The Balance in Love, Lies and War
(A/N: Disclaimer: I still do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters. All I own is the plot of this story, Kaida and any Shen Gong Wu I create.
Review(s):
Calistar Heir: Uh oh… shouldn't have said that…
Kaida: Nooooo! I can't kick butt! No! No! No! –Shoves fingers in ears- la la la la! I can't hear you! This is your entire fault, making me the way I am! I'm not powerful; I'm only up to-
Bad Kaida! No giving away spoilers! You almost did that with Master Fung!
–whispers- she's got issues…
Other: If I spelt anything wrong (e.g. the Shen Gong Wu etc) I apologise. Truth be told, I have no idea how to spell them, I'm only guessing from how other people have spelt them and my own assumptions. I am really sorry if I'm wrong :(
Also I think this was the hardest chapter so far to write. Basically because I had no idea what sort of Formal wear to force them into, and I wanted it to be traditional, so I had do a bit of research. Thank goodness for Wikipedia! Anyway I'm sorry if I get anything wrong, I really am. If I cause any offence, I apologise again
Also I'm sorry if Omi seems ooc again, but he must be in a bad mod or something… I don't know –sweat drop-
I'm sorry Jack, but it had to be done! –cough-freckle-face-cough-
Translations: (if these are wrong, don't hesitate to correct me)
Kimono: literally translated to "something worn", traditional Japanese garments
Haori: Hip- or thigh-length kimono coat which adds formality.
Geta: Wooden sandals worn by men and women
Kanzashi: A hair ornament, which often accompanies kimono
Obi: The Japanese equivalent of a sash or belt, which is used for a kimono or yukata)
Chapter 3:
'Meeting with the Truth'
"So what is Kaida's new marvellous power?" Omi drawled, eyes rolling as he trudged towards Raimundo, Kimiko and Kaida, Clay walking beside him. Kaida blushed nervously at his somewhat harsh words. Was she the only one to hear the resentment in his voice?
Raimundo snorted at the monk, taking his comment as an interested inquiry instead of a secret sarcastic remark.
"Bet her powers are stronger than yours! In fact, I wager two weeks of chores that she's better than you!" He and Kimiko laughed, Clay smiling slightly, Kaida blushing furiously. Omi's face contorted with anger as he replied testily,
"They are not! I do not need to prove myself to you!" His arms were crossed and his brow was furrowed, anger glinting in his black eyes. Raimundo grinned.
"Four weeks of chores says that you can't beat Kaida in a Xiaolin Showdown, you chicken?" Everyone looked at Omi, Kaida shaking slightly. Omi snorted, snatching the Star Hanabi from Kimiko's clutches, thrusting it into Kaida's, placing his own fist on it shouting,
"Kaida I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! I wager my Orb of Tornami against your Silver Sword! The challenge is to destroy more dummies than the other competitor with one attack using your Shen Gong Wu! Do you accept, Dragoness of the Zen?" Kaida shook. The look in his eyes was daring her to accept and her darker side wanted to teach the smaller monk a lesson. However her lighter side wanted to avoid conflict.
"I don't think I should do this…" She whispered, biting her lip. Omi smiled slyly and hissed,
"You do not want me to wash the floor with you and serve you a humiliating defeat? Wise choice, you'd never be able to beat me, you have no upper body strength, like most women." This had an immediate effect on Kaida.
Her eyes narrowed and the aura of darkness reappeared, surrounding her and engulfing her completely. The other monks took a step back, feeling the anger and frustration seep into their skin. Omi barely flinched, determined to prove he was the strongest.
"I accept, and I do believe I'll be the one mopping the floor with you!" Kaida hissed. The world around them churned, the ground shaking violently. The sky darkened and the two monks were separated from each other, surrounded by a ring of roughly fifty dummies. The Dragons of Wind, Fire and Earth were stood on a tile covered rock hovering above the two challengers.
