Well, another Chapter done. BTW- there is a song in here that I learned from my music teacher. It's called "For Petra", and he wrote it himself. I thought it would make a fitting tune for Marie to sing as she fell asleep. Feel the love people! Red out.
The Bride of Chase Young Chapter 4
Marie trembled with excitement as she changed from her fancy, regal robes into an outfit Chase had given her. It was a black tunic tied with a sash at the waist with a pair of black pants. She wore the Dragons Tear around her neck.
"I can't believe I'm going to a showdown with Chase!" she said to herself as she tied her hair up in a ponytail. She put the black slippers on and dashed out of her bedroom to join Chase, who was waiting with Wuya in the entrance hall of the citadel. Wuya looked at her with wide eyes.
"Woah!" She said. "Marie, is that you?" Marie rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm just a girl who looks like her. Of course it's me! What'd you think?"
"Well, what did you expect? That outfit makes you look so different I didn't recognize you at first. It suits you." said Wuya. Marie blushed slightly.
"Whatever. Lets just get to the Wu." she said. She walked over to Chase's side, looking at her feet. Glancing up, she saw Chase looking at her with an odd look. Somewhere between amusement and something she had only ever seen in her brothers eyes, an air of protectiveness. She instantly looked at her feet again.
"That's odd." she thought. "He's never looked at me like that before." She felt Chase grasp her hand and hold tightly. He the Golden Tiger Claws on his other hand.
"Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand." he said. "I don't want you getting lost." Marie had seen him use the Tiger Claws before and squeezed his hand lightly.
"I won't. Don't worry." she replied. Chase nodded and raised his hand.
"Golden Tiger Claws!" he cried before swiping downward. A swirling black and purple vortex opened up in front of them. The trio jumped in together and Marie was forced to shut her eyes against the wind. It roared in her ears and threatened to rip her out of Chase's grip. Then, it was over. The roaring and wind stopped and Marie's feet touched solid ground. Opening her eyes, she looked around. They were on a rocky plateau in the middle of a barren wasteland.
"Well, come on!" said Wuya. "I want to get that Wu before Hannibal shows up."
"Patience Wuya." Chase said calmly. "Which one is it again?"
"The Shenbo Staff." She replied. "It can grow up to ten times it's length and whoever holds it can sweep away their enemies like dust." Chase nodded.
"Alright then. Wuya, you go that way." he said pointing north. "Marie and I will search in the other direction." Wuya opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again with a sly smirk.
"Oooohhh, I see." she said. "You want some alone time with the little missus." Marie blushed crimson and edged away from Chase.
"As usual Wuya, your assumptions are wrong. It's Marie's first time Wu hunting, and I don't want her getting lost." he snarled. Wuya merely shrugged and headed off. Chase walked off southward with Marie trailing after him.
"Chase?" she questioned after ten minutes of uneventful searching. "Who's Hannibal? Is he a rival of yours?"
"He's not even within a fraction of the power he'd need to be my rival!" Chase snorted. "He's just the person who turned me over to the Heylin side. But he's more of an annoyance than anything else." Something in his tone said the topic was no longer up for discussion, so Marie went back to looking for anything that might resemble a staff.
After a while, Marie decided to wander a little ways away from Chase to search. Suddenly, something whooshed overhead, kicking up a fierce wind. Marie looked up to see what it was and was stunned to see a large green dragon with four kids on its back..
"Hurry Dojo!" cried the little one with a large yellow head. "We must make it to the Shenbo Staff before Wuya or Chase young!"
"Omi! I'm the leader, I give the instructions." said a boy roughly 14, with brown hair and a far fancier tunic. The dragon landed not too far away. Marie instantly ran to Chase to tell him what she'd seen. Chase swore under his breath.
"Come on!" he said, grabbing her hand. "We have to find it before they do!" He ran, half dragging, half pulling Marie behind him. As they drew nearer to the dragon, Marie was surprised to hear it speak.
"Heads up guys, Chase Young at 12 o'clock!" he shouted. The four warriors sprang into fighting poses. Chase stopped abruptly, causing Marie to bump into him.
"Chase Young!" said Omi. "If you have come to battle, prepare for humiliating defeat!" Marie heard a growl rise in Chase's throat. She looked at the group closely. They were young, Omi must have only been 11 or 12. Wait, this seemed familiar. Marie remembered Wuya telling her something about a group of fierce warriors who had beaten them time after time. These kids couldn't possibly be them! She couldn't help it, she burst out laughing! They all looked at her, noticing her for the first time. She tried to rein in the laughter enough to talk.
