Introductions and Potential Suitors

Blackness. I was surrounded by complete and utter darkness, unable to see anything. I knew that I was asleep because this was how I normally dreamt, these dreams only interrupted by the occasional nightmare of how my parents died. I didn't speak or move, but stood patiently, waiting to wake up and see what the world would throw at me today. I stood in the refreshing darkness a little while longer, recounting the events of the previous day. I remembered the demon; I could almost feel it inside of my head, stirring restlessly in its own slumber. What did it want from me? Have I always had it? These questions and others swam through my mind, only to be devoured by the omnipresent darkness. The demon stole every thought away, leaving me with only a deep seeded fear.

After what seemed to be hours, I awoke in the room that I was led to after my talk with Master Fung and the gash in my leg got medical attention. The Monks had asked me all sorts of questions about what I liked to do, and I gave them the best answers I could with my mind being elsewhere. They asked me where I was from, and I answered that I was born in Italy, but my parents moved us to Russia for my father's job. They then asked what my father did, to which I told them that he was an architect and he was asked to move to Russia to help design apartment complexes. The next question did not come as a surprise.

"Where are your parents now?" asked Omi.

I sighed. "My parents are both dead." I answered, looking him straight in the eyes. "They died when I was fourteen. I'm an orphan."

Omi looked up at me with understanding eyes. "I, too, am an orphan," he said, "My first memories are of the temple."

"It's good to know that I'm not alone," I said, smiling at him softly. I asked them a question as well.

"What does this Shen Gong Wu do?" I asked, holding up the Emerald of Restoration, which had been forgotten up until now.

"Oh, that?" Raimundo, shrugged. "It changes situations back to the way they were. It can only be used once."

I looked down at it, wondering how something so small could be so powerful.

They soon left, under the impression that I was tired, but I was more worried than tired. I couldn't stop thinking about the new voice that had been taking over my mind.

'Would you stop?' the demon sighed, obviously aggravated. 'I'm getting really sick of you. I'm not too far from just taking your soul back to hell with me.'

'I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me.' I flinched at my own weakness, hoping that the voice would be content with my sufficient fear and leave me alone.

After a few rough grumbles, the Demon subsided and left me to my thoughts. Looking at the mat on the floor, I sighed. I knew that this would be an interesting night. I lay down on top of the covers, (I didn't sleep under them unless it was very cold. And I mean very cold; I did live in Russia after all,) and closed my eyes, trying to calm the storm of my mind. I must have lain awake for at least half an hour until I was on the brink of sleep when I heard footsteps outside of the room. I silently cursed the nightwalker as my mind came out of its nearly dormant state to listen. The noise stopped as its owner lingered momentarily outside of my doorway, obviously peering in to make sure I was safe from dangers unknown to me. The nightwalker, content with the fact that I was safe and sound, continued their stroll, and, until the noise of their foot falls faded completely, held my senses captive.

After another half hour of restlessness, I drifted off to sleep, allowing my body to relax. As soon as I was surrounded by the blackness, I was completely helpless. No thoughts could keep me occupied 'till dawn, so the hours dragged on grudgingly. Eventually, to my content, I became aware that dawn was approaching, and I would soon be saved from my tormentor.

I sighed and sat up, wondering if I was just supposed to venture out myself, or wait for one of the Monks to come get me. I decided to wait, not really wanting to stand up and walk around and risk the possibility of getting lost. I only had to wait for a few minutes until Raimundo popped into view in the hall.

"Oh, good, you're up." he said, smiling, "Did you sleep well?"

"I've had worse nights," I replied, standing up and smoothing my clothes.

He nodded. "I know what you mean," he smiled, moving into the room. "The first time I saw the mats, I asked Master Fung where the beds were."

I laughed and started towards the door. "I don't really mind, it's better than camping."

He nodded in agreement. "Are you hungry?" he asked, looking at me with his amazingly green eyes.

"I don't remember a time when I'm not hungry. Not because I don't have food," I added, just in case he got the wrong message. "It's no matter how much I eat. Like most other teens nowadays, I suppose."

Once again, he nodded. "I know what you mean." He then gestured for me to follow him. "Come on," he said, "The others are looking forward to showing you how we train."

"What about food?" I asked, my stomach growling at the very mention of the word.

"That comes first," he laughed, "We couldn't train without it." The rest of the walk there we spent talking about trivial things, such as sports, the weather, and books. The other Monks were already at the table when Raimundo and I arrived. They were eating quickly, and I could tell that they all were hungry no matter what they ate as well. Raimundo gestured for me to sit down, so I sank into a chair between his and Clay's.

"Good mornin', Adrienne." Clay said between chews.

"Good morning." I said quietly.

"Eat up, Adrienne," said the Southerner, "We start trainin' in a little while."

