Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or Xiaolin Chronicles
Title: A Day At The Temple
Summary: An average, normal, non-world-saving, boring day of chores, training, and meditation at the temple.
Warnings: None
...
The sun peeked over the horizon, the first rays of the day gleaming over the antique blue, white, and black wood of the temple. The smooth oriental curves welcomed the light and embraced it, sending vibrant shadows over the training grounds below.
Deep in the temple, past a few twists and turns that, while slightly confusing to fresh eyes, were short and easy to progress through, the apprentice room door sat slightly cracked open to help circulate the summer air.
In the room, which sat mostly bare, the apprentices slept. Raimundo lay on his back, hands flat against the floor and one knee raised, his head lolled back and mouth open. Clay copied the position, making it his own, with both legs stretched out and hands clenched together across his chest. His snoring greatly out-volumed his companions. Kimiko was rolled onto her side, her chest quietly rising and falling in a familiar, smooth pattern. Omi was rolled onto his head, asleep in meditation. Everything was peaceful...
The door slid open. Dojo slithered into the room, dragging a gong and mallet behind him. Smiling wickedly, as it was one of his favorite parts of the day, he raised the mallet and gong and whacked it as hard as possible as he crossed the room.
"Alright, up and at 'em!" Raimundo woke mid-snore, sitting up with blurry eyes. "It's morning, and I'm hungry!" Omi fell onto his back, rolling over onto his feet with practiced ease. "Wake up, all of ya!" He banged the gong close to the cowboys ear, forcing him awake with the vibrations. He grit his teeth until they subsided. Groaning, Kimiko pushed herself up onto her hands, sending a death glare to the dragon (whom immediately backed away), before sighing and rolling onto her back.
Taking a moment to collect themselves, they slowly made there way out of their mini-rooms and out the door, giving the dragon multiple greetings (some chipper, some sour) as they passed.
In their half-conscious state, they routinely made their way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
"It's yer turn to make the eggs."
"Do I have too?" The oriental boy whined. A pan was thrust, handle-first, into his face in answer. He sighed. "I have too." Grabbing the pan, he dragged the stool over to the old wood stove.
"What do we have for side dishes?" Kimiko asked. Clay dug through the cabinets, searching through the depleting stock.
"We have rice and... uh, rice." He chuckled, pushing a few things out of the way. "What kind do ya' want?"
She sighed. "That's it, I'm going to go talk to Master Fung."
"Alright, but he ain't gonna budge." He warned as she walked out the room. She made no comment, nor gave any answers. "Hey, you didn't answer my question!"
"Just make the white rice" Raimundo grunted, chopping the vegetables. "We all like that."
"Alrighty then." He grabbed the bag, stepping off the stool, then began the process of making the dish.
"Master Fung, we really need to start going to the store. I like rice and all, but it's starting to get really boring." A pause befell the room as everyone listened to the muffled conversation. "What? Yeah, I know it's hard too, but... Yes, I know it's a tradition... You can't be- Master Fung!..." She sighed. "Yes, Master Fung, I'll get right on that." The door slid open as she weakly stalked back into the kitchen, a bag on her hip.
"So?" Clay smiled. Kimiko sighed.
"I have to go collect the fruits and stuff from the gardens. 'To help show me the importance of the process', he said. Ulgh."
A bout of cheerful, half-awake chuckling filled the room.
"It's nice to see you all slept well." Master Fung commented, grabbing his bowl.
"Yes, and you as well." Taking a bite of his food, Omi found it to be burning hot. Pounding on his chest a moment, he grabbed his glass of milk to douse the flames before letting out a sigh of contentment.
"But, seriously, Master Fung, it wouldn't kill anyone if we started going shopping for out food. It would help us with cooking our meals."
"It would also help you shirk your chores." He commented, taking a drink of broth. "Learning to cook with what you have is an important adaptation skill. Besides, if you went shopping, you'd have to take Omi with you." The boy in question glanced up from his meal, spoon still in mouth. "I mean you no disrespect, Omi, but you wouldn't fair well in a place with so many foreign objects."
"You got that right.." Kimiko elbowed the wind element in his side. He yelped and clutched his rib cage. "Ow! I was just agreeing with him, seesh!"
"I see..." Omi paused for a moment in deep thought before smiling brightly. "That is okay. I like eating rice as much as we do."
"Figures." Another elbow in his side. "Ow!"
Most days in the temple weren't all that exciting. With revealed Shen Gon Wu gradually slowing down, weeks of little to no activity outside the temple were becoming more and more common. It was like a wave; it came and it went, before coming back again. At least, that was how Master Fung had taken to describing it.
Even when the world wasn't in danger, there was still much to be done. Chores, training, studying, amongst other things, took top priority. And while it never measured up to the adventures of traveling the world, defeating enemies, and saving the world, the work was still useful and fulfilling, just not as much.
