Thanks to Miaka-chan for pointing out something that I need to think about. And as usual, I don't own anything in this story.
NI TANG
Chapter 9
Hsi Wu had taken a human form and looked around him in interest. This city and humans were so different than what he was used to, and the mere idea that it all would soon belong to him and his siblings made him shiver.
He had turned himself into a kid looking about a year or two older than Jade. Of course hewasn't really that young, but he had always preferred acting like a child when he had to trick humans. In this form he had deep brown eyes and almost black hair that hung on his face in three strands.
Ni Tang had stayed with Jade in the old ware house, which was too dark and dirty for Hsi Wu's liking. He could see in darkness too, but not as well as his little brother and that's why he didn't like the place so much. Ni Tang was not supposed to be better than him in anything and even if he was, he should not be giventhe opportunity to show it.
Well, they just had to find a new hide out. Somewhere up high where he could fly would be fine. Ni Tang would not argue, he had no right to disagree with his older brother.
Hsi Wu didn't really understand his brother. When a wonderful city like this existed you had to be out of your mind if you didn't want to spend all of your time exploring it.The polar demon had told him he didn't know how to transform into a human and didn't want to endanger their mission by being seen as he was. That was a good reason and Hsi Wu had promised to teach him how to take a human form.
But at first he would have some fun! He grinned to himselfand drew a deep breath. Finally out of the Netherworld! He and the other demons had been waiting for Ni Tang to open their portals and it had been a big surprise to see his portal opening so soon. The sky demon didn't have anything against it, of course. The sooner he was out the better.
He was a bit worried about the girl Ni Tang had chosen. She was related to the chi wizard who had banished most of the demons back and sealed their portal. There was always the danger that while looking for her, he might banish him and Ni Tang too. They would have to be very careful or even better, leave the city before it was too late.
The sky demon arrived to a park and glanced around. It was so green compared to the grey city. San Francisco was strange to him and to his dislike he had to admit he didn't know a thing about it. But this place covered in trees, bushes and grass was much more to his liking.
Small stones made a noise under his new shoes and he could hear birds singing. There were humans here and there looking like theywere enjoying themselves. And old lady smiled at him and Hsi Wu wanted to laugh. Would the woman have been that friendly if she had known who he really was?
"Hey, Dean! Really wanna try?" someone shouted and Hsi Wu turned towards the voice. There was some kind of painted ramp and kids of different ages surrounded it. Almost every one of them had some kind of colourful board with them and one of the boys had climbed on the ramp with his.
Hsi Wu tilted his head in interest. What were the kids doing? Well, he would find that out only one way, asking. He smiled self-confidently and moved closer.
"Hi," he greeted and frowned when no one seemed to notice him. He stepped closer and looked how the boy on the ramp grinned and waved to a girl with brown hair.
"Come on, Alice. Of course I want, I'm the king of this place, remember?" he said seeming to be pretty sureof himself and raised his board above his head. Hsi Wulooked carefully, what was going on?
He tapped the boy in front of him and he turned to face him.
"Yes?" the boy asked and Hsi nodded at the one on the ramp.
"Who is he and what are you doing?" he asked. The boy raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You don't know Dean Birch? He's the best skater of this area," he answered and turned back to look.
A skater? Hsi Wu frowned. What was that? He raised his look too to see what this Dean was doing. Everyone here seemed to know him and he didn't want to make himself ridiculous by asking something stupid.
Suddenly Dean put his board down, leaped on it and in the next moment he had started moving. The wind made his brown hair flow and his face held a concentrated expression. When he arrived at the other side of the ramp he quickly changed his centre of gravity and turned nimbly around with a jump. Then he flashed back and repeated the trick. Every time he gained some more speed jumping higher and higher until it seemed he was going to fly away. That didn't happen though and he succeed perfectly like he had been doing this his whole life.
Despite his contempt against humans Hsi Wu had to admit that this had seemed like fun. Dean grinned in victory and jumped down.
"Told you," he said and let his gaze wander in the kids like asking someone to challenge him.
He stopped when he saw Hsi Wu and smiled.
"Hey, you are new here," he remarked and made everyone's gaze turn to Hsi Wu. The demon didn't shy away, he was just pleased. After the discrimination of his siblings it felt great to be in the middle of the attention.
"I'm Seymour," he said and glared at a short girl who dared to giggle.
"Well, Seymour, what did you think about my skating?" Dean asked a smile playing on his lips and Hsi Wu forced himself to smile back.
"It was okay," he said even though he knew the others would disagree with him. But he was demon, you needed something much more to impress him.
"Okay? I take that you are much better yourself then. Wanna try?" Dean asked hitting him on the back and winking at his friends when he thought HsiWu wasn't looking. It was useless, the demon didn't miss anything and he understood immediately what was going on.
They wanted to make him try something he didn't master so that he would totally screw up and embarrass himself. Then they would laugh at him and feel like they were something much better than they really did. HsiWu frowned softly. He had suffered this before, his siblings had tormented him longer than he wanted to remember and it was not unfamiliar to him.
