Uploaded: 11th July 2004

Note: Thanks to PrincessViv for the translations in this chapter.


Chapter 3: A New Puzzle

The young man tensed as he waited for his opponent to make the next move. The guy across from him was taking far too long for his liking. He studied his opponent carefully; a huge, burly man, with rows of stubble growing from his face, and brown, spiky hair that a hedgehog would have called home. Even the hair on his arms was spiked up, arranged in lines. The walking cactus, everyone called him. But not to his face.

"Hurry up, Uru. We don't have all day."

Spiky Uru snorted. "You seem a little eager to get creamed."

The other man – who was really no older than nineteen – flicked some of his own brown hair out of his eyes. "Just make your move."

Uru put his cards down.

"Double Black Jack ..." the black-haired man muttered. "Damn, that's harsh."

He picked up ten cards from the pile, and sorted out his cards accordingly.

What to do, what to do ...

His concentration was shattered as an orange pixie came shooting into the tent from behind him yelling, "The end of the world is upon us! It's the end of the world!"

"Keep it down, Dazzler. I'm tryin' to concentrate here."

A brown-haired, teenaged girl came running soon afterwards, trying frantically to catch the little creature with a net. She finally succeeded when the pixie smashed headfirst into a small wooden crate. The girl reached into the open crate with the net in one hand, and effortlessly pulled the screaming pixie out.

"She's been like that all night," the girl said to the black-haired man when she caught her breath. She leaned against the door of a lion cage, still holding the thrashing pixie inside the net. "But she got extra-flighty after what Raicho said earlier. Dunno what that bird said to her, but now she's super-spooked. It's been a nightmare keeping her from the public." She sighed. "Where've you been, Ricky? Didn't see you at all yesterday."

"They didn't need me yesterday. Anyway, I," he said dramatically, "was practising," he grinned, "for my grand finale."

"La dee da," said Uru scornfully.

Ricky placed the Two of Clubs down, keeping the same cheeky grin on his face. "Pick up two, Uru."

"Hey, that's a kiddie's game," the girl said from behind him, grinning. "Why don't you guys play Poker with me instead? I'll make it worth your while ..."

"Uru here doesn't know how to play. He's too noble for gambling, apparently. And he's skint, anyway."

"Be quiet," Uru grunted as he slammed a card down hard on the wooden crate they were playing on. "It wasn't my fault I was tricked by that ridiculous Coyote. You need to pick up four, by the way."

"Dammit ..."

"It's the end! No hope in sight! Darkness for all!" yelled Dazzler, struggling to break free of the net.. It was a well-known fact among the present company that pixies were panicky, erratic creatures, even at the best of times. Everyone ignored her.

"Aargh!" she shrieked, her shrill little voice filling the air. "Has no-one but me noticed how dark it is outside? The sun's come up, but it's still as dark as night! Raicho says it's Wuya all over again ..."

"Oh please," the girl said derisively, sliding down into a sitting position against the metallic cage door. "Raicho thinks everything's Wuya's fault. The Great Famine, the Black Death, the Great Depression ... I'm telling you, she's completely fixated. Went totally ballistic when she found out some punk kid opened Wuya's puzzle-box."

The girl casually twiddled a silver necklace around with her free hand. "Besides, it's probably just Thoth fiddling around with the moon again. Raicho told me that someone's been spiking the Dwarves' sweet water supply, and Thoth's been stealing some water from them, so, of course, he's been affected too. And some goblins put sleep spells on Ma'at and SilverClaw, so it's been going on unchecked. I hear it's getting so out of hand that Long's getting involved now."

"Long?" said Uru, looking up from his game for a moment. "Must be serious if they called him."

"I don't believe a word of it," Ricky said bluntly. "Raicho's been jealous ever since she found out Akhlut got to keep SilverClaw's stuff. Now she'll say anything to get you to listen to her. Basic cry for attention. You're right about one thing though – she is obsessed with that Wuya chick."

"Has every right to be-er," said the lion from its cage. "Befana think-er dark-er skies bad omen-er."

"Wait a minute," said Ricky, putting his card-hand face down on the crate, his expression completely serious. "Befana contacted you?"

"Yes-er. Middle of night-er. Say dark-er skies not localised, but world phenomena-er."

Everyone looked at the lion. If Raicho's rumours were true, then Long coming out of hiding was a newsflash in itself. But contact with Befana was virtually unheard of, especially in this current age. Befana was the kind of person who wouldn't speak to you if it wasn't worth her time. She was the information centre of the magical world, the first place anyone called if they had any news, so she couldn't afford to waste time with small talk. If she thought things were bad, then things were really bad.

