Original finish date: 25th February 2006
Intended upload date: 26th February 2006
Revised finish date: 13th March 2006
Actual upload date: 14th March 2006
Uh, yeah. That's a lot of dates.
The vast majority of this is Jack (surprise, surprise). The first bit kinda reads like a poem, I guess. Make of it what you will.
Chapter 5: The Yinying Bird
It was too easy. It really was.
Sweet-talking her way into getting some pixie dust. Luma Luma, the giant.
Just a few sprinkles on Drongo. The wyvern guarding the pavilion.
Now she was up to her ears in Shen Gong Wu.
Far too easy.
Waiting in the undergrowth for her … A malicious grin, with shiny, perfect teeth.
"Excellent," he said.
Far too easy.
"C-cold …"
Darkness all around … Nothing but cold and evil, slowly enveloping a lost soul, slowly eating away its memories …
"P-please … some-one … h-help …"
A shivering empty soul, trapped within a bubbling cocoon of night for the rest of eternity …
"T-the c-cold … m-make it s-stop … p-please …"
Bleak shadows … pervasive, intrusive, all-encompassing … it wouldn't be long until the soul became a part of the darkness …
And then, out of the blue, a whoosh of feathers drove the cold away. Harsh words forced the darkness to retreat. There was the sound of glass smashing. Suddenly, the soul could breathe again, and it rested against the soft feathers, finding peace from the cold at last.
'Wake up, Jack!'
"Just five more minutes, mum …"
'I'm not your mommy, fool!'
Huh?
Jack felt a prickling but soft sensation all over his body, like a blunted needle being pressed gently against his skin. He opened his eyes, and shrieked when he saw a huge black bird with an odd purple glow towering over him, pecking at him with its beak.
"I'm not dead! Shoo, go away!"
The purple-black crow immediately flew off him in a fluttering flurry of wings. Jack sat up, feeling elated. The darkness was gone! He could feel the warmth spread back through his body again. He checked himself for injury, but he seemed to be okay. He still had the Bag of Tricks, and the Scarf of Scares that Wuya had given him was still wrapped around his neck.
He had trouble discerning where he was now. Before, he had been completely surrounded by darkness. Now he was in a desolate wasteland, where everything around him was a dull monochrome of withered trees and parched earth. It looked a lot like what Wuya had done to the earth, but … wasn't this the Dream World? Had he been taken back to Earth?
And, more importantly … how had he survived?
A harsh, croaking caw made him realise that the crow hadn't left. He frowned hard at it, but the bird just stared back eerily.
"What …? Go away, you annoying bird. Um … please?"
The gigantic crow did the exact opposite, and bounded towards him, having a somewhat curious air about it.
"Arrgh! Please don't eat me! I taste terrible!"
'Humph. This is the thanks I get for rescuing you?'
"Wuya?" Jack exclaimed in surprise, instantly recognising her croaky voice. It echoed telepathically through his mind.
'Yes. This is the yinying world,' she said, 'and I sometimes take this form when I come here – but if you'd rather I was in my normal form …" Quick as a flash, she morphed into her regular self, black dress with untied hair.
Something odd came over Jack. He shivered at the sight of her humanoid form, falling to his knees as the cold swept through him once more. Waves of ill heat followed, a terrible fever overtaking him, and he convulsed and vomited, collapsing on the floor.
"What's wrong with you? Am I too late?" she whispered to herself, sounding unusually horrified. "Did they already turn him?"
Jack didn't make any attempt to fight when she knelt down beside him and placed her palm on his sweaty forehead. She closed her eyes and focused hard. To her relief, his soul was still intact. But the cold fear had returned – something had triggered it, had caused the darkness to reappear.
"They're coming back," she said, looking around wildly at her surroundings. The living shadows seemed to be returning, turning everything to darkness again. "Even though I ordered them to leave you alone." She looked back down at Jack. "You're letting your fears control you. You mustn't!"
