Meeting New People
Kim Possible fanfiction
immo - rated not for kids
author's note: Still trying to get around the Chinese... gr.... I hate FF net's formatting... And because you asked for it, here it is! Good thing some of you reminded me too, I sorta forgot about writing for a while hahaha... hahah.. ha... I'm an idiot.
Looking up at the steps, Monique and Ron groaned. It was a long way up.
"Can't we take the car?" Monique asked hopefully. They had left it a ways back, but it was easy enough to turn around and get it. And the African-American woman was pretty sure that the all-terrain vehicle could ascend these stairs with its passengers easily.
"We're walking." Kim said, not really paying attention to her friends. Vince had driven them towards Er Mei, but had stopped the car when the woods had thickened considerably. A short trek later, they were at the base of the stairs that led to the dwelling place of She Cun and Er Mei's mistress. Lying at the side of the stairs were the weights Kim had used to train with. She bent down and lifted them up, curling her arms and testing herself. She had become weak. These almost seemed heavy. She remembered when, after months of training, they felt light to her.
"I'm going to go on ahead." Kim shouldered those weights and gave Ron and Monique an amused smile. "Why are you looking at me like that for?"
"Why do you have those on?" Ron pointed out the stone weights.
"I used these for training when I was here." Kim explained, stretching out her muscles quickly. "I'm out of shape, so no time like now to get in shape again, right? Meet you guys at the top!"
With that, she grabbed a bottle of water Vince handed to her and was off, ignoring Ron and Monique's calls for her to come back. When she had disappeared above them, Ron and Monique looked at each other in frustration and sighed.
"She seems very energetic." Vince chuckled. The Chinese man produced several more bottles of water from his backpack. "Here," He passed it to the two Team Possible members. "You'll need this if you want to make it all the way up alive."
"She's better than when she had been back at home." Ron started a conversation as they made their way up the stairs. "But it feels like she's still avoiding us..."
"Kim seems fine." Vince said, a little bit surprised. "She's avoiding people?"
"When you were at her house," Monique gave her input, "It was the first time in... a good four-five months that we'd seen Kim. Really, its been a good long time since she'd stepped foot into her own house. She went all hermit on us."
"I didn't know that." Vince was troubled. "I thought she was coping with Shego's death."
"If coping meant isolating herself from her friends and family and barely eating, then, yes. She was coping real well." Ron's sarcasm was not missed.
"Chang, were they tight?" Monique asked, with just a tiny bit of jealousy. She was Kim's best girl friend. If someone had taken her spot, she wanted to know!
"Call me Vince, its easier. Only people that live around these parts call me by my Chinese name. You don't have to." Vince smiled at Monique's mistake. "And yeah, I think they were pretty tight. Course, they had their differences a lot. One time they were fighting about something and I got caught in the crossfire. Kicked in the eye and everything. Course, I was also driving at the time and looking back, I'm glad the only thing that was seriously damaged was the car..."
"Those two can get kinda intense." Ron patted Vince on the back sympathetically. Rufus, perched on Ron's shoulder, nodded in agreement.
Vince uncapped his bottle and took a swig, already feeling a light sweat beginning on his back. He wasn't out of shape, but at the most, he only ran up these steps once every week or so! But looking at his companions, he knew that he would be required to make an earlier break than usual. Maybe a quarter of the way up they'd have to stop...
"Dang! That girl did training on these steps?" Monique huffed. "I think I might... throw up my lung if I was carrying all that stuff she had!"
"She did it almost everyday, apparently." Vince explained how Kim had told his wife a little bit about the training regiment that was imposed on her while living with Shego, to the awe and horror of Ron and Monique.
"That ain't humane!" Monique blurted out.
Ron shook her head. "Maybe for us. But not for Kim."
They rested frequently. So it wasn't all that surprising that Kim reached the Green Snake's abode alone. Reaching the top, she let the weights drop to the ground and looked around.
It seemed like nothing had changed.
The grand wooden complex that had been her home for years was exactly the way it was before the last fight, before Xaio Qing had destroyed it. It looked deceptively peaceful. And inside, Kim knew it would probably be the same. The twsiting walkways. The garden. The placement of the rooms. The smell of woodsmoke and food when you wandered close to the kitchen...
The redhead placed a hand over her heart, just so she could feel it pounding in her chest. A familiar, steady rhythym. Everything was the same, except for one very minor, but very important detail. But it felt like, even though Kim knew... she knew. But it felt like if she walked closer, the door would open and Shego would be standing there, smirking at her from the doorway and waiting for her to come in.