"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Ricky wanted to know.

"She say not tell you-er. Not know why sky dark-er yet-er. Not want you worry unnecessarily-er."

For a few moments, there was silence.

"End of the world! End of the world!" Dazzler the pixie screeched.


Dojo flew high above the mountain ranges. Even though the skies were overcast, it was an area he knew well; he'd flown there with Master Dashi many times before, and he remembered it as though he'd been there yesterday. He circled a few times before descending, and took them down to a cave that would serve as a good rest stop. In all honesty, Dojo wasn't sure if they'd be safe making a pit stop here; it was possible that Wuya might have been able to track their Shen Gong Wu just like he'd been able to find the Serpent's Tail. Still, it was a better idea than staying at the temple; he wanted to delay going to their destination, really; and they were only stopping to get a bite to eat.

The Xiaolin warriors sat round in a semi-circle, with their bags and belongings beside them. They were in a lively, talkative mood now, which was quite the opposite of the depressing, quiet mood they had been in when they were returning to the temple. They spoke energetically as they ate; Omi was so excited at the prospect of learning new fighting techniques that he had decided to give the other two a lengthy speech on the eight temples.

Clay noted Kimiko's abrupt mood changes: after being super angry with Raimundo, Kimiko had changed from being depressed, to excited like Omi, and was now in a frustrated mood again. She had hurriedly eaten a bowl of rice and she was now trying to get her objects to work. In Omi's opinion, she had always been a little too dependent on present-day technology, but Clay suspected that she was still upset with Raimundo, and was just taking her anger out on her possessions. He admitted to himself that he'd felt pretty angry with Raimundo himself, but now they had to focus on the job at hand, and so he'd returned to his usual placid self. Clay had long ago given up trying to talk sense into Kimiko, because he felt that she would reach the same conclusion in her own time. (Truthfully, Clay was just happy to get some food into his stomach.)

In fact, Dojo could see a change in all of them; they'd been completely drained of their positive emotions, but then they'd been filled with new hope after they'd left the temple, and now they were bouncy, brimming with energy as if they'd been recharged and reenergized. Overall, the three of them were remarkably chatty, thrilled with the prospect of new adventure that lied ahead.

Unfortunately, Dojo couldn't bring himself to feel the same way. He really was trying to share the humans' enthusiasm, but the truth was, he was dreading their arrival at their destination. He'd always avoided travelling to this spot if he could help it. Deep down, he'd always believed that he lacked courage, and he felt that he could never return there, not after what he'd done. None of the humans had asked him where he was taking them yet, and that was fine by him. He didn't even want to think about where they were going. In fact, he was actually wondering whether he should take them somewhere else. And yet ...

He had to take the Chosen Ones somewhere safe. That was his responsibility. And, ironically, the one place he swore he'd never return to, was the one place he knew they'd definitely be safe from Wuya. If he didn't take the Chosen Ones there, he'd be letting everyone down – again – and he wasn't sure he could do that ...

Dojo hoped the humans couldn't see his face, because he was looking exceptionally nervous.

It was Clay who said, "Hey, Dojo, what's up? You look more anxious than a cat at a dog pound."

"Oh, er... nothing," he said quickly, putting on an affected smile. "I'm just a little worried, that's all. And would you stop banging that PDA thingy? If Master Fung says it won't work, then it won't work."

"Stupid Wuya," Kimiko grumbled to herself. She resigned herself to fiddle around with her mobile instead.

"Dojo, I have been meaning to ask – who is SilverClaw?" Omi said, eating some noodles from a Thermos flask. "I have never heard of her."

"Oh, her," Dojo said dismissively, his entire demeanour changing completely as he forgot about his worries and joined the conversation. "She's a friend of my dad's. They say she's one of the best mapmakers in the world, and one of Master Dashi's closest allies. She met him before I did. She always did do her best to shove that fact in my face ... "

"Heh, heh, heh." Clay chuckled as he finished his pork chops. "Looks like Dojo's got a case of the green-eyed monster."

"I do not!" said the dragon stubbornly. "She's just a stupid stuck-up know-it-all who doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut! She's so highly over-rated, just 'cause she made that map of hers and helped Dashi against Wuya and –"

He stopped when he saw three incredulous faces staring at him. "What? I'm not jealous!"

"Yeah, right," said Kimiko cynically, smashing the buttons on her Game Pal with her fist.