"Gong Yi Tampai!" Omi shouted as he raised the Orb of Tornami above his head yelling,
"Orb of Tornami, Water!" Water crashed into his ring of dummies, like waves, knocking over about half of them, leaving them tattered and falling apart on the sodden floor. Omi grinned and shouted across to the Zen dragoness,
"Ha! Beat, beat… beat that?" His voice trailed off as both him and the other monks stared at their new Xiaolin Dragoness. She was glowing.
Black and White light surrounded her, white fire cloaking her right hand and spilling from her visible eye, black fire from her left. Engulfing her silver sword, Kaida swung the fire-covered weapon back and prepared to strike shouting,
"Silver Sword, Zen!" As soon as the blade sliced through one dummy, blasts of dark and light energy exploded in all different directions, black and white fire ricocheting off the broken dummies. There was ash, soot and a misty darkness that filled the air, making it impossible to see Kaida's half of the showdown through the haze.
When the smoke and soot and smog cleared, Kaida stood alone, fire still licking her hands gently; all of her dummies had been defeated. There was a loud crack and they all returned to the training grounds, Kaida holding the Star Hanabi, Orb of Tornami and the Silver Sword; Omi looking like he had been slapped in the face.
"I lost…" The other monks did not notice this, they were busy congratulating the winner, who looked rather dazed, tired and covered in soot.
"Girl that was amazing! With all the fire and the lights and you got me out of chores for four weeks!" Raimundo shouted, attempting to give her a hug when he looked down at her hands jumping back,
"Your hands are on fire!" He shouted and they all looked at her gloved hands. Sure enough, her right hand, holding her sword, was covered in a soft white fire, her left, holding the Star Hanabi and Orb of Tornami, covered in hazy black fire. Smiling weakly, Kaida almost laughed at their shocked expressions, explaining,
"It's just my element manifesting itself. The white fire is Light energy and the black is Dark energy, It's no big. Everyone has the power to manifest their Element, they just have to get their control over it to a certain level…" Omi looked at her shocked,
"We are not up to your level, is that what you're saying!" Clay and Kimiko bit their lips while Raimundo glared at the small monk. Kaida blushed and felt herself shrinking under Omi's hateful gaze. Quickly, she thought of an excuse to leave, stammering quietly,
"I, I have to, I have to go… shower! I have to go shower!" She started to walk away, shoving the Star Hanabi and Orb of Tornami into Kimiko's hands, trying to ignore the small monk's cold looks. Kimiko dropped the Shen Gong Wu, following hurriedly, calling out,
"I have to go too!" Raimundo and Clay looked at each other confusion, before the Brazilian shouted,
"What, you're going to shower together?" Luckily for him, the girls were already too far away to hear him. Clay looked down worriedly at Omi, who still glared in Kaida's direction though she had long since disappeared into one of the temple buildings, as he picked up his Shen Gong Wu possessively.
"You alright there lil' partner? You seemed more worked up than an angry Bronco in a Bucking Contest!" Omi scowled and ignored the cowboy, polishing his Shen Gong Wu with his sleeve.
Before anymore comments could be made, Dojo hurried out of the temple, huffing,
"Master Fung says you guys can stop training and-" He looked around, his eyes darting quickly all over the training area,
"Where are Kimiko and Kaida? Did they not train with you?" Raimundo snorted and swung the Sword of the Storm as he replied,
"Yeah but they went off to shower 'cause Kaida was covered in soot and stuff." Dojo laughed and nodded knowingly,
"So she showed you The Silver Sword right? She's got a lot of power that girl!" Raimundo raised his eyebrows slightly and Clay sniggered while Omi pretended he was not listening, scrubbing at the orb viciously.
"When Master Fung and I went to pick her up from England today she was training, and I can tell you, that girl has got serious skill!" Omi suddenly slammed the orb onto the floor, looking at the gecko-sized dragon, angrily asking,
"Is she better than us?" Dojo looked at the Xiaolin Dragon in surprise, hesitating slightly as they all listened in, wondering what his answer would be.
"I umm, well, it… err…" The gecko sized dragon replied, shrugging away from the matter, not wishing to answer.