"Why not? It can not be that difficult," he said deciding he would at least once show he was stronger than others expected. He knew it was stupid, but he felt like showing these mortals would be a strike against his siblings who always made fun of his small size and weaknesses.
"Good. Hey someone, bring Sey a board!" Dean told and one of the other boys gave Hsi Wu a deep red board with some kind of black skull painted on it.
"Good luck," Dean said and pushed Hsi towards the ramp.
The sky demon took the board and climbed nimbly up. He wasn't afraid of heights at all, he loved them and wished the ramp could have been higher. At down everybody was watching him and he smiled a bit. They expected him to fail but they were in for a big surprise.
He put the board down just like he had seen Dean doing. Then he put his feet on it his intention being to flash down faster than anyone else before him.
But the board escaped under him when he put his weight on it and he lost his balance falling and hitting his head painfully. The board fell down noisily and then he heard the laughter. Hsi Wu felt his blood boiling, how did these mortals dare? It was not that bad to be embarrassed by your siblings, but these filthy humans had no right to do it!
He stood up and tried to smile though he really wanted to rip them all apart. Especially that Dean, who probably thought he was something so special.
"Just a small joke," he said cheerfully and jumped down to get the board back.
"Just wait," he added when he climbed up again.
"Sure you want to do this? None of us forces you," Dean said smiling and Hsi Wu just snorted.
"I'm sure and you all better keep your eyes open. You won't see anything like this ever again," he said angrily. Dean shrugged.
"Okay then," he said and watchedin amusementhow Hsi Wu put the board down again. What a clown!
Hsi Wu tried again and this time he was prepared. He wasn't surprised when it moved when he put his weight on it, but kept his balance when the board flashed down. He reeled and almost fell but he managed to get a hold of himself just in time.
He lost some of his speed when he reeled but he took the damage back by kicking some more speed. He arrived the other side of the ramp and managed to turn and return. He heard how someone muttered something and noticed that no one was laughing anymore. He smiled to himself, just wait, this would get better.
The whole time when Dean had been doing his tricks he had followed the boy's doings and he thought he knew pretty well what he was supposed to do. Of course it was difficult, he had never used a strange vehicle like this, but he was also older and stronger than any of these weaklings. He could do lots of things they couldn't even dream of.
Soon he had done almost as well as Dean had, but he wanted to show the boy who really was the master. Jumping and returning on the ramp in the right position became harder every time but Hsi Wuwanted to gain some more speed and finish his trick with a special surprise.
When he was in the end of the ramp he didn't even try to turn around but just jumped away landing softly on his feet few meters away. The board continued its way for a while until it stopped and Hsi Wugrinned. No one said anything.
"That was fun," he said friendly and flashed Dean a smile.
"Can I come again some time?" he asked to make the boy more angry and then he turned his back on him and his pathetic gang.
"See you."
Ni Tang and Jade raised their heads when they heard Hsi Wu return.The darkness that was coveringthe warehouse stepped back for a moment when the demon opened the window. Jade enjoyed the small light, living in total darkness was starting to annoy her.
"We need a new, better hide-out," Hsi Wu announced while taking his own form back. His clothes disappeared and Jade heard quiet cracking when the demon's huge wings grew back. She made a face. Gross!
"This place is too dark and close to humans. It's safer to find a more quiet place," the sky demon said and flew on a packing case.
"So we will move," Ni Tangagreed. He liked the ware house and the dark atmosphere, but if Hsi Wudidn't what, could he do?
Jade crossed her arms in front of herself.
"Finally the bat seems to have some intelligent ideas," she muttered and Hsi Wu'ssensitive ears picked her voice easily. The sky demon smiled.
"And we don't want our slave to turn into a mole," he said making Jade glare towards the two glowing eyes. She so wished she could see the demons!
"But then again, if we move now we will be forced to find a new place when sister Bai Tsa is free. She would never be pleased with anything we like," Hsi continued and leaped back on the floor.
"Let's see where her portal is and open it!" he suggested. He turned to face Jade.
"Slave! Take the box and view the next message!" he told eagerly. The sooner they got the rest free the sooner the world would be theirs. Jade frowned deep in thought.
"I don't know, isn't this a bit too fast?", she asked.
"What do you mean?", Hsi Wu hissed and Jade took a glance in the direction of his voice.
"If I had a big sister I would not want her to appear here," she answered.
"Don't take that tone with me! I'm the oldest one here and I decide what we do!" the sky demon snapped and Jade grinned in victory.
"Exactly! When this Bai whatever comes she will take the matters in her own hands and you have to step back," she said making Hsi Wuslit his eyes in anger.
"Quiet!" he told and slapped Jade on the face with his palm.
"Ouch!" the girl yelped in surprise, she hadn't seen the hit coming and had not been given any time to prepare herself.
"That hurt!" she snapped and Hsi Wu snorted.
"That was my intention," he said.
Ni Tang watched and listened as the two argued and frowned. He didn't feel like joining them, somehow he felt like he had no room between his brother and this mortal girl. It was stupid, but he couldn't help it.
