Rising dragon, crouching genius
Chapter Six – "The Torch Of Doubt And Chaos, This Is What The Sage Steer By"
By- Shiva's Avatar
"The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass" the aged Zen master quoted, watching the sun begin its multihued decent. Meditation had become harder for the elderly monk, and he'd found his Zen sayings offered him less and less inner peace. Despite his years, Master Fung was amazed at how much change could occur in such a short expanse of time.
It had all started as such a routine mission. He had sent his pupils to collect yet another of the mystic Shen Gong Wu, and from the way the miniature dragon had explained it, everything had even followed the normal Shen Gong Wu gathering routine. Jack Spicer had made his customary appearance supported by the ghostly Wuya. A struggle occurred over the magical artifact, and a Xiaolin showdown had occurred. A fierce battle erupted, but the superior trained monks overcame the challenge and defeated those who would fight on the behalf of darkness. And then … and then …
And that was exactly it. Master Fung, even after hearing five different variants of the tale, could not figure out what exactly had happened next. Because that piece seemed to distort rather then compete the puzzle currently plaguing the master monk.
Jack Spicer, teenage protégée of evil, had apparently tried to buy the Shen Gong Wu. Though none of his students could actually fully explain what had happened, they had all said variations of the same thing. Jack Spicer had "changed". No longer was he the whimpering and pleading loser they had known … but instead he projected a calm authority that had unnerved the adolescent monks. With a seeming nonchalance he had intimidated and humiliated most of the monks into silence … and then had appealed to Raimundo's greed to try and acquire the contested Shen Gong Wu.
And while many made the claim that Kimiko was the most volatile of the monks … Master Fung knew all to well that Raimundo equaled, if not rivaled, her emotional unpredictability. Kimiko reacted with an intense, impulsive anger, while Raimundo followed the prodding of a teenage male's ego. Water and earth were calm stable elements … fire and wind though …
Master Fung knew all to well the trials of the dragons of wind and flame. He'd done his best to temper their emotions, and had made great strides since they had arrived so long ago at his temple gates. But doubtlessly much more training was necessary before they truly could control the volcanic eruptions inside them.
Proven by Raimundo's response to the evil genius's offer. After punching the other boy in the face, Raimundo had made it his mission to prove that Jack's secrets were just as easy to reveal as his own. And so without thinking of the consequences, he called upon the divination powers of the black book of Exedon.
And had obviously discovered information he had not been ready for.
What exactly he had discovered, Master Fung still didn't know. The wind dragon had stopped mid-reading, slammed the book closed, and demand Dojo return the group to the temple. Once there, he'd slipped away for hours with the magical book … and had only returned later when the earth dragon had, literally, carried him back to his room. Clay had then gone on to secrete the black book of Exedon in the Wu vault, actually going so far as to lock the Wu in its drawer, and intrusting the key to Dojo.
Raimundo would not speak of what happened or what he read. Clay would reveal nothing about what had transpired between him and Raimundo out in the raging storm. Both had answered Master Fung's questions with stony silence, refusing to trust their mentor enough to let him try and aid them.
And as if his pupils silence wasn't unusual enough … the next day a crate had arrived, lugged by two mechanical men. The Jack-bots set the crate down at the temple gates and then flew away. Leery of a trap, Master Fung had ordered several of the elder monks to inspect the crate for any danger, and only allowed it inside once eight elderly men had assured him that there was no danger. So he had the wooden box brought to the grand hall, had called his students to him, and had it opened.
And even though his surprise was equal to that of his students, Master Fung better hid his confusion when Omi pulled out the third arm sash and the golden tiger claws. That confusion only deepened when he read the included note, penned by their supposed nemesis's own hand.
It was short note, written on Spicer industry letterhead. It was an apology for any problems he may have caused, and included a check for fifty-thousand dollars for all the damage he and his metal soldiers had inflicted on the temple. It went on to say that he personally wouldn't trouble the group any longer, and that his remaining Wu had been give to his old incorporeal ally.
And with that, Jack Spicer had disappeared. During the last week, two new Shen Gong Wu had surfaced … and the evil genius had yet to make an appearance.
Master Fung sighed, rubbed a temple, and then sighed again, continuing to watch the sun's descent. He was worried about his students … Omi constantly badgered Raimundo about what he read, to which Raimundo always replied with a cold silence. Raimundo and Clay seemed to have fallen out of sorts, and were currently failing in combo tactics that they had been progressing in mere days before. Raimundo looked constantly tired, and his current martial arts performance showed a small, but gradually increasing, decline. Kimiko seemed to be trying to keep the peace for now, but the aged Zen master knew it was only a matter of time before her limited patience wore out, and she exploded at her already overstressed friends.
