Song of the Lotan, Chapter Three

[lonewolfprincess]

“So lotans are primordial sea serpents? Like the Leviathan?” Tori asked as she sat with the others in Dojo’s dragon boat form.

The figurehead of the Dojo-ship nodded, focused on sailing as fast as he could towards a storm on the horizon… and, coincidentally, feeling a stronger pull and an itchier throat from the Dragonthroat Collar as they approached.

“They were considered ancient myths by the time I hatched. I had no idea they were still around.”

Raimundo frowned as he sat at the back of the boat, taking point.

“So, on a scale from 1 to ‘end-of-the-world o’clock’, how bad is an angry mama lotan?”

“If the clay tablets in the temple library are right? A solid 8.” Everyone’s eyes widened at the news. “Lotans’ songs are said to calm the seas and help crops and fishing flourish. But their wrath? Summons cyclones, tsunamis, catastrophic floods, basically any water-related disaster you can think of.”

“And that’s why we’re s-sailing towards the swirling storm with f-freezing c-cold wind?” Another shiver wracked Mia’s wiry body as she finished rubbing herself down with a towel, the moisture from swimming not helping her chills at all. “J-joy…”

Clay rose a brow at Mia’s shuddering; sure, it was a bit chilly, but he didn’t expect the cold to affect her this much.

“Maybe calling on the Fang would help?” A wolf’s double-coat of fur certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Mia rolled her eyes, pulling out a thermos of ginger tea instead. “I would, but some-Wu is h-huffy about being sh-shrunk down, submerged in s-sea water, and having to listen to me g-gush about the Gills.” She took a deep sip of her tea as Tori scooched closer to offer her own warmth. “If it means we get the b-baby back to his mom, I’ll d-deal. Just… d-don’t expect me to go w-wolf anytime s-soon.”

Well, that didn’t sound good. Hopefully that wouldn’t cause too much trouble.

Jermaine, meanwhile, peered over the port side, shouting down to the water.

“Yo, Omi! How’re you and the lotan holding up?”

Omi flashed Jermaine a smile as he breached yet again. The baby lotan had whimpered when he’d tried to board Dojo with the others, so Omi elected to swim alongside him with the Gills of Hamachi instead.

“Holding up! Well!” Omi called out between dives, the lotan racing up and down with him like it was the best game ever. “Tao is! A very! Good swimmer!”

Aw, that was cute—wait…

“Tao?”

“Yes! Specifically, ‘Great Waves’! Fitting, no?!”

Everyone exchanged worried looks…

“Uh… yeah, dawg, I like it, it’s great!” Jermaine flashed him a shaky grin and thumbs up… and then immediately turned back to the others and stage whispered. “That ain’t good…”

Kimiko frowned. “Hopefully it’s not too hard on him if he has to say goodbye.”

Raimundo’s gaze drifted towards his friend and the baby sea serpent… and gave a sober smile.

“I think he’ll be okay, guys, have some faith. And if not… we’re here.”

Everyone gave soft smiles at that, Tori adding an “awww” to hers.

The closer they got to the disturbance, the more the aggressive winds buffeted the dragon and his passengers, everyone clinging to the sides or to each other or both.

Raimundo grimaced as he pulled out the bright blue Blade from somewhere on his person.

“Crest of the Condor! Blade of the Nebula, Wind!”

The Blade collapsed into its hilt, but instead of forming a tall, focused cyclone, Raimundo pushed the winds out to hold the storm back, creating a smaller version of an eye.

Everyone grinned in relief… but Kimiko immediately clocked that Raimundo was straining much more than he should to hold the power.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…” Raimundo tried to flash her a cocky, reassuring grin, but it was more of a grimace with how much effort this was taking. “You weren’t kidding, Dojo, lotan magic’s strong.”

Omi frowned up at the ship, overhearing the conversation… and then had an idea.

The Water Dragon turned to Tao and hummed a few notes. After a curious trill, the baby lotan slowly, gently copied Omi in high whistles and low hums. Slowly, the winds pushing back against Raimundo eased up until they finally surrendered, the sky and surf immediately around them much calmer.

Raimundo relaxed and blinked with wonder along with everyone else, before leaning over the side and giving the two water dragons thumbs up.

“Thanks, dudes!”

Omi flashed a grin back up. Tao even trilled softly in dolphin clicks.