"So how exactly did Master Dashi beat Wuya, anyway?" Clay asked, tactfully changing the subject, although he couldn't hide the smile on his face.

Dojo hesitated slightly. "Hmm ... I wasn't at the final battle. But I heard it was one mean fight. In the end, Dashi used that puzzle-box to seal Wuya away."

"Dojo, we knew all that already," said Kimiko shortly, just about ready to chuck her laptop through the cave's entrance and over the cliff. It was a long way down to the ground.

"Yeah, I know, but the puzzle-box was – is – a Shen Gong Wu as well. It was one of the very last ones forged. I can't remember what it's called, though."

"We must find it," Omi declared, as Clay stood up and took the Shen Gong Wu scroll out of the large chest. "The puzzle-box must be the key to defeating Wuya."

"And just how do you propose we find it, Omi?" Kimiko sighed, her full attention finally on the conversation too, now that she'd run out of gadgets to silently curse at. "It's obviously not become active, otherwise we would have known about it before now."

"Jack Spicer," Clay said simply, watching as the scroll changed pictures magically to find the Shen Gong Wu he wanted information on. "He was the one that released her. I bet you he's still got it."

"I don't know ..." said Dojo doubtfully. "What if he threw it away, not realising how important it was? And we can't exactly go up to him and ask ..."

"I reckon he'd probably keep it," said Clay. "Wuya might have mentioned something about it to him already. Here it is ... 'The Puzzle of Gui Xian'. Ain't active yet. Says here, 'traps an enemy within' – but ... it can only be used straight after a Xiaolin Showdown, on somebody who's lost that showdown."

"Oh great," Kimiko frowned, the sarcasm practically pouring out of her voice. "That means we'll have to beat Wuya in a showdown first. That's not gonna be easy."

"But," said Omi thoughtfully, "if Jack has the Puzzle, would he choose to use it on Wuya if he won a showdown against her?"

"He might, if you ask nicely, Kim," Dojo teased slyly. "He seems to like you ... Maybe you should promise to go on a date with him in return for the Puzzle."

"Eugh! No way!"

She continued to talk, over the others' amused chuckles. "Anyway, Jack left Wuya, didn't he? He might decide to help us with no strings attached, if it'll help his chances of ruling the world. I'm not being funny, but I'd rather fight a pack of robots than an evil witch any day."

"Wuya will most probably try and recruit him again, though," Dojo countered. "Or she might try and steal his Shen Gong Wu. Either way, she'll get the box before us if we don't do something."

"So ... what should we do?" Omi wondered. "We cannot let Wuya gain possession of the Puzzle of Gui Xian. And if Jack already knows of its effects, I highly doubt he will just give it to us."

"We're gonna have to take a trip to Jack's house," said Kimiko, "and just take it from him, then."

"Steal a Shen Gong Wu?" Omi frowned. "But we would be bending down to his plane."

"Hey, what goes round comes round, Omi," Kimiko said, not even trying to fix his incorrect phrasing. "Anyway, it's only one."

"I ... am not happy," he said rather reluctantly, "but ... if it is for the greater good, then I will go along with it."

"Uh oh," Dojo said suddenly, his body shaking violently.

"What's wrong, Dojo?"

"I'm sensing a Shen Gong Wu..."

"The Horn of Qilin," Clay said, reading the scroll. The group gathered round to look at a picture that showed a man dipping a stag-like horn into dark, murky waters, which became clean and clear. "Looks like it purifies water."

"What great timing," Kimiko remarked sarcastically.

"Actually, it is good timing," Dojo said seriously. "If Jack's out to get the Horn of Qilin, it'll be easier for one of you to steal the Puzzle. The Horn's in ... that direction." He pointed outside the cave. "And if I remember correctly, Jack's house is in that direction too."

"I will retrieve the Horn of Qilin," said Omi with determination. "One of you must stay with the Shen Gong Wu chest at all times. The other must go after the Puzzle of Gui Xian."

"I dunno, partner," said Clay doubtfully. "I'm not sure if it's such a good idea for us to split up."

"I must go alone," Omi insisted. "There is something I must do." There was something he felt he had to do, something that had been nagging him all day, and he felt that he would not be able to rest until he had done it.

"Omi ..." said Kimiko, shaking her head worriedly. "You can't face Wuya all by yourself."

"She's right, Omi," Dojo agreed. "Wuya's not like Jack – she won't fool around."

"And neither will I. I do not intend to fight her. I will merely go to retrieve the Horn. I will return straight afterwards."

