Xiaolin Showdown Fan Fiction ❯ Out of the Shadows ❯ Filling in the Blanks ( Chapter 5 )

Out of the Shadows

Chapter 5: Looking Back or Looking Forward?

By HeavenSentTenshi

 

She lay in the dark, staring at the black ceiling. The warm blankets were pulled up to her chest, her arms crossed over them, rising and falling as she breathed. Visions of her trip to Spicer's house drifted over her eyes.

 

Huge waves threatened to crash over the boat as she stood silently in the cabin. The CB radio crackled and spoke in indistinct blurbs. After a while, the captain merely shut it off. The small boat teetered over waves and moaned loudly every other second. The wizened man beside her reassured her that he'd faced waves thrice as high as these, though his expression wasn't showing near enough courage. Sauda merely stood there, rocking with the boat and staring into the water. Sweat dripped down her neck, the only sign of her uneasiness. Rain crashed down upon the windows, casing a veil to hang around them, worsening the captain's sight. Sauda closed her eyes and reopened them just as a wall of water rose ominously above them. The old captain screamed and white-knuckled the wheel as Sauda's eyes widened and took a half a step backward.

 

“No…” she breathed. Visions of her family flashed before her eyes as the wave broke upon the boat. She was almost sure she wasn't going to survive, especially when sirens began to wail and ring, signaling to the captain that sinking may be inevitable.

 

The radio was switched on again as the man screamed into the microphone. “Mayday, mayday! This is the Little Blue; we're caught in the storm two-hundred and fifty miles due west of Portland, the threat of capsizing could be possible! Over!” White noise took over and accompanied the sirens, bells, and the moaning of the ship. Moments ticked by as time seemed to slow down. Now, all that Sauda could focus on was the small radio, their only chance of survival.

 

We can't die here; Sauda thought fiercely; I can't die here! Not like this, I can't go without a fight!

 

Sauda's head whipped around. On a hook not two feet from her, hung a long rope. She snatched it up and headed for the door behind her.

 

“Where're you goin'?!” The captain shouted after her, the roar of the wind nearly drowning him out, “Are you crazy?!”

 

“Yes!” Sauda replied, slamming the door shut. She raced to the best of her ability down the steps behind the cabin and worked her way toward the bow of the boat. Meanwhile, in the cabin, the CB radio crackled to life. “I read you, Little Blue. You say you're two-hundred, fifty miles due west of Portland, Oregon? Over.”

 

The captain fumbled with the microphone for a moment, barely able to press the button on the side, his hand was shaking so badly. “Affirmative; are you near enough? Over.”

 

“No.” His heart sank. “But I know of a Coast Guard helicopter that is; I'll send him to your location, over.”

 

“Yes, thank you!” He drew in a deep breath. As he exhaled, he murmured, “Over `n out,” released the button, and laid the microphone upon the surface in front of him as he leaned on it.

 

Meanwhile, Sauda threw the rope around the rail at the edge of the boat. Her hands were numb from the icy rain, but she still managed to tie the rope around her and boat. She held tight to the rail and faced the towers of water. She stared Mother Nature down, her brow glistening with a mixture of nervous sweat, Pacific Ocean, and freezing droplets of rain. Her face had grown numb and red, her throat stung with each gasp of air she took.

 

“I will overcome this,” she breathed, “I won't die here! I refuse! I won't let my father down!” She gripped tighter to the rail just as the ship pitched. In the blink of an eye, Sauda's hand had left the rail, slipping down to the other side of the boat. She was plunging down toward the angry mass of water, the swirling monster that howled, growled, and threatened to swallow her whole.

 

Her hand groped for the rail as her life flashed before her for the second time. A pain shot through her chest and stomach; it felt as it someone had reached inside her and gripped tightly to her intestines. She knew what it was; it was fear; a fear great and terrifying, one she'd never experienced anything the like of before; a fear of death.

