Xiaolin Showdown does not belong to me.
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"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day," sang the little dragon ever so wistfully.
"Do you really want it to go away?" asked the man with sagging wrinkles.
The tiny dragon turned to him and smiled toothily. "Nah, its kinda nice."
The man nodded and smiled. "Yes, its rather nice..."
"But do you know what would really be nice?" quipped the non-winged dragon.
The craggy faced monk shook his head as he continued to indulge in his ink splattered scrolls. "No, I don't, Dojo."
"Food-" Dojo said before trailing off as sharp desperate raps echoed through their meager temple room.
The sage-like monk rose gracefully and opened the chipped dirt-brown door as Dojo hid. Outside, in the lightly pouring rain and cloudy sky, was a haggard looking woman who was perhaps of Chinese descent by the looks of her wispy black hair, golden fair skin and black eyes.
"Yes?" he asked politely.
"Are you Master Fung?" she demanded.
He nodded and gestured for her to come into his warm little temple. He briefly noticed that two small children grasped her hands. One about three years of age and the other about five years of age.
"I came to ask you for a favor..." she began with a trembling tone.
"Darling children..."he commented to break the tension that seeped into the once cozy atmosphere. "You should be proud."
She flinched and stiffened. "I was," she spat and looked quite dismayed and irate.
He glanced once more at her young brood. The younger boy was healthy plump and golden tanned with his mother's black hair and eyes. The older boy was of slight frame and perhaps too delicate and yellowish pale to be called healthy. Fung assumed that he got that from his mother...but...Still, there was nothing to be ashamed of.
"I don't see why you shouldn't be proud of such fine boys," Fung said.
"Tai is indeed a fine child, but Shorin..." she whispered, gesturing to her younger son. "He is an unholy child!"
The patient man raised an eyebrow. "Unholy?"
The frail woman tensed. "Shorin was our long awaited son...my husband, he was wanted an heir and we only had three daughters...Shorin was finally born, albeit a little too small and thin, but we were overjoyed. We thought our son was beautiful and perfect. My husband lavished attention on him and spared no expenses and I was overly protective of my husband's child. But after he was five years old...things happened."
Master Fung pressed tea in her shaking hands and urged her to continue.
"Water would suddenly sprout unnaturally up from our faucets whenever he glanced at it. I thought it was a coincidence, but one day, he materialized an orb of warm out of nowhere! I was terrified, but my husband was proud of him. Said that his son was mentally gifted...then Shorin flooded his nursery when he made a tantrum...unholy child I decided."
The older child grasped his mother's hand because he heard his name, but he his mother snatched her hand back fearfully, leaving her son grasping nothing and bursting into tears. Fung was stunned at such un-motherly behavior.
"But these incidents must be something else and not your son's fault..."
The now-agitated woman shook her head vigorously. "No! It was Shorin! I see a demon witch behind him! He is of unholy birth! And he shall kill us all!...I need you to exorcist the demon out..."
Fung shook his head and spoke above the child's wailing. "I am not a priest nor am I qualified for that..."
The lady slumped in her chair. "I dare not go anywhere else...our reputation will be ruined...I don't want him near Tai," she muttered and shoved her son away from her younger child. Shorin only cried harder. His mother ignored his pitiful wailing.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!"
The man could feel the hidden Dojo shake in fury and he admitted to himself that he also felt the same. He bent over and gathered the squirming child in his arms.
"Leave him with me..."
The woman peered at him. "Leave him here...?" she echoed.
Fung nodded as he tried to sooth the boy. "You do not want your son. I have no desire for you to abandon the boy somewhere else."
The woman grasped her other boy's hand and stood up. "My husband will be depressed over losing his favorite child, but I will not have him endangering my family and I am sure Tai will win him over...Keep him for all I care."
Fung watched the woman leave with her remaining son who did not realize that he was now devoid of a brother. Once they were gone, Shorin cried for his mother.
Dojo slithered out. "Poor kid. To have his mother abandon him."
Master Fung continued to comfort Shorin. "She was afraid of what she does not understand...she'll regret not having a Dragon for a son."
"A Dragon? Seriously?
The thin man shrugged. "It has to be."
The little dragon frowned. "So Shorin is staying with us?"
"No, not Shorin. Shorin died when his mother abandoned him...he is Omi and he is my ward."
"Pfft," was all the dragon said.
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A different view on how Omi came to live with Master Fung. I wanted to portray Omi's mother differently, other then some faceless woman who either died or abandoned her babe on the footsteps of the temples. Well...she is still faceless, but...
