Sakura, Li and Freaking Cold
WHO: Sakura Kinomoto, Li Syaoran
WHERE: A Mundane North Pole Region
WHEN: About last week...
WHAT: A Clow Card has materialized in a most inconvenient of places.
WATCH FOR: Daring rescues! And a big fish...?
THE SOUTH POLE!
Or, more specifically, Antarctica. Unlike the North Pole, it lacks polar bears and Santa Claus. But it's also an actual continent. Point: Antarctica.
Right now, the weather is actually calm, if cold. Quite cold. Very, very cold. But the sky is clear, and the frozen ground reflects the sun in a rather lovely manner. Sakura would appreciate this more if the cute little costume Tomoyo made her offered more mobility.
As it is, Tomoyo just happened to have a costume made up of several thermal layers, gloves and even matching boots that effectively dressed up the girl as a purple Eskimo with a snowman face on the back of her coat. It's a very cute costume, but heavy, and even most of her face is covered by a fake-fur hood and a scarf. "Li-kun," she asks in a muffled tone, "are you sure the Rashindan said it was here...?"
Li Syaoran does not have a personal costume designer, and so is in his usual battle togs. And a scarf.
In other words, he is in a very, very, very cold version of hell.
"H--H-H-H-H-H--HOW AM I S-S-S-S-SUP-P-P-P-OSED TO KN-N-N-N-N-N-OW?" he calls out angrily, shivering like mad, his arms clutched around his body. This is, somehow, Sakura's fault. "I c-c-c-c-can't cast the s-s-s-s-spell l-l-l-l-ike th-th-th-th-h-th-th-is!" The Chinese boy looks around the area, snarling at penguins and....well, pretty much anything else around.
So, mostly Sakura.
It isn't Sakura's fault!
Well, she did open the book and spread the cards everywhere.
So technically, it is.
The girl makes a worried Sakura noise, sighing. "You don't even own a winter coat? Are you sure you don't want to borrow something off of my costume?" Of course, everything on Sakura's costume is bright purple. Parts of it are glittery, and there are at least a few puffballs. And she's still cold underneath that.
"I guess w-we'll just try to find the card as soon as possible! Yes! And look at the bright side, we have...um...there are...that is..."
They are spotted.
"...PENGUINS PENGUINS PENGUINS PENGUINS LOOK LI PENGUIIINS!"
Li Syaoran seems to give a slight twitching nod. That might not be a bad idea, except for all of the girly colours, and the.....he gives out a soft sigh as Sakura goes all girly on him. "Yes," he says wearily. "P-p-pp-enguins-s-s-s..."
The young man draws his sword and drops a slip of paper onto the ice, driving the point of the blade into it. Quickly, a soft, swirling flame begins to radiate from around the seal, and Li sighs with relief. "Hel-l-l-l-l-l-lo, t-t-t-toes," he groans, wiggling them. They /are/ still there. "H-h-hey, w-w-where's-s-s-s th-thth-t-he ss-ss-tuf-f-f-fed an-n-ni..."
Li's head snaps to the left suddenly as something pings off his senses. "D_d-d-o you f-f-feel th-t-h-t-h-that?"
Sakura's Penguin Euphoria is temporarily broken. Though their eternal cuteness still lingers in her mind. "...No, you're right, I feel that! It's a Clow Card! -Oh, Kero-chan said he wasn't going to f-follow us to anyplace cold and, oh yeah, he wanted to pass on that 'he is going to be sitting on top of the Dreamcast because it is so nice and warm.'"
She shrugs about that part. "Um, anyway! Here, just in case!" The fur stole part of the costume is wrapped around Li, whether he wants it or not, and then she turns to face the ice floes where that strange feeling was coming from. But there's nothing but...penguins.
And ice.
And maybe that was a whale that just swam underneath the ice.
Li Syaoran frowns, trying to scan around. "This is d-d-definitely the presence of a Clow c-card, but...." Li continues to look. There is no penguin card. "There is no penguin card," he offers aloud. "But it could be any of....oh." Li looks down at his body, the fire still burning. "I'm warm again. Hang on."