It wasn’t long before they sailed into the storm’s eye. Resting in the center was a small dome of stone, hollowed out to form the mouth of a dark cave, promising to dive deep.

Everyone jumped into the water, Dojo following close behind as he shrunk to his tiny self.

Omi removed the Gills from his neck, holding them out for everyone to grab.

“Gills of Hamachi!”

The cool magic flowed through them once more, gills and webbing and green scales emerging on all the humans while Dojo… turned into a Dojo-colored eel. He was clearly thrilled with this development, from the flat look on his face.

With a round of determined nods, the Xiaolin Warriors all dove into the mouth of the cave, Tao trilling as he followed his friends and they swam down the long, deep, dark cavern.



Jack was ecstatic that absolutely nothing had gone wrong on this latest Shen Gong Wu hunt. So ecstatic, in fact, that he was currently taking a few moments to dance and twirl around the grotto’s little island, holding the Dragonthroat Collar like a bowler hat in a Gene Kelly number.

Wuya rolled her eyes. “Yes yes, your victory is most impressive, Master…” she droned, “but we should leave before the Xiaolin Warriors show up.”

“Shhh Wuya, I’m having a moment, don’t spoil—”

“Jack Spicer!” A high preteen voice called out to heroically chastise him.

Jack just… glared at Wuya’s “told you so” grin, before facepalming and turning around. Yup, six Xiaolin Losers, the dragon, and… a bigger dragon?

“You’re too late, Cheeseball. The Dragonthroat Collar is mine!”

Omi pointed dramatically at him. “It is not over until the large woman dances, Jack Spicer!”

A long pause echoed through the cavern, until Tori snapped her fingers.

“Ooh, ‘fat lady sings!’ But honestly, I like your version better, Omi.”

Omi nodded at her with a faint smile, before resuming his hero speech.

“Hand over the Dragonthroat Collar at once, or prepare for a most humiliating—”

“Shark-Bots, attack!” Wuya called out.

Omi scowled at having his declaration cut off, while Jack growled indignantly.

“Hey, they’re my Sharks-Bots, I give the orders! … Shark-Bots, attack!”

Everyone gasped as dozens of sharp dorsal fins peaked over the surface of the water, slowly circling the island and the Xiaolin Warriors.

“Well… I guess you got your wish for swimming with sharks, Sis,” Tori winced.

“Yay…” the Moon Dragon cheered flatly, unable to keep all the worry out of her voice.

Everyone clustered together to grab the Gills again, calling out its name before diving underwater.

Omi, of course, had the easiest time of fending off the Shark-Bots, creating a precise riptide to catch the mechanical beasts and fling them into a stone wall. The other Xiaolin Warriors were no slouches though, not even needing their elements as they dodged and punched and kicked and threw the robotic sharks, explosions dampened in flames, if not sound, by the surrounding water.

One Shark-Bot whizzed past Omi, and as the Water Dragon followed its trajectory, he gasped.

“Tao, look out!”

The baby lotan scrunched into a panicked ball as the Shark-Bot sped closer, closer… until he flooded the water with a piercing scream, shattering the Shark-Bot instantly!

The monks and Dojo all clapped their hands to their ear-fins, taking a few seconds to shake their heads clear.

“Okay, does being a Xiaolin Warrior come with insurance?” Jermaine asked once he could think straight. “Pretty sure I’m gonna need hearing aids if this keeps up.”

Omi, meanwhile, gave Tao two big, webbed thumbs up.

“Most excellent, Tao!”

The sea serpent “grinned” and trilled in response.

Now that the Shark-Bots had all been annihilated, though… it was too quiet. Mia squinted in the dark… and saw a black and faintly red blur move towards the Squid-Jet.

“Spicer!”

One second the Evil Boy Genius was stealthily swimming back to his jet. The next, a small set of webbed hands clamped onto the Collar, backed up by a swarm of glares.

“Release the Dragonthroat Collar, Spicer,” Omi called out, “or prepare for a most humiliating—”

“Omi?” Mia piped up… with surprising meekness. Omi turned around to see her eyes- everyone’s eyes except Tao’s- very wide. “Let go of the Collar and back away very slowly… do not turn around…”

“Why? What is—Oh.” Omi’s own eyes widened as he found what the others saw behind Jack Spicer.

