Notes: So it's a first writing a Xiaolin Showdown story, but I think I can manage it…I think. / If I do screw up too badly, please tell me!! I do appreciate reviews, comments, criticisms, etc, but please no flames. They make me sad. ):
Icy
PS: Pairings, yes, I'm not sure on all of them but there is definite ChaseOC. And no, it's not devolving into a Mary-Sue-esque story since I hold my writing in very high standards (esp. at school) and know enough to avoid that kind of thing. And there is no "omg i luv you lets sex." I go into detail, but love isn't all about sex.
And that's where I'll end my mini-lecture for the day...
Summary: "I can hear you." She's always dreamed of being something more, but when offered the chance to take part in adventure it's more than she can handle. The once-normal college student will be faced with choices she will find difficult to make, though will be able to find clues to her past along the way, leading her to the answers of who she was - and why the others know so much more than she does about herself. But when she is finally faced with the choice between the light and the dark (not good and evil, but the things themselves), how will she be able to choose? Or...is there a way to walk the path between, the path of the twilight? ChaseOC, rated for language.
DATE: 10-8-07
CHAPTER ONE: uncertain memories
A person is being deprived of all of their light
And sepia colored memories that were imprinted on my eyelids
Are now on the other side of the soft light...
Both paradise and the earth's memory vanish
Like a lost child bearing atonements, I don't even know where I'm going
A city—black, illuminated only by the glowing neon signs on the numerous skyscrapers lining the streets. What would have been a perfect summer night was ruined by the rain, lightning flashing occasionally, a white-purple glow filling the sky, a rumble of thunder following soon after. It was not a heavy rain, but the slight chill and thick fog made it so everyone preferred to stay inside.
The streets were empty, stores closed for the night, refusing to open again until the sun broke through the clouds over the horizon. Even the moon was hiding from the storm, seeking refuge behind the grey clouds.
Footsteps sounded across the hard pavement of the road, splashing in the shallow puddles that were scattered on the concrete. Rain dripped from her hair, droplets forming rivers that streamed down her face and off her chin.
Above her towered the tallest skyscraper in the city, boasting nearly twice as many stories as any other in the area. The largest electronic screen also hung from it, furthering its intimidating form. It was framed with green neon lights, flickering every once in a while in sync with the inconsistent power source flowing from the factories in the valley. At that moment she wished she was back in the valley, back where the sea met the land, where she was free to wander the grassy plains and sandy dunes. But she was here now, here in the city. And she didn't know why.
Standing on the edge of the tower—would he fall?—was a man, tall, dark, half-cloaked in a darkness that prevented her from seeing his face clearly.
"Who are you?" she said, voice echoing in the deserted city. It reached his ears, traveling through the city quickly and reverberating off the buildings and back into her own ears as well.
"You know who I am. We've met before." He was evading her question, carefully wording his sentences to answer her question while at the same time not.
The girl shook her head fiercely, a shower of rain coming from the water collected on her hair. "You lie. We have never met before this. I ask you once more: Who are you?" She crossed her right arm over her torso, a bow—metal, machinelike, not bamboo as per tradition—formed in her grip, materializing quickly as she drew back the steel string, an arrow, also metal, appearing and locking itself in place. "You have one chance."
The man smirked, further angering her. "I told you. You know me. Look inside your mind—and your heart—to find the answers to your question. Look inside yourself before you go and demand answers from others."
That voice—it sparked something, though was quickly lost to the confusion swirling in her mind. She hesitated, bow lowering slightly.
He was suddenly falling—diving down the side of the building, the darkness protecting him, surrounding him, cloaking him in the blackness that blocked her sight.
At the base of the skyscraper he landed gently on his feet, not at all fazed by his own actions. He advanced toward her. Pairs of glowing yellow eyes began appearing on the ground, shadowy forms of animals emerging from the concrete, seemingly by magic.
"You're coming with me…or you fight until you're dead." He snapped his fingers, the creatures suddenly leaping onto her. She gave a cry of fright and loosed her arrow, the metal piercing two—three—four—creatures at once, a chain of round links trailing behind it, piercing all that were in its way. It continued to fly straight ahead, though circled back around when she tugged on the end of the chain, calling it back with her mind. It returned to her, cutting through yet another set of shadows before falling back into place on the bow, allowing her to reload and fire another shot in a different direction.
"I do not wish to come with you." She suddenly found her own bow aimed at his head, infuriated by his enduring smirk on his face. "I gave you your chance." And he was gone.
Gone, disappeared into nothing. She spun around, arrow still locked into position, ready for anything. But he was nowhere. Everywhere she looked, she only found empty streets. Even when she glanced upward to the skyscraper where he had been minutes before she saw nothing. He had vanished without a trace.
Just like last time.
She shook her head. Where had that thought come from? "It's that voice again," she murmured to herself. It was invading her mind, just like it had been for the past month, around the time she had noticed the change.
A sound from behind her startled her back to reality, causing her to spin around and aim her bow, but the shadows closed in on her—