"I don't care. I'm not going to do it."

The words stung and Jiayi held her breath, standing against the back of her father's workshop. He was meeting with her crush again, but this time it was different. She knew it would be; her father had discussed it with her mother just a few days prior. All of Jiayi's suitors from town had suddenly retracted their offers of marriage and now her father was becoming desperate to secure her future with a good man. Not that I need it. I can take care of myself. Her hands curled into fists and she felt her body shaking as she fought the urge to cry.

"Please. Have I ever asked you for anything before?" Renshu asked, desperation in his voice. He was inside the workshop, pleading with his friend to agree to take care of his daughter. Unfortunately, he had suspected that things would go this way and had ordered her to stay in the house with her mother. Renshu knew it would break her heart to know that the man did not return her feelings.

"No, but I can't do that. Look. She's a good kid, but she'll never be a seamstress. She'll never be someone's wife. She isn't the type. Besides, she has a dark aura."

At this, her fists tightened and she dug her nails into her palms. Jiayi could sense someone approaching and opened her sharp brown eyes, meeting the dark ones of a familiar young man. He tilted his head, an eyebrow raising as the wind blew through his long, black hair. She frowned and shook her head before settling on the ground. Her father continued to try to persuade Dashi, but she knew it was futile. "…not even the boys in the village want me now…" she murmured, her eyes on the ground.

He sat beside her, the faintest of blushes forming on his cheeks when she leaned against his side. "That may be, but now you have control over your destiny," he pointed out. "What would you want to do? Now that you have no suitors. Now that you've heard…?"

Her nose wrinkled and she closed her eyes. "I think…I'd want to be a warrior." The young man chuckled, making her turn to stick her tongue out at him. "What? My father creates weapons. I've seen enough of his swordplay as well as you and your friends' fighting styles. I want to be strong…now that I've been given this chance."

Shift P.O.V

Jiayi woke to find her abdomen covered in drying blood. She was on the floor of Jack's living room, surrounded by crimson-soaked towels and countless used adhesive bandages. The red-haired young man was passed out at her side, his face seeming almost paler than usual. Pushing herself to sit up, she tested moving her damaged arm. It moved easily and without pain. Satisfied, she lifted her boyfriend onto her back and carried him up to his bedroom.

Once he was tucked beneath the blanket, the young woman went to wash off the blood and put on a clean tank top and jeans. It's healed, but it looks weird, she thought as she looked in the mirror. The claw marks across her collarbone area had stretched and widened so they healed in a jagged and peculiar manner. The puncture to her shoulder had also stretched open more and was healed in a thick outline of where the Sword of the Storm had entered and exited her flesh. Ugh. Not very appealing. Not that it matters.

She made her way to the rooftop and settled on her back so she could look up at the stars. The air was slightly chilled; a welcome change from the day's unbearable heat. The dream that had come to her was beginning to truly bother her and the air was serving to calm her. Not a dream. A memory. My suitors did retract their offers and no one knew why. None of them would say why. And that man…I know now what became of him. Dashi and Guan's friend. Her nose wrinkled and she lifted her gaze directly above, fixing upon the full moon. The thought of spending eternity with him was far from pleasant. He was selfish and arrogant. He seemed convinced that she truly belonged with him. Remembering his words from that afternoon, she scowled and sat upright. "He loves me? Sure. I bet he's said that same thing to plenty of women and they fell all over themselves to do whatever he wants. Why should I care? I don't care! He could rot in a well for all I care!" Jiayi pushed herself to stand and smiled wickedly as the wind ran through her dark blue hair. "I hope he does rot in a well so I can look down upon him and laugh!"

"Am I interrupting something?" a voice asked from behind her. When the young woman turned quickly to glare at him, he grabbed her upper arm to steady her from falling off of the roof. "You looked so content, I was reluctant to interrupt. And just who do you want to see rot in a well?" Jiayi's lips turned down into a scowl, but he was unfazed. "I came to deliver something you may want, but if you intend to be uncooperative…" She held out her free hand expectantly and he raised an eyebrow. With his other hand, he gripped hers and smirked. "What are you doing? You wanted to hold my hand?" he taunted.

