There was a slow wave of dreadful mana which washed over the scene. Mu Lan had to act quickly. She grabbed Ai, who was caught off guard, by the waist and leaped out of range of the madness. She set Ai down, and flushed at how abruptly she had acted towards her. "Uh- S-sorry. There was just-" Ai, put up her hand to silence her, soothing her frazzled hair with an equally, but less apparent, flustered expression.
"It's fine. Just... a little bit of warning next time," said Ai.
Xiao could do nothing but nod. The two were close enough to be good friends, yes, but that action was probably embarrassing to her Master, who even objected to being handled as such by a man. Ai's sense of independence and personal space reached no bounds. It came with her history and personality.
After regaining her composure, she realized they were standing beside Lancer and Masaki. She closed her eyes, resisting the urge to massage the bridge of her nose. How humiliating.
Mu Lan turned and surveyed the events they had escaped from. Her eyes grew wide and she thrust out a hand at it, yelling at the group without thinking, "Shouldn't we do something?"
Ai knew Mu Lan could be compulsive at times--most of the time--but... "I have no intentions of getting involved with someone else's fight Xiao."
"But-"
"The area is too chaotic at the moment. If there are any people who got caught up in the crossfire, we'll assist them after the fight has diminished."
Xiao and Ai locked eyes for a moment. Only for a moment, but a plethora of signals were sent through that single wisp of time: pleading, warning, determination, daring, resolve. Xiao then turned her back and Ai knew without a doubt, she was going to defy her.
Xiao transformed yet again. She raised her hand to the sky and shouted, her voice roared like thunder, "SHENLONG!" The clouds began to swirl as the wind picked up around everyone's feet. Out of the center, a bolt of lightening struck the ground beside Hua Mu Lan. She did not blink as the beast she summoned appeared before their eyes. Shenlong, the Dragon-God of Thunder, stood in all of his golden glory about two stories above everyone's head. He was not as large as legend tells, but size does not matter when is comes to a God. Mu Lan leaped onto his back, sword in hand. But before she took off, she took one minuscule glance at Ai. She expected rage beyond belief to be in her master's eyes, but instead she saw nothing. Her face showed no emotion. She simply stood with her arms crossed, watching Mu Lan with seeming placidity. Mu Lan still couldn't read the woman very well, but she knew that sometimes her silence was much more dangerous than when she expressed anger.
"To the bridge." Said Mu Lan to Shenlong, patting him on his scaly neck. He snorted and took off into the sky towards the destruction.
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