She stared up at the entrance to the citadel with great hesitation. This was becoming a very bad idea; she should have just found a cave to take over and figure everything out by herself.

"What's the matter? Don't remember the way in?"

Wuya flinched and whipped around. Chase smirked at her, not at all surprised by her arrival.

"I figured it was only a matter of time before your sister kicked you out," he told her. "Shocking that it took so long, though."

"Chase, I..." Wuya started as he came closer.

"You don't have to explain yourself, Wuya," he told her; she flinched when he placed a hand under her chin and smiled at her. "You're welcome here. I actually think you might be able to help me."

Every part of her screamed that this was suspicious, and yet she followed him into his home. She would be careful, on her toes, just like always. Not like it was hard to guess Chase's intentions anyway. He wanted to dominate the world, with as many people under his wing as he could gather. If she was on that side, then she had the advantage. And when the time came, she would kick him to the curb, regain her former strength, turn things back to the way they should be.

She subconsciously took in his satin black hair, his strong shoulders, the powerful way he walked. Could she overthrow him? Or would it be better to keep him close? No sense ruling the world on your own, right?

"You're room is still upstairs," Chase told her when they reached the main corridor. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Sure..." Wuya murmured as she watched him go to his study.

She waited until he was out of sight, then dashed up the stairs to begin her work. Chase sensed her leave in a rush and smirked. The witch was proving to be more trusting than she originally was. This would give him just the edge he needed.

******JP******

"Hey, Stryker? W-Wait up!"

Stryker scowled and quickened his pace, stuffing his gloved hands in his pockets. They'd been trudging around for an hour, and had yet to come across any Wu. The most he'd gained was more annoyance at the sound of Zephyr's voice.

"Look, I-I'm sorry about h-helping you with the S-Showdown," Zephyr was saying, hugging himself tightly. Being from Rio de Janeiro, he'd never experienced his kind of cold before. "N-Next time I'll...l-let you do your thing."

"Great, thanks," Stryker retorted, rolling his eyes and wishing there was a snowbank to shove him into. He added quietly: "Next time I'll make sure to do my thing all over your face."

"Huh?" Zephyr asked, then scuttled to keep up again. "H-Hey, how will we know what the Wu looks like?"

He yelped when he ran into Stryker, who had stopped suddenly. He looked around the other boy and saw a pink pearl, surrounded by spindles of gold. It was sitting on a little slope in the ice, out in the open for the taking.

"Well, that was easy," Stryker said, starting towards it.

"Yeah, a little too easy," Zephyr commented.

He heard a small plink behind them. He turned and saw a crevice was sneaking its way up toward them, gaining speed the closer it got. Zephyr stepped back a couple steps, his green eyes going wide.

"Uh...Stry-Stryker?" he croaked.

"What?" Stryker snapped.

Zephyr plowed into him, trying to get him away from the crack. They both hit the ice and heard a huge crack. The fissure circled around them and the ice dropped. The boys met eyes and Stryker glared at him. Zephyr cringed.

They both cried out as the ice collapsed and dropped them into a hidden cave. Zephyr tapped into his Shadow Form (they didn't like calling it Wudai since that was what the Xiaolin called it) and grabbed hold of Stryker's coat to keep him from falling. Stryker slipped right out of it, but managed to grab onto a ledge on the wall. Zephyr floated down and grabbed him under the arms, ignoring that Stryker dug in to prevent him from helping. Stryker crossed his arms and growled as Zephyr lowered them to the floor and let the shadowed form go.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, totally," Stryker snapped, looking up at the hole they'd fallen through. "Falling two stories into a hole with no way out makes me feel soooo okay!"

Zephyr furrowed his brow and stared at him. He knew the situation had just turned bad, but he didn't think it warranted such animosity.

"Well, I'm going to see if I can fly us out of here, okay?" he said, shifting back into his Shadow Form.

"You do that," Stryker told him, walking to the wall and sticking his hands into some of the cracks. "I'll find my own way out."

Zephyr shook his head and floated up to the top, hesitated, then descended so he was beside Stryker as he climbed.

"What?" Stryker growled as he hopped up and grabbed another ledge.

"Just floating here," Zephyr told him calmly. "You know, in case."

"Well, go float in case somewhere else. I don't need any help."

"Don't need any help or don't want any from me?"

Stryker didn't answer, just reached up and pulled himself up farther. Zephyr was quickly starting to catch on, so there was no reason to say anything.

Something fell onto his shoulder, and he looked up to see some snow was shifting into the hole. His heart stopped when he realized it wasn't snow.

"Hey, what're you-" Stryker shouted as Zephyr grabbed him around his waist and pulled him off the wall.

He stopped protesting when a huge chunk of ice fell only inches from them. It actually caused him to grip Zephyr's arms and stare with wide eyes. He stumbled out of Zephyr's grasp and stared at the pile that probably would have killed him.

"Just say it."

He turned to Zephyr.

"You don't like me," the other boy said, his eyes narrowed. "You have some sort of problem with me that you think I can't see."

Stryker turned a little pink.

"Well, you might as well tell me what it is now."

Stryker followed Zephyr's finger and paled when he saw that the opening was closed up now.

"'Cause it looks like you and I are going to be here a while." Zephyr said.