"RJ!" the trio shouted distantly. They came running into the loft from the Jungle Karma Pizza shop.
RJ, who was sitting in his favorite chair, was startled by their sudden burst of energy. "Wow. Slow down, dudes and dudette." he calmly said. "What seems to be disturbing you?"
"Our animal spirits. They've done something we've never seen before." Casey confusingly replied.
"Oh. What thing have they seem to have done?"
"Well. Our summoning of them seems to have changed." Lily confidently answered.
"They don't just retreat after we finished channeling them. Well, they seem to-. How would we explain this?" Theo confessed.
"Why don't you just show me? A live demonstration would be a better way for me to figure out the issue." RJ insisted.
"Alright, RJ." Casey agreed.
The trio lined up with Casey in the middle, Lily to the lift of him, and Theo to the right. The three placed their bodies in the right position for their summoning katas. The three Pai Zhua students shouted, "Call to the beast inside." As they shouted, they began their katas. As they seemed to be nearing the end of them, they then each respectively yelled "Free the tiger! Unleash the jaguar! Bring out the cheetah!"
As the spirit summoning occurred, the three wildcat spirits appeared. But RJ noted that his young students were right; there was something different about the spirits summoned now than what he has seen from them in the past. They did appear as usual but didn't seem to be attacking anything, If anything, they appear to be more docile and passive, and even more tangible than before.
But, RJ wasn't nervous at all. In fact, he was very happy and proud of them. His students were achieving something that some Pai Zhua masters are never able to do.
"Well, this is an unexpected revelation." RJ spouted.
As Lily's cheetah spirit hopped up and curled around her shoulders, Lily distressingly wondered. "You see, RJ. This has never happened before. Did we do something wrong in the summoning?"
"No, my young students. You have simply taken another step on your paths to becoming Pai Zhua masters."
"What do you mean?" The accused.
"When a Pai Zhua student or master makes a strong enough emotional bond or connection to his or her respective animal spirit, they can call it not just for combat, but as a guide or a companion. A life-long spiritual friend, if you will. Not many people in the order can actually achieve this. Master Swoop could as well as Master Mao. They, in turn, taught me the basics to make the same connection with my wolf spirit, but it was still all on me to achieve it and have it manifest. This bond can also let you spiritually connect with the respective animal to your spirit." RJ revealed.
"So, what does that mean for us, RJ? Theo inquired.
"It means that you have reached a higher level of your journey and must further your spiritual bond. It could give you an advantage over Dai Shi and his forces. All you have to do is build upon it."
"And that would be how?" Casey asked.
"Oh, I can't tell you. It's personal for everyone. You have to figure it out for yourselves" RJ spouted
"Well. That's just great." Theo sarcastically replied.
"Hey! We can't give up now and lose hope. We've made it this far. We can build stronger bonds." Lily triumphantly proclaimed.
"That's the right spirit, Lily!" RJ shouted.
"So how do these spirits manifest to everyone else? People can't see a red tiger around my body, can they?" Casey wondered.
"No. Only trained Pai Zhua students would be able to glimpse some sort of light in certain moments. The most experienced of the order, usually masters, can see others' spirits even if they never themselves made the same emotional connection. Everybody else not part of the order can't see anything unless they are unused in their traditional combat forms. So, you're safe from strange glances due to having a spirit guide near you."
"So you said that you were taught the basics by Master Swoop and Master Mao. Can you summon your own-?" Lily asked.
"Of course," RJ said with a smile. "I'll show you my own wolf spirit. Just need some space to be able to summon her,"
The trio of rangers backed away from the center of the training mat where RJ stood in preparation of his own kata. "Call to the beast inside!" he shouted while starting the kata. When it was nearly complete, he shouted, "Unchain the wolf!"
A purple wolf came from the kata's energy and landed down next to RJ. The spirit immediately howled and leaped over to RJ. RJ knelt down to the spirit's height and petted its head. The 3 Pai Zhua students were surprised at what they were seeing with the interaction between RJ and his spirit. "I want to introduce you to Calypso." RJ grinningly said.
