inside looked a little better than the outside, but it was still cluttered with all sorts of garbage and remnants of the house's previous owners.

The cabby walked to the trunk of the car and popped it open, removing a few suitcases and travel bags. He placed them on the ground to the side of the car, and then closed the trunk.

"So you two buy this place?" he asked, "You must be crazy people to want place like this. It take years to fix."

The brown-haired man turned to the cabby, "Maybe so" he stated, "But it was for the right price. Right Sakura?"

Sakura removed her gaze from the house and smiled at the cabby, "Yep!" she said happily, "It might be a bit of a fixer-upper, but at least it's ours."

The cabby just shrugged, "Well, you two still crazy" he said, "But I have to go now. I thank you kindly for more than generous fare Miss Sakura, and you too Mr..."

The man glanced at the cabby, "Syaoran Li" he said, looking back to the house again.

The cabby smiled a dirty-toothed smile, "Syaoran? That is good name. Strong personality come with that name. Well, Mr. Li, and...Mrs. Li I assuming?"

Sakura nodded, "That's right".

The cabby bowed slightly to the both of them, "Well then, Mr. and Mrs. Li, I bid you farewell, and good luck!" he said, then turned and climbed back into the cab.

With a slight sputter the car started and then another slight shudder sent it rolling out of the driveway. As the cabby drove off, Sakura called out to him, "Arigatou!". The cabby simply waved goodbye back as he drove off down the street.

When Sakura turned back to the house, Syaoran already had a hold of his luggage and was walking up to the door. With a light tap of his foot against the doorframe, the door collapsed backward into the dusty entryway. Syaoran coughed as the dust invaded his lungs, then he turned to Sakura.

"I think we payed more for the dust than the house itself you know" he stated only half-jokingly.

Sakura laughed lightly, "Maybe. But like you said, it was for the right price."

Syaoran sighed and then entered the house, holding his luggage high enough off the floor so as to avoid getting them too dirty. Sakura followed shortly after, having collected her luggage as well. As she entered the house, the first thing she noticed was how thick the air was. She could almost see a permanent dust cloud all throughout the house, and it dried out her mouth and throat very quickly.

"Syaoran-chan?" she asked, voice cracking from dryness, "Do we at least have running water?"

Syaoran's voice came from the room just down the hall from the entryway, "Lemme check." he said.

A few seconds later Sakura heard a tap running, and then the sound of a cup being filled. She sighed in relief, not having water readily available would have been a problem with the air the way it was. Unfortunately, her relief was soon shattered when she heard Syaoran cough and sputter harshly, and then land on the floor with a loud wooden thump.

Sakura ran to the kitchen to find Syaoran twitching on the floor, coughing and wiping his tongue.

"What happened!?" she asked quickly.

Syaoran got up and spat into the sink a few times, "Agh! It tastes like sewage!" he commented between spits, "don't drink it if you want to live."

Sakura hung her head and groaned at the news, "That's just great" she said, "this dusty air is gonna kill us if we can't get running water."

"Not quite" Syaoran said with a wink.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow at him, but he just smiled mischieviously and brought up one of his duffel bags, placing it onto the counter. He unzipped it and pulled out a bottle of spring water.

"I figured we wouldn't have water, so I stocked up before we left" he said tossing Sakura the bottle.

Sakura's eyes glimmered as she recieved the blessed liquid. As she caught it she gave Syaoran an award-winning smile, "That's why I love you!" she said happily. Then she wasted no time opening the bottle and draining the clear liquid. The way she drank, she could have been mistaken for someone who had just come from wandering in a desert. Syaoran also had a swig from another bottle, but not nearly as aggressively as Sakura. Within a few seconds she had finished the entire bottle.

"Ahhh, that was good!" she said, wiping her mouth. She then hopped over to Syaoran and hugged him, "Arigotou Syaoran-chan". She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then bounded off out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Syaoran called after her.

Sakura's answer came from the other room, "Planning!" she said eagerly.

"Uh oh" Syaoran whispered jokingly.

He placed the cap back on the bottle he was holding and then placed it back into the duffel bag. He zipped the bag closed once again, and then moved it back to the floor. A large space in the dust on the counter marked where the bag had been, and Syaoran sighed as he looked at it.

"Don't worry, we can get this dump fixed up again" he reassured himself, "as long as I hide the water from Sakura anyway."

He dusted himself off a bit and then took his own look around the house. Sure, they'd bought the place and everything, but this was the first time they'd seen it. It was the only house on the realtor's list that they could afford, and so they'd taken it without even going to have a look at it. If it hadn't been for the fact that both he and Sakura were going stir-crazy in their apartment, they probably wouldn't have been so swift to make the purchase.

Syaoran's ears picked up on Sakura's footsteps on the floor just above him, only seconds before the floor gave way. A mess of building material which contained a shrieking Sakura fell onto Syaoran, but when the debris hit the floor and the dust cleared, he stood there stiff as a board with Sakura in his arms. She sat in his arms and just blinked in shock for a bit, and then she began laughing.

"This could take a while, huh." she said, turning her gaze to Syaoran.

Syaoran smiled at her, "That's a bit of an understatement don't you think?" he responded.

Outside the house, as the last part of the sun began to rise over the horizon, and the neighborhood began to awaken, a pair of sinister black eyes watched the house from the shadows. Belonging to those eyes was a dark figure, swathed in a cloak of pitch black. A twisted smile beset his face as he looked upon Sakura and Syaoran busying themselves with cleaning up their new home.

The figure turned away from the house, and concentrated his mind to open a channel to his master. A fuzzy feeling in his head told him that he had gotten through.

~I have found them master~ he informed the person on the other end.

~Exquisite. Watch them. Inform me when anything happens~ his master replied, a slight hint of joy tinging his words.

~As you wish, my master~ the figure replied, severing the link afterward. The figure then turned his black gaze back to the house, the same twisted smile forming once again, "That which we crave will soon be ours" he hissed, "Long have the Yamijiri waited...so long."

And with that, the figure melted into the shadows, cackling as his presence dissipated.

Back inside the house, Sakura felt a cold chill run it's way up her spine. Along with the chill came a presence...one that felt oddly familiar, yet unknown to her.

She turned to Syaoran, who was just across the room, "Did you feel that?" she asked.

Syaoran peered over his shoulder at her and gave her a funny look, "Feel what?" he said curiously.

"Nothing...must have been a breeze or something" she responded, her nerves starting to flare. Syaoran hadn't felt it...what did that mean? She wasn't sure why, but she had the feeling that something was on the horizon...something very dark.

***

Author's Note: Guess what? I thought it would be more fun if I ended there. Just to mess with your heads. Did it work? ^_^ Anyway, it was just a prologue after all, so what did you expect? Don't worry though, all this stuff will get sorted out fairly quickly. And that means next episode will be FULL-LENGTH! Yay! ^_~

Fun fact for today: Strawberry yogurt and Reese's peanut butter puffs cereal makes a great snack. Or if you don't like strawberry, try whatever flavor you like. It's delicious and nutritious! Well, the yogurt is anyway. Give it a try! ^_~