"C-can't … p-please … cold …"
"Ssh," she said softly, drawing on his damp forehead. He continued to mumble incoherently, his eyes glazed over. "It's okay. I'll help you …"
The white magic washed away his fears, and suddenly he felt much better, his mind clearer and sharper than before; and, faced with Jack's new-found confidence, the shadows retreated once more. They hated courage, and they despised light.
He sat up straight, and shuffled away backwards from her. "Get away from me!" he screamed angrily, wondering what on earth she was up to.
"And how do you expect to escape from here without my help?"
"Help? I don't want any help from you!"
"Perhaps I should have let your soul rot in the darkness, then!" she snapped.
"What?"
So she saved me … But why? Why did she …? Second thoughts?
"I don't understand what you want from me," Jack sighed. "I don't understand you at all." He pulled his knees towards his chest. He was tired of playing Wuya's cat-and-mouse games. "You confuse me so much …"
It seemed, however, that she wasn't playing around this time. "C'mon," she said, pulling on his arm to try to get him to stand up, "we have to get out of here! Before he comes!"
There was urgency in her voice, as if there was impending danger, but Jack was so tired of everything, so fed up of the weirdness, the torture, and his ignorance towards everything that he didn't say anything for a while, and he didn't bother to move, his arm dropping limply when she let go. He didn't know what to do any more, so he would do nothing.
Nonetheless, Wuya was as impatient with him as ever. "What's the matter with you? I don't have time for your gutless stupidity, Jack!"
"What did you do to me?" he asked coldly, completely unafraid of invoking her wrath. He looked up at her with a hostile glare and pointed to his forehead. "Another trick?"
"Is that what's bothering you? It was healing magic. That's all. To perk you up and remove all your fears. It makes you willing to fight, no matter what. That sort of thing. This world can be quite depressing."
"Oh, yeah? Didn't you create it?" Jack said snidely, standing up and taking a deep breath afterwards.
"Why do you say that? This world existed long before I ever did."
"Seems like the kind of thing you'd do."
"Touché. But Nu Wa created this twisted world. Not me."
There's that name again, thought Jack. The more I hear about her, the more I feel like I wanna punch her lights out. Why isn't she helping us fight Wuya?
There was a pause, where it seemed to Jack that Wuya was sensing for someone.
"Where's Kimiko? I can sense Omi and Clay nearby, but there's no sign of Kimiko."
"Eh? Don't you know where she is?"
"Wasn't she here with you?"
"No!" he snapped, refusing to hold back any anger now that the fear had been magically scrubbed out of his system. "I was just about to reach her at the tree, and then there was all this darkness – you brought me here!"
"I had nothing to do with this!" she yelled, matching his anger with her own vehemence. "Think about it – why would I be here helping you if I was responsible?"
"I dunno – to screw my mind over?"
"You moron. You know nothing about me. If I wanted to tear your soul into tiny emotional shreds, I would have done it far more slowly … Besides, I …" She stopped and looked away shamefully, as if she did not want to admit what she was about to say. "I need you alive. I can't afford to lose you to the darkness."
Something wasn't quite right here. This was conflicting with what she'd said in that very same darkness.
"But – you said … I should let the darkness take me …"
"What? I said no such thing. I told you not to let the darkness overtake you. Remember?"
Wait a minute …thought Jack.
In the darkness, Wuya had taunted him with the image of the woman she'd killed in the future. But how could Wuya even know about his dream of the future? How could she know what he'd seen? The present-her hadn't been there with him at the time.
"You … didn't see my dream, did you?" he asked cautiously.
"What are you talking about? What dream?" For once – for once – Wuya wasn't hiding anything devious behind a false mask. There was nothing but genuine confusion in her eyes. "I was searching for Shen Gong Wu, with Kimiko, on the Mengmei Plains," she said slowly, "I couldn't have witnessed whatever was in your dreams … Just what are you getting at?"
"But I saw you just now," Jack insisted, "and you'd seen my dream … unless …"
They both exchanged glances, both realising the same thing at the same time.
"It wasn't really you …" he surmised.
