I can stand my own ground [Closed]

[typhoonboom]

Characters: Rai and Chase
Location: Assorted rooftops including and not limited to Shibusen's
Rating: PG- idk. It's Rai and Chase. Chase is a creeper.
Time: Tuesday night
Description: Rai is cool with kicking ass but he wants to make sure he's doing it on the right side, so he's planning to be a sneaky sneaker pants and snoop around Shibusen to

Comments

[no_afterword]

Chase smirked very faintly as the figure suddenly dropped, vanishing below the building's edge with a distant metal noise. That was one way to get around this incorrigible city - or lose someone tailing you. Chase wasn't so easily put off, and he followed swiftly, keeping to the darker shadows in order to avoid being seen, though if his ever-growing suspicions were right, sight wasn't going to be the problem. He followed the hooded figure until the dead end street, at which point he leaped - hurled himself up with all the strength he had toward the nearest building.

It was a dangerous move, especially given how much his powers had been reduced, but magic powers were not physical strength and ability. He caught the roof's edge and dug his fingers in, forcing himself up and onto the roof itself in one movement. He watched for the hooded figure, smirking faintly - yes, he recognized movements like that. They were trained. Specially trained.

And so he followed. It wouldn't be much longer before he overtook whoever it was - or before he was recognized, if his guess was right.

[typhoonboom]

Rai already had a good idea who was following him by now. Anyone that was still trying to follow him after that had to be pretty good and pretty interested. There were only a few people he could think of that fit that description and only one of them was here. Now, whether that interest was to chat or wring his neck was up for debate.

Alright. He could play this game. It wasn't hard to make an easy trip to the school into something far more complicated with the layout of this city. Let's just see how well Chase Young could keep up.

[no_afterword]

Fifteen hundred years gave a person plenty of opportunity to gain experience in whatever possible field they chose. When it came to a chase, even his namesake declared his superiority. Even though the city's layout was absolutely ridiculous and, quite honestly, should have been impossible, it was no different than trying to follow someone up the side of a mountain. Easier, in fact. Mountains didn't have handy smooth ledges and fire escapes to use to move faster.

As he ran, Chase pondered briefly as to why what he was now sure was the monk would be out here, this late at night. Going to meet someone would have meant that he'd do his best to shake Chase off his tail, not try to make it complex and challenging. Spying was a definite possibility, but who exactly was he spying on? Or for? A nighttime exercise wasn't that far out of range. If it had been any of the other monks, he would have put his bet on the last one. But Raimundo wasn't quite so pure-minded as the others. He'd already failed to uphold the Xiaolin once; who was to say he wouldn't do it again?

Chase dug his fingers into the side of a building and dropped out of sight, upsetting a number of flowerpots and cats as he dashed along balconies and tried to loop around to catch Raimundo by surprise. In one vicious leap he shot straight up, clambering after the monk as they moved ever higher on the city's steep incline.

[typhoonboom]

Chase dropped out of Rai's peripheral vision. He knew it probably wasn't because he'd given up on chasing him unless he'd gotten bored, which Rai somehow doubted. He also wasn't so egotistical to think that he'd tired out the fifteen hundred year old evil villain. Maybe if this were a few months ago, but not now.

So ...what was he attempting to do, then? Sneak up on him? Catch him? Loop around around and try to head him off from the front? That was probably it. Rather than leaping off in another direction, Rai opted to charge forward. Chase was either expecting him to be caught off guard or to either try to beat him at his own game and maybe loop around the other direction.

Should Chase appear from the front, he was going to be met with a flying kick.

[And if I ttly misread what chase was doing let me know and I will fix]

[no_afterword]

Climb, climb, leap - and yes, just as he expected. Raimundo may have been sneaky and underhanded and willing to do things that his fellow monks would shy away from, but he was no coward. As Chase hurled himself over the front of the building, he saw the kick coming straight at him. He braced his feet against the building's slightly raised edge and aimed to catch - to grab Raimundo's foot before it crashed into his face.

Tempting as it was to hurl the boy off the roof, he just lashed out to grab and protect himself. Killing someone who knew he was evil and had already been slandering him to various others would only end in more suspicion, he was sure. So instead he held on, gloved fingers digging in.

"What a surprise," Chase hissed, grinning just slightly. "Sneaking through the city like a rat at this hour? I'd say I was surprised, but that would be a lie."

[typhoonboom]

Rai was ...okay kind of hoping that the kick would connect with some evil dragon face. When he was so flawlessly stopped, he was caught off guard. He choked back the indignant cry of surprise in favor of a growl. Instead of trying to twist out of his grasp (Rai was not looking to have the bastard snap his ankle in half) he threw his weight down, planting his hands on the ground and hopefully with some help from the momentum, sling Chase off his leg.

"You're surprised, you're not suprised, make up your mind, dude."

[no_afterword]

As Raimundo swung, Chase let go - he wasn't about to get thrown around by a boy half his ... well, not as tall as he was. He stood up out of his crouch and straightened up, arms folding across his chest, smirking in the strange light the even stranger moon cast, watching the monk resettle himself.

"I was surprised to see you, but not surprised to see you sneaking around," he clarified, idly flexing his fingers against his arms. "Out for a moonlight stroll, or did you have something more believable in mind?" If the boy really intended to survey the city like Chase had been, then he should have gone out in the day. Chase, after all, could see somewhat better in the dark - and in any case, it was more his style to stalk the world when it was shadowed.