The sword is resheathed as Li draws out the Rashindan and closes his eyes. "Gyokuten yuujyoku shinken shiho," he begins chanting, lowering the board as lights begin to dance. "Kinmouku suikado, raifuu raiden shin chioku..."
A light suddenly erupts from the Rashindan and heads....straight down. Li looks stunned for a moment.....and then sweatdrops.
"....shimatta."
Sakura glances downward. At the...very thick layer of ice.
And pauses, making a face and an unhappy Sakura noise.
"...How do we get it? I mean, maybe we can draw it out. If we go underwater, we'll die of hypothermia!...wait, I know! Maybe I can lure something out with this." The Cardcaptor pulls out a card depicting an angry-looking mermaid, and strikes it with her staff to activate it. "Swim beneath the ice and investigate, Watery!"
There's a swirl of magic power, and then the Watery card springs forth, snarling and swirling. And starts to dive straight down.
And then freezes solid.
"..." She sighs, recalling the card. "Man, what do we do?"
Meanwhile, out on the ice, the penguins seem mildly alarmed. There's something big that keeps surfacing! An orca, perhaps?
Li Syaoran growls low in his throat and tucks the Rashindan away. "Sou ka," he says, nodding. "If it were out here, it might be Snow. But since you have Watery....it's got to be the Freeze card." Li peers down at the ice, tapping it with his foot. "I've seen pictures of it, but I don't know what it can do other than fr..."
Li's head turns quickly, as he hears distressed penguin noises. They are distinctive.
"Over there!" he says, turning and breaking into a run....at which point his foot sails out from under him. He yelps and slams into the ice, the hilt of his sword scraping against it. "ugh....one more time." Li pushes himself to a sitting position and claps his hands together. "Go! I'll be there in a second!" He quickly begins chanting in Mandarin.
"Right!" Sakura will protect you, Penguins! Never fear! She pulls out the Jump card and activates it, springing into a long, flying leap that lands with less force than expected on the thick, heavy ice floes where the penguins flock.
"...Penguiiins," she coos for a moment before remembering her job.
The big, white, heavy shape floats beneath the ice again, before something surfaces and leaves frozen shards in its wake. "Li-kun, over there!"
Li Syaoran leaps over Sakura, his robes fluttering as he goes, sword clenched in his right hand. Almost like that dream of Tokyo Tower.....
Except for the two large green discs spreading out from the soles of his feet. Li couldn't skate if he tried....but a pair of magical snowshoes? Piece of cake.
"I see it," he calls out as he touches down. Got to get it to come out where he can hit it. "Raitei shourai," Li chants, his sword beginning to glow as he raises it in the air. "Kyuu kyuu ryouitsumou....HA!" A slashing line of energy crackls out toward the ice above the swimming Freeze card.
The ice rumbles as Li's thunder magic shoots forth, and the waves roil before something bursts out from the surface of the ice. It's large and angular, and its crystalline form glints in the Antarctic sunlight. It is...
A fish. A very large fish, made of ice, and it seems slightly angered as it dives through the ice, settling in halfway like some kind of ice shark. It rushes towards the two Cardcaptors, fins out and waves of ice spreading from its wake.
"Li-kun, watch out! FLY!" Sakura rapidly activates Fly to swoop away from the fish's charge, grabbing Li's wrist as she does. Now that it knows the two are there, of course, it isn't going to give up easily.
Li Syaoran raises his sword up to block, left hand sigging in his robes for a seal as the Freeze tears in - too fast! - and he tears it out, desperately trying to...
"OY!" Li yelps with surprise as Sakura snatches his wrist, and his left hand naps upward to grab at the bottom of the rod. "Baka!" he shouts, tucking his legs upward to avoid the leaping charge. "You think you're strong enough to lift me? Use your head!"
Li slides the blade into its sheath and flips up onto the top of the rod, crouched down low and holding the rod with both hands as he balances just behind Sakura. "Damn...." he mutters. "It only comes up to attack us...."
"I'm sorry! I panicked!" Sakura hovers low for a moment as Li stands on the rod behind her. "We're safe up here, but I can't stay up here forever, and I need the rod to seal it..." She purses her lips together and mutters. "Maybe if we could distract it somehow? Or lure it up and then hit it really fast? B-but I don't know how to do that safely..."