And, judging from the short amount of time they'd been awake, it was becoming more and more obvious that the day was setting itself up to be the former.
Meditation was good for the mind and body, as well as the digestion tract. It gave one time to reflect over mistakes, find inner peace, rest the body, and give the stomach the time it needed to work through the food so the chances of getting sick during training were heavily diminished.
It was, however, a rather boring task, especially when there wasn't anything to meditate over. Even Omi, the master of upside down, sometimes found the task rather mundane. But it was necessary, so no one ever complained.
Peace. Calm. Serenity. Focus on the breathing coming from all around. Go over the more dangerous parts of the last mission. Did something go wrong? Could it have gone right? The world around slowly faded into nothingness as they went down the familiar mental paths that meditation had brought about.
Eventually, they were all called back to the world of the living, on their own time, to begin the daily training.
Wincing at his sore back, Raimundo pushed himself to his feet. Everything was aching. His arms, his legs, his side- stupid Kimiko with her pointed elbows-, and especially his back. He weakly got back into his starting position.
Omi looked no worse for wear, but his combatant knew otherwise. the small beads of sweat on his brow, the pinch of his face, and the sweat making his uniform cling to his upper body and legs were all proof of his own exhaustion. But Omi was stubborn, especially with training, and he knew that the boy would fight until he collapsed if he had to.
Panting, he swallowed in an attempt to curb his dry throat. "How... about... a five minute... break?" He offered.
The boy paused, as though he was actually considering the offer given to him, before finally nodding. "Sounds... good."
Both collapsed onto their backs, panting.
Taking a swing at the practice dummy, Clay chuckled. "And that's why Ah opt not to spar with those two." Beside him, Kimiko nodded.
"Agreed. They're way too stubborn."
"Yeah. But, you gotta admit, it's kinda fun to watch."
Balancing atop the high, thin, wood stick, he weakly grabbed the edge of the feather, turning it over in his hand. "I hate feather catching."
"It is an important part of our training." Omi reminded him, flipping through the air, gracefully landing on one hand to grab two feathers slowly floating downwards.
"Uh, no offense, little buddy, but I'm on Rai's side." Attempting to catch his balance on the thin podium, Clay swung his arms around in circles. "Some of us ain't built for this type of thing."
"Nonsense. That is the point of the exercise; to gain balance." He swung to the next wood podium, easily grasping another stray feather.
"I thought we were supposed to be catching feathers." Raimundo easily snatched a feather mid-air, putting it next to the other one in his fist.
"Well, that too."
"Honestly, when in battle do you ever expect to have to stand fifteen feet off the ground and catch falling objects?"
"Well..."
"Exactly. Even Xiaolin Showdowns aren't that weird." Taking a quick glance at the sun, he plopped down on the podium. "I say we bounce. It's almost time for lunch, and we can always sweep these things up later."
"Sounds good to me."
"But, Master Fung!-" Watching the group make their way down, he hesitated a moment before sighing and climbing down as well.
Lunch went swiftly and quietly. More dishes were piled into the sink, and the household chores began. Sweeping, mopping, cleaning the windows, anything and everything that needed to be done to keep the house clean was done with quick precision and practiced tactics.
Peering into the wood stock, Kimiko groaned before calling over her shoulder. "Guys, get the axes. We're almost out of wood."
Wood-chopping was one of the more despised chores around the temple. It required trekking down the side of a mountain, finding a suitable patch of trees within the small, varied forests lingering around, chopping them down, then carrying them back up the mountain, all while keeping down any groans and moans of pain. Suffice to say, no one ever wanted the chore, and so Master Fung had appointed them all to do the chore as a group, so as to make sure the chore actually got done instead of being forever thrown around and put off.
Clay swung the heavy axe over his shoulder, successfully chopping the small log into two messy halves. Leaning the axe against he side, he rubbed his shoulder. "My arms hurt."
Kimiko glanced over the small, rather pitiful, pile before chopping a log of her own in half and throwing it into the pile with the others. "We don't have nearly enough wood yet."
"That reminds me." Digging through the nearby foliage, the Texan pulled out a smaller, better proportioned axe for the young water dragon. "Here." He handed it over with a grin. "Since yer last one broke."
"Oh." Deadpan, he took the axe. "Thank you." Dragging it towards his own corner, the others could vaguely hear muttered complaints as he set to work.
Chuckling, Raimundo rubbed at his sore arms. "I like the fireplace and all, but this is getting ridiculous."
"I know." Frowning, she dropped a few logs onto the 'carry home' pile before going back to work. "It's not even the fireplace. If he'd just replace that old wood stove with a gas or electric one- then again, we'd have to wire the entire temple-, wood-gathering would be so much easier."
Pausing mid-swing, Omi set the axe down and glanced up from his work. "Gas stove? How does a stove run on gas?"
