Sleeping in her room, Aurora was "shaken" awake by Anubis, whom forced the jackal to get up and out of bed.
"Get up! There's something we need to do," Anubis commanded.
"Ugh, it's early in the morning on a weekend, go away," Aurora muttered.
"No time for that. I'll just give you the energy," Anubis said, forcing Aurora into her Underworld form and sending her out into the city.
The jackal sighed in the back of her head as Anubis was piloting the body. The two could "switch out" whenever in Underworld form, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. Sure Anubis gave her more power, but she wished that she could be in control of her body when in this form. She did have to admit, however, that she did look pretty nice.
"Hah! I knew you liked my improvements to your body!" Anubis said with a smirk.
Aurora blushed furiously. "It-it's not the body, it's the black fur. It looks very striking compared to my dull grey fur."
"I think you good either way," Karasu said, appearing behind Aurora.
The jackal jumped, surprised by the raven, which made her lose her Underworld form. The raven then caught her before she fell over (the two were roughly the same height, coming up to about Shen's chest), setting her down and sitting next to her in a meditative position.
"What are you doing here?" Aurora asked.
"I always wake up early in the morning to see the sunrise over the city," Karasu replied, holding up a wing to gesture to the rising orb in the sky.
"It is beautiful…" the jackal admitted. She then remembered what the raven had said. "Wait, you think I look good?"
Karasu rubbed the back of his head, thankful that his black feathers hid his blush. "I did say that, didn't I? Well, it's true, I think you look beautiful."
"Well, thanks," Aurora said, a blush coming to her face as well.
The sat there for a moment, until Karasu stood up and said, "I would like to offer you assistance in training to be a hero. I think our powers are very similar and that we could work off each other to become better together."
"Is this why you brought me out here?" Aurora asked Anubis, the god giving a nod in response. "Alright, I'll do it. If it can let me get a grip on my powers, then I'm all for it."
Karasu smiled. "Alright! The first thing we should do is get you and Anubis to meet 'face-to-face' so to speak." The raven then summoned a spirit dragon. "This is the Tao Dragon, the entity that gives me my powers. It took some time, but the two of us have known each other since I was born, so our bond slowly grew until I was able to fully wield his powers. I'm guessing that you and Anubis don't share that luxury?"
Aurora sighed, fingering her hijab. "Me and Anubis became bonded when this cult in my hometown tried to sacrifice me to gain the powers of the Egyptian pantheon. My parents were able to save me, but not without giving up their own lives in the process. Anubis was the first and only of the gods summoned, and my body was weak enough for him to inhabit first. We've been stuck together ever since."
"I'm sorry that you lost your parents. I lost my dad and only recently got him back due to magical shenanigans," Karasu said. "Anyway, if you focus on Anubis, you should be able to do a spirit projection of him independent of your body."
"Okay, I'll try," Aurora said. Holding her palms together, she let her aura flow between her hands, forming into a sphere and pushing it out in front of her. The sphere swirled and twisted, eventually forming into a large jackal wearing an Egyptian headdress, wristbands, and skirt.
"Finally, a body to call my own," Anubis said, flexing his fingers.
"It's only temporary, but it will relieve the headache of having a voice in your head," Karasu said.
"By the way, how could you hear Anubis?" Aurora asked.
"I have an acute sense for Chi and Aura, which lets me sense it in others, which includes other minds in the same body," the raven explained. "Back to the lesson. Now that Anubis is in his spirit form, you should try to channel your Underworld form and see what happens."
"Yeah, I really don't want to do that," Aurora said, crossing her arms.
Karasu closed his eyes, then nodded. "I get it. We should take this more slowly. How about we focus on basic spirit training instead, then?"
[***]
At the academy, Tigress was training in the sparring hall, going through each of the various activates in rapid succession. When she reached the punching bag, she hit it without mercy, constantly pummeling it until the bag went flying right off its hook. When it hit the ground, it landed right in front of Crane, whom had just walked into the room.
"Training on the weekend? Even you need to take breaks, Tigress," the avian said.
"I need to be at the peak of my form for what's coming up," Tigress said, putting up another punching back.
"And that would be?" Crane asked.
She stopped and turned to the bird, noticing the rest of the Furious Five behind him. "Masters Oogway and Kai have informed me that I am wat is called "The Dragon Warrior." The Dragon Warrior is supposed to bring balance to Kung Fu and martial arts in general, as well as defeat an oncoming evil."
"Well, that sounds like something right up your alley," Mantis said.
"That is why we must be prepared to defend the school when the time comes," Tigress said. She turned back to her training.
"We were here to see if you wanted to go get smoothies with us," Viper said.
"Another time," Tigress said, not turning back from the punching bag.
[***]
"You're doing great!" Karasu said as Aurora channeled her energy.
"You can do it," Saras said, having joined the two in training.
Aurora was focused and calm, summoning her Anubis spirit once again. Opening her eyes, they glowed with purple, ghost-like energy as she willed Anubis back towards her. The spirit complied, forming around Aurora like a battle armor. Going a step further, the jackal pulled the spirit into her body, which started glowing with the ghostly energy.
"I think I can… do this," Aurora said, her voice starting to shift as her fur turned black.
"Remember, Anubis and you are in this together. Don't fight him, let him guide you to your potential," Karasu said.
"You're so close!" Saras cheered.
Just as Aurora was about to finish her transformation, a giant beam of light shot up into the sky, making the jackal break her concentration and for the three of them to turn and look at it.
"Wh-what was that?" Saras asked, hiding behind Karasu.
"That means only one thing," the raven replied, grabbing his sword and ninja mask and jumping off of the rooftop.
As he left, Hikari came out onto the roof holding a plate of food. "Karasu, I brought you and your friends some cookies!" she said.
"Sorry Mrs. Hikari, but Karasu just ran off," Aurora said, jumping off of the roof to follow the raven.
Saras went over to Hikari and grabbed one of the cookies, putting it in his mouth and taking a bite. "Thanks for the food!" he said, turning into his crane form and following his friends.
Arriving in the middle of the city, the trio of friends saw the Furious Five there, along with Shifu and Tai Lung. Where the sword once was stood a figure in a cloak and rice hat, holding the Sword of Heroes in their grip.
"How?" Shifu said. "Oogway said that only the Dragon Warrior could pull the sword."
"No, only the one worthy can pull it," Karasu said putting on his Denko disguise.
"You again? And who are your friends?" Tigress asked with a growl.
"These are Rei and Kitsune," Denko said, gesturing to Aurora and Saras respectively, each of them now having their own ninja outfits.
"We didn't agree to those names," Rei said.
"Where did these ninja outfits come from?" Kitsune asked, pulling at his suit.
"It doesn't matter!" Tai Lung shouted. "What does is that now that sword is free, it'll be mine."
"I don't think so," the figure said.
'That voice, it can't be…' Karasu thought.
"With the power of the Sword of Heroes, the Legendary Warrior is finally her to defend the world," the figure said, lifting their head and throwing off their cloak to reveal what they were: a panda
Author's Note
Surprise late night chapter! Karasu and Aurora, being my characters, are fun to right, but we'll be seeing the other students soon enough.
This is setting up the next arc: Mystery of the Legendary Warrior! (or lackthereof).
There are still two open slots, so don't be shy to submit a character to join the Jade Palace Academy!
