Chapter 1: Card Captor Syaoran

In the dense mountains of China, a young boy sat comfortably in a archaic room. Within the room there were scrolls, paintings, and all sorts of relics neatly sorted and visible. The young child was sitting by the stone wall connected to a window, giving him a clear view of the rest of the temples in the background.

The ten year old was Syaoran of the Li clan. He brushed his short chestnut hair aside revealing his amber eyes. With an overly mature expression, he continued reading old scripts about a recent artifact he discovered. It had been a bit of a precarious deal, but he was glad to have gone through with it.

Before him laid the artifact he researched. It had the texture and appearance of a marble the size of his palm. Beneath its glass like surface was an abyss littered with stars that seemed to be forming and exploding. Ancient philosophers and mages dubbed it the Lingering Sentiment.

The boy was broken from his research by the sound of a crying hawk. Startled he looked to his window to discover the avian resting on the border of the opened window. Clasped securely in its neck was a nicely sealed letter. Recognizing the seal on it as one of the LI clan, he made haste to remove the message.

For the next few minutes he sat and read its contents. His features growing tired as he read on. After going through all the rhetoric and grandstanding, typical for a clan as large as the Li, he got into the main point of the message.

The Clow cards had awakened. Grimacing he began formulating the best way to pack his things. Syaoran's greatest lament was not being able to continue his fruitful research in the history of this temple. It was very rich and, perhaps in his own opinion, far more interesting than magical cards made from some distant ancestor.

But he had little plan to oppose the head of his clan, his own mother. What she wanted she usually got. Since he was the youngest of her children, he was the least integrated into the clan and could be spared. Scratching his head as he stopped a long lasting sigh, he replied to the letter, accepting his task.

He need to go to Tomoeda city in Japan and become a card captor.

...

Syaoran tucked at the neck of his uniform, a black long sleeved shirt with black pants. The tall stern looking teach of his had him stand before the door as he introduced him to the class.

"Today, we will be accepting a foreign exchange student. Please treat him appropriately." The teacher nodded to the door and the child knew it was time for his entrance.

Walking firmly into the classroom, he smiled politely to the class and nodded to them, while saying, "I hope to get along with everyone."

Mr. Terada, his teacher, coughed and pointed to an empty seat, "Your seat will be behind Sakura Kinomoto there."

Following the directions he walked by a honey brown short haired girl with vivid emerald eyes. Syaoran noticed that she was adorably confused by his arrival for some reason or another. Her confusion only increased as the day went by, although that had mostly to do with Syaoran's habit of staring at her. But he couldn't resist, she just radiated such power and a familiar presence. He had a rather good idea why.

When class had ended, he stood before her and questioned, "May I speak with you outside, Kinomoto?" His tone never straying from polite.

"Hoe?", was her eloquent response, as opposed to yes or no.

This caused him to internally laugh. It was refreshingly cute, so much better than the stern mannered Li clan he came from. Once the two found a relatively secluded part of the school, he began, "As I said before, I am Syaoran Li from China. Do you know what a Clow card is?"

"Hoeee?" , she said in surprise.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm actually descended from Clow. Since I assume you have been tasked as a card captor, where is the guardian of the cards?"

Shaking herself out of her daze, Kinomoto responded, "Kero's doing fine. He helps me with the collecting. But, he can't transform into his real form, whatever that is."

Nodded he leaned against the gate beside them, "I see. If that's true, that means you lack the Earth and Fire Clow cards."

She shook her head sadly.

"How long have you been looking?"

Shyly she admitted, "Since April of this year."

Rubbing his chin he made a request, "May I see the cards you've gotten so far?" It was a bit much he understood, but he wanted to get an actual feel of the cards. Direct contact was the best option at the moment. To his delight, although a bit hesitant, she retrieved the cards and gave them to him. She had been able to capture Watery, Illusion, Jump, Flower, and Fly. "Amazing, you've already collected so many cards and you've only began and known magic for a total of nine months. Kerberos must be so proud of you." He said with clear sincerity.

"I had a lot of help", she said shyly.

The Li child shook his head resolutely, "It doesn't make a difference, it's still very impressive. You're amazing, Kinomoto."

As she blushed, her friend that sat beside her, Tomoyo Daidouji, came walking over. "Sakura, are you getting along with Li?"