So she didn't move. And just stood there desperately imagining Shego busying herself inside the sprawling building. Feeding the carps. Fixing dinner. Reading. Sleeping. Laughing. Anything at all...
"Yo."
Kim Possible jumped a bit, startled. Her friends had reached the top. And she had spent so long just standing there in a stupor that the sweat that had dotted her brow had dried.
"You okay?" Vince asked, worriedly. After the walk up and a long talk with Kim's friends, he was a bit concerned for her. So she wasn't alright.
"I'm alright." Kim smiled vacantly.
"You didn't tell them about you and Shego." Vince said in Chinese, eyes stern. This was something he had learned on the way up. He had managed to gracefully side-step the subject when Ron and Monique had acted confused when Vince had offhandedly mentioned Kim and Shego being together. "They don't know why you're so upset, Kim. Maybe you should tell them. I mean, everyone sort of knows already."
"Nobody really knows anything." Kim replied stonily.
"What are you two talking about?" Monique and Ron had been standing silent for a while and now asked for an explanation. Their question was ignored, in light of the heated argument the Chinese man was having with the leader of Team Possible.
"Kim." Vince was so frustrated by the redhead's behaviour. She was being unbelievably unreasonable! "Your friends care about you, they're really worried about you. I'm worried about you. And I think if Shego were here, she'd tell you--"
"If Shego were here, none of this would be happening." Kim interrupted. A hollow expression on her face. Before the argument could go on, a voice interrupted them.
"Good afternoon?"
All turned towards the house and on spotting the creature standing there, could feel their insides turn to molten liquid.
The absolutely most perfect being that they had ever seen stood there, framed by the doorway of the house. Her smile was teasing, yet shy. Robes of red silk encased her body making her skin seem whiter than it really was, making her glow like a flame. And the four humans that stood there gaping at her, well.. they were the moths.
"Hu Li Jing Tai Tai." Kim was first to break free from the rapturous gaze, perspiring a little from the effort.
'Wow.' Kim felt a little bit breathless, feeling like she had just jumped out of a plane. She ruthlessly tamped down those feelings that she knew the fox spirit was making her feel. Forced herself to look the fox in the eyes and feel nothing. The hu li jing's eyes widened a bit in surprise, the only indication that she knew that her effect on Kim was minimal, at best.
"Welcome." Hu Li Jing Tai Tai tittered, her laughter causing everyone around Kim to sigh blissfully. The redhead quickly reacted to this, punching each of her friends on the arm.
"Ow! Girl, that hurt!" Monique was the first to react. Vince, realizing what had happened, cast a grateful look towards Kim, the fight before forgotten. Ron, however, did not react at all. He still had a dopey smile on his face. It wasn't until Rufus bit him that Ron woke up.
"Ow!" Ron yelped, the glazed look he had had on his face vanishing completely. "Rufus, what's wrong with you, buddy?"
"No fun at all." Mrs. Fox pouted, immediately ensnaring Ron and Monique back under her spell. Vince kept his head down, trying his best to avoid the fox spirit's gaze.
"Madam, please." Vince's voice was strained from the effort of fighting the fox's spell. "No games. We come here on a serious note."
"I can see that," Madam Fox nodded, replying to Vince's Chinese with English. She studied the new arrivals briefly. The girl with the deliciously dark skin who was openly admiring her would probably be a delicious treat... the blonde, awkward-looking boy seemed to radiate a hidden power which she wanted to investigate... and the redhead. The redhead was special. Very special.
"You must be Kim Possible." With another nod of her head, Monique and Ron stumbled a bit as the fox dropped her enchantments. "My daughter's spoken of you."
"All good things, I hope?" Kim Possible smiled thinly, remembering the beautiful fox spirit quite well. She could see how these two were related. Yinchun looked very much like her mother; same teasing, pouting mouth. Same beautiful face. They could be mistaken for sisters, really.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yinchun's mother suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something. She stepped to the side and gestured to her guests. "Please, come in!"
"Watch your step, guys." Kim cleared the high threshold easily, feeling the familiarity of the motion. When she had gone back to Middleton, it had taken her a while to get out of the habit of thinking that she had to cross a high threshold at every doorway.
"This way, my dears. You must be hungry!" Hu Li Jing Tai Tai led the way, and Kim and company followed. There was music. And as they cleared the first building and walked into the garden, Kim could see that in the pavilion where she used to have guzheng lessons with Xaio Qing, a group of maidens were playing musical instruments. Their orange clothing fluttered in the wind, like a fish's fins in the water...