"Oh, man." She brought a hand to her forehead. Raimundo waved a hand.
"You explain it to him."
"But it's your turn!"
"You brought it up."
She sighed. "Fine." Grabbing his shoulder, she gently led him to a workplace big enough for two. "We might as well work while I explain. This is gonna take awhile..."
Lugging the wood up the mountain had been mostly boring (save for Dojo setting a few logs aflame with a sneeze), and soon the axes were put away and the wood was stored.
Later in the afternoon, the time had come when they could sit and work on their studies. The windows were cracked open in the main 'library', lighting up the place to make work easier. This was the time when one could write letters to send home, making it one of the easiest and most awaited part of the day.
While Raimundo boredly sat in a chair, an arm propping up his chin, the rest lay stretched out across the floor. Kimiko typed out an email using her phone whilst Clay wrote out a simple letter. In the far corner, close to a windows, Omi quietly read a scroll. One he'd probably already read twelve times over, Raimundo reminded himself.
Sweeping his gaze over the room, he searched for something to do. Write home? Nah, he'd sent home a letter the week before. Read a scroll? Not in the mood. Sit and watch? Wasn't working out too well.
Taking notice that the smallest dragon was sitting with his back facing him, he grinned. That could work...
Carefully standing up so as to not make a sound, he crept across the room, shooting Kimiko and Clay a quick thumbs up and a smirk. She rolled her eyes and turned back to her cell phone. Clay snickered behind a well-placed gloved hand, setting the letter aside to get a better view of the scene unfolding before him.
Taking notice of the noise, Omi distractedly called over his shoulder. "What is so funny?"
"Oh, nothing. Ah, uh... wrote a funny joke."
"Oh, I see." He paused, reading another line, before glancing up as the sentence processed. "Wait a se-"
Taking his chance, Raimundo pounced. He easily bowled the boy over. "Ha-ha! I got him!" He excitedly raised a fist in self-congratulation, turning back to his companions. "Did you see-" Omi pounced back, using the momentum to push him over. The fight had officially begun.
After a few minutes of tussling, a voice finally broke out. "Omi! Raimundo!" Stopping mid-fight (not an easy task, mind you), they immediately stood up. Master Fung's piercing blue eyes easily locked them in place. "This is a no-fighting time. For disregarding that rule; three laps around the temple."
"But!-" He gave them a look. They instantly deflated. "Yes, Master Fung."
"And, Raimundo-" He grabbed the slumped boys shoulder. "Next time, keep an eye on your opponent."
He flushed as he made his way out the door. "Yes, Master Fung."
Panting heavily, Raimundo put his hands on his knees. Beside him, Omi slid to a stop. "Why... is... the... temple... so big!?"
"It is because-"
"Hypothetical question... don't answer."
"Oh... right."
"Ahh, good timing." Master Fung slid the door open. He smiled. "You're just in time to help make dinner."
Pausing for a moment in shock, they both groaned in tandem. Utterly exhausted, as well as defeated, Omi slumped onto his back. Raimundo groaned and slumped further downwards.
Dinner passed by without any hassle. The food was eaten, the leftovers stored. Next came the fun part; doing the dishes.
Kimiko searched the pile for the proper dish, carefully pulling it from the stack before handing it off to Omi, whom washed the dish in the sudsy sink water, then handing it off to the dryer; Raimundo. Once the plate was dry, he handed it off to Clay, who quickly stored the dish away.
"Why do I always get stuck putting them away?" He grumbled, crossly taking the plate from the wind dragon's hands.
Raimundo raised an eyebrow, gesturing towards the obvious height difference between them with a deadpan look. Clay, taking the hint, sheepishly chuckled. "Oh. Right. I forget that sometimes." He turned and headed towards the plate cupboards.
Raimundo chuckled. "Well, it's better to be a giant then an an- woah!" Turning to give the small boy next to him a pointed look, he found himself face to face with the sharp edge of a kitchen knife. "Alright, alright, i'm sor-"
"Raimundo, you are falling behind. Hurry up." He easily flipped the blade over, presenting him with the handle. He awkwardly took it.
"Er, right." Taking in the relaxed slump of his shoulders and the normal no-nonsense bite to his words, he stared for a minute before drying the blade. Leaning back, he mouthed "Do you think he realized?..." Kimiko shrugged and turned back to her work with a smile.
Later, after the dishes were finished and meditation was done, Master Fung dismissed them early for the night. They needed the sleep, he'd told them with a smile, for training the next day would be much harder than it had been today.
Thoroughly exhausted, they stumbled off to bed, taking quick showers and changing into their nightwear before collapsing into their individual cubicles. Rearranging themselves into their proper sleeping positions, each one gave a weary goodnight before quickly falling asleep.
All to repeat the process the very next day.
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