Chapter 18: When Will Everything be Perfect?
Raimundo couldn't shake the fact of Kimiko being captured by a women named Wuya, and a tall male in bronze armor. Who could they be? He had kept this all to his self, and Dojo didn't ask anything of it, even though Raimundo was all shaky.
It didn't occur to Raimundo that maybe the man was trying to hunt Dojo down. Nothing could be done now. Dojo was asleep near the front of the cave, in his small gecko form. He didn't seem all that ferocious now. Actually, he was kind of nice looking.
Sounds of voices in his head began all at once, he didn't know if he should listen or not.
("Kimiko is safe, there's nothing to worry about."
"THEY ARE GOING TO KILL HER, GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT!"
"Just lay back, she's not even your friend, remember?"
"Stop EVERYTHING. SHE'S ALREADY DEAD!"
"Don't listen to them, she's probably sitting in the Temple, waiting for you."
"I think that girl you saw wasn't Kimiko. It was a coincidence that she looks like your girlfriend...)
Raimundo snapped back into reality.
Dojo was in his full size.
"Back kid! There's something magic in those woods, and I smell it!"
Chase Young perhaps? Accidentally pushing the stone wall, a secret passage was opened. Dojo was spewing fire by the time Raimundo fell into the passage. It closed, and locked itself. No escape...
"He was here just a minute ago!" Sounded like it was an inhuman voice. But it sounded strangely like the voice of that man Raimundo saw yesterday.
"I'm sure you were so loud that you scared the pathetic Wind Elemental away! I don't sense him anymore! You only have TWO ELEMENTALISTS!" Definitely Wuya."You try and find a slippery Water Elemental! Or a swift Wind elemental!" Raimundo crept through the secret passageway, still listening to the two villains argue. There were little rays of light... Barely moving, Raimundo edged toward the light, and that leaded him to a peek hole. Indeed, there were two people.
Realizing one wasn't human, Raimundo felt the wind get knocked out of him.
The
Wind caught him in time when he fell on the ground. With no time to
think about what he just saw, he held his breath. Or did the Wind make
him?
"I smell fear. The Wind is strong here, search the cave. " Panicking, Raimundo shut his eyes tightly and hoped for the best.
"What?"
Raimundo opened his eyes, and the Wind hoisted him up to the rays of
light. Why did he draw back his hand from the hidden switch? Did he not
want Raimundo dead and out of the way?
"Damn Fire!"
Kimiko was protecting Raimundo, even though she wasn't there... He could hear her voice now.
"FIRE!"
The cavern seemed unbearably hot now, and Wuya seemed to have already left.
"I
know you're here, Pedrosa. I want you to know that your friend Kimiko
is almost dead. Also, don't forget the name, Chase Young. This isn't
the last time we meet,"
He disappeared into thin air, leaving a
fainted Dojo on the ground, and a miserable Raimundo. How to get out
now? Nothing was going to work. Nothing seemed to work when Kimiko
wasn't around guiding him through all the hard times...
"Raimundo... Push on the wall with your Wind, then it will open." Dojo's voice was deep and rasping, making Raimundo feel very guilty for Dojo to just get knocked out like that.
Raimundo felt Wind roaring in his ears, as if trying to tell him something.
"Have faith." It whispered. The Wind sounded like Kimiko's voice...
He heard a slight creaking, the wall had moved. Finally he could see what was around him.
"Run a hand over my scales Raimundo. I'm using the little power I have to create a shield around this cave. Hurry."
Not sure of what to do, Raimundo stood there, staring at Dojo's crimson colored blood.
"Do it Raimundo,"
His
hands shaking, Raimundo ran his hand over Dojo's smooth scales. He
expected to feel blood; not a new healing power flowing from his
fingers into Dojo's body. After a few minutes of silence, Raimundo
lifted his fingers off Dojo. There was no wound.
"I supposed I should tell you what happened," Raimundo slumped down on the wall and tried to listen, "That was Chase Young. The Dark Prince, the inhuman lizard type thing. You've seen him. You've seen what he can do. He didn't want me now, and besides, if he got you then he could get me later, you're more important. We can't do anything about it Raimundo, but I might as well tell you that Kimiko is going to die at dawn. Right now it's dark out, so it's too dangerous to go outside. Unless, you are really the Wind elemental."
At the lair of Chase Young...
"I won't tell you ANYTHING!" Kimiko screamed, tears still streaming down her face.
"You
will, and think of your precious Raimundo, you know I just met him
along the way, sneaky, shifty; Wind elemental. Did I tell you I almost
killed him?" asked Chase, tapping his fingers on his throne impatiently.
"BE QUIET! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM! HE'S SAFE!"
