Dragons will be Dragons

Tada! The Rai-centric chapter. I'm suprised it got up at ALL... my computer and I have officially engaged in war. (sigh) anyways... about the story... After the first three chapters (which I call the 'beginning' chapters, because they all find their powers in 'em,) come three 'how to fix the problem' chapters, (you'll see why I call 'em that when I post 'em.) and then the 'revelation' chapters, and a recap chap. As of now, the story is 3/10ths done. TADA!

Anyways. As I said, Rai centric chapter. He's my favorite character, so I had to save the best for last, right? I made up his family, because while I've heard he has 7 brothers and sisters, I haven't heard who they are. So what do I do? Make 'em up, of course! Here they are:

Ezekiel: nickname 'Zeik': almost 3 years old
Mai: (said like the word 'my'.) 4 years old.
Matt: 8 years old
Josie: 10 years old
Rai: at the time is 13 years old
Rachel: 14 years old
David: 17 years old
Vince: 19 years old

Oh, and a little tidbit of foreshadowing is in this chapter; Kudos to anyone who spots it! (It's annoyingly obvious, I'll probably get a LOT of reviews saying 'you got this and this wrong'… oh well.)

Please R&R!

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Note: it has been brought to my attention that I don't own Xiaolin Showdown. What a novel concept! (Goes off to sulk)

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Ch. 3 the first blow

"Wai-wai!" Raimundo looked down when he felt someone tugging on his pant legs. His brother, Zeik, was pulling at the green-and-black pants he wore. "Wai-wai," he called again. (For some reason the little tyke liked to call him 'wai-wai', and Rai'd given up trying to correct him.)

Raimundo Sanchez, also known as Rai, bent over to scoop up his brother in his free arm.

As he did so, he felt his bones creak from a long day at work, but he ignored it. What were a few sore muscles, anyway? "Yes?" he asked his brother.

The small boy, almost three years old, reached out a hand to the sack his brother was carrying. "Wai-wai, did ya bwing some food home?" He asked, his eyes growing big. "I'm hungwy."

Rai looked into his brother's eyes—green, like his own—and bit his lip. "Yes, Zeik, I did, but we have to share." He reminded the boy. "Where's Josie, Matt, and Mai?" he asked, naming the rest of his younger brothers and sisters.

Zeik squirmed, and Raimundo set him down. The boy dashed off into the distance, returning soon with several children—Zeik led them in a line, youngest to oldest. He led the group, obviously (he was the youngest, at two and a half,), and was followed by Mai, Matt, Josie, and Rachel.

"Rachel, you're home—" Rai started but got bopped on the head.

"I told you to get home early today. No more working overtime at your job at the restaurant, you hear? Gezus, Rai, what if you died or something? You know Vince would freak!" she giggled. "So what've you got?" she asked, taking the bag from him. She peered into it, a frown forming on her face.

"Sorry," Rai mumbled, for both getting home late and how little food was in the bag. "The cooks—there weren't many leftovers today, I checked. It was a busy day," he said, searching for a few plates.

"You'd think a restaurant would be the last place that would run out of food…" Rachel mumbled, setting the food onto the table. Rai had finally found some plates, bringing them out and setting them down. As he went to get cups, his sister did a quick count of the plates he'd retrieved—there were only five.

"You're one short." She called to her younger brother. He paused, but only for a second, then he proceeded getting out more cups. He set them down on the table, and Rachel again, counted only five. "You're one short." She said louder, in case he hadn't heard.

Raimundo leaned over and kissed his sister on the cheek, pulling on a coat. "I'm guessing Vince is still at the construction site?" he asked, ignoring his sister's remark. "I think I'll go check on him." He said, turning to leave.

He had almost made it out the door when Rachel caught him by the arm. "You can't just leave, not without food, bro." she said quietly, but sternly. She tried to pull him back into the kitchen, but Rai was far stronger than his skin-and-bones appearance led people to believe.

"I'm going to check on Vince." Rai said flatly, pulling away from his sister's grip with ease. Rachel hesitated, then grabbed her younger brother by the shoulders, forcing him to face her.

