The Balance in Love, Lies and War

The Balance in Love, Lies and War.

Chapter 15:

'Reaching out for Help'

"Don't say a word." He whispered, his scales sliding silently across the floor. She squeaked in fright as his claws dug into her cheek. Her armour did not make a sound as she shivered. "I'm going to take you away. Put out your flame. What do you plan to do about it?" There was a slight hiss of swords being released from their sheaths. She swung back gracefully, aiming for the reptile's neck, but he was expecting an attack. With a clang, the swords dropped to the floor, broken. There was a muffled shriek. "For your new weapon to be gained you must first lose your other one." And with that they were gone.

"Don't just stand there, maul him!" Jack shrieked, beaten to the ground. Kaida pounced on the monster just as it lunged again, green ooze pouring from it's wounds. Spitting out the vile liquid Kaida nudged the beaten boy with her head, hissing slightly as she did so.

"Start fighting Spicer, I can't win all your battles. You said you could do this, start proving it." Before she had a chance to stalk away Jack sighed and buried his head in his gauntlet-covered hands.

"This isn't right, Kimiko needs to be here, I can't fight without her!" Kaida hung her head, tail flicking to and fro. Slowly, she rubbed her head against his shoulder, purring slightly.

"We have to carry on Jack. For her." All Jack could do was nod.

Snarling; that's all he could hear. It was no elemental monster, but a reptilian growl, a voice that he knew so well. The little water monk shook.

"Fight me, or I'll poison your waters, bleed them dry." Shaking, the monk swung his staff backwards, aiming for the neck of the beast, but to no avail. With the crack of wood his staff lay shattered on the floor. "Your new weapon will not break so easily." And with that, Omi and beast had gone, nothing left but splinters.

"Where's Omi?" Kaida screamed, voice barely audible over the smashing and explosions. Clay held back the monster for a few more seconds before smashing it with a roar; rocks encircling his fists, which glowed with a dark green aura.

"I dunno, he jus' disappeared! We're being swamped Kai, what're we gonna do?" Kaida shook her head, fighting off more monsters, avoiding the boulders exploding around her. Her eyes were wide.

"I don't know." She whispered. Clay felt his heart drop.

The beast caught this one easily. Ignoring the muffled shrieks, the beast ran his free hand absent-mindedly through the vibrant red hair.

"You're the outcast. You don't have an element like the others. Yet you still have the armour, the weapon. Most peculiar. Think about it little smith…" The boy wriggled in his grip, eyes wide beneath his goggles. "Ah well…" There was another muffled shriek and in moments they were gone. A sword lay on the floor shattered and alone.

"Jack?" He was not there, just his broken sword. Standing upright, into her human form, Kaida looked around. They were being picked off, one by one. Shivers were sent through her spine. Who would be next? Her heart stopped.

'Raimundo…'

"Get away from me!" Even though he sprinted, the beast was quicker. His arms wrapped around the boy in moments, crushing his lungs.

"What are you going to do now little breeze? How can you fight against a mountain?" There was a muffled yell and the sound of metal clashing against reptilian scales resounded in the gorge. The elemental monsters were frozen, unmoving. "Oh little breeze, you're mine now…"

The monsters came to slowly, and all they found of the Wind Xiaolin Monk was his fractured sword.

"Raimundo! Where are you? Raimundo!" Her legs wouldn't run any faster, her lungs burned; heart beating faster and faster and faster. "Raimundo!" Faster, she had to be faster, had to find him, had to save him, she still had too much to say to him. "Raimundo!" Faster, the thumping sound of her heart the only sound she could hear, beating faster and faster. She was a blur, galloping, storming along; she had to find him, had to be faster. "Raimundo!" Nothing else mattered, not the screaming of her lungs, the screaming of her legs, the screaming of the Zen, the monsters, the nothing; nothing else mattered; she just had to be faster, she had to run.

Stop. Skidding, her heart stopped. Her feet stopped. Her head stopped. Her legs stopped. Her lungs stopped. She stopped. The shards of the Sword of the Storm were scattered on the floor. Footprints in the mud were old. She was too late. She hadn't been fast enough.

"Dojo, what're ya' doing? Dojo…?" Clay whispered his back against the wall. He felt the Earth beneath his fingers. He took in a deep breath.

