Chapter 17: Don't Leave Me Hanging.
Raimundo landed on the ground, both of them didn't say anything the whole trip. "So... I guess this is goodbye." he whispered.
"...I guess." Kimiko said, releasing herself from his arms. "Well... I don't think I'll see you again. Good luck."
She
hugged him, savoring the moment of being next to him. Her sky blue eyes
looked empty when Raimundo gazed into them, and he couldn't tell if the
rain was running down her cheeks... Or was it tears?
"Sorry." he mumbled.
"There's
no need to be Raimundo. But there's a chance you might see me. Have a
good Wedding." Kimiko gave him a loving kiss on the lips, then she back
away from him.
"The day I'm separated from the Prince of Xiaolin. I'll remember you this, Raimundo."
Closing
her eyes, she ran through the mist, not bothering where she went.
Raimundo just stared after her disappearing figure. Then it hit him.
The love of his life was gone. Feeling weak in the knees, he turned his
back to her direction; and he walked into the forset. He wouldn't go in
the palace. He wasn't going to marry that twit Sophia.
There was
only one answer, and that answer would most likely not keep him alive
for long. Raimundo trotted through the rain and mist, toward the
waterfall, and toward Dojo's den.
How come he didn't notice Kimiko had already stopped in her tracks? She was on the ground, sobs racking her body.
"Bye Raimundo. Maybe one day everything will be perfect, and when it is, I'll think of you."
Getting
up, she wiped her eyes and ran in no general direction, for she
couldn't go back to the Temple, and she couldn't go anywhere else.
Kimiko was stuck an orphan, for now.
Scraping his knees, and
sometimes falling down from the tears and water in his eyes; Raimundo
eventually made it to the cave. Out of breath, he dropped to the
ground, trying to tend his bleeding wounds.
And if Kimiko was here she would have rushed to Raimundo's aid in a flash.
"Dojo." he called. "I'm a friend of Kimiko." In his full form, Dojo slithered out of the cave.
"Who goes here?" he asked, in a thundering voice.
"I'm Raimundo, and I've seen you before, all you can do is turn into a gecko." Dojo's nostrils flared.
"I can breath fire, mortal."
"Well look who's talking!" Raimundo yelled, suddenly feeling angry for the loss of Kimiko.
The Sword of the Storm appeared in Raimundo's hand, out of thin air... Dojo held back his fire and stared."So you're the Prince, I've heard a lot about you from Kimiko." The dragon shrunk himself to gecko sized and frowned.
"Hm.
And I thought you were Chase Young, using his shape shifting magic
again. Now that guy has been after my flesh for who knows how long...
What did Kimiko want?" asked Dojo picking at his nails.
He didn't notice Raimundo was about to cry. "Don't say her name." Raimundo muttered, sitting down on the mud.
"Okay... How come you're crying kid? She's not that fond of you since the last time she visited me. Last thing I remember she was saying you were a total jerk." Dojo found this odd. Raimundo smiling when he mentioned what Kimiko always said.
"That's just like her..." Raimundo said dreamily. The Sword of the Storm disappeared from Raimundo's hand, knowing it was not needed.
"But she doesn't like you, Prince. Come into my cavern."
Dojo shifted his eyes around.
"You never know when that Chase guy is going to show up, so speak quietly." Raimundo wasn't listening, so he simply nodded.
"What's up with Kimiko? She finally have enough with you?"
The storm was clearing, but Raimundo's mind wasn't. This time Raimundo wasn't listening. (As usual)
"I'm sorry... Kimiko."
Dojo raised his eyebrows at him. "Oh I get it! You guys are in love."
Raimundo shuddered, not from the rain dripping down his body though. "I don't think she thinks that way though. Dojo, was else did she say about me?" he asked.
"You should tell me your story with her before I even tell you, if you are the Prince of Xiaolin, with his golden crown. But I guess you don't look like what I expected. Tell me though." Dojo muttered the last part. (He did hear he got angry very easily.)
"Kimiko met me near the Temple, when I was with Omi. Making chaos- I mean going to the Temple. I ran into Kimiko, and she got mad at me for barely any reason at all, like I was being a jerk or something," Raimundo sneered when Dojo nodded in agreement,
"As I was saying, she didn't like me on bit. So I went back almost everyday, until I finally got the guts to ask her to the banquet, which was another embarrassment. She ran away, and I hate to admit, but I went looking for her. I found her in a cave. In fact, this cave. She refused to leave, which hurt my feelings. Because I thought I could actually open my heart to someone. Then I ignored all the regretting voices in my head, and ordered all her plague patients to be killed. I saved them all at the last minute, with her in my arms. Kimiko was starting to like me a little, but she walked, away. Still being a very stubborn girl. I couldn't take anything anymore, when the 'King' told me to marry the stupid git Sophia. I ran. All the way to the Temple, and I stayed there with her, for a while. I knew I would end up back at the palace one day, but I wanted to stay with her. I felt... Safe. She... Well I think it was an accident. She cut herself, and then told me her life story."
Raimundo stopped when Dojo started to snore. Feeling himself being watched, Dojo sat up straight and gave Raimundo a cheeky grin. "Do go on."
