Chapter 5
"Here, you can stay in this room," said Master Fung, swinging the door open, "It's not fair that Kimiko should have to share hers."
Raimundo shivered slightly as he walked into the room.
"I'll be right next door Rai," said Kimiko, "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"We'll organize some clean clothes for you," said Master Fung, "Your old ones are still in the drawers. They should still fit you. And personally…I'm glad you're back among us."
He left the room and Rai looked over it. The room had the same layout as Kimiko's, with the same view of the mountains out of the window. Raimundo stood by it, looking out at the mountains in the distance. He could remember the passage through those mountains and he could remember how to get to the river. He could remember meeting Kimiko at the river, and fighting with her and then she recognized him and brought him back to the temple.
It suddenly hit Raimundo that this was the first time he had managed to get the memories in perfect order. Maybe he was getting better, but why couldn't he remember anything else before the mountains? He began to put on the clothes left in the drawers, then answered the door to Kimiko's knock.
"Now that you're out in the open, why don't we go have a look around the temple? We can see if you remember anything…if you want…" Kimiko trailed off, watching Raimundo staring out of the window. She saw he was wearing his old uniform, complete with the white sash that had started all the trouble. His symbol of shame had stayed where it was, untouched. His symbol of demotion to the rank of Servant, that was now, three levels below her teal Wudai Warrior one. Of course, (thank the heavens!) he didn't remember this, and she was sure no one would say anything.
"That", whispered Raimundo, just loud enough to hear, "would be nice."
He turned around and smiled gently. Kimiko held out her hand and he took it. Her hand was small and cold. He wished he could remember more about the girl who had saved his life, in more than one way. She led him through corridors and they finally ended up in the training area. He shielded his eyes from the bright sun, shining its beams down on his pale face, before looking around the training area.
The cobbled floor had patches of grass pushing through, there was a pond in which fake crocodiles stuck out their heads, and several other pieces of equipment placed in no particular order in the clearing.
Clay and Omi were currently training with Shen Gong Wu. Omi pulled out the Golden Tiger Claws.
"Golden Tiger Claws!" he shouted, and an inter-dimensional slash appeared in mid-air, and Omi disappeared into it.
This brought something back to Raimundo. He remembered that swirling vortex. He remembered jumping into it, and he remembered chucking the claws on the ground and looking back at…wait a second…
"I saw you!" gasped Raimundo.
"What?" asked Kimiko.
"I remember, before I found the cave, I…remember jumping into one of those slashes and pulling off the claws and…"Raimundo looked down at her, "…I looked back and I saw you there. All of you…"
"Rai, you've uncovered one of your memories!" laughed Kimiko, "I told you it would help to walk around the temple!"
A tiny smile twitched at the corner of Raimundo's mouth.
"I remember it…before I went to the caves." He said.
"Well," laughed a cackling voice from the roof of the temple, "Let's go back to the caves. We have unfinished business."
Kimiko, Raimundo, Clay, and Omi spun around.
Wuya was standing on the tiled roof, staring down at them with vengeful eyes.
"…sor…sorceress…" gasped Raimundo as though he was short of breath.
Kimiko stood in front of him.
"If you want him, you'll have to get through me first!" she shouted.
"Kimiko, catch!" called Clay, throwing the Eye of Dashi.
Kimiko caught it in her hand.
"Eye of Dashi!" she shouted and lightening shot from the trinket's red-jeweled center, right at Wuya.
She dodged it easily and jumped down into the training area. Raimundo fell back and began shuffling backwards.
"Clay, Omi! Look after Raimundo!" called Kimiko.
Clay pulled Rai back. Omi leaped forward to be at Kimiko's side.
"We don't have to fight, children," said Wuya, "I just want to take the creature and go."
"He isn't just a creature, he's Raimundo Vega, a human being and, our friend!" said Kimiko.
Omi jumped at Wuya, who caught his arm and swung him backwards into the wall. Clay stood up and grabbed his lasso. He swung it across his head and swung it over Wuya's shoulders.
"Pathetic children," she laughed and with a blink of her eyes, the rope was burnt into ashes.
She stared at Clay, her eyes widened and he went flying. Kimiko stepped backwards a few steps and stood in front of Raimundo. Wuya raised an arm to perform a spell.
