This chapter's pretty short. We promise the next one will be longer. Just curious, would you like it better if the chapters were named or is numbered okay?
It was a little difficult finding the unidentified object again because they didn't have the beam of light to guide them to it this time. But finally they found a small outlet in the cliff with a tiny white gem inside it.
"How ever did you see something so small and concealed from below?" Omi asked.
Clay almost started to explain, but then decided it would be better not to. Instead he peered at the gem. "What do you reckon it is? The Phoenix's Tear?"
"I do not think so. The Phoenix's Tear was teardrop shaped and this . . . I am not sure what shape that is in."
They would have taken it out of the hole to get a better look at it, but they both knew it would have been a stupid thing to do after seeing Kimiko vanish when she reached for it. Omi moved his face closer to the gem to examine it more closely, but he must have gotten too close because suddenly Clay and Omi both felt that they were being pulled into a cosmic whirlpool of mud. Then everything went black.
Cool dew fell onto Omi's face, bringing him to consciousness. He awoke in a lush redwood forest. Clay was lying beside him. They were both covered head to toe in mud. Suddenly a blast of freezing water hit them from above. Clay woke up, sputtering. Omi wiped the water from his eyes and looked up to see Kimiko standing above them holding an overturned empty wooden bucket. He was surprised at how different she looked. Her hair was black again, her skin was sunburned, her jacket and helmet were gone, she was pretty dirty, she was wearing sandals, and she had a couple scars on her right cheek. She seemed to be very happy to see them.
"What took you so long?" she exclaimed. "I thought you two had given up on me and went to fight Wuya yourselves! You aren't going to believe-"
"What'cha talkin' 'bout Kimiko?" Clay was still wiping the mud and water out of his face. "We followed ya 'bout a minute after you-"
He stopped when he saw Kimiko. "What happened to you?"
"Hey, I didn't think I would need to bring my shower stuff and make-up."
"Where are your clothes?"
"It's kind of a long story."
"How did you get those scars?" Omi asked, pointing at them. "And why are you sunburned? It's very shady and cool here."
"It's kind of a long story about those too."
"How can there be a long story?" Clay practically yelled. "You were only gone for a minute!"
Kimiko raised an eyebrow. "Here it's been a day an a half."