Yey, chapter 10! As always, I tried my best no matter how long it took, so I hope you like it.

Chapter 10

The Pedrosas

The days were gradually getting warmer and the Temple was bathed in sunlight. Sampson was learning fast and that didn't improve Kimiko's mood. There had been two more Shen Gong Wu activating but not a single person turned up to collect them so the warriors took them back to the Temple without hassle. They should have been pleased with this but instead it made them feel uneasy. Why had Wuya given up on the Shen Gong Wu?

Kimiko was sat on the porch steps in front of the Temple and her mind was made up. Her eyes were on the Shen Gong Wu vault with its padlocked door. She knew Master Fung always gave the key to Dojo to guard, so all she had to do was wait until Dojo fell asleep. She was aware that what she was about to do meant she might be dead by tomorrow morning, and even if she did return to the Temple, she'd be in a lot of trouble.

She shifted position and tried to get comfortable but her nervousness made that impossible. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as the sun began to set and long shadows were drawn across the ground. She inhaled the cool evening air deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to calm her nerves. It was starting to get dark now. She took a quick glance behind her at the open doorway and saw Dojo's cushion. He was curled up on it but not quite asleep.

"Another half an hour should do it," she thought to herself.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees nearby and lifted her hair slightly. She drew up her legs and rested her chin on her knees. This could be her last ever day on Earth.

.:.:.:.

Clay and Omi sat in Omi's small room sipping mugs of hot chocolate. They were both ready for bed but neither felt like sleeping. Clay took a sip from his mug and winced slightly as the scalding liquid stung his tongue. Omi was staring down into his own mug, swirling his drink gently.

"Sure had been quite with Spicer gone as well," Clay said. Omi nodded without looking up. Clay just watched Omi sadly. He knew Kimiko's determination in Raimundo being alive was starting to affect Omi too he himself still believed Raimundo to be dead although he hoped with all his heart he was wrong. Omi on the other hand was starting to come around to Kimiko's way of thinking.

Omi continued to start down into his swirling hot chocolate, seeming to be almost hypnotised by it. Clay scratched his head and took another sip from his mug.

"Suppose it's been a lot easier getting Shen Gong Wu," he said. Omi didn't reply. He didn't even look up. "Unless Wuya turns up," Clay said. He knew Omi wasn't really listening, but he wanted to keep the silence away. When it was quiet he started to wonder just what had happened to Raimundo. Had he been captured or killed in battle? Had he died quickly or had he suffered? He didn't want to think about those things. Raimundo had always pulled pranks on him and teased him, but if he was in danger, he knew Raimundo would have done anything to rescue him. To rescue any of them. He was a brave and kind at heart. To Clay, Raimundo had been like a brother. To Kimiko, Clay knew Raimundo had meant more to her than that. That was why she refused to let him go.

Omi took a tiny drink of his hot chocolate then returned to staring blankly at it. Then he looked up and fixed Clay with his dark eyes, and Clay knew what Omi was about to say.

"I do not believe Raimundo is dead," Omi said, confirming Clay's belief. "But I think he may have suffered greatly."

Clay just stared at Omi, lost for words.

"What makes you say that li'l partner?" Clay asked finally. Omi looked back down at his cooling drink and said nothing for a while. Minutes passed and Clay was sure Omi was not going to mention it again when Omi looked up and fixed him with his determined yet sad gaze.

"Raimundo was a great warrior. I teased him because he messed up a lot but really he was just learning more than I have, and those mistakes really helped him in the end. He knew the Heylin side's weaknesses. And he was a great fighter. I was wrong to tease him because he was always going to be better than me, better than any of us, and Master Fung was right to make him Wudai Warrior...but he was wrong to send him to war. I am sure Raimundo fought bravely, and his fought many battles and survived, but I do not believe he was ready for it. I think Raimundo is alive, but maybe not for much longer. If he was still fighting, we'd know because we'd hear some sort of news of it, but we've heard nothing for years. If he was dead, we would also have heard something about it. We have not. I think Kimiko is right."

