Chapter 4: Healing Scars

"I'm telling you, you have more than me!" the angry Brazilian boy shouted.

"It doesn't matter, Rai!" Clay tried to dismiss the argument.

"It doesn't? Then I suppose you won't mind us switching bowls then!"

"If it'll shut you up, I'm all for it!"

With that said, the two swapped their meals. Omi watched observantly while Kimiko muttered, "Boys…" to herself.

The four of them turned their heads when they heard Dojo walk- er… slither in. They began to rise, ready for the news of a new Sheng Gong Wu out there. Dojo sensed their eagerness. "Relax," he said and pulled out a scroll, "This is about the last Sheng Gong Wu that Spicer made off with."

He unfolded the scroll, revealing a picture of a girl with long hair holding a glass heart and swiping her claws. The others looked at the picture, confused. "Who is that, Dojo?" Kimiko asked.

"Is she an ancient Xiaolin Warrior?" Omi asked with excitement.

"No, but close." Dojo remarked. "This is the Cat of Nine Tails, an extremely powerful and complicated Sheng Gong Wu."

"A living Sheng Gong Wu?" Kimiko said in amazement.

"What does it do?" Raimundo asked.

"Correction, it is a she." Dojo pointed out.

"He, she , it, whatever. I just wanna know what she does!"

"Alright, alright, keep your shirt on, I'll tell you." Dojo began again. "Once she is awoken, she has no memory of… well… anything. It's like she has the mind of a newborn baby. It's up to the one who found her to take care of her and teach her right from wrong."

"What if the one who finds her just leaves her for dead?" Clay asked.

"If she's abandoned, she simply forms a new shell of emerald and hibernates until someone else finds her." Dojo explained.

"You still haven't told me what she's supposed to do." Raimundo complained.

"I was getting to that." Dojo said, annoyed. "Anyways, the heart she holds represents love and trust. If she develops this for the one who finds her, she will devote her life to their protection, as shown by the claws. But that's not the main thing. She has nine tails, each one like a whip."

This caught their attention. "Can she kill someone with those things?" Clay was wide-eyed with amazement.

"That depends." Dojo casually responded.

"What do you mean, 'That depends'? Is she lethal or not?" Raimundo shouted.

"She can adjust them. They can be as thick and fluffy as fat puppies or as razor sharp as knives."

"So, basically," Clay began, "She'll be either a loving little kitten or a bloodthirsty polecat."

"Yup."

"But it depends on who takes care of her, right?" Kimiko asked.

"Yup."

"I can't wait for that Sheng Gong Wu to reveal itself!" Raimundo stated and shoved a bite of noodles in his mouth.

"It already has." Dojo said.

"But, why haven't we-" Kimiko stopped herself. "Don't tell me…"

"Yup." Dojo repeated again.

"We lost something like that to Spicer?!" Raimundo was outraged.

Again, as annoying as it was becoming, Dojo said, "Yup."

"Turn that back on, I was watching that!" Wuya shouted at Jack.

"Wuya, why are you watching 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch'?" Jack asked her, not really caring enough to hear the answer.

"I'd just like to see what modern witches are like." Wuya remarked.

"You know this is fake, right?" Jack asked. "She's a paid actress who's real name isn't even Sabrina."

Wuya had an unfathomable look on her face. "I knew that much! This picture box is my only window to today's world other than our many successful Sheng Gong Wu trips!"

"Maybe if you'd help, we would be winning a showdown or two!"

"I'm a ghost, what can I do?"

"You could at least try to encourage me instead of shouting, 'you idiot, do it right' or any other crap like that!"

"You sorry, scrawny, weakling!"

"Says the lady that got stuck in a puzzle box!"

In the midst of their arguing, they failed to notice their little cat-friend crawling between them. She plopped down and looked up at Wuya with a dark, merciless stare. She sensed she was being watched and looked down, instantly freezing when she saw the murderous look in her glinted cat eyes. The sudden pause made her think. If she hadn't mentioned their success rate in nabbing Sheng Gong Wu, this entire argument wouldn't have started. While Wuya sat silent, Jack stormed off, full of anger. He plopped down in a chair and slammed a couple of parts down on the table.

Wuya watched as he stomped away, then looked back at the girl. The deadly glare was gone, replaced by a look of expectancy. "Mew." she quietly squeaked and gestured to Jack.

Wuya knew what she was waiting for, but she didn't want to. She admitted it to herself, she could be a better mentor to Jack. Despite the fact that she was over ten thousand years old, she was still as stubborn as a child. Her pride was pulling her back, but she shouldn't let herself become this. She then felt something push her ghostly form forward. One of those nine fluffy tails lightly shoved her towards Jack, urging her on. "Mew!" the girl said, cheerfully.

Wuya sighed and hovered over to Jack. "S-Sorry." She barely muttered.

Jack turned around in disbelief. "Huh?" he asked.

"I apologized and I know you heard me." Wuya grumbled.

Jack seemed a bit confused. Wuya had never considered apologizing after chewing him out before. What made this different? They were still arguing over something pointless and unnecessary. Then, it hit him. That girl was never here during those times. Her presence was missing during the times that their conversations ended so bitterly, leaving them off on a bad note the next day. But, now, she was here. If she could get Wuya to apologize, what else could she do? Speaking of which, what else could she do? Did she have any special abilities that could make their dreams of world domination a reality? There was only one way to find out. A test.