"We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want," the master monk quoted, trying for a moment to quiet his mind. The floors of the temple seemed to be crafted of egg shells, and everything he tried seemed to do nothing to help his suffering students.
Master Fung closed his eyes, and counted his breaths, falling into an easy rhythm of meditation. All of this could be overcome … nothing dire had yet occurred. His students would suffer for a while as they overcame the loss of their rival, and then they would fall into a new routine, and things could acclimate themselves to a semblance of normalcy.
The master monk had just found his stress dissipating, but felt a knot form in his stomach when he heard a disturbance in the air. Opening his eyes, he watched as a black helicopter chopped the air, as it began to make a shaky decent into the temple's courtyard.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," he sighed, turning and walking towards the landing aircraft.
Knowing all to well, that this did not bode well.
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Master Fung was not surprised to see his students standing beside the landed helicopter when he reached the temple's courtyard. Omi stared at in open mouthed wonder, Kimiko with curiosity and pursed lips, Clay with distrust, and Raimundo with exhausted disinterest.
Unable to see through the tinged windows, the group waited several moments as the helicopter simply sat there. The door made several small sounds, but didn't open. About five minutes later it finally cracked open, depositing an extremely disheveled woman at the monks feet. Her entrance, lacking any elegance and as she fell out of the door, seemed to only accent her age and terror.
"You all right there Miss?" Clay asked, moving instantly to help the woman to her feet.
"Yes … yes … thank you. I'm fine," the woman whispered in a quiet voice. Standing she seemed utterly dwarfed by the cowboy. Her gray hair was buned behind her head, and chocolate brown eyes seemed to inspect every member of the group before she continued. She wore a simple black sundress that was tailored perfectly to fit her petite frame, skeletal fingers clamped together to try and hide the fact that they were still shaking.
"I'm … I'm …," she stopped and licked her lips. "My name is Grace Cruz … and I am … am looking for … the xa-loun temple,"
"You mean the Xiaolin temple?" Kimiko corrected.
"I … I … I don't know. I need to … need to speak," her hands moved to clutch her elbows, as though creating a barrier with her arms to ward off the group. "Need to speak … I need to talk to Raimundo,"
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"Sugar? Crème?" Master Fung asked, setting a cup of tea atop a saucer in front of the temple's guest. The normally nonexistent condiments placed in the center of the table, the normally bitter tea replaced with a sweeter variant.
"No, no, this is fine, thank you," the woman replied, lifting her glass and visually inspecting the cup's intricate art. She sat at the head the table, Kimiko and Raimundo sitting her left, Raimundo as far away from her as the table would allow, and Clay and Omi to her right. Master Fung watched her take a small sip from her cup, before seating himself at the remaining open table end.
For several long moments a heavy silence settled in the room, no one quite sure what they should do or say next.
Grace sighed and returned her cup to its saucer, and stared into the dark liquid, calming herself. She did not want to come. Hated flying, hated strangers, hated tea that she did not prepare herself. She knew she was spoiled from her life as the Spicer's maid … but that didn't change how little she wanted to be here. She had braved the self-driving helicopter, and had left her charge alone. She drew a calming breath, laid her hands on the table, and readied herself to do what she come here to do.
"You," she said, breaking the silence, giving Raimundo a pointed look. "I came here to talk to you,"
Raimundo refused to make eye contact, and uneasily shifted his weight.
"I know you don't know me. But my name is Grace Cruz, and I work for your friend, Jack Spicer …"
Every eye in the room dilated in sudden interest, the woman's sudden arrival seeming a little less out of place now. Master Fung resisted the urge to sigh, feeling a headache form in between his temples. Dojo quietly lit more candles in the hanging lanterns, making the shadows of frozen people dance.
"I … he … he said that he lost at his game. That you beat him and took away all his Shn Gon Wus"
Despite himself Raimundo winced. Clay averted his eyes to stare out the large rectangular window. Kimiko barely bit back a correction on the names of the magical artifacts.
"He … I … You see …" Grace sighed, "Jack is a very proud boy. It's hard for you to understand but … but, well, he didn't have the best of upbringings. He had … well, he had a lot of school problems too …" her hands folded together once again. "Though he might not seem it … Jack … Jack is a very sad little boy who doesn't have many friends. Your Shn Gon Wus game made so very very happy … and it hurts him a lot that he can no longer play with you. I want … you see … I want you to let him play again. I'll gladly pay for his replacement Wus if that's what you want … but please … just please let him play with you again,"
"WHAT?!" Omi bellowed, his face so crinkled in confusion it almost obscured his facial features. Master Fung held up a hand for silence.
