The Bride of Chase Young Chapter 16
The next two days went by quickly for Marie, her head wound healing without a hitch. On the morning of the second day she got a surprising visit from a certain redhead.
"Jack? What in blazes are you doing here?" asked Marie. Jack shuffled a foot on the floor.
"I-I uh....I need your help Marie." he murmured. "My parents are throwing a party in a few weeks and I need you to come with me." Chase, who was sitting with Marie, raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to rent my girlfriend to you for the night Spicer? Is that what you're asking?" Jack shook his head furiously.
"No! No, it's nothing like that. It's just that my parents parties are so boring and I have a plan to spice things up. The hitch is that if I do it alone, it won't work. But with Marie, I have a chance to make it work." he said quickly. Marie leaned forward, interested.
"Just what are you planning Jack?" she asked slyly. Jack wagged a finger at her.
"That is a secret." he snickered. Marie giggled.
"Okay. I'm in. As long as what were planning doesn't involve me having to twist around. My ribs are still a bit sore." she said. Jack cocked his head to the side.
"Now that's the one I'm stumped about. When I get hurt, it takes weeks for me to heal, yet you heal almost perfectly in just two days. What gives?" Marie pointed to her head.
"It's something my brain came up with. See, being beaten every other day by my mom meant a lot of healing. Eventually my brain just said "screw this slow healing BS" and sped up the process. Thus, my body heals fast."
"How useful." Jack mused.
"Yep. Hey gimme a hand here." said Marie, holding out an arm. "I need to get up and walk around for a while." Jack grabbed her hand and hefted her up. Marie leaned on him for a moment before turning to look at Chase.
"You mind if I walk with Jack? I need to talk to him about something." she asked. Chase nodded. Jack walked Marie out into the gardens carefully.
"Jack." she said finally. "This party isn't a date, right?"
"No! Jeeze, you're starting to sound like Chase." said Jack.
"Good. Now tell me the plan." And so, for the rest of the morning, they sat in the garden, outlining their scheme.
By lunch, they had a rough outline of the plan worked out. Jack walked Marie back inside the temple and back to Chase.
"See ya Tuesday Marie." he called as he flew off. "And remember, bring the stuff." Marie waved farewell to him and sat down on the mattress that served as her bed.
"What happens Tuesday?" asked Chase. Marie leaned back on her propped up pillows.
"I'm going over to the Spicer mansion to work on Jack's plan. You don't mind, do you?"
"No. I don't."
"Good. Now, I think I need to rest. All that planning made me tired." And within minutes, she was asleep.
Meanwhile in another part of the temple, Dojo was doing some heavy thinking in his Bonsai tree. Feng Young....Hadn't he heard that name somewhere before? He could swear he had. Maybe Huilang would know something. Yeah! That old jade dragon knew practically everything! He quickly sought out Master Fung.
"Hey, Fung! I got a favor to ask." he said.
"What is it Dojo?"
"I need some Jade. You got any old Jade jewelry you don't wear anymore?"
"I have an old pendant." replied Fung. "What do you need it for?"
"I'm going to see Huilang." Said Dojo. Fung nodded.
"I see. Take care."
"I will. See you in a while." Dojo quickly super sized and flew off, heading for the distant mountains where the old dragon lived. He arrived at the mouth of a large cave.
"Hello?" he called out. "Are you there Huilang?" All was silent for a moment before a soft hiss came from the cave. A gentle voice spoke in ancient Chinese.
"Who calls my name?"
"It's me Huilang. It's Dojo." he replied. The hiss became softer, as though the one hissing were pleased.
"Dojo? It's been many years since you graced your old Nai-nai with a visit. You may enter the cave." Dojo slithered into the cave slowly, Fungs' jade necklace dangling from one of his whiskers. There was a small light at the end of the cave where an ancient female dragon lay on a pile of jade trinkets. She was larger than Dojo, but age was shrinking her year by year. Her eyes, once so sharp and intensely gold, were now milky white in blindness. Her scales were coming loose and tinkled when she moved. The only way she got food anymore was because the dragons in the regions brought it to her.
