Mortality 5

When they had first arrived in the southern part of America to find the Golden Orb none of the Xiaolin had noticed. Something should have alarmed them, or at least made them worry as they searched behind bushes and under rocks for the mystical item but nothing did. Finally it dawned on the Shoku leader that something was different, a presence missing from the hunt, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

That is, not until he rushed over to the others and heard Omi's loud declaration of how he had found the 'wu and that evil could not have it. By then the others had begun noticing it as well as a silence descended only punctuated by the sounds of the forest. Nothing was happening.

"…Where are the Heylin?" Omi looked around curiously.

"I don' reckon they're comin' Omi," answered the cowboy, looking around.

"This is most suspicious..." Omi rubbed a finger across his chin.

"Well, I think this is a first guys…" said Kimiko quietly, "I mean, I can understand Chase or Wuya not showing, but Jack's always here." It Rai didn't know any better he'd say she sounded worried.

"Uh, maybe he's…I don't know, sick or something."  But even Riamundo didn't buy it.

"Well," said Dojo peeking out from under Clay's hat, "at least your job's easy today. Common kids, no sense waiting for danger."

The ancient dragon slid completely from under the ten-gallon headwear and shifted into his larger form. The four monks climbed aboard with an awkward feeling that something just wasn't right about all of this. The Dragon of Water paused a moment, taking a final look just to be sure before Dojo flew off into the air.

Back at the Temple, the four friends had all crowded around the ancient scroll of the Shen-gong-wu. They had left in a bit of a rush, all having wanted to distract themselves from the sad news reports of the morning, and doing so none had remembered to grab the scroll before leaving. While Dojo could remember the name of the 'wu his memory had been a bit foggy as to what it did.

The ancient magic of the scroll did its thing as the still image was suddenly animated giving them a demonstration as to what the powers of the Golden Orb were. A generic looking warrior placed said 'wu on the ground before him and the orb seemed to explode with a flash of light that they supposed could blind your opponent before going back to normal.

"So…it's like a flash bomb?" questioned Rai.

"According to the scroll, it releases a flash of pure sunlight." Stated the small yellow monk.

"Like I said, it's a flash bomb."

"Pretty much," said Dojo, "but, hmmm…"

"What?" pressed Kim.

"Dashi made it for something specific. It doesn't just release light, it releases sunlight. I can't remember why though…"

"To blind someone?"

"Hm, I guess…" Dojo was sure it was something else, but let it go. The way-more-than-fifteen hundred year old dragon was not going to remember anytime soon.

The Brazilian gave a grin, "No wonder the Heylin didn't show…"

A few grinned back at the comment, though a few more did not.

"Do not underestimate the usefulness of any of the Shen-gong-wu." Omi defended.

"I'm not saying it's not useful, just not interesting."

The topic was dropped then as Rai left with the 'wu heading towards the vault. Once put away the Golden Orb was forgotten about.

O8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8O

The sun was setting. Finally.

As the day had worn on the pain had become less and less intense until finally it had faded away all together. Jack felt great now, better than great, he felt strong. He spent a full ten minutes testing out this strength by running around and breaking and bending and lifting things just because he could now. It would have gone on longer if Jack had not suddenly had an urge to see what he looked like now.

Even though he could feel the fangs and pointed ears he couldn't see them, and he bet it looked cool. He was surprisingly calm about his transformation. Maybe it was because of his previous experience with magic, or more likely his not understanding the full gravity of his transformation but whatever it was he wasn't bothered.

Unfortunately, he was beginning to discover the drawbacks. Looking into the bathroom mirror, he discovered he had no reflection. Frowning, he wondered why the witch hadn't mentioned it, then again, he hadn't asked. That part of the myth wasn't popular in stories anymore and he'd almost forgotten about it. He wondered if he'd show up on film.

After finding his digital camera he took a quick snapshot of himself. It…worked! Ha! He looked so awesome. It was a really bad photo but it told him what he wanted to know. He was the very picture of a vampire, red eyes…did they always glow like that?…pale, white skin…well that's not new…and the fangs…totally evil…and the pointed ears.  Jack wondered why so many immortals had pointed ears. Though his weren't quite as pointy as Wuya's (more like Chase's actually) they seemed rather pointless. Cool looking, but pointless. Maybe they make your hearing better?

He didn't care about why he had shown up on the camera but not on the mirror. This was too cool. Therefore he didn't realize that because it was a digital camera it doesn't use silver like older film cameras; sliver, which can interfere with vampire powers.

Jack played around for a while after that, even worked on his robots some as he waited for Wuya to return. He was really thirsty. She said she would. So very thirsty. After a while he got bored. Thirsty. He thought about going out but it was still so sunny outside. His throat was beginning to burn. He played on the computer…blood.

Where was that witch!?! The Evil-Boy-Vampire could not think straight anymore and had started pacing around. She'd told him to wait for her to get back but he was about ready to forget her. He'd have already gone out if not for the fact she seemed to know a lot about this vampire stuff and that he trusted her.  

Pacing a few more minutes he finally heard a noise outside, courtesy of his new and improved hearing, and rushed to follow it.

O8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8O

Wuya's errands had more or less been her trying to hide what she was doing from the suspicious eyes of Chase Young, who had finally ended her demeaning punishment of the grounds he was sick of her presence, and acquiring some silver. Oh, Jack was very easy to control, even when she'd been a ghost she had only needed to raise her voice to get his attention, but a little leverage never hurt.