"Oh, right, he's actually related to Clow! He came from China to find some of the cards." She turned back toward him and suggested, "Do you want to come over to my house? I'm sure Kero would be happy to meet you. He really liked Clow."

"That's a great idea, but can we postpone that to tomorrow?"

She smiled and nodded agreement.

In return, he smiled as well. This gave him ample time to get settled and get a dessert for the visit.

...

Once he got to his apartment, he activated a charm within. From the center of the living room, a full miniature representation of the entire city appeared. Small orbs represented the residents. Holding a magical compass, he dropped it into the figure. It burst into a rainbow of colors.

"Set", he commanded. The magical radar locked onto the city. In the different parts of the city, faint colors formed. It was the Clow patterns. He would have to exercise patience since he couldn't actually seal the cards until they grew brighter after awakening. A particularly bright orb made its way in the city. It was Sakura's orb, properly on her way home. Even if he was curious, he stopped himself from following the orb, he would respect her privacy. Now he had to finish unpacking and getting his hands on some sweets.

It just wouldn't do to be a poor guest.

...

The following day, he purchased a box of baked goods from a local bakery. Following the directions that he received earlier today, Syaoran made his way to Kinomoto's household. From just outside the gate, he heard the sound of ringing metal. Neatly placing the box on top of the gate borders, he raced to see the source of the sound.

Just in front of him was an bizarre sight. One of his new classmates, Rika if he recalled correctly, was holding a sword in front of a closed eye Kinomoto, no doubt with the intention of doing harm. As the girl brought the sword down, Syaoran raced to her fellow card captor's side and stopped the sword with his bare hands! Using his superior upper body strength, he tossed her aside.

The girl used the blade to stop her slide backwards by stabbing the ground. Spreading his legs apart, he prepared for combat.

"Wait, Li! Don't hurt Rika, she being controlled by the Sword card", Kinomoto cried in her friend's defense.

"I won't. Trust me", he said with a soft smile. Syaoran respected that kindness within her. And like that, the two opponents were off. Rika was all finesse, but she failed to land any decisive blows against the young Li.

With impressive footwork, he dodged every blow and made sure to never linger at any one location. His dodges were both varied and sharp, prevented her from accurately predicting his next move.

"As interesting as that Sword card is, it has one major weakness in this case...", Syaoran began as he dashed away from Rika's line of sight, just before reappearing behind her and smacking the sword out of her hands, "the user."

As the sword traveled in the sky, Syaoran pulled a talisman from his shirt, which contained the Chinese symbol for seal, and threw it to the blade. With a shine of light, the sword became a card."Let us work well together, Sword card." Almost as to say yes, it gently glided to his hands.

After making sure her friend was okay, Kinomoto came over. "Thank you for not harming her."

"It's fine Kinomoto. She was a bystander, I wouldn't want to put her in danger."

Kinomoto then pouted, puffing up her cheeks.

Nervous he questioned worriedly, "Is something wrong? Did I hurt her?"

She broke into a smile, "Nope. I'm upset over this Kinomoto silliness. You helped Rika when it was easier to beat her up. And I'm pretty sure that makes us friends. Just call me, Sakura."

For a moment, he was shocked by the sheer openness and friendliness from Kinomoto, no Sakura. Syaoran would be the first to admit that he didn't get out much. What he prioritized didn't exactly align with the Li Clan's goals, so friendships weren't exactly his forte. "Of course, on one condition, call me Syaoran."

He never saw a brighter smile then now.

"Did you come over for a reason, Syaoran?"

The brown haired boy only looked at her oddly, but patiently, and said, "You invited me, remember? You wanted to introduce me to the guardian of the cards."

She laughed sheepishly as she bopped herself on the head, "Silly me, how could I forget?"

"It's fine, you were obviously occupied."

The two waited until Rika awoke and eventually sent her back to her house. Afterwards, he helped her clean up the yard and a bit of the interior of the house. It went without saying, one should help their friends, new or old.

...

Once they finished, the pair went up to her room. It was just as girly and cutesy as he imagined. There were various stuffed toys all around. One peculiar toy was a small cat like creature with wings, but it couldn't be, there was a great amount of latent magical power stored within it.

"Come on out, Kero, this is Syaoran that I was talking about yesterday", she said brightly.

