The heat of sunlight on his face immediately made him twist and turn and he yelped with pain. Every square inch of his body seemed to ache down to his bones and his head began to spin from the assault. He took a deep breath then slowly began experimenting by moving each limb. Nothing seemed to be broken but every little movement caused an excruciating amount of effort. He supposed he should be thankful that he was, at least, lying down on something soft.

He slowly coaxed his eyes open, blinking as they adjusted to the brightness. They seemed to protest as much as the rest of his body - he was just that exhausted. He was suddenly aware of rushed footsteps and the sound of a door slamming.

His eyes shot open and he immediately tried to jump to his feet but his legs gave out from under him and he fell back onto what he could now see was a large bed. He groaned into his pillow as pain shot up his back.

“YOU’RE AWAKE!”

Tao looked up just in time to see a young boy before he took off running down what appeared to be a wood-paneled hallway outside the door. The walls were a muted off-white, decorated simply with some small tapestries, scrolls and an ornamental fan. He realized he was sitting on a large, plush bed, in bedding that definitely felt like silk. There was a faint smell of something smoky and pleasant in the air, as well as the far-away scent of something cooking. It seemed that he was somewhere in China, although he still wasn’t quite sure how he had gotten there.

He tried to calm his mind and think. Everything seemed like one big mess in his muddled thoughts. After a moment, he realized the last thing he could remember was Kris telling him that they were headed to the Tree of Life and-

Oh.

Oh.

He was going to kill Kai when they got back-

“He’s awake! You told me to get you when he woke up so I did!” The young boy was shouting excitedly outside and he threw open the door and bowed two older gentlemen inside. They wore ornate traditional robes and carried themselves with an air of great importance.

They stopped at the foot of the bed and bowed low. The boy scrambled to follow them, only just stopping the round black cap from falling off his head in his haste.

“O Great Warrior who has descended from the heavens!” The shorter man spoke, his head still bowed. “It humbles your poor servants to be in your presence.”

“Great Warrior?” Tao asked, quirking an eyebrow in confusion.

“O Great Warrior, are you dissatisfied with that form of address?” The taller man looked up, worried. “We thought it was most befitting.”

Tao simply blinked in confusion. The two men exchanged a worried look.

“You fell from the heavens into the barracks,” the taller one explained.

Well, that explained the bruises on his back.

“… You managed to defeat our entire legion of 500 guards,” the shorter one continued.

And that explained everything else.

“I was there! It was amazing!” the boy gushed. “You were spinning and kicking,” he jumped up and down, imitating the movements. “And swinging this mop you found and- bang!” he slammed his fist into his palm. “You knocked them all down!”

“How did I get here?” Tao asked.

“It appears the journey from heaven was very taxing, Great Warrior,” the tall man bowed his head. “You fell asleep immediately after, speaking some weird dialect-“

“It sounded like ‘kill him’, actually,” the shorter one interrupted.

“And then you said ‘soojoo’?” The boy added.

“I think it was more like ‘soh-joo’,” the short man his beard in thought.

“We thought it would be best to bring you here,” the tall man continued. “I hope the accomodations are befitting, O Gift from the Heavens.”

Tao nodded at them, still unsure of what to say.

“Now that you are awake, Great Warrior, we must make a request of you,” the shorter man said, straightening his robe.

“A request?” Tao asked.

The men and the boy immediately fell to their knees.

“We request that you stay and train our troops in your ways!” the tall man said, clasping his hands together.

“W-what? W-wait, please, stand up,” Tao stammered, now completely confused. The men nodded and rose to their feet.

Tao closed his eyes and immediately, everything around him froze. The men were caught halfway between standing and sitting and the boy was caught in the air, in the midst of his leap to his feet. The smoke from the burning incense on the table in the corner was caught in an intricate pattern against the white walls.

Tao took a deep breath and considered his options. As far as he knew, he was alone on Earth and he had no way of knowing where the rest of the group was, or if they had even fallen into the portal at all. He was injured quite badly, but not so bad that he couldn’t at least escape. He still had the use of his powers, which was a relief. He could stay and help these men, or he could go into hiding.

As he thought, his focus on his power began to slide and things slowly began to resume their normal pace. The men rose fully to their feet and the boy managed to land without much stumbling.

Tao was caught debating with himself between the two options until suddenly, the smell of the food from the kitchen somewhere made its way more fully into his senses. His stomach rumbled rather loudly at the aroma and he immediately blushed and rubbed it in the hopes of soothing it. The men smiled and the boy attempted to hide a smile.

“I’ll do it.”

*

The cool darkness of the night found Kai, for the first time in months, back where he started - in the rush of London. The spotlight followed him as he moved smoothly across the stage. A hand swung gracefully through the air and his feet made a quick, complex shuffle across the floor. His drifting from job to job had led him to the local arts centers and theaters and there he had found a passion in dancing that he had only glimpsed in his previous visits to Earth. He had managed to work up a system of changing hairstyles and clothes that allowed him to move from group to group while making enough to survive, but being able to stay completely inconspicuous.

Tonight had been what felt like the longest night of the week. Kai hated the cold as it is, but this winter had been particularly harsh. The company had decided to put on a new complicated routine of improvised dancing to a new style of music that had filtered through the army into the public consciousness and as the lead dancer, Kai had been in almost all the performances all week. With the cold, came the flu and several members had been absent in the earlier performances of the night, leaving only Kai to take their places.

He was tired, worn, yet he put everything he had into the performance. Every extension, leap and curl was filled with his determination, if not the emotions behind the song. The music swelled to a and just as he was about to strike his final pose (a step-step-slide and a snap of his fingers), he caught sight of the door just off the stage. Oh, what he would give to be in his dressing room-

The lights went out, the music ended and the audience rose to a thunderous applause. When the lights came back on, the crowd was astonished to find the stage empty after just a split second.

A thin wall away, Kai sat on the couch in the dressing room in shocked amazement as the last few tendrils of black smoke from his teleportation evaporated off his body. He looked up at the mirror and smirked.

It had begun.