The journey begins...
Chapter 28: Heading to the Mountains
Several days later...
Early Monday morning in the Jade Palace where the sun is starting to rise. Splinter is standing behind the Sacred Peach Tree, waiting for the sun to rise and that he's ready to see his actual family ancestors from China. He never thought that his ancestors are from China as well as Japan. But he's ready to finally see them for the first time. Just then, he heard footsteps coming from behind. He said, "Good morning."
To his surprise, it was Musaki. Splinter chuckled and asked, "How are you, Musaki?"
Musaki didn't even know Splinter wasn't looking at him and he was surprised to even see that. He asked, "How'd you know it was me?"
"Oh, I can hear those footsteps of yours."
Musaki chuckled of embarassment and said, "Sorry."
"Do not be embarassed."
"I'm not."
Musaki walked towards him and sits next to the tree and asked, "Are you nervous?"
"Nervous about what?"
"About seeing your Chinese ancestors."
"No, I am not nervous. I am looking forward to see my family ancestors who are both Chinese and Japanese."
"So, in other words, they're Chipanese."
Splinter chuckled softly and said, "You may call it that."
"Like Chinese and Japanese come together."
"It would appear so."
"Okay, that's cool."
Just then, Ichi comes over to the Sacred Peach Tree, finding both Musaki and Splinter hanging around. He asked, "What are you guys doing?"
"Nothing much, just talking."
"Oh, okay."
"I can see you are looking forward to see your family ancestors, young Ichi." Splinter said.
Ichi noticed that Splinter didn't look back and see him. He asked, "How does he do that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"Well, I guess I am looking forward to seeing my family heritage. I always wondered what's it's gonna be like actually seeing them and how they look like and what their history was."
"And also your parents?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I want to see mine were like as well." Musaki said.
"Did you not see them yesterday?"
"Well, yeah I did, but before."
Splinter was confused at first, but then realized that what he meant to say was what they were like before they died. Musaki sighed nervously and said, "I think I'm feeling a little nervous today."
"About what?" asked Ichi.
"Seeing my entire family heritage."
"I'm nervous too."
"No surprise."
"I am certain that it will turn out as a wonderful experience for all of us." Splinter said.
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Just then, Zuko came in and said 'good morning' to Splinter and he responded back. Zuko asked, "So, are you all ready to see them?"
"Yes, we are."
"I told Shifu and the others to meet here. They should be coming any second now."
A few minutes later, Po, Shifu, Mantis, Tigress, Zeke, Crane, Monkey, Viper, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michaelangelo walked by and saw Splinter, Zuko, Ichi and Musaki waiting for them to show up. Shifu said, "Well, we're all here. I can tell that this is gonna be an amazing experience for all of us."
"We're actually going to see our master's family history." Leo said.
"I wonder what his kind looks like." Donny said.
"Who knows? One way to find out. Let's go." Zuko said.
Musaki took a deep breath and said, "This is it."
Musaki, Splinter, Ichi and Zuko got up and Zuko and Splinter went in front of the others as they all walked behind them out of the palace. As they left, they walked through the town, and then minutes later, they were all at the cavern mountains. Zeke walked behind Musaki and sees the entire mountains for the first time. Musaki looked at Zeke and asked, "You okay?"
Zeke turned his attention to Musaki and said, "Yeah, I'm cool. It's just-I've never actually been in one of those mountains before."
"Is this your first time being in those mountains?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Well, this is the beauty of it. You can see the palace from there."
Zeke looked back and sees the entire temple from there and it was a breathtaking moment for him. He chuckled and said, "Okay, this is awesome."
"Told you."
"What do our parents look like after they died?"
"I ask myself the same question since this morning."
"Think they might be warriors or something."
"Warriors? I'm not so sure, unless my dad was with a ninja army in Japan."
"Oh, dude, that would be so cool!"
"I know, right?"
"Excuse me. I don't mean to intrude, but could you kinda keep it down a notch?" asked Tigress.
