Disclaimer: Yes! I own it! I own it all! That’s exactly why I still have to beg my parents for money and I’m writing this. In case you didn’t get the sarcasm, no I don’t own it. I do own their personalities and stuff. There’s a little of ‘The Lost Empire’ in here though.

Summary: Dwynwen was a young girl who’s only goal in life was to become a reclusive hermit and hide away from the rest of the world. But it seems the gods have other things in mind. With the help of Wukong and the others Dywn must save the world whether she wants to or not.

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CHAPTER 5

With her new Buddhist name and newly found self confidence, Xin Zixin(no pun intended) began her training once more. Even though she was trying, it was really hard, but Wukong learned a very important lesson himself; When training Xin he had to keep a distance when swing because Xin did not like pain. Whenever he hit her really hard(well, light for him actually.), Xin automatically lashed out. Wukong actually found he had to move fast or risk getting smacked in the face.

“If you moved like that a lot more, then we would be on to the next lesson by now!” he had said after almost getting hit.

“I can’t help it! When I’m hurt I just lash out without thinking.” Xin had whined.

“So what? The only way I’m gonna get cha to learn is to hurt you? Great! Just great.”

Now Xin was lying in her room staring at the ceiling, exhausted from the day’s training.

“Man... I’m beat!” she moaned to Xuanzang, who was floating above her.

“In the hyperthredical sense, or the literal sense?” Xuanzang asked.

“Both.” Xin replied. Xuanzang laughed.

“At least you’re learning.” he said.

“Just barely. All the stuff, Wukong wants me do is too hard! Doesn’t he realize I’m only human!” Xin breathed as she covered her face.

“But you can.”

“Look, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I know my limits! I cannot do all the stuff Wukong wants me to do!”

“No, I mean you really can. Didn’t I tell you? When the Goddess brought you here, she enhanced your abilities. So now you can run faster, you have higher endurance, and you’re stronger and ect.” he told her.

“What? Really?!” she asked as she sat up painfully and looked at him.

“Did I forget to tell you?” he asked, oh so innocently.

“Yeah, ya did!” Xin snarled.

“Oh, I apologize. I thought you figured it out when you survived the falls or when you were running from that wild boar.” Xuanzang said with a small chuckle.

“You!” Xin growled, suddenly there was a knock at the door.

“Miss Dywnwen, may we come in?” Yulong called through.

“Yulong, how many times do I have to tell you? Her name is Xin from now on. Call her Xin!” Wukong said to Yulong. “And we’re coming in.” He and Yulong entered the room, while Xin tried to look normal(well, normal for her.).

“What’s up? You said training was over.” she asked.

“It is, for now. We came to discuss some plans.” Wukong said as he sat on a chair backwards.

“Plans for what?” asked Xin as she tilted her head.

“For the journey.” replied Yulong as he sat the end of her bed.

“Did you forget we were on a quest?” asked Wukong. “I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”

“How can I? You only bring it up ever 5 minutes.” grumbled Xin. “What do we need to discuss?”

“Like when we’re leaving and where we’re going for one.” said Yulong. Xin liked Yulong. He was really nice to her, and he didn’t make fun of her like some people.

“Well, the Emperor wants ta meet Xin here before we leave so we’ll have dinner with him tonight and leave in the morning.” said Wukong.

“Then where are we heading?” asked Yulong.

“Tell them to go to Liusha-he.” said Xuanzang, of course only Xin could hear him.

“Huh? Why?” said Xin aloud.

“What was that Miss Xin?” asked Yulong.

“Uh! I said, how about we go to Liusha-he.” said Xin quickly. The two men blinked at her.

“How did you know about that place?” Wukong asked.

“Uh, well, earlier today I was wondering around and I went into the library and since there was nothing else to read I looked through some old maps... Yeah...” lied Xin. Wukong frowned, but decided to let it go.

“Well, it is on our way, and it’s a pretty safe place.” he sighed.

“And plus we might meet the others.” added Yulong.

“I hope not. Xin is enough of a headache.”

“Why? You’re already mostly acting like Wujing.”

“I am not!” snarled Wukong.

“Eep!” said Yulong as he coiled back. Xuanzang laughed.

“Actually he is.” he said.

“Really?” said Xin. “So he was a stiff too?”

“I am not a stiff!” Wukong yelled right if her face.

“Waah!” Xin exclaimed as she fell off the bed. “Then why can’t ya take a joke?!” she yelled.

“Buddha! You are so annoying!” Wukong sighed as he sat back down. “You remind me of someone, but I can’t place my finger on it.”