'Fish-people.' Kim realized quickly. So replacements for the inhabitants of the tiny stream that had gotten caught in the crossfires of the final fight had been brought in.
A feast had been laid out for them and at the sight of all the food, everyone remembered the trek up the mountain. The food looked mouth-wateringly good right after that exercise. And even though Kim wanted the answers to her questions right away, she couldn't resist and had joined the rest of her friends in an eating competition.
"Please," Hu Li Jing Tai Tai looked pleased when they fell on the food like a pack of wild dogs. "Help yourselves."
There were tiny delectable dumplings on slices of carrots and it was amazing how, when they tasted it and bit through the skin, hot delicious soup would gush out. There were lobsters, fiery red, stir-fried with ginger and onions and cooking wine. A huge swan made of candied fruits sat in the middle of the table, glazed and honeyed, looking almost vulgar in its cavity-inducing sweetness. There was also huge pig in the middle, its skin roasted until it was crispy, but inside, the meat was still juicy. There was such a spread, it was impossible to identify them all and everyone just satisfied themselves with eating as much as they can. It was like they were possessed. Everyone tried to eat and drink as much as they can, until they couldn't possibly stuff another piece of food into their mouths. Even Rufus had gorged himself. After dessert, since everyone was sitting on the floors anyways, they did one better and lay back.
"Oh... MAN." Ron groaned, rubbing his protruding stomach. He had *never* eaten so much in his life! And that included that time Buenos Nachos had that nacho eating contest...
"Ditto." Monique moaned from her position on the floor. Drowsiness was hitting everyone.
"That... was delicious." Vince let out a huge burp, followed quickly by an, "excuse me."
"Ungh..." Kim sat up with a grunt, pinning Mrs. Fox with her eyes. "We came here... to talk."
Hu Li Jing Tai Tai gave a laugh. "I should've expected you to be so... focused."
"Its important." Kim fought the effects of sleep. Her friends had already given up that fight against the call to rest though and the redhead could hear Rufus snoring loudly on Ron's stomach. "I have questions to ask you."
Mrs. Fox's eyes lit up with delight. "You *are* quite special, aren't you? I mean, after my food, you should be sleeping it off. Just like your friends are doing."
The beautiful woman swaggered over and before Kim knew it, was within as inch of Kim's face.
"I think I definitely will enjoy having you as a guest here." Mrs. Fox stroked back Kim's bangs, then placed a soft kiss on Kim's forehead. The heroine's whole body tingled at the contact. She let out an involuntary gasp that quickly turned into a groan when the fox combed her fingers through Kim's hair, held her head possessively and leaned down to snuffle lightly against the side of Kim's neck.
"We'll have plenty of time to play..." Hu Li Jing Tai Tai purred into Kim's ear. "But right now... go to sleep. Its been a long day."
Unable to resist the food nor Mrs. Fox's effect on her, Kim felt her eyes droop shut.
"We're accomplishing more by splitting up." Tim tried to explain to Jim again. Jim just shot his brother a dirty look before continuing on in silence. Team Possible had decided that splitting up helped them cover more ground than if they were a single unit. So Tim, Jim, Dr. Lipsky, Tigger and the abbot had decided to go to a neighboring village where a monk had told them they were needed.
"But what about Monique and Kim--"
"They're gonna be alright." Tim laughed. "Come on. Kim? Ron? Not to mention, Monique?"
"That Monique can sure deliver a punch!" Dr. Lipsky agreed without looking at them, as he was piloting his UFO and it was imperative that he kept his eyes on the road! ...or sky, if you would like. And both hands on the wheel, of course.
"Yeah..." Jim brooded. "But remember what happened last time? Our asses got handed to us."
"The snake people aren't there. And Vince said it was alright." Tim quickly pointed out, but what his brother said had struck a nerve. Now Tim wore an identical frown.
"They'll be alright." Nam Ho said distractedly, then urged Dr. Drakken to speed up. Though his words were no comfort, they were enough to draw attention onto the abbot who had been acting really strangely after he had announced that they were going to another village. Strange, meaning excited. They had never seen the abbot get excited before. He was always sort of calm and detached. Cool in the face of danger.
Jim and Tim traded a look before they started speaking, their voices in sync with one another's. "Why are we in such a hurry?"
Nam Ho was startled out of his thoughts and gave the boys a weak smile. Tigger, who had been sitting nearby, looked up at his master questioningly.
