Author's Note: I've gotten some questions about Raven's accent. It's a heavy European-like accent, very similar to Russian. Also, more action in this chapter.

Part 4: The First Encounter

"The Butterfly Kunais are ahead," the little electronic device informed her. Jack had dropped them off- he had said he had 'things to do, people to see'... 'yeah right' Raven couldn't help but think. It had been two weeks of checking in at the mansion, but there hadn't been any shen-gong-wu alarms until today. She had been staying outside the entire time, practicing her fighting techniques in the woods and then meeting up with Jack in the afternoons, mostly standing quietly in the corner and watching him work on some 'evil robot' or another...

The trees whizzed by like lightning as she swerved around them expertly... they were in some forest, and there wasn't a lot of room to move through the trees. Suddenly, she stopped short. There they were- the xiaolin warriors, gathered together in a large clearing. She quickly took a giant leap up into a tree and hid herself in the branches. Raven listened intently for the voices, and they came floating toward her.

"-there! No! Over there!! Ough..." That was Dojo, the dragon.

"Well which way is it?!" The tall, brown-haired, Hispanic boy asked impaciently.

Raven recognized him to be Raimundo.

"I'm not sure," Dojo answered, "it's coming from everywhere! The Butterfly Kunais must have been separated."

"My friends, a net spread wide captures more fish." the little monk, Omi, said.

"I know I've heard that one before. The little guy's beginning to repeat himself." Raimundo said, scratching his head.

"Omi's right. Let's split up," Kimiko, the little Japanese girl agreed.

Raimundo, Kimiko, Omi, and the big guy in the levis and cowboy hat, Clay, all set off in different directions. A few minutes later Raven still sat in the tree, leaning against the trunk with a bored expression on her face and her arms crossed.

"If you do not act, then you will not complete your mission."

Raven looked up into the sky, ignoring the little robot that had begun to hover in front of her. "So you think," she said patiently, closing her eyes as a ray of light peaked through the trees and warmed her face. She smiled contentedly behind her black mask.

Almost that moment, a voice called out below, "Hey ya'll! I found one!"

"Me, too!"

"Same here!"

Raven chuckled, looking down as the four gathered around in the clearing once again, dropping a butterfly-shaped kunai each into a small velvet pouch. "They almost make this too easy," she said to herself in amusement. In a flash, one of her long leather whips was in her hand, and in a quick, fluid-like movement, Raven glided down the tree to the ground.

Dojo was the first to notice her appearance. "Agh! Don't look now, but we've got company!" he cried, moving back.

They all swerved around and faced her.

"I thank you all for finding the shen-gong-wu for me," she said curtly, looking them over. They were all only children, around Jack's age or younger; she didn't want to hurt them. "But now I require that you hand them over."

"Not a chance!" Kimiko said.

All at once, they jumped into action.

"Have it your way," Raven said.

"Silk-spinner!" Raimundo cried, pointing the gun-like weapon at her from the air and leading the others with the first strike.

She easily dodged the flying web, and as Raimundo was getting over the shock, she jumped and snatched the Silk-Spinner out of his hand and grabbed the back of his shirt in one move, then before he had realized it, he was stuck between two trees by a large, sticky web. Raven looked around her, then jumped back to the ground, securing the shen-gong-wu onto her belt.

"Orb of Tornami! Ice!" shouted Omi, rushing forward.

Raven crouched low to the ground and the icy water flowed over her head and froze into a crystal behind her. She lashed out with her whip and grabbed hold of Omi's ankle, then slung him into the air, strait into the same web that held the struggling Raimundo.

The Orb fell with a clunk to the ground, and Raven scooped it up with just enough time to swing around as Kimiko cried "Eye of Dashi! Fire!" and blasted a red bolt of energy strait at her. Raven realized in the millisecond that she had that she couldn't dodge the attack, and it hit her square in the chest, knocking her backward into the trunk of a large oak. Kimiko cried out in victory as Raven sat stock-still on the ground with her back against the tree. Both Clay and Kimiko stepped forward.

The little robot was as restless as a robot could be as it watched the scene unfold below it. The girl had lost...!

"Impossible," the machine said. Raven was gone!

"You have no faith, my metallic friend," said a voice that only the little bot could hear.

"Guys! Behind you!" Dojo called, giving Clay and Kimiko just enough time to spin around to see the blur of Raven before they were both thrown backward onto the ground.

"For ruining my suit," Raven said, indicating the large hole in the black material. "And THIS for my paycheck." She grabbed them both by the fronts of their shirts and hurled them into the air, then whipped the Silk-spinner out of her belt and fired, pinning them both between two trees; across the clearing from Raimundo and Omi. Raven scooped up the Orb of Tornami- she had dropped it when she had been hit- and then jumped up onto a branch in front of Kimiko and Clay.

They stared at her loathingly, and she returned with a blank, bored expression. She took the Eye of Dashi from Kimiko, poking her hard in the solar plexus and forcing her to drop it, then the pouch containing the Butterfly Kunais from Clay's belt. Then she stood back and looked around at the four Dragon Apprentices.

"Nothing personal," she said calmly, tucking the new shen-gong-wu into her belt. She jumped from the tree onto the ground and began walking with her back to them, pausing only for a moment to look over her shoulder and say under her breath, "... and good luck... next time."