"Oh? So this is the Li brat, he doesn't look so tough", the now revealed guardian muttered unimpressed.

Not all insulted by the muttering he bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you great guardian. I have always wished to meet one that could prevent the works of Clow from running loose. Forgive me for intruding, I brought snacks if you wish to indulge."

At the first mention of food, Kero cheered and flew right to the box. Shaking the contents, he picked up a chocolate glazed donut and munched happily, "Alright kid, you aren't all bad."

"But I must ask a few questions, oh regal one", Syaoran said excitedly.

"Sure, sure, ask anything you want." Kero' ego was suitably stroked from the child's respect.

"Can you explain the cultural shift of Chinese to English relations circa Clow's time?"

"What?" Kero seemed to expect questions, not so much centered around history, but magic.

Taking little heed to the depowered guardian's surprise, he fired question after question about world history of Clow's time.

"So, Syaoran loves history. I thought a magician like you would want to hear about Clow's magic abilities", Sakura said with a smile.

"History has a sort of magic on its own. Besides it makes me happy, getting lost to the sands of time, understanding all the shifts that brought us to today. The lives we live is all thanks to the combinations of those before us. We can learn a lot from their mistakes and achievements. Even the worst tyrants in history give us lessons to beware. What about you, what makes you happy?", Syaoran finished.

Her reply was instant and sure. "I love my family, even my brother, Yukito, and my friends."

He applauded her values, that statement was such a Sakura thing to say, but it still brought a certain warmth to his chest. Before long, he eyed the clock and saw how late it was, "I believe it's time I made my way back home. "

As he walked out of her front door, he turned and looked her softly in the eyes, "For what it's worth, I'm glad someone as kind hearted as you found the Clow cards first. Who knows what could've happened if some madman had gotten to them first."

His piece said, he made his way out, never noticing the appreciative smile sent his way.

...

On his walk back to his apartment, a ripple of magic hit him. Clutching his left eye, he felt that awakening of a new Clow Card. Hearing a static like sound, he leapt backwards before a bolt of lightning could strike him.

The being in front of him was some manner of wolf made purely of electricity. This was the Thunder card. Although, to be frank, he felt that the Lightning card would have been a better name. Unless its purpose was to make loud thunderous sounds, it didn't live up to its name.

Syaoran rolled to the side, barely avoiding an electrical charge from the card. Kicking the ground, the Chinese boy leapt unto a power pole. Snarling, the beast ran to him again. To avoid the rush, he jumped from the pole, rolled on the ground, and made a mad rush away from it.

Seeing him run, the Thunder ran after him. Quickly checking his surroundings, he selected the playground as a battle field, in the name of avoiding any electrical damages being done to the citizen's homes. Digging into his pockets, he procured another talisman, this one had the Chinese symbol of bind on it. With accurate aim, he threw it at the beast and it found itself locked into a multitude of chains. The more it struggled, the tighter the chains became.

It roared and sent charges his way. Surging magic into his left eye, a lasin board like image took up the place of his pupil. This allowed him to see the flow of the beast's magic and suitable dodge any incoming long distance attacks. Observing the Clow beast with his unusual eye, he saw the very core of its being. It was in the head, thus making it a weakness.

"I, Syaoran Li, call upon your power, Sword!", he cried out as a saber appeared in his right hand. Not wasting a moment, he dashed at the Thunder and rammed the tip right into its head, thus paralyzing it. Pulling out yet another sealing talisman, he slammed it onto the beast's face. In a dim light, the creature turned into a card. Snatching it up, he deactivated his eye and sighed heavily.

The eye had majorly drained on his magical and physical reserves. Dragging his feet, he reached the swings and sat down to simply recover. Looking to his right and left to make sure no one was around, he began swinging high on the swings hollowing and cheering all the while.

He was a ten year child after all.

Author's Note:

I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of Descendant of Clow. This is one of the stories I always wanted to write. Syaoran in this story is based around his Tsubasa character. I always preferred him over the Card Captor Sakura version. Besides, I noticed a lack of Card Captor Sakura stories based on the actual plot and not some completely unrelated universe. Or maybe, I wasn't looking hard enough.

If you think this story should be continued, please leave reviews. It allows me to get a feel for people's reactions.

Thank you for reading.