"Y-you can't be serious!" she wheezed, holding her ribs. "These a-are the warriors? This is t-too much! I'm gonna bust a seam! Ahahahahaha!" She fell to her knees, still trying to halt her laughter. The Xiaolin warriors just stood confused and dumbstruck. They were even more confused when Chase started laughing along with her. Finally, Kimiko had had enough.
"Okay, that's enough!" She yelled. She pointed at Marie, who was still fighting giggles. "Who are you, and why are you with Chase Young?" Marie stopped laughing and stood straight. She stepped up to the thirteen year old robotics heiress and pierced her with a glare so icy, it made Chase proud.
"You aren't worthy of knowing my name. So stop shrieking with that annoying voice of yours." she said venomously. Kimiko gulped and backed down. Marie smirked in satisfaction. She turned and walked back to Chase's side, thinking to herself
"Woah! Was that me? Holy crap!" Even Chase looked at her with newfound respect.
"Nicely done Marie." He whispered out of the side of his mouth.
"Yeah. Don't ever let me do it again!" she whispered back.
Suddenly, a loud whirring was heard as a redheaded boy swooped overhead wearing what looked like a helipack.
"Haha!" he crowed triumphantly. "Jack Spicer, Evil boy genius has...Woah! Who's the babe?" He landed quickly next to Marie, looking at her from all angles. Chase drew a protective arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"Back off Spicer." He snarled. "She's with me." Marie looked at Jack, thinking hard. The light switched on.
"I remember you!" she said. "You came to my school three years ago to teach a class in robotics!" She squirmed out of Chase's grip. "You remember me right? I was the one in the back with the scruffy jeans and the black tank top! You called me up in a demonstration!" Jack was confused for a minute, then his face brightened in recognition.
"Oh my Gosh! Marie? Wow! I can't believe it's you! You grew your hair out! What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Would you believe I'm engaged to that hero of yours?" she replied. Jack's jaw dropped.
"YOU'RE WHAT?!" He screamed.
"Yeah. Turns out that my parents promised me to him when I was younger, so I moved here two weeks ago to live with him. Crazy huh?" While the animated conversation went back and forth, Chase and the Monks just stared.
"Wait, you know Spicer?" asked Raimundo. Marie nodded.
"Yeah. Like I said, he came to my school three years ago." she replied.
"But he would have only been ten then, what was he doing teaching?"
"Hey!" cried Jack. "I was thirteen when I went to her school. I'm only a year younger than her you know. And I am a genius." Marie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, a genius who came to class with his shoes untied and his barn door open." she smirked. Jack blushed, then retorted.
"Well, you didn't seem to have a problem with it when we went walking in the forest after class. When that happened." he grinned impishly as Marie gasped and stepped back. "Ha! I knew you remembered." the next thing he knew, Jack found himself pinned to the ground under Chase's weight.
"What did you do to her?!" he hissed furiously. "What did you do to Marie? Answer me Spicer!" He raised a fist to give Spicer the beating of a lifetime, but found he couldn't move it. He looked behind him to see Marie clinging to it.
"Please." she whispered. "Please don't do it Chase. It was before we met, and a one time thing. Please let him go." Chase eased up on his hold of Jack.
"What did you two do? Tell me. I won't get angry." he said softly. Marie buried her face in his arm and cried softly.
"I- I was rebelling against my parents. They told me I could never be alone with a boy. The other guys at school wouldn't even acknowledge my existence. Spicer not only acknowledged me, he liked me. I could see it in his eyes. We...we went into the forest near the school grounds after class. We were young and foolish. I'm sorry Chase but...Jack was my first kiss." Her shoulders shook as she cried. Chase looked at her with shock, completely releasing his hold on Jack, who squirmed out from under his hero and crawled away. Gently releasing his arm from her grasp, Chase embraced her.
"It's alright. As long as nothing else happened, it's alright. Don't cry anymore." he said soothingly. He seemed to forget they had an audience until Raimundo wolf whistled.
"Hey, get a room why don't you?" he teased. Chase snarled and Marie backed out of the embrace blushing.
"We...we came here to find the Shenbo Staff right? So maybe we should focus on that now." she said. She was in shock from how softly Chase had spoken, how warm his embrace was. She felt like she was heating up from the inside out.
"We will discuss this at home." said Chase, standing up, pulling Marie up with him. She nodded.
Suddenly, Dojo began to shake uncontrollably.