Meanwhile, the fish is still circling angrily, dipping in and out of the ice.
Li Syaoran grunts noncomitally, still thinking. She needs to be free in order to seal it. It only comes up to attack, it chases them as they move....
Li turns his head toward Sakura, and his frown softens. There's really no other choice.
Damn, but she's getting to him.
"Right," Li says, dropping down off the rod and landing in a crouch. "OY!" he calls out, placing something on the ice as he slaps it repeatedly. "I'm over here!" he calls out, turning. "Come get me!" Li breaks into a long run, stooping occasionally to slap a hand to the ground. From above, it seems as though he's running in a large circle....
"-AAAH! Li-kun!" Sakura didn't expect Li to use /himself/ as the bait! Especially not on the ice! It'd be terribly dangerous, and...well, it is terribly dangerous! "Wait, wait!...oh," she mutters, "he knows what he's doing..."
He's nothing if not really brave. She knows that already! And so she slowly lands the flying rod as the fish dashes after Li, swimming after him in the same round circle. It isn't the most intelligent creature, and has little plans for Li beyond 'catch and freeze solid.' Jets of ice spring up in its wake, even as it just pokes a few fins out.
Li Syaoran continues his run, slapping downward a few more times before a giant ice spike erupts from underneath his body, and Li is knocked away with a sharp cry of pain. He slides for a distance along the ice and then....stops, suddenly, the green discs of energy vanishing as they're covered with ice that slowly begins crawling its way up his legs.
"Kuso!" Li curses, drawing his sword and twisting, trying to slam the hilt into the ice to shatter it, and meeting with virtually no success. the hilt of the sword gets caught, then, and Li growls, lashing out with his free hand, knocking it free and bringing the blade up in front of his body. One chance.
"Kasshin!" he calls out, the seals he slapped down in a circular pattern beginning to glow red. "SHOURAI!"
Fire rips around in a circle, carving through the ice around the young boy and the Clow Card, the combined force flash-melting the ice underneath and sending Li tumbling down into the frigid water....but also leaving the card without any ice to hide in.
"Li-kun!" This time, Sakura calls out his name in alarm as the boy plunges into the water, and then stares at the card as it's stuck in the water, lying limp from the heat. The card, Li, the card, Li...
She grits her teeth. "BUBBLE!" A swirl of energy traps the flopping, screeching Freeze in a big, thick bubble, before Sakura takes a deep breath and jumps into the water. Heavy coats that get heavier in water don't help this very much, and nor does the stinging cold of the arctic waters. The girl reaches for something to grab onto, and as soon as she grabs any part of Li's hand, arm, collar or whatever, she'll grab for the edge of the ice and pull him to the surface. The rod has been left on the side, where Freeze flops angrily.
For the record? Li appreciates being saved this time. Even if he's the one supposed to be saving the magical girl.
The cold was a shock, but feeling Sakura grab his wrist sends another one unning through him, and he looks up at her. She jumped into the water....for him?
Li sucks in a gasping breath, shaking his head as she pulls him to the surface. He coughs out some water and immediately begins to shiver, his hands moving as he draws out another seal, raising it over his head. He can't manage to say the words this time - just slaps it against the blade and shoves it into the water.
Almost immediately the area around the Cardcaptors rises in temperature, to about bathwater temperature....though it starts to cool slowly. The Chinese boy - now sans hat - stabs his blade into the nearby ice and holds out his other hand toward Sakura. "Come on, climb up! Seal it, quickly!"
Sakura, shivering despite the warmed water and soaking wet, grabs Li's hand and scrambles back onto the ice. Freeze flails angrily, displeased by its temperate state, and shatters the Bubble.
But before it can plunge back into the water and freeze it over again, the girl raises the rod. "R-r-Return to your true form, CLOW CARD!" There's a swirl of energy, and the fish dissolves into a white mass that then reforms into a highly decorated card depicting a fish, with the English words "The Freeze."
The card floats over in front of Li, and Sakura stops to try to catch her breath. She's not used to Daring Physical Feats or very cold water.