 

Water washed over her, waking her up to reality. As she spat out a great mouthful of salt water, she realized that she had stopped falling. Upon inspection, Sauda noticed that her hand was wrapped in the rope she had tied around her waist. She hung above the undulating water, which licked at her feet and washed above her at times. The water had caused the rope to become slick, the small protrusions and threads shredded her hands, though she couldn't feel it, her hands were still too numb. Another wave crashed over her and she slipped, her hand leaving the rope. Her heart was in her throat, her eyes went out of focus and her stomach somersaulted. The next thing she knew, she had stopped falling again; the rope had caught around her waist, and began a process of pain that would later lead to a red ring around her midline.

 

She let her arms hang limp at her sides as she leaned her head against the rope and closed her stinging eyes. What if she slipped out of the rope? What if the rope untied from the rail? Would she drown? Or would she die of hypothermia first? Would anyone come to her aid?

 

“Hey! Girl! Are ya still alive?!”

 

Sauda's eyes snapped open and her head shot up; standing above her was the captain, dressed in a yellow survival suit. Her heart shot instantly into her throat in exhilaration. She regained her grip on the rope as the man clutched it as well. Slowly, he began to inch her up the side of the ship, though as she was about to grab hold of the side and hoist herself up the rest of the way, the ship pitched again. The captain was thrown back and Sauda fell once more. She spun around and slammed her head against the hull as the water raised high enough to push the captain backward and nearly fall as he attempted to gain his footing again. As the water receded, Sauda sputtered and gasped for air. Her hair was heavy; her clothing clung helplessly to her and threatened to drag her further toward the water. She could have sworn she had just swallowed half of the ocean. The rain continued to pound ruthlessly down upon her. It and the ocean ran into her eyes, nearly blinding her.

 

That was when she felt it. She was nearly dried off by the great amount of wind that pressed her up against the boat and caused the water to flee in fright. Her weak and paining head lifted to present to her the most amount of relief she had experienced all day. Pounding against the rain with the sound of a giant heart were the blades of a helicopter. The red bird hovered just above the boat; three men leaned out the side, two of them held a basket that was connected to a pulley above the opening.

 

The basket was tossed from the helicopter and onto the deck of the ship. The captain leaned over the side of the boat and attempted to raise Sauda up to the deck as well. She thrashed until the man let go. Confused, he looked down at her. Sauda pointed from the captain to the basket.

 

“You first!” she yelled, “You can help them get me from up there!”

 

“No,” he replied, “Haven't ya hearda `the captain goes down with his ship'? It's either you first, or I ain't goin'!” Sauda hung there, watching the old man. “Besides, women and children first!”

 

Sauda frowned.

 

“You're referring to woman, I hope…” she muttered as the captain raced to catch the fleeting basket; he then threw it overboard. The Coast Guards lowered it until it was in front of Sauda. She grabbed hold of it and attempted to hoist herself into it, but was denied access by the rope that was now around her chest. She climbed in half-way and was hanging out of the basket, supported by the rope and her dying strength. As she hooked her arm around then the bar that supported the basket, she began to untie the rope. When she was freed, yet another wave crashed over her, this one strong enough to sweep her out of the basket, away from the rope, and into the depths of the ocean. As she was pulled away, her head slammed against the bars of the basket. Everything went black; she didn't even feel the icy plunge into the Pacific.

 

Sauda sat straight up in her bed, gasping for air. The bitter taste of salt lingered on her tongue, the sting of it in her nose. Sweat glistened from her forehead and neck as her chest heaved in and out. She leaned forward and rested her weight upon her palms which sunk into the mattress of the cot she slept on. Jack had retrieved the cot from a storage room in the house for her to use. One solitary blanket lay across her lap, the other two in a heap upon the floor. She lifted her eyes and stared at the curtain beside her; the dark red fabric separated her from the rest of the lab. Memories of the rest of the trip flickered in her mind.

 

She remembered waking up a few hours later, laying on a couch in a small white room. Beside her, tucked into the wall, was a porthole. Judging by the fact that the room swayed back and forth and by what she saw outside the window, Sauda guessed that she was on a ship. She would later find out that she was correct. She had been pulled from the clutches of the water and brought to a Coast Guard ship headed for the mainland. The captain was just fine, though his boat had not survived the storm. Not two minutes after they had all gathered in the helicopter and CPR preformed on Sauda, the boat rolled and disappeared down into Davy Jones' Locker. After traveling for another hour, Sauda was able to convince another captain to take her across the ocean; this captain was of a large cargo ship bound for China. Nearly three days later, they docked in Shanghai, and she was able to begin the task of locating Jack Spicer's house.