Musaki rolled his eyes and muttered, "Tough crowd."
"What was that?"
"I didn't say anything." he answered, ly.
Tigress scoffed and rolled her eyes and kept on walking with the others. Crane looked at both Musaki and Zeke and asked, "You guys okay?"
"Doin' fine." Musaki said.
"Piece of cake." Zeke said.
"Just checking."
Raph took a look at Tigress and snickered silently and walked towards her and said, "You know, you look pretty cute when you're a warrior."
"What does that supposed to mean?" asked Tigress.
"I mean, if you were living in New York with us, you could learn ninjitsu in a heartbeat and see if the Rapha-nator will put you in school."
Tigress chuckled and said, "You're really slick, aren't you?"
"They call me 'Slick Raph.'"
"More like 'Sick Raph'." Donny muttered.
Raph cleared his throat and said, "I'm making a big impression here."
"I don't think she's really that into you, Raph." Leo said.
"Says who?"
"Leonardo, Raphael. Enough, please."
"Yes, sensei."
"We're getting closer, everyone." Zuko said.
"We are?" asked Shifu.
"Just a little further and we're halfway there."
Two minutes later, they came across of the cave and it has a big entrance and Zuko stopped and said, "This is it."
Everyone looked at it and Viper asked, "This is the place."
"It's the entrance to where Spiritual Ancestory Caverns are in."
They all entered into the cave and walked around to find it. Po looks around and sees that the place gives him the creeps a little. Musaki saw Po looking terrified and asked, "What's up with you?"
"This place looks scary." Po answered.
Musaki groaned and said, "Un-freaking-believable. We're going to see Splinter's Chinese ancestors and you're scared of a cave?"
"It's the dark I'm afraid of." he whispered.
"Let's go. And don't wet yourself, please."
A couple of miles away, they set their sights on some arrows. They stopped and Mantis asked, "Are those arrows?"
"Yes, they are. It lets us know where the Spiritual Ancestory Caverns is. We go on the straight arrow, because it takes us there anyway." Zuko said.
"What about those two arrows?" asked Zeke.
"You do not want to get in these areas. The left one is where vampires fly out there if you disturb them and the right one is where bones are surrounding the place."
Hearing the term 'dead bones' made Po nervous. He started shaking and whimpered quietly. Shifu looked at Po and groaned in total embarassment and said, "Panda, we are only going to the straight arrow."
"Zuko said 'dead bones' in one of the arrows. Just hearing this makes me want to pee on myself." Po said.
"Do not wet yourself, Po. Nothing is gonna happen."
"Are you sure?"
"Has he ever lied to you, Po?" asked Musaki.
"Well, no."
"Okay, then! Let's go."
Everyone walked towards the straight arrow and Po followed behind them, quickly, saying, "Wait, guys! Don't leave me here alone!"
Musaki sighed heavily and said, "Crap, for a Dragon Warrior, you're such a wimp."
A couple of minutes later, they can hear some water rushing through and Po asked, "What's that?"
"That's only a waterfall." Zuko said.
"A waterfall?"
"Yep. When I come here, I always walk past this waterfall. It lets me know that I'm that much closer."
"You mean, we're halfway there?" asked Mikey.
"Yep, we are. Just 5 miles from there."
"Awesome."
Everyone continued walking and within 10 minutes, Musaki was behind and as soon as he kept walking, he saw some steps coming in and he raises his head and sees a temple there. He gasped and looked at the sign that says 'Spiritual Ancestory Caverns.' He turns around and sees Zuko behind him. He smiled and said, "I'm guessing you found it."
"Yeah, I did."
Everyone else stopped and saw both Musaki and Zuko standing on some steps, but out of nowhere, they saw that this is where they're looking for. Splinter gasped and asked, "Is this it?"
"Yes, it is the Spiritual Ancestory Caverns."
Splinter whispered, "We have found it."
They have found it! Wonder what's gonna happen next? Stay tuned!