"Ah! Now I see," she said, at the same time. "I'm one of your deep fears. While I'm flattered, it doesn't exactly aid my current cause. No wonder you reacted so badly when I transformed back. But, yes, what you saw wasn't really me, merely a manifestation of your greatest fear. The yinying spirits of this world feed upon lost souls by bringing their worst fears to life. They weaken them by showing their worst fears, and then they strike … turning the soul into one of them by feeding on all their positive emotions. It's a way for them to amass their forces. Surely you've heard their whispers?"
Jack shuddered a little at the memory. "Become us," they'd said. If Wuya had been any later, he would have become one of them. But, even if Wuya hadn't sent him here, there was still something bugging him.
"And what about that portal you made when we met in the Dream World? You were going to feed Dojo to those spirits, weren't you?"
"Had you not complied … Yes, I would have. That slimy lizard means nothing to me." She sighed when she saw Jack's horrified look. "It's true that I command the yinying spirits. To them, my word is law. But that doesn't mean they won't act on their own initiative. They cannot go against their nature. If a soul is foolish enough to trespass into this realm, they'll attack. The only way you're going to survive is if you stay with me. They won't attack if I'm nearby, especially now that I've cast that spell on you."
Jack looked sceptical, hesitating for a few moments. It was only natural, really, after everything Wuya had put him through. Why should he trust her?
"I didn't bring you here. I swear. But I am going to get you out of here," she declared, forming a spherical mass of purple darkness in her hand, "and I'll take you back using force if I have to."
"Okay, okay, I believe you," he said quickly, raising his hands in defence. "No need to get excited. If you want to bust me out of here, I'm not gonna complain."
And that was how Jack found himself riding on top of a large crow, something he never even imagined he'd be doing, even in the Dream World. He smiled a little as he let the wind sail through his hair. The magic was having a definite effect, as he didn't feel any reason to fear Wuya. The doubts were there, yes, but if she was lying – well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. He wondered if this was the reason why she'd put the spell on him after all, to make him go foolishly with her … but she seemed on the level, at least for the moment. She was certainly agitated about something, not wanting to spend more time in the Yinying world than she had to. She was not her usual composed self: something was clearly bothering her, and this troubled Jack.
What could scare Wuya?
To Jack, this was feeling a little like old times, when he and Wuya were working together, because although Wuya was quite edgy, she also began to complain about his weakness and taunt him about his fear of the dark. Jack could tell by the playful mirth in her voice that she wasn't really angry with him. More, amused – but it was a light, sincere amusement, not the dark, predatory glee he'd seen in her palace.
She must really need me for something, Jack thought darkly, as he remembered how much pain he'd been when she'd taken his essence. She's being nice to me.
"Ugh. Your feathers are so coarse," he said in disgust, still frowning. "Couldn't you have turned into something more – eye-pleasing? Though, on second thoughts, I guess turning into a swan wouldn't fit into your witch image, would it?"
Jack had the odd feeling that Wuya had been offended. 'Crows are – misunderstood,' she said a little shortly, sounding serious and pensive at the same time. 'They are despised and feared, when really they are nothing more than just nature's refuse collectors.'
"Yeah? Well, you know what? They're bossy," Jack counted off on his fingers, "and noisy – and nosy – and – woah!"
A blast of lightning whizzed through the air in front of Wuya's black beak, making her stop so sharply that Jack almost fell off.
"What the heck was that?"
'Look, down there,' Wuya said in his mind.
It turned out to be Omi using the Eye of Dashi to fight what Jack thought looked like grotesque, miniature versions of Wuya's Huai-Ren. They had him surrounded, but each time a blast from the Eye connected, the creature would vanish in a puff of smoke.
'Hold on tight.'
Wuya swooped down, coming to a stop to hover just above Omi. She growled words in an arcane language, and the little shadow demons bowed to her as one and scampered off. Omi looked up as she landed, eyes wide in surprise at the huge bird above him. Before he could react, she grabbed him in her beak and took flight once more.