"Those are some of my favorite words." I smiled and pulled some of the food towards me. "So, Clay," I started on one of the rare pauses in his eating, "Where are you from? The United States?"

"Yep. The good old US of A." He practically swelled with pride as he stated the name of the world power.

"Which state? Tennessee?"

There was a gasp from the burly boy before he stated harshly, "No! Texas!"

"I should have known," I said, "Sorry. I hope I didn't offend you or anything."

"It's all right, but I just don't see how you couldn't tell I was from Texas!" I smiled apologetically when I heard him mutter, "Tennessee! Huh."

"Kimiko, are you from Japan?" I quickly changed the subject.

"Yup, born and breed!" she said happily.

"Ah, it must be cool to live there. Have you been to Tokyo?"

"Of course! I lived in Tokyo!"

"Wow, that's so cool! Did you ever gone into Sunomata Castle? I've always wanted to."

"Oh, the one built by Hideyoshi Hashiba? Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"Hurry up and finish your food, kids! There's a Shen Gong Wu that just activated!" Dojo proclaimed, flourishing a scroll as he wiggled through the room and out the other door to the gardens.

There was an excited uproar from the Monks as they stood up from the table and left their food forgotten. I quickly shoved a few more morsels of food into my all ready full mouth as I followed the Dragons, real and warrior, outside. Dojo quickly super sized himself and the Monks hopped on. I stood by and looked up at them, wondering what I was supposed to do.

"Oh!" said Clay, "We almost forgot Adrienne." He extended his hand to me, offering me the leverage needed to climb on the behemoth. As soon as I was seated safely, Dojo, using his giant hands to push off of the ground, took flight, rising gracefully toward the heavens. I looked over the side and became a little frightened; the previous time I had been on Dojo I was too wrapped up in my own self-pity to really take in the fact that we were flying, and that I had a small fear of heights. But fear was soon forgotten when the beautiful view met my eyes. The trees so small on a never-ending valley, which elegantly held towns on her breast, keeping them tucked protectively behind hills, out of the way of angry storms from the throne of God.

"So, what Wu is it?" I was cleaved from my lyrical state by Raimundo's inquisition, to which Kimiko responded by taking the scroll out of Dojo's huge claw. The others and I looked over her shoulder at the scroll, where there was a picture of a man who was holding a small lantern in his hand.

"It's called The GuÄng Lantern. It supplies unlimited light to the holder." The man was suddenly surrounded by blackness, and was lost from view. But, after a moment, the man was surrounded by a small circle of light, and was triumphantly holding the lantern over his head. Kimiko looked up from the scroll, a disappointed frown on her face. "That'll be really helpful," she said sarcastically, closing the scroll.

"I think that there's something like that in Harry Potter," I said, frowning in concentration. "Yes! It was called The Hand of Glory. Draco Malfoy used it to see through this powder that made it nearly impossible to see." The Monks looked at me with their eyebrows raised. I smiled sheepishly. "Ignore that previous statement." I said quietly, so they could just barely hear me over the rush of the air.

"Well, now we know how it could be helpful," commented Raimundo, trying to make me look less like the nerd I was.

I smiled at him. He smiled back. The Monks started talking amongst themselves and I looked back at the ground, but there was no longer the beautiful sight of the valley, but the ocean. My stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch, and I once again felt nervous.

"Hey, Adrienne." I looked up at Riamundo. "Are you ready to watch us kick Jack Spicer's butt?"

"Oh, sure." I said, "Are you always so confident that you'll kick his, er, butt?"

"Uh, yeah!" Kimiko interjected, "It's hard not to feel sorry for him! He is so weak."

"He's about as easy to defeat as a foul in a buckin' contest." Clay added.

I snorted with laughter. "That's funny, Clay," I giggled, eliciting a smile from the cowboy.

"Okay kids! We're almost there!" Dojo cried, turning slightly to the left, then dipping down. I looked over the side or the dragon again and saw that we were now over land again, but not a lush valley like before, but a desert.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're over Australia." answered Dojo, "Who knew that I would hide a shen gong wu here, of all places?"

"Come on! I don't see Spicer yet! Where is he?" Riamundo said, irritated. The others looked, too, but Spicer was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, here we are!" Dojo said as we landed in the middle of the Australian outback. I covered my eyes with my hand and scanned the baron horizon.

"Well, where is the Shen Gong Wu?" I inquired squinting my eyes.

"It's here somewhere," said Dojo, transforming back to his normal size.

"But, where?" asked Raimundo, also scanning the horizon.

"Where do you sense it, Dojo?" Kimiko asked, squinting at the ground.

"Hm. I think it's over…there!" He pointed toward a huge rock sitting about a mile and a half away.

"Well, come on then!" cried Clay, "Let's get this rodeo started!"