"You weren't fighting with this," the beast hissed, pulling out the battered boomerang Clay had brought with him, "You were fighting with these." Ripping his hands from the wall, the beast held Clay's hands as he struggled. "For your new weapon to be gained, your old one must be broken." With the crack of bones, they were gone; not a trace left.

Kaida was panicking now. She had searched everywhere; there was no one left. She was all alone. Breathing heavily, she hid in a rocky alcove; she had no idea what to do.

'We must stay calm child, we need to devise an attack that will wipe them out…' The Zen was silent in thought, Kaida peering out at the gorge. '… We need Atra…' Kaida turned her head slightly.

'Who?' The Zen smiled.

'Trust me.'

"Where… Am I?" Kimiko whispered. A temple of burning fire and red rock stood in front of her, almost proudly.

'Your dreams…' Kimiko looked around. There was no where else to go. The fire flared spitefully, the entrance to the temple hidden by ruby flames.

"I can't go in there! I'll burn!" Kimiko exclaimed, turning her head desperately; the sky streaked with blood. The path beneath her feet began to crumble and she clutched onto a rock desperately, seeking help.

'But you must young one.' The warrior took a deep breath. And she ran into the flames. The kiss of fire burned her skin with such a delicate touch it was hardly believable. 'It's just a dream…' Kimiko was stood in a circle. Around her were pillars carved with dragons and flames and shimmering burns and glowing eyes. Like a forest fire, the heat was intensive. Her eyes nearly watered but she carried on. In the middle a pedestal stood high and mighty, looking down on her with a critical eye.

"Are you courageous enough to continue, little flame?" The voice echoed throughout the fiery room and Kimiko took a step closer.

"I am." The fire flared up and there was a booming laugh.

"Aren't you afraid?" Kimiko held her chin up high.

"Yes. But I must continue. So I shall." The fire died down, the room dimming, the eye glowing.

"Then you shall receive your gift, my little flame." The fire flared up again; flames white hot, before everything went black.

'Well done Kimiko…'

"What do I have to do?" Kaida whispered. The Zen arched her back, stretching her limbs with a dangerous look in her eye.

'Use the Kaida's tear and picture me, I shall do the rest.' Kaida nodded and did as she had been told, picturing her spirit. Slowly, she felt the trickle of freedom as she slowly melted back into her mind. The Zen took over gently, but Kaida felt the pull of something else, something stronger. With a sickening crack, the world split in two.

Catapulted into her mind, Kaida crash-landed into the Cherry Tree, which snapped with an explosion of blossom and bark. Shocked, she clambered up shakily, brushing off her armour with quivering hands.

"Zen? What happened?" Everything felt strange, something was wrong… different…

"Hello Kaida." Turning, the Xiaolin Warrior's mouth dropped.

"Who are you?" She demanded, energy beginning to glow around her fists. The woman just smiled. Stepping closer, her dark skin contrasted with her bright white curls and robe; her smile was contagious.

"I am Aduro, spirit of Light. And you, Kaida, are the only one to have ever successfully split apart my sister and I."

"This is most strange…" Omi whispered. Water was falling from all different angles, rivers splashing in currents along the sky, the path he stood on covered in mist. "Where could this strange place be?"

'In your dreams…' Omi looked around. In front of him stood the Water. His scales shimmered in a thousand different shades of blue and green, but something was different. He still had a crest on his snout, and still had sharp curving horns. He still had a fin at the top of his head, and under his chin; his scales still sparkled with a thousand different shades of blue and green. However his neck was longer, thinner; his back legs replaced with fins, shaping him much more like a Plesiosaur than a dragon. He dragged him self slowly into a floating river and looked back at the monk.

'Are you loyal enough to follow?' And with that, he swam downstream. Jumping in after him, Omi could not feel the chill of the water, just the feel of it trickling between his fingers.

"What's happened to you my friend?" Omi called out, swimming faster and faster as the current sped up. The Water did not answer and the skies around them flashed with thousands of different colours, and the shriek of explosions echoing throughout the shaking world.

'You can turn back if you're scared.' Omi's face hardened as the current sped on and on.