"Anyway, Master Fung wants you ready for dinner by seven, we're having some important guests over, so its formal wear." Raimundo's nose wrinkled in disgust as Omi's eyes lit up.
"Guests? What sort of guests?" Dojo smiled craftily.
"You'll see at seven. One of you needs to tell the girls, if you're not all ready by seven, Master Fung will have your head!" Dojo laughed to himself and started to hobble away, as the male monks watched him carefully. Raimundo sighed, running a hand through his messy brown hair, stretching up toward the sky.
"I'll go tell the girls…" He said in a soft voice, walking away from the other two boys, stretching his arms and yawning, as if extremely tired.
"I'll put the Shen Gong Wu away," Clay said softly, bending down to pick up the Star Hanabi, and the Sword of the Storm that the other two had dropped while exiting. Handing Clay the Orb of Tornami, Omi started to walk away, a troubled look in his eyes, as Clay grabbed his shoulder and asked quietly,
"Are you sure you're alright lil' partner?" Omi looked up at his friend, seeing the concern and wondered what if he really was all right. He had been feeling so strange today, feeling things he hadn't felt before; or at least, if he had, not as strongly. Shaking his head slowly Omi replied,
"I am most uncertain my friend…"
The two walked off in silence, ignoring a loud, shrieking caw.
Turning around to look at herself, Kaida held the pale cream towel up against her body and shivered as she wiped away the condensation from the large mirror above the bathroom sinks. The girls shower room was tiled with hundreds of different hued blue tiles, even the floor covered in a familiar blue tone; giving Kaida a strange blue glow on her pale skin. Sighing deeply, she starred at the hand that held her towel around her body ever so shakily.
A dark, deep, black line was engraved into her hand, swirling on the upper side of it, twirling all the way up and around her arm, ending in a curl at her shoulder. The exact same line was on her other arm too. Moving away her fringe with a sigh, she revealed to the mirror another deep black line, that started at her temple and curved down to her eye, almost touching it, before deciding to move down, following her jaw line, ending roughly a centimetre under her ear. She shivered.
She had hidden these for so long, and now she was sharing them. Four years she had tried to forget about them. It hadn't worked. Turning around, her back ached in pain, but Kaida ignored it; she was used to it now. Through the steam, she saw the faint line of Kimiko and stepped over to her, holding the towel in one hand, and in the other, held her own arm, nervous.
Not saying a word, Kimiko took her arm gently, prizing it away from Kaida's grasp and was about to touch the black line, when Kaida pulled away frantically. Kimiko looked up to Kaida, whose eyes were misty, and somewhat teary.
"So they are…?" Kimiko whispered, unable to finish her inquiry.
"Scars? Yes. Tainted by dark energy. I will have them for eternity. Don't ever touch them." There was a sigh in the Zen dragoness' voice as Kimiko looked at the scars sadly.
"Do they…?" Kaida looked at her friend with starry grey eyes.
"Hurt? Yes. Everyday. But I learnt to live with it." Kimiko was silenced again, starring at the floor.
"Was it your…?" Kaida turned away, starring into the mirror, eyes filling with pain. The towel only covered part of her back, revealing the upper part, where Kaida's shoulder blades were, wisps of black hair covering them. Down her spine there was another black line, thicker, much thicker, and deeper than the others were. From what the startled Japanese girl could see, there was an ornate, black, winged, cross, carved deeply into her back. Dragging away her attention from that, Kimiko listened as Kaida whispered,
"No. It was not him… done with his hands, but not by him…" Kaida hesitated, wondering how to phrase it without revealing everything. Luckily though, there was a sudden knock on the door and Kaida spun around to face it.
"Come in!" Kimiko called as Raimundo stepped through the door, hand covering his eyes, arm flailing out in front of him wildly.
