Soooooooo. Not dead. Feeling better (ish). Thank you for all the kind words and continued support through my little Hiatus. It really means a lot to me.
The mask was heavy.
That was the main thought dominating the black-haired beauty's brain as she leapt through the trees, trying to keep pace with her swift-footed master.
The mask was made of solid gold, and while it actually weighed less than she though it would, it still was no easy burden to carry around her head.
It wasn't just the physical weight that bothered her, though.
Chase had lectured her thoroughly before they left the palace.
Under no circumstance was she to remove her mask outside of the palace. She was to remain quiet unless spoken to and if any enemies were to approach, she was to keep to the shadows and be an observer only.
It felt almost like her first day with Chase all over again. He acted like she was a rambunctious child and did not know how to listen.
While her curiosity to see the world through new eyes did excited her, she felt a little insulted. She would not run away and cause trouble for him.
It was those thoughts that over took her mind, causing an almost collision with her master's back.
When she took a sharp breath, ready to question their next move, she was silenced with a click of his tongue and a hand at the small of her back, forcing her into a crouching position.
Her temper flared from mildly annoyed to out right offended, being silenced like an animal, however, she did as she was instructed, observing the scene before her.
The pair of Heylins rested in the thick of a forest, watching a small dragon bask in the sunlight. He did not look particularly threatening or even interesting, and for a brief moment, Lan-Ying wondered if Chase had taken her outside just to hunt for ingredients for his next dinner.
That thought was dispelled with the rustling of a bush that revealed a small human. Round and short, the hairless boy looked upon the dragon with annoyance.
" Dojo! Are you resting when my companions and I are straining to find the Shen Gong Wu?" he as harshly.
Lan-Ying was met with a sudden burst of delight at the young boy, wanting to laugh at his childish scolding of the creature.
" Relax Omi. I am sure you will find it soon, so why should I not catch up on my tanning while I wait?" the creature replied.
" Because dragon's don't tan," a voice interjected from another direction, soon revealing another human, large and dressed oddly.
The female leaned in closer, enjoying the exchange, but was met with an arm across her body and a glare from the man next to her.
" You don't know that." the green dragon replied, but rose from his resting position anyway.
The hulking human looked as if he was going to reply, but was interrupted by yet another, new voice.
" Are you guys seriously standing around while I do all the work here?" the newest member said, tossing a small golden ball in the air with one hand while looking disapprovingly at the group.
" Raimundo! You have discovered the Shen Gong Wu! Now we may return home, too sweet," exclaimed the round boy.
" I think you mean " tut sweet" Omi" said the large man.
" Whatever. Yes, let's go" the final boy replied.
Lan-Ying felt the urge to jump down, but was stopped with the quietly hissed command in her ear
" Stay here unless I specifically ask you to join me" he said, before jumping down in a quick motion, snapping the golden ball out of the brown-haired boys hand before he even knew what happened.
Chase stood before them, examining the object and appearing to pay no attention to the group.
" Chase Young. Why am I not surprised?" said the apparent leader, motioning for the ball to be returned. " I really don't feel like doing this right now. So if I could have that back, we can get out of your ridiculous hair and you can crawl back to your crazy cat lair."
Her master just quirked at eyebrow at him, giving no reply.
" My, my. Someone seems to have lost a bit of his fire." he replied, apparently making some sort of joke at the human's expense.
" You think that is funny, don't you?" the leader spat, seemingly infuriated at the joke.
Chase circled them, smirking.
" A bit, yes. Still, I prefer to win my prizes, so I will make you a deal." he announced, stopping right in front of the small human.
" No interested. Besides, you don't have any Wu to wager," the large man spoke, before his leader could say something regretful.
Chase adopted a bored look, and Lan-Ying felt much like she was watching one of the cat's play with their food.
" No? I suppose not. I was actually going to bet information, but since you do not wish to hear it . . . " Chase sighed, almost dramatically, and began to walk away.
However, the round boy took the bait.
" What information could you have that you are willing to part with? I know you keep your secrets close, Chase Young"
That, apparently, was the question Chase had been waiting for.
" Let's just say that I have an inkling of a clue where you could, ahhh how should I put this? Reignite your flame?" he explained.
There was a deep silence between the males, as the Heylin's words settled in their brains.
" You bastard. Is this all one big joke?" hissed the leader, looking ready to pounce.
Chase chuckled, the deep, sinister sound making the female's spine crawl.
" Oh, I am being completely serious. I swear on my honor as a warrior," he said, tempting the humans.
It was the large man that finally spoke.
" Fine. Set the challenge."