 

The slam of a door above her awoke Sauda to reality once more. She blinked several times and slid her legs over the edge of the cot. It creaked softly and Sauda twitched. She was still trying to get over hearing that noise; it reminded her of the moaning boat. Slowly, she rose and pulled the curtain back. The lab was quiet and dark. Nothing stirred, not even the Jackbots that Spicer had introduced her to the day before. Barefooted and still in her pajamas, Sauda padded across the floor toward the one light in the room, the one just above the staircase leading to the first floor. Jack had left it on the night before so that Sauda would be able to see. As she reached the foot of the stairs, she looked up and stared at the door. She heard footsteps above her; it was either Mr. Spicer, his wife, or Jack himself, she couldn't tell. She learned, though, when the door opened, that it was indeed Jack.

 

The light glared down upon Sauda, pooling upon the ground, and silhouetting Jack at the top. As this happened, she spun round, disappearing into the shadows and retreating to her corner. Jack could have sworn he had heard her hiss, though, in reality, it was the heat kicking in. He shuttered where he stood; that had been a bit creepy.

 

Sauda swept around to the other side of her curtain and began to dress herself. “Do you need something?” she called as she slipped out of her pajama bottoms.

 

“Ur… uh, well… not really…” Jack thought for a moment. “Y'know, this isn't your space, all your own.”

 

“I realize that.” Sauda hurriedly pulled her black pants on under her dress and groped around in the darkness for her choker. As she found it, Jack flipped the light switch to the `on' position. Light flooded most of the lab; there was a fixture above Sauda, and she became aware that in that position, Jack would be able to see through the curtain. She frowned, wishing with all her strength that it wasn't there.

 

Jack began to advance down the stairs, and just as he did, he noticed the room darken a bit. The light from Sauda's corner had gone out. “Hey, don't touch the lights!”

 

Sauda was staring at the fixture, confused. “I didn't. Perhaps the bulb burnt out?”

 

“No way, I just replaced that one.”

 

“Three weeks ago…” drawled the annoyed voice of Wuya. She swept into the room via the wall beside Jack. He flinched, noticed that it was just her and then started toward the metallic table he had been sitting behind the day before.

 

“It wasn't three weeks ago,” he muttered, “Besides, three weeks isn't long for a light bulb.”

 

“He's right,” Sauda pulled the curtain back, and began to tighten the handkerchief around her face. Jack watched her for a moment as she approached them; his eyes were drawn to the bandanna.

 

“I never did ask you about that.” He pointed to the black fabric. Sauda looked down at her mask.

 

“About this?” She pulled at it, “What about it?”

 

“Why do you wear it?”

 

“Privacy issues…” and she left it at that. “I would appreciate it if you didn't question my attire, thank you.” Once more that irritating arrogance began to seep into her speech. “Now, to business… we never did discuss payment…” Sauda folded her arms over her chest as Jack sat down.

 

“Hm, you're right…” he muttered, placing his forefinger on his cheek and his thumb under his chin. “Wait a second… didn't I already give you a figure?”

 

“Yes, however, we never discussed the method of payment.”

 

“I was just planning on giving you a check…”

 

“Oh, but you see,” Sauda held up a figure, “I am not the one whom you should pay directly.”

 

“What?” Jack screwed up his face in confusion; again with the riddles.

 

“I want you to send the check to my father, in the US.” Sauda retreated to her dark corner and began to sift through the bag she had brought with her.

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Because I don't need it, and that's all you need to know. We discussed perks, correct?” Sauda continued to search in her bag as she said this.

 

“Yeah; food, board and medical, all taken outta your paycheck.”

 

“And that is how I shall survive while my father receives the check. I have it all planned out… Aha!” Sauda returned a moment later carrying a slip of paper that had a P. O. Box address scribbled on it. She handed it to Jack. “This is where I want you to send it. I'll notify my father so that he knows to convert it to US dollars when it gets there.”

