A/N: So glad to see some old and new amigos dig the remake of "Demon Heart". Tajeri Lynn's emerged out of a dreary week of finals and is back to doing what he loves best. So let's set our sights on Jade/Hsi Wu and check out this new classic. Remember, the biggest point in Jade/Hsi Wu stories is not to know whether they'll stick or not, but how cute they'll look together with every chapter. Remember, "Demon Heart" is based on the works of tari-chan, who will be respected always for this story.
Track 2: Hsi Wu's Choice
"Come on, Jade, I'm taking you home now," Hsi Wu the Sky Demon told Jade at the same carefully watching her petite form, lest something had struck her beyond his notice.
"Why?" Jade asked, looking up at him.
"I don't...," Hsi Wu paused, looking away from her, his crimson eyes bent in uncertainty.
"Do you care about me?" Jade asked, not wondering whether the question was a demand or a wish.
"I didn't say that," Hsi Wu replied. He had denied his heart. Come on, Hsi Wu. You love Jade, just tell her, Hsi Wu's heart yelled at him. I don't love her. She's so annoying and worthless, Hsi Wu fought, successfully even, against his heart. He picked up Jade in his arms, looking back at brother Tso Lan. I'll deal with you, later, Hsi Wu said angrily in his mind, flying away into the solemn skies as he held onto Jade.
"Hsi Wu. You better not betray us," Tso Lan said, grinding his teeth as he watched his brother, his younger and reckless brother, fly away with Jade.
At Jade's place....
Jade opened her window. Both she and Hsi Wu entered her room. Things had gone suddenly quiet for the two of them. They had to admit talking was scary. Then again, not talking was scarier. Jade spoke up. "Hsi Wu. Thanks for bringing me home and saving me. You really did leave the other demons to join my side. Without you, I'd be dead. I'm glad you look after me." Her mortal face shone in an excitement Hsi Wu had met before when she was merely ten. But that excitement gave him too much a burden to bear.
"Jade, I don't even know why I did it. I don't know why you bother giving me credit," Hsi Wu told her plainly, about to go to the window. Whether he sounded contemptuous enough was difficult to Hsi Wu. It's harder to be something when you're not certain of it.
Jade's eyes now slanted as her kindness felt slapped. "Well, can't you be a little generous? You don't have to be so rude, or don't you know how to be nice?" Jade asked, perhaps unconvinced of his "acting".
"I got to go," Hsi Wu immediately said, leaving the room on ragged wings.
"Hsi Wu," Jade whispered, seeing him flying away, Still the same selfish demon he always was. She quietly settled down to her blankets, clutching them tightly. They were still the most comfortable things to hold during the night.
On the building....
Hsi Wu flew back to his brothers and sisters, his teeth gritting in anger as the floating lecture demon opened his freakish mouth. "Hsi Wu! What was up with you saving her? Don't you realize what dangers you put us all in? What were you thinking? Answer me!!" Tso Lan roared, compromising his normal toned character.
"I was thinking of saving an innocent girl who has nothing to do with the demon princess you always talk about. There is no such thing as the demon princess. How dare of you attack Jade! Didn't you see I had everything under control?" Hsi Wu snapped back. He was getting tired of demons overplaying their concerns. Or was it because he was overplaying his concerns for Jade?
"Hsi Wu, does this mean you love that human girl?" Tso Lan asked, retaining his cooler-than-hell charisma.
"I didn't say that," Hsi Wu spoke, either out of embarrassment or dishonesty. He'd refuse to tell anyone which it was.
"I think he betrayed us," Po Kong butted in on the conversation. She was the biggest demon and had the least attention. What was up with that?
"The water says 'Hsi Wu loves that human girl, Jade Chan.' Therefore she will turn into the demon princess as you predict, Tso Lan," Bai Tza spoke dryly, more inclined to frighten her younger brother into submission than into letting her feelings loose in an outburst, a tactic her elder brother wasn't too expert at anyway.
"I didn't betray you guys." Hsi Wu covered.
"Well, let's put him to the test," Tso Lan shifted the conversation. "Jade is the demon princess, so kill her as proof that you didn't betray us. If you didn't betray us, then you could do this easily."
Hsi Wu's heart dropped in fear. A mortal girl should've been a price too simple to pay so many centuries ago, but Jade- honey golden eyes, raven-black hair, a bravery matched by none and a determination worth admiration....Hsi Wu couldn't just expend her!
"Not unless you're up to the challenge," Tso Lan boomed, his voice seemingly louder to Hsi Wu's ears now that the Sky Demon was lost in uncertainty. The Moon Demon felt more confident. "We can have someone else do it for you."
"I can do it," Hsi Wu spoke, his face bowing to the floor, though to Tso Lan the gesture was respectful enough.
"See that you do. We'll be watching you. Don't forget your mission and don't betray us. We won't go easy on you next time."
Hsi Wu let out a bloodthirsty growl and his scrawny wings sent him into the night.
Jade...demon princess...Can't be, can it? And kill her? I can do that, can't I? Oh, I hope she's not the demon princess that Tso Lan thinks she is. I can't go against her heart can I? What am I saying? I am the Sky Demon, Hsi Wu. I don't have a heart! A menacing Hsi Wu then thought of Jade...Golden eyes, cute smile, always in want of a friend.... "Jade," Hsi Wu whispered, flying off to her home.
In the building's basement....
The basement owned a trap door covered by chain links. Being unattractive, no one in the neighborhood wanted to know what it was all about, and aside from its broken
"Tso Lan, why do you allow him to kill the demon princess?" Bai Tza questioned, being the second eldest group, she was often inclined to put her seniority into significant authority.