The air itself seemed to buzz with those words.
" I propose a simple challenge. A race through the trees. First to the end wins." her master stated.
The humans confirmed with him and before Lan-Ying could understand what was happening, the tree she hid herself away in began to stretch and grows. Digging her sharp nails into the rough bark, she felt the world spin and expand, shaping itself to become the game board.
When the tree stopped moving, the dragon woman felt her stomach lurch and the world spin. A biting feeling in her hands made her vaguely aware that the wood of the tree had cut her skin and her under nails were bleeding.
Trying to put herself back into order, she closed her eyes, and took deep breaths until her stomach no longer rebelled.
Opening her vision to the world once again, her sharp blue eyes took in the scene.
The once small, bright forest was now a dark, intimating fortress of roots and trees. The tree she placed herself on must have been hundreds of feet up.
Gently, she brought her hand to her mouth, licking away the blood and soothing the pain, while observing the scene before her.
The fours males were each situated upon different branches and it seems her presence was still unnoticed. She could hear nothing but the sounds of her own breathing and she waited on edge.
A flash of movement and the human leader and Chase were gone.
The other two human followed at a slower pace, and Lan-Ying held herself back until she could hear but not see them, following like a curious shadow.
Chase felt no particular urgency to win the game, but had little patience for the human monks. He had not anticipated running into their group, and while he worried about Lan-Ying, he also knew that avoiding the group would seem more suspicious than interacting with them.
So, he hopped, branch to branch, avoiding any attempts at attacking his body from the Brazilian loud mouth.
While impulsiveness was never a character trait of his, he felt the overwhelming urge to bat around the Xiaolin monks like toys. They were so desperate to find their missing dragon, and Chase was so desperate to kill the idea that she would ever go back to them. He spoke honestly, really having information about Kimiko's whereabouts, and felt a surge of superiority knowing that they were so close to her, and yet so far away.
His thoughts drifted to his apprentice, hidden in the leaves but following close by. He knew there would be questions, but for now, he enjoyed having her close to his side, a hidden secret.
The dragon warrior's ideas of how he would distract his young mate from too many questions, ones that involved his bed, or possibly the dining room table, distracted him enough that he almost missed the blast of cutting wind directed at his skull.
Baring his head left, the wind passed by harmlessly, and he felt the wind dragon's frustration with a delicious sense of triumph.
The end of the maze was in sight, and with a firm lead, Chase let the monk catch up, let him almost taste his victory, before he was kicked aside, landing with a hard ' thunk' against a large tree trunk, and the Heylin pulled ahead.
The world snapped back into place and the four men stood, as if they had not just participated in an otherworldly grudge match.
Chase examined the small golden ball now in his possession, recollecting that it had the ability to change the holder's body into pure gold. Not particularly useful. He tossed it back at the monk's leader and began to walk away.
" Are you serious? You don't even want it?" the green eyed boy asked with fury.
Chase did not even stop his stride back into the trees.
" No, foolish dragon. I just feel it fair that I remind you that you are less than I from time to time."
He then disappeared back into the tree where his eager mate sat in wonder.
He looked her over, mildly impressed that she managed to do as she was told. Patience was not her strong suit. A frown overtook his face at the small bits of dried blood clinging to her nails, and he pulled her forward, moving the mask down to her neck to make sure no farther harm was done.
He had not expected to run into the monks or participate in a showdown, so he did not think of how the black-haired girl would react to things he was impartial to, such as the changing landscape or sudden match.
From the ground below, he heard the screaming of the monks' leader, demanding he return and reveal what he knew about his teammates disappearance.
" Chase . . . " began said missing teammate.
He let out a quiet hiss to indicate her silence was necessary to not give away their position, a sound than made her eyes blazed in irritation.
The Heylin emperor strand to hear if the monks had left, but he was distracted by the sharp bit of her nails sinking into the flesh of his arm.
" Lan-Ying" he warned, angry at her impatience.
" Chase Young?" sounded a voice from below, revealing that Omi had discovered them and was now looking at the two Heylins in wonder.
They disappeared in a flash of movement.
The whole trip back, Chase was silent to her many queries.
Knowing the man well enough, she could tell he was seriously displeased, most likely at her, but she did not care.
The whole trip outside had made her head swim, every smell, voice and sight being both new and exciting, and heart breakingly familiar.
Her life before Chase was still a fog of grey, but every time she decided she did not care to ever know her past, someone or something would happen, jogging a feeling or memory she did not understand.
It was a flash of light in her brain, never around long enough for her to get a grasp on it.
