It was a few days later when Dojo managed to collect Master Fung and Master Guan somewhere far away from the potential prying ears of the young Dragon Warriors to voice his concerns.
"You mean to tell me that you suspect that Omi might be Wuya and Dashi's lost child?" Master Fung asked with a look of uncharacteristic shock after Dojo explained his suspicions. "How would that even be possible?"
"I don't know. I just know what Wuya said and the look in her eye. That wasn't the Heylin Witch or Jack Spicer's partner in crime looking at me. It was our Wuya," Dojo insisted.
"We do not have a Wuya. We have not for a very long time," Guan interjected with a stony expression.
"You know Dashi never believed that, Guan. That's half the reason he developed the puzzle box in the first place," Dojo retorted with a firm stare.
"Dashi allowed his emotions to rule him where she was concerned. He always did. Had he not, we could have stopped her long before she nearly conquered the world," Guan insisted.
"And you gave up on giving her a chance after Chase was corrupted," Dojo shot back with a glare.
"Chase was misled by Hannibal Bean. Wuya chose evil," Guan stubbornly replied.
"She chose to try to save her son. Dashi at least understood that," Dojo responded as he flew eye to stare Guan in the eye.
It was a long standing argument between the pair. Since Dashi's death Dojo had made it his duty to take up his closest friend's position in the argument over Wuya's condition. Guan thought she should have been destroyed years ago and had never agreed with the use of the puzzle box prison. Of course, the pair made it a point to never argue about it in front of the Apprentices, as it would raise questions neither was ready to answer.
It was Master Fung that finally put an end to the newest round in their debate as he stepped between them and said, "This arguing solves nothing. Omi is what is important, not rehashing old arguments."
"Fine. It is clear that time has driven Wuya mad. She sees the passing resemblance young Omi has with Dashi and has deluded herself into thinking he her long dead child. We should ignore her delusions for what they are," Guan postulated.
"Are you kidding me? If that were true why didn't she latch onto the kid from day one. No there's something else here. She was never the type to offer vulnerabilities like this. Something's up," Dojo insisted.
"We do know she was staying in Chase Young's citadel for a time before breaking ties with him. Could she have discovered something there? We know Chase collected records from the various Heylin sects over the centuries," Master Fung suggested.
"I suppose anything is possible. All I know was that I saw the first real honest joy and relief on her face since she left to find her son. If you had been there you would have seen it too, Guan, whether you'll admit it or not," Dojo insisted.
Guan remained stubbornly silent as Master Fung asked, "This does raise the question of how Omi could have been found as an infant to be raised by our order some 15 centuries after his abduction if he truly is Wuya's child?"
"He can't she's mad. She always was to a degree," Guan replied neutrally.
Dojo ignored the stoic monk as he responded, "It is a good question. I mean it's not like time travel happens everyday. Well not without something like the Shen Gong Wu, at least."
The three were equally silent for a moment before all of their eyes widened in unison. "The Sands of Time," they said as one.
"It's possible. I mean, the Heylin DID find it first, but Dashi defeated them and recovered it. I mean we always assume they hadn't had a chance to use it, but if they discovered it earlier than we thought..." Dojo suggested before trailing off in deep thought.
"But why send the babe through time? Would not killing him have been easier?" Guan asked.
"Feh. Like half the stuff the Heylin did ever made sense then. They were so scattered in their plans that I don't think any two members knew what each other was doing until Wuya brought them under her thumb<" Dojo shot back with a snort.
"Hmm, if his abductors left him here to hide him it is possible that they intended to retrieve him but were thwarted when Master Dashi collected the Sands of Time originally," Master Fung postulated.
"Or the Heylin here with him died somehow after arriving. There were plenty of nasty things out in the wilderness that would have been more than a match for single Heylin from that period. I mean you said yourself that it was a miracle that we found Omi before he was killed back then," Dojo replied.
Another moment of silence reined as the trio thought over the possibilities that had been raised before Guan asked what they all had be thinking about the most, "Should we tell him?"
"Oh yeah, that would go over well. "Hey kiddo, sorry to tell you think but we think our worst enemy might be your mom. Yeah she went crazy trying ot find you and that's what made her evil. Try not to let it get your down.' Yeah that would make him feel great," Dojo snorted.
"I agree. At this point discretion may be needed. I am more concerned with how Wuya might react to all of this than what Omi must know at this juncture," Fung added.
"She was willing to burn the world to ash to find him once. Who's to say what she will do to reunite with him now?" Guan asked grimly.
"Hold on. Don't you think we're judging things too fast here? I mean we don't even know how long Wuya might have suspected this. And so far all she did was save Omi's life. That's not a bad thing in my book," Dojo pointed out.
"You still cling to Dashi's false hope she could be saved. She chose this life, Dojo. There is no coming back from that," Guan responded.
"Says you. We've all see glimpses where things played out different. Who's to say what the future could bring?" Dojo inquired.
"Regardless, we must be watchful. Now that she has tipped her had, we have no idea how Wuya might react. We must make sure our young Dragons are ready for anything.
*****
Meanwhile in another part of the world...
"So, you want to team up again, huh? What's the catch?" Ashley, or rather Katnappe asked her guest.
"No catch, my dear. Just a lucrative partnership and a chance to ruffle a certain Dragon of Fire's feathers a bit," Wuya insisted with a sly grin.
"Ah. Her," Katnappe said with a scowl. "How do we get started?"
"We start where all intelligent women do, by making the men around us to distracted to notice what we are doing," Wuya suggested with a Cheshire Cat grin.
"Well, the big Texan kid was always fun to fluster," Katnappe mused with a grin of her own.
"Oh no. I think you'll find the Water Dragon a more stimulating target if you look deep enough," Wuya insisted.
"The bald kid? Why would he be the most interesting?" Katnappe asked.