 

“But, what about you, aren't you gonna want it?”

 

“No, I told you, I have no need for it, my father does. I also told you that that is all you need to know.” Jack decided to give up and sighed, staring at the address.

 

This girl, Sauda, was very odd. All he knew about her was her first name, if that was even her real name at all, and that she knew martial arts. He didn't know anything else about her. She had gone so far as covering and shadowing her face to keep him from knowing anything; she had a post office box set up, and kept her last name a mystery to him. She either had something nasty to hide, or was too afraid of letting anyone know what she was doing or whom she was working for. Suddenly, Jack began to question her motives; why was she working for him?

 

Wuya floated several feet way from Sauda, who suddenly remembered that she had yet to eat and headed toward the refrigerator that Jack had instructed her to eat from. Wuya's arms were crossed, and her thoughts were scarily identical to Jack's. She flittered over to him and whispered into his ear: “I am not partial her attitude… it is almost as if she wishes to hide something, and that she knows all too well that we have yet to figure it out…. She is far too conceited for my taste…. I believe that perhaps your choice in hiring her was quite rash.”

 

“I know she's kinda… weird… but if she can get us Shen Gong Wu, it'll be worth it. Just trust me on this one, Wuya… we just have to wait.” Sauda retreated to her corner once more with her breakfast and hid behind the cover of her curtain. She sat upon the cot, untied her mask, laid it on the blanket beside her and began to eat her meal of water and a few biscuits she had found. She didn't want to be too much of a burden this early; she had no idea how much of an encumbrance she already was.

 

“Well,” Wuya continued, “she had better help us find them, then, shouldn't she?”

 

“She said she would. Besides, that's what I pay her to do.”

 

“And you explained to her the extent of this… responsibility, didn't you?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, she knows about all of it, it was after you left; remember, she was still kinda jumpy around you, and-?”

 

“Yes, I remember,” Wuya snapped. She sighed and floated off.

 

“Hey, where're you goin'?” Jack inquired.

 

“Away from your stupidity…” she grumbled, barely audible. Jack, of course, didn't hear it. He shrugged and decided to have a snack. As he opened the refrigerator, he noticed that, though Sauda had rummaged through it, nothing seemed to be missing. He frowned and grabbed a chocolate pudding cup and began to snack on it as he returned to the table. He propped his feet up on the surface and relaxed a bit. His mind needed a rest. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the silence and sent Jack off-balance, causing him to end up on the floor with a loud thud, accompanied by his shriek of terror.

 

“I hope I didn't frighten you…” Sauda muttered, walking over and helping Jack to his feet.

 

“Frighten me? No way….” Jack dusted himself off as he laughed very nervously. His eyes traveled over to where his pudding cup lay on the floor; it was ruined, pudding was strewn from where his hand had once been to where the cup now lay. Jack whimpered for the loss of his pudding, and then ordered the last of his Jackbots that still worked to clean up the mess. Sauda stood behind Jack in silence as he made the order. She cleared her throat again. Jack turned his head. “What?”

 

“Would it be alright for me to go outside? You said something about not wishing for your parents to know that I'm here….”

 

“Outside? For what?”

 

“I need to train; it's been a while.”

 

Jack thought for a minute. He wasn't sure that his parents would be willing to allow Sauda to stay in the house, nor in his lab. Though, he quickly learned that Sauda had no money, had no place to stay, and couldn't go home, as she lived an entire ocean away, in the United States. He had had no choice but to conceal her presence and allow her to stay in the dark of the basement. Going outside could possibly compromise everything he had set up, but she couldn't stay there forever, she would, after all, need fresh air.

 

“There might be a place you can go where my parents probably wont see you… it's off to the side, sorta away from everything. There's a pool with a waterfall back there, too.”

 

Jack then proceeded in showing her a safe route there. Water washed down off of the rock formation, into a pool that contained several stones poking out of the surface. There was a large lawn all around, enclosed by a high, brick fence with barbed wire at the top. “Will this work?” Jack asked as Sauda set her CD player on the ground.

