The Balance in Love, Lies, and War
A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own 'Xiaolin Showdown', it's characters, objects or scenarios, just my story and characters.
Reviews: Adorabella: You don't like him now, trust me, later in the story, your opinion of him will change completely. And I don't mean that in exactly a good way ;)
Other: I'm beginning to doubt my decision of making Chase Young the bad guy in this story. I mean later in the story something very dramatic happens, and I am very sure I'll have at least one person saying 'But Chase Young wouldn't do that!' Well I can't really say much without giving too much away but if you've read this, then you will realise that the Chase Young in this Fic has slight differences to the Chase Young in real life. And my version of Chase Young would totally do that, so ha!
Kaida: Ha!
This one doesn't have as much talking as I expected. I had to cut off some of the end part though, and that'll go into the next chapter. That brings me to another thing. Are my chapter long enough? Too short, too long? Feed back please! They're roughly about 10/11 pages in Word on size twelve font, but are that all right for you readers? Any suggestions or comment will be much appreciated!
Chapter 6
'Fearing in the Dark'
"Thank God that's over…" Chase Young sighed as he entered the warm room, a large fire crackling quietly. Leaning against the wall, head in his gloved hands, he sank to the floor. A large tiger approached him and nuzzled at his head, in a primitive form of comfort. It was all that was needed to make the villain smile. Stroking its furry head, a slight smile playing across his lips, Chase Young barely noticed the silhouette step out of the fire.
"Miss Balance? Whatever happened to 'My Princess'? You went soft on her didn't you?" His demonic voice was angry, though it was a contained anger, struggling to get out. Chase Young shrugged and did not even look at the silhouette, concerning himself with scratching behind the tiger's ears. Quietly, Chase Young replied,
"I did not want to hurt her anymore." The silhouette growled, the fire expanding, crackling louder. Chase ignored this, determined to keep focussed on the tiger, blocking out the demonic voice.
"Hurt her? You slammed her into the floor twice and the wall once! You'd already hurt her, why stop then?" Chase Young looked at him, his eyes filled with the reflection of a fire, brown flecks appearing in the once illuminating orange. One hand remained scratching the tiger's ears, while the other clenched into an angry fist.
"I don't want to hurt her anymore! How will she ever love me if I continue to hurt her so!" There was quiet for a moment, the only sounds the rugged purr of the beast and the crackle of the flames. Then the silhouette laughed. A cold, mocking laugh.
"Love you? Since when has that mattered? She doesn't need to love you, just obey you and live by your side!" Chase Young stood up, the large cat jumping back slightly. His fists were clenched tightly, and his eyes were filled with anger.
"How can you say that! If she doesn't love me, then I cannot force her to be with me! It is not right! I've done many wrong things in these years, but it ends now!" The silhouette stopped laughing. Clutching the gem imbedded into his chest, a dark aura coated the room, the tiger fleeing. Voice more powerful and demonic than before, the Demon King said slowly.
"You love Kaida Balance. She would be a useful possession to have by your side. It doesn't matter how you have to do it, but you must have her." Chase Young's fists collapsed by his sides, the brown flecks in his eyes disappearing softly.
"I love Kaida Balance…" His voice was emotionless, and his eyes were filled with that same vacancy that filled his voice. The Silhouette growled, clutching the gem tightly repeating his words, his voice stronger, and the aura of darkness choking the room.
"You love Kaida Balance. She would be a useful possession to have by your side. It doesn't matter how you have to do it, but you must have her." Chase Young looked at the demon in disgust, brushing invisible dust off his armour.
"I know that already Athanasius, there is no need to keep reminding me. I must do whatever I can to possess her, and I shall. Please, leave me so I can meditate." He sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes, rising a few inches in the air as he did so.
