The Hunted

They have no word for us, the humans we wander among. Some of them, the ones we touch, are aware of us only by what we do. If they knew of us then perhaps they might call us gods, or perhaps demons. We are the ones who took our chance at freedom and fled the darkness, escaping back into the human world from which we were unjustly barred. But our freedom is a precarious one, we know. We live on borrowed time.

We are solitary beings by nature, which made our imprisonment together in that lightless place all the more maddening. Upon escaping, our first impulse was to run fast and far. We spread out across the land and lost ourselves among the humans, hid in their darkest places as we were meant to do. That is where we stay now, most of the time. But being compelled to lurk in the shadows is no reason for regret. Even the darkest shadows of the humans' world are bright as the sun, compared to the place of endless slumber from which we fled.

As I said, we are solitary beings, but that does not mean that we avoid each other altogether. We do meet, and when we meet we talk and learn from one another. It was this way in which we learned of the thing that has been sent to hunt us down.

It is not fear of the humans that keeps us in the darkness, for they are no threat to us. No, what haunts us is fear of the Guardian.

We hear rumors of the Guardian, the one charged to return us to the Darkness. None but the master we were born to serve knows her true nature... or perhaps even the master knows not. But there is no lack of opinions among my brothers and sisters. Some say she is one of the humans, one whose family was given powers by the master so that they may hunt us down. Some say she is as one of the vampyre, one who hunts us to feed upon us, or who feeds upon the humans, or both. Some say that she is simply one of us, the most powerful one, chosen and bred to sniff us out.

None of my brothers and sisters will admit how they fear her, but I know they do. They must. How could we not? For oh, how she must despise us. She must be mad with rage and regret over what she let happen, must think of it every minute of every day. Surely she must remember the day of our liberation as if it were yesterday... I certainly do. It was but a moment's hesitation on her part that set us free. I remember her little face, her bewildered, uncomprehending face. She was but a child then, probably did not even understand what was happening. No wonder then that she failed in her task as Guardian. And how easy her task would have been, had we not escaped. What work is there to guard over those who rest in endless slumber? But we did escape, and now she faces a task that may never end. I think surely the task was given her as punishment... but whether she is punished by herself, or by the master, or by another, I know not.

I smile to myself now when I think back to the early days of my newfound freedom, but it chills me as well. I wandered openly among the humans, playing with them as I will. No pursuit had come and I thought I could live under the sun without fear, forever. That is, until I found out about the Guardian.

My first reaction to finding out about her was anger. That is amusing, is it not? I railed against our fate, raged against the thought of returning to the Darkness. Why must we return to that black place? Were we not born from the hearts of men? Did they not shape us with their every thought, their every feeling? Are we not a part of them? We do not really hurt them, we simply look into their hearts and give them what they truly want. We know what they want even if they do not know it themselves, for we were born of men's desires. What harm then, to show them what we know and they do not? Yes, we feed upon their feelings and dreams, it is our food, but we also give them back wonderful things, things they could not have without us. What harm, then?

But these questions are moot. The Guardian hunts us for her own reasons, and will not be moved.

I continue yet to play with the humans, even while looking over my shoulder. It is in our nature, each in our own way we were born to bestow our own unique gift upon them. They are always surprised and bewildered by our gifts, but they hunger for them as well. Sometimes the gifts hurt them, but only in the way that love hurts. For I truly do love them. And so do my brothers and sisters, even the ones who say they do not.

But now, I shall play with the humans no longer. For she has found me, and I am doomed.

Of course I run, blinded with panic. She yet looks like a mere child, perhaps by trickery I can escape her. But she is much different now. Strong and confident, and with powerful magicks at her command. She traps me easily. I am helpless before her, I can only watch as she approaches.

It is exactly as they said, those of my brothers and sisters who encountered her and lived to tell the tale. She looks much the same, but has obviously grown much, on the inside. Still the twinkle of the child in her eye, but also the focus of a seasoned hunter. She is draped in colorful silk, beautiful, so unlike the drab cloth the humans around her cover themselves with. She is accompanied by a silent companion, a dark one with a face of ivory that stands and watches, watches with a single,
maddening blood-red eye. That one is as much an enigma as the Guardian herself... is it one of us, or is it a human that the Guardian has pressed into her service? And the ugly little creature that sits upon the Guardian's shoulder... is it also one of us? Is it master, slave, companion, familiar? There is no sign of the other, the one rumored to be a rival for her position as Guardian.

She brings forth more magic from out of the air... this time within it I read a single word, and I whimper in my despair. She has it, the one thing that can bind me, she has my *name*.

When she says the words, my body seems to dissolve, and I have no mouth with which to scream. My reply to the Guardian is but a silent curse that I take with me into the Darkness that slams down and crushes me flat.

*Return to thy rightful form*, she says. *Clow Card!*

The Card is not my rightful form, damn you. It is my prison.

The End

Vampire Miyu was created by Narumi Kakunouchi. Cardcaptor Sakura was created by Clamp. This is not a true crossover since I did not actually use any characters from Vampire Miyu in the story, but obviously it was my intention to try and make you believe that I did... I also cheated a bit by hinting at elements from both the OAV series and the TV series. All the normal fanfic disclaimers apply.

Ken Wolfe