"You guys aren't naked or anything? Can I open my eyes? It's sorta hard to see…" Kimiko giggled and held his arm, turning him towards her and laughed,
"We wouldn't have let you in if we were naked!" Raimundo grinned and then continued,
"Master Fung says it's dinner at seven, and formal wear 'cause we got guests." Kimiko raised her eyebrows then grinned maniacally, looking towards Kaida as she said,
"We better get dressed up then!" Kaida half smiled, edging back into the mist, trying to avoid Raimundo's gaze. Kimiko laughed and entered a shower cubicle, pulling a blue shower curtain, the cream towel hung over the side; the sound of water crashing down echoing in the blue tiled room.
Kaida stood silently, watching more steam pour into the room, giving it a hazy, unrealistic feel. As Raimundo turned towards her, gazing into her eyes, her heart beating faster with every passing second, it all felt like a dream. As he edged towards her, almost seeming nervous, she prayed to whatever God was listening that he was too busy looking into her eyes to notice the black scars on her arms. However, soon her nervousness slipped away, giving in to the moment, her visible grey eye connecting with his greens, stepping slowly towards him. Their bodies drew closer and closer, the seconds seeming like hours, just starring into one another's eyes.
Kaida could not describe exactly what she was a feeling, a mixture between love and personal destiny. Actually, she had absolutely no idea what she was feeling; she was concentrating on one thing and one thing alone; his beautiful green eyes. His arms were wrapping around her gently, as she clutched the towel tightly with both hands, smothered in his soft embrace. Never once letting their eyes stray, Raimundo broke the silence between them, whispering,
"Hi…" She smiled softly in return, letting herself move closer and closer towards the Brazilian boy…
"Raimundo! Are you still in here! Get lost so we can shower!" Kimiko screeched as the other two teenagers jumped out of their embrace quickly, Raimundo rushing out of the room, pausing only to give Kaida a small wink and to blow her a kiss.
Rushing into her own shower cubicle, whipping off the towel and hanging it by the side, hitting the water button savagely, Kaida felt the steaming water cover her skin, the water vapour clouding her vision. Hearing a faint snicker, Kaida's thoughts were interrupted. Slowly, she peeked out from the shower curtain, her cheeks blushing furiously. Kimiko's head was also escaping the curtain, snickering quietly. Her crimson colouring brightened as Kaida asked in an enraged, yet embarrassed voice,
"What's so funny?" Kimiko gave her a big grin and snickered again, clutching the shower curtain tightly as if an attempt to stop laughing.
"Nothing Kaida. I think its soooooooooo sweet!" Kaida blushed again, closing the curtain fully, wandering back to the steaming water, which was splashing down. There were a few moments of awkward silence before Kaida stammered,
So does Raimundo have a, have a… have a…?"
"Have a what?" Kimiko asked impatiently over the sound of the water crashing down.
"Does Raimundo have a girlfriend?" Kaida blurted out, blush increasing, though there was no one there to see it. Kimiko paused for a moment, thinking, before replying,
"Not that I know of." Kaida then asked cautiously,
"You two aren't, together? He's not your man or anything? You don't have a crush…?" Kimiko laughed.
"Well about three years ago, just after Raimundo went Heylin and we saved the world from ten thousand years of darkness and junk, we went out for a couple of months but it didn't last. He was always goofing around and flirting with other girls, and I guess he didn't take it that seriously. He's never serious." Kimiko paused, Kaida looking down at the floor, disappointed.
