Author's note:
Woops! I messed up and wrote Capt. Black's name wrong! Luckily a fan pointed it out. Thanks a ton, fire-dragonz. I gotta be more careful. The right changes HAVE been made!
Now, on with the story!
CHAPTER EIGHT
MEETINGS OF DIFFERENT SORTS, PT.1
Jade was aware that she had finally stopped moving. She was somewhere deep below ground, and in Dai Gui the Earth Demon's clutches, trapped in his hands.
"Lemme out!" She shouted, frightened. She kicked at his hands, but did no damage at all. Dai Gui chuckled, amused by her spunk.
"Don't bother. You can't get out. And if you try to…well, I plan on killing you anyway, but if you did try to, I would crush your bones one by one."
Jade gulped, frightened. "What do you want with me?" She said, scared.
Dai Gui was currently in one of his tunnels, looking down at his hands, aware of how easily the girl fit inside of them. She was cupped and trapped in them the way a child might trap a firefly or another bug in its hands. Dai Gui smiled a little, a cruel smile.
"Revenge of course. It is quite cold beneath the Earth, and you know what they say about revenge, girl. I am going to kill you for ruining everything for us demons. If you hadn't escaped the changes made by the Book of Ages, and if you hadn't brought those chi ingredients to that wizard, Dai Gui would have been free a long time ago."
"Wh-what are you going to do with me?" She asked, her voice smaller. Jade was suddenly feeling VERY scared. She was slightly claustrophobic, and it was getting worse, especially knowing that she was in not just in some closet but trapped in a DEMON'S hands.
Dai Gui laughed. "Heh-heh-heh. I'm going to crush you, earthworm." He said. "I'm going to crush you in my hands and lick your remains free from them. Dai Gui shall have his revenge. It will be slow, painful…and not quick, oh no. Dai Gui does not think it will be quick at all."
He laughed again. "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I wonder how your family will react to that?"
Jade was completely silent.
"What, nothing to say, child? Why not? Come on, say something. Why not speak?"
The Earth Demon brought his hands closer to his face. Hearing something faint, he opened them slightly, just so he could see in. He peered inside.
She was curled up, sobbing into her arms, wanting to go home and be with her family. Though Jade was in some ways far more mature than her fellow peers, she was, at the end of the day, still a kid…and she was scared now. She wanted to go home.
Dai Gui looked down at the small girl that was crying in his clutches. He heard her faint, muffled cries and watched her body shake rhythmically every time she let out a sob. He suddenly felt odd. How…how delicate she was, how young and weak…and she seemed so very…so small…
Like a little mouse almost. A mouse caught in a trap.
Poor, poor thing, Dai Gui thought. "Poor little girl." He whispered.
So very small…
Jade stopped suddenly when she realized that Dai Gui was moving. She held her breath, waiting…then…
She was deposited carefully onto the ground. She looked around. She was in a huge underground cavern, with stalagmites and stalactites all over. There was a fairly large underground pool about ten yards away and quartz and other crystal-like rocks made up the roof of the cavern. And there were dozens of rock formations, impressive and formidable in appearance. It was actually very…well…beautiful, in a vaguely scary and imposing way.
"This is just a small part of my new kingdom. There are natural caverns and caves beneath your city's park. I shall put them to good use."
Jade turned around and saw Dai Gui looking down at her. He reached out and at the suggestion of one of his claws, she lifted her chin up to look at him.
"Do you want to know why I didn't hurt you?"
Jade said "Yes", gaining some of her courage back.
"I wasn't being fair." He said, trying to phrase it right, the words difficult. "I just…wasn't being fair to you. You…you are so small…you are only…just a child. You deserve a fair chance."