Upon arriving back into the palace, she opened her mouth to demand answers. She would not be satisfied until Chase stopped keeping her locked away, both from herself and him.
A smaller tiger bounding into the hall interrupted the budding argument.
" Master! Master!" the creature mewed, almost colliding with the two angry dragons.
Lan-Ying would have laughed if she weren't so furious.
" Get on with it" Chase barked, making the other two flinch at the harshness of his tone.
"Lady Wuya and Lord Spicer arrived while you were gone. Er, well. . Lord Spicer actually never left. He got lost and then she came to find him and they are waiting in the throne room." The shivering creature explained.
The emperor growled, dismissing the tiger with a wave of his hands.
The female thought she heard a low " surrounded by idiots today" said under his breath, but she swallowed her comeback, feeling that she would lose it if she did not calm down soon.
Straightening her back, she meant to follow him to the throne room, trying to look as every bit collected and intimidating as he usually did.
A door slamming in her face was her only indication was her presence was not wanted.
Huffing, Lan-Ying set off for a smaller training room, planning to burn her anger away.
The walk to the meeting gave Chase time to cool his thoughts.
He wasn't exactly angry at Lan-Ying, she did not really do anything wrong.
Still, he had allowed both of them to let their guard down momentarily and because of it; Omi could have gotten a clear view at the face he was trying hard to hide away.
He felt confident that he had blocked the yellow monk's view, but the fact that it had occurred angered him never the less.
Than the usually quiet Lan-Ying would not stop looking for answers and he could feel her annoyance grow every time he ignored her.
Damn it.
He just wanted to return to his home, take care of business matters and than burn his excess tension away by secluding himself and his mate in the bathing pool for a few hours.
Or days, based on how tense he could feel himself growing at every step closer to the wicked witch and her bumbling monkey.
The large, ornate doors opened for him and he was met with the sight of the redheaded witch lounging on his throne, looking for the entire world like she belonged there.
" Chase." she purring upon seeing him, a cheshire grin stretching across her face.
He did not respond, only climbed the stairs with measured steps.
" Wuya. Whatever could you possibly want now?" he asked.
She slinked out of the seat like a snake.
" Just thought I would visit an old friend. Pop in and see how you have been. Find out what you have been doing." she explained, never taking her eyes off him.
He was in no mood to play her games.
" I have been running an empire, being a leader. Which means I have no time to waste on you." he replied in a bored tone, placing himself on his throne.
" Hmmm yes. So busy with your . . . people. That's why you have been so negligent. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the slimy creature you let warm your bed." she exclaimed in a malicious manner.
Chase narrowed his golden eyes.
" Watch your tone."
Wuya shrugged, looking around the room.
" I am just pointing out you have made no moves against the Xiaolin lately. Very sloppy."
The Heylin warrior signed, as if talking to a child.
" Domination is not just about attack the enemy head on. It's the little battles you win that truly decide strength. You wouldn't know, since you have never had the mind for military endeavors," Chase shifted, moving up and close to the Heylin witch, " However, I have no need to justify my plans to you." He brushed past her, motioning for his guards to escort her out.
" Ha. You gave grown so soft, Chase Young. That apprentice of yours must have some amazing talent to make you change your focus from emperor of the world to small time war lord." she said, artfully dodging the feline guards.
The man gave no visible reaction, allowing her to approach, all snarling teeth and swaying hips.
" Come now, Chase. Let us create chaos like the days before your heart grew warm with love." she whispered, wrapping herself around his arm.
Feeling the weigh of her words, he felt himself disgusted with both his behavior and her closeness. It pained him to admit she was right. He gave Lan-Ying far more time than any apprentice deserved. He was a monk in another life and could easily withdraw from their physical intimacies for a time. He needed to remember who he was.
Not Chase, the caring gentle mate who needed to be with some female all the time.
Chase Young, Heylin emperor, vicious beast and evil master. He shook her off with violence, before pulling her face in a harsh grasp.
" Love is weakness." he replied, before walking out the doors, the cackling women following in his trail.
But where is Jack?!- says everyone who misses that silly boy like I do. Don't worry. He is off, getting himself into some trouble that we will see next chapter.
Speaking of which, I will try to be timely about the my update again. Not like I was before, unfortunately, as I am in my last semester of school and working my butt off trying to not lose it, but hopefully not once every three months. Turns out, when you haven't really worked on a story for a quarter of the year, you lose a bit of writing mojo. I'm getting it back, though.
Also, I feel like we will hit the halfway point fairly soon. Which is both great and terrifying.
Thank you again for the support. Reading the reviews and everything really helps, you wonderful, wonderful people.