CHAPTER THREE: VICTIMISED

Kimiko was exhausted. She pulled herself up off the cold, hard, stone floor and stretched. She had been scrubbing the floor all day. Her whole body ached. Her clothes were covered in water from the bucket, and she wiped her forehead. She heaved up the heavy bucket of dirty water and tipped its mucky contents over the grass outside. She sighed, glad she was finished and left the room, so she could join her friends for dinner.

As she walked down the hallway, she heard Omi shouting at Raimundo, and Raimundo laughing loudly.

"Oh come on, Omi! You know I kicked your butt in that last battle!" Raimundo teased. Kimiko approached the door slowly, wishing she could have been in any of their places today. She had been thinking about how Master Fung had singled her out all day; but she couldn't work out why. It was amazing to her how much missing a few hours training with her friends meant to her. She heard a chair scrape the floor and a furious Omi challenging Raimundo for a re-match. As Kimiko stepped through the door, they all fell silent and stared. Omi was standing on the table, pointing at Raimundo, but at spotting Kimiko, he hastily sat back down.

"Hey guys." She muttered to them and took her place at the dining table, where a bowl of food sat waiting for her. She was famished and began to eat immediately, not bothering make any conversation with them, but focusing on getting to bed as fast as possible. Clay and Omi stared at their food bowls and continued eating silently. The room was silent for what seemed like forever until Raimundo cleared his throat loudly. Kimiko, who had been eating the food as fast as she could, stopped and looked at him. Clay shot Raimundo a cautious look.

"Man, it's so quiet in here." Raimundo commented.

"Yeah." Clay agreed. "I know."

"How was training?" Kimiko asked bitterly. She knew she should not blame them for being able to train, but she was still angry. The tension in the room shifted into a very uncomfortable environment. Omi was silent, whilst Raimundo and Clay fidgeted uncomfortably.

"It was…normal." Answered Clay, breaking the silence. Kimiko made a noise to show she had acknowledged his answer and began eating her food slowly. Her body was stiff and aching. She would fall asleep if she did not get to sleep soon, but she still had to help the others clear away the table after dinner.

"How was…. Your chores?" Raimundo asked, sounding slightly frightened as he spoke. She looked at him; Raimundo had stopped eating and was staring at her apologetically.

"Tiring." She muttered back, not really wanting to speak about it.

"Kimiko?" Omi said quietly. He had been silently eating until now, when he looked up at her. She finished her food and stood up, placing her bowl next to the sink with the pile of dirty dishes, waiting to be washed.

"Yes, Omi?" She responded, hoping if she made a tiny bit more conversation, Clay and Raimundo would stop staring and continue eating their food. The three pairs of eyes glued to her were beginning to irritate her. She attempted to ignore them and concentrate on Omi as she sat back in her place.

"Do you know why Master Fung took you out of training today?" He asked shyly. Usually Omi was never shy about anything, but perhaps this was because he sensed that she was tired, grumpy and angry.

"I have no idea, Omi." She replied trying to sound puzzled, but the exhaustion merely made her sound bored. Clay pushed his bowl away and sat calmly whilst he spoke.

"Well, even I'm gonna' admit that Master Fung was actin' mighty strangely today. I wonder why he's gone and took you outta trainin'." Clay said. The tone of his voice made it obvious that he was hoping for a little more conversation from the group. Omi had finished his food and sat at the table whilst waiting for Raimundo to finish.

"I dunno." Raimundo shrugged. He spotted the others empty bowls and tipped the remaining contents of his food into his mouth. Omi pulled a disgusted face and Raimundo began to chew loudly, occasionally opening his mouth, and revealing a mouth of chewed up food. Clay seemed not to notice. Kimiko stared without really seeing, thinking of the nice comfortable bed waiting for her.

There was a flicked of green and Dojo emerged from the dark hallway.

"Master Fung wouldn't take you out of training unless he had a good reason Kimiko." Dojo said knowledgably, slithering up the table leg to climb onto the table. He peeked inside the empty bowls and sighed. Dojo had been hoping to eat the Monks leftovers, but all four bowls were empty. Kimiko stared at Dojo.

"How do you know that?" She asked him, feeling slightly comforted but worried at the same time.

"Because he acts strangely when something important is happening." Dojo moved back into the middle of the table, so he was in full view of the monks.

"Yeah but…" Raimundo began, "I mean, if something that important was happening… wouldn't Master Fung have said something? We aren't children anymore. If it was important I think he'd tell us." He flickered his eyes between Dojo's face and Kimiko's, trying not to stare at one for too long.