Athanasius smiled craftily before looking down at the gem. It was pale blue in colour, shaped like a diamond, embedded into his skin. Inside the gem there were white lights, buzzing around furiously, making an unnatural humming noise, whispering words that could not be heard. The white lights were thrusting themselves against the gem, as if attempting to escape their prison. Athanasius growled and clutched the gem tightly, the lights and the humming dying down. Stepping into the fire, he scowled before hissing to himself,
'I'm not letting you go yet Chase Young…'
"Kaida, wait! What're you doing?" Raimundo called out, skidding into the sleeping quarters, watching Kaida shove all of her belongings into a bag. The black haired girl turned towards him, tears clouding her one visible eye,
"I can't stay here, I should've just stayed in England, now Chase Young will use you against me!" Raimundo cocked his head, kneeling down beside her, placing his hand on top of her gloved ones replying,
"Use us against you? He can't be that obsessed with you." Kaida moved her hand away, tears dripping onto her clothes.
"He is though, you don't understand! I've seen what he could do and, It isn't fair on you to have my responsibility, and it's my entire fault, and, and-" Her panic stricken voice was interrupted by a large sob, her shoulders shaking. Raimundo frowned. He then stood up, turning Kaida to face him.
"Fine. Run away. I won't stop you. But if you run away, your problems aren't going to run away. The Kaida before you ran away, and now because of that, we're less prepared than we should've been. Running away won't solve this, think about it. If you run away, you have to face him alone, but if you stay, all of us will help you." Kaida sniffed and wiped away her tears retorting,
"But it's not fair on you! This is my battle, not yours. I should face him, alone. I shouldn't have to drag any of you into this." Raimundo shook his head.
"Girl, Chase Young is evil! As Xiaolin Dragons in training, it's our duty to stop evil. We work as a team, and we couldn't fight him if you ran away, 'cause then one of our team would be missing. Last I checked you were a Xiaolin Dragon, and part of our team." Kaida sniffed again, flicking a strand of hair out of her teary eye.
"It's not fair on you though, this is my battle not yours!" Raimundo snorted and leant against the wall facing Kaida.
"I've already said, this isn't your battle; it's our battle. And it isn't fair on you if you take Chase Young on alone." Kaida half smiled and stood, directly facing Raimundo, yet never directly looking into his eyes.
"I'm supposed to be this special warrior everyone's been waiting so long for, really powerful and amazing and all this junk. But I'm weak, I'm, afraid… terrified of him. I know what he can do, and I know he's capable of so much more, and it scares me. He's screwed me up, he's screwed my family up, and every day I fear he'll find a new way to screw everything up. I go to sleep afraid, wake up afraid, spending every moment of my life being afraid. Afraid of the day he'll decide that the people I love are in his way, and he kills them, or screws them up too. I'm afraid he'll-" She never finished her sentence because Raimundo interrupted her by pressing his lips onto hers; kissing her.
Moments later, Raimundo withdrew, wiping away Kaida's tears, holding her face gently. His hands cupped her cheeks, and his fingers brushed against something underneath her fringe that made his spine shiver in fright. She pulled away slowly and smiled at him, thanking him silently. He took her hand gently and winked.
"And you know we would've just followed you anyway." Kaida managed a small giggle, as Raimundo said quietly,
"C'mon, lets go before Kimiko accuses me of dragging you into a broom closet and making out or something" They were both quiet for a minute, and then simultaneously burst out laughing. Pulling away from Raimundo, racing off into the small bathroom connected to the Sleeping quarters, Kaida called,
"Just let me clean my face up!" She closed the door behind her, without waiting for a reply and stood in front of the sink, starring into her reflection.
Her face was tear stained, mascara and eyeliner smudging, black lines running down her cheeks. Dried blood dribbled down her chin, and there was dust everywhere. Turning on the taps and scooping her water into her hands, she splashed the cool liquid on her face. She looked back at her reflection and grinned.
'Raimundo just kissed me…' She gasped and thrust her fist into her mouth to stop herself from squealing with joy. Wiping away the black lines she heard the Zen say,
'Maybe today won't be so bad after all…'
Raimundo stood patiently waiting for Kaida to return, smiling to himself.
'I just kissed Kaida…' Interrupting his thoughts, Kaida opened the door, blood and tear stains gone, smiling, linking her hand with his again. He smiled back and they both started to walk out of the room, when Kaida stopped. She stopped so abruptly that Raimundo instantly stumbled back, Kaida quickly pulling him into a tight hug, nestling her head in his chest, whispering,
"Thank you…" He wrapped one arm around her waist, the other stroking her soft black hair, smelling the flowery scent, whispering in reply,
"Anytime girl, anytime."
