After spending most of the day perfecting the plan, Raimundo sat with the remaining two monks on Dojo's back. It isn't even a good plan, he thought. It probably won't even work. However, they were getting ever closer to Chase's land, and the task wasn't going to magically vanish; Omi wasn't going to un-kidnap himself.

Or was he? Raimundo had seen little of the monks' new abilities in the past weeks, and wasn't too sure as to how much they had improved (without him, said a nagging voice in his head) since he had left. Ashley's words when he had been 'captured' by Wuya still rang in his head: "You do know that everyone hates you, right?" Since that night, he had become increasingly more wary of his companions, although he tried to tell himself that he was being silly.

They didn't trust him completely, it was true, but there was no call for him to return the sentiment.

"Don't get caught," Clay said.

"I won't," Raimundo replied with a nervous grin.

"Good Luck," Kimiko said quietly, and reached out to hug him. There was a strange look on her face that had nothing to do with the queer, heavy light that hung around this place.

He stayed out of reach, scowling. It was her fault he was here in the first place! Or, if not the first place (that was his own doing), second or third. He pulled out the Golden Tiger Claws. "I don't know why I still hang around here!" he shouted for the benefit of anyone listening, "I was much better off on the Heylin Side!" and slashed the claws through the air.

"Raimundo! No! Come back!" Kimiko shouted just as loudly. She really needed to work on her acting, Raimundo reflected as the purple colours flashed past. Then again, she didn't really need to have any great skills before-

Before he had time to complete the thought, he had fallen into what looked like an ancient throne room built by some rich desert-dweller. There were fountains everywhere, but the flavour of the place was coloured by the balconies and the dais, all of which were in shadow. It was the kind of shadow that gives one the creeps even if one isn't afraid of the dark.

"Who are you, and why have you come?" a voice said. It sounded bored, but familiar. Was it ... the voice from yesterday? There was a rumble in the background, like some wild animal.

"Are you Chase Young?" Raimundo asked. He turned around looking for the source of the voice, unsuccessfully. It began to occur to him that everything with Wuya might be nothing here - it wasn't like she and Chase were allies. Heck, they might never have even met, or could be enemies...

"You didn't answer the question," the voice said.

"Chase, your showering mechanism is needlessly complicated," stated another voice; it was an impatient voice that was advancing from a different direction. Raimundo turned around to see Wuya wearing naught but a towel, and (understandably) his brain went into a kind of shut-down. She stopped walking when she entered the room, and displayed a face of shock, followed by a wink, when she saw Raimundo. "Why, Raimundo," she said, "what a pleasant surprise!"

"You know him?" asked the bored voice. It still didn't seem at all impressed, which was a bad sign.

"Why, of course!" Wuya exclaimed. She strode over to the boy, turned him around to face the dais and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "This is my Apprentice, Raimundo. I invited him here for training."

"Need I remind you that this is still my house?"

"Oh, you have plenty of room," she said dismissively. Raimundo stayed quiet - she was handling this better than he could, even if this was a complete surprise to her.

"With all the strays you keep bringing in, there soon won't be." There was a sigh, the sound of movement in the shadows, and then a man emerged. Chase Young looked impressive, in a flashy sort of way - the armour seemed to be more decorative than functional, and that long black-green hair couldn't fare well in a fight - but Raimundo, after seeing him transformed, wasn't fooled. He looked back at Wuya questioningly, but she ignored him.

Chase looked Raimundo up and down, appraising him. "Fine, he can stay," he said eventually. "But on one condition." Here the lizard-man allowed a flicker of a grin to cross his face. "He shares Spicer's bedroom."

Raimundo heard Wuya suppress a snigger before she spoke. "He's fine with that." I am? He wondered.

"Go on and show him around, then," Chase said, and walked away from them.

Wuya took a step, but then realised that she was still wearing the towel. "I still didn't ask him about..." she muttered, but shook her head. "Follow me, then," she said to Raimundo, and walked back the way she had come. Raimundo looked around the throne room once more, and then followed.

Wuya led him down the corridor passing purposely by a large number of doors. "So, I'm your Apprentice now?" he asked as they stopped. The door was exactly the same as the others (Raimundo supposed this was to confuse intruders), but she threw it open with confidence and let go of the towel before slamming the door in Raimundo's face. Seconds later she was back, dressed and striding on down the corridor. Raimundo stared after her, only following after she beckoned flirtatiously. If this was what Wuya was like when she had a body, his stay here would be ... interesting, to say the least.

"Yes," she said a few moments later, as though nothing had happened. She looked him up and down. "You'll need new robes, of course..."

Aw man, I thought I was done with robes, he thought. "I do?" he asked out loud.

She looked amused. "Of course," she said, continuing to walk quickly. "If you are going to have a higher rank, you'll have to look the part!"