"Arrgh! Crow! Let me go!" Omi yelled, squirming around in a worm-like fashion.
"It's okay, Omi," Jack said happily, waving down at him.
"Jack Spicer?"
Wuya loosened her grip, allowing Omi to climb onto her back, with Jack's help.
"Boy, am I glad to see you, Omi!" Jack cheered, overjoyed because he wasn't alone any more. It was weird, but he was happy to see a familiar face. At least they could face whatever lay ahead together.
He held Omi up into a hug, and Omi grinned wryly. "Yes, Jack Spicer, I am most happy to see you too."
'I must admit – I am somewhat relieved to see you survived as well, Omi.'
"Wuya!" Omi hissed, switching into attack mode as if he was a Jack-bot, and pointing accusingly at the back of her head. "I thought you were one of Jack Spicer's robots! What are you doing here?"
'Flying,' she said matter-of-factly. 'And helping you, it seems.'
"NO! You would never help me! This must be a trick!" Omi decided. Before Jack could stop him, he fired the Eye of Dashi into Wuya's back. Jack moved to activate his heli-pack to prepare for a potentially nasty fall, but fortunately Omi's actions hadn't sent them careering down to the ground far below them, as the blast was completely absorbed.
"Wha - ?" said Omi, completely flabbergasted. Jack was just relieved they weren't all a mushy paste on the ground.
'Lightning is my element,' she said in an "isn't it obvious?" tone, 'so a tiny bolt like that is hardly going to affect me, is it?'
"Let us go, witch!" Omi growled in frustration.
'You can go back to fighting those shadow creatures for all eternity if you like,' she said dryly.
Omi tensed, and then pouted. He looked a little tired; Jack figured he must have been fighting for a long time, and, skilled though he was, he couldn't have fought them off forever. The short monk looked around wildly, trying to see if there was another way out, but he couldn't exactly jump off – it was a long way down.
Jack sighed.
Better calm him down before he does something else "heroic" …
"It's okay, Omi. Kimiko's safe. Wuya's letting her soul go." At least, I think she is, anyway.
"But why is she helping us?" Omi demanded, very much still angry with Wuya.
'Let's just say it's in my best interest to do so at this current point in time,' she replied.
Omi scowled, not happy with this development. He went on to say that he would never work with the forces of evil, but when Jack explained that the only way to escape the Yinying world was if Wuya opened a portal, he agreed to temporarily put up with Wuya – albeit grudgingly. Jack added that Clay was in this world too, and he probably needed help; and Omi couldn't abandon his team-mate.
"How did you escape your nightmare, Omi?" Jack asked. "I couldn't even see the yinying spirits."
A thoughtful expression came across Omi's face. It had been hard for him to face angry jeers from the person he admired the most, and, in fact, he wouldn't have escaped at all if he hadn't been startled into using the Eye of Dashi by a demonic one-eyed squirrel.
"I – was startled, and I used the Eye of Dashi … it revealed the evil spirits' whereabouts and dispelled the illusion."
'But you hardly seem affected by the darkness at all. You're as excitable as ever. I don't think I'll need to heal you like I had to heal Jack.'
Wuya was right, Jack noted. Omi still looked like he was ready for action, despite showing signs of weariness. It was just like him, really. He wouldn't need a pick-me-up spell to be recklessly courageous. He was like that anyway. He would never give up until his very last breath.
'You are as pure as your Chosen element,' Wuya told him. 'It was probably difficult for the yinying spirits to turn you completely to darkness. Nonetheless, I am still impressed that you escaped from your illusory fears. I … have never known anyone to do so, not since the creation of this land.'
Jack thought he could detect the tiniest hint of admiration in her voice, and found it strange. He frowned as he looked away, feeling an ugly green monster grow inside him. He'd never gotten any appreciation from Wuya like that …
You're strong, Omi. I wish I was as strong as you.