"Finally you guys, what were you doing, making out in a broom cupboard?" Kimiko asked as Raimundo and Kaida walked in, hand in hand. Raimundo grinned and turned to Kaida, muttering,
"Told you she'd accuse me of that." Kaida smiled and approached the three monks and Jack Spicer, who were all sat in the middle of the training area.
"I'm sorry for running off you guys, it's just, well…" her voice trailed off, wondering how she could describe it. Clay smiled and put his hand on her shoulder gently,
"It's alright lil' lady, we get the picture." They all smiled at her understandingly, Omi continuing,
"That man gives you the crooks!" They all looked at him, Kimiko laughing.
"I think he means the creeps…" Omi grinned and exclaimed,
"That too!" Jack shivered before commenting,
"I think he gave all of us the creeps…" There was an uneasy silence as they all nodded, the warm April breeze playing with their hair gently. Silently, they all agreed that Chase Young, their newest rival, was, so far, the most disturbing of all of their rivals. One moment he seemed calm and cool, only to suddenly slam you into a wall and go creepy at random interludes.
"It is ready, young Warriors. You may follow me now." Master Fung called out, surprising them all. Getting up slowly, the three monks and Jack followed Master Fung nervously, Raimundo and Kaida tagging along behind them, bewildered.
"What's ready?" Kaida whispered, leaning towards Kimiko, who walked in front of her. Kimiko shrugged replying,
"No idea, some new obstacle course or something, he hasn't told us much. And just so you know, you can stop holding hands now." Kimiko turned around, sniggering to herself as Kaida and Raimundo blushed, letting each others hands go quickly, smiling bashfully at each other.
Kimiko sighed, and walked quicker, catching up to Jack, who walked alone. They walked in silence for a while; Jack lost in thought, before Kimiko blurted out,
"Those two are just so…" She hesitated thinking of the right word to describe her two friends, who lagged behind the rest of them. Jack finished her sentence by saying,
"Obvious?" Kimiko looked at him before nodding slowly, watching the self proclaimed 'evil boy genius' shove his hands in the pockets of his leather coat, which Master Fung had, surprisingly, not asked him to remove, and look up to the sky. He smiled, turning his head towards her.
"Strange isn't it. Just two days ago you were calling me a 'Stupid Jerk' and a 'Smelly Monkey', and now we're just, walking, side by side, no insults, no arguments. It's strange." Kimiko smiled, laughing quietly.
"I guess things, change." She blushed slightly and turned away, not noticing him look at her out of the corner of his eye, smiling softly.
"Yeah, I guess they do…" Neither of them talked, almost enjoying the silence between them. It wasn't an awkward silence, or a hesitant silence, just silence, enjoying the peacefulness between them.
"So what do you think the new course will be like?" Kimiko blurted out, dismissing the silence, her cheeks tinged with pink. The evil glint returned to crimson eyes as Jack exclaimed,
"I bet it's real high tech, all laser beams and pressure pads and metallic robots and swooshing doors and, and…" His jaw hung low, as his eyes widened.
"Welcome to your new obstacle course monks." They had reached a large clearing, rectangular in shape. In the corner nearest them, there was a cavern, sinking into the ground, and in the other corner there was a large hole in the ground; and that was it. Kimiko sniggered, nudging Jack in the side,
"Yeah, real high tech, dork." Jack glared at her, and then pouted, crossing his arms. Master Fung smiled at them, retrieving a flat metallic square, from apparently nowhere, and continued.