"Then again when we're fighting evil he's serious. And when one of us is in trouble he's serious." Kimiko pouted to herself,
"He's really difficult to explain." She heard Kaida laugh softly, the water splashing against the shower cubicle walls. Smiling to herself she said in an innocent voice,
"I've never seen him quite as serious as today though…" There was a 'hmm' noise and a small giggle as Kaida whispered in reply,
"How very interesting…"
"I'm not wearing one of those again am I?" Raimundo said sulkily, standing in front of the other two boys, holding up a black and red kimono, shivering in his boxer shorts. Clay shielded Omi's eyes and answered coldly,
" 'Fraid you are, now go back in there and change. None o' us want to see you in your underwear." Raimundo grinned and posed, replying cockily,
"You sure? You gotta admit, I look so damn sexy!" Clay frowned and shook his head while Omi squealed,
"Raimundo! What is this 'sexy'? Are you referring to the video we watched! Raimundo what are you doing that is so outrageously wrong that I cannot look!" Raimundo laughed, rushing back into his 'cubicle' of a bedroom and started to change into the silk Kimono. Clay sighed and uncovered the smaller monk's eyes, his sea green sleeves draping slightly, a slightly stiff green Haori wrapped around him. Omi sat beside the green clad monk, wearing something that looked suspiciously like his monk uniform, except that the fabric shimmered like silk; looking around the room with wide eyes whispering,
"I see no scandalous images, lies!" Clay gave him a strange look and patted him on the head gently in reply. Suddenly a door slammed open and all three monks looked towards the door, Raimundo peeking out from his cubicle. Dojo looked frustrated and called angrily,
"You do realise you have two minutes to get your butts down to the Grand Hall?" Clay made a pained faced, tucked Omi under his arm, despite the smaller monk's protests, grabbed Raimundo's collar, as he tied a sash around his red and black silk kimono, and started to run towards the grand Hall, his wooden geta clicking loudly against the floor. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the temple grounds, and Clay was unsure if he could run that fast…
Huffing and puffing, the three male Xiaolin Warriors and Dojo entered the building that contained the Grand Hall. Pushing open the doors they entered a small 'waiting room' that held benches, a table and a vase of white lilies. Dojo explained they had to wait here for Master Fung and the other Xiaolin Warriors and then wait to be told they could enter.
"So what in tarnation was the point in running?" Clay asked sulkily as Dojo grinned and continued to explain that the Grand Hall was also nicknamed the Arena, as when cleared that is what it was; an Arena. Just beginning to describe the tournaments and fights that had gone down in history, which had happened in the Arena, Dojo was interrupted as the door swung open. Raimundo looked up, hoping to see the girls, when instead an unfamiliar figure stood there.
His red hair was not stuck up as much as usual, flopping down into his eyes. His skin was not deathly pale, more a creamy pale, a few light freckles painted delicately on his nose. There were no black lines under his eyes, just dark grey ones caused by lack of sleep. He no longer wore a black trench coat, and no spiral goggles covered his face. Surprisingly, he, like them, wore a kimono, made out of pale blue silk, with a red sash tied around his waist, and the sleeves draping around his wrists. His crimson eyes settled on the surprised monks as the figure smiled weakly.
"Jack? Is that you?" Raimundo asked, Clay and Omi speechless. Jack smiled and nodded, not saying a word, a sad, doleful look in his crimson eyes. He seemed like a completely different person to the one they had fought just yesterday.
"Master Fung says I'm to stay for this meeting, and then I can choose if I'm gonna stay or go." The once evil scientist said quietly, arms hanging limply at his side. There was silence as the three monks acknowledged this, wondering what he was going to do…
Suddenly the doors opened, letting in a warm April breeze, and there stood Kimiko, wearing a big smile. The others smiled at her, having already seen her in the pink kimono and yellow sash, which she was currently wearing, before. Her hair was tied up and had chopsticks sticking out of it, the Tangle Web Comb neatly woven into her hair, keeping it up. Jack gaped slightly, gulping and closing his mouth quickly. Kimiko smiled and at them and cleared her throat, declaring,
"Clay, Raimundo, Omi and Jack, I'd like to present to you, the lady of the evening, Miss Kaida Balance!" She clapped as Kaida stepped into the room, blushing slightly. Once again the males starred at her as she appeared, and once again it was because, not that she was enticingly beautiful, but because she looked so different. But perhaps different is the wrong word, for tonight, she did look beautiful.
Her black hair shone beautifully, soft pink cherry blossom stranded in the black wisps. Her white fringe still covered the left part of her face, but on the right side; a kanzashi decorated with a pale pink and golden butterfly, and trails of cherry blossom which cascaded down, sat proudly in her hair. Her eyelids were no longer covered in a pale grey, a soft pink illuminating her pale skin, her pink lips glossed with the same pale pink. The black silk top that she had worn under her monk's uniform had been replaced with a white silk one; her hands still gloved in the skin-tight fabric.