Kimiko bent down and held him close, as if he were something fragile and precious. "Be careful, Omi."

He smiled gently. "I will."

"Right," she said with a little more confidence, "let's get going. We're going to have to hurry if we want to beat them to the Horn."


Technically, the Golden Tiger Claws should have given a person an unfair advantage when it came to finding Shen Gong Wu, but that was only if you knew where you were going beforehand. Wuya could sense the direction of a Shen Gong Wu's location, as well as its relative distance. But, like Dojo, she didn't know exactly where it would be until she actually got there. So, in order to find the Horn of Qilin, she and Raimundo had needed to travel to its position on top of one of her conjured monsters (or Huai-Ren, as she called them). Well, at least they'd be able to use the Claws to escape easily.

They had arrived at a cave that was, somehow, darker than it was outside. There was a chilly breeze, too, so Wuya had motioned for Raimundo and the dragon-like Huai-Ren to quickly follow her inside. She made a small huo (fire) symbol appear in her hand. A little bubble of fire sprang into the palm of her hand, which helped light the way, and despite being tiny, the ball of fire was more than enough to keep the three of them warm, too.

They walked through the caves with leisurely purpose; Wuya was in the lead, with the Golden Tiger Claws; Raimundo was munching his sandwich, in the middle (with the Serpent's Tail in one hand, and the Lotus Twister dangling out slightly, in his pocket); and the larger Huai-Ren held the Reversing Mirror with two talons in a gnarled, clawed hand, obediently following behind like a lost puppy. Every now and again, Raimundo would make the odd joke about their surroundings, and Wuya would give her obligatory snappish replies. The black Huai-Ren, invisible in total darkness, said nothing at all, but its silver talons made a clinking noise on the rocky floor as it walked behind them.

For the first time since he'd left the Xiaolin temple for good, Raimundo was beginning to have serious doubts. He wasn't sure what Wuya wanted from him, or whether she'd even leave him alone after this Shen Gong Wu. He was just so fed up of taking orders from someone else, fed up of working tirelessly hard and not being appreciated for it. There was no way he was going to return to the Xiaolin temple now ... and it wasn't as if he'd actually wanted to go train there in the first place. He'd wanted to stay in Brazil, but his parents had decided that the training would do him good. Well, so much for that idea...

On the other hand, his parents had been so proud when they had found out he was chosen to become Dragon of the Wind. Humph. Sentiments he hadn't exactly shared, at first. But he'd certainly wanted to show the world – and his family – what he was capable of, which was why he had changed his mind and joined the temple. (It was also why he had been so showy against Tubbimura.) He thought back to his time at the temple.

He'd never really liked Omi, and Clay and Kimiko always stuck up for him. Kimiko was the person he had got on with the most, however, even if he had had to endure the odd punch from her now and again. He winced slightly when he remembered how furious she had looked back when the three of them had tried to fight Wuya. He hadn't meant to make her that upset ...

On second thoughts – yes he had. He'd wanted to make all of them angry, but he'd only succeeded in making the one person he actually got on with really mad. Clay had stayed calm (Big surprise there, he thought), and, before fighting Wuya, Omi had just ... stood there, utter disbelief on his face. Raimundo, really, had done all this because he had wanted to make them feel the same way he did – angry.

He was angry with Master Fung for so many reasons that he couldn't even think of them all; he was angry with his parents for sending him to the Xiaolin temple when originally he hadn't even wanted to go; he was angry with Omi for his know-it-all attitude, angry with Clay for always sticking up for Omi, angry with Kimiko for being angry with him; he was angry with his older brother for –

WHUMP!

Raimundo had been so engrossed in his confused and bitter thoughts that he hadn't seen Wuya stop suddenly in front of him; she was a bit taller than him, so he'd unwittingly collided into the witch's back.

"A warning would've been nice," Raimundo's muffled voice said, from inside a mop of purple hair.

"Get off me, you fool!" she hissed in a hushed voice. She gave him a rough push. "You should have been paying attention, not daydreaming one of your idiotic fantasies!"

Raimundo ignored this. "Why'd you stop?"

"It's Omi," she replied in a relatively calmer tone. "I can sense him." The Huai-Ren growled in assent.

"What? Omi's here?"

"Yes, but..."

