January 23, 2010
Chapter 6: Grave Diggers
The white cement pavement of the Pai Zhuq Academy gleamed in the sun. "Why didn't we come here first?" Theo asked, perturbed they had sat patiently all day only to be informed they would have to search further at their old school. They had reached the open garden area, the red bridge Master Yao had once stood from, proudly watching his students grow in their training, welcomed them with pride.
"My dad said that he recognized the drawings, but the pictures didn't tell enough for him to understand it. However, he had seen them from an old scroll Master Yao showed him years ago, and suggested we snoop around."
The Overdrive team followed, silent like shadows as RJ led the way to Master Yao's private quarters. "This feels weird, going into Master Yao's room," Casey looked hesitant and unsure of himself, the idea of just rummaging through his teacher's things – it didn't feel right.
The room was how the three Jungle Fury rangers expected it. A single bed lay on the right side of the room, a light grey colored bedspread. A large window gave way to the setting sun's rays, illuminating the room with a slanted rectangle that intruded on the otherwise dark room. RJ, Will, and Dom lighted the candles in the master's room. They formed three small groups, searching the room. A small table for tea was stationed in the middle, two cushions on each side. A closet was left jarred open, and a chest to keep other clothes in was pressed against the back wall, skulking by the window.
Several minutes passed, having little to search, RJ advised Dom, Dax, and Theo to check his private training room and the library. RJ had pulled the third small box out, handing it to Lily to check. As he, Casey, and Lily ransacked the boxes, Tyzonn, Will, and Ronny were assigned the dresser draws. A loud screeching sound erupted, making Casey jump to the side and look over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" he demanded, offended they were moving his late master's things.
"The readings are off the charts . . . it's coming from behind this wall. Hold the candle closer, Tyzonn," Ronny instructed. The parchment that hung on the wall was teased by the wafting flame, held dangerously close by Tyzonn. Will squeezed between Ronny and the dresser and pressed his ear to the wall.
"Take the poster down," the black ranger ordered.
Aggravated that he was ignored, Casey stood defiantly, preparing to intervene. A firm hand grasped his elbow, stopping the red ranger. RJ shook his head "no." The wolf ranger watched, knowing that the others had found something. He turned to Lily to ask she retrieve the others, but was surprised to see the cheetah had already gone. It was a warm and proud feeling that RJ reveled in, observing his pupils slowly transform from caterpillars into butterflies, from students into masters.
Ronny laid the large parchment, the word "honor" written on it in Chinese lettering, on the bed and quickly returned to her post, watching her tracker's numbers tick like a counter, higher and higher. Will gestured for the candle the Mercurian was holding. Tyzonn nodded his head, handing Will the melting wax candle then stood a few feet away from the wall.
"No!" Theo cried out, watching Tzyonn hack away at the wall with his Mercurian native powers. Theo was about to interfere like Casey had tried, but Lily stopped him. After a few calculated strikes, Tyzonn stepped away, coughing from the cloud of plaster that filled the room. As it cleared, they starred slack-jawed with amazement and wonder at the dark, narrow corridor that was hidden for so long.
"I thought I heard water," Will commented as another echoed ping rippled into the bedroom.
RJ grabbed a candle sitting precariously on the tea table. "Grab the person's shoulder in front of you with one hand, feel the wall with the other. Careful everyone," RJ called behind him as he led the pack. His voice echoed as he gave the last instructions, already proceeding down the worn, wet, sediment steps.
"If there is a chest down there, no one open it," Theo quipped, being one of the last to steadily descend the passage way.
Japan
Crickets played a symphony of chirps as the quartet crept through the still forest. Branches snapped under their weight. Low lying branches caressed them as they followed the pink ranger. Camille grabbed her master's forearm, creating distance between them and the two rangers. "Dai Shi, can we really trust them?"
"Master Xai Lin was no fool, Camille," he growled. "He hid the stone in his chambers for a reason. We'll wait and follow along, but when the time is right we'll take our prize and go."
