I'm so glad this story is to your liking! Hope this chapter will be to your expectations too. Sorry for the lack of action but I promise there'll be plenty of it in the next chapters and your questions will be answered soon. Actually you may figure everything out from this chapter, it depends on your attention.
And one more thing I have forgotten to mention in the previous chapter is that they are all apprentices. I thought of placing the story between 'Dangerous Minds' and 'Judging Omi'! That would be all!
Thanks for the reviews everyone! You're all great!
Updated: 28.07.2011
Cage
The night passed quickly. Too quickly in Rai's opinion and he wasn't wrong. When he woke up, feeling a lot more tired than he remembered being before going to bed, the sky was still dark and it didn't show any signs of lightening up anytime now. Groggily he sat up rubbing his unfocused eyes and threw the blanket off of him. It landed beside the wall in a bundle of material knocking on its way the football ball.
Raimundo didn't pay any attention to them and headed for the door grabbing clumsily as he walked a pair of clean robes. The stroll to the bathroom was spent with closed eyes because he felt too tired to lift them and so he decided to guide himself with his other senses…plus that he knew the way perfectly as that was the safest place in the temple. Huh! Nobody ever thinks of the bathroom!
When he was finally there he turn on the light and started his daily and boring routine. Half an hour later he was done but the sun was nowhere in sight. More awake after the shower, Raimundo settled on having his breakfast. The kitchen was dark but the snap of the switch revealed the wooden table in the middle, the cupboards, the fridge and the gas cooker. He swiftly made for himself some cereal and stood down munching on his meal while letting his mind run wild.
He remembered clearly the talk with Damian and he was deeply happy that he could see him after such a long time but the reason of the visit seriously shook him up. There wasn't a day for him to not think about his previous life and that maybe he made a wrong decision in coming to the temple. He was thinking that maybe it would have been better for him to stay at the Hideout and help his not so related family.
The worry acutely crept in his soul but Rai tried as much as possible to not let it reach him. The others were strong and they had Damian to lead them. They would be fine!
...But what about him?
He shook his head until he felt the room spinning around him. He took a breath in and let the spoon down hearing it cling when it hit the bowl. His hands stretched to his face rubbing his eyes and trying to shake the unwanted feelings that kept coming in waves around him. He had a team as well, some people that he knew he could count on and who had his back whenever he needed. There was no reason to worry!
Although, it would be good to be more careful from now on!
"Hey Rai!" The boy's green eyes moved fast to the door and his posture unwillingly relaxed at seeing the green dragon resident of the temple. "Wow…who could have thought that you would be up even before Master Fung!"
Rai managed a strain smile averting his eyes to the bowl standing in front of him. He grabbed it and put it in the sink just as Dojo crawled on the table. "Something on your mind, kid?"
The brown haired boy exhaled loudly supporting his body on the sink's edge. "Quite a few!...It was a very instructive night!" He laughed dryly and returned to sit at the table with Dojo watching him in surprise and understanding.
"Are there problems?"
"Hope not! At least I hope to not get that far!"
The dragon nodded. "Don't you wanna go?"
Raimundo smiled propping his chin in his palm. "I'm sure they can handle it!"
Dojo jumped on the counter and opened the fridge rummaging its inside as he answered nonchalantly. "I'm not saying they can't! And besides, without the usual prankster and trouble maker things would be so boring around here!"
The young apprentice rolled his eyes. "Your words are so warming my heart gecko!"
"That's why everyone loves Dojo!" he said holding some eggs and shrugging his shoulders right before turning at the boy with a murderous look. "And if you call me like that again I'm gonna give you a free trip for your means of transport's internal structure!"
"What a civilized way to say something so gross!" replied Raimundo pulling a disgusted face.
"You know me, I'm original!"
Raimundo stood up. "Guess I'll take a walk. If the others wake up tell them I'm out!"
Dojo nodded absently fumbling with the pans and dishes as he mumbled. "What a surprise will that be!"
The air of the morning was cool and refreshing, way better than the one in the dream. The smell of the forest and rivers was intoxicating setting loose a wild animalistic instinct of freedom that Rai happily embraced with all his being. He stretched in the faint light of the dawn that started to cover the grounds leaving the noises and scents to invade his mind as his body repeated the usual warm ups before a training.
The grass was moist beneath his feet, its green glow impelling him to sit down and stare at the ascendant ball of flames up in the horizon. Its light crept on the land and sky underlining the shapes of the bending trees, the imposing structures, the pond and the fountain in the garden, as well as the swirls of the clouds seemingly extending for miles in the eternity of the heavens.
The water shone a magnificent shade of icy blue with pieces of diamonds here and there that captivated the eye. The falling stream of the fountain only spread the light in many colors highlighting the foams of their cascades and then the calmness of the surface as it continued the process.