"I don't think it's wise to walk across the outback at midday." I said as the others began to walk, "It would take forever to get there, and the sun would be beating down on us from directly above. I think it would be better if, well, if he was up to it, if Dojo flew us there."

Everyone looked to Raimundo. "Well, I guess that that would be the safest thing to do." he answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Dojo sighed as he became large again. "Well, hop on." He said, lowering his back to an accessible level.

Everyone hopped on again, (I got help from Clay,) and we started off towards the rock formation. While we were flying, the Monks saw the outline of Jack Spicer flying towards us with his heli-pack.

"There's that varmint Spicer!" cried Clay, rubbing his hands in anticipation, but he paused in confusion saying, "Wait, what is that next to him?" The Monks and I watched curiously as a second, slightly smaller outline appeared next to him on the horizon.

"What, or who, is that?" asked Kimiko, shielding her eyes from the hot sun to get a better view.

"There's only way to find out," stated Omi, pointing his small hand forward at the odd sight. "Onward!"

We were there within the minute, and where just in time to see Jack, Wuya, and a strange girl, who hadn't been at my first introduction of these people, land.

"Who's your girlfriend, Jack?" Kimiko asked tauntingly.

"This is Amanda," said Jack proudly, "She is the most evil girl in the world! She's the smartest, too." He looked at her adoringly.

I, too, surveyed her. She looked to be about fifteen years old; her face still had some of the roundness from her youth, which without, she would have looked seventeen. She was wearing a light green tee shirt with a black rose off toward the lower right side. Her pants were blue jeans with rips in the knees, (which made me laugh to myself; I had seen these types of jeans in all of the magazines the popular girls got from the United States.) She also had boots with a high heel, but not too high; after all, she could walk in them.

"So these are the Monks you told me so much about, Jackie?" She asked in a sweet voice, observing us all with wide, blue eyes. "Well, it's nice to meet you all!" The next thing I knew, I was being pulled into a group hug by this strangely happy teenager.

"Hey! Get off!"

"Yeah, don't touch the merchandise!"

"Yes, please get off of me!"

"Eww! Amanda germs!"

Amanda pulled away, looking slightly hurt. "They are just as rude as you told me they were." She said, moving back to her place next to Jack.

"Will you two shut up and just get the Shen Gong Wu?" Wuya cut in, seething.

"Right! The Wu!" exclaimed Raimundo, returning to the search. For the next few minutes, that was all anyone did. But then, another guest showed up to our little search party.

"Looking for this?" Everyone froze, and then slowly turned toward a triumphant Chase Young, a smirk on his lips.

"Chase Young! What are you doing here?" Omi questioned the man, whose smirk grew wider at the question, giving him the air of, "Don't act like you don't know."

"Why, I'm doing the same thing you're doing here, young one. I'm competing for," He glanced over at me, "her apprenticeship."

"No one's competing for me," I said, more to my feet than the others.

"Really, now?" he asked in an amused tone. I kept my eyes glued at my feet. "Then, why do you think the Monks are so eager to show you how they fight?" I still didn't say anything, as I had just become very shy. "Look at people when they speak to you, girl."

"Don't talk to her like that! She isn't your apprentice!" Kimiko was quick to come to my defense.

I felt Chase's eyes on the back of my neck. "Yet." I glanced up at his haunting eyes when there was a sudden uproar from Wuya and the Monks as they all verbally assaulted Chase for his slander. The argument became more heated, and resulted in the Monks attacking Chase. He was not caught off guard, so the attacks bounced off of him like a fat man bounces off of the sidewalk when he tripsas he swiftly blocked their kicks and punches. I'm sure Wuya, too, would have attacked if she had more than a floating head. After a while, the monks grew weary, and their attacks grew weaker and eventually stopped all together. All excepting Omi flopped tiredly to the ground, while the young Monk made a weak attempt to punch Chase. It was blocked, and Omi slumped down to the ground as well.

I gazed in surprise as Chase smirked down at the Dragons, but I quickly looked down again when he redirected his eyes to me.

"You are giving me a lot to work with," he said, not trying to keep the triumphant edge out of his voice. There was a moment when nothing was said, and I wondered if he had left. But I then saw his feet, and I knew that he was standing right in front of me. The thought of him being so close to me frightened me, so my body tensed automatically. He grabbed my hand from my side, and I nearly died, knowing that my fear probably made his smirk grow wider. I clenched my eyes shut, not wanting to see what he was going to do. He placed something in my open palm and closed my hand over it, and then left it hanging there. The next thing I knew, the Monks where asking me if I was all right.

I carefully opened my eyes to see The GuÄng Lantern's handle in my clenched fist.

"Yeah," I said, looking curiously at the Shen Gong Wu, "I'm fine."

End Chapter 3