"Have you heard our history?" Nam Ho asked.
"A little bit." Jim and Tim replied.
"What history?" Dr. Lipsky asked.
"Well, its a long story--"
"We'll brief him later." Jim interrupted Nam Ho. "But what does us going to this other village--"
"--have to do with Vince's village?"
"Well, it has more to do with Fa Hai." Nam Ho corrected. "The founder of our temple?"
"Yeah..."
"What founder?" Dr. Lipsky asked. Tim turned to the blue doctor to give him a brief summary as Jim urged Nam Ho to continue.
"Well," The abbot sighed, scratching a spot on his nose. "When Fa Hai was still alive, he raised Bai Su Zhen's son as his own. He lived out here by himself, but people searched for him, of course. He was a powerful master who could exorcise demons, students flocked to wherever he was to learn from him. When he died, though, his followers split up into two groups. One, which I am part of, resides in the temple where Fa Hai lived. The other lives much further away, just right outside of Xaio Qing's influence."
"Alright." Jim nodded, showing that he understood. "Why did you seperate?"
"Well, it was just a different set of beliefs we adhered to." Abbot Nam Ho sighed as if he was very tired. "Like... Like the Christians and the Muslims, I think. Came from the same beginnings, but different."
"Oh." Tim was back in the conversation having helped Dr. Lipsky catch up.
"We," The abbot pressed a hand on his chest so the Possible brothers and Dr. Lipsky would know he was talking about his people, "follow the original philosophy that Fa Hai taught. It's the feelings of compassion and love that defines what a person or a demon is. If they do not have those feelings, even a full human is no better than a beast or a demon. Our training, of course, is in exorcism and containment. But it's basically... we have a judge and an unbiased jury panel for these otherfolk. We also have punishment of course, which includes the 'death penalty'; the complete removal of a creature from the reincarnation cycle, but we don't use it often. The other sect is judge, jury and executioner. And the punishment? Always death. We're both knowledgable in exorcism but the other sect focuses more on completely wiping out a target while we focus on containment and binding spells. They see all the otherfolk as dangerous while humans are the only things worth anything."
"So what does that have to do with now?" Dr. Lipsky asked, trying not to glance back. Eyes on the sky, eyes on the sky...
"This other sect was about to dole out their brand of justice when we showed up. Rescued whom we thought was just a regular run-of-the-miller. But apparently, he might know what's been going on, why all of this is happening. Why the world outside of Xaio Qing's home is suddenly so much more hospitable to these creatures. Even us... we're affected. The powers we have have grown exponentially. We're finally going to get some answers. And maybe we'll find out if Shego's missing body has anything to do with this."
"You okay?" Tim asked, just a bit worried now. On further investigation, Nam Ho didn't seem to be doing so well. He was sweating lightly and was shaking a little bit. Like a junkie.
"I'm... I'm fine." Nam Ho managed a shakey smile. "Its just that... with power comes... adjustment. I just have to... control it. Excuse me."
Nam Ho got up and walked back to the passenger cabin unsteadily.
Dr. Lipsky glanced away for just a second to look after Nam Ho. "Is he going to be okay?"
"He better be." Jim muttered. "We got enough to worry about."
The rest of the way to their destination was uneventful. And when they landed, several monks were already waiting patiently to escort them to their guest. The difference between this village and She Cun was subtle, but noticeable. Everybody basically looked the same, but instead of the peaceful, ideal rural life that She Cun presented, everybody seemed to be... thinner. And a lot more scared of the strangers. In fact, it seemed as if everyone was carrying some kind of weapon. It might just be a simple stick, but Team Possible could see they held it with an intent.
"This way," The monks hurried them a bit, excitement clear in their eager features. What would their master do now? Their... guest... was demanding answers and freedom. "The hunter clan is being held back, but we've told everyone to be on the alert."
"Have they been open to having a discussion?" Nam Ho and the monk conversed quietly while they half-jogged, half-power walked to their goal.
"Yes. But they want our guest first."
"That's unacceptable."
"We said we would wait for your decision."
"That's good."
"In there." The monk motioned, afraid to enter. There were monks posted on every corner of the building, eyes closed and muttering endless mantras, not even opening an eyelid to look at the abbot and his guests. "He's angry."
"What is he?" The abbot raised an eyebrow as he heard snatches of a high-level containment spell from a nearby monk. And with his training, he could see that the containment spell was under heavy strain from their captive.
"We've tried to compel him to say, but he's strong. Too strong. We... we're not sure--"
"Come in and ask me." A voice boomed out. The door was flung open by unseen hands. "Come in and lets get this over with."