"I will not leave you!" He swam faster in a desperate attempt to catch up with the dragon, arms searing with energy. Suddenly it all stopped and they were both floating, far, far away form the ground.

'We are both changing Little one. We can win this war. Your loyalty is greatly appreciated. Thank you.' Slowly, everything went black for the little monk.

"W-what?" Kaida whispered, eyes wide with shock, the world spinning around her.

"Ha ha! Of course you haven't!" Aduro called mockingly, reappearing behind Kaida's shoulders, grinning wildly, "No one's powerful enough the break Athanasius' spell!" Kaida shook her head slowly.

"Don't say things like that…" Aduro snorted, her brow creasing.

"You are a bit of a misery guts aren't you?" blowing a perfect white curl out of her face, Aduro continued. "You must get your miserable side from her…" Kaida swayed slightly, reaching out for Aduro's shoulder to lean on.

"Who… who are we talking about?" Her head spun and the world blurred in front of her; everything slowly slipped out of focus. Aduro's eyes suddenly filled with concern as she helped the teenager up.

"You probably feel awful, don't worry about it for now." She sat the dazed girl down, fussing over her messy hair. "Now I know you probably have lots of questions," Aduro faltered slightly, "Or you would normally, but how about we sit back and watch the show?"

"Show...?" Aduro grinned.

"She likes to show off."

Jack didn't know where he was. His vision was fuzzy, everything blurring into everything else. His head hurt. Where was Kimiko? The truth smashed like glass inside his mind. Kimiko had been taken! So had he! Twisting his head around madly, his eyes flickered over the surrounding landscape. Barren, dead. Jack shivered. Why was no one with him? There was nothing but silence to accompany him.

"Well… I can't sit here all day I guess…" Getting up slowly, he stretched his aching muscles. The silence was unnerving. "Where to go…?" He looked around again, spying a path in the distance. "Well… It's a start…" He said to himself shrugging. Walking briskly, his eyes continued to scan the surrounding area, a little shiver crawling up his spine. He didn't like being alone. "Where am I anyway…?" He whispered. Almost as if to answer his question an explosion racked the land, the ground beneath Jack's feet splintering and swaying. Shrieking, Jack ran, when all of a sudden, he was no longer in an open plain, but a blacksmith's workshop.

"This isn't funny! What's going on!" Jack shouted, sweat dripping from his brow. A man was working by the fire, pounding steel with a hammer. He looked strong, the toned muscles in his back and arms shown in the firelight. His hair was crimson and skin pale. As he turned towards Jack, Jack saw his eyes were crimson too.

"Jack Spicer." His voice was cold. Jack gulped.

"That's my name…" The man's mouth twitched.

"Rin." Jack looked at him strangely, his hands shaking.

"What?" The man's mouth twitched again.

"Rin." He said with more emphasis. "That's my name." There was an awkward silence as the two stared at each other.

"Where am I?" Jack whispered, edging a little closer.

"Your dreams." Jack bit his lips, trying not to remark on how that wasn't the answer he was looking for. Rin seemed to know that already. In an instant his black smith clothing disappeared, replaced with armour, the exact armour that Jack was wearing, and his hammer had become magnificent. Jack gawked.

"You're my predecessor!" Rin did not smirk or smile, but there was a slight spark in his eyes.

"I was never in the stories but I fought that war too, and if ever there were men deserving to be Xiaolin dragons it would be us." The spark went out, dulled. "However we are branded with the word Blacksmith instead." Jack took a step back.

"I'm not a blacksmith, I'm just-" Rin took two steps closer, his cold face menacing in the fiery glow.

"You can bend metal to your will and that is enough." Jack shivered and Rin looked away, his cold eyes misty. "The elements have other symbols, other aspects to tribute." Rin started talking faster, glancing back to the fire. "And though we have no elements, Steel has a symbol." Taking his hammer, gripping it in two hands, Rin continued, "When you hold this weapon you will believe you can win, and this weapon represents the belief I have in you. If you believe it, it will be so." As soon as he handed the hammer to Jack, Rin's body started to shudder, his form slowly fading like the ghost he was. Jack's eyes were wide.

"I believe." Rin smiled, it was a tight and awkward smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Tell her I loved her." And everything went black for Jack.