"Hmm..." Clay said, scratching his chin thoughtfully and resting his large elbow on the table. "I reckon Rai is right, Dojo."

Dojo threw his scaly arms in the air. "Fine! Don't listen to the only one who knows what he's talking about." He slithered off the table and crawled away, muttering about how he had known Master Fung for the longest so he should know.

"Kimiko?" Clay asked. Without realising they had done so, her eyes had slid shut. She forced her eyes open and jerked upright. The three stared at her.

"I'm thinkin' you should go to bed, lil' lady. You're lookin' tired." Clay said. "We'll take over your chores tonight. You've been workin' hard all day." He placed his large hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Kimiko smiled wearily and put her hand on his to show him her appreciation. Omi opened his mouth to protest, but Raimundo shook his head.

"That will not be necessary, Clay." Master Fung's voice loomed from the darkness of the hallway, and the old monk came into view. The monks stared at him. Kimiko felt the rage building inside her and took a breath to calm herself down. She was still angry for the lack of explanation he had provided her.

"Kimiko. Until further notice, you will not return to training with your fellow monks." He said whilst looking at her with no expression etched upon his face. Kimiko's jaw dropped.

"B-b-but-" She stammered. Raimundo, Clay and Omi were stunned and merely watched as Kimiko stood up.

"Why!" Kimiko demanded, her anger was bubbling to the surface. It was at times like these when she had to focus to really control her emotions, and she knew is she wasn't careful, she could accidentally use her element without intending to. The last thing she wanted was to be in more trouble.

"All will become clear soon enough." Master Fung answered simply, staring at her.

"No." Kimiko said firmly, "I want an explanation. You can't just stop me training without telling me why!"

Omi was shocked. He had never seen any of the monks speak to Master Fung in such a rude tone. For a moment, Omi thought Master Fung would react badly to Kimiko's tone, but he remained calm; surprisingly calm.

"You must do as you are instructed." Master Fung said, completely dodging her demand for information.

"NO!" She screamed, and a small jet of fire shot out from her hand as she slammed her fist down onto the table angrily. The small burst of fire shot at Omi, who dodged it quickly. The monks slowly edged away from Kimiko, knowing that soon she would lash out. The three knew Kimiko well enough to know that whoever was closest to her was likely to receive the full extend of her element. Raimundo could hardly believe her nerve, but he could understand why she was angry. If Master Fung had stopped him training without telling him why, and made him do extra chores, he would have kicked off too. It wasn't like Master Fung had given her a reason either. No wonder she's angry, Rai thought.

"Why don't you want me to train? What have I done wrong?" She demanded. Raimundo, Clay and Omi stared open mouthed, even Dojo, who had appeared in the corner of the doorframe seconds earlier, was staring at Kimiko in shock.

"Kimiko, do not forget your place. Do as you are told." Master Fung said as his expression turned cold and angry. Kimiko was breathing heavily and it was taking all over her focus to stop herself from exploding the place with her element. With her clenched fists tightly, she stormed out of the room, blinking away the tears that were forming in her eyes furious eyes.

Raimundo, Omi and Clay stared in shock as the girl left the room. Master Fung had regained his expressionless composition and turned to the monks. Very calmly, he said,

"I trust you will take care of Kimiko's chores for tonight and then go straight to bed. Do not talk to Kimiko until the morning." He instructed and turned around, leaving the room as swiftly as he had entered.

Still open-mouthed the monks looked at each other.

"Kimiko is very angry." Omi stated after a few moments.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Raimundo said sarcastically.

"You didn't notice!" Omi replied, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. Raimundo rolled his eyes and picked up the empty bowls from the table.

"Sarcasm, Omi." Clay said, looking around the room aimlessly.

"That makes no sense." The small boy retorted.

"Man," Began Clay who walked to the sink in the corner of the room and began to wash the dishes. "I've never seen the lil' lady so angry." He handed the bowl to Omi, who dried it with a dishtowel.

"I know. Poor Kim." Raimundo said and he took the plate off Omi and placed the bowl in the cupboard.

"Do you really think Master Fung has an important reason?" Raimundo asked, as waited for Omi to dry the next bowl. Raimundo could not imagine a reason why Master Fung would take Kimiko from training.

The three worked in silence, none of them wanting to say what they really thought. Omi was certain that Master Fung new exactly what he was doing, but he could not help thinking that his reasons were not good enough ones. Clay did not know what he thought; whilst he had a lot of respect for Master Fung, he thought that he was behaving very oddly and being very mysterious. Raimundo wondered what Kimiko was doing as he put away another bowl.