The evil boy genius, however, merely rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure, the old ‘there’s totally something right behind you’ trick, real clever. I’m not buying—”

A growl as deep and loud as a landslide cut him off. Everyone froze solid in the water, except for Tao, who gave off a very happy chirp.

Jack slowly, slowly looked over his shoulder… An olm’s head the size of his whole body, a fan-like ruby red crest flared from atop its stormy blue head, pale gold eyes flashing as it growled.

Jack screamed at a pitch that could shatter glass, splashing frantically through the water to get away from the giant, now-roaring sea serpent hot on his heels.

“Spicer, stop running, you idiot!” Mia called out, more exasperated than worried for his safety. “You’re just activating her prey drive!”

“I don’t wanna be sea monster food!” Jack blubbered as his limbs kept flailing to propel him away from the mother lotan, her muscular tail slamming against the stone wall of the cavern in a tight turn hard enough for it to crack and crumble to uncover a good-sized crevice in the rock.

Mia merely rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, don’t listen to the girl who can literally talk to animals. Moron…”

“Sooo are we saving him, or letting nature take its course?” Kimiko asked, not without a light smirk.

“What?!” Tori piped up. “Of course we’re saving him, no one deserves being mauled alive by a giant sea serpent! … Okay, maybe a few people do, but not him!”

Everyone sighed… She had a point. Even if it was a really, really sucky point.

Jack, meanwhile, managed to scramble onto the tiny island again.

“Haha, yes! Try and eat me now, snake breath!”

Wuya merely slapped a tiny spectral hand to her mask’s forehead.

The reason why showed itself mere seconds later. The sea serpent’s head rose up out of the water… and up… and up, her neck towering at least two stories above the pool’s surface, the winds of the cavern swirling with harsh mugginess and biting cold. She could have easily swooped down and completely surrounded the scrawny boy genius with a single bite. Instead… she reared her head back, her needle-toothed maw letting out a shrill hiss before spraying a geyser of steaming water straight at him. Jack barely had time to let out a girly scream and duck out of the way before the scalding hot water blasted him.

Everyone took in the sight with wide eyes and gasps and winces… except for Mia, whose eyes lit up.

“Whoa, did you see that?! Superheated water, that’s incredible! She’s incredible!”

“Mia, focus!” Tori pouted at her sister. “We need to save Spicer.”

“Aw, can’t we wait a bit? I wanna see more of how she hunts!”

“Mia!” everyone called out.

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine…”

Jack scrambled across the small island to hop into the water again. The mother lotan merely snarled, diving back underneath to continue to chase the stringy pest that dared to try hurting her son! Jack kept screaming through his diving helmet as he paddled like mad, desperate to get away from the giant sea serpent snapping at his heels.

“Wudai Neptune, Ice!”

Suddenly, a thin sheet of ice shot out between the lotan and her prey. Instead of closing around empty water or gangly genius, her jaws shattered and crushed the cold, salty ice, swallowing a huge mouthful.

Her brain froze first, followed by the rest of her.

The lotan opened her mouth and shook her head vigorously through the warm water, desperate to get rid of the cold cold cold suddenly filling her whole head and throat. Thankfully, the piercing chill began to die down almost immediately, leaving her deeply annoyed at this water magic being used against her. Magic and instinct guided her eyes to the source… ah. The tiny one.

Omi froze where he hovered in the water, eyes wide as he gulped.

The lotan roared as she darted towards him, and Omi yelled—

A dolphin’s squeal filled the air as Tao sped in front of his new friend, his mother barely stopping in front of them. The mother lotan growled, but softer before Tao cut her off with soft whale song.

“What are they—” But Jack, having swam behind the Xiaolin Dragons for safety, merely had his mouth slapped closed by Kimiko so he didn’t interrupt and invoke more of the mother’s wrath.

More soft croons and whistles and chirps exchanged… and eventually Tao nodded towards the Dragon of Water, as if inviting him to speak for himself. Omi nodded, swimming ever so slightly forward and bowing deeply.

“We apologize profusely for our intrusion, Most Honorable Lotan. We wish you and your son no ill will.” … Well, Jack Spicer being a bumbling fool aside, but even then, he was only after the Collar. “We only wished to return him to his rightful home, and to retrieve the Dragonthroat Collar, so that more humans do not invade your sanctuary. Please grant us all mercy.”