"You named it?" Theo asked.
The spirit turned to him and growled, while Theo frightenedly backed away.
"Calypso's not an it, Theo. She doesn't like being called that. They are animals, only in spirit form, and they are part of how you have made it this far on your journey and been able to combat Dai Shi's forces. You should give them some respect."
"Sorry, RJ. I didn't know."
"It's okay. But, you should also apologize to Calypso as well."
"RJ! Everything seems to be in order to close up for the night!" a voice shouted. The owner of the said voice, Fran, ran into the loft. "Is it okay if I-?" Fran stopped dead in her place. "RJ, why are you petting a purple-ish wolf and Lily, why do you have a cheetah around your shoulders? And now thinking about I keep seeing red and blue flashes around here and..and...and..and. I think I'm going mad." Fran bewilderedly pointed out as she suddenly collapsed on the mat.
Casey rushed over her. "Fran, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just confused and nervous and a little scared and curious and..and." Fran started to rant.
"Slow down, Fran. You're going so fast your brain can't seem to catch up." Casey chimed in.
This is most unusual and makes no sense. Fran, have you sensed anything strange happening to you in the last few months? Anything mysterious or spiritual happen to you?" RJ wondered.
"Well. Nothing that doesn't involve you. But nothing that happened directly to me." Fran replied.
"Well. Let's think. Fran, you're always observant. That's how you figured out who we are in the first place. You were able to help RJ with his rampant wolf spirit. Maybe, you have a rare ability to be able to view animal spirits even if you are not part of the Order of the Claw. It's understandable considering all of your insights and being able to notice things most people miss expect for RJ. That might have inadvertently drawn you to Jungle Karma Pizza." Lily pondered.
"Well. That's a good idea as any." Fran said.
"Anyway. It doesn't matter what causes Fran to be able to see our animal spirits this way or not. We should properly introduce her to them. Fran." RJ pointed out.
"Yes, RJ?" Fran spoke up.
"Why don't you come over here and meet Calypso?" RJ said.
"Alright. I guess there's no real harm in meeting her. She's not going to hurt me, right?"
"Yep. Calypso may be a real lone wolf. Like me. But, the ones she deems safe for both herself and me she is perfectly fine with. Besides, you have been with me for a while and did help her when her spirit was ripped out of me."
As Fran slowly approaches, Calypso perks her head up from RJ. She turns it to the approaching girl and wriggles herself out of RJ's hold. The wolf spirit walks over to Fran and immediately starts wagging her tail as she circles around the confused girl.
"Don't worry, Fran. The wagging tail means that she likes you." RJ says, trying to calm Fran from her confusion and nervousness.
Fran decided to hold her hand out to the joyful spirit. It then sniffed it before leaning into the hand. It proceeded to affectionately rub its head against Fran's hand, fully calming her.
"So, Lily? What's your cheetah's name?" Fran
"Well, I think I'll call her Willow. Casey? Theo? Any names for your spirits?"
While Fran was familiarizing herself with RJ's wolf spirit, Theo and Casey's jaguar and tiger spirits had finally stopped hiding from their human companions, and they had approached the two boys. Theo's jaguar had laid down in a sphinx position next to Theo as if he were guarding him. Casey's tiger had laid down on its back waiting for its companion to affectionately scratch his belly, which Casey did to the contentment of the beast.
Casey turned to Lily with a smile. "I think Blaze is a perfect name for him. Don't you think so?" he said while he turned his attention back towards the tiger. The tiger roared at the name in agreement as Casey softened the scratches.
"I think Ghost fights for a spirit that is all about stealth," Theo concluded. The spirit proceeded to run its head against Theo's leg in what seemed to be agreement
As the day went on, the 5 shared stories, played games, and relaxed with both their teammates and spirit animals as they formed bonds that would be needed for what was to come.