Again,
she tried to move her hands from the chains that Chase and Wuya had
bound around her. Chase got up from his chair and walked over to her
casually. He cupped her chin in his hand.
"It might save me the trouble if you give up now." Kimiko felt that burning feeling inside her.
"NEVER! NEVER! I HATE YOU!"
"Such strong words for such a weak creature... Maybe I should feed you to my cats once I'm done hacking your corpse up."
Laughing, he disappeared and reappeared in front of his throne. He stroked one of his loins."It would be a shame to waste all these chains on you, so I got you a friend. I'm sure you know him."
Snapping
his fingers, doors on the west hall opened. Cats emerged, carrying a
limp body, Kimiko couldn't tell if he was dead or alive. She didn't
even know who was getting dragged on the ground.
The person on the ground staggered to get up, but eventually a wild cat jerked him up, almost biting his hand off.
Blood gushed from his hand to the floor, making Chase grimace. The person who was standing in front of her was Clay.
"I might have to use your corpses to wipe the mess up. Time is of the essence though. I have to get that dragon first."
In a flash, he was gone, just like that.
Chains appeared near Clay, attaching him to the wall next to her. At least she had a friend next to her.
Who would be next? She knew Chase Young muttered something about 'Kill' 'Prince' 'Water' 'Wind'... And 'Raimundo.'
"How you get here Clay?" asked Kimiko, but she already knew the answer. He probably got dragged from his bar, all the way to here. Where ever here was...
"They took me. I'm not exactly sure how they did, but they took me. Yanked me away straight from the bar."
Precisely. That was going to happen to Raimundo, if he wasn't careful. And Raimundo never was careful! He wouldn't even listen if someone told him he was in grave danger, but he would still push on! He wouldn't stop, because now he was trying finding Kimiko...
"Yer okay Kimiko?"
She didn't answer his question.
All
she did was stare at the ground, and occasionally her tears splattered
onto the ground, or the blood coming from Clay's hand.
"Has anything queer happened to you?"
Clay shrugged, why was she so interested in weird happenings? He couldn't tell her.
The royal family was burning everyone who was considered magical.
"I don't know what yer talking about Kimiko. I'm just a normal bar tender in Xiaolin." he lied.
Kimiko bit her lower lip. This wasn't easy to explain.
"Have you ever felt the Earth beneath you?"
"I always feel it, don't you?"
Oh he blew his cover.
"Is your foot touching the ground?" asked Kimiko, hoping it was."Yep. I don't think I can pull any tricks though."
Smiling, Kimiko whispered, "So... Can you yell Earth kind of urgently? Trust me. It'll work."
Clay blinked.
He had done this before. Gathering his Chi, he felt the pulse of the Earth, giving him power. Taking a deep breath, he yelled something that made the ground shake.
"EARTH!"
Glass shattered, statues tumbled, chains broke, and they were off into the night.
By that time, Raimundo had ignored all of Dojo's warnings of not going outside. Raimundo had broken through Dojo's shield.
He didn't know where he was going, but the Wind kept blowing in different directions, showing him the path to Kimiko.
Even though he couldn't see her anymore, he had to save her.
'Why?' Always rang through his head.
Along
the way, he stopped, and flew into a tree to think about it. Why would
he save her? She was a strong girl, and she didn't need saving. Now
there's Omi... No!
"You want to save her because you love her." Raimundo hated when that voice was right...He had definitely heard those words before, the words of someone very wise.When he batted all his thoughts about this, he was beginning to notice people were coming down the mountain path.
He could make out the voices of... A girl and a boy.
Raimundo paused and quit making the leaves rustle. Perhaps it was that man who called himself Chase Young, and that witch called Wuya...
"I don't understand, why would an old hag and a lizard want from us? We didn't do anything, Kimiko."
Raimundo froze. What? But Kimiko was... He didn't know exactly where she was, but how could she be here?
In the middle of the night, with a boy! That thought made Raimundo feel a bit jealous.
("Well what do you know, Kimiko must have felt that way too.") That annoying voice in his head!
"We did. We exist, and that's the one thing Chase Young wants from us, our elemental powers, and our lives. Do you think he'll catch Raimundo and Omi?" asked Kimiko.
Raimundo felt her lean against the tree he was on, and he could see the top of her head, and a blond person's head. Who was that person? He had seen that head before..
."Say, Clay; do you think Raimundo will come back?" Raimundo coughed, almost falling off his branch. Did he have to make so much noise now?
"Did you hear that?"
"No. Who's there anyways? I don't think this is a good idea to walk around in the dead of the night. Especially since Raimundo isn't here..." Moving a few leaves that were blocking his vision, he saw that there was someone standing in the moonlight, casting a tall, dark shadow. And it wasn't Omi, or anyone on the good side.