"Give me back the Blade of Renshu!" she snarled.

"I don't have it." Chase stepped closer to her and his smirk grew when he saw her start to blush. "If I brought that, I would ask more of you before returning it. After all, wasn't that weapon made for you?"

"I will push you off of this roof!"

"And what would that accomplish?" He looked toward the ground and she followed his gaze to find a lion and a tiger seated in the grass below.

Jiayi stared down at the two, wondering for a moment if he intended to feed her to the jungle cats. Wait…no. I don't know how I know this for certain, but these are the two that stood at my side this afternoon. She glanced over at Chase. "So…? Why would I want them? I can't control jungle cats."

"You don't need to control them. They've decided to pledge their loyalty to you."

"Interesting…"

He could see it then. A spark in her amber eyes that revealed her true, wicked nature. The sight of it, coupled with the growing grin on her pink lips, sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. The villain moved behind her, holding the girl's shoulders and feeling her tremble with excitement beneath his touch. "Imagine what it would feel like to tear apart a town with them at your side." Chase did not need to look in her eyes to know that she was considering it. "Imagine tearing apart those pathetic villagers that fear you. Can you imagine what it would feel like to give them something to truly be afraid of?"

"…they never gave me a second chance…just one shapeshifting incident and they called me a monster…" she murmured, biting her thumbnail.

"With no one left alive, who's left to call you a monster?"

"You shouldn't kill people." There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "A Xiaolin warrior would never kill another living thing."

His mouth brushed the side of her neck, fingers tracing along her scarred collarbone. "You're not a Xiaolin warrior. You were never one of them."

"…but you were…" She looked at him from the corner of her eye. The grip on her shoulders had tightened and he seemed to tense at her words. "Don't you ever regret the decisions you made? Don't you ever wish you could go back?"

"Why would I give up this power? Oh, I see now. You wish it had been him instead of me, don't you? I suppose that if I were him, you would gladly give in to your evil urges."

Jiayi smirked and lifted a hand, threading her fingers into his hair. Her other arm went around his neck, pulling him closer. "You seem to not realize that I've gotten over him."

"Have you now?"

"He's dead. It gives me no choice but to get over him." She felt him press against the back of her hips and sank her nails lightly into his scalp. "You delivered my new followers. You're excused. So scurry back to your lair and continue to lick your wounds." Jiayi snickered and quickly moved before he could throw her off of the roof. "What's the matter? Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you not accustomed to women speaking to you that way?"

Chase continued to smirk and lightning flashed in the sky behind him. He had never wanted to possess a living thing as badly as he wanted to possess Jiayi. He wanted to have her in his arms. He wanted to feel the heat of her skin against his. The way she was speaking to him now, as if he were beneath her, made him want to dominate her. He wanted to touch the thick scars that his claws had left across her chest. Determination filled him and he swiftly made a grab for her.

She twirled out of his reach, her boots scraping over the shingles of the roof as she dodged his repeated attempts to catch the young woman. The sad part is…I'm starting to reach a realization. We are both immortal. Guan hid me from him for centuries, but that had to end eventually. What if…eventually…we do end up together? We're both eternally young. So from the time that we met, were we destined to spend eternity together? Not exactly in that way, but both existing…both living…in the same world for eternity? Jiayi's hips were swaying excitedly as she watched his expression go from amused to annoyed. "What? Are you getting frustrated? I thought that we were equally matched."

Chase saw the wickedness in her eyes once more and it made his smirk return. She was teasing him and, though he hated it, she was enjoying herself immensely. "Even at your most obnoxious, you're beautiful," he remarked. Her face turned pink and she bit her lower lip.

"I'm not as easy to manipulate as Wuya." Her gaze darkened and she opened her mouth to say more, but her cellphone began to ring. Holding up one finger, she used her free hand to dig the phone out of her jeans pocket. "Need something?"

"I thought something had happened to you! Where are you, Jiayi?! I woke up and I was in my room and you're not in the house and-!"

"Jack. I'm on the roof." Amber eyes lifted to find Chase suddenly standing directly in front of her. Seeing a flash of malevolence in his eyes, she quickly ducked to avoid him grabbing her throat. "I'll be back down soon. Don't come outside."

