On days like this, it was best to stay indoors. As much as she hated it. She despised anything that made her feel trapped. Nevertheless, she sat in her shack in the forest and prepared medicines while quietly humming to herself. It was a song she had learned a long, long time ago on a rainy day such as this. Hearing thunder boom overhead, she cringed. The air was cold, making goose bumps rise on her pale skin. Shivering, she fetched her cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders before continuing her work.

The medicine she made would be taken to the closest village, though it was actually several miles away. She delivered it once a month, depositing a large basket of medicines and bandages at the village gate. The people there hid from her. They always did. One of them had seen her at the worst possible moment, years ago. Now they all feared her. Despite this fear, they did like the medicines she made and would leave offerings at the village gate with a note of thanks. She had a box full of such notes.

The fact that they feared her made her feel depressed. No matter how many years passed, it always made her depressed when she sensed them watching her from the safety of their homes. As if they think I'll attack them, she thought with a deep frown. I would never hurt them. I couldn't. I just want to help. A stray lock of hair fell over her eye and she sighed in frustration. Years of living alone, of having little contact with humans, had made her start to feel anxious. She knew that insanity was a possibility in the near future. It would certainly not surprise her. When the day came that she did go insane, she had a plan to warn the villagers so they could evacuate.

Outside of her shack, a young man stopped in the rain to stare for a moment. He had been on a quest to find a particular legend. One he had learned of recently. It had taken him longer than he cared to admit to find this legend, but now he would meet them. Hope made him take a few steps toward the shack, but then he paused and felt unsure. Being turned away was a possibility. He had heard that this legend was evil; like he was. If that was true, he should be able to convince her to join him. If his expectations were true, she would be like Wuya. Bitter, but powerful. Probably annoying. He could always hope for something different though.

Stepping up to the window, he was surprised by what he saw. A young woman stood at a counter, using a pestle and mortar to grind roots and herbs into powder. She had skin that was pale like porcelain, long wavy hair the color of a stormy sky. What was most startling was that she was dressed like a normal young woman around his age. She was wearing tattered jeans, a black tank top, and black fingerless gloves. Of course, she wore a black, billowing sort of cloak over this. He had been expecting someone…more like Wuya. Or any other legend that he had met. Dressed in an old-fashioned way. This one seemed to be attempting to blend in with the rest of the world almost. When she looked his way, his eyes met a pair of sharp amber ones.

She stared for a moment, quite alarmed by the sight of the red-haired young man. His skin was as pale as hers and his eyes seemed to match his hair color when he blinked in surprise. Eyeliner was running down his cheeks from the rain and she lifted a hand to smother a laugh from escaping her. When she felt that she could calmly approach whatever this new situation was, she lowered her hand and gave him a curious look. "…are you…lost?"

Her voice was different from Wuya's as well. It was soft, sweet, but the tone held suspicion. "Uh…Xun?"

"…Jiayi Xun…" she confirmed, dusting her hands on a cloth. The young woman opened her door, frowning. "…lost, then…?"

"No! I mean, I was. Can I come in?"

"…I suppose…" The legend moved so he could come in and raised an eyebrow when he looked around in awe. "…so…how do you know my name?"

"I was looking for you! Uh…well that sounded weird. I mean, I want to team up!" He saw her tilt her head, puzzled by his offer. "You don't want to?"

"…pair up…for what, exactly?" She returned to her task, trying to hide her blush. It had been a long time she spoke with a male human. This one had a certain charm to him.

"Well, like, to steal shen-gon-wu. Or other stuff. We could try to take over the world." He had heard tales from Wuya. Supposedly, this legend had been quite vicious in the past. He wanted to know everything about her now; her powers, her alternate form, why she had become this way. He knew for certain that she had acquired immortality the same way as his idol.

Jiayi had been interested for a moment. He was strange, to come seeking her. She had hoped that his reason, that his cause, would be a noble one. She had been evil, at first, but regretted it and spent centuries trying to make up for it. "…not interested…"

"I didn't even properly introduce myself, did I? Jack Spicer, evil genius." He held out his hand and was actually surprised when she turned to shake it. Their eyes locked for an instant and he saw mild irritation in her gaze. She was starting to remind him of a cat. "Er…I bet you're wondering how this partnership will benefit you."