"I want to see where his loyalty lies. Besides, I highly doubt he can kill her. He has grown a liking to Jade and doesn't even know about it. If he fails, he'll come back and you can have the opportunity to kill the girl." Tso Lan replied, his worm-like tongue twirling about in the air, as if sensing suspicion of the winged imp.
Bai Tza slithered uneasily like the mermaid she was. "What is it about the demon princess? Why is she a threat to us demons?"
"I explained it a thousand times. Weren't you listening or is your head too thick to keep it in your mind?" Tso Lan asked groaning. "I'll explain it again. Pay attention. The demon princess is a beautiful but powerful sorceress who has all the powers of all of us demons put together, and has a power of her own that is unbeatable. If we allow her to fall in love with a demon, she'll realize her powers, turning evil and coming after all of us. But at the same time she falls in love with a demon, it must be set during a full moon for the dreaded princess to awaken."
"What can we do to stop her? She seems literally impossible to vanquish!" asked Bai Tza.
"I heard one time that the only way you could stop her is by a kiss from a demon she loves. He also has to love her back," mentioned Dai Gui, the goat horned demon of the earth. He growled a bit. "Such rubbish sounds like mortal talk to me, a rumor to force us to keep on our guard."
"Do you think so?" Tso Lan wondered.
"What he should we do?" Bai Tza asked.
"We'll just have to keep both our brother and the girl apart if he fails. Should the girl falls for Hsi Wu but the love is not received in kind, we'll be in greater danger than before."
On top of Jade's home....
The bloodthirsty growl died out the moment his feet left a roof. He had already settled to eating cafeteria food, though he hated the mashed potatoes very much. The taste of human flesh was a curiosity for Hsi Wu, but eating Jade was not what he had in mind.
"Jade, I hope you're not the demon princess. I don't want to kill you, because...I don't even know why," Hsi Wu hoped, flying down to the tantalizing mortal's window to have a peak at the timeless artwork valued behind a display case, the girl, Jade Chan, sleeping peacefully. "You look so peaceful and beautiful. Just like at the dance." Hsi Wu shook his head. "What are you talking about? Don't go soft on her just because you two hang out with each other all the time. You have to put your feelings aside and fulfill your mission that Tso Lan wants you to do." Hsi Wu told himself, opening the window and creeping into her room, stopping right next to her bed.
He knelt down, running his fingers on her face gently. Hsi Wu stood up, putting his claw back, staring at her sleeping face. "I'm sorry, Jade. But I have to...." Hsi Wu felt his heart getting heavy. A glint from the moonlight shone over his claw as if advising him to execute her. "Jade," Hsi Wu whispered, as if hoping to make this a painless goodbye. Jade moaned, and turned over.
"Hsi Wu and Jade forever friends....." Jade mumbled in her sleep, before rolling over to the other side.
Elvin ears dropped. Claws slumped. A mouth frowned. "I can't do it," Hsi Wu said, getting up to her window. His face contorted in intimidation, though this obviously was a cowardly practice since no one save him was awake in the room. "I'll kill you next time, Jade. Next time I won't care." Hsi Wu toughened up, breathing one big gulp to widen his ribs, and then he went flying out her window and closing it shut.
Building's basement....
"Couldn't do it, could you, Hsi Wu? Tso Lan is not going to be pleased," Bai Tza teased.
"Put a sock in it, Bai Tza," Hsi Wu said, glaring at her. The one thing about Bai Tza that Hsi Wu took for loathing was how she slithered about while annoying him. Why are the annoying ones always so fast, he wondered.
"Well, it's up to me now. Thanks for failing," Bai Tza proudly said.
"YOU!" Hsi Wu pushed the Water Demon against the wall.
"Temper, temper, Hsi Wu, calm down," Bai Tza grinned evilly at her little brother, her watery form jetting across the floor and out of his reach.
"HSI WU! THAT IS ENOUGH! YOU FAILED TO KILL THE DEMON PRINCESS! YOU HAVE BETRAYED US ALL," shouted Tso Lan.
"I can explain," the Sky Demon started.
"SILENCE! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses," Tso Lan ordered, his red-cloaked self towering over the relatively naked imp of a demon. "Hsi Wu, I want you to stay away from Jade. You'll be putting our race to extinction. If her love grows for you, he'll find her true power and kill us all, even you. Stay away from her," his voice lowered as if exasperated. "That's an order." Tso Lan and Bai Tza left the shabby room to pursue more magical ambitions than handling a love-starved demon.
I can't stay away from her. I promised to protect her from danger, Hsi Wu thought, thinking back to the time in school when Drew was bullying Jade. The vision of rescuing Jade from falling off the building slid in right after the first thought. Making sure his siblings left where he stood, Hsi Wu decidedly rose back out of the basement to fresher air, and fresher dreams.
As Hsi did this, Tso Lan saw, and he knew.
End: Track 2
Notes:
In tari-chan's version, Chapter 2 was driven almost entirely by dialogue. To stay true to the format, I kept the descriptions as infrequent as possible. Less is more, in this case.
A noticeable change in this version was that several lines were indeed cut because they were repeated very often.
There was a scene where Tso Lan told Bai Tza to follow Hsi Wu and kill him. However, it never got off the ground and was therefore omitted.
College was up today but I finally got this story down pat, though settling 20 units in a quarter is gonna be a toughie. "Say Uncle" is being delayed for an indefinite amount of time. I'll try to get back into it by the summer. I'm trying to figure out if I can get a lemony sequence out of it.
Gonna be glad here in CSULA. In my alma mater, we're having a Barnes and Nobles, said to be the biggest in the West Coast. Can you believe that? It opens a few weeks from now.
Nuff now from Tajeri Lynn, Extremo Luchadore. Adios!