Omi usually lapped up compliments like a thirsty dog – by default, he'd agree with anything that praised his skills – but here he seemed not to know what to say to Wuya's words. She was the enemy, after all, and in Omi's black-and-white view of good and evil, villains weren't supposed to be nice. Jack, too, had been struck silent by her, though he was lost in envious thought. So, for a while, nothing more was said.
Clay hadn't been as lucky as Omi. Jack could see the shadow spirits with jaws clamped all over his body, clinging onto him like leeches. Wuya uttered the same harsh otherworldly commands to rid him of the parasites, and at her words, an invisible force-field around Clay shattered like glass. Unlike Jack, Clay seemed to recover faster from the yinying spirits' attack. Though he had a pained expression, he stood up almost immediately, instead of lying unconscious like Jack had done. When Clay saw Omi he smiled weakly, and, when Wuya returned to her normal form, his reaction to her was much better than Jack's. Like Omi, he adopted an attacking stance as soon as he recognised her. This made Jack wonder what Clay's deepest fear really was; certainly not Wuya, at any rate. Thankfully, Clay was far less impulsive than Omi, and he accepted the situation more readily than he had – perhaps he just wanted to get away from the yinying creatures as fast as possible too – though he voiced several doubts as well.
"Wuya didn't bring us here," Jack said to Clay, as Wuya swiftly moved to open a portal to the Dream World with the word yinying. "She was in the Mengmei Plains with Kimiko the whole time. To send us here, she'd have had to open the portal right next to us – she couldn't be in three places at once. Unless she had the Ring of Nine Dragons. Which she doesn't."
"And we took the Golden Tiger Claws from Raimundo in Ping-jing," Omi nodded. He directed a furious scowl towards her, pointing at her suspiciously again. "But she could still have used black sorcery to pull this off!"
"I did not, I assure you," she snapped, annoyed that they were still standing there talking. "Now, quickly, get in! You can discuss this after we've left this wretched world."
"But," said the logical Clay, "if you didn't bring us here, then who did?"
"I did."
"What –?" said Jack. "Who said –?"
Grey smoke sizzled in front of the group, and a viscous black liquid poured down from an invisible source in mid-air, hissing like steaming water. Swirling around like a vicious tornado over a tempestuous sea, the liquid and smoke gathered together, and slowly solidified into a black dragon. With dark sleek skin, and curved horns and claws, it looked like the world's biggest Huai-Ren. The ground shook, a wicked rumble of laughter, and Jack suddenly wished that his soul had had the sense to bring one of his Shen Gong Wu with him into the Dream World, like Omi's soul had done with the Eye of Dashi. Then he remembered that Wuya had stolen his Sunbird Down. He didn't have any Shen Gong Wu on him, other than the ones in the Bag of Tricks … and the ones he'd found in the Dream World.
Wuya growled, a low animalistic snarl of pure hatred. "Fafnir. I thought I smelled your foul stench nearby."
"Now, now," he said chidingly. His deep, sinister voice echoed throughout their minds, much like Wuya's had, and his mouth didn't move when he spoke. "Is that any way to speak to your former master?"
Former master? thought Jack.
"He is the reason you're all here," she said, clearly struggling to keep the anger out of her voice. "He had the ability to open yinying portals as well. I wasn't one hundred per cent sure it was him … and yet, somehow, I knew all along. Who else could it have been?"
"It's been a long time, Wuya."
"Not long enough," she said coldly. "Quickly," she said to the others, as Fafnir prepared to hit them with black fiery breath, "go through. I'll take care of him."
Though Clay and Omi hesitated a little, Jack definitely didn't need telling twice, and the three boys ran towards the gateway back to the Dream World. But with a flick of Fafnir's pointed tail, the ground cracked open, and everyone stumbled. The portal vanished, and Fafnir fired at the group, but Wuya erected a shield to defend against the dark flames.
The giant dragon sniffed out loudly in annoyance, blowing out purple-black smoke from its right nostril like a steam train. This action reminded Omi of the Sapphire Dragon.
"You are protecting them from my darkness?"
"For now," Wuya said.
"How sweet."