"All in due time, child. All in due time," Wuya promised.
"You mean to tell me that you suspect that Omi might be Wuya and Dashi's lost child?" Master Fung asked with a look of uncharacteristic shock after Dojo explained his suspicions. "How would that even be possible?"
"I don't know. I just know what Wuya said and the look in her eye. That wasn't the Heylin Witch or Jack Spicer's partner in crime looking at me. It was our Wuya," Dojo insisted.
"We do not have a Wuya. We have not for a very long time," Guan interjected with a stony expression.
"You know Dashi never believed that, Guan. That's half the reason he developed the puzzle box in the first place," Dojo retorted with a firm stare.
"Dashi allowed his emotions to rule him where she was concerned. He always did. Had he not, we could have stopped her long before she nearly conquered the world," Guan insisted.
"And you gave up on giving her a chance after Chase was corrupted," Dojo shot back with a glare.
"Chase was misled by Hannibal Bean. Wuya chose evil," Guan stubbornly replied.
"She chose to try to save her son. Dashi at least understood that," Dojo responded as he flew eye to stare Guan in the eye.
It was a long standing argument between the pair. Since Dashi's death Dojo had made it his duty to take up his closest friend's position in the argument over Wuya's condition. Guan thought she should have been destroyed years ago and had never agreed with the use of the puzzle box prison. Of course, the pair made it a point to never argue about it in front of the Apprentices, as it would raise questions neither was ready to answer.
It was Master Fung that finally put an end to the newest round in their debate as he stepped between them and said, "This arguing solves nothing. Omi is what is important, not rehashing old arguments."
"Fine. It is clear that time has driven Wuya mad. She sees the passing resemblance young Omi has with Dashi and has deluded herself into thinking he her long dead child. We should ignore her delusions for what they are," Guan postulated.
"Are you kidding me? If that were true why didn't she latch onto the kid from day one. No there's something else here. She was never the type to offer vulnerabilities like this. Something's up," Dojo insisted.
"We do know she was staying in Chase Young's citadel for a time before breaking ties with him. Could she have discovered something there? We know Chase collected records from the various Heylin sects over the centuries," Master Fung suggested.
"I suppose anything is possible. All I know was that I saw the first real honest joy and relief on her face since she left to find her son. If you had been there you would have seen it too, Guan, whether you'll admit it or not," Dojo insisted.
Guan remained stubbornly silent as Master Fung asked, "This does raise the question of how Omi could have been found as an infant to be raised by our order some 15 centuries after his abduction if he truly is Wuya's child?"
"He can't she's mad. She always was to a degree," Guan replied neutrally.
Dojo ignored the stoic monk as he responded, "It is a good question. I mean it's not like time travel happens everyday. Well not without something like the Shen Gong Wu, at least."
The three were equally silent for a moment before all of their eyes widened in unison. "The Sands of Time," they said as one.
"It's possible. I mean, the Heylin DID find it first, but Dashi defeated them and recovered it. I mean we always assume they hadn't had a chance to use it, but if they discovered it earlier than we thought..." Dojo suggested before trailing off in deep thought.
"But why send the babe through time? Would not killing him have been easier?" Guan asked.
"Feh. Like half the stuff the Heylin did ever made sense then. They were so scattered in their plans that I don't think any two members knew what each other was doing until Wuya brought them under her thumb<" Dojo shot back with a snort.
"Hmm, if his abductors left him here to hide him it is possible that they intended to retrieve him but were thwarted when Master Dashi collected the Sands of Time originally," Master Fung postulated.
"Or the Heylin here with him died somehow after arriving. There were plenty of nasty things out in the wilderness that would have been more than a match for single Heylin from that period. I mean you said yourself that it was a miracle that we found Omi before he was killed back then," Dojo replied.
Another moment of silence reined as the trio thought over the possibilities that had been raised before Guan asked what they all had be thinking about the most, "Should we tell him?"
"Oh yeah, that would go over well. "Hey kiddo, sorry to tell you think but we think our worst enemy might be your mom. Yeah she went crazy trying ot find you and that's what made her evil. Try not to let it get your down.' Yeah that would make him feel great," Dojo snorted.
"I agree. At this point discretion may be needed. I am more concerned with how Wuya might react to all of this than what Omi must know at this juncture," Fung added.
"She was willing to burn the world to ash to find him once. Who's to say what she will do to reunite with him now?" Guan asked grimly.
"Hold on. Don't you think we're judging things too fast here? I mean we don't even know how long Wuya might have suspected this. And so far all she did was save Omi's life. That's not a bad thing in my book," Dojo pointed out.
"You still cling to Dashi's false hope she could be saved. She chose this life, Dojo. There is no coming back from that," Guan responded.
"Says you. We've all see glimpses where things played out different. Who's to say what the future could bring?" Dojo inquired.
"Regardless, we must be watchful. Now that she has tipped her had, we have no idea how Wuya might react. We must make sure our young Dragons are ready for anything.
*****
Meanwhile in another part of the world...
"So, you want to team up again, huh? What's the catch?" Ashley, or rather Katnappe asked her guest.
"No catch, my dear. Just a lucrative partnership and a chance to ruffle a certain Dragon of Fire's feathers a bit," Wuya insisted with a sly grin.
"Ah. Her," Katnappe said with a scowl. "How do we get started?"
"We start where all intelligent women do, by making the men around us to distracted to notice what we are doing," Wuya suggested with a Cheshire Cat grin.
"Well, the big Texan kid was always fun to fluster," Katnappe mused with a grin of her own.
"Oh no. I think you'll find the Water Dragon a more stimulating target if you look deep enough," Wuya insisted.
"The bald kid? Why would he be the most interesting?" Katnappe asked.
"All in due time, child. All in due time," Wuya promised.