She once more returned to her medicines, trying to ignore his stare. "…already said I wasn't interested…I'm not into evil anymore…"

"But it's fun!" Jack saw her frown and he flinched. "It can be fun."

"…clearly, you don't know how evil works…"

"There are different levels of evil!" he argued. "Stealing shen-gon-wu isn't even all that evil! It's mischievous!" Hearing her snicker, he couldn't help but grin. "What? You like mischief? Should we just do that instead?"

Regaining her composure, Jiayi glanced over at him. She had to admit that he was sort of cute, as far as normal humans went. He had a certain style about him that was unusual. "Jack…you talk as if I agreed to join."

He watched her pour the medicine into a bottle and cork it. "Okay, so do I have to prove myself first? Is there something I should do? Something you want me to get to prove I'd be a good partner?"

Persistent. She stretched her arms over her head, her back popping quietly. I haven't seen such persistence in a human in a while. What drives him exactly? I suppose it could be entertaining. I could always avoid committing evil acts and just follow him. Though I am curious…Jiayi shrugged out of her cloak and hung it on its hook near the door. "…what would I get out of this partnership…?"

Jack's brain scrambled for reasons he could give, offers he could make. She was staring at him intently, like a cat. With her cloak discarded, he could see scars on her arms and upper chest as well as a few dark tattooed symbols on her forearms. He had limited experience with girls so this was becoming difficult quickly. "Resources! I can get you whatever you need to make your medicines!"

"…and…?" Jiayi crossed her arms now, leaning back against the counter. "You do realize…it will take more than resources…to persuade me back to the Heylin side."

"C-companionship?" He winced when she snickered. "What? I don't know what you want to hear! Just say you'll do it!" The way she watched him was really beginning to remind him of a cat and it was making this even more difficult.

"No…I'll do it…it's just been a while…since I've seen someone so determined to recruit a stranger…I mean…what exactly did you hear about me…?" She took off her gloves now and rummaged through a basket of jars until she came across some lotion. Scooping some out, she rubbed it over her hands and gave him a curious look. "And where did you hear it?"

"Wuya said you were powerful," he admitted. The redhead saw her eye twitch and jumped back a bit. "Uh, how do you know her anyway? She wouldn't tell me!"

Jiayi put her gloves back on and scowled. "…that witch…I thought she would forget…" She looked outside for a moment at the rain, hammering down upon the forest around her. Amber eyes shifted back to Jack when he made a sound of discomfort and raised an eyebrow. "…don't tell me…she built me up to look like some immaculate warrior…"

"I know you are though!" he protested.

"You don't know anything about me…especially if Wuya is your source of information. What else did she say?" She crossed her arms, leaning back against the counter. The young man was sweating and fidgeting, making her realize a number of things. The first was that he was probably awkward around females in general, which she found oddly charming. Secondly, he was fearful of what she might do as well as how she might react to what he said. Third, he was taller than her and it sort of irritated her.

Jack felt himself sweating and hoped she would not notice. She seemed to be studying him closely, making it worse. "She said that you tried to take over all of Asia and Europe and you were stopped. But you were really powerful! And that you try to stay out of everything -!"

She nodded and held up a hand to silence him. "I do. Try to stay out of the business of others immortals. They…annoy me. I can sometimes sense them and…I hide until they're gone…most of them don't even know I exist…and I like it that way. I did try to take over countries…for frivolous reasons. The same reasons for my seeking immortality." Jiayi tilted her head, locks of dark hair falling over one eye. "…go on…ask…"

"Will you join me?" he asked, eagerly.

Not quite the question I anticipated. Jiayi smirked at his enthusiasm and shrugged. "What can it hurt? Sure…I'll join you…but I have some rules."

"Anything you want!"