"The obstacle is machine operated, it will time you, measure how many times you use your elemental powers and the course will change once everyone has completed it once." Jack stuck his tongue out childishly, nudging Kimiko with his elbows, replying,
"Yeah, real high tech." Kimiko growled while Master Fung asked them, an impish twinkle in those cool blue eyes,
"Now which one of you would like to go first?" There was an uneasy silence, as they all stepped away from the cavern's entrance. Kimiko sniggered quietly to herself, snatching Jack's hand and thrusting it into the air, pushing him forward. Jack growled and turned towards Kimiko who looked around innocently as Master Fung asked,
"Jack? You are not participating in this exercise, though it is admirable that you want to join in." Jack stuck his tongue out a Kimiko, who scowled, walking over to a patch of grass, with a large Ash tree, sitting himself down beside it.
"But since you seem so eager, Kimiko would you like to-"
"I'll do it." Interrupted Kaida, her eyes flaring with determination, a grin spread across her face. Master Fung nodded, motioning towards the controller, about to explain something, when Clay interrupted,
"Mater Fung, may I speak with you, privately?" Master Fung simply nodded, as the other Warriors looked mildly surprised, handing Kimiko the controller.
"Kimiko you shall hold the controller until it is your turn to take the course. Enter the person's name and it will record the time, and the amount of power they use on each area of the course." Kimiko nodded and looked at the controller screen.
"But how will we know whether they're using powers or not? " Master Fung pointed to a small number line, an arrow hovering above the zero.
"The average person gives out about thirty on this scale. Anything between thirty and forty is normal and means they're not using powers. Anything between forty and fifty means they're subconsciously using they're powers, and only a minor amount of powers. Anything above fifty and they're cheating. If it gets below thirty, press the red button." Kimiko smiled and nodded, typing in Kaida's name as Master Fung and Clay walked off. She patted Kaida on the shoulder and gave her a gentle push towards the entrance.
"Good Luck Kai!" Kaida smiled at her with a grin plastered across her face, standing half in the shadowy cave and half in the bright sunlight.
"I haven't been called that in a long time…" and with that she disappeared into darkness.
Kaida could see nothing. Not even her own hand in front of her face. She stepped carefully, not moving until her foot had connected with the next step. There was no light, the pale glimmer of the outside world long gone. Her hands were pressed against the walls, which felt strangely metallic, yet they scraped her skin like rugged stone. It was cold, with a damp feeling in the air, and chills ran down Kaida's spine. She hated the darkness.
'Why Fear something you wield?" Kaida shrieked and stumbled forward, almost falling, before forcing her hands against the wall, breathing heavily. Growling to herself Kaida thought angrily,
'Don't do that Zen! It's creepy enough down here without having you pop into my thoughts! And I'm not afraid of the Dark!' The Zen laughed airily, making Kaida grumble quietly, trying to concentrate on walking down the seemingly never-ending staircase.
'Then why are you shivering? Why are you desperately trying to find light? Why do you hate it so if you are not fearful of it?' Kaida snorted and replied coldly, scowl painted on her lips,
'Do you have to fear something you hate? Just because you hate something, doesn't mean you fear it.' The Zen nodded silently, contemplating, thinking. She then whispered,
'Is it because he's in the shadows? Watching, Waiting, an ever present reminder of him and his deeds.' Kaida's scowl deepened as she nodded. Suddenly, she tripped over the last stair, and fell flat on her face. There was a 'swoosh' noise as metal cut through the air, centimetres away from Kaida's head. The Zen laughed uncertainly and said,
'Perhaps I should leave you to it…' Kaida rolled her eyes and edged away from the swooshing sound, getting up slowly. The blade sounded heavy, but thin, slicing through the air easily.
'Swinging axes? So cliché…' She thought as she stepped closer toward the 'swoosh'Gasping, metal flew past her face, this time, millimetres away.
'Then again, cliché can be effective…' She stepped back again, swaying in time with the swinging axe, listening to its rhythm. Suddenly, she jumped, and stood still. Expecting an axe in front of her, she stood still for a moment. The only movement was behind her. She sighed a sigh of relief, and carried on walking, placing her steps carefully on the ground, silently.
Slipping, no longer standing on the ground but a thin circle of something swaying precariously, Kaida cried out. Falling, she reached out for something and held onto it. A tube, ending in a circle at the top. It started to sway, as Kaida lifted herself up, balancing on the swaying tube, which seemed to be made of some kind of wood; bamboo presumably. Lifting her foot slowly, she found the next tube, and stepped on it, finding the next one, and continuing the pattern. After a while she got into the rhythm, finding the tubes easily, and balancing from one to another quickly.