"Why are you on the roof in the middle of the night?! Wait! Why are there a tiger and lion in my backyard?" The fear was showing in his voice and the sound of cloth rustling could be heard in the background as he pulled on his jacket. "I'm coming outside!"

"Don't come outside! Do not make me repeat myself, Jack!" She dodged a kick directed at her midsection and countered with a strike to the immortal man's armored chest. It pushed him back a little and it seemed to catch him off guard long enough for her to jump back toward the edge of the roof. He's going to rush at me next and try to push me off of the roof so the air is knocked from my lungs and I'm stunned. I can't let that happen. The few seconds that I'm stunned would give him just enough opportunity to do something horrible. She glanced over her shoulder at the ground. Her two followers were now standing just below her, their feline eyes raised to her in concern. "Look. I'll be in soon, okay? Just don't come outside."

There was a pause and she knew that he was now in the kitchen, gaping at the jungle cats standing in his backyard. "Are you alone?"

Her smirk grew and her eyes met Chase's. "Of course not, Jack. My least favorite pest came to pay me a visit." Before the villain could step forward, she stepped back and landed on her feet in the grass so many feet below. She saw him glare at her over the edge of the roof and gave him a brief grin before ushering her new followers into the house.

Jack tried not to scream. He put forth every ounce of courage when he saw his girlfriend enter the house with a tiger and lion on either side of her. "So they're…?"

"Um…" She let a hand fall to her side, running through the lion's mane. "Alright so…it's hard to explain without first explaining how I got these scars." Jiayi told him about the sparring match with Raimundo and how it had escalated to a battle against Chase Young. After telling him about her second, and now third, encounter with the villain, she glanced down at the jungle cats. "So that's pretty much it. These two decided to pledge their loyalty to me instead of him."

"And he didn't kill them?"

Jiayi was rubbing the tiger's ears now, crouched before the creature. "I guess he wanted to bother me one last time before he went to sleep," she joked. The feline butted its head against her shoulder, its whiskers tickling her scar for a moment. "I mean, I don't have control over jungle cats. I'm pretty sure that ability is related to the armor he wears, right? Not that I've ever tried to control jungle cats…or turn people into jungle cats."

"You turned peaceful after you lost that fight though, right? That fight against the guy you were in love with," Jack pointed out. "You should try commanding these two."

The corners of her mouth turned down at this notion. "It doesn't seem right. They still have human minds and souls, right? They should be able to do what they want."

Jack stared into the lion's eyes and shivered when it yawned, displaying rows of sharp teeth. "Do you think they know they can't change back to human now? If you can't do what C.Y. can, doesn't that mean you can't let them change to their human bodies? He sometimes has them do that."

Maybe they were better off with Chase then. Not that I made them come with me. Shaking her head, she released a sigh and led the way to the living room. The immortal sprawled on the couch, stretching her arms over her head. "If that's the case…I'll just have to make it so they don't regret joining me, right? I doubt it's difficult to treat them better than he did." The tiger trotted across the room and flopped down beside the couch, glaring at the lion when it approached. Although I do wonder what sort of people they were before they became this way. Were they both men or was the tiger a woman? What sort of lives did they live? What kind of warriors were they? Worse though…I need to focus on my beliefs from now on. No more mischief. I don't like how Chase Young made me feel tonight. As if being evil again would be fun. I swore to be good. I swore it to Guan. I can't disappoint him a second time.

Slouching in one of the chairs, Jack felt slightly awkward. He had missed out on a lot by staying home that day and worried that he might have been able to prevent her from getting hurt if he had gone with her to the temple. This thought, in turn, brought on a sense of jealousy. In order to leave such a deep set of claw marks on her chest, Chase would have needed to get very close to her. Not to mention that the immortal had been alone with her on the roof just moments before. Something worse than could have happened to her and he would have been sleeping, blissfully unaware. "So now what? He has your dad's sword, right? You want to get it back?"

"Hm…you're asking if I'm about to willingly fall for an obvious trap, Jack." She grinned evilly at her boyfriend and was elated when he grinned back. "I'm not just going to fall for it. I'm going to run into this trap head-on and tear that egotistical maniac apart!"