"G-g-g-guys!" he stuttered. "I hate t-to break this up b-b-but, the Shenb-bo Staff just activated! It's that way!" His long serpentine body shot straight out, pointing south-east. The monks glared at Chase and Marie.
"First come first served!" cried Marie, dashing off in the direction indicated. Chase shot off after her, with Jack on his heel with the Helipack.
Pulling up beside Marie, Chase called to her.
"Do you really expect to get anywhere at that pace? Here, I'll help you." Before Marie could object, he slipped his arm around her waist and took off into the air at full speed. Marie yelped and wrapped her arms around Chase's neck.
"Scared of heights are we?" he sneered. Marie gulped and tried not to look at the ground.
"No, but flying a hundred klicks an hour through the air is another story. Please don't drop me!" She shut her eyes and buried her face in his neck. Chase stiffened, then relaxed as he wound both arms around her, shifting her so he now cradled her in his arms.
"I would never drop you." he whispered in her ear. She looked up into his amber eyes and saw an emotion she couldn't read or understand. Resting her head on his chest, she listened to the beating of his heart over the sound of the wind. It was strong, steady...At that moment, Marie forgot the fact that she was flying over a desert wasteland looking for a magic artifact. All she wanted was to stay like this, in his arms, and his arms alone.
"I see it! I see the Shenbo Staff!" yelled Jack, snapping Marie out of her trance. She looked ahead and noticed a long staff stuck in the ground glowing with a golden aura.
"I don't know whether to kill him or thank him." she thought.
"Marie, I'm going to drop you off at that plateau in front of the Wu. Stay there and wait for me." Chase said to her. And without further warning, he swooped down over said plateau, and dropped her on the ground. She landed on her feet and ran to the edge, kneeling.
"Be careful!" she called after him. "Don't do anything stupid!" She watched as he landed in front of the staff. He had just grabbed hold of it when Omi touched it. Marie gasped.
"A showdown!" she breathed. She listened as Omi spoke the words of challenge and named the terms of the Showdown. Chase claimed he would fight without Sheng gong Wu.
"He's just trying to be a showoff." said Raimundo. Marie nearly jumped a foot in the air.
"What?! When did you guys get here?" she asked.. Clay tipped his hat to her politely.
"Well, shucks Miss. We were headin' the same place you were and we saw that varmint Chase Young drop you here all alone and well, my upbringin' jes don't allow me to leave a girl on her own in the wilds. That, and we needed someplace to watch the fight." Marie looked at the three monks and Jack, who had landed when he saw his chance at the Wu was ruined. Kimiko was glaring daggers at her and Raimundo was giving her a weird look. It was like he was beckoning her to him. Marie turned up her nose and watched as Chase and Omi fought.
The only words that seemed to sum up the scene playing out below her were wow, amazing and absolutely incredible. Until now, Marie had only ever seen Chase preform Tai chi, but this was on a whole different level. Every punch, kick and strike was focused and made to count. She winced as Omi took a hard blow to the chest, then caught Chase with a fierce uppercut. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Raimundo again.
"So, why are you with Chase anyway? You can't be dating." He said in a wannabe debonair voice.
"In case you didn't hear me when I was talking to Jack, I'm engaged to him. Now shoo, I'm trying to watch this." She replied absently.
"But you can't have done this willingly. Why don't you stay with us? We'll keep you safe." He said after a moment. Marie merely waved him away.
"Oh, I didn't. But I'm getting used to it. Now go away before I decide to stop watching this and hurt you." Raimundo dropped his guard.
"Oh? And what could you do?" he asked, squatting next to her. Before he could react, Marie shot out a leg and kicked his feet out from under him, causing him to lose his balance and slip over the edge. Kimiko screamed in surprise. Without blinking an eye, Marie whipped out her arm and grabbed Raimundo before he fell out of her reach. She looked down at him.
"Something like that. Now I 'm going to let you up, and I expect you to shut up and let me watch the Showdown. Comprende?" Raimundo nodded, and Marie pulled him up. A sudden roar from Chase reverted her attention back to him. But the man she saw on the battlefield was definitely not her fiancee.
Chase was morphing into a humanoid dragon. Marie couldn't help but watch as the man she was growing increasingly fond of grew and changed until a large Green and black humanoid lizard stood on the battlefield. Marie felt a feeling of fear and panic well up inside her.
"He's...he's a monster!" she mumbled. Her breaths came quicker as she realized that Chase wasn't human. Then his amber eyes turned towards her. The warmth and emotion was gone, Replaced by cold, killing savagery. Marie screamed, long and loud.