"Just you in my way, girl." laughed Wuya.
An arrow suddenly pierced Wuya's flesh. She gasped and placed her hand around the arrow. And with sickening crunch and squelch, she pulled the arrow out. She spun around to see who had fired it. Master Fung was standing with his bow raised, slowly pulling the string back with another arrow in place.
Raimundo continued to stare wild-eyed at Wuya. He remembered her all too well. She was the one who kept him chained up. The only time she wasn't hurting him, was when she was giving him food or water to stop him from dying too soon, and when she was out looking for Shen Gong Wu. At first he would fight back. Kicking, attempting to free himself, but eventually, he just gave up. The more injuries he got, the more of her slow acting magic reached his brain, and the more he forgot about his past. Several head injuries made him lose everything he had left.
"Do you know how much that annoys me? You always did annoy me, Fung." shouted Wuya, "I just want to take the creature back, and then I'll leave you in peace…for now."
"We cannot agree to those terms I'm afraid," he answered, firing another arrow.
Wuya dodged to the right. "Not this time, Lao-Tai."
Now she was next to Kimiko. As she got to her knees, Kimiko kicked her in the jaw, sending her flying backwards.
As Raimundo watched, he remembered the fight he had had with Kimiko. He didn't know, how he had known what moves to make. It was instinct; he automatically knew how to fight. And as he watched Wuya and Kimiko exchange blows, things started to come back to him. He remembered the training he had done.
Wuya gave a blow with the base of her hand, straight into Kimiko's nose. She fell back, her nose was bleeding badly; it might be broken. Wuya looked up at Raimundo. Rain drops were starting to fall heavily onto the ground.
Wuya's fist was suddenly flying towards Raimundo's face. It connected hard to his cheek. He fell back and hit the wall. Wuya went to hit him again. This time he moved to his right, and her fist drove a hole into the brink wall. He ducked from another punch and moved to his right again. So long as he kept moving, she couldn't get him. He suddenly found himself blocked by training equipment. Typical. They never did manage to put it away properly.
Wuya's fist flew towards his face. Raimundo closed his eyes and waited for it to connect, but it didn't. He opened his eyes. Somehow, his hand had risen and caught her fist. He remembered this. He knew how to fight.
He dug his fingers in, causing the hand to buckle. He then kicked her hard in the stomach, but didn't let go of her hand, so she swung around and hit the wall. She lashed out, forcing him to let go. He took a step back and dodged her punch, before grabbing hold of her arm and swinging her forward so her face hit the floor, breaking her nose. He pulled her arm out straight and kicked it hard with his other foot. The bone crunched.
Wuya span around, knocking his feet out from under him. She went to smash in his face with her good fist, but he rolled away and stood up. Her fist had punched a hole in the cobbles.
Kimiko staggered to her feet, wiping blood from her nose. She watched as Raimundo continuously managed to strike Wuya. With every hit, his face seemed to light up, even as the rain came down hard on them.
With every hit that Raimundo landed, he remembered more about his fighting techniques. He remembered the first training session with Omi, trying to show them how to walk on two fingers. He remembered their first fight with Jack Spicer over the Mantis Flip Coin. The first Showdown he ever watched.
Being stuck in an invisible box by a magic mime… Kimiko slamming him into the invisible wall of the box… Him running into the wall once it was open… The bet he made with Clay and Omi about when Kimiko would get her focus… Wait, he won that! The betrayal… He betrayed his friends to join Wuya…she tricked him. He was going to kill that witch if it was the last thing he ever did…
He suddenly felt himself being pulled away. He turned around to see Kimiko's blue eyes gazing up at him.
"She's unconscious Rai…we can lock her away now…" said Kimiko, softly.
"Kimiko! I remember…I remember everyone…I remember fighting Jack Spicer…I remember you slamming me into the wall of the mime's invisible box. I remember…everything…" he said smiling.
Kimiko's face lit up and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, but he was suddenly jerked away. Wuya was flying into the air and away towards the mountains…with Raimundo caught in her magic chains! She hadn't been unconscious; she had been pretending in order to capture Rai!
"Raimundo!" shouted Kimiko.
"We'll get him back, but you have to show us where you found him!" said Clay.
"Come on!" said Kimiko, starting to run towards the mountains.