Creating a sword in her hand with magic, she seemed to fly over the ground as she charged at him, and she leapt high, aiming clear and true for the dragon's neck. A bat-like wing swatted her from the side before she could reach her mark, though, but she flipped backwards and landed easily on two feet.
Omi, Clay and Jack watched on, unsure whether to get involved or not. After a moment's pause, Omi and Clay both held out the Eye of Dashi and the Longi Kite respectively, and Jack wondered whether there were any Shen Gong Wu he could use. But he didn't have time to search through the Bag of Tricks, so he frantically went through a mental checklist of the Shen Gong Wu he knew he did have. The Dog's Nose was out of the question, the Silver Headband was useless here in the yinying world, Wuya had told him; and the Soul-Dream Bracelet separated souls … what use would that be? The Dragon's Mask – no good either.
He had the Scarf of Scares that Wuya had given him, though …
He pulled on both ends of the grey Scarf with both hands, frowning in determination.
I can be strong too! he thought to himself. I want to fight. Here goes nothing.
But, just before he was about to use it, Omi called out the Eye of Dashi's name, and Wuya immediately looked back at them. She shook her head slowly, and the meaning was clear: don't interfere.
She turned around and glared at Fafnir, and he appeared frustrated as he took a couple of wary steps back; perhaps he hadn't reckoned on Wuya putting up so much of a fight.
"You shouldn't be able to fight … Didn't you feel the darkness?"
"Oh, I felt it," she said quietly, eyeing him with cautious tenacity, "but I'm not the same person you once knew. I'm stronger now. Far stronger!"
"Sheer force means nothing. You're only in a spiritual form! Your powers are supposed to be sealed!" he roared, making the ground rumble with his sheer fury.
"And you're supposed to be dead!" she exclaimed, her own words shaking through a crescendo of incredulity as she fought to keep her temper under control. It was difficult to tell who hated who more. "How can you possibly be alive? I killed you!"
Fafnir took another few steps backwards. "Perhaps that Shoka was right about you after all … Perhaps I should have waited before I attacked …"
"Which Shoka?" Wuya hissed, but he dissolved into a gelatinous puddle and oozed into the ground.
"Eww …" said Jack.
"Huh. That was easy," said Clay, as if viscous dragons emerged from the ground every day. Jack couldn't figure out how the guy could keep so calm all the time. It was possible that Clay's nightmare, whatever it had been, was the only thing that he was truly afraid of, but Jack didn't know him well enough to be sure. "Looks like ya scared 'im off."
Wish I could be that unperturbed about things, Jack thought to himself.
"He's all talk," Wuya said carelessly. "He has no real power."
Then why were you so afraid of him? Jack thought uneasily, knowing how anxious she'd been to leave, and how angry she'd been at Fafnir's arrival.
You're so hard to understand … he thought, frowning sadly at her, and then he caught himself. Wait a minute – why am I even trying to understand her?
She tortured me, almost killed me, took away Kimiko's soul, and stole all of our elements. And then she saves us from that Fafnir guy …What's her game?
Not for the first time, Jack wished Wuya was more open with her true feelings, but he knew that there was no way she'd ever reveal her true thoughts.
He sighed, looking at Omi, Clay and back at Wuya again, each in turn.
Courage? Composure? Trust?
Jack wished he would stop wishing for things he could never have. It must have been the spell, forcing him to want to fight. Each of the others had their own way of fighting. Omi was bold and daring, and very strong; Clay was passive but methodical, still powerful in his own way. Wuya was secretive, and trusted no one. Because of the spell, Jack wanted to fight ever so badly, but he also knew that he lacked the ability to fight like the others, and so he was yearning to be stronger. Though, if Jack was being honest with himself, these feelings of self-pity had always been there within him. The magic was just giving them a boost.
"Shoka?" Clay queried, after Wuya mentioned something about finding the Shoka responsible for all this, and making them pay. "Ain't they supposed to be the good guys?"
"Indeed," said Wuya, folding her arms. "It appears SilverClaw has some explaining to do."