Chase stopped, and turned to find the origin of the frightened scream, and saw Marie staring at him. Then he remembered, She had never seen him transform. Forgetting about the showdown, he leapt up onto the rocky ledge. Marie scrambled away from him, her eyes wide with fear.
"Marie, it's me. Chase." he said. His voice was the rasp of a dragons. Marie backed further away.
"No! You're not Chase! You can't be!" she whimpered. Chase stepped towards her. "Get away!" she screamed. Chase stopped. His tail lashed from side to side. Marie could take it no longer. She leapt up and ran away from Chase and the others. She heard the monster calling after her to come back, but kept running.
"He's a monster...a monster...a monster!!" she thought as she ran down the side of the plateau. She hit level ground and kept running, determined to get as far away as possible from that creature who called itself Chase. She saw a small oasis not far ahead, full of trees she could hide in. She burst through the foliage and kept running until she collapsed, breathless. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a tall shadow looming over her.
When Marie awoke, the sun was low in the sky. She sat up and looked around before remembering where she was and how she got there. She hugged her knees to her chest and sat there for a moment. Then, a familiar voice spoke.
"So, you've woken up. Good. I was worried." Marie looked up to see Chase standing there with a damp rag in his hands. She flinched as he pressed it to her forehead. "There now. That should help a bit." he said, moving away to stoke the small fire he had created. Marie held the compress to her head.
"Why?"
"What was that?" Chase asked.
"Why didn't you tell me that you transformed into that...thing? I was terrified. And after I thought we'd had a moment." Marie said. Chase sighed and stopped messing with the fire. He walked to her and knelt in front of her.
"There's something you must understand Marie." he said, gazing into her eyes. "I didn't choose that form. It's a side effect of the power gained by drinking the Lao man Long soup."
"The Lao Man Long?"
"It's a potion that bestows great power." he explained. "I drank it many years ago when I turned to the Heylin side. The form one takes, depends on the drinkers personality. And while that form is more powerful, it does not change who we are. For example. When you saw me today in my dragon form, I may have seemed wild and frightening, but I was still me. Here, let me show you." he slowly transformed into the dragon form again. Marie watched and fought the urge to scream and run when Chase sat fully transformed in front of her.
"You see?" he said. "I'm still me. I've just gotten bigger and scalier, and my voice is rougher." Marie still trembled. Chase looked into her eyes once more and tried to will her to understand. Then he thought of a way.
Before Marie knew what was happening, Chase pulled her into a warm embrace.
"C-chase! What are you doing?!" she said. Chase began to stroke her back softly.
"Just hush and listen. Tell me, what do you hear?" Marie calmed down and rested her head against his chest like she had done hours ago. She could hear the familiar sound of his heartbeat through his leathery skin.
"It's the same isn't it?" Chase whispered. "I'm still the same person. My heart beats like everyone else." Marie raised her head to look at him. It was his eyes that convinced her. They were the same amber eyes that had promised never to let her fall. They were the eyes of the man she was falling madly in love with. Even now, as he turned human again, the eyes stayed the same. She rested her head on his chest again, never wanting the moment to end.
"By the way." said Chase after a few minutes. "You told me Spicer stole your first kiss right?" Marie nodded. "Well, I don't think he counts." Marie snapped her head up.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Chase raised a hand and caressed her cheek.
"I mean. " he whispered. "I'd like to have the honor of bestowing you with your first real kiss. That is, if you will allow me." Marie was dumbfounded. She started at him in shock before saying
"I'll allow it." Chase smiled and tilted her face up towards his. Marie closed her eyes as she leaned in. When their lips met, an electric shock shot through Marie.
"What is this?" she thought. "It was never like this when Jack kissed me. This feels so nice..." she relaxed and melted into Chase's arms. Chase smirked against her lips, and trailed kisses down her cheek and neck. Marie gasped as the sensations caused her to tingle. Red flags started going up in her head. She couldn't let this get out of control. Not yet, not here.
"Mmm...Chase." she breathed. "We can't...please...stop." Chase paused, and backed away to look at her.
"Why not? You're obviously enjoying this and you're more comfortable around me now." He said, his voice husky.
"I know, but I'm just not ready for anything too serious yet. I still want to learn about you. Please, don't be mad." Chase smiled at her.
"How could I be angry with a beautiful creature like you? Okay, I'll back off for now, but I get to hold you again tonight."
"Deal. Now come here." said Marie, winding her arms around his neck and pulling him in for another kiss.
It was long after dark before they returned to the citadel. They met Wuya in the entrance hall, pacing. She looked them and exploded.
"Where the heck were you two?! I heard from Jack that Marie ran off during the showdown, and you forfeited by taking off after her." She screamed at Chase. "What were you thinking? It's lucky you didn't bet any Wu on that showdown or we would have lost big time!" she rounded on Marie next.
"And you! You were the one that cost us the showdown! What did you run off for?!"
"That's enough!" Bellowed Chase. "I transformed and it frightened her. I never told her about my other form, how was she supposed to react? She's only human Wuya, now leave her alone." Wuya was silent. Then she noticed that Marie and Chase were holding hands, something they had never done before unless Chase was leading Marie somewhere. Her face transformed into an ear to ear grin.
"Oh ho! So it looks like Rule three has been broken!" Marie shook her head.
"Not broken Wuya, just abolished." She said, giving Chase's hand a gentle squeeze, which he returned. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a letter to write. See you later Chase." She reached up and kissed him gently before dashing off. Wuya's grin dropped for a minute out of sheer shock before returning wider than ever.
"I never thought she'd be into public displays of affection. That girl is head over heels." she snickered.
"How do you know?" asked Chase, for once in his life, truly bewildered.
"Duh, I'm a girl too you know. I can see it in her eyes." Wuya looked at him. "You kissed her didn't you?" Chase was taken aback at her guess. Wuya began to laugh hysterically.
"Oh my god! You did! You totally did!" Chase looked away.
"I only showed her what a real kiss is. I hated to think of what Spicer showed her." he said.
"Wait, what Spicer showed her? You mean Jack? Okay, now I have to know. Tell all." she listened as Chase retold the events after the robotics class.
"Wow." said Wuya after hearing the story. "I never thought Jack had it in him."
"He's lucky Marie stopped me when she did or I may have killed him." Chase grumbled.
"Oh Chase, you're so hot tempered. They were young and teens. Teens experiment. If what Marie said was true, her parents probably told all the parents who had boys her age a nasty rumor so they wouldn't talk to her. She was desperate for a boy to realize she was there. Jack was there, and she must have wanted to have a somewhat meaningful experience in her life before growing up an old maid. And Jack...well, I think he was desperate too. You don't see many gothic Albino wannabe geniuses with girlfriends." Chase crossed his arms and mulled these facts over. Wuya was making a lot of sense.
"It was in the past anyway." he said after a while of silence. "And I think after today, she'll have forgotten him soon enough." He smirked at the memory of how Marie had melted into his arms.
"Anyway, it's late. I need some beauty sleep and I'm sure Marie is waiting for you." said Wuya as she turned to leave. She looked over her shoulder at him and winked. "Go get 'em Tiger." Chase could hear her laughing as she walked down the hall. Chase suddenly realized how tired he really was. He trudged up to his room and quickly changed into a pair of black silk PJ pants. He was just climbing in to bed when Marie entered the room wearing a long t-shirt. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Chase in all his shirtless glory.
"Oh dear god! He does have a hot body!" she thought. "And I get to sleep next to it at night! I may just be the luckiest girl on earth." Chase grinned when he saw his fiancee staring at him like a hungry dog.
"See anything you like?" he asked. Marie grinned back.
"Most definitely." she replied. She climbed into bed next to him and rested her head on his chest. The feeling of warmth and safety that she was coming to associate with him flooded into her as she listened to his heart. She felt his hand start stroking her hair softly. Marie began to sing softly.
"Morning sun upon your face,
I rise while you are sleeping.
Yet as I look across the sea,
a wave of death is rolling in
to claim you in its keeping.
You call my name as the waters building strong
I'm holding out my arms but you're not holding on.
Our glorious day swiftly turns to night
as my love is swept away."
Chase wondered what the song was. It was sad, yet soothing somehow. The tune was almost opera like, yet the way she sang it made it sound like a lullaby.
"Just like mother..." he thought as Marie's second verse began and he began to fall asleep..
"All my world is spinning round,
as life is changed so quickly.
A thousand people pass me by,
they could never know,
it was time for them to go,
that their lives would end this way.
Here looking down on lives split apart,
I see your face and I hear your heart.
It beats so strong even though you're gone,
and our love will last forever.
Here looking down on lives split apart,
I see your face and I hear your heart.
It beats so strong even though you're gone,
and our love will last forever."
As Marie stopped singing, she looked up at Chase. He had fallen asleep in the middle of the verse.
"I'm glad I learned that song. It sums up how I'm starting to feel about you." she whispered. "Don't ever leave me Chase. Don't ever leave." and with that, she slipped off to dreamland.