Raimundo almost tripped over his feet in shock. "Higher rank!" he yelped.

Wuya turned around when she realised that he had stopped. "Yes," she said impatiently. "Dashi based the rank system at his temple on the Heylin one that was in place before - if you become my Apprentice, that gives you the official rank of Heylin Apprentice.

"Now," she said, continuing the walk again. "Hurry up. There's something that I want to show you." Raimundo followed, still slightly dazed.

The corridor of identical doors seemed to go on forever as they continued silently, until Raimundo began to wonder if they were going in circles. Just as he was about it ask, however, the walls changed abruptly when they reached a stone staircase. Wuya put her finger to her lips, grinning, and slipped down them almost silently.

Raimundo's descent wasn't nearly as graceful, but he tiptoed as best he could while still keeping up. It was a fairly long flight of stairs. The light from the corridor did not make much difference in the latter half, and so flaming torches were mounted on charred sconces which sent up smoke and flickery shadows. Wuya stopped at a large door and waited for him to catch up before opening it noisily. Once again she put a finger to her lips, but then practically danced down the stairs on the other side and into the dungeon.

"And how are we today?" she asked, and was met with stubborn silence. "Still not speaking to us?" Raimundo crept a little further down the stairs, trying to see who she was speaking to. It couldn't be... There was a gasp, and Raimundo wobbled on one foot. Wuya grinned and turned her back on him, behaving as though she were oblivious to him and the hastily hidden look of shock on Omi's face. "What's the matter? Are you missing your friends?"

Omi grinned as though a plan had just come off. "Not any more!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

Wuya raised her eyebrows in blatant false surprise and turned slowly back to Raimundo, smiling pleasantly. "Oh, there you are Raimundo. Do come here." Raimundo walked over slowly, keeping his eyes on Omi's. He has to understand, he thought, trying to will everything - the plan, how this wasn't real, the fact that they were still friends whatever it looked like - to the other boy through eye contact. "My Apprentice," Wuya said.

Omi looked heartbroken. "Raimundo," he said, disappointed but the question still there.

He frantically searched his mind for something that would put Omi at ease without letting on to Wuya. He almost laughed at himself for the telepathy attempt - why would it work, anyway? Eyes can't tell stories. "Oh, yeah," he said, smoothly despite his fraying nerves. "It's all thanks to Wuya that I'm here now."

The hidden message wasn't caught. It had been a long shot, anyway, but there was always a chance... Not any more. Omi's face crumpled, before he lifted his head and glared. Raimundo tried to step backward, but Wuya was behind him and holding his shoulders.

She laughed. "Oh, don't look so surprised. The way things are now, I shouldn't wonder if your other friends join us of their own free will."

"No. Kimiko and Clay are honourable warriors," Omi stated, looking directly at Raimundo.

"What, are you saying I'm not?" Raimundo asked, trying to inject some more hints into the conversation. "I'm following orders!"

"From the wrong side!" Omi yelled.

"Oh really!" he yelled back. "Maybe you're right," maybe I would be better off with Wuya, "but maybe you're wrong!" Please, get it through your head that I'm still on your side!

Omi glared back, about to make another comeback before Wuya guided Raimundo away from the barred wall. "Perhaps it would be best to continue the tour," she said, giving him a strange look. He nodded, shaken, and could feel Omi's eyes on him as he passed by.

The dungeon was dark past the edge of Omi's cell. The torches had not been lit further on and Raimundo wondered where Wuya was going to take him, a seed of worry that he might have been set up beginning to grow in his mind.

"Where are we going?" he asked. His voice echoed. Just as the last reverberations had died away, there was a sudden flare of light as another torch lit itself above a cell on the opposite wall to Omi's, making him squint. "What-" he started, but Wuya hastily made a cutting motion with her hand. He took that as a signal to shut up.

He peered into the cell as they passed, and with a jolt he realised that it wasn't empty as he had thought. There was a man in there, chained to the wall and to the ground and wearing raggedy brown robes. He didn't move, didn't acknowledge them in the slightest, and Raimundo thought that he might understand why Wuya had cut him off.

The walk after they had passed the man was long, and with near complete darkness to boot. Wuya lit her hand with green fire, but still Raimundo tripped over the crumbled brick of the steps to another large door as they passed it, and her light went out completely before before they reached the torches at the other end.

She was sweating, he noticed as they moved into the light. Does that mean that it takes a lot of effort for a measly little spell like that? he wondered, thinking back to how Kimiko had effortlessly thrown a handful of flames at him during a recent training session. How advanced did they get while I was gone?

&o&o&

AN: I'm glad to see that there's still an interest in this little (ha!) fic after the months that I neglected it. Reviews are so encouraging that it's unbeliveable! Especially guesses and con-crit. I do love guesses.