Abbot Nam Ho looked at his guests, then squared his shoulders and entered. Team Possible followed close behind with Tigger bringing up the rear. After their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could see one young Asian man, about Tim and Jim's age, sitting on the only chair in the room, glaring at them. He had wild black hair that came down to his shoulders and the length of it was streaked with grey, as if he had aged prematurely, but besides that his voice and body was still youthful. His face, smooth and hairless, was fine-boned and slim. Looking at him now, even in his tattered and dirty clothes, many would describe him as simply... radiantly noble. He held himself like an aristocrat, like a king, receiving his subjects. And he acknowledged them with a slight tilt of his head. And while they were studying him, they were sure he was thoughtfully assessing them.
"Um." Tim cleared his throat, uncomfortable when the young man's gaze rested on him. "I'm Tim. Its nice to meet you?"
The young man seemed surprised at Tim's greeting. "What did you say?"
"What?" Now everyone was surprised. The young man spoke English without a hint of an accent. And here Team Possible thought they were just going to stand around while the abbot and this... this maybe-spirit/demon argued with the abbot in Chinese.
"Um. I'm Tim Possible." Tim tried one of his smiles that always softened his mother up. "Its nice to meet you."
The young man fell silent. Then he dipped his head in greeting, and maybe it was the dim lighting playing tricks on them, but it seemed as if the young man's expression had softened. "My name is Haoxian. It is nice to meet you, Tim Possible."
"This is my brother, Jim Possible. His dog, Tigger." Tim did the introductions. "Dr. Lipsky, who helps us. And this is Abbot Nam Ho."
"I am pleased to meet you--" Nam Ho started, but was quickly cut off by a wave of the young man's hand.
"I will not talk with you. You have been most inhospitable. You have saved me from possible danger, yes, but this is not much better. I deserve dignity, yet I am treated like a criminal." Haoxian looked at Tim now. "You, however, have been most polite. I will speak with you."
Tim looked over at the abbot for guidance, but the man just shrugged and sighed. Some times, demons and spirits could be so much trouble!
"Well... I guess, I would like to offer our help." Tim waved to the people in the room. "If you're in danger, we'll protect you."
Haoxian seemed to ponder the offer for a little bit. "For no reason at all? You would help me? Would you seek a reward?"
"No." Jim and Tim both answered, shaking their heads.
"Team Possible doesn't work like that." Tim explained. "We help people for free."
"For nothing?"
"Well, before, maybe a ride to our next mission to help." Tim rubbed the back of his neck. "But now, Dr. Lipsky's been providing the rides for us."
"Interesting." The young man stood up now. He was tall. He paced a bit, studying the group in front of him, the beginnings of an amused smile forming on his lips. "Then will you help me?"
"Tim--"
"Sure." Tim shrugged, before the abbot could stop him. The amused smile Haoxian had been wearing widened into a grin.
"Very well, boy. I will tell you my problem. I am looking for my father and I think the clan of hunters that almost had me just a little while ago has the information I seek. They are keeping him locked and hidden somewhere, I need to free him. They probably have the map to my father's prison and the means to free him at their headquarters."
"Someone kidnapped your father?" Dr. Lipsky looked scandalized. "That's--that's--villainous! Why, I would never--"
"You would never what?" Jim raised an eyebrow. The blue doctor had the decency to blush as he remembered a time he had kidnapped Kim and her mother.
"If that's true, we won't be able to get in." The abbot shook his head. "They're heavily fortified. We had a chance to tour their premises one time when they hosted our annual meetings. From what I could tell, their headquarters were built to withstand attack and defend against it."
Haoxian clenched his hands into fists. "I know. I tried and failed."
That word, 'fail', made Tim study this figure a bit more. Underneath all that posturing, the Possible twin could see the young man was exhausted. Tim would bet Haoxian had tried everything he could to get into the compound, to get the information to save his father. Failure was harsh. Tim knew. Everytime he looked at Kim, he felt like he had failed. They hadn't saved Kim at all. She was still lost somewhere out there.
"We'll try again." Tim said sincerely. He walked over to Haoxian, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder. "We'll do it together."
Haoxian looked at the hand on his shoulder as if it were an alien thing. Then he smiled, his fine features lighting up. Tim had to blink a bit, wondering if it was an illusion or if Haoxian was actually as brilliant and beautiful as he seemed at that moment.
endnote: comments, suggestions, criticisms are all welcome! :D