"Ms. Cruz, I'm afraid you misunderstand what the Shen gong Wu are, and what exactly they stand for. They are not toys, and their retrieval is not a game … but rather is a manifestation of good vs. evil where the very world often hangs in the balance," he said gently. Grace turned her eyes from Raimundo to the aged Zen master, the pleading gaze softening to becoming one of weary understanding.
"I understand. I understand. Jack has shown me your items … and explained to me the intricacies of your game. I understand the amount of money that must go into creating that array of items and then hiding them around the world. I understand that it will not be cheep for you to let him play again. What I'm saying though is, if you can give me a price … any price at all … I will pay it,"
Master Fung sighed. "The Shen Gong Wu are valuable magical artifacts. They are not for sale,"
"Of course they are. How much do you want for several of them?" Grace countered, her eyes hardening. Master Fung's eyes met her's unflinchingly, and coolly repeated;
"I told you. They are not for sale".
"Jack is a good boy," Grace hissed angrily. "Let him play with you,"
"You may not believe me, but this battle we wage is not a game,"
"Please!" Grace yelled, slamming her fists on the table. "You want me to believe that these … these … things are real magic? That all of this is some grand battle between good and evil? Tell me then … how many people have DIED protecting these magical artifacts? Why weren't they kept together and guarded rather then scattered across the world in some scavenger hunt fashion? Jack has come home hurt … sometimes badly hurt … with broken bones and such … but he never said that you were out to kill him … that this was a battle of ideologies rather then simply over things. You think I'm so naive as to believe in MAGIC of all things? Its plain to see that this is some game concocted by people with far to much money and far to much time … but be that as it may, do NOT exclude my Jack, and then claim its because he's 'evil',"
"It may be difficult to believe … but …"
"Ridiculous!" Grace cut the master monk off. "You really sound as if you believe in this magic crap. I no more believe that these Shn Gone Woes are magic then I believe that fairies fix shoes or that the sun is pulled by a godly chariot. Stop feeding me these lies and tell me WHY you won't let Jack play with you. What do you want?! Tell me what you want and I'll fix it," she continued, her nails digging into the table.
Master Fung sighed.
"As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself," he quoted.
Every face turned towards the aged Zen master, wearing different forms of confusion. Master Fung said nothing more though, and lifted his glass to sip his tea, knowing he would not budge from his stance.
A moment later, Grace asked;
"And that means?"
"It means, that the Shen Gong Wu are not for sale,"
Grace closed her eyes and lipped her lips. She drew in several deep calming breathes, while she tried to calm her anger. Of all the possibilities she had planed for, she would admit that this was not an outcome she had been prepared for.
"Fine," she said softly, looking at the table in defeat. "The Wus are not for sale," She loosened her grip on the table, and slowly met the master monk's eyes. "What about if they just come to visit then? I'm sure it would mean the world to Jack if his friends came to see him,"
Master Fung said nothing for a moment, but slowly turned to look at each of his students.
"That would be their decision,"
Grace turned again to Raimundo. "What do you say Raimundo? Come visit with him? … Just for a little while? Please?"
The whole conversation the wind dragon's eyes had never left the floor. He'd avoided looking at this woman … avoided trying to remember what he'd done. More and more she made Jack look like a lonely child … blurring all the memories the monks had of him as a twisted psychopath villain. It wasn't lost on anyone that Grace was singling Raimundo out … pleading with him, rather then them, to come and see their rival.
Slowly Raimundo drug his gaze away from the floor and looked at his mentor. Master Fung stared into the jade irises … seeing a side of Raimundo he'd never seen before. Uncertainty, fear, sorrow, … Raimundo was on the verge of tears.
"Please?" Grace's voice was soft, pleading, the sound of a grandmother begging to see her grandchild just one last time.
"The choice is yours Raimundo," Master Fung said gently.
"Rai?" Kimiko added.
"Buddy?" murmured Clay.
"Absolutely NOT!" hollered Omi.
Every eye in the room stared at Raimundo, as silence once again gained control of the room. Every eye holding something different … ranging from sorrow, to understanding, to anger, to confusion, to apprehension.
A moment later, the Brazilian softly murmured;
"Whatever. Fine. I'll go visit him,"
"Thank you," Grace sighed in relief.