Li Syaoran snags the card out of the air with wet, shivering fingers. It's a sign of either his growing maturity or his frigid condition that he doesn't even gloat about it - instead he just drops the card onto the ice and uses his sword to pull himself up after it. He sits there for a moment...and then starts patting himself down, bringing out one very soggy-looking paper seal.
"L-l-l-ast f-f-f-ire one," he chatters. "C-c-c-c-c-ome here-r-r-r-e." Li stumbles away from the edge of the ice, stooping to pick up the Freeze, and then drops into a crouch. He places the seal on the ice and lays the sword against it - soon it is crackling like a bonfire, and Li holds his hands toward it, his lips looking a little blue.
"S-s-sure." This time, Sakura's shivering too, heavy coats or not. Besides, those clothes are dripping wet, and rightfully should be freezing now, if not for Li's handy fire magic. She crouches by the fire, shaking a bit and trying to catch her breath. "T-t-t-thank you...we can g-get going after we warm up a-a-a little..."
Though no doubt, she'll be raiding the hot cocoa later.
"L-L-Li-kun, that was very daring! I see why you got the card..." This is awkward.
Li Syaoran shuffles uncomfortably, turning his back and holding his arms out to either side, shaking out the long sleeves of his robes as he tries to warm his back. And not because he was blushing or squirming uncomfortably. Really.
"....wasn't just me," he mumbles quietly. "If you hadn't grabbed me out of the way the first time....I wouldn't have been able to be daring." After a moment, he turns back toward the fire, confident his face is under control. He doesn't look at Sakura, though, just stares into the fire. "I....."
He gives off a soft sigh. Why is this so hard?
"....thank you," he mutters. Boy, that fire is warming his face up! His cheeks are already red.
"
"Aaaah, i-it's okay!" Sakura is just stuttering from the cold! Certainly not the surprise to hear Li thank her. "I mean, it's okay, I had to do something. I couldn't let you, you know, get hurt. I mean, I can't let anyone get hurt! I mean, um..." She sneezes, even as the fire helps to warm her up.
"But you know, um, it's okay to call me Kinomoto sometimes. I wasn't sure if you knew it was okay, since you usually just call me, um, 'you.' Which i-is okay! But if you ever want to call me Kinomoto, too, you can..."
"Aaaah, i-it's okay!" Sakura is just stuttering from the cold! Certainly not the surprise to hear Li thank her. "I mean, it's okay, I had to do something. I couldn't let you, you know, get hurt. I mean, I can't let anyone get hurt! I mean, um..." She sneezes, even as the fire helps to warm her up.
"But you know, um, it's okay to call me Kinomoto sometimes. I wasn't sure if you knew it was okay, since you usually just call me, um, 'you.' Which i-is okay! But if you ever want to call me Kinomoto, too, you can..."
Li Syaoran looks at Sakura for a long moment, staring into the Giant Green Eyes of Doom and Glory and Another Side Order of Doom. "I..." he begins, and the next word out of his mouth his very nearly 'will.'
But just as he's about to say it, he sees himself dropping into his chair behind her desk and saying, "Good morning, Kinomoto."
And then seeing Meiling destroy him in a fit of jealous rage.
"....will keep that in mind," he says, finally, pushing himself to his feet. "Are you almost ready? The fire won't last much longer."
Well, it was at least a try. Sakura will get him to say her name sometime! Or maybe he'll just start using a more polite form of 'you.' Or call her idiot a little less. Or, well, she shouldn't push her luck.
"I-I'm ready! I can fly us out. I hope Tomoyo-chan doesn't mind what happened to her coat..." It's dried out a bit, now, but it's still messy and probably ruined. Sakura is unaware of the fact that Tomoyo will simply order another. She activates The Fly, and waits for Li to climb aboard. "A-at least it won't be so cold after we leave the Gate!"
She sneezes again. Darnit.
Li Syaoran nods, scooping up his sword and reversing it, letting gravity slide it into the sheath after working the tip into place. "It sure can't get much colder," he says as he lifts a leg and hops onto the Rod, gripping it with both hands. "I can't /wait/ to see where the Snow takes us," he grumbles angrily.
Hey, he did say 'us.'
A brief pause as the two fly off.
"The /SNOW?/ There's a Snow, too? Hoooee~..."
Meanwhile on Hoth.