She wore a white silk kimono, fading into a light shade of pink on the sleeves, patterns sown and printed into the fabric in a darker shade of pink. Hundred of tiny cherry blossoms swirled on the kimono, with feathers falling down from her shoulders, like a waterfall cascading down a cliff. Little dragons with fairy wings fluttered on the hem, which dragged on the floor, balancing feathers on their snouts, attempting to catch butterflies in their claws. On her draping sleeves, similar small dragons were depicted, play fighting and tumbling down the sleeves, petals caught in their tiny claws, feathers brushing their fluttering wings gently. Butterflies swooped up across her chest in swirls, cherry blossom and feathers mixed into the swirls of wings. A light pink obi was tied around her, coming just under her breast, ending at her waist. It was tied into a bow at the back, the loose ends of the silk fabric dragging along the floor with the rest of her kimono.
As Kaida stepped into the room gracefully, clicking as she walked, spinning slowly to give the Warriors and Jack a view of the back of her kimono. A larger dragon, claws sunk into her shoulders, lead on her back, the smaller ones crowding around it. Small butterfly wings jutted from behind its shoulder, and its tail twirled all the way to the hem of the kimono, where two smaller dragons grabbed and played with the larger dragon's tail. Its face wore an expression of motherly care and wistful thinking, cherry blossom nestling on its body.
As they all soaked in all the details of the beautiful garment she was wearing, Kaida bowed towards them, holding a fan over her face, hiding her little smile. The fan, like the kimono, was a work of art, a small butterfly dragon yawning, stretching its pale pink tail across the fan, and lying on pale green grass. Clay was first to break the stunned silence.
"I must say Kaida, you look mighty fine tonight!" He tipped his hat to her, the strange attire clashing with his kimono. Omi nodded in reply, observing the dragons on her kimono carefully, too absorbed in them to notice much else. Raimundo strode forward, legs shaking and blush reddening with each passing second, taking her hand gently and kissing it once again, whispering,
"You look beautiful…"
Kimiko smiled smugly as she fanned herself slowly, watching Kaida blush fiercely as Raimundo held out his arm for her to take. There was a tap on Kimiko's shoulder. Turning around she gasped. Jack looked nervous, holding a white lily shakily. Hesitantly, Jack carefully slipped the white lily behind Kimiko's ear, kissing her cheek, softly whispering,
"While I'm here and slightly more confident that you won't hit me, I'd like to say I think you're beautiful, more so tonight." Jack blushed and looked away, sleeves of his kimono swinging as he rubbed the back of his neck. Kimiko immediately had her fan up to her face, hiding her smile and blush, nodding her head in thanks. Looking at the floor she heard a strange voice whisper in her mind,
'Go on admit it.' Growling to herself Kimiko hissed back,
'Admit what?' There was a soft chuckle and Kimiko felt like smiling again. Whoever was speaking to her, their laugh was infectious.
'You enjoyed that.' Kimiko blushed furiously, seeing Jack look at her out of the corner of her eye.
'I did not, bog off!' There was another chuckle.
'There are two things you need to remember Kimiko, first being, not everything dark is evil, and you shall see Jack Spicer is not evil at all. Secondly, I know everything you're feeling, so you cannot lie to me.' Kimiko blushed harder and would've argued back but the doors to the arena swung open and their master appeared wearing a dark blue and white kimono. Master Fung nodded to them, as he disappeared into the shadowy depths of the arena, and they followed him in silent anticipation.
There was nothing but shadows, the only thing lit up a table in the middle, where Master Fung directed them to sit; Jack sat at one end, followed by Kimiko, Kaida, Raimundo and Clay, with Omi sat at the other end. There was silence. Suddenly there was a voice, as one by one, tables that surrounded the Xiaolin Warrior's aligned in a straight horseshoe sort of shape, lit up, revealing tables of people; speaking loudly in a clear and honest voice,
"Xiaolin Warriors and Jack Spicer; Welcome to the Meeting of Truth."