[typhoonboom]

Not cool, not cool. Rai just about sent himself tumbling over to the other side of the building. He managed turn turn it into something of a dodgeroll(tm) before falling into a defensive stance, eyes locked on Chase. That comment about him sneaking around didn't go unheard but he didn't dignify that with a response.

"Maybe. Do you wanna know where I do my laundry, too?" A sneer, a bit of a challenging grin. He was kind of hoping for a fight. Smart? Not entirely but he was in the mood to punch something.

[no_afterword]

Chase's smirk widened as he watched the monk nearly fly off the edge of the building. He stood still where he was, not outwardly threatening but simply being a threat by existing. Raimundo wanted to fight - though it seemed the boy always wanted to fight, if past experience was any indicator. Talking simply wasn't in his dictionary, unless it pertained to insults.

Not that he necessarily disapproved.

"I think I can figure that out without having to ask," he said lightly. "You don't have to be so edgy; I'm not going to attack you. Not here, anyway." Though it would have been so simple to send the boy flying down the side of the city breaking every bone on the way. And with no witnesses, either. "I'm just curious to know why exactly someone of such high moral standing would be scaling the city in the dead of night. Surely you aren't planning to attack someone, are you?"

[typhoonboom]

Sometimes. The insults were mostly reserved for villains and Omi. Mostly.

The grin dropped into something a little more serious as Chase spoke. He snorted rudely at his accusation. "Hardly. What's it to you if I decide to get a little fresh air?"

Rai wasn't about to outright tell the guy he was planning to break into the school and snoop around their records or anything else he could get his hands on. Or possibly, if he had time, break into the sealed off sections of the library, too. Yeah, he was sneaky and underhanded, but he did it for good reasons. He knew he wasn't on the same moral standing as the others, but that was the whole reason why.

It was better he be the one to do things like this than them, he was already okay with it so where was the harm?

[no_afterword]

"It matters because I find it somewhat suspicious for someone who's an enemy of mine to be doing precisely what you're doing. You could be trying to find a way to kill me, after all." He raised an eyebrow and turned slightly, beginning to walk along the building's narrow edge.

Chase didn't honestly believe that Raimundo was out trying to kill him. There were far more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, even for a teenage monk, and it was probably those very matters that the boy was actually out in the dark for. Even if they weren't, and his offhanded guess was somehow right, he wouldn't have worried. There was no rumor, no prophecy, no anything to indicate that a Dragon of the Wind would be responsible for his downfall.

And even if they were both lacking their powers, he still had his strength. As had previously been demonsrated.

[typhoonboom]

"Tch, If only." Was his biting remark back. Hostile? Just a bit but he had pretty good reason to be, and it was more than just the usual reasons for being hostile towards the evil lizard.

That time disruption incident was still fresh on his mind after all. Far too many things about it and Chase made him more than just a little bitter. Things he didn't care to ever delve into.

"What about you, huh? It's a littlelate, aren't you worried about getting evil beauty rest? Or do you just make a habit of watching my window for the chance to chase me across the city."

[no_afterword]

Something in Chase's face twitched slightly, but his smirk didn't shift. He paused at the corner of the building and turned, eying the balconies below, the windows closed, some glowing, some silent and dark.

"I wasn't watching your window," he said after a few moments of silence, glancing back at Raimundo. "I was evaluating the city. Checking to see how well it can be defended, learning the layout ... it's a particularly unusual place, so I'm sure you can understand why I'd want a mental map." He started walking along the building's edge again. "Seeing you take off running was just chance. I followed you because I wasn't sure if you were a threat or something simpler."

In the dark, his pupils widened, seeing every angle of the shadows the moon cast.

"Which are you?"

[typhoonboom]

Rai was silent for several minutes. His eyes stayed on Chase as he started to walk again. They averted briefly, as Rai made a rather irritated looking face before snapping his gaze back to him again.

"I already answered that, didn't I?" He admitted to not trying to kill him, that was answer enough to his threat question.

He rose out of his stance slowly, crossing his arms. This didn't mean he was letting his guard down, it was just he was starting to lose the feeling in his right leg from being crouched like that for so long.

[no_afterword]

"Just because you're not a threat to me directly doesn't mean you're not a threat."

Chase stopped halfway across the edge and turned to look at Raimundo fully, still smirking, still as straight-backed and arrogant as ever. Would he ever get a straight answer? Unlikely. And at the same time he was genuinely curious. Maybe if he let the monk go and followed him from a distance ... no. The boy was bound to predict that of him, and as a result make it as long and difficult a trek as possible. He didn't much care for chasing a wayward hero wannabe around a spiraling city just for the sake of knowing where he went.

In any case, going out at night and being immediately defensive and reticent - and making the run a challenge from the get-go despite probably not initially knowing who was following him - meant that it could only be something slightly morally ambiguous. Chase was willing to let that sort of seed take root and grow in any soul, especially one as already conflicted as Raimundo's, even if it meant he had to deny himself knowledge of an enemy's actions.

"If you intend to move without being seen again, stick closer to the slope. The shadows are wider there." His smirk gleamed briefly with a glimpse of sharp teeth.

[typhoonboom]

True, he had a point. Though, Rai thought it was more appropriate to say that he wasn't a threat yet.

Despite feeling his bite wear down towards the end of that thought, he kept the hostile, rebellious look on his face and continued to scowl at Chase. He began to move while not taking his eyes from Chase, carefully along the edge of the building and back towards the direction of his route. He'd gone quite off the path as it were. The city was still new to him and he didn't want to waste the night getting lost in this mess of buildings and pathways.

A pause, just as he was about to drop off the ledge.

"What's keeping you in this city, Chase."