Summary: Thought blows in the wind, in the wind. Light shines from the void, light from the void. Dreams awaken out of sleep, dreams out of sleep. Creation twirls in a bright shadow.
In that moment, the world seemed silent and peaceful. The smirking sorcerer across the cloud and blood pouring from his chest were a faraway dream. As he fell forwards, the shriek of, "Rai no!" falling on deaf ears, he idly wondered if the cumulonimbus was as soft as it looked. He wouldn't know though, the condensation brushing against his face as he fell went unfelt as he passed through the stratosphere.
Green eyes, once so vivid and bright, became two dull chips of jade and he twisted as he fell so that, even with the black creping in at the edges of his blurring vision, the bright white of the clouds were still clear as day. The wind played with and tousled his hair as it went rushing past.
Cold air passed through his lips, but he barely noticed. His weakening heartbeat and slowing breathing were part of another being. The ever widening circle of red was on robes he wasn't wearing. The soft cotton wasn't touching his skin. The roar of the wind wasn't in his ears. The creeping cold wasn't in his arms and legs.
The only thing that registered was the gold glow of the sun behind the clouds. Warmth that he knew to be caressing his face, but didn't feel and gold light succumbing to the soft dark. He was unafraid of the dark, but out of ignorance rather than courage. The slow pulse didn't push blood through his veins and into the cotton fibers. The gold held his attention, not the red.
The winds played and weaved about him, occasionally whisking drops of bright red blood away from a wound he didn't feel. Without his knowledge, they spun a soft web of unseen netting about their master until he was engulfed in a clear cocoon. Still, he continued to fall. To fall out of time, out of space, further into a realm of forgotten dreams.
The beautiful golden glow faded to black as his eyes closed and the falling stopped as his pulse faded to nothingness. Yet in that moment he became more aware than ever before. He felt the swirling winds below him, holding him up. He could still feel the way his arms and legs hung down loose from his body, the way his head tilted back on a limp neck. The dull chill of his body and the stillness of all but the hair and clothes gently tugged and tossed by the breeze. He could feel the outer limits of his skin, borders in the darkness. The gentle whisper of the wind saying nonsense in his ears. The motionless mass of muscle that had once been a heart.
There was no pain though. He could feel the gentle way the wind occasionally touched the gaping hole where the blast struck home. It traced around the edge, spiraling in and flowing into his wrecked chest, caressing the pierced lung, the shredded arteries and veins, the shattered bone. It caressed the bloodstained debris and viscera, playing with the frayed and tattered edges as Kimiko once played with his hair, teasing and styling until it reached its desired shape.
The tendrils of wind flowed towards his broken body more quickly with every moment. They whirled and flowed into him, coursing through the bloody crater. An outside observer would have noted the gold glow emanating from his body, starting from the wound and spiraling in tendrils outwards and slowly engulfing his entire body.
As the winds flowed into him, he appeared a being made of pure light. As the last of the breezes streamed into the gold where there had once been a bloody wound, he was entirely still. The winds no longer tousled his shaggy hair or tossed his baggy robes. For all the world to see, a gilded statue in the sky.
Just as slowly as it came, the gold faded from his body, flowing back towards the wound and sinking into his body. As it finally faded, all the evidence that remained was the torn, bloodstained robe and the motionless boy. Then he felt his previously still heart give a jolting beat and the winds whirled around him again, bearing him up through the sky and back through the clouds.
He could feel the moisture from the clouds this time, gently brushing against his face and he could feel a dull ache in his chest, but it didn't hurt as much as it would have before. He could hear the battle that raged as he broke through the clouds, but he kept rising until he was high above them, their faces tilted up in wonderment at how he'd risen from what should have killed him.
Set against the sun, he appeared silhouetted in golden light, the winds swirling about him in anticipation of his command. His eyes, now a blazing emerald green, meet with the tawny slits of the sorcerer in an unspoken challenge.
Oh wow ok, my tablet decided to glitch out on me tonight so I guess Xiaolinstuck designs will have to wait 'till tomorrow?
Well I know what I'm doing in school tomorrow, at least.
hmm... if anyone has a better idea of a name for the AU that'd be cool too since there're already a few Xiaolinstuck AUs going around and I don't wanna seem like a copycat but dlfkdfkdkfdf
Also, Dave will be living at the temple with Bro and the guardians until John, Jade and Rose move in to begin their training and hunt down the shengong wu. He'll be the most aloof asshole, and much of his character arc will be learning to co-operate and work with others -- Dave must realize that he cannot be just a one-man show to unlock his full potential.
Hey, hey guys? In Xiaolinstuck, should the trolls (who will be appearing as villains) be human, or trolls? I just can't decide. If anyone has any ideas for anything please let me know!
But here's what's confirmed so far:
DRAGON WARRIOR OF FIRE: Dave Strider
DRAGON WARRIOR OF WIND: John Egbert
DRAGON WARRIOR OF WATER: Rose Lalonde
DRAGON WARRIOR OF EARTH: Jade Harley
^There will also be legendary "ancestor" type figures whose fighting style matches up with one of the current kids, and their elements will be... you guessed it! The God Tier symbols! They won't be appearing at all since they'll be long dead, though. Dave will be associated with the Dragon Warrior of Time, John will have the Dragon Warrior of Breath (...okay, that's pretty much the same thing as wind, but whatever.). Rose will have Light, and Jade will have Space. The sashes the kids wear will represent this link with the ancestor in question. I'll figure this out properly later though.
TRAINING MASTER [AKA Master Fong]: Bro Strider
COUNCIL OF MONKS: Mom Lalonde, Nanna Egbert, Grandpa Harley
GUARDIAN OF THE SCROLL: Becquerel [He will be able to enlarge himself to massive sizes, like Dojo... Or Chuck from Panty and Stocking.]
"JACK SPICER" [Main Villain]: Eridan Ampora???
KATNAPPE: Nepeta Leijon
"WUYA": Her Imperial Condescension
...what's his face the guy that sealed away Wuya in the prologue: The Sufferer
Jane, Jake, Roxy and Dirk will be appearing, too! They'll be normal kids, like Jermaine, that get involved in the shenanigans once in a while when the warriors face off against a troll around them. Dad will appear as Jane's father in this AU. The Troll Ancestors will be adults, either living in the present day or scattered throughout history.