"David said you did this yesterday, too. Do you plan to go forever without food? If you collapse at work, it won't do much good to any of us." She pointed out. The other four younger children behind her gave the two questioning looks. They were young, but not stupid—they had been sensing tension between Rai and his three older siblings (Rachel, David, and Vince in order of age,) for weeks. This was the first time they'd seen anyone do anything about it; none of them thought to lay a hand on Raimundo, as he was the only constant source of food.

"Rachel…" Rai began.

"Don't you 'Rachel' me, Rai, I'm a year older than you!" she said, her green eyes flashing with anger. "And by how childish you act sometimes, you'd think it was more than a year's difference between you and me. You make a lot of the money, sure, and bring home food from the restaurant, but you aren't even the oldest in the family! This is behavior I'd expect from Vince, the hothead, but not you!" she scolded, her grip becoming tighter on his shoulders.

Rai was silent. Rachel almost wondered if she'd offended him or something, since he wasn't answering her, until he spoke up. "We wouldn't have this problem if Vince—the hothead, as you call him—would just tell Dad and Mom to keep their paws off of the money we make." He said smoothly, making Rachel flinch with guilt.

Their parents weren't very responsible… Rachel sometimes wondered if they even realized they had eight kids at home. Vince, David, Rachel, and Rai all worked different jobs to earn money, and their parents spent it. On alcohol, no less. Usually, they only took half of the money to indulge on the drink at bars and casinos, but recently a fight had broken out at the bar they'd been 'enjoying' themselves at, hospitalizing (and nearly killing) them both. After that, both parents came home now and then, but that was to retrieve money to pay the hospital bill. Rai had been the only child to say anything against it… it had gotten him a black eye and a bleeding lip. After that, the kids just accepted it.

Thus, all the money went to the hospital bill, and the only way to get food was from Rai's job at the restaurant, when he brought home leftovers.

As Rachel thought this, her grip on her younger brother slackened. Rai took the chance to carefully peel his sister's fingers off his arm, setting it down carefully. "I'll find a way around it. Eating, I mean." He assured her. She stared at him blankly, and he shrugged. "If I work overtime, I get extra money and not tell dad, and then I'll buy food." He explained. "As for dying on the street… well, if you really think I'd leave you alone in this world, you've got another thing coming."

"People are disappearing all over town, Rai. You shouldn't go out." Rachel said, trying to convince him to stay and maybe, just maybe, eat.

"Trust me, nothing's going to happen." He told her.

Rachel said nothing, so he turned towards the door. "I'm going to see Vince." He repeated, and left.

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Rai walked amongst the open-air market, his spiky brown hair blown in the wind. The stalls were bustling with activity, having only been open for a few hours. Rai moved among them without having to think, as this was a daily routine for him—he worked through the night at his restaurant job, brought the food home, and then walked around until he felt tired enough to sleep. Then he repeated it all over again.

Of course, he never slept at home. It was too confined for him. The walls were too close together and they gave him claustrophobia, and he liked it better outside. Usually he'd sleep at the top of the hill, close to the sky, but lately he'd felt restless even there. So it was hard to sleep nowdays. The air was always running, it seemed, always whispering in his ear. Maybe it was those strange voices that kept him awake… or maybe he couldn't sleep because he stayed up all night and all day thinking about food. Thinking about how hungryhe felt nowdays.

As the boy passed the vendor stall, he felt into his pocket. His fingers brushed the few coins he'd made at work that day, and he knew that even if it were enough to feed his brothers and sisters, it would be taken away to pay for his father's medical bill. Not that it mattered that his own brothers and sisters would starve because of it, just that the bill got paid, right?

Wistfully, Rai eyed the open air food vendor's wares with hunger. He glanced at the stall as well, finding, with relief, that two people occupied the stall, and both looked in shape. He wandered next to the stall, and when the vendors were looking away, he quickly snatched two oranges—any more and he wouldn't be able to run easily—and he darted away with his prize.

Of course, the vendor's assistant was after him before he had a chance to take three steps…

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As he rounded the corner, the vendor's shouting of 'Thief! Thief!' had caught several people's attentions, including a few authorities scattered around the area. One, in particular, was close… far too close for comfort, maybe three or four feet from him. Scared, he pushed in the cop's general direction, scolding himself slightly, because there was no way he would be able to even touch him from this distance. He dodged around a cart and ran, not noticing that the cop he'd pushed at earlier flew backwards twenty feet, into a food stall.

After seeing that, only one person even considered going after the boy.