“Ha, ha... So it’s settled then? We’re going to Liusha-ha where we’ll plan our next move?” asked Yulong.

“Yeah, it’s settled! But there’s one more thing we need to discuss.” said Wukong.

“Like what?”

“Xin... We need to turn you into a boy.”

Xin stared at him with wide eyes.

“Huh?!”

“Could you rephrase that, please.” said Yulong flatly. Xin noticed that Yulong seemed to be braver now and less shy then when she first met him. She had thought he would be jumpy around her for awhile, but he was almost normal.

“I mean, Xin, you can’t let anyone know you’re a woman.” Wukong explained.

“What? Why?” Xin asked.

“Let’s just say that a woman would attract to much unwanted attention.”

“What the hell does that mean?!”

“It means that he told the Emperor you were a boy, and so the Emperor is expecting to meet a young boy tomorrow instead of a young girl.” sighed Xuanzang. “I thought he learned his lesson about lying. Apparently he hasn’t really learned a thing.”

“What?! You told them I was a boy?!” exclaimed Xin loudly.

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess! Why should I have to pretend to be a boy just because you lied?!”

“Well, that’s not the only reason.” said Wukong. “Like I said, I don’t want any unwanted attention.”

“Which means? Look, Wukong. I’m not smart. I’m a simpleton. So keep it simple, please!” Xin frowned.

“Alright, short and sweet. A lot people believe that little girls should just stay inside and tend the children. In other words if people saw that a little girl is going around fighting demons, they’ll immediately reject you. And I’d rather not have to waste my time fighting off idiots.” Wukong said.

“What! That’s male chauvinist!” yelled Xin.

“We know, but he has a point. Plus, we’ll most likely be staying at temples a lot, but they don’t allow girls, and you have to understand that in this day and age women are not respected yet, so please Xin. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” begged Yulong.

“But! But...” Xin started.

“C’mon, Xin. You already dress and act like a boy, so you might as well. And look at it this way, a boy traveling attract a lot less attention than girl traveling.” said Xuanzang. Xin gave a irritated sigh.

“I hate you all.” she growled. “Fine! I’ll do it.”

“Okay, then. First thing we need to do is cut your hair.” said Wukong.

“What?!” said Xin as she grabbed her hair. She liked her hair! “But you have long hair!”

“I also have muscles, unlike you. Now stop complaining, and hold still.” Wukong said as he pulled out a small knife.

“You make me bald, I’ll give you hell.” mumbled Xin.

“There’s an idea.” muttered Wukong as he started to cut her hair.

“There, I’m done.” he said when he finished. Xin crawled out of the bed and looked at her self in the mirror. It was okay, in fact it reminded her of Xuanzang’s hair style. It was actually kinda cute.

“Wow, this is actually good. Are you barber?” Xin asked. Yulong chuckled.

“No. He’s just used to giving kids hair cuts.” he said as he gathered Xin’s cut hair strains. Then he blew on them and they suddenly burst into flame!

“Whoa! What are you doing?!” Xin yelled as she scrambled back.

“It’s dangerous to leave locks of hair lying around. It makes it easier for witches to put hexes and such on you.” Yulong explained.

“It’s true. I learned that the hard way.” said Xuanzang. Xin sighed.

“Okay, anything else I should know?” she asked.

“Yes. Make your voice deeper. You already act and talk like a boy, we just need to find to bind your chest. You work on your voice, I’m going to get the supplies ready for tomorrow.” Wukong said as he stood and left the room. Yulong turned to Xin.

“I’ll help you with your voice.” he told her.

“Okay!” she said. Xuanzang decided to wonder around the palace.

It had been years since he’d been here. In fact... This was where it began and ended for him. His eyes went misty as he remembered.

He was 15 back then. He was praying for the souls of the people that had just be executed, one who had been his uncle. He knew they were cruel bandits. He knew that they killed his father and kept his mother captive for years and abused her, and he knew that he would have killed him as well, but still. His heart could not help, but cry out for the man. Even though he was evil, in the end he was still his uncle, his family. It just didn’t seem right to him. All these lives... How many would be weeping for these people? Was there even anyone to cry for them?

“Buddha, please have mercy on their souls.” he prayed. Then he chanted a small sutra for the dead souls.

“Why are you praying for these men?” a voice suddenly asked. Young Xuanzang turned and saw a woman with long black hair and crystal blue eyes. He looked away.

“Because they were living beings. I know they were evil people. But they were still people. Even though they meant to kill me, in the end they were people, who made mistakes, and payed for them with their lives. The least I can do is pray for them, for the families they may of had, or might of had.” he told her. “It just... doesn’t seem right for so many people to die because of me.” The woman smiled.