"You…don't order me around. If I want to leave…I'll leave. And also…" She took a few steps toward him and saw a blush grow on his cheeks. Staring up at him, her smirk grew. "If I tell you to do something…you do it. Understand?"

He nodded, silent for a moment as she stepped back. Taking a shaky breath, he tried to grin his evilest. "Alright! Pack up; we're going to my evil lair!"

The journey to his lair was a long one and by the time they arrived, the young man seemed to collapse into a chair from exhaustion. Jiayi stood in his laboratory, looking over the devices and charts. She unpacked her medicines and books on a small shelf that he said she could have for use and found herself wondering where he slept. Even asleep, he seems sort of awkward. Cute though. The thought made her frown. I haven't seen many males lately. Even when I do, they're not exactly…attractive.

Jiayi watched him sleep for a few minutes, feeling creepy albeit curious. When she sensed the approach of an immortal, she hurried to find a place to hide and secured herself in a cabinet. Her heart pounded, eyes clenched tightly shut. Her experience with immortals in the past had been less than positive. Especially her experience with Wuya. When she heard a voice, a painfully familiar voice, she cringed in her hiding place.

"Lazy boy is asleep," the woman muttered. This was followed by a thud and a cry of alarm. "Wake up! Did you find her or not?!"

Jack, remembering what Jiayi had said about avoiding other immortals, shook his head. "No, I couldn't find her. You were no help, either!" he replied, doing his best to act disappointed.

"Probably for the best. I bet she's gotten weak anyway."

Inside the cabinet, Jiayi scowled and silently cursed. That witch! Easier to badmouth me when I'm out sight, isn't it? She sank her nails into the metal beneath her, anger growing.

"Hey, so no one else has ever mentioned her before. How do you know her?" Jack asked.

"She helped me once and clung to me for years afterwards!"

You know that isn't true! She gritted her teeth now, fighting the urge to step out of the cabinet and face Wuya to tell her off.

"I mean, even if the others knew about her, I doubt they'd really care!" Wuya continued. "She's so good at staying off of everyone's radar that she would hardly be useful! More annoying than anything! Besides, if they did know about her, it would cause trouble for me. They would want to know why I didn't say anything about her and when she showed her beast form, you-know-who would have a fit!"

"What is her beast form?"

"You don't want to see it." The woman raised an eyebrow at Jack and smirked. "Even if you did meet her, I doubt you would know how to talk to her. She would make you all tongue-tied. She always was considered cute. Short is more like it." Wuya started back to the stairs, glancing at him over her shoulder with a glare. "If you do see her, tell me first. We can't risk the others finding out about her. I don't like competition."

When Jiayi could no longer sense Wuya, she emerged from the cabinet and frowned at Jack. "Thanks…but…maybe I should leave."

"No, don't leave! You just got here and we haven't even done anything yet!" Realizing his weird choice of words, he blushed. "That didn't-!" To his great surprise, she started to laugh quietly. "What? You like that humor?"

"It's pretty funny," she admitted. "So…you're really not good with girls…"

"What?! No way, I'm smooth!" he protested, pretending to be offended.

"Alright…I'll stay…" Jiayi smirked and turned toward one of his charts. "So…which shen-gon-wu should we go after first? And where is it?"

He grinned and moved the chart to a table, eager to get started. "Okay, so we can't go after Wuya's or H.B.'s or C.Y.'s, but we can go to the Xiaolin Temple and try to get theirs! Here's a list of what they have. Have you ever used a shen-gon-wu?"

She examined the list, raising an eyebrow. "I've been alive…for over 1,500 years. I've used shen-gon-wu before." Inwardly, she frowned. The Xiaolin Temple, huh? That's our only option without my existence being revealed. I'd really rather avoid other immortals. They're nothing but trouble. Well…not that one. But he's been busy. I know he has. Otherwise he would have contacted me…right? Though she had hardly any contact with other people, she did make an exception and spend time with one immortal every so often. Of course, that was an impossibility now. I'm on the Heylin side again. He would never forgive me if he knew.

"This is going to be great! Just pick a few of them and we'll get started!" Jack said, shattering her concentration.