He let her go and pointed at the other side of the cavern. "That is the entrance to my new tunnel routes. They are very long. I am going to give you a chance. Hide in one of the tunnels, go find a cavern or a cave or a niche and hide there. If I cannot find you by the time sunset has come, then…then I will let you go free. But if I do find you…"
He kneeled down, looking right at her. The hot breath from his nostrils blasted her, sending some of her hair flying back. "I will still be merciful, and give you a fairly painless death, little mouse. I shall simply lift you up into the Earth, and then take my hands free from holding you. The Earth shall come down upon you and crush you like a grape. Very messy, but…but quick. You won't be in pain for more than a moment."
Jade gulped. She knew this was as nice as a demon could get. She nodded. "I'm uh…just gonna run now…" She said, taking off. "You do that." Dai Gui said, and he sat down, calmly waiting.
Jade ran.
She ran through the tunnels, taking every single fork she could find, not looking back. She ran hard and fast, so much so that she began to run out of steam quite quickly, and then after about five minutes of solid sprinting she found herself completely bushed. She staggered over to a niche in the wall and climbed inside. She curled up and took deep breaths.
"Calm down…just calm down…and…and take a rest…"
She closed her eyes and sighed…drifting off into unconsciousness.
Dai Gui had finished waiting. He calmly walked through the tunnels, eyes peered. "Come out, come, wherever you are, little mouse." He called out playfully.
Jade couldn't hear. She was fast asleep once more.
Jade was now aware that she was surrounded by darkness. And she was cold once again. She shivered and started walking forward, on nothingness. Then she tripped and fell…fell…fell…
Suddenly something happened. She began to hover down towards a circle of light, gently descending, her body shimmering with a bright red aura. Then she was carefully deposited on the circle, and she looked around. Nothing…
Suddenly she got the chills again and shivered. Then she saw…him. The demon. He had a blanket.
He wrapped it around her shoulders. "Are you all right?" He asked her gently. "I wouldn't want you to be harmed in this vision."
"What do you want with me?" Jade asked, mustering up her courage. "You keep appearing every time something's about to happen, usually something bad."
"Something bad HAS happened, child. The demons have been released into the city. If it's citizens have any sense, they will abandon it so that they need not be harmed."
"Jackie and Uncle will banish them again!" Jade said defiantly.
"I doubt it, child." The demon said. "They won't be able to. They themselves are dealing with their own problems."
Jade gulped. "Whuh-what do you mean?"
The demon sighed. He withdrew a crystal ball from his cloak and held it up. "Look deep, child…little jewel. Look deep."
Jade looked into the crystal ball and saw a shadowy form approaching…one that was very familiar…bat wings…three spiky horns…claws…red eyes…
"Hsi Wu!" Jade said.
"Yes. He's looking for you, you know."
Jade took a step back. "Why?" She asked, confused.
The demon shook his head. "I cannot say. I know little of what is in his heart. Only what is in his head. But…but I can sense the fear in you…though most of it is not a fear of me, but of the Demon of Earth, Dai Gui. Such a sad soul…"
"Sad soul? Him? He's a monster!"
The demon sighed sadly. "He's suffered much. He used to be different. They all were once different. Once they had…had a family. Three brothers lost. A mother too…and their greatest friends."
"Who?"
"They once knew innocence and happiness. It is because of their friends that they still remember what those feelings felt like. If not for the Chosen and for Shin…they would have utterly surrendered to their inner darkness a long time ago."
"Shin?"
"There is much you do not understand. In time you will. But do not fret over Dai Gui. He does not have it in him to kill a child, he is surprisingly soft, despite his appearance. Awake."
The demon reached for her and gently laid his hand upon her head. "Awake, dear child." He said softly…
She awoke.
She looked outside of her niche. She crawled out…
Dai Gui was there, calmly waiting.
"Well, well. Look what Dai Gui has found."
Jade gulped and instinctively covered her head as Dai Gui reached for her…
All went dark. Then…she was in the park once more, being carefully placed on the ground. She turned around and saw Dai Gui smiling a little. "I found you ten minutes ago. It's been about one hour since sunrise…you're free to go, child." Jade blinked. "Really? I…I can go?" "Yes. If I was you, I would leave now, Jade Chan. Before I change my mind. Now if you will excuse me, I must continue to work on my kingdom."