Other than that she had no errands. She could have returned hours ago but didn't. Instead she dressed up in some human clothes, looked around human stores, got lunch, uninteresting stuff that people do every day. She thought of her protégé only a few times. She knew Jack was probably in pain and thirsty and could use comfort right now, she was counting on it actually.

Wuya knew Jack better than anyone else; he would boast about evil but if ever got into a position to do real damage he'd chicken out the last minute. This way, by letting him sit for a while, the urge for blood could overpower his squeamishness. Tonight he would do his own hunting, she wasn't his mommy.

It was only as the sun was beginning to set that the witch returned to the Spicer mansion. She came in as she always did, through the unlocked back door but for once, rather than being able to sneak up on him, he was waiting for her on the other side. He had changed drastically since she'd last seen him, the witch's gaze admiring the fangs.

"You smell awful." He wrinkled his nose at her.

She did smell awful. What on earth had she been doing? He had expected her to look offended, instead she smirked.

"What, no hello?"

Wuya had been offended at first, and had been about to retort that he didn't exactly smell like roses but held herself back. Besides, it was probably her blood he smelled, not her. At least it better be. And Jack did look very hungry…

"Hello," he deadpanned, and then pleading, "Did you bring me anything to drink?"

"No." His face fell. "Tonight you're getting your own food."

O8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8o8O

The monks were goofing off now. The day was almost over and this was their free time. Kimiko and Riamundo were laughing as they searched various YouTube videos while Clay and Omi were playing a card game. Master Fung, Dojo wrapped around his shoulders, looked out over his young charges.

"It is getting late young ones, you might want to begin preparing for bed."

"Five more minutes?" pleaded Rai, sounding more like a child than a dragon leader, "This vid only has a few minutes left."

Omi and Clay were already clearing their game.

The old man smiled and nodded, "Alright, but do not stay too long."

He walked on, knowing them well enough to know they would be more than five minutes, but trusting them enough that they would get themselves to bed at a reasonable time.

When the last video ended Kim closed out of explorer and shut down the lap-top. It was completely dark by then and the two wordlessly headed off, Clay and Omi having already gone on. Kimiko separated from Rai to put her computer in her room before heading to the girls' bathroom to brush her teeth.

As the Japanese girl was coming back from her room, something shifted in her hair and clanked as it fell against a rock. She looked to her left to find one of her hair clips had fallen out. When she turned to pick it up she squealed when a rat came near, running off with it.

"Oh great…"

Had it been one of her cheap, plastic clips she would have let it go. However, it happened to be a much more expensive gold one form her father, so she found herself running after the rodent. Usually you wouldn't find rats on temple property; she was going to have to warn the others to watch out for them. Why did it have to take her hair clip?

The rat was fast and ran for it, leaving the temple grounds. Kim hesitated for only a moment before continuing her pursuit. Ew, it was carrying her clip in its mouth. She didn't realize how far she was running into the forest; didn't see how dark it had really gotten out there because if the small flame she had summoned. Finally the creature seemed to catch on to why it was being followed and dropped the clip, letting Kimiko pick it up and slip it into her pocket.

Looking around she finally realized how far the chase had brought her. Anyone else might have freaked out, but she was the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire, the dark didn't scare her. Before she could head back noises caught her attention, loud noises.

"What now? Sigh."

Fire looked in the direction the noises were coming from. The news reports from early that morning flashed in her mind. That dog really wasn't found that far from here. She wanted to chalk it up to fighting animals. She wanted to just go back to the temple and forget about everything. But she couldn't, not when some of those noises from what had to be a struggle sounded human.

Kimiko was a warrior, she was brave and if someone out there needed help she was going to give it. She followed the noises deeper into the forest, constantly scanning for signs of life. The noises had seemed to stop, and it felt like a very bad sign. It occurred to her suddenly that the animals had stopped making noises as well. It left her feeling chilled in the all-too-obvious silence only punctuated by her footsteps.

"Hello? Anyone out here?" It came out in a whisper.

For obvious reasons, there was no answer.

So she had been about to turn back and go home when she saw it.

A shadowy, human-shaped figure was standing among the trees holding something small and furry against its face. It was official, she was completely creeped out. Yep. As quietly as she could manage she began backing away slowly. It backfired on her when a twig snapped under foot and she cursed it silently. The thing's head snapped up instantly, looking around in obvious surprise. At one point she was sure the glowing red eyes were looking at her.

Familiar glowing red eyes.

Eyes surrounded by heavy black eyeliner.

Eyes that should not have been glowing.

She gaped openly at the unmistakable profile, it couldn't be…

"Jack?"

Oops. She said that out loud. His eyes were locked on her now. She tensed, waiting for an attack, but instead he gaped at her looking as shocked as she did before bearing his fangs and running away. Fangs. He had fangs. What the-

Kim swore she could hear her heart beating. For the first time in her entire life, Jack Spicer, of all people, had scared her. Was that even Jack? What had happened to him? He looked so…not that he had ever looked normal, but he had looked so…inhuman. She shivered remembering those blood covered fangs.

It was a while before she could force herself to move, having been completely unnerved. Kimiko hadn't been that scared in a long, long time. It was dark and the cold was getting to her and she wished she had just let the rat have the stupid clip.

The Japanese girl didn't relax until she got sight of the temple; the others needed to know about this.