Wuya's eyes narrowed in concentration. The Horn of Qilin was nearby; she could feel it as a kind of tugging, a gentle but persistent pulling, urging her to get closer. She opened her senses, trying to search for specific chi signatures, but she could only sense a Water elemental. There was something else, a presence that felt familiar, and yet she couldn't quite identify it; but it wasn't aligned with either Fire or Earth, so she disregarded it. Where were the other two Chosen Ones?

Raimundo folded his arms in frustration, remembering that he was angry with Wuya, too, for putting him in this position in the first place.

Aargh! Could she be any more annoying? Why can't she just tell me what she's up to?

"But ...?" he prompted hopefully.

They're not here, she thought, frowning.

"Well? Where are the others?"

"Omi is here alone," she said quietly. "How foolish ..."

She resumed walking, and, after a tiny pause, Raimundo went after her.

Raimundo hadn't even noticed that Wuya had no longer been using the fire to light the way, but now he could see quite far in front of him. The light originated from an unknown source, coming from a large opening ahead. It was warmer here, and they walked through, finding a huge cavern which had trees and plants growing everywhere. It was a living, breathing forest, growing underground. He had no idea how the plants had managed to survive here for all this time, but he couldn't see the other end of this part of the cavern. A small, trickling stream flowed from left to right.

"Omi's over there," Wuya said, pointing to their left. Raimundo looked in that direction, and saw another opening, similar to the one they'd just come through, but a lot smaller. It was directly to their left.

"Raimundo," she said, "keep him busy. I don't care what it takes, but make sure he doesn't follow."

"Yeah, sure thing," he responded, somewhat wearily. He just wanted to get back to that nice room in the palace, really, with all the food, luxury and comfort. That would make him forget about his worries. The sooner they got this over with, the better.

"Come," Wuya said to the Huai-Ren, who followed wordlessly.

Good riddance, Raimundo thought as the creature strode past. Those things gave him the heebie-jeebies – and they were supposed to be on the same side. He watched them both disappear through some bushes, wondering if Wuya had always been able to sense their whereabouts like this.

"Raimundo ..."

He turned around to his left, and saw Omi staring back at him. Dojo was coiled around his shoulders, and he was holding the Monkey Staff. He was also wearing the Two Ton Tunic, though it wasn't activated.

"You're gonna have get past me if you wanna get to the Horn of Qilin," Raimundo told him, smiling with a hint of arrogance.

Omi sighed slowly and deeply, and then bowed. "I am sorry."

He had been expecting an angry tirade from the shorter boy, expecting Omi to attack full on, both verbally and physically, but, funnily enough, these three tiny words were all it took to throw Raimundo completely off balance.

"You ... what?"

"I did not mean to cause the discord between us. I should have been more considerate towards your feelings ..."

Raimundo stared into Omi's eyes, but there was nothing there but pure sincerity. Omi wasn't the type of person who would lie about his feelings, anyway. Raimundo looked away angrily, his feelings somewhat torn between what he wanted to do, and what he knew he should do.

Why does he have to make this so difficult?

"Why are you doing this, Raimundo?" Omi asked after a small pause. "If it is because of the way I have treated you, then I apologise. I ... admit that I am quick to find faults, but that is because I want people to be the best they can be."

Raimundo faced him again, wondering how in the world Omi could think this was all his fault. "You think this is all about you? Well, you're wrong!"

"What do you mean?"

There was another pause, and then he said quietly: "It's me. I want to do this. I'm fed up, Omi. I'm tired of being pushed around, working hard day and night and not getting any acknowledgement for it."

"I do not wish to fight you ..."

"Then don't," Raimundo said, leaning back against a tree and shrugging. "Wuya'll get the Horn. We win."

"I will, however, do my duty." Omi brandished the Monkey Staff, twirling it around in an unmistakable display of attack.

Aha. This was better. It was much easier to just be angry and attack than to think things through and be confused. Raimundo also flaunted the Serpent's Tail in the best way he could, bracing himself for a fight.

"Bring it on, short stuff."


Wuya said she could sense the Xiaolin warriors in "Ring of the Nine Dragons," so that's where I got it from. Chinese translation time ...

huo – fire; flame

huai – evil, bad; ruin

ren – person; one

In this fic, Huai-Ren translates as evil one.

Tiny note on translations: I'm not a native speaker of Mandarin. The Chinese words in this chapter were given to me by PrincessViv, whose parents speak Mandarin. In chapter 1, and in later chapters, I looked a lot of the words up in an English/Chinese dictionary because I didn't want to keep hassling her for translations. Feel free to correct me if you think I'm butchering the language with translation/pronunciation/meaning mistakes. Flames won't be tolerated, though.