Remember… Jack Spicer… Believe… Tell her…

The monsters were restless. There was no prey for them to hunt. Their restlessness cost them numbers as they bickered with each other and fought and killed while their boredom simmered. But then, a scent filled the air, their prey had returned.

Eager to fight and to kill they swarmed together, but something made them stop in fear. A woman stepped towards them, the shadows around her swirling and bending and lengthening as the sun was blotted out by a chilling darkness; but it was no woman. The shadow monsters hissed as their true master stepped forward. Her hair was black and straight, her skin as white as her cotton robe, sandals covering her feet. On her arm was the symbol of darkness and in her eyes was a blackness, blacker than the abyss. Her voice was cold and strong.

"You are abominations and you will die." With a sudden burst the shadows of the gorge leapt up, striking the monsters down, and those made of shadow shrieked as they were torn to shreds, their matter used to kill their comrades. Atra snarled, her hands covered in black energy, her voice surging with power.

"Athanasius Cerberus, hear me now! Your monsters will die and you will fail and I will strike you down! Do you hear me! I will destroy you!" She yelled, her shadows ripping apart the army. Tears ran down her face as she knelt on the floor, face pointed towards the sky. She did not look at the destruction she reaped. She barely heard the monster's cries. Her time as a being on Earth and been short and disastrous, but touching its surface still felt wonderful. The memories surged through her cold soul, overwhelming her every sense and nerve; sobs making her body shudder. Her time as a being and as herself would be short, for Athanasius's magic was strong and unable to be broken or bent, and as much as she wanted to enjoy every second of air she couldn't; too strong were the memories, too real the emotions. Even after one thousand, five hundred and ninety-six years, Atra the spirit of darkness was still heartbroken.

His head hurt. His eyes opened and everything was blurry. There was a howling around him, a whipping against his face. A hurricane was chasing him. Getting to his feet, Raimundo started to run, but a dog's bark stopped him. He turned around to see a silvery coloured mongrel stuck underneath a fallen tree, the hurricane getting closer and closer. If Raimundo tried to save it, there was little chance that he could make it. Raimundo turned away. The dog carried on barking frantically and something in Raimundo's heart melted. The Wind warrior started running towards the dog, using his hands to cover his face from the debris being flung around, the screeching of the hurricane almost deafening. Reaching the mongrel, Raimundo's hands scrabbled at the tree, silk ribbons flying everywhere.

"Come on, help me out little guy!" Raimundo called frantically, the hurricane gaining swiftly.

'Very well.' And in an instant the hurricane disappeared. Raimundo cocked his head in confusion, the surrounding landscape withering away to blackness. The mongrel came closer and Raimundo stepped back in horror as he saw its form twisting, mutating.

His fur was sleek and silver, flashing with cool blues and greens; every strand seemed to move gently in a breeze. Moustache-like tendrils escaped from above its mouth, similar tendrils curling from the back of its head. Its ears were enormous; masses of fur poking out form them. Although his snout was that of a dog's, it's neck and body was long and almost snake-like, having no legs, but a pair of sinewy arms. His hands were not covered in fur like the rest of its body but cool blue scales and it's eyes were that of the coldest silver.

'Hello Raimundo' the dragon said. Raimundo stared up at it in utter awe.

"You're the Wind aren't you?" The dragon nodded his eyes flashing.

'Your kindness truly knows no bounds, congratulations Raimundo, you have passed' And before the confused boy could say anything else, everything went black.

Aduro rolled her eyes at the scene playing out in front of her, tutting at her sister's behaviour.

"She was always such an emotional idiot, look at her crying, she should be happy Atalante even let her out." Kaida looked at her in confusion, head still swaying slightly.

"Not a nice thing to say about your sister." Her voice was quiet, throat sore. Aduro turned on her, her glare blazing with anger.

"You're an only child, you wouldn't understand. Picking up Atra's pieces was a chore I refused to do, so she hated me." Kaida took a look at the entity of light, her billowing curls and angry white eyes, and saw that the only similarity between the two sisters was that they both had absolutely nothing in common with each other.

"Where in tarnation am I?" Clay whispered. He was in a metal room, which had no doors and no windows and no apparent way out. All was silent, for a time.