Now when HsiWu was here and he didn't have to make decisions or be in the lead anymore he had become his quiet self again. He had already started to feel self-confident but now he was the lower one again. He couldn't say if he was sorry or not, it had been his partsince his birth. But he had felt like home when he had been the one who said what was supposed to be done.
"Take the box!" Hsi Wu ordered and Ni Tang woke from his thoughts with a start. Jade's face was red where HsiWu had hit her and she pressed the Pan Ku box against herself, looking rebellious.
"I don't have to do as you say!" she snapped deciding she was not going to help these monsters anymore. Hsi Wu glared at her dangerously.
"Do it or I'll slit your throat!" he threatened and Jade, despite how cold it made her feel, stared at him impudently.
"Go ahead, then you have no one to carry the box and you are in trouble!" she said.
"I can hurt you badly enough without killing you," Hsi Wu answered with a low tone and Jade swallowed nervously. She believed that, she had seen Hsi Wu's claws and didn't want to make close friends with them.
"I still won't help you," she said bravely and imagined how the sharp claws wouldtear her skin...
But she knew she could not give up. She had already caused too much damage by telling where Hsi Wu's portal was and she didn't want to do anything more. Hsi Wu hissed angrily, but impressed. Only few humans had ever fought against him and none of them had been a child. Then again, this girl didn't seem to know what he could do and didn't know how to fear. She would learn eventually.
"Ni Tang knows where you live. Do you want me to send him to hurt one of your relatives? Would that be fun? Imagine, he could return with a finger from your uncle and then we would feed it to you. Maybe you'll reconsider after that, hm?" Hsi asked mockingly and Jade shook her head.
"You wouldn't dare! Uncle is a powerful chi wizard, you can not stand against him," she said angrily. Hsi turned to face Ni Tang.
"We'll be seeing that. Ni, you know what to do. We have to feed our slave so she won't starve," the sky demon suggested and Ni Tang nodded standing up.
"As you want, Hsi," he said quietly and took a few steps before Jade got enough.
"No! Wait, I'll do what you want," she said in defeat. She knew she was doing wrong, but she couldn't stand the idea of Uncle suffering because of her stubbornness. Hsi Wu smiled, he had guessed this. Some humans were stubborn enough to ignore the violence against them, but they would break when their loved ones were threatened. And torturing those people was the best way of having fun.
Jade swallowed bitterly and turned the box over in her hands until it clicked and rose in the air from her hands. It glowed for a while until they were given a transparent hologram with a picture of Italy. The portal was drawn where Rome should have been.
Hsi Wu watched it in thought. He knew the place, had even visited ita few times before he had been banished. But he knew it was a long trip to Rome from where they were now. The hologram disappeared and the box fell down. Jade grabbed it to herself, a familiar object made her feel a bit better.
"So, Bai Tsa's portal is in Rome," Hsi Wu said turning to face Jade.
"Who is the emperor nowadays?" he asked and Jade blinked. The emperor? What was the demon talking about? Then she understood, lost of things had happened during his imprisonment, the fall of the Roman empire was one of them.
"The empire doesn't exist anymore, it fell long time ago. Now there are many smaller countries, Italy being one. Rome is the capital of Italy, you know," she answered.
"What?" Hsi asked being really surprised. No empire? What could have destroyed it? It had been a huge and strong world power, something really dramatic must have happened. Maybe there had been a war? Or not, nothing could have beat the soldiers of the empire.
"Ah! It doesn't matter!" he snapped then. If the Romans had been stupid enough to lose their world power, what did it matter?
"We will travel to Rome," he said confidently.
"How? It's kind of far away," Jade commented dryly and Hsi Wuhissed at her.
"We will come up with something. I will transform into humans and travel, it's that easy," he said and turned to face Ni Tang.
"Travelling only at night is impossible and you don't master the transformation. Mastering it takes a long while, we don't have time to wait," the sky demon said.
"But I have something else for you. The chi wizard doesn't know I'm free sowhile I and the slave are in Rome you stay here and make him believe you still have her. He won't suspect that the next portal is soon to be opened," he continued and Ni Tang nodded.
"He won't notice a thing before it's too late," he admitted.
Jade listenedto the conversation of the two demons and if she hadn't seen Ni Tang's eyes she would have believed Hsi Wu was talking to himself. Ni Tang had started to act more quietly when his big brother had arrived and Jade didn't blame him for it. Hsi Wu was loud and incredibly annoying and Jade just couldn't stand him. The polar demonwas bad enough, but Hsi Wu was way too much.
And how did this stupid demon think they would travel to Rome? Hello! They were in San Francisco, the trip was too long for the demon to fly and Jade didn't think he would be able to carry her all the way. Good if he got himself there. A plane was always an option, but Hsi Wu didn't know what one was and he didn't have any money to pay for the tickets. So freeing this Bai Tsa was impossible! Jade grinned. She didn't have to fight against the demons, the modern world was enough to win them.
To be continued...