"Now then my little one." said Huilang, nuzzling Dojo affectionately. "Why have you come to see me? I can tell by the fact you bring jade instead of food that you desire knowledge." Dojo placed the pendant in her claws.
"Payment for knowledge Nai-nai. Does the name Feng Young mean anything to you?" he asked. Huilangs' blind eyes widened and she hissed furiously. Dojo backed away in fear.
"Feng! Don't ever mention that hell spawned demons name in my presence again!"
"You know him?"
"Filthy traitorous scum! He betrayed me! Betrayed us all!"
"Nai-nai, what are you talking about?"
"Once, many years ago. Feng was a friend to me. To all Dragons. But then, a dark dragon came to him and offered him immortality in return for a Dragons head. Like many at the time, Feng wished for immortality."
"What is it with bad guys and immortality?" Asked Dojo. Huilang snorted grumpily. Dojo grinned apologetically. "Okay, I'll shut it."
"As I was saying, Feng wanted immortality, but he needed the head of a dragon. I was the first one he chose." Huilang bared her neck, showing a long scar running across the scales of her throat. "He almost cut straight through, but being his oldest and dearest friend, he couldn't bring himself to do it, So he took the head of another. My firstborn son and your father." Dojo looked at his grandmother, horrified of what he was hearing. He had been in the egg when his father had been killed, and his mother had never spoken of him.
"Nai-nai...I have to tell you this. He's resurfaced. And he's after a friend of mine. Her name is Marie and he's attacked her twice. But each time, she says his eyes are sad. Any ideas?" Huilang nodded and looked at her claws.
"Humans are not meant to be immortal Dojo. It is a curse to them. An unbreakable one. To dragons, it's normal. But humans can't bear it. He is more than likely seeking to end his life...but how could attacking the girl...?" her voice trailed off. Dojo shuffled his claws.
"Ummm. Did I mention that this friend of mine is engaged to Feng's son?"
"I fail to see the connection." said Huilang. Dojo told her what Marie had told him. At the end, Huilang nodded slowly.
"I see." she said. "It makes sense then. He no longer wants to live, thus he antagonizes his son. He is sad because he doesn't want to hurt the girl, but it's the only way to fully enrage Chase." Dojo nuzzled his grandmother.
"Thanks Nai-nai. I'll get you a nice big ox next time I visit." Huilang nuzzled back.
"Take care of yourself my little one." she said. "And take this for the girl." she reached around to her tail and pulled out one of her loose scales. Quickly piercing a tiny hole near the top of the scale she plucked a hair from her silver mane and threaded it through the hole. She gave the new necklace to Dojo.
"That scale will keep her safe from harm and from Feng." She said. Dojo nodded and left the cave.
"I think I'll keep this a secret from Chase and Marie." He thought as he flew back to the temple. "If Chase knew this...well, who knows what he'd do."
Back at the Cave, Huilang was arranging Dojo's gift on her pile of jade when she felt anothers' presence. A shiver ran through her scales.
"Come to finish the job Feng?" She asked. Feng didn't reply. Huilang turned her blind eyes towards him. Though she could not see Feng, she could smell and sense him enough to know where he was. Feng stepped forward and Huilang drew back, hissing menacingly.
"Get away from me Feng!" She snapped. Feng stepped forward until she was backed into the wall of the cave. She hissed furiously, but he was unfazed. Suddenly, Huilang felt arms wrap around her neck! Feng was hugging her! Huilang stiffened. Feng hadn't hugged her in over 2 thousand years, so what was his reason now? Then she felt something new...a distinct wetness. She smelled salt and realized that it was tears.
"Why do you weep Feng?" She asked, and was suprised to hear a quiver of sadness in her own voice. Feng once again did not reply. The two old friends turned enemies stood in silence for several minutes before Feng broke away. He set a slab of Jade at Huilangs' feet, bowed and left without a word. Huilang ran a paw over the slab, reading the words that were carved into the stone.
I'm sorry old friend.
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Hey guys! Sorry about the short Chapter, but I felt this was a good place to halt. Just a bit of clarification: Nai-Nai means grandmother in Mandarin Chinese. And the new dragons name Huilang means "Wise Jade Tinkling". I thought it would be fitting somehow. Til next we meet my readers.