"What...what makes you think that?" Clay asked quietly. And then a small grin spread across Omi's lips.

"Tiger instincts," he said. Clay just looked at Omi for a few moments and then he grinned as well.

"To Raimundo," he said, holding up his mug. "Hope you're alright Rai."

"To Raimundo," Omi repeated, still smiling. They clinked their cups together and took a sip each.

.:.:.:.

Kimiko approached the vault cautiously. The key for the padlock was clutched tightly in her hand. It had been easy enough to get it once Dojo was asleep and snoring loudly; he was a heavy sleeper. It was almost dark now and the only sound Kimiko could here was the pounding of her own terrified heart.

She reached the vault and opened the lock, cringing at how loud the metal seemed as it sprung open. She placed it gently onto the grass and pushed open the door. She half expected alarms to go off, even held her breath waiting for them, but none did and she stepped into the shadows of the vault. She played the tune with the bells hanging beside the door and prayed the sound of them didn't carry back to the temple. The floor lowered and formed stepped into darkness.

"Fire," Kimiko whispered. A tiny flame flickered into life in her left hand and cast eerie shadows across the walls. She descended the steps. The first draw she came to held the Golden Tiger Claws. She took them out and held them securely in her right hand. The next draw she came to held the Eye of Dashi and she hung that around her neck where it lay on her chest beside Raimundo's medallion. The next draw contained The Healing Hand of Dashi which she placed deep into her pocket and prayed to god she didn't lose it. Her own Wudai weapon, the Arrow Sparrow, was placed over her shoulders and hanging lightly at her right hip. She climbed back up the steps and closed the vault. She exited the building, placed the padlock back on the door and locked it then dropped the key into the pocked that contained the Healing Hand of Dashi. The fire in her left hand vanished

The air was chilly when the wind blew. Kimiko swept her hair from her face and faced the Xiaolin Temple.

"If I mess up, I'm sorry," she whispered to the silent, sleeping building. "But I hope it does...Golden Tiger Claws!" she slashed the air with her right hand and opened up a hole that looked down into a swirling grey vortex. She took another look at the Temple then jumped into the vortex and the opening closed up behind her.

.:.:.:.

The afternoon was warm in Rio de Janeiro. It was three o'clock and the streets were packed and noisy. Kimiko jumped from a new opening in the air behind a large building where no one could see her then she tucked the Golden Tiger Claws into her pocket and dropped the Eye of Dashi down the front of her loose T-shirt.

Kimiko made her way to the front of the building and the main street and was dazzled by the bright sunlight. She smiled as she remembered Raimundo telling her about Brazil, and how she had wished she could go there. Well, here she was. She had never met Raimundo's family before but Raimundo had told her where they lived and from directions she had been given so many years before, she began to wander the streets of Rio. Eventually though, she needed directions and, of course, she didn't speak Portuguese. There had been some nights when she and Raimundo had sat up together, her teaching his Japanese and him teaching her Portuguese. But there was nothing she could use in this situation so she needed to find someone who spoke English.

"Excuse me?" she said tentatively to a tall man walking towards her. The man looked at her with a confused expression.

"Do you speak English?" she asked. The man said something she couldn't understand, shook his head as if in apology and walked away.

"Well...could have been worse," Kimiko said to herself. She continued to wander around looking for a person who could speak English and was kind enough to help her. Eventually she found one.

"Raimundo Pedrosa?" the man said with a hint of surprise. "Yeah I knew him. Used to go to school with him. Sorry he died."

"Yeah," Kimiko replied, not bothering to go into her theory of how she believed him to be alive. "Do you know when he lived? Where his family lives now?"

"Yes," the man said. He checked his wristwatch. "There's time. I'll show you. What's your name?"

"Kimiko," Kimiko answered. "Thanks for your help." They began walking.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the Pedrosa's house, in which the man introduced himself as Alexio and even went into a few stories of when he and Raimundo were in school. Kimiko prayed he wasn't going to ask how she had gotten into Brazil without getting caught. It was easy to forget that the country had been overrun in the bright, baking sunlight in the middle of the packed streets. But here and there she noticed odd things. She saw more people marching through the streets in uniforms. She saw buildings that had been either broken into or boarded up. She saw people begging on the streets in faded, ragged clothes that looked like they had once been quite expensive and well kept that made het think these people had been made homeless only recently. There were "wanted" and "missing" posters everywhere although she couldn't read them. And every now and again she heard a panicked scream and a gunshot that were mostly drowned out by the over-noisy sound of the crowds around her. People spoke in loud voices and they didn't seem to look around much, as if they were trying to ignore what was going on around them. And Alexio kept casting nervous glances at Kimiko and then around them, as if he didn't trust her or didn't feel safe with her. But what she didn't see was the small figure with the red hair flying overhead on two propellers.

"Here it is," he said at last, coming to a halt. Before them was an ordinary looking house with an overgrown garden and one boarded up window. Kimiko looked at it then glanced at Alexio. Alexio nodded once, briefly, as if to urge her forward, and she approached the door. Then an obvious question occurred to her, a question that could ruin her whole plan. She turned back to Alexio.

"Do they speak...English..." she trailed off. Alexio was gone. She stood on the spot, puzzled for several seconds then turned back to the house. She sighed, hoped for the best and knocked on the door.

.:.:.:.

Sampson had been lying awake in bed for a while before he finally decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He tip-toed past the other three rooms, paused, then backtracked and stopped outside Kimiko's room. The curtain was open and she was gone. He hadn't heard her leave the room but he couldn't really remember her entering it either.

He looked at the room, puzzled, for a moment then went to the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and stood before the sink as he drank it. When he was done he placed the glass in the sink and turned to leave. That was when he noticed the note on the kitchen table. He picked it up a read it, growing steadily more horrified.

Omi, Clay, Master Fung and Dojo,

I know you're going to hate me for this and I knew you'd never agree to let me do it, that's why I didn't tell you and why I left in secret. I've taken some Shen Gong Wu from the vault and I'm going to Brazil. I know Raimundo is alive and I think he might be there. I'm going to see if I can find his family.

As you know, Brazil has been overrun by Wuya so if she catches me or if anyone working for her does, she'll probably kill me. If that happens then I want you to know that I'm really sorry for the trouble I've caused and then Shen Gong Wu I've lost you.

I know you will be angry but please don't hate me. I just want to know that Rai is okay. I'd do anything to have him back with us.

Kimiko

Xxx

Sampson remained where he was, the note clutched in his hand. He glanced in the direction of the four tiny rooms where Clay and Omi were sleeping then he left the kitchen and headed for the entrance hall where Dojo slept. He shook the dragon awake and Dojo looked at him with bleary, sleepy eyes.

"Do you have the key for the Temple vault?" Sampson asked. Dojo's eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously.

"Yeah, but you're not allowed in. No one but Master Fung is, that's why I'm guarding it," he said slowly.

"I'm not asking for it," Sampson said. "But do you actually have it, right now?"

Dojo lifted up the cushion he lay curled up on and dug around underneath it. Then his eyes grew wide.

"No...It's gone," he said. "Who's been in? Master Fung is going to kill me!" Dojo said, panic-stricken. Then Sampson shoved the note from Kimiko under Dojo's nose and Dojo scanned it. Then he looked back up into Sampson's green eyes.

"What do we do?" Sampson asked.

"I'll get Master Fung," Dojo said and he slithered off. Sampson kneeled on the floor and prayed Kimiko was still alive.

I hope you enjoyed it. My updates are getting really slow so I don't know when the next chapter will be up but I'll make it a good one, I promise. Remember to review.