The Mighty Shadow

give her a sword.

The platform has become filled with racial slurs, Anti-Asian hate directed at the series creator, and other intolerances.

“Wuya? Who is that? Not that it matters,” she kicks at a stray piece of grass. “Those scars of yours… I’m guessing they’re pretty old, considering how you’ve adapted with them, which means… you’re not the you I know.” She pauses for impact–and laughter. There’s no way he could believe what she just told him, but it seems to be the truth.

And here Raimundo had thought everybody and their grandma knew about Dashi and Wuya. At least, everyone with Xiaolin or Heylin associations.

“Run that one by me again? I’m not the ‘me’ you know?”

“Chase doesn’t know everything I do!”  She snarls.  “And I’ve been with him every time he’s attacked you lot.  For as long as I can remember.”  Nevermind that she can’t even remember her own ‘birth’ at his hands.  “Maybe you just can’t remember because I never fought you specifically.  Blame Chase for that!”

Weird girl just got weirder. She wasn’t lying but… she couldn’t be telling the truth either because whether they’d fought face to face or not, Raimundo knew he would have heard her voice or felt her on the battlefield at some point or other if she’d ever been there. Unless she just never spoke, but it seemed weird to break her silence over a failed spying mission.

“Ugh.” The eye roll of exasperation is audible. “I am NOT like those mangy, empty-headed felines. I am above them. I am Chase’s right hand, his Phoenix, his Queen of the Evil Empire! Don’t you ever consider me on the level of those kitties again, or I’ll shave all your hair off in the night.” She grinds something out with her heel. “I can’t believe I ever considered someone like you a… urgh!”

‘Unimpressed’ wasn’t a strong enough word to describe Raimundo’s reaction to this girl’s long winded titles.

The pacing stops. With a crunch, her boot heel pivots in the dirt, and suddenly she is upon him again, pulling his shirtfront.

“The hell are you talking about?” She says through grit teeth. “Why the heck would I lie about my feelings for Chase? He’s the one who…” She releases him with a push. “But you didn’t want my life’s story.” Her face contorts into a twisted smile.

Raimundo couldn’t remember the last time he’d been manhandled by a girl who wasn’t actively trying to kill him. And this one had been all but ready to do just that two seconds ago!

“Don’t flatter yourself. Chase can fight you and the rest of the monks into submission easily. Basking in his presence is an honor I cherish. No, what you have is…” She cuts herself off and chuckles. “Well I’d tell you, but then you might enhance that talent even further. Can’t have that, can we?” She starts pacing a circle around him.

Raimundo snorted. Her reaction was kind of funny on the surface, but…

“I can tell that you’re lying.”

Specifically, that she was ‘honored’ to bask in his presence. Which, ew, so maybe it was a good thing she lied.

“I told you I wanted to play! And… maybe get some good intel,” she pouts. “But I guess you’re just too cool a customer to be charmed by someone like me,” who’s weak. She shrugs. “But I guess I’ll come back to practice more on you. After all, you’ve got something Chase hasn’t.”

Raimundo couldn’t resist giving a smirk.

Her movements stop when his scar is fully exposed. Shadow’s heart sinks at the sight of the scar. There’s a small gasp. Her fingers tremble, then are drawn away, letting his hair fall back into place. She takes a few steps back, then rubs her upper arms, as if she’s gotten a chill. Is she going to run?

“You…?” She rasps. “You still want to know everything, right?”

“I mean I mostly just wanted to know why you’re creeping around the temple. If you want to spill your whole life story I’d say talk to Dojo; he’s a big fan of long stories.”

“Why would I get you din–?!” Her hands lower for a moment. “It’s not like that, you rake!” She slashes at the air in front of him. “Just let me look at your face.” Stepping closer, she starts to push his hair out of his face with possibly the lightest touch imaginable. The tips of her claws gently skim his skin.

Raimundo’s snickers at her reaction came to an abrupt halt as he felt hands in his hair. On his face.

“Whoa whoa, hey-”

More bewildered than put out, he didn’t pull away. What was with this girl? She was one of Chase’s warriors, wasn’t she? But she definitely didn’t act like one of them. Raimundo was pretty sure none of them had ever given half a shit about his scar before.

“Sh-shut up! Just…” She creeps forward timidly. “Can I touch you? Briefly.” She adds, as if that specification makes it any better. “You seem both familiar and not,” a half truth, but she truly means no harm. “I’ll tell you everything I can after I confirm something for myself. So, please…” Her outstretched palms are within his striking range. “Please. It’s only a moment.”

Raimundo froze, completely floored by the direction this was taking.

And then he laughed. An involuntary, disbelieving laugh stemming from a complete inability to figure how he should react to the cat warrior’s bizarre request.

Oh… crap. Shadow knows she can’t handle something like that. She’s far too light weight. Her focus falls on the boy, his hair whipping around his features. Wait…?!

“Wait! Stop!! Please stop!” She holds both hands out, flat, as if to calm the winds and stop him.

Well. That was fast.

But Raimundo did stop, stilling the powerful winds in an instant and sending the collected debris raining back down to the earth along with the intruder.

“Ack!!” She falls to the ground on all fores, kicking out at the boy behind her. Unfortunately her legs are already overextended from her previous lunge and she fails to land a hit. Shadow curses under her breath. Of all the times to… No matter. This is why Chase chose her fighting partners and took on the others. With an annoyed growl, she flips over onto her back and readies herself to jump up.

With a great sweeping motion, Raimundo summoned a giant wave of air powerful enough to lift a rhino from the ground to send his attacker flying. He smirked, feeling his hair whip around his face as the wave turned into a cyclone sucking up dirt and rocks and leaves.

The girl lets out a hiss, although it’s decidedly more reptilian than feline.

“I told you not to make any smelly jokes,” she growls.  Seems he hit a nerve.  “You think I like smelling like kitty litters?”  A huff.  “No matter, I came here to play, anyway.”  She lunges at him, claws outstretched.

Raimundo spun out of the way, circling around Kitty Litter’s back. Concentrating his chi, he condensed a small bullet of spinning air and fired it at the small of her back.

“Ha, ha, very funny.” She sneers, circling around to his front, getting right up in his face. “You honestly don’t recognize me from Chase’s side? Oh, that’s right.” She backs off a bit, but remains uncomfortably close, crossing her arms.  Does she not realize he’s blind? “We didn’t get the chance to fight back there. Didn’t even land a single hit on each other. We’ll have to fix that.” She reaches towards his chest.

So she was with Chase? Maybe one of the cat warriors in human form, though Raimundo had never heard any of them speak before.

The girl lets out a hiss, although it’s decidedly more reptilian than feline.