Other cops (who had not seen what Raimundo had done,) were after him in no time. Raimundo Sanchez's feet churned beneath him, kicking up dirt as he swore at himself. His morals only allowed him to steal from people who could give chase, to give them a fair chance, and look where that had gotten him! A vendor and three police officers on his heels.

Around him, the wind picked up, making the boy feel slightly better. The wind wasn't violent, but it was fast—sometimes, it helped him feel fast, too. He darted through the streets, even shaking off a cop. The other three people chased him to the edge of town.

Rai chanced a glance back at them, in time to see one of the police officers give up after tripping on a tree root. (The fact that Rai didn't find this funny showed just how tired he was.) The last Police officer stopped to help his comrade, but the food vendor kept chase. He raced the young 13 year old, chasing him all the way to the edge of a cliff.

Rai, seeing the danger, skidded. He almost fell off the cliff and into the deep river, but not quite. The kid panted, catching his breath, and turned. The Vendor, seeing he was stuck, had slowed to a walk, his black eyes fixed on the boy. Rai nearly blinked at the vendor. What had possessed him into stealing, anyaways? Knowing he was defeated, Rai shook his head and opened his mouth, ready to give up.

The world must have hated him that day. First, the world had turned his morals against him—by stealing the fruit, he'd been caught at the edge of a cliff by its owner—and now the world wouldn't let him give himself up peacefully, because before a word escaped from the boy's mouth, that very cliff he'd been chased to gave way beneath him.

He was falling.

Everything around him kicked into slow motion. He turned to look at the water below, finding that there were sharp rocks at the base of the cliff. 'Goody,' he thought to himself. The wind around him seemed to pick up, bringing the scent of grass and fruit to his nose. He sighed, odd thoughts passing over his eyes. The fear of falling had yet to kick in… why? Weren't you supposed to feel something right before you died, some wistful feeling, or terror, ANYTHING? He only felt excited as the air passed over his face. Ha, excited about falling to his death! Now that was something for the books. 'Well, at least I'll die in the air—I knew I'd die falling. Might as well sit back and enjoy my life flashing before my eyes or whatever. I just hope Vince can provide for the family—' he stopped in horror. Vince, his eldest brother…?

Suddenly his brothers and sisters came to mind, making him struggle in mid-air. It was one thing to die and leave the world, and an entirely different thing to die and leave his family to fend for themselves. Frantically, he started flapping his arms, trying to push himself up as though he was a bird. 'Stupid—that only works in cartoons,' he thought bitterly to himself.

Until, that is, he looked down and realized he wasn't falling any more.

The sight of the unmoving scenery made him stop, the realization that he was hovering above his death froze him and his mind. He struggled to think clearly as the wind whipped around him.

That's about when he panicked.

He flapped his arms. He screamed. He even looked up to where he'd fallen, seeing a few people up there. "Have your stupid oranges back, just get me down! Up! Whatever!" he shouted to the vendor who was watching him with wide eyes. Instead of complying, the vendor turned and ran, screaming about demons and devils.

As a last resort, Raimundo started clawing at the air, making swimming motions towards the edge of the cliff. 'There!' he told the winds that surrounded him, nearly blinded with fear. 'I want to go THERE!'

The winds complied. They forced him, ever so slowly, towards the cliff and near the top. 'The winds,' he realized. 'They're holding me up!'before he had a chance to ponder that any more, his instinct took over and he lunged for the edge of the cliff. Scrambling, his winds dispersed, leaving him searching for a way to get on top of the cliff instead of on the side of it. But his hands couldn't get a purchase anywhere, and he slid. He was afraid, after all of that, he was going to fall down and pierce his skull on the rocks below.

A pair of hands gripped his, pulling upwards. For a moment, he thought a cop was pulling him up, but instead the hands pulled him face to face with their owner—a strong looking young man with handsome features and green-grey eyes.

"Interesting…" he said, his voice light, as though he hadn't just saved someone from dying. "You're quite a piece of work, you know that?" he asked.

Thanks, Rai wanted to tell him, Thanks for saving me… but exhaustion overtook him, and his eyes fluttered shut. The wind cradled him, comforting him, and he fell back into the darkness…

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Next chap will be up soon, hopefully. Remember, the more reviews I get, the more inclined I am to post early! (Please review!)