Everyone watched with bated breath as the great lotan narrowed her eyes at him.

“Maybe you should go translate, little lady…?” Clay whispered as softly as he could.

Mia just shook her head with a gentle smirk. “Don’t need to.”

More long, tense seconds passed… and then the lotan let out a hiss that sounded like a begrudging sigh. Tao squealed happily before nuzzling his friend’s chest once more.

Everyone sighed deeply, while Jack paired his with an elated “yay!”

“I’m still alive!” And because he just had to gloat… “And the Dragonthroat Collar is still mi—” Before he could even blink, two tiny webbed hands grabbed the Collar Jack held aloft, the golden torc glowing in the dim waters. “Oh, come on!”

“Jack Spicer!” Omi called out with a smirk. “I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! My Gills of Hamachi versus… what is it that you have left?”

Jack balked at the diss, grimacing as he rummaged through his person.

“I’ll wager the—” Jack looked in his hand. “… Lotus Twister?” He blinked… and gave a frustrated shrug. “Okay, whatever. What’s the challenge, Cue Ball?”

“The game is… surfing!” The challenge drew grins from Raimundo and Jermaine especially. “Last one to wipe out wins!”

Surfing? Well, okay, that probably wasn’t too different from snowboarding, right? Jack figured he’d be fine.

“I accept!”

“Let’s Go, Xiaolin Showdown!”



The stone grotto cracked, crumbled, blasted out until there was nothing but calm, wide open ocean stretched from horizon to horizon. Omi floated on a fish board that, aside from some ornate yellow trimming, looked almost exactly like the one abandoned during his wipeout, while Jack sat atop a funboard with blocky black and red and white shapes reminiscent of his heli-pack. The rest of the Xiaolin Warriors were safely aboard the dragon-boat Dojo, with Tao and his mother floating beside him.

Jack scanned the placid waters. “So… what, are we supposed to make our own waves or—WHOA!”

The water slowly rising beneath them all cut him off. Everyone but the lotans yelped, desperately gripping surfboards or gunwales to keep from falling into the water as the wave rose up… up… uuuuup… until it finally reached its crest, towering at least fifty feet above the ocean’s surface, as long as a football field.

Raimundo punched the air as he whooped. “PARTY WAVE!”

Omi quickly recovered his focus and popped up onto his board, while Jack scrambled up onto his with much less grace.

“Gong Yi Tanpai!”

Both contestants careened down the peak of the wave. Omi’s crouch was perfectly balanced, aided by his connection to the Water. Jack wobbled slightly, realizing he needed to bring his weight further forward than if he was snowboarding, but after a few seconds of flailing arms and being dangerously close to bogging, he found his center, heart racing.

Omi smirked as he sped forward ever so slightly. Raimundo had given him and Jermaine a crash course on surfing etiquette earlier, to keep peace with any locals they might come across. Now? He threw all those lessons out the door as he cut in front of Jack and trimmed across the surface of the water, even splashing him for good measure.

“Hey!” he shouted after the little monk, shaking his fist before remembering oh right, he needed to balance.

“Dolphin Spin!” Omi cut across the water in tight zigzags, before launching off the board to fly in a spinning leap like an arrow before landing neatly on his board.

Everyone but Wuya cheered, the lotan even giving a bemused look as her son whistled in delight.

Jack, meanwhile, just rolled his eyes. “Big deal. Watch this!”

After a few seconds riding forward to gain speed, Jack launched his board up the face of the wave. This board was a lot longer and thicker than a snowboard, but maybe—oh yes! He grabbed the side of the board and flew into a corkscrewing flip with the nose staying skyward, landing neatly just past the crest of the wait.

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

“No way, that was a rodeo?!” Raimundo cried out. Well, now that he thought about it, Jack had nailed it during the Showdown over the Falcon’s Eye, but it was always so weird to see Jack good at anything physical if he wasn’t being flung around like a ragdoll by the Ruby of Ramses.

“Well, this rodeo ain’t over yet,” Clay mused with shaky hope. “C’mon, Omi, you’ve got this, partner!”

Omi, meanwhile, was more focused on his next move.

“Tiger Eating Sushi!” With a leap, he launched into a back-flipping skyward kick, landing in a handstand on the board only to keep flipping for one, two, three backflips!