"Then we were captured, again, for a while. I escaped, she escaped. Then we had a little scene. Then I flew over to town square, she left. Now I'm standing right here."
Snoring. That was all Raimundo could hear.
Dojo was in his small gecko form, making very queer noises. And
whenever Raimundo poked Dojo, he would breath fair, causing Raimundo
snap back and fiddle with his fingers.
What could he do now? No one
would care of their Prince, and Kimiko was gone, the only person that
cared for him! There was Omi, but he couldn't do a thing.
"Dojo. I'm going to have to go somewhere, and don't let Chase Young get you, whoever he is."
Raimundo
carefully got up from the ground and tip toed out of the gave. Night
had already fallen, but Raimundo could care less. The Wind didn't
comfort him this time, the universe seemed to be so still, without the
rustling of leaves or anything. Where was Kimiko? Was Kimiko hurt?
Stupid
questions bombarded his mind. Questions he wasn't really sure of too.
She might have been okay, resting in her own bed in the Temple. Or she
was in a deep dark cave, with no one to look after her. Raimundo took a
deep breath of air, and changed his path. He had made it final, he
wasn't setting foot in the palace again, and if they took him; he would
run again.
Walking south, he stared into the darkness. There was a
sign... Odd. He had never been out of Xiaolin before, and he wasn't
going to try now. But it was so tempting to leave his old life behind,
and start a new one, where he wouldn't have to be Prince, and he
wouldn't have to think about all the pain he got from abandoning Kimiko
like that.
Silently, he flew over to the sign, he couldn't leave any
evidence that he was here. Why? Maybe because that was something he
heard from Omi.
There were dark forces, and right now they all were getting ready to pounce, on four people and a dragon to be exact.
Kimiko stood in the mist for minutes, and she was reaching the goal of an hour.
No, not back to the Temple. That would show her disrespect for the Master, but she had to go back for the sake of her honor.
And
now that she was separated from her love, there was no way Raimundo
could waltz right into the palace, or anywhere else and not be seen!
Groaning, Kimiko got up and headed for the Temple. If it was the
honorable thing to do, then Master Fung wouldn't punish her, and then
she could finally talk to Keiko.
Kimiko could just imagine the questioning look on her friend's face. Maybe her Japanese friend would be jealous?
The
Temple seemed dark and mysterious during the night. How come no one
turned on the lights yet? Kimiko shivered when she thought about her
dream.
There was a flash of lighting, the ran was falling harder now.
Kimiko knocked on the door with her skin, getting paler by the moment.
No one answered.
Again, she knocked louder. Her fingers were starting to get bruised.
"Master Fung?" Slowly she opened the door, and crept in. Nothing.
There wasn't anything.
"Master Fung?" Kimiko snapped, and fire came out of the tip of her finger.
With no time to wonder about it, she walked through the hallways, making her footsteps echo throughout the whole Temple.
"Master Fung! Keiko! Anyone!"
Her
voice faded away, and after a few minutes of stillness, Kimiko decided
to go back outside. But something almost made her heart stop.
There was someone else in the hallway, but they weren't facing Kimiko, their back was turned.
The Wind shifted a little, and Kimiko was floating on the roof. Maybe Raimundo was protecting her, even though he wasn't there.
"Where's the girl?" asked a muffled voice.
Kimiko bit her lower lip and listened, she could no longer see the person, but there was more than one.
"I
thought I heard her a while ago, and the magic here is strong, let me
go search Chase. On the way, I do sense some Shen Gong Wu too." Kimiko
closed her eyes, and almost screamed when someone touched her on the
face.
"Hello Fire Elemental, there's no where you can run, and no where you can hide."
His
stomach formed a pit. Something was wrong. He wasn't supposed to be
here. Raimundo turned and looked around, he just now realized why he
was so safe back with Dojo in a cave.Pushing himself to keep flying, he ducked into a tree. Why did he do that? The Wind made him hide.
"For some reason I think you should leave now Wuya."
Raimundo
raised his head from the bushes a little, but the Wind knocked him back
down, but he could still see. There was what looked like a man, in
bronze armor. You couldn't see details on everything, so Raimundo had
to squint at the lady next to him.
She had her hands on her hips, and by the way she was standing you could tell she was glowering.
"I
was the one who found the dumb girl in the first place. You would have
needed my magic, to bring her down from the Wind surrounding her." The
women, who was named Wuya from the way the man addressed her, clicked
her fingers.
Someone new walked into Raimundo's view. She was short, pale, and... KIMIKO!
"I!-"
The Wind knocked him down again, without making another sound.
"I told you not to use the Zing-Zom Bone on her. " The man hissed.
"Well
Sorry. When are we going to rule the world? I certainly don't want to
with- I mean I'd be delighted to have you rule the world." Wuya said, a
bit sarcastic.
"Once we get the other three, then the world will fall. Once I get my hands on that dragon, I'll be free."
The Wind, picked up Raimundo from the ground, and rushed him past the trees, he utter a word. With all this information at hand, something good was bound to come out of it, and something bad. Very bad.