There was the hiss of metal, and Kaida jumped quickly, almost loosing her balance. There it was again, the hiss of metal cutting the air; she had to jump again, almost missing the bamboo tube, wobbling. Heart racing, she jumped, but only just in time, the metal catching on her robes. Gasping she jumped again, and stumbled as her feet landed solidly on hard stone. Breathing in deeply for a few moments she carried on travelling, hoping this would end soon. She was sick of the darkness.
There was a flicker of orange, yellow and red in the distance, painting the dark stone walls with dancing shadows and colours. Kaida gasped, light. She ran forwards, not thinking first, her desperate desire to see light overriding her instinct to be cautious. It was a small candle, wax dribbling down the sides, golden patterns shimmering up its sides. She cupped her gloved hands around the flame, feeling the light and its warmth. Sighing, she couldn't help a smile, feeling whole.
There was another flicker to the side of her, and Kaida stepped back, watching a line of flames light up the floor. Soon was trapped by a circle of small candles. Behind the ring was a door, but then it disappeared. Kaida rubbed her eyes and turned, the door was to the left. Blinking, it was gone again. The door kept moving! Kaida growled to herself, fire starting to edge inwards from the ring towards her, door changing places every few second. She would be trapped in minutes unless she could get through the door.
Watching it silently, sweating from the heat of the fire, she noticed the door went in a pattern. Middle, left, right, middle, right, left, right and then again, repeating over and over again. And for some reason, her instincts told her she had to go through the door when it was in the right. Waiting, she inched ever closer to the flames, waiting for the perfect moment. It came and Kaida threw herself to where the door would be, if she timed everything right. She crashed through the door, leaving behind the warmth of fire and the soft touch of light. She landed on the ground, scraping her face on the cold stone. Shivering, she got up, looking around.
A faint blue light highlighted area of the cold grey stone. Shivering, her breath was a wisp of smoke that curled in front of her before disappearing in the air. She shivered again. It was cold, the stone below her, cold, the air she breathed in, cold; and now her body, cold. She seemed to be stood on a ledge, the door she crashed through, a heap of wood, and the faint glimmer of orange light rapidly disappearing. She walked over to the ledge, taking slow and cautious steps until she reached the edge of the ledge. Peering over, she gasped.
Inky black water was still beneath her. In shimmered slightly in the pale blue light, but the shadows claimed its depths, Kaida was unable to see anything below its hazy blue surface. She gulped and looked up again, unable to shake the feeling of something else's presence. There were vines dangling from the shadowy ceiling of the cave, a speck of light in the far distance, and Kaida knew what she had to do.
Taking another step back, she ran to the edge and jumped, taking hold of the first vine. Swinging, heart pounding in her chest, Kaida dared not look down as she grasped the next vine. Taking deep breaths, she tried her hardest to force her gaze forwards, unable to look downwards in fear that, something, was down there. Her heart began to pound faster as she speeded up, getting closer and closer to the exit; it was almost over. Suddenly there was a bubbling noise below her, as if something below her was warning her. Looking down, she saw inky black bubbles hover along the surface before popping silently. Hands shaking, she carried on, heart pumping faster and faster, unable to tear her gaze away from the inky black lake.
It didn't even look like water, the darkness looking sludgy, like oil. She could just imagine her fingers pushing through it, sinking slowly, strokes doing nothing, lungs gasping for air, chest bursting. She could imagine the creature, or whatever it was, pulling her through the darkness, nothing but black, its grip tearing through her sides. She could feel the oily liquid make her gasp, slipping down her throat, choking her…
Distracted, her grasp slipped, letting go of the vine. Screaming a blood-curdling scream Kaida fell, shutting her eyes, certain that this was the end, praying to anyone, anything that was listening that she wouldn't die this way. A jet of the black shadows sprouted from the lake, like an enormous fountain, forcing her to stop falling, propelling her through the air.