 

“Yeah, this is perfect,” she muttered, switching the musical device on and placing a CD in it. Jack made to leave, but stopped by the pool and decided to watch. When Sauda noticed this, she looked his way, contemplating on whether or not to ask him to leave. She decided it best to leave him be. As the music tumbled from the speakers, Jack asked why she used music.

 

It took Sauda several minutes to explain her technique of combining music with attacks and defenses to throw her opponent off.

 

“Ok, but how would it confuse them?”

 

“Because by that time, I already know what my next thirty attacks are, and they haven't got a clue what to expect, how to defend against it, or how to catch me off guard, unless they somehow knew what song I was using… perhaps then I would be the one off guard…”

 

“How?”

 

“They would know what style I was using, fast or slow; they would know when I would pause, and when I would execute something large. I, at the time, probably wouldn't have figured out that that they knew. Of course, if I did learn, I would simply stop and begin a new song. Then, my opponent would have to try to figure out what I was dancing to next.”

 

“Seems pretty confusing to me…”

 

“Oh, but Jack, that's the point.” Sauda smiled beneath her mask, and Jack could clearly see it. “I designed it to throw my opponent off and gain the upper hand, even in situations where I'd probably lose.”

 

Jack smirked. “Sounds pretty underhanded to me.”

 

Sauda paused a moment. “Does it?” she asked, confused. She always thought it was brilliant, and apparently, so had her master, though she'd never quite explained what she was doing for him.

 

“Yeah; it's like playing with your opponent's mind. Very evil, I like your thinking.”

 

“I… suppose you're right…” Sauda looked away, down at her CD player. She had never turned it off, and it was in the middle of a very slow, dark and heavy song. “But, it still gets the job done.”

 

Jack noticed that every once in a while, Sauda's eloquent speech would fade from her words, especially when she was thinking very deeply. This was one of those times. He watched her for several minutes as a slower, sadder song filled the silence between them.

 

Suddenly, Sauda looked up. “I suppose we've spent too much time talking… I really should get on with my training.” She rose from her sitting position on the ground and changed the music to a more upbeat and fast-paced song. She took her beginning position, and then sprung into action. When Jack had seen her perform for him before, he hadn't had the pleasure of the attendance of the accompanying music as well; this only added to the delightful effect. Every once in a while, the moves wouldn't be executed perfectly, but Jack soon learned that she had yet to polish this routine. He still couldn't help but be impressed. As she finished, he smirked and rubbed his hands together.

 

“This'll work out… it'll all be perfect.” He grinned as Sauda shut the CD player off.

 

“Alright, I think the music is getting to your head…” she muttered, sitting down on one of the rocks in the pool. “Is this safe to drink?” she asked, dipping her hand down into the cooling liquid.

 

“Er… I wouldn't if I were you,” Jack answered apprehensively. The thoughts of the Cyclopes bathing there nearly sickened him.

 

“That's fine….” She then positioned herself so that a fine mist from the falling water cooled her off. Silence followed. The soft roar of the water drowned out all other sounds. The cold droplets surrounded her, the sound deafened her, the darkness of her now closed eyes consumed her. And suddenly, she was back on the Little Blue. The smell of salt, the freezing numbness, the painful red ring around her waist, the even more so painful slam to the head, it all came back.

 

Sauda shot forward in a panic-stricken state. She kneeled in the soft, warm grass, her hand to her chest; she breathed in deep gasps. Her eyes and nose stung again from the salt. She almost felt nauseated.

 

Jack was thoroughly shocked and confused, to say the least. One second, she was sitting on the rock, enjoying a fine mist from the waterfall, the next she had flown forward and fallen to the ground, breathing at the same rate as an athlete who had just run eighteen miles, as frightened as a child in a haunted house on Halloween.

 

“Uh, Sauda?” he asked apprehensively after a long pause. She took a gulp of air and muttered:

 

“I'm fine… just a… a bad-”

 

A loud moan interrupted her mid-sentence, followed by a low, strangled scream. “Jack!” the voice cried, “Jack, where are you?!” It became evidently clear that it was Wuya, especially when she flew through a wall of the house nearest them, headed straight for the afore mentioned evil boy genius. “It's been activated! Another Shen Gong Wu!”