"A party?" Mighty Ray asked.
First Squad had just returned from a training mission when Mr. No-Hands had given them the invite. Sonia and Mighty Ray were the only two who had gone straight to the squad room while Lin Chung and Jumpy went to pick up their respective mail from the mailroom.
"Affirmative, the Hummingbird Queen and Fruit Bat King have invited us to attend their daughter's eight-teenth birthday as a way to build bridges between Big Green and their kingdom. If all goes well their daughter will be joining Big Green." Mr. No-Hands summarized.
"So, what do we get her, over ripe fruit or flowers? Hahaha-OW! Hey what was that for?!" Mighty Ray laughed, only for Mr. No-Hands to slap him with his ponytail.
"First off, the princess is human, second, this is a serious matter. High Roller and Twin Masters have it out for the princess for some unknown reason. She is in serious danger." the older man explained.
Sonia thought for a second. "Twin Masters and High Roller already hate us so it makes sense that she would join Big Green, but why now?"
"Maybe she found out how good looking I am and is just using it as an excuse to meet me." Mighty Ray boasted, only for Yaksha to smack him this time.
"Whatever the reason is, we must make a good impression. Second Squad along with Woo the wise will be joining us since Commander Apetrully won't be attending."
"That makes two of us." Lin Chung said coming in with his bag. "I received a message from my father, he wants me home immediately."
The others frowned. "Can't it wait? How long will you be gone?" Sonia asked.
"Longer than a week, it takes three days just to get to my home and I have no idea what my father wants. He's not someone you can really say no to." He said.
Mr. No-Hands sighed. "It's okay, we'll make up for your absence somehow."
Lin Chung nodded before leaving. Once he was far from Big Green and made sure no one was around. It had been a long time since he last shifted and Lin Chung wanted to make sure no one was around to find out his secret.
"Mom? Are you feeling okay?" Autumn asked as she slowly entered the room.
About twenty or so fruit bats and hummingbirds were watching as Autumn entered the room. Her parents' chambers were always heavily guarded by the best warriors in their army when they slept, each having small poison tipped spears that could paralyze a fully grown elephant. The small army watched Autumn and Tempest carefully.
"Stand down." Huā ordered from her nest.
The guards lowered their spears and returned to the little holes that they used to hide in the walls.
"How are you feeling, mom?" Autumn asked as she sat at her mother's bedside. "Anything broken?"
The Hummingbird Queen smiled softly. "No, thankfully. But what about you? You look like death." She joked.
Autumn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay, just over did it a little on the magic. I'd be better if you guys would let me take off my inhibitor." She gestured to the circlet on her head.
"First off you know what happened last time you took it off."
"Yeah I kicked Bald Eagle king's butt from here to kingdom come."
"You almost turned him into a roasted eagle and were overtaken by your own power. Second, it's a symbol of your status in the kingdom."
Autumn huffed.
"Your mother is right." Fruit Bat King said as he flew down from the rafters. He landed on his daughter's shoulder.
"Your power is highly unpredictable and you aren't ready for its full power yet." He explained. "Give it another year, I'm sure you'll be ready for it before you know it."
Autumn buried her face in her mom's nest before groaning. "How come Tempest doesn't need an inhibitor?"
"Because I can't set people on fire." Tempest said.
"I do that one time and suddenly I'm labeled an arsonist!" Autumn groaned.
The animals all laughed and snuggled the human member of their family. Autumn knew they only wanted what was best for her,she just needed patience and not to be so stubborn. Autumn would argue she wasn't stubborn, but then that would prove she was just being stubborn about being stubborn.
"Am I missing something here?" a voice asked.
Everyone turned towards the door where Jilpa was standing with a tray of food for the group.
"Master!" Autumn got up and went over to her teacher and took the food from her. "Let me help you,"
"Thanks Autumn." She said ruffling the redhead's hair.
"You must be tired from your trip to Big Green, have a seat." Shuǐguǒ offered.
"I wouldn't want to intrude on family time." Jilpa said.
"Non-sense, you are family as far as we're concerned." Huā said.
Jilpa smiled softly and sat next to her student as the family started their meal. For a short time that day they felt completely at peace, unaware of the evil that was planning to end the small family's serenity.
"HOW CAN YOU FAIL THIS MANY TIMES HIGH ROLLER?!" Twin Masters bellowed as he zapped the would-be dictator.
High Roller shrieked in agony as Bear Stomp and the Zebra brothers looked away, unable to watch their master be tortured in such a way. Once the demon was done torturing him, High Roller stood up, before leaning over to cough up blood. Wiping his mouth, he glared up at Twin Masters.
"We do not understand how you keep failing to kidnap a mere princess. Do you lack all competence or are you just an idiot?"
"I don't understand why you need her! How is some moon girl going to help us?! What makes Moon Soldiers important?" High Roller complained.
