Powers of the wind

VII

Raimundo shifted from foot to foot, ready to practice his brand-new powers. Ventus stood beside the boy, His tail thumping on the ground eagerly, causing little bursts of wind. Clay, Kimiko, and Omi stood way off to the side, and Master Fung stood only a few feet from the tanned boy, Dojo clinging to the older man's shoulder. Ventus gently nudged the boy with His beak, and let out a little bird-like mewl. Raimundo patted the Spirit's head fondly.

"Now, Raimundo," Master Fung called, "we will start with the easiest of your new powers: Wind Rapids Tornado."

"Sounds good to me," the Brazilian stated with a smirk.

Ventus stood up, and backed away from the boy, sitting down five feet from him. "Go on," He stated, waving His clawed paw. "Show 'em what you've got."

Raimundo thumbed at the Spirit, and turned back at the older human. "What should I do?" he inquired.

"Just like all the other wind moves, you must command the wind," Master Fung stated. "Focus on your element."

Ventus nodded, His tail twitching. Raimundo dug his feet into the earth, bracing himself. He took a calming breath, and moved his hands until they were in front of his upper torso.

"Focus, Raimundo, focus."

He pulled his hands back, and opened his eyes. The Brazilian twirled his hands in a circular motion, the wind following the motions of his hands. Raimundo then propelled the twirled winds towards a dummy, and it soon began to be sucked into the rapid winds. The dummy shot up violently and it was torn to pieces. The other Xiaolin Warriors looked on, all three of them extremely impressed.

"Wow, Rai," Kimiko stated, placing her hands to her hips. "Nice job."

"Whoo-wee, dat there was wild," Clay said, pushing up his hat a little.

"That was most impressive, my friend," Omi cried. "I cannot wait until I get my powers, then I will be most impressive as well."

Raimundo gave a tiny smirk to the custard-coloured boy.

Dojo was currently clapping his tiny claws together. "Oh, yeah, that's a ten out of ten," he called, lifting up his hands.

Master Fung gave a curt nod of his head. "Yes, young one, that was indeed good," he said. "The move, if used on a human, can rip the air from their lungs, killing them. So, it is a dangerous move."

Kimiko shivered at the thought. "That's brutal," she whispered.

"Tell meh 'bout it," Clay muttered.

Ventus let out a board yawn, crashing onto the ground, as a gust of wind formed. The Wind Spirit lay lazily on the ground as he looked at his fingernails. Master Fung turned towards the Spirit, a coy smile on his lips.

"Board already?"

"Yeah," Ventus groaned, flicking a pebble across the dirt.

Raimundo shook his head, and cracked his knuckles. "What's next, Master Fung-O?" he questioned cockily.

"The next move is Whirl Wind Hurricane," he said. "With the blink of an eye, you can destroy anything with the powers of wind. Try your luck on those stacked boxes."

Raimundo shifted to the right slightly to see a large pyramid of brown boxes. Master Fung stepped aside, and waved to his other three students to keep their distance. Ventus watched through half-lidded eyes at the boy. The Brazilian took in a calming breath, and focused his energy on the boxes. Without even moving a muscle, the wind started to whip up. Dead leaves and dust kicked up, and the winds started to circle around the crates until they exploded. Shards of wood flew like fast and weightless feathers through the air. The students ducked as several came their way and one hitting Clay's tan cowboy hat.

"Excellent job, Raimundo," praised Master Fung.

"Whoo, those boxes didn't stand a chance," Dojo said, running his claw through the air as if he sliced through it.

Clay bent down, sweeping up his hat, and placed it back onto his head. "I d' say so myself," he said, fixing the hat.

Raimundo cracked his knuckles, a coy smile on his lips. "Piece of cake," he called. "What's the next move?"

"The third move is Cyclone Blast," Master Fung stated. "You can clap your hands together and form powerful gusts of wind even if there is none. Try it on this dummy."

Raimundo looked at the dummy, and then turned to Ventus. "Hey, Ventus, can you stop the wind?" he inquired.