"What about Zhao Lee?"
"I don't intend on letting him gain freedom." Dai Shi stopped, having noticed the others starring. The lion wasn't scared of the red ranger, even though he presented an even match; it was the pink ranger that made the hair on the back of his neck stand. Camille shuttered under the steely gaze of the Philippine girl.
While Rose still had time to talk to Mack, waiting for Dai Shi and his subservient to catch up, she turned to him. "I expect action to be taken if they attempt to double-cross us." The red ranger nodded mechanically.
Gyatso Moutain
The sky was a deep, purple hue, the crescent moon lighting their way. Like a curtain, the forest ended and unveiled the most peculiar sight. Center of the lively forest was a kilometer or so of dead earth. While the forest vegetation made the ground soft, nothing was alive, the ground parched of any water or nutrients, the area completely bone dry. It was unnerving to Camille who had ever seen something like it; an invisible line traced around them, forbidding any life to enter. Looking out in the distance, miles away was a rocky cliff. The side of the mountain, starch white limestone, showed resolute. Rose stopped abruptly almost causing Mack to collide into her. "Dig," she commanded.
"What?" Mack held the lantern close to her face, totally taken off guard by her order.
"There." She pointed to a spot a few feet away. "Dig," she repeated.
"What? Why are we digging there for?" the red ranger asked again.
"Zhao Lee was buried there," she said in a low, detached voice; her gaze transfixed on the spot. Mack exchanged looks with Dai Shi and Camille before looking back at the spot. Mack extracted his tracker from his pocket, thinking to blast the ground. "Don't," she seethed, snarling at his attempt to morph. "You want them to find us, you idiot!" Foaming at the mouth, she reminded Mack of a rabid animal.
"How do you expect us to release him? Why did we even need the damn gems then if he's six feet under?" Mack hollered at his pink counterpart, his face red with frustration. Camille looked at the two, a feeling of danger overwhelming her. Sensitive to her environment, Camille wanted desperately to fade into the background. Dai Shi intently watched the two humans bicker.
"Zhao Lee's body is buried, but not his essence. His life force was separated from his body; Zhao Lee was too powerful to be beaten. The only thing they could do was contain him within the keys, sacrificing one of their own," her voice transcended from sadness to patronizing. "And to keep Zhao Lee from resurrecting, they had to bury him much farther than six feet. I'd get started. You've got hands, don't you?"
Camille watched Mack's horrified look, utterly beside himself. The chameleon felt sympathy toward the young man, grateful, suddenly, for her relationship with her master. Even Dai Shi treated her better on his worse days. Camille straightened as Rose whipped her head in their direction. "Let's go, dig!" With a low growl, Dai Shi called to the beast inside, his lion spirit, to start digging. Camille, trying to think of a more efficient way, went in search of something to give Mack and Dai Shi more appropriate within the dense forest to dig with.
It had taken hours, the milky purple sky mixing with the stars' radiance created a mossy green outline. Mack wiped the sweat stinging his eyes, his sticky, moistened arms gliding across his face. The red ranger pushed down the want to vomit, his stomach growling, yearning to be nourished. Mack looked at his fingers, the trickling of blood streaming from his fingertips and hands. So abused were his hands, they felt numb. Dai Shi stopped, huffing out of exhaustion. Dai Shi had taken no time in summoning his armor and clawing at the dirt. Dai Shi exhaled loudly, his armor crumbling away, despite his immense and ferocious power.
Rose was pacing, growing impatient with the amount of time it was taking to find Zhao Lee. Camille returned having filled the canteens Mack had brought with him. Unable to find anything to use for digging, she went in search for a spring. It hadn't taken her long, surprisingly, and since then she happily fetched water for Mack and Dai Shi. As she looked upon Mack's tired face then to the callous, almost animalistic glare coming from the pink ranger, Camille wanted to lash out at Rose. But, knowing that the pink ranger was not to be trusted and was sure to have tricks up her sleeve, something made Camille second guess herself. Snake, