Hello all! Here I am again, with another update, and I'm actually pretty happy with the way this one turned out. But I won't spoil anything so I'll keep my trap shut 'til the end. :D Oh! And another thing: I'm really sorry for the lack of other characters. Rai and Kim got the whole chp to themselves last ep and they get it again this chp as well. I know that's not fair so I tried to incorporate Clay and Omi in, but that only messed up the planned plot so I took them back out. I also know we haven't seen Kendrick in a while, but he's definitely coming back next chp, and so will Chase.

Well, I won't rant any longer. Happy reading!

Chapter Ten

Raimundo could hear Kimiko and Master Fung talking in the background, but their chatter was only a distant hum to him. He barely heard them at all.

What was wrong with him?

At least the loud drumming sound had faded away. Man that had freaked him out. It was like in that movie Jumanji when the loud beating sound had kept playing over and over again. Except with him, it was ten times freakier.

But now that the noises had faded away he felt much better. He sneaked a peek at Kimiko's cut once more. Did the blood really look that red to him before? Now he couldn't see any blood at all. Even his sudden splitting headache had started to clear.

Master Fung's sudden question brought him back to reality.

"Raimundo, is it possible for you to explain your sudden unusual behavior?"

Did Master Fung just ask him that? What kind of dumb question was that? He couldn't help snorting back a laugh and retorting, "Don't talk to me like that, you make me sound like I'm in therapy."

Wow, did he really just say that? He was feeling better by the minute. Kimiko, however, still wore a mask of concern.

"Rai, you kept staring into space the whole while we walked here. Don't avoid the question."

"Kim, I'm fine now," he answered, slightly aggravated now that he was feeling better. "Will you relax?"

"No I won't! And I swear, if you don't answer the question I'll burn you to a crisp!"

"Raimundo, please reply to the question, it's imperative," Master Fung said gently.

Raimundo sighed. "Okay, okay, but it's going to sound stupid and dumb."

"I'm listening," Master Fung responded.

"Well, it all started when Kimiko showed me her cut. I must have been hallucinating or something since it looked really fresh and smelled sort of sweet and metallic. Which is completely weird, I know, so don't ask me. Then I kept hearing this loud drum noise and this weird sound – kind of like water gushing though a channel or something…" Raimundo paused. "I think I just zoned out though since I feel fine now."

Kimiko didn't look convinced at all. Master Fung, on the other hand, wore a mask of confusion.

"That is quite perplexing, actually," Master Fung mused. "I've never heard of symptoms like those before…"

"Is it something to worry about?" Kimiko asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that since I do not know what is wrong. But I am sure you can resolve the problem by studying the ancient scrolls in the library."

"Dude, why are we getting so worked up over this? I promise you, nothing is wrong."

"And we don't trust you," Kimiko shot back.

Raimundo glared at her. Jesus, who knew love could be so irritating?

"Thanks for the suggestion," Kimiko was saying to Master Fung. "We'll check out the library right now."

"Uh, YOU will be checking out the library. I've no intentions on even stepping foot into that building," Raimundo corrected.

Kimiko shot him a death glare that was cold enough to even freeze him. That girl clearly meant business. And she was accusing him of caring too much. Girls. Who gets them?

Raimundo sighed tiredly as he tossed the scroll away. How long had they been rotting in the library? It seemed like an eternity and so far they had found nothing.

Kimiko was googling on her computer; apparently after reading through ten scrolls she had decided that she would surf the web while he finished the rest of the scrolls. Gee girl, thanks.

He picked up what seemed to be his hundredth scroll. The title read "Ancient Curses." He rolled his eyes. Like he believed any of that stuff anymore.

He was about to toss it aside when his curiosity got the better of him. Hey, he deserved a break after slaving away reading all those pointless scrolls. And this would definitely provide some amusement – he could read about the curses and then laugh at how stupid they were. And best of all, Kimiko couldn't get mad at him since technically he's doing exactly what she wanted – reading a scroll.

He unrolled the entire thing to find that the one scroll was actually several sheets rolled together, each page containing one topic, or curse. At a quick glance he realized that each page relayed pretty much the same things, such as a description of each curse, how it's passed on, if there are any symptoms, any cures, what effect it has, and much more. He scanned through it, chuckling to himself after seeing vampirism. Like those existed anymore. But then again, he never knew what to believe anymore. At the Xiaolin temple, anything could be real, so could vampires be real too? Well, if they were, whatever. So long as none were bothering him.

One fancy word caught his eye though. Lycanthrope. What a funny word. What did it mean?

He started to read the passage.

There are several ways a person can become a victim of lycanthrope. One way is voluntary in which the person can perform a spell on himself, calling to the Wolf Spirit to forever change his life. The ritual is very complicated and there are very few records describing the entire ceremony. There are two far more common ways, however. The first is to be cursed by witch, sorcerer, or evil spirit (but bear in mind that the being does not have to be evil – it can be anyone), and the other is to be bitten. Not all bite wounds, however, will pass the curse on. Only if the poisonous saliva of a werewolf were to find its way into the victim's bloodstream would the curse be passed on. This can be accomplished whether the werewolf wants it to be or not.

Oh, so lycanthrope meant werewolf… this was the thing he hated about ancient scrolls. They never used the normal English language. Instead they had to use all these fancy words no one has ever heard of before. But his interest was caught, and he kept reading.

Often times, newly infected individuals might not even know that he or she has been cursed until the next full when they find themselves transforming into creatures of the night. This phase, however, only lasts for one night from midnight until dawn, and the rest of the individual's life is spent as a human as though nothing has changed. On some occasions though, werewolves maintain their attributes even in human form. This scenario, however, is very rare.

Werewolves are extremely powerful in wolf form and have remarkable fighting abilities with excellent agility and endurance. The most dangerous weapons a wolf has are its fangs and claws, capable of shredding its prey to pieces within seconds.

Other abilities a werewolf has during the full moon are enhanced senses and the incredible ability to heal from even the most severe wounds in a matter of minutes. Three specific senses that are enhanced are sight, smell, and hearing. A werewolf can see very well in dark, sometimes to the point that they can focus in total darkness. They also have an advanced sense of smell, able to detect the faintest scents and track them for miles. The same goes for hearing.

Incredible speed is another ability. They are extremely quick and agile, yet also very graceful. They are so fast that they are often only a blur as they run. Lastly, they are very sensitive, and can sense fear, lust, lies, and other emotions very acutely.

A cursed individual, however, will have little or no control while in wolf form. They cannot stop the shifting from a human to wolf and vice-versa, and the instincts of the animal often take over the human mind, controlling all actions and thoughts. Over time, the animal inside will slowly diminish and the human mind would remain in control during full moons, and very rarely will a newly bred werewolf be able to control himself.

Certain wolves are attracted to different types of blood and flesh, but all share the same desire when near a person in wolf form. Too often the wolf yearns for a taste of flesh and loses control to the animal inside him.

Werewolves are not necessarily immortal, but they are immune to aging and diseases due to the constant regeneration of their physical tissue, which makes them virtually immortal. They are very strong and almost indestructible since they can heal form the severest of wounds quite quickly because of their regeneration ability. They are not, however, impervious to death. The only way to destroy a werewolf is to use a weapon of pure silver to pierce its heart. Only then will it die. Any other injury from silver weapon will not kill it, but will severely wound it for they cannot heal as quick from silver. Not much is known as to why silver is such a weakness and threat to werewolves. For as long as man has known, that was just the way it was.

Raimundo paused in his reading. Wow, scary. There were just two more paragraphs. He might as well finish it.

Symptoms are not usually common in victims of lycanthrope, but they still exist nevertheless. Usually the signs only occur a day or two before the victim experiences his or her first shift into a wolf on a full moon. After that the symptoms usually do not appear again. These symptoms include slightly enhanced senses, in which the werewolf, when near a person, may hear the sound of his or her heart beating and the sound of blood running through the person's veins. These sounds often sound like drums (beating of the heart) and water gushing through a river or channel (rushing of blood through a person's body).

The world suddenly started to spin before Raimundo's eyes and he suddenly felt woozy and faint.

Holy…

No way. He couldn't be reading right, because that was exactly how he felt before, and he couldn't be a… a… It was impossible! Impossible. It couldn't be true. The scroll was wrong… it HAD to be wrong… because it wasn't true… wasn't true… not true… not true…

When in the presence of blood, the werewolf may also notice that it smells a bit sweet, quite unlike the usual metallic scent people experience. This is due to an enhanced sense of smell. The blood may also look unusually bright and red – this again, is due to enhanced senses in the area of sight. The urge to be running and free is another symptom, but cases vary with different victims.

The paragraph went on to describe other symptoms a victim may go through, but Raimundo wasn't conscious anymore. He was reading, but he wasn't comprehending. The sound of a drum beating? Water gushing through a channel or something? Blood smelling sweet? It seemed impossible to him, yet the facts were all there in black and white print.

He had experienced almost all the symptoms of a werewolf. Meaning, he was a werewolf.

But that was absurd! Crazy! Impossible! How on earth could that have happened? Raimundo refused to believe it. That scroll must be wrong. He had been perfectly fine all his life and then suddenly BOOM, he's a werewolf? It was ludicrous.

But then an image of a wolf appeared in his mind. A wolf that was pure black with haunting green eyes. A wolf that had attacked him a month ago when they were retrieving the silver dagger. That was the only time he had ever been in contact with a wolf… so that wolf bit him? And passed the curse onto him? But why?

No! It couldn't be true! He didn't live his life up until now only to be cursed by a freaking wolf! He would not, could not, believe it. Abruptly, without finishing the last paragraph, he crumpled the scroll he'd been reading and dashed outside the library, leaving a bewildered Kimiko staring after him.

Kimiko stared at Raimundo as he suddenly ran outside the building. What had happened? She glanced over at the scroll he'd been reading just before he had crumpled it up. Was there something in that scroll that had upset him? Or maybe he was just frustrated. After all, she did make him go through all the scrolls while she googled on her laptop. Maybe that was unfair of her.

But she knew Raimundo. And he didn't run away when he was frustrated. He usually stayed to blow up and rant about it to whoever was near. Kimiko's heart skipped a beat. For the second time that day, she couldn't stop a feeling of dread slowly engulf her body. She was sure Raimundo had found something out about his symptoms. And it had upset him, meaning it couldn't be good. Kimiko stared at the scroll as though it was a disease.

She had to read it.

Nimbly, she placed her laptop down and made her way over to the scroll, gently smoothing it out so that she could read the words.

Raimundo sat under the cherry tree and stared unseeingly out in front of him. The anger had dissipated, and now he only felt confused, scared, and horrified. Could it really be true? It had been almost half an hour since he'd read that scroll and the shock had ended. Now he could actually think, but did he believe it?

His mind refused to accept the idea, but his heart told him it was true.

He rubbed his temples tiredly. He had to accept the facts. He couldn't go on living as though nothing has changed, because it was already too late. There's nothing he can do except accept the facts. Who was he kidding when he said the scrolls were wrong? The scrolls were never wrong. He might as well face it. He was a…

He still couldn't say it though.

"Raimundo?"

He lifted his head at the sound of his name only to see Kimiko standing in front of him, the scroll in her hands. His throat tightened. She had to know the truth. She's obviously read the scroll. He felt his heart breaking. How would she feel now?

When he didn't answer, Kimiko tried again. "Raimundo… you know… if this scroll was true…"

He cut her off. "It IS true. Scrolls never lie."

Kimiko bit her lip. "Then… I guess…"

Raimundo felt all his bottled emotions explode. He couldn't contain it anymore.

"Yes, I'm a werewolf now," Raimundo snapped angrily. "There, I said it. Happy? Now we can all go off and play in the pretty garden as though nothing has changed."

"Raimundo! You don't need to be sarcastic!"

"Yeah? Well, how do you think I feel?" he shouted back. "I had my whole life in front of me and now I can't ever live normally anymore because I'm a freak of nature! I'm a werewolf, a monster, living a freaking curse, and it's not like I can die or anything cuz I'm freaking immortal! Don't you even begin to complain!"

Kimiko felt tears threatening to spill any minute. This was a total mess. Her heart ached for the Raimundo she loved, but he seemed to have in a matter of minutes built a wall around him. She hated to see him angry, so confused, so furious, so cold…

"Rai, please," she tried again, but Raimundo ignored her. She quietly walked over to him. "Rai, I know how you must be feeling, and I respect that, but-"

Raimundo snorted. "You? Know how I feel?" He scoffed incredulously. "Don't even begin to tell me all that crap. That's just what everyone says. You've NO idea how I'm feeling."

"But I can imagine…"

"Do you ever shut UP girl?!" he yelled at her.

The anger inside her boiled up. "Raimundo! Stop it! You're acting like such an immature baby!"

"See? You were wrong. You don't know how I feel. Otherwise you wouldn't be calling me that!"

"I'm only calling you that because that's what you ARE!"

"Just leave me alone."

Kimiko's temper was still rising, but she forced it down. Because he was right. She didn't know how he really felt. She'd been too impulsive. She felt another tremor of agony shoot through her, and it quickly replaced her anger. She couldn't believe what she'd just said. She'd been so mean… She reached out her to hand to place it his. "Rai..."

"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She couldn't hold the tears back this time as she jerked her hand away, her heart shattering into a thousand fragments. She had never before felt so anguished and miserable, and the feeling wrapped around her heart like smoke, binding her, overwhelming her, until she only felt grief.

The tears streamed down her face but she refused to make a sound. "I only wanted to help," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. She couldn't bear to stay any longer. She couldn't let Raimundo see her cry like this. She spun around and ran, her heart bleeding with pain, wishing desperately that everything was only a nightmare.

As Kimiko turned and ran away, a feeling of utter horror slowly began to engulf his entire being, and Raimundo instantly regretted his words.

Christ, what had he done?!

He didn't mean anything! He was just confused and angry, and he was taking it out on Kimiko, who was only trying to help. Kimiko came to him despite knowing his condition, and what did he do? He screamed at her like a giant baby, just as she had accused. She was right. She was always right, and Raimundo felt a feeling he'd never felt before – an utter and indescribable, unimaginable despair that tore at his heart, shredding it into a million pieces.

He didn't think he'd ever felt so weak and helpless in his life. His heart was being torn into two. He didn't want to lose Kimiko over something stupid like this, and yet it was already happening. He quickly stood up and dashed after her.

"Kimiko!"

He received no reply, but he kept on searching, refusing to give up. He had to find her. Had to apologize. Had to make things right again.

But that was only wishful thinking. How could Kimiko forgive him after how mean he was to her? He felt his own tears threatening to spill as his face contorted into a mask of grief. But he continued to search, his heart filled with sorrow.

"Kimiko?"

He could hear his voice cracking with anguish as he cried for her. He couldn't even speak normally any more. The emotional pain was unbearable. "Please…" he whispered sorrowfully. "Where are you?"

He thought he heard the faint cry of someone sobbing, and he ran blindly in that direction, finally finding her sitting next to the fountain, her face in her knees.

"Kimiko…"

She didn't answer, and Raimundo gently lifted her chin with his fingers. Her face was tear-streaked and her eyes were puffy and red. His heart ached for her. It killed him to see her like this, and he felt his own tears welling up.

"Please, Kimiko," he begged. "I didn't mean anything."

Kimiko smiled through her tears. "I know. I know you, and you'd never mean something like that. Not to me."

"I'm just shocked… confused… it's like my emotions are on a roller coaster ride."

"It's okay," Kimiko said, forcing a smile. "If I were in your place I probably would have burned the temple to the ground by now in my anger."

Raimundo managed a quiet chuckle as she continued, "I'm sorry too… if I sounded, well, insensitive." She felt another sob escape her. "I didn't mean anything either."

Raimundo lifted her face with his hands. "I know. I just… don't want anything to happen to us because of something like this."

"And nothing will," Kimiko whispered. "Even if you are… a werewolf now, you're still the same person as you always was. And I will always love you, no matter what."

But Raimundo's heart was still tearing into two. "But on full moons… I won't be able to control myself. What if I did something… bad… to hurt you? I would never be able to forgive myself."

Kimiko placed a finger on her lips. "You won't. I trust you."

"But I can't be sure."

"You love me," Kimiko whispered. "I've faith in you."

She leaned her head in until their lips touched. Raimundo pulled her in closer and wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let her go. He needed her, needed her to breathe, to live. He couldn't lose her. Not to this.

"Don't let go…" Kimiko whispered when they broke apart.

He never wanted to. "I won't. Not now, not ever."

Kimiko snuggled in closer, desperately searching for comfort. Her life was never going to be the same anymore. She knew that, but she didn't care. So long as Raimundo was with her, nothing else mattered. He was her life, her sun, her everything. And as long as she was in his arms, she was content. And tonight, she wouldn't worry. She could do that tomorrow. Tonight, she was with Raimundo.

Author's Note:

Wow... I actually didn't have this chp planned out this way at all. It wasn't supposed to be so sad at the end, but the whole thing just kinda flowed out naturally, and I've no complaints – I'm happy with the way this turned out. And as for the whole scroll thing, I actually did some research for that so all the info is courtesy of google (I don't remember the specific websites), so the info should all be correct. :D So... if you've time, press the purple button at the bottom and tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading and everyone's support!

xxFireWarriorxx

PS: Remember how this chp and the last chp was originally supposed to be ONE chp (at least according to the way I'd the plot mapped out? Well, that would have been 2728 + 3537 words, or 6265 words... That's how long the chp was supposed to be (not counting author's notes)... wow... 6,000 plus words... I think that's the longest I've even written... lol!