Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown
Summary: He'd planted the seeds, and now he could watch them flourish.
Title: Dark Seeds
...
With every other warrior, he'd gone for direct. Turning them into his feral pets, enslaving their every will, all at the cost of one battle. But, after the hundreds of years they'd been enslaved, their minds eventually faded away, leaving nothing but an empty, animalistic shell. He didn't want that. He wanted someone on his level; strong, with a strong sense of honor, able to hold long, intelligent conversations of battle and the things it entailed, someone tough and capable. He never found that in his warriors: instead, he found it in Omi.
He had to be patient, he'd known that from the beginning. The boy was pathetically innocent, with a strong sense of what he believed to be right and wrong. But he could see, behind the overly large ego and purity of spirit, the dirt for which he could plant the seeds of darkness. Not everything was sunshine and puppies, in the large, yellow head of the water dragon. He'd never gotten over his families disappearance, of being left on the doorsteps of the monks. It didn't hurt him, per say, but it left a small foothold from which he could begin transforming him.
He shifted the dirt aside with his sense of honor. They were so much alike in their ways of thinking and fighting, he had to turn his head and squint into the darkness. How could someone so strong, so honorable, be so evil? People like him weren't supposed to be on the Heylin side, right? It made no sense. His image of what it meant to be good was shattered and, with the pieces, he glued and taped together a new picture. A newer, more realistic picture.
He planted the seeds with battle. He trained him, helped him excel in what he was already naturally amazing at. His skills in battle showed him that being good at battle didn't mean he was automatically a good guy. Strong villains did exist, not all of them were weaklings like Jack Spicer. With that knowledge in mind, he'd cautiously stepped into the shadows.
With their alliance, the seeds blossomed. He, Omi, strong, loyal, honorable, Omi, was working with one of the Heylin side. The darkness he'd carefully cultivated over the short period of time, seasoned with innocence and battle, bloomed with the knowledge that he wasn't perfect. He could be convinced, he could be tricked, and not just to steal some Shen Gong Wu from the vault. No, this was more important, this was about how even he could fall to the dark side. He ran free within the shadows, the dark stripes flitting across his face looking far more natural then he would ever admit. He would never get from it, no matter how hard tried. The branches wrapped around him and pulled him under, and no matter how hard and how fast he struggled and tore and destroyed the vines, they would always grow back. Never again would he be completely innocent, not with the spot of blackness inside.
The once crystal clear white turned a murky grey, a color he could hide but never get rid of. The wind warrior was able to get rid of his darkness, shoving it aside until it disappeared from view completely. He, however, was different. Raimundo could get rid of memories and anger; no one could get rid of Chase Young, with his tempting words and intimate knowledge of how his mind worked and how to mess with it so he was a mess of dark emotion. No one, not even Master Fung, had been able to draw such emotion from him, no one had ever made him angry enough to want to kill. Chase Young did. Anger at himself (How could he do this?), anger at Chase (why was he doing this? Why to him?), anger at his family (Can they not see what is happening? Can't they see what I'm becoming?) it swirled deep inside him, never fully leaving, always staying, always keeping him on his toes.
"They'll come for you soon." His tail swayed in the ashy breeze, watching the destruction before him with contained horror and sight (very slight, mind you) interest. Chase Young's had on his back woke him from his trance, making him turn. His eyes were dark, the color and shape of the seeds he'd planted not long ago.
"They will not be coming. They will focus on changing things to how they were."
"They need you for that. Besides, you're family to them." He slowly shook his head.
"They're smarter than you give them credit. They know better than to challenge one such as yourself without Master Fung or Master Monk Guan by their side. Or, if nothing else, at least have me along."
"You give them too much credit. Don't worry, I won't kill them." He reached up to pat his head. He allowed the gesture and flattened his ears to give him more room. "I'll enslave them instead."
He flinched, pulling his head away. "I'd rather you kill them. I'm rather sure they would as well."
"That isn't for you to decide, Omi." He smirked. The cat hated the lack of control, but there was nothing he could do. "Besides, then you'll all be together. Once Master Fung is out of the way, then you'll have no other reason to return to the Xiaolin side.
"They... they won't do something so foolish for someone who has fallen so far as me." His voice was low, weak, as though the words physically hurt for him to say. Considering his ego and beliefs, it was quite possible it did.
"Watch them." He stood and walked away, arms crossed behind his back. His final words, dark and smooth, echoed through the night as the cat quietly watched him leave, ears flat against his head and muzzle pointed towards th ground..
"I planted the seed in you, Omi, I can easily plant it in your friends. Who knows, maybe they'll be as worth the effort as you were. I doubt it, though, they'll never be able to balance the sides as well as you do..."
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