EDIT: Now with new, improved, non-fubar spacing!
WHERE: A Mundane North Pole Region
WHEN: About last week...
WHAT: A Clow Card has materialized in a most inconvenient of places.
WATCH FOR: Daring rescues! And a big fish...?
THE SOUTH POLE!
Or, more specifically, Antarctica. Unlike the North Pole, it lacks polar bears and Santa Claus. But it's also an actual continent. Point: Antarctica.
Right now, the weather is actually calm, if cold. Quite cold. Very, very cold. But the sky is clear, and the frozen ground reflects the sun in a rather lovely manner. Sakura would appreciate this more if the cute little costume Tomoyo made her offered more mobility.
As it is, Tomoyo just happened to have a costume made up of several thermal layers, gloves and even matching boots that effectively dressed up the girl as a purple Eskimo with a snowman face on the back of her coat. It's a very cute costume, but heavy, and even most of her face is covered by a fake-fur hood and a scarf. "Li-kun," she asks in a muffled tone, "are you sure the Rashindan said it was here...?"
Li Syaoran does not have a personal costume designer, and so is in his usual battle togs. And a scarf.
In other words, he is in a very, very, very cold version of hell.
"H--H-H-H-H-H--HOW AM I S-S-S-S-SUP-P-P-P-OSED TO KN-N-N-N-N-N-OW?" he calls out angrily, shivering like mad, his arms clutched around his body. This is, somehow, Sakura's fault. "I c-c-c-c-can't cast the s-s-s-s-spell l-l-l-l-ike th-th-th-th-h-th-th-is!" The Chinese boy looks around the area, snarling at penguins and....well, pretty much anything else around.
So, mostly Sakura.
It isn't Sakura's fault!
Well, she did open the book and spread the cards everywhere.
So technically, it is.
The girl makes a worried Sakura noise, sighing. "You don't even own a winter coat? Are you sure you don't want to borrow something off of my costume?" Of course, everything on Sakura's costume is bright purple. Parts of it are glittery, and there are at least a few puffballs. And she's still cold underneath that.
"I guess w-we'll just try to find the card as soon as possible! Yes! And look at the bright side, we have...um...there are...that is..."
They are spotted.
"...PENGUINS PENGUINS PENGUINS PENGUINS LOOK LI PENGUIIINS!"
Li Syaoran seems to give a slight twitching nod. That might not be a bad idea, except for all of the girly colours, and the.....he gives out a soft sigh as Sakura goes all girly on him. "Yes," he says wearily. "P-p-pp-enguins-s-s-s..."
The young man draws his sword and drops a slip of paper onto the ice, driving the point of the blade into it. Quickly, a soft, swirling flame begins to radiate from around the seal, and Li sighs with relief. "Hel-l-l-l-l-l-lo, t-t-t-toes," he groans, wiggling them. They /are/ still there. "H-h-hey, w-w-where's-s-s-s th-thth-t-he ss-ss-tuf-f-f-fed an-n-ni..."
Li's head snaps to the left suddenly as something pings off his senses. "D_d-d-o you f-f-feel th-t-h-t-h-that?"
Sakura's Penguin Euphoria is temporarily broken. Though their eternal cuteness still lingers in her mind. "...No, you're right, I feel that! It's a Clow Card! -Oh, Kero-chan said he wasn't going to f-follow us to anyplace cold and, oh yeah, he wanted to pass on that 'he is going to be sitting on top of the Dreamcast because it is so nice and warm.'"
She shrugs about that part. "Um, anyway! Here, just in case!" The fur stole part of the costume is wrapped around Li, whether he wants it or not, and then she turns to face the ice floes where that strange feeling was coming from. But there's nothing but...penguins.
And ice.
And maybe that was a whale that just swam underneath the ice.
Li Syaoran frowns, trying to scan around. "This is d-d-definitely the presence of a Clow c-card, but...." Li continues to look. There is no penguin card. "There is no penguin card," he offers aloud. "But it could be any of....oh." Li looks down at his body, the fire still burning. "I'm warm again. Hang on."
The sword is resheathed as Li draws out the Rashindan and closes his eyes. "Gyokuten yuujyoku shinken shiho," he begins chanting, lowering the board as lights begin to dance. "Kinmouku suikado, raifuu raiden shin chioku..."