"Make sure to take the golden tiger claws before you leave young monk," Master Fung added, as Raimundo stood up and followed Grace out the temple doors.
"… What the heck is going on?" Kimiko asked, watching Grace and Raimundo fade into the night.
"I sure hope that's a good idea partner," Clay mumbled, likewise watching the departing pair.
"Master Fung! Why would let him go! Jack Spicer is our enemy! And this is surely a trap to get Raimundo … ohhhhhh … he'll go there and then his chicken will indeed be cooked!" Omi raved.
"Goose partner. Then his 'goose' will be cooked," Clay half-heartedly corrected.
"Whatever!" Omi yelled back in response.
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," Master Fung replied, turning from his pupils to again stare into his tea … and hoping that he had done the right thing, letting the wind dragon go.
Author's notes;
Niaho all!
I know … I know … I've been gone for a while (…alright, replace 'while' with 'seemingly forever'). No, I haven't forgotten this fic … its just slow goings with it (as, after re-reading it I hate most of the old chapters … and honestly I'm not really fond of this one either).
But, that being said, a few quick things;
1) Woot! A master Fung orientated chapter. I like the old badger, and he hardly ever seems to get any real screen time or character development. I wanted to show a more objective (and more mature) look at everything that's going on and that's transpired. Master Fung is being kept in the dark (as are Kimiko and Omi) about what Rai knows/feels … and Clay's that loyal friend who won't go out and share other people's business … thus we have a lot tension, with no one quite knowing 100 what's going on.
2) Grace … ugh, Grace. Grace didn't quite come out the way I wanted her. I originally meant to present her as that strong grandmother type of person (that very strong personality, mixed with the best of intentions). Instead she came out more as a permissive mother (… which is actually understandable. She means well and looks at Jack as her son … but its him, the child, who has all the finical/housing power. All the power really. She can't MAKE Jack do anything, something that she realizes; deep down, because she's not his mother. All of this made all the more complex by the fact that Ophelia still technically lives in the mansion to boot. So I suppose its only natural that Grace came out as more stuttery and weak then I had intended her to be).
3) I know it was probably awkward … but I didn't want this chapter to be about the dragons … thus why Master Fung did all the talking. I wanted a more objective chapter so that I could try to show what's going on through all the different eyes that are viewing these events unfolding (though yes … the first page or two of this chapter was just to remind everyone of the basic plotline, in case they didn't want to re-read the last five chapters).
4) Grace doesn't believe in magic … and think about it, seriously. Would you? She thinks she's dealing with kids as rich, smart and inventive as Jack (… she actually thinks Dojo is a robot). The vast majority of the world (in the Xiaolin universe) acts like the real world … where magic doesn't exist. Furthermore Grace is older (think upper fifties), she's seen the technological progression … and lives with Jack. Obviously she's ganna have some different ideas of what the Shen Gong Wu are (… and Jack doesn't exactly explain to her that he is/was fighting for the evil team). (And as for Wuya/Grace … they've never met. Wuya never bothered to meet the 'hired help' so avoided Grace the few rare times they might have come in contact).
5) The title (and all the zen-esk things Master Fung says this chapter) ARE Zen quotes … and as of such I claim no credit for them.
6) How did Grace know which one was Raimundo right off the bat? Well, that will be explained once I get to the next chapter!
7) Lemme see … my life (personally/academically) is utterly chaotic … so I'm not quite sure when the next chapter will surface. Just letting you all know that I haven't forgotten this piece … (and the next chapter should be a really good one. We get to see Rai/Jack re-meet … AND Wuya starts getting her arc as of the next chapter … which trust me, should definitely surprise you guys).
8) Part of the reason this is so late is because I was going to write to ahead-ahead because a friend of mine was going to draw me a piece of fan art. Having never gotten fan art before, I wanted to post a link to it and purr in joy that I actually inspired someone to draw something. Seeing as her computer ate her work … I figured I still owed you guys an update (and I pushed that scene to the next chapter … hopefully so I can link it then … though she's been busy with school too … so I'm kinda doubting it).
9) And finally … thank you all so much for your continued support. I know I've been terrible posting chapters with any regularity … but it really boosts my confidence (and makes me want to write more for you guys) when I see all your super shibby reviews. Thank you all … you're the best reviewers a fan-auother can ask for!
As per usual … if you've any questions/personal comments the e-mails listed on the main page. Catch ya all next time.
Laters!
-Shiva's Avatar-
