Chapter 5

Later on that night, Rai found himself staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep again. Master Fung reminded Clay that he had made an excellent attempt to retrieve the wu and then said the more complicated version of 'you win some you lose some'. Rai knew Clay wasn't angry anymore…but he was still a little upset. Clay never made such a big deal over a lost wu before. He wondered what made this time so special.

And then he remembered Clay's words when they were riding back to the temple.

"Sorry. I lost the Showdown. I lost your medallion. I wasn't fast enough to beat Jack. Sorry."

Whoa! Was he upset because he knew I cherished that medallion? So that's it! Aw man!

Rai jumped off his mat and ran to the kitchen. He had to reassure Clay that they would get it back and not to worry…

But surprisingly, Clay wasn't there. The table was clear and the not another soul was in the kitchen. The wind blew through the window, making the only noise in the whole room.

Where was Clay?

Rai ran to his room, up and down the halls, checking the training grounds, the Great Hall, and finally, the Courtyard.

That's where he found Clay.

Clay was not far from the tree, lying under the stars in the middle of the field.

Raimundo walked slowly toward his friend, and Clay once again stole his words from his mouth.

"Hey partner. Care to join me?"

Rai nodded and plopped next to his friend, hands behind his back and gazing at the shimmering silver dots that were scattered across an endless streak of midnight black.

"You know, there are patterns and designs in the stars. Some of them tell stories."

As much as Raimundo wanted to believe his friend, he simply couldn't.

"How can you find stories in a random assortment of dots? How are you even able to see the patterns?"

Clay chuckled.

"Well, I'll show you. Let's see now…ah! There's one! This one is called Capricorn; the goat-fish!"

Rai could barely restrain himself from dying of laughter. Goat-fish! Where do people come up with this stuff?

"Do you see it?" asked Clay, pointing to an unreadable cluster of stars.

"No. I don't see no goat-fish."

It wasn't until Clay guided Rai's wrist as he held out his index finger to trace the image of Capricorn that Rai was able to get the basic idea of what it looked like.

"So…what's HIS story? The goat-fish." asked Rai, holding his breath so he wouldn't fall into a fit of laughter.

"Well, Capricorn used to be a magician. But when local villagers wanted him dead, he was running for his life from an angry mob. He was planning on transforming himself into an animal so the villagers wouldn't recognize him and he could escape safely. He planned on turning into a goat. But he was looking behind him too much and he didn't realize that there was a river right in his path. He ran right into the river as a goat, but before he hit the water he wanted to change into a fish. But there simply wasn't enough time to change from one animal to another in less than a second, so he ended up being a mix of both. Then when he died, he flew up to the sky, his image seen in a cluster of stars."

"Wow. What a dumb ass."

"Yep, sharp as a marble that critter." laughed Clay. Rai laughed with him.

"Where'd you learn this stuff?"

"My pa. He always used to tell me these things when I was a boy. They were important for me to know because the constellations can help you find your way home if you're lost in the desert or something. Pa purposely didn't use a compass to test me to see if I could find my way home on a cattle drive by using the stars."

"Wow…that's so cool…"

Man…I wish I had a father…

Rai asked Clay to point out another one. Then Clay guided his hand across another cluster to form Aries, the Ram. Clay told Aries' story next. He said that Aries was brought into the sky as a hero when he saved his two brothers from their evil step mother.

Raimundo was having the time of his life, listening to the stories of the constellations and having Clay gingerly guide his wrist to trace the hidden images and laughing with Clay when he commented on a myth. It amazed Rai how blind he was...completely unaware that there was so much ancient folklore in patterns of dots. Because that's what stars were, right? Dots?

No…it HAD to be more than that.

"Hey Clay? What do you think stars are exactly?"

Clay shrugged.

"Dead people. What 'bout you?"

"I don't know. No one ever really told me…actually took the time to lay with me under the stars like you are."

Rai felt a pang of sadness growing in his chest and working its way up to his throat. He wished he had bit his tongue. But regret lasted only a moment.

Clay moved closer to Rai, putting his right hand on Rai's shoulder and the left across his stomach and pulled Rai close into a gentle embrace.

Rai's heart was pounding again with a mixture of happiness and confusion. His shoulders were immediately relaxed when he felt Clay's soft, warm breath against this neck.

"C-Clay?" whispered Rai, throwing his arms around Clay's neck once more, hugging him back.

"H-How come-"

"Shh…"

Before Rai could finish his sentence, Clay pulled him closer; his beautiful sapphire eyes were filled with open affection. It melted Rai's heart and blew him away like the gusts of wind he was able to create from the palm of his hand.

"It…it just feels right…"

They were both able to say no more, holding each other in their arms under the brilliant glistening stars.

"Clay?"

"Mm?"

"Do you think my parents are up there?" he asked as he laid his head on Clay's chest.

"Of course. Everyone goes up there when they die. I bet they're looking down on you right now, Rai." he smiled, reassuring his friend by pulling him closer.

Rai smiled back, his eyelids growing heavy. Gripping Clay's shirt tighter, Rai closed his eyes with the sound of the midnight breeze and Clay's heartbeat.

Clay watched his friend lovingly, falling asleep in his arms and curling up against his body. Clay almost felt like an older brother, teaching Raimundo all about the constellations and how fascinated Rai seemed and how eager he was to learn more…

He was almost like a little kid. Clay laughed in his head at that thought…but then his thoughts turned to what Rai's past must have been like…having no arms to fall into…no place to call home at such an early age…and then getting a job the second he was old enough…it must've been a hard life…

Clay glanced at Rai again, running his free hand across Rai's hair and then delicately feeling his shoulder. Gazing at Raimundo's sleeping figure…so peaceful…so adorable…GAH! WHAT AM I THINKING!

Clay mentally slapped himself, his arms tensing and his heart beat increasing. He wanted to run around in circles, scream and bang his head against the wall for thinking such a thought…but he couldn't because he didn't want to wake Rai up. Man, if Rai could read minds, he would probably get a one-way ticket out of China just to get away from him! "Rai would think I was freakier than a two headed cow on walking sticks!"

Rai moaned a little in his sleep and gripped Clay's shirt tighter.

"Shit! You're gonna wake him up, ya' yellow belly! Ok…ok…deep breaths…get your heart beat normal again…just a weird thought…weird thought…"

Clay quit thinking to himself and felt an extreme feeling of relief when he saw Rai's brows un-creasing and his grip loosening.

Clay sighed and let his thoughts wander again.

"Rai is indeed cute, that much is a fact…but…what if he HEARD me think that? What would he think of me? Aw, who cares? I'm tired…"

Looking at Rai sleeping this whole time made him want to go to sleep all the more.

Clay yawned and tipped his hat over his eyes.

"'Night Rai…" he whispered before drifting off to sleep.