“But you can’t expect to save anyone with those lesser sutras.” she said.

“But I know no others.” Xuangzang had said sadly.

“In the Thunder temple in India, are scared Scriptures from Buddha himself. If you want to be able to save anyone, go to the west and fetch them, then bring them back here to China.” the woman told him.

“But... I don’t know the way. And it’s so far. I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You can if I say you can.” the woman said. Suddenly she was surrounded by a golden glow. “Look at me. You stand in the presence of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy!” she told him. Xuanzang immediately fell to his knees and bowed. “As you know the world is in Chaos and turmoil. Buddha has sent me to find a brave righteous hero to send west to obtain the scared scriptures from the Thunder temple. But I couldn’t find any, so I’m sending you.” she smiled. “But I must warn you... If you do accept this task your life will be endangered every living, breathing moment of your life. Do you accept?” Xuanzang gulped.

“If this is Buddha’s will, then I accept with great honor.” he said.

The Present Xuanzang looked a little sad as he floated down the halls.

‘So many things have changed. And yet so many things haven’t.’ he thought as he wondered into the garden. He remembered him and the emperor talking here.

“Come, let us have a drink to celebrate your new name.” the emperor said with a cheery laugh as he poured himself some wine.

“But! I am too young, and a monk!” said young Xuanzang.

“It’ll be fine.” smiled the Emperor. “Oh! I just remembered something. I have one more thing to give you. Please hold out your hand.” Questionably Xuanzang held out his hand. The emperor bent down and scooped up some dirt and placed it in Xuanzang’s hand. Xuanzang looked up at him in question, and he smiled. “They say that dirt from your homeland is more precious than gold on a journey.” he told him.

Xaunzang bent down and tried to scoop up some dirt, but his hand just went through the ground. He looked at his hand, sadly.

“I... I wonder. What if I didn’t give up so easily? What if I had just told my disciples I was ill?” he wondered aloud. “Would... Would I still be here? Would I still be alive?” Then he heard the sound of someone practicing staff movements. He walked a little and saw Wukong swinging his wishing rod around. He seemed to be practicing. Xuanzang kept his distance, but watched his disciple.

Wukong swung the practice rod violently. His sweat glistened in the moon light and he was panting from all the violent swings.

“Master! What’s with the blade?!” he remembered asking a 15 year old Xuanzang. Back then he looked like a really tall monkey with long hair.

“I’m shaving my head, of course.” Xuanzang replied.

“Huh? Shaving?” blinked Wukong.

“No offence, master, but you don’t have a beard to shave.” laughed a demon that looked like a giant pig.

“Not my face. Hy head. We’ve been traveling for the past few months and I haven’t gotten a chance to shave my head, so now I have hair.” Xuanzang explained to his disciples. He was the youngest there, but he seemed to be the oldest.

“Forgive me master, but why would you want to shave your hair?” a man with long aqua blue hair and sea green eyes asked.

“Yeah, I mean it’s so pretty. Like the ever shining sun in the sky or the golden glow of a lemon.” said the pig demon.

“Enough with the bad poetry! We get it.” Wukong said as he covered his ears. “Stop, my ears can’t take it!”

“Well, I can’t let my hair get too long, or I’ll start looking like a girl.” Xuanzang said.

“Hate to break it to ya, master, but you already look like a girl.” chuckled the pig.

“Bajie!” snapped the man as he whacked the big.

“Do I really?” Xuanzang asked.

“No. Well, maybe a little.” said Wukong. This earned him a whack as well.

“Ignore them, Master. They’re just both idiots!” said the man as he glared at the other two.

“Hey!” the other two yelled.

“But really, Master. You do have beautiful hair. It’d be a real shame if you cut it.” Wukong said. “Besides, you’re 15, not 50. Keep the hair and stay young.” Xuanzang chuckled.

“So you’re saying I’m like a old man?”

“No! I’m just sayin’ that you look better with hair!” said Wukong quickly. Xuanzang smiled.

“Alright then. The hair stays. But I’m going to have to keep it short.” he said.

Wukong shattered a rock and the practice staff and he brought it down with a powerful blow. He squatted down, panting heavily. He clutched the broken part of the staff in his hands still tightly. He shook violently as he thought of his master. He felt his eyes water up and he angrily rubbed them before the tears could fall.

“Dammit...” he cursed as he stood. “I’ve wasted enough time. I gotta get things ready. Buddha knows if I don’t do it, it’ll never get done.” He ran inside and Xuanzang clasped his hands in prayer.

‘I’m so sorry, Wukong...’ he thought as a small tear trickled down his face.

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