'Clay!' The Earth roared and Clay immediately knew that beyond the metal wall in front of him his dragon was being hurt. Scared and furious all at once, Clay smashed into the wall, the roars of his dragon agonising. The metal did not even dent.

"Oh come on!" Clay yelled, smashing again and again into the metal wall with his shoulder. Crying in pain, the Texan had to stop, panting. The Earth roared again in pain and Clay tried hard not to panic. Placing his palms on the metal, he closed his pale blue eyes concentrating on his Dragon, picturing him in his mind. "Give me strength pal..." Suddenly his eyes snapped open, arms filling with energy, a deep green light swirling around him. Filled with power, Clay cried out as he smashed through the metal.

However, instead of falling into a room where some villain was torturing the Earth, he fell into blackness. The last thing he knew before his eyes closed again was the Earth's slow and powerful voice.

'Need not. Your strength be greater than all else.'

Atra stood up. She heard voices approaching, the warriors had returned. She looked to the monsters being torn apart but dismissed them with a shake of her head. She looked up to the darkening sky, hearing the clouds rumble with thunder. With a shiver, she almost wondered if what happened before would repeat, if the lightening would come crashing down upon her and she would leave this world once again; but it did not happen. She almost smiled. Almost.

Instead she let her form dissolve, slowly merging back with her sister, Kaida free once more.

"Urgh… Where am I?" Jack came to slowly, feeling nauseated. There was a squeal and suddenly someone was clutching him extremely tightly. 'Kimiko!' he cried in joy as he realised it was the fire Warrior hugging him, planting an ecstatic kiss on her lips.

"Jack! I was so worried! You've taken the longest to come round!" Jack looked around him and noticed that the other warriors surrounded him too. After greeting them joyously, Jack's heart sank as well as his stomach as he realised where he was sat. Squealing slightly, shaking all over, he made a pained face and pointed downwards. Kimiko didn't catch on right away, but Raimundo did, laughing.

"Yeah, don't worry, Dojo's all normal now." Jack shrieked as the dragon twisted its head round, looking quite morose.

"I honestly don't know what happened, I'm so sorry you guys, its like something just came over me, everything's a blur…" Jack nodded, still slightly panicked. Omi reached up to pat him on the shoulder.

"But if it were not for Dojo, we would not have out most magnificent weapons!" This time it was Jack who didn't catch on, until Kimiko leaned closer smirking.

"Look in your hand idiot!" Jack looked and gasped. He was holding Rin's hammer. Sneaky. Jack grinned, unable to stop happiness spreading its way through his body. He turned to the woman of his dreams.

"I love you." Kimiko was taken back, surprised, blushing furiously, but Jack didn't give her time to reply. "Rin loved Kimiko too." And with that he placed another kiss on the girl's lips, faintly hearing the Fire chuckle.

'Rin that scoundrel, I had a feeling he'd work his way back into the story…' Jack laughed. Rin may have been the coldest of all warriors, but deep inside there was a love that warmed him. And it was slowly burning brighter.

"Kai!" Kimiko called riding on Dojo's back with the other warriors and Jack. The Warrior of Balance turned, sheer joy on her face, tears of relief spilling from her eyes.

"Guys! You're alive!" They cheered in reply, Raimundo jumping down from Dojo and running towards her.

"Kaida!" Speechless, Kaida ran into his arms, holding him so very tightly, sobbing with relief and happiness.

"I thought you were dead! I was so scared! I'm so sorry!" Raimundo held her back, his heart alive.

"We weren't dead, just getting rearmed." Kaida suddenly stepped back to look at her friends, hands shaking slightly. She took in their new and wonderful weapons, hope blazing through her soul. Gathering them together and hugging them all tightly she let her last tears escape, knowing that tomorrow they would win.

A/N: Disclaimer: I still don't own Xiaolin Showdown lesigh... BUT I do own BLLW's plot, characters etc etc!

Other: Hoo boy, it's been a while ; Ermmm... I blame college!! ...Alright... it's my fault, I am so sorry... BUT I am starting to write again! Yay me! So you definitly won't be waiting another year for a chapter ;

Reading, reviewing, criticising (constructively); all would be very much appreciated!!

Thank you for reading!!