Smashing into the stone, Kaida coughed, gasping for a breath. Rolling onto her back, she wiped away her tears fiercely, catching her breath. She had freaked and used her powers. Sitting up slowly, heart regaining its normal pace, thudding loudly in her chest, she looked over the black lake cautiously. Silence, nothing moved the water. Then, a ripple stole the surface's silence. Kaida shivered. There was something down there, but that didn't matter now.
Getting up slowly, she walked towards the light, glad to be leaving this place. Blinking, she squinted, looking up. Far above her was a circle of light that illuminated the large hole she was stood in. Hundreds of beams had been forced through the mud and stone walls, creating a twisted climbing frame. Smiling to herself, stretching her arms, fingers cracking slightly, she grasped the first beam and swung herself up. Jumping quickly and easily upwards, Kaida would leave this stupid obstacle course in moments, evading another beam while jumping to the side, landing on another one.
Appearing in the side of the wall, a gap opened up, a gust of air blasting Kaida, pushing her backwards, her body crashing into a stone wall, falling down to a beam below. Scowling she jumped to a different beam and continued her ascent. After moments, there was the hiss of metal opening and Kaida jumped as another gust of air blasted where she had just been standing. She continued this, evading blasts of air, her back sore from the first gust that had blasted her into the wall. Looking down, Kaida smiled, she was almost out, hundreds of beams below her. There was a hiss of metal again, but it was louder. Gulping, Kaida looked down again.
Through the forest of wooden beams she saw the floor open to reveal an enormous fan-like machine. Gasping, Kaida frantically jumped upwards, trying with her might to leave the beams and leave before the fan started up. She only had one more beam to go, she could make it, she could make it…
Blasted by a massive current of air, Kaida shrieked as once again she was propelled through the air, though this time it was upwards. Falling quickly she landed with a thump, rolling on the grass. Panting for breath, Kaida opened her eyes to the Xiaolin warriors stood above her looking down, worried and happy expressions on their faces.
"Eleven minutes and forty seven seconds, not bad Kaida! Though you cheated on section four, bad girl!" Kimiko said brightly, laughing, helping her friend up. Kaida half smiled. Eleven minutes, it had felt a lot longer.
"So Kaida, is it hard?" Raimundo asked, slightly nervous. Kaida looked rough, dust, burns, scrapes covered her clothing, inky black goo covering her behind. Her gloves were a little worse for wear the palms and fingertips worn away and scratched. Kaida looked at him then laughed; walking over to the red haired teen sat quietly by the ash tree.
Flopping to the floor, Kaida took in deep breaths of air, closing her eyes. She could hear Raimundo's protests as Kimiko pushed him into the cave, giggling, Omi smiling brightly; excited for a chance to prove his skill.
"Wow! Awesome sword! Can I have a look?" Kaida opened one eye to see Jack leaning around the tree, sitting closer, eyes wide. She looked down and saw that indeed, she did have her sword, sheathed in black leather. The weight was so familiar to her now she barely noticed it. Unsheathing it, smiling at Jack she replied,
"Sure, you can even hold it, if you can lift it." She handed it to him and he stuck his tongue out retorting,
"I am not that weak, I can hold a sword like this easi-" Before he finished his sentence he had grasped the sword, taking it from Kaida, immediately falling to the ground, unable to take the sword's weight. He tried lifting, straining before whining,
"That's not fair, I am not that weak!" Kaida smiled taking it from him, lifting it with ease.
"Only the Zen dragoness or someone with the four elements inside of them can lift this sword." Jack looked confused for a moment before asking,
"Then how did that Grand Master Dashi guy make it if he couldn't lift it?" Kaida shrugged, smiling mysteriously, Jack knowing instantly that she wasn't telling him everything.
"We haven't really been properly introduced, I'm Kaida Balance." Kaida stuck out her hand and Jack took it, shaking it.
"Jack Spicer, evil boy genius! Though, I guess I'm not really evil anymore, just a genius. I'm sure you've heard of me before." He grinned as Kaida smiled and let go of his hand.
"Actually I have." Jack looked shocked unable to reply, while Kaida giggled to herself.
'This is going to be a very interesting conversation…'