A light suddenly erupts from the Rashindan and heads....straight down. Li looks stunned for a moment.....and then sweatdrops.
"....shimatta."
Sakura glances downward. At the...very thick layer of ice.
And pauses, making a face and an unhappy Sakura noise.
"...How do we get it? I mean, maybe we can draw it out. If we go underwater, we'll die of hypothermia!...wait, I know! Maybe I can lure something out with this." The Cardcaptor pulls out a card depicting an angry-looking mermaid, and strikes it with her staff to activate it. "Swim beneath the ice and investigate, Watery!"
There's a swirl of magic power, and then the Watery card springs forth, snarling and swirling. And starts to dive straight down.
And then freezes solid.
"..." She sighs, recalling the card. "Man, what do we do?"
Meanwhile, out on the ice, the penguins seem mildly alarmed. There's something big that keeps surfacing! An orca, perhaps?
Li Syaoran growls low in his throat and tucks the Rashindan away. "Sou ka," he says, nodding. "If it were out here, it might be Snow. But since you have Watery....it's got to be the Freeze card." Li peers down at the ice, tapping it with his foot. "I've seen pictures of it, but I don't know what it can do other than fr..."
Li's head turns quickly, as he hears distressed penguin noises. They are distinctive.
"Over there!" he says, turning and breaking into a run....at which point his foot sails out from under him. He yelps and slams into the ice, the hilt of his sword scraping against it. "ugh....one more time." Li pushes himself to a sitting position and claps his hands together. "Go! I'll be there in a second!" He quickly begins chanting in Mandarin.
"Right!" Sakura will protect you, Penguins! Never fear! She pulls out the Jump card and activates it, springing into a long, flying leap that lands with less force than expected on the thick, heavy ice floes where the penguins flock.
"...Penguiiins," she coos for a moment before remembering her job.
The big, white, heavy shape floats beneath the ice again, before something surfaces and leaves frozen shards in its wake. "Li-kun, over there!"
Li Syaoran leaps over Sakura, his robes fluttering as he goes, sword clenched in his right hand. Almost like that dream of Tokyo Tower.....
Except for the two large green discs spreading out from the soles of his feet. Li couldn't skate if he tried....but a pair of magical snowshoes? Piece of cake.
"I see it," he calls out as he touches down. Got to get it to come out where he can hit it. "Raitei shourai," Li chants, his sword beginning to glow as he raises it in the air. "Kyuu kyuu ryouitsumou....HA!" A slashing line of energy crackls out toward the ice above the swimming Freeze card.
The ice rumbles as Li's thunder magic shoots forth, and the waves roil before something bursts out from the surface of the ice. It's large and angular, and its crystalline form glints in the Antarctic sunlight. It is...
A fish. A very large fish, made of ice, and it seems slightly angered as it dives through the ice, settling in halfway like some kind of ice shark. It rushes towards the two Cardcaptors, fins out and waves of ice spreading from its wake.
"Li-kun, watch out! FLY!" Sakura rapidly activates Fly to swoop away from the fish's charge, grabbing Li's wrist as she does. Now that it knows the two are there, of course, it isn't going to give up easily.
Li Syaoran raises his sword up to block, left hand sigging in his robes for a seal as the Freeze tears in - too fast! - and he tears it out, desperately trying to...
"OY!" Li yelps with surprise as Sakura snatches his wrist, and his left hand naps upward to grab at the bottom of the rod. "Baka!" he shouts, tucking his legs upward to avoid the leaping charge. "You think you're strong enough to lift me? Use your head!"
Li slides the blade into its sheath and flips up onto the top of the rod, crouched down low and holding the rod with both hands as he balances just behind Sakura. "Damn...." he mutters. "It only comes up to attack us...."
"I'm sorry! I panicked!" Sakura hovers low for a moment as Li stands on the rod behind her. "We're safe up here, but I can't stay up here forever, and I need the rod to seal it..." She purses her lips together and mutters. "Maybe if we could distract it somehow? Or lure it up and then hit it really fast? B-but I don't know how to do that safely..."