He was about to go back down, but suddenly he stiffened a little, remembering something. "Um…one more thing. Don't…don't get involved with my brother. He's been hurt before. He might be the one who will hurt this time."
Dai Gui then jumped back into the hole he'd come out of and Jade could hear intense digging ensue, along with some humming. She shrugged and ran off, heading for home.
She'd lucked out! She was saved! Everything was going to be okay!
But when she reached it and opened up the door, a very unpleasant sight greeted her.
Her family had been rudely tied up to chairs, and several dozens priceless artifacts had been destroyed, scattered and ruined. Someone had gone on a wrecking spree. That someone had been Hsi Wu, the Sky Demon. The same demon who know looked right at Jade, grinning slyly.
Meanwhile, not too far away, about two blocks over…
Tso Lan waited calmly for the woman to pass by the alley. It was still quite early in the morning, few people were out in this particular spot of San Francisco. Unfortunately for the woman, SHE was in that particular spot, and so was Tso Lan.
She fiddled with a lock of her red, curly hair, twisting it slightly. She had a power-suit on, she was going to a business meeting and she had to be there in two hours. The earlier she got there, the better.
Therefore, because her mind was preoccupied with things like how to present her presentation to her superiors, and not on where she was or what could possibly be in the alley, she didn't see the pair of red eyes that gazed at her as she walked by…
Or the clawed hand that suddenly shot out, a glowing aura surrounding it.
She was yanked in by an invisible force, flying through the air…and suddenly she was in Tso Lan's clutches, one small hand over her mouth as a larger hand held her tightly. He looked down at her, tongue hovering just above her.
"You'll do nicely." He said to her, licking his lips. He raised her up, pulling the hand away from her mouth. The woman was about to scream when suddenly he pulled her forward, mandibles biting into her cheeks as his tongue went into her mouth. Her scream was muffled, and soon she felt herself getting weaker and weaker.
Tso Lan began to drain her of her succulent chi, the life energy that a soul always gave out. He drank of her savagely, his mandibles digging in deeply, drawing some blood as his tongue eagerly slurped up chi that he was sucking from his maw. The woman finally lost consciousness, and Tso Lan finally finished his meal. He dropped her on the ground, rubbing his belly.
"How delicious." He said. "I have not tasted such tasty chi in quite a while. Now then, where to next?"
Suddenly he stiffened. He could feel something there, watching him. He looked up…
His eyes widened at what he saw.
"It's…it's you…"
King stood up upon the roof, looking down with frighteningly chilling eyes.
"The Noble one…"
"Begone. Now. You've crippled her." King said, his voice barely repressing a silent fury. Tso Lan blinked slowly, then shrugged. "Such sympathy is a foolish trait. You waste it too easily, King."
"I said leave." King snarled horribly. "Taking delight in causing suffering is an even more undesirable trait." Tso Lan silently drifted away as King hopped down from the roof, picking the woman up. He waved a hand over her face and her eyes fluttered open. Her skin was turning grey, her eyes losing focus. She was going into a comatose, chi-depleted state.
"Hello, little human. It hurts, doesn't it?"
She barely managed to nod. King knelt down, close to her ear. "I'm going to end the pain. I promise you won't suffer."
A single tear fell down her cheek. He gently lowered his jaws down to her mouth and blew slightly into it. A faint trace of some liquid was sprayed out, like a kind of venom almost. The woman felt a twinge of dizziness as it went down her throat, then…nothing…
And then all was dark for the woman a few minutes later. King reached into her pocket and took out her wallet, looking for her license. Her current residence was located on it. He gently lifted the body of the woman up and jumped into the air onto the rooftops above, sprinting from roof to roof, his heart heavy with sorrow, and regret that there was not an easier way to punish the city of man…