The Spirit nodded, and with the snap of His fingers, the light breeze ceased and there was no wind whatsoever. "Done and done," He murmured dully.

"Good, now focus yourself," Master Fung stated. "Focus . . ."

Raimundo sighed, and thought of his element. Just then, the wind started to pick up from out of nowhere. Clay clamped his hand over his hat, preventing it to fly off. The wind started to swirl dangerously around Raimundo, who was fast in place. But then, the blast of wind broke, and it zoomed over the temple, ripping up a tree and a few roof shingles. When it was over, Dojo was roughly clinging to Master Fung's shoulder, his eyes wide, and his mouth clamped shut. Kimiko looked up at her now messed up hair-do, and groaned.

"My hair!" she whined.

Clay laughed, ruffling her already snarled hair, and she snarled at him. "Watch it, cowboy," Kimiko snarled, her finger's raking through her snarled mess.

Clay fixed his hat upon his head, still smiling at her. Omi then approached Raimundo, smiling widely. "That was most impressive, Raimundo," he said. "It was very skippy!"

"Um, I think you mean 'trippy.'"

"That too!"

"Yeah, Rai, it was good, but don't ever do that again with me around," Kimiko growled, smoothing out her matted hair.

"Naw, I like you looking like crap!" Raimundo laughed.

Kimiko shot him a dagger-filled glare, and Clay shook his head, waving his hands down at the Brazilian as if to say: "Shut up." Master Fung approached, his hands in his sleeves. "Well done, Raimundo," he said with a small smile.

"Oh, yeah," Dojo said, waving his little fist. He turned to Ventus. "Wouldn't ya say?"

Ventus looked up from a little castle of stones and twigs he was making. "What? Oh, yeah, fabulous job, Raikundo," he said, pulling the Brazilian into a head-jock, and started to rub his fist into his head.

"It's Raimundo."

"Same difference."

Master Fung cleared his throat, and the Spirit and students turned to him. "Now since one of the Spirits is with us, the others will start to call to you," the older man stated. "After all, an apple does not fall far from the tree."

Ventus' tail twitched. "Yep!" He cawed.

"And it will be my Spirit!" Omi exclaimed proudly, pounding on his chest. "After all, I am most grand, and Unda will give me powers that will enhance my greatness."

The Wind Spirit looked at the small boy. "You've got an ego the size of your head!" Ventus laughed.

Omi glared at the Spirit as the rest of the students laughed at the custard-coloured boy. Just then, there was a hiss, and Ventus whipped around. The students stopped laughing, and looked at the large bird-like Spirit.

"Ven—"

But the Spirit cut Raimundo off with the flick of his wrist. "Who goes there?" he called to the air.

There was another hiss, and the students prepared themselves for a fight. Ventus stood up, his ears perking as he looked into the shadows. "Atrumleona, is that you?" he asked.

"Yesss," the voice hissed.

Four pairs of neon-yellow eyes appeared in the shadows, and the students cringed. However, Ventus was not afraid—he smiled at the four eyes that lingered in the darkness that was cast by the buildings. The Spirit of the Wind sat down, thus creating a gust of short-lived breeze.

"What brings you here?"

"It's her . . . It's Atrumlimion," Atrumleona hissed.

Ventus shivered, and ducked His head down. "What about her?" he asked.

The students moved forward, as did Master Fung and Dojo. The slender green dragon left the old man's shoulder and moved closer to the shadows. "Hey, why don't you come out?" he asked.

"I can't," Atrumleona whispered. "The light is too strong, and I am too weak. I'm tired, and I need rest. Come back tonight, and we shall talk. Clay, this is about your sister."

The large boy stiffened, every hair on his head standing up straight. "What about Jessie!" he cried to the shadows.

Atrumleona did not answer. She had left the shadows. Clay approached, reaching in desperately, as if he was trying to grab what he could not see. Kimiko looked to the cowboy; pain filled her eyes as she reached for his arm.

"Clay . . ."

The cowboy trembled, looking at the shadows . . .