Meanwhile, the fish is still circling angrily, dipping in and out of the ice.
Li Syaoran grunts noncomitally, still thinking. She needs to be free in order to seal it. It only comes up to attack, it chases them as they move....
Li turns his head toward Sakura, and his frown softens. There's really no other choice.
Damn, but she's getting to him.
"Right," Li says, dropping down off the rod and landing in a crouch. "OY!" he calls out, placing something on the ice as he slaps it repeatedly. "I'm over here!" he calls out, turning. "Come get me!" Li breaks into a long run, stooping occasionally to slap a hand to the ground. From above, it seems as though he's running in a large circle....
"-AAAH! Li-kun!" Sakura didn't expect Li to use /himself/ as the bait! Especially not on the ice! It'd be terribly dangerous, and...well, it is terribly dangerous! "Wait, wait!...oh," she mutters, "he knows what he's doing..."
He's nothing if not really brave. She knows that already! And so she slowly lands the flying rod as the fish dashes after Li, swimming after him in the same round circle. It isn't the most intelligent creature, and has little plans for Li beyond 'catch and freeze solid.' Jets of ice spring up in its wake, even as it just pokes a few fins out.
Li Syaoran continues his run, slapping downward a few more times before a giant ice spike erupts from underneath his body, and Li is knocked away with a sharp cry of pain. He slides for a distance along the ice and then....stops, suddenly, the green discs of energy vanishing as they're covered with ice that slowly begins crawling its way up his legs.
"Kuso!" Li curses, drawing his sword and twisting, trying to slam the hilt into the ice to shatter it, and meeting with virtually no success. the hilt of the sword gets caught, then, and Li growls, lashing out with his free hand, knocking it free and bringing the blade up in front of his body. One chance.
"Kasshin!" he calls out, the seals he slapped down in a circular pattern beginning to glow red. "SHOURAI!"
Fire rips around in a circle, carving through the ice around the young boy and the Clow Card, the combined force flash-melting the ice underneath and sending Li tumbling down into the frigid water....but also leaving the card without any ice to hide in.
"Li-kun!" This time, Sakura calls out his name in alarm as the boy plunges into the water, and then stares at the card as it's stuck in the water, lying limp from the heat. The card, Li, the card, Li...
She grits her teeth. "BUBBLE!" A swirl of energy traps the flopping, screeching Freeze in a big, thick bubble, before Sakura takes a deep breath and jumps into the water. Heavy coats that get heavier in water don't help this very much, and nor does the stinging cold of the arctic waters. The girl reaches for something to grab onto, and as soon as she grabs any part of Li's hand, arm, collar or whatever, she'll grab for the edge of the ice and pull him to the surface. The rod has been left on the side, where Freeze flops angrily.
For the record? Li appreciates being saved this time. Even if he's the one supposed to be saving the magical girl.
The cold was a shock, but feeling Sakura grab his wrist sends another one unning through him, and he looks up at her. She jumped into the water....for him?
Li sucks in a gasping breath, shaking his head as she pulls him to the surface. He coughs out some water and immediately begins to shiver, his hands moving as he draws out another seal, raising it over his head. He can't manage to say the words this time - just slaps it against the blade and shoves it into the water.
Almost immediately the area around the Cardcaptors rises in temperature, to about bathwater temperature....though it starts to cool slowly. The Chinese boy - now sans hat - stabs his blade into the nearby ice and holds out his other hand toward Sakura. "Come on, climb up! Seal it, quickly!"
Sakura, shivering despite the warmed water and soaking wet, grabs Li's hand and scrambles back onto the ice. Freeze flails angrily, displeased by its temperate state, and shatters the Bubble.
But before it can plunge back into the water and freeze it over again, the girl raises the rod. "R-r-Return to your true form, CLOW CARD!" There's a swirl of energy, and the fish dissolves into a white mass that then reforms into a highly decorated card depicting a fish, with the English words "The Freeze."
The card floats over in front of Li, and Sakura stops to try to catch her breath. She's not used to Daring Physical Feats or very cold water.
Li Syaoran snags the card out of the air with wet, shivering fingers. It's a sign of either his growing maturity or his frigid condition that he doesn't even gloat about it - instead he just drops the card onto the ice and uses his sword to pull himself up after it. He sits there for a moment...and then starts patting himself down, bringing out one very soggy-looking paper seal.
