Chapter 04: Voices
"Raimundo, you must get up!"
Omi stood over Raimundo, who was still asleep in his curtained space that made up his "room". However, his was far from a peaceful slumber; Raimundo kept shifting around and speaking quick phrases to invisible beings in his mind.
Suddenly, Raimundo woke up, and rose into a sitting position while screaming his lungs out. It took a moment for him to take in his surroundings before he began to calm down. Something had been haunting him; His face was covered with tears mingled in sweat. He looked straight ahead and found Omi, who looked as if he had fainted from Rai's sudden outcry, but really just toppled over when Raimundo suddenly got up.
The bald monk scrambled to his feet and saw the mix of confusion and fear on Raimundo's grim face.
"Raimundo, what is wrong?" he wondered.
"It's nothing, Omi." Rai replied, "What's going on.?"
"The 'Voice of Tao Tsueng' has just revealed itself." Master Fung explained when all the Wudai Warriors had assembled. On the Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu Dojo was holding, an animated man was summoning lighter drawn people who appeared to be floating in midair.
"The power of the 'Voice'," the sagely monk went on to explain, "is to summon any spirits still tied to the physical world, and gives you the ability to speak with them."
"There are real ghosts in the world?" Kimiko asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
"Of course there are. " Dojo replied. Kimiko squirmed and shifted her eyes frantically, thinking she might find ghost watching her with a perverse or hungry face. She gasped softly as a pair of hands wrapped around her waist.
The petite Japanese girl looked up, not to a specter, but her dear friend, Raimundo, who gave her a soft "It's ok." before returning his attention to Dojo. Kimiko became conflicted between kissing his cheek for his concern and slapping him for spooking her and invading her personal space. She determined it was probably best not to react at the current moment, but she couldn't help but notice Rai's kindness, the trait that the Bird of Paradise said was his greatest strength. And in his arms, she could feel that soothing strength that protected her from the chaos of the world.
"Wuya USED to be a ghost." Dojo said, stating the obvious and ripping Kimiko from her thoughts, "Twice, actually, but you all know that. But there are some spirits that remain bound to the world because of powerful emotions."
Raimundo cringed.
"These ghosts," the dragon continued to explain, "never seem to leave until they fulfill whatever's kept the from eternal rest. Some spirits remain for only a few days, others for 1500 years."
"It seems like a lot of things happened 1500 years ago." Raimundo stated, although still a little tense from Dojo's words.
"Indeed," Master Fung replied, "which is why we must find the 'Voice of Tao Tseung'. There are 1500 year old secrets, so of which are even older, that have been long forgotten by mankind, but not by these specters that still lurk in the shadows of the world. If the 'Voice' should fall into Heylin hands, well, I do not have to tell you the consequences…"
"1000 years of darkness." The four monks plus Dojo replied immediately.
"Actually, it's 1026 years, but rounding is fine."
"Master Fung," said Omi, "speaking of secrets of 1500 year old secrets, how is Master Monk Guan still alive and in the same health as so long ago? If it is as Dojo told us, Chase Young and Master Monk Guan are roughly the same age. But Chase Young once met Sabeeny, which means he is at least 1000 years old. How can Master Monk Guan still be alive after all this time if he did not drink the Lao Mei Long Soup as Chase Young did?"
"That, Omi," the old sage replied, "is a secret that only the 'Voice of Tao Tseung' can reveal. Now go and retrieve it before Wuya detects it revealing itself."
"What about that no-good varmint, Jack?" Clay asked.
"We need not worry about someone whose strongest weapon is the 'Monkey Staff'." Omi replied.