"What – you don't think SilverClaw had something to do with this?" Clay asked, sounding incredulous.
"No, of course not. But I'd be surprised if she didn't know anything about it …"
Hmm …
The group returned to the Mengmei Plains via one of Wuya's portals, and then, with Kimiko-balloon in hand, Jack used the Silver Headband to teleport everyone back to the spot where he'd left Dojo – who had become a shaking mass of nerves from worry by now. The little dragon went from yelling for joy at the sight of all the Dragons reunited, to shrieking in terror at the sight of Wuya. While Clay tried to persuade Dojo that Wuya wasn't going to attack them, Jack tied Kimiko's pink string to a low branch of a nearby chocolate cookie tree.
"I couldn't save her," Omi said, staring at her floating body sadly. "I was not strong enough …"
Jack wasn't sure what it was; maybe the spell was affecting him in more ways than one. He was certainly feeling particularly thoughtful. Or maybe … he was finally coming to realise what it was like to have feelings – to have friends. Whatever it was, he couldn't help feeling sorry for Omi. He couldn't help feeling that he had to cheer him up, too.
"That's not true, Omi," he said, placing a hand on Omi's shoulder. "You're the strongest person I know. Kimiko never stopped doubting that. When you were frozen, she kept saying she'd find a way to heal you, no matter what. You just need to have the same faith she did."
"Thank you, Jack," Omi said, smiling up at him. "That is … most profound."
"Humph," said Wuya, completely unmoved. "She'll be back to normal in no time; all you need to do is visit a spiritual jing fountain. There should be plenty of them in this world."
Omi gave her a long, hard look. "Do you not even feel the slightest bit of remorse for what you have done?"
"Of course not. I'm evil, remember?"
"Quite," said Omi.
"Do you think I care what a little runt thinks?" Wuya said coldly. Omi growled, Clay frowned, and Jack sighed.
"All right, simmer down, you two," said Jack, deciding to act as referee. He turned to Wuya. "Wuya," he said seriously. "Can I ask you something?
"You can," she said shortly, "but make it brief. I hate this place, and I want to leave. The sooner I wake up, the better."
"Amen," said Clay.
"The yinying spirits… they're completely under your control, right?"
"Yes …" she replied slowly, unsure of where Jack was going. "I told you this before."
"And you turn them into Huai-Ren?"
She started, showing a rare moment of surprise. "Who have you been talking to?"
"Many people," he said evasively. He had figured it out himself, but still, if he hadn't seen Wuya create the giant Huai-Ren in his dream, the unemotional elf's words about souls wouldn't have made much sense to him. He didn't want to add the elf to Wuya's list of people of kill. "I just put two and two together."
"You're being uncharacteristically astute, Jack. Perhaps I put too much power into that protective spell. But, essentially, you are correct."
Omi made an "Oh!" noise of understanding. "So that is why the yinying spirits disliked the Eye of Dashi. They are weakened by lightning too."
Wuya nodded, with a small sigh. Jack looked at her shrewdly; Lightning was her element. Perhaps that was why she could control them.
"The yinying creatures," he went on, "are what the gui – or the dark, yin – half of the soul can become after you die. But any soul can become them, if their soul is completely turned to darkness, right?"
"If a living soul is turned to yin – or darkness – in the yinying world, it can become a yinying spirit. That is why the yinying spirits try to get you to give in to despair and darkness through your fears and nightmares. I told you this already, as well, Jack. What's your point?"
"I'll tell you. Why did Fafnir transport us to the yinying world? Why did he want to turn us into yinying creatures if we'd just be under your command?"
"I don't know," Wuya admitted, "but his appearance changes everything. I realised when I sensed your soul, Jack, that I couldn't kill you. However, I didn't know for sure that the dark presence I was sensing was Fafnir. But now that I know Fafnir is alive … I won't let him turn any of you into yinying spirits."
"Why?" asked Omi, genuinely confused.
"Because, little Water Child, he and I are mortal enemies. You turning into yinying creatures is precisely what he wants. And if that's what he wants, I'm not going to let it happen – I promise you."