Jack growled, especially as everyone cheered the little Cheese Ball. Well then… he was still high up the wave, so in response, he propelled himself up to the edge of the crest and banked his board sideways, grinding along the top of the water like a rail.

“Haha, yes!” Wuya crowed from her spot hovering next to the SS Dojo, relieved that her fool—er, master had enough experience with foolish ice prancing to translate his skills to this other board-based sport.

The two continued, trading martial arts forms and snowboarding moves; Jack even threw in his triple Salchow at one point, albeit with a shaky landing. Still, neither surfer seemed to gain an edge over the other, both still firmly attached to their boards.

“Shark Jumping Skier!” Omi somersaulted into the sky above the crest of the wave, higher, higher, kicking and slashing with claw-pose hands as he spiraled back down…

But of course, it wouldn’t have been a Showdown against Jack Spicer if the genius didn’t try to cheat.

“Lotus Twister!”

The Lotus glowed and wrapped around Jack’s stretching arms, and he grinned mischievously as he reached out across the surf and pulled Omi’s fish board towards him, tossing it over the crest of the wave into the trough behind them.

Everyone shouted at Omi to look out, including an alarmed squeak from Tao before he dove deeper into the wave.

Omi’s gaze turned down just in time to catch the stunt, and his eyes bugged out! He yelled as he flailed mid-air, falling too quickly to catch himself with Water or martial arts maneuvers.

“Yes! That’s tens all around for Jack Spicer, Evil Boy Genius—”

It was at that moment he turned around to watch the little Cue Ball fall into the water for a wipeout. Or… that’s what he planned on.

Because Omi’s feet only barely touched the surface of the water before mottled sandpaper scales broke his fall, and with a light wobble Omi found his stance again, laughing triumphantly as Tao chirped back.

“Haha! You will have to do better than that, Jack Spicer! Now prepare for a most humiliating—”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Jack whined over the roar of the surf, cutting Omi off. “I totally had you!”

Omi growled, teeth clenched as determination burst forth like a dam splitting in half.

“Prepare-for-a-most-humiliating-defeat!” he shouted as loud and as fast as he could, shaking a fist for good measure. Once the words were out, though… he grinned in catharsis, throwing peace signs into the air as the others cheered at the words it’d taken months for him to get out in full.

Tao whistled as he sped through the water, Omi crouched low and grinning broadly as the two of them easily blazed past a fuming Jack.

“That’s it! Shark-Bots, attack!”

Of course he had more Shark-Bots in reserve… Omi and Tao gasped at the fins racing towards them… but Omi quickly recovered into a smirk.

“Let us shred this wave and these Shark-Bots, Tao!” His dots glowed brightly in the sunlight as he waved his hands towards the patch of water next to him. “Wudai Neptune, Ice!”

The surface chilled, froze, coalesced into a perfect replica of the fish board. Omi somersaulted from Tao’s back onto the ice board with ease.

“Gills of Hamachi!”

The collar around his neck glowed and shifted his body as he knelt down on the icy board, pushing the nose underwater for a duck dive before pivoting on his heels to face the oncoming Shark-Bots. His dots glowed as he gathered Water into his palms… Beside him, Tao took a deep inhale of water…

“Wudai Neptune, Water!” “YAAAAA!”

Cool, spiraling water met a scalding concussive vortex to create a shockwave that blasted the Shark-Bots to smithereens.

Up on the surface, Jack squinted beneath the water to see where Omi could’ve gone and why that didn’t count as a wipeout… and then saw a huge, rippling wave from the blast roll towards him at blinding speed.

“AAAH!”

Jack flailed and tried to jump over it, but it was too late; the shockwave washed his board away, and Jack’s feet met nothing but water as he flopped under the surface.

The Xiaolin Warriors whooped as Wuya shrieked in frustration.



The ocean stilled, and stone by stone, the grotto quickly reformed itself to enclose them all. Omi stood triumphant on the little island, one arm propping up the ice board while the other easily held the Gills of Hamachi, Lotus Twister, and the Dragonthroat Collar.

“Victory is ours, Jack Spicer!” he crowed to the evil boy genius, lying in a dazed pile at his feet, before grinning to the baby lotan craned next to him in the water. “High fin, Tao!”

The lotan squeaked as he raised a fin, slapping it against Omi’s hand.