"L-l-l-ast f-f-f-ire one," he chatters. "C-c-c-c-c-ome here-r-r-r-e." Li stumbles away from the edge of the ice, stooping to pick up the Freeze, and then drops into a crouch. He places the seal on the ice and lays the sword against it - soon it is crackling like a bonfire, and Li holds his hands toward it, his lips looking a little blue.
"S-s-sure." This time, Sakura's shivering too, heavy coats or not. Besides, those clothes are dripping wet, and rightfully should be freezing now, if not for Li's handy fire magic. She crouches by the fire, shaking a bit and trying to catch her breath. "T-t-t-thank you...we can g-get going after we warm up a-a-a little..."
Though no doubt, she'll be raiding the hot cocoa later.
"L-L-Li-kun, that was very daring! I see why you got the card..." This is awkward.
Li Syaoran shuffles uncomfortably, turning his back and holding his arms out to either side, shaking out the long sleeves of his robes as he tries to warm his back. And not because he was blushing or squirming uncomfortably. Really.
"....wasn't just me," he mumbles quietly. "If you hadn't grabbed me out of the way the first time....I wouldn't have been able to be daring." After a moment, he turns back toward the fire, confident his face is under control. He doesn't look at Sakura, though, just stares into the fire. "I....."
He gives off a soft sigh. Why is this so hard?
"....thank you," he mutters. Boy, that fire is warming his face up! His cheeks are already red.
"
"Aaaah, i-it's okay!" Sakura is just stuttering from the cold! Certainly not the surprise to hear Li thank her. "I mean, it's okay, I had to do something. I couldn't let you, you know, get hurt. I mean, I can't let anyone get hurt! I mean, um..." She sneezes, even as the fire helps to warm her up.
"But you know, um, it's okay to call me Kinomoto sometimes. I wasn't sure if you knew it was okay, since you usually just call me, um, 'you.' Which i-is okay! But if you ever want to call me Kinomoto, too, you can..."
"Aaaah, i-it's okay!" Sakura is just stuttering from the cold! Certainly not the surprise to hear Li thank her. "I mean, it's okay, I had to do something. I couldn't let you, you know, get hurt. I mean, I can't let anyone get hurt! I mean, um..." She sneezes, even as the fire helps to warm her up.
"But you know, um, it's okay to call me Kinomoto sometimes. I wasn't sure if you knew it was okay, since you usually just call me, um, 'you.' Which i-is okay! But if you ever want to call me Kinomoto, too, you can..."
Li Syaoran looks at Sakura for a long moment, staring into the Giant Green Eyes of Doom and Glory and Another Side Order of Doom. "I..." he begins, and the next word out of his mouth his very nearly 'will.'
But just as he's about to say it, he sees himself dropping into his chair behind her desk and saying, "Good morning, Kinomoto."
And then seeing Meiling destroy him in a fit of jealous rage.
"....will keep that in mind," he says, finally, pushing himself to his feet. "Are you almost ready? The fire won't last much longer."
Well, it was at least a try. Sakura will get him to say her name sometime! Or maybe he'll just start using a more polite form of 'you.' Or call her idiot a little less. Or, well, she shouldn't push her luck.
"I-I'm ready! I can fly us out. I hope Tomoyo-chan doesn't mind what happened to her coat..." It's dried out a bit, now, but it's still messy and probably ruined. Sakura is unaware of the fact that Tomoyo will simply order another. She activates The Fly, and waits for Li to climb aboard. "A-at least it won't be so cold after we leave the Gate!"
She sneezes again. Darnit.
Li Syaoran nods, scooping up his sword and reversing it, letting gravity slide it into the sheath after working the tip into place. "It sure can't get much colder," he says as he lifts a leg and hops onto the Rod, gripping it with both hands. "I can't /wait/ to see where the Snow takes us," he grumbles angrily.
Hey, he did say 'us.'
A brief pause as the two fly off.
"The /SNOW?/ There's a Snow, too? Hoooee~..."
Meanwhile on Hoth.
EDIT: Now with new, improved, non-fubar spacing!