"Does that mean you will return to us our stolen elements?" Omi asked, clearly itching to hit Fafnir with the full force of his Water element the next time the black dragon showed himself.
Wuya scoffed. "Absolutely not! We're still enemies. Once I kill Fafnir, you're all canon fodder again, as far as I'm concerned. But I didn't take your elements away permanently. A trace of them still resides within you; they are a part of you. If you really want to get your elements back, all you need to do is visit the elemental temples."
"That's pretty much what SilverClaw said," said Clay.
"Your elements will help against Fafnir, which means … I shall have to forego my vengeance on SilverClaw."
"Lies!" hissed Dojo from underneath Clay's hat. "Lies, lies, lies! It's gotta be a trick! Wuya hates SilverClaw!"
"I hate you too, worm; and yet you're still alive."
Dojo's reply was lost under a layer of mumbling grumbles.
"You want the powers of the other temples too, though, don't you?" Jack said, raising a suspicious eyebrow.
She shrugged. "SilverClaw's the only one who knows where they are. Because Dojo's memory is like a sieve."
There was an angry "HEY!" from Clay's hat.
"But it doesn't matter," she said, indulging in a cat-like smirk all of a sudden. She gave Jack the insect-under-the-microscope look again – though this time it was far more menacing – and then she turned to leave."You run along, children, and help your friend. She's coming to. I'll leave you to tend to her."
Once again, Wuya was right; Kimiko was waking up. She moved around, stirring, and as her eyes fluttered open, the pink rope she was tied to dissipated, and she fell to the ground. The three boys rushed to her, and helped her to sit up. She appeared to be unhurt, just tired and disorientated, and she managed to stand up, to Jack's relief.
Jack was worried that Kimiko would jump the gun like Omi had done when he had seen Wuya, but when he looked around, he saw that Wuya had gone. Instead, a crow was on the ground – this time, the normal size. It cawed twice loudly, then pecked at the ground, picking up something golden and shiny in its beak. And, with a burst of flapping wings, Wuya was gone.
While Omi and Clay were delighted to see Kimiko awake and unharmed, Jack felt uneasy about Wuya's last words – and in particular, that smirk.
What's she planning now?
I tend to liken Wuya to a predatory cat, but for this chapter I definitely drew some inspiration from the carrion crows of Hampstead Heath. Carrion crows are bossy, fearless opportunists – as illustrated by the cheeky daredevil who stole my friend's sandwich right out of his hand one day. Although they're completely black, they have a kind of purple-green hue on their feathers if you see them up close. You can find them during the day, perched atop the rooftops on my street and in the surrounding area, overseeing their territory. They like to stare at you from above, with an eerie "I'm watching your every move" gaze. They're also very noisy at times, but they tend to be solitary; they prefer to work alone.
I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed. This was actually supposed to be out, like, ages ago. And then, just when I was about to upload it, my computer went and transformed all the text into wingdings. Irreversibly. Meaning that I had to redo most of the chapter from scratch. The way this version was written – the words I used – well, they're quite a bit different to the first finished version. Luckily, I still had some handwritten notes, so the main bulk of the dialogue remained intact, as did the ideas and Jack characterisation I wanted to convey. The crows were a big help too; it isn't too hard to write about a crow when you see them all the time in the park at lunchtime. (Better them than pigeons. Can't stand the little rat-bags.)
Uh, yeah. I think I've said enough … Don't really know when the next chapter's coming out. The wingding incident has delayed things quite a bit. I guess it'll come out when it comes out. I must confess to being distracted somewhat by the new season 3 episodes on CN UK. I watched "Hannibal's Revenge" this morning, and I was glad to see that Wuya fights as well in the show as she does in my fanfiction. At the time of chapter submission, we in the UK have caught up to America with episodes. It's possible we may overtake the US with today's episode, so I'm getting excited – there's no way for the next episode to be spoiled for me if it hasn't even been shown in America. Go CN UK.