Twin Masters glared down at the tiny human. "She has much potential for chaos, High Roller, as did the Moon Soldiers before her." Twin Masters said as he waves his hand, creating illusions of Moon Soldiers of the past. Each one varied in height, weight, gender and species, but all had one thing in common, they all had the same crystals on their hands and forehead. "There hasn't been a Moon Solier seen in over a millennium and only one had ever walked the path of chaos, Yami Hǔnluàn. They created the Sword of Sow, the demon crystals you used to try the humans into animals and the staff you used to switch bodies with Lin Chung. They were only defeated when Son Wu Kong himself destroyed them. This girl is still in the vulnerable years of her training, where her magic can be easily influenced."
High Roller gulped. He hadn't known about the Moon Soldiers before now, or how powerful they were, but that said, if they were so powerful, why had he never heard about them till now?
"So how come I've never heard of them till now? If these people are so great then why aren't there more of them? Where are they now?"
Twin Masters smirked and gestured to the skulls around the cave. "They're all here. Every single one, by my own hands or by their own, their lives were snuffed out only for us to claim their power as our own."
The Zebra brothers looked around in fear. They could use moon magic, did that mean Twin Masters would come after them next?
"Now if you're done standing around like a potted plant, GO GET ME THAT GIRL!"
High Roller ran so fast out of the cave you would assume that someone had lit his butt on fire.
Autumn shot up in bed, breathing hard and sweating profusely. Her heart was being a million miles an hour and the moon on her forehead was flashing violently. She was having a panic attack.
"T-TEMPEST!" She called out.
The coyote ran over from his spot on the floor, growing to his max size and curled around his best friend trying to calm her down.
"I've got you kiddo, I've got you." He said soothingly as he nuzzled the red-head.
Autumn had been getting these panic attacks since they escaped East Citadel. At least once a month Autumn would wake up screaming and crying that someone was trying to kill her and Tempest would always be at her side to calm her down. Autumn would curl up into his fur and cry until she was calm, usually falling back asleep.
"They're after us… They're coming…." She mumbled into his fur, shaking like a leaf.
"Its okay Autumn, we're safe, you're safe. High Roller can't get us here." He said in a soothing voice.
Tempest nuzzled his human's head and gently licked her forehead until the shaking stopped and Autumn had fallen back asleep. Once the red-head's breathing evened out he gently pulled the blankets back over her and curled up tightly around her. Like Autumn, he couldn't remember much before waking up at East Citadel, only having a vague feeling of being indebted to this human girl and an overwhelming urge to protect her from anything that tried to attack her. There were times when they had been on the run where they had saved each other's lives and strengthened their bond, and now with the new additions to their little family, he didn't have to carry the weight of protecting her all by himself.
There was one thing that really bugged him though, the painting of the guy with the phoenix hair pin. He despised this painting Autumn had made and once tried to throw it into a fire, only for Autumn to repaint it the next day. This person didn't really exist he would tell himself but then why did he feel so uneasy with it? If this person was real, were they friend or foe? The question would buzz around in his brain until he himself fell asleep.
Days passed and the day of Autumn's 18th birthday party had arrived. Autumn was sneaking around the castle watching all the decorations being put up and sneaking a few snacks from the kitchen. There were a few animals that had arrived early to talk with her parents before the festivities began but other than that no guests had arrived yet.
"Princess please stop hiding, you need to get ready for the party!" Onyx called out as she searched for her.
Autumn snickered quietly as she ran silently back to her room and smiled to herself as she bit into an apple she stole from the kitchen.
"Quite the sneaky child aren't you?" A voice said from behind her.
Out of instinct Autumn threw her apple at the intruder, expecting High Roller or one of his goons, but was surprised to see a red monkey sitting on her bed, holding the apple she attacked him with.
"You have five seconds to explain yourself or I'll blow you to smithereens." She said holding an energy ball in her hand.
"I did not mean to startle you Ai, I am the thirty-third monkey king, Blayze the Cunning." The monkey said with a bow. "I merely wanted to give you your birthday gift before the festivities started. Jilpa told me where your room was so I thought I would leave it on your bed. Forgive me for startling you."
Autumn looked at her bed and noticed a small red jewelry box sitting on her blankets. She opened it to find a necklace with a gold pendant of a monkey holding a staff about half the size of a peach pit.
"Thank you Blayze, I-" When Autumn turned around there was no one there. "Weird." she muttered and got ready for her big night.
(So…. I'm so sorry for the long wait! I'm in my final semester of college and two things hit me like a brick wall just this month. 1, I'm sick again and have to have two small surgeries, one is already done and the second is coming up along with my midterms. 2i, My cat of sixteen years passed away. Between everything that's been going on these past couple months I haven't had time to write. I am working on some new story ideas and I would love to know if you guys would like to see a Xiaolin Showdown Crossover with Hero 108 or maybe Pokemon, or Ninjago. Let me know. )