As the seconds passed, the light grew stronger revealing to the boy the beauty of the untouched land, the power of the nature in full swing. His mind was so drawn in what was before him that he didn't even notice Master Fung coming from behind.
"I believe meditation is later in the afternoon, young monk!" he said in a gentle tone gaining the attention of the wind dragon.
Raimundo nodded and stepped behind him and in line with the other three monks who gave him some startling and questioning glances. He answered them with a shrug before shifting back to look at the old master as he began to speak of their morning exercises.
The time slipped away with no major events. Jack Spicer didn't raid the vault and it hadn't been a shen-gong-wu alarm either. So, the day was mostly spent training, learning new techniques, mastering their signature moves, eating and meditating.
Of course there were the usual banters between teammates regarding the 'problem' of having a girl around and how hard it made their progress that more often than not ended with someone having a very nicely colored eye, along with some mysterious pranks that consisted of some make-up missing that just as mysteriously winded up redecorating one specific cowboy's hat.
After some yells and shouts and Master Fung's intervention followed by a philosophical lecture the four monks began the training through meditation. How it helped…it was still unknown! At least for three of the dragons, the other seemed far too eager to begin. And so it passed yet another day at the illustrious Chinese temple.
Another day spent on training to become a great dragon warrior…another day spent to become stronger to combat the forces of evil…another day spent between four walls doing a normal routine for more than one year and a half.
Raimundo sighed from his place on the rooftop. The sun was lazily dancing his way off the stage leaving behind him streaks of blood red and pulsating yellow colors. The shadows stretched for miles on the ground and such was the remaining life emanating from the forest. The darkness slowly fell upon the valley obscuring the view with a blue blanket that perfectly melted with the forms of the territory.
The moon hanged in the sky like a white hollow bow, more than half of it being hidden under the thick cobalt shade of the heavens. Small flickers of lights appeared around it none of them as beautiful as the queen of the lost paradise. The queen who dictates freedom to her vassals, the urge to feel the world, to taste life to its fullest.
His soul itched for that feeling. He wanted to break the barrier, the four walls that kept him inside when he could be outside living boundlessly. The moment was too good to pass but the doubt, the self preservation, didn't want to leave yet. He sighed again keeping it as long as possible while his foot tapped impatient on the roof. He leant on his back, his hands sneaking behind his head and closed his eyes.
A mental image appeared in front of his eyes. What it would be like to be free again? It felt really good! Oh, what would he give in exchange for a race with Blas! In exchange for his other life! But he made his decision already; there was no way back.
Green eyes opened to gaze in the depths of the skies, his mind racing, thinking of the threat behind the corner. He felt his heart hammering in his chest at the simple notion. Who would have thought it could get to such a thing? Sure, it was inevitable but still exaggerated. He swallowed calming his physical reactions. He exhaled lengthily and reopened his eyes to stare at the same dark blue sky. Raimundo couldn't tell if he was scared of what was happening…maybe he was but in any case he felt safe at the temple.
'Although, it would have been better at the Hideout!'
The thought brought forth a pang of lonesome and homesickness in his chest that started to slowly burn his insides. His features turned into a grimace at the sudden flood of memories and it took all his will power to push them back and resist the guilt pressing on his shoulders. Although he knew no one blamed him because everyone agreed with his leaving, Raimundo still had that small uncertainty that said it was all wrong.
The cool air gathered in his lungs feeding him with the freshness of the night before it was lead outside through his mouth. Rai opened his eyes again, his gaze trailing on the thin lines between the stars. Staring at the sky always helped him calm down and let his mind wander aimlessly through the darker corners of his inner self.
Still, it was different that night.
For the first, Raimundo felt restless. The initial warning sign of his true self coming out. Secondly he wanted to move and since training in the middle of the night was out of question that only left out running and the young Brazilian was quite keen on doing it that moment.
He quickly sat up and gracefully jumped down on the ground in a perfect crouch. His eyes traveled around the area for any indications that someone might be coming before starting in a pace towards the entrance near the stream. Just as he stepped out of the temple, Rai took off in a full sprint through the trees. In a second he was dashing between the wooden trunks at an impressive speed, the shapes and forms around him melting one into another, the ground cold and welcoming beneath his feet and with the wind whispering loving words in his ears.
The state of euphoria was slithering off of his body in waves and he urged his body to run faster, to feel the breeze hitting his face and his nose to smell the stimulating air traveling with him. The cacophony of nocturne sounds were dynamic in his ears like an ongoing party that only he could hear and join.
He felt truly at home in the middle of the nature!
So…Did you make out the whole thing? I thought the book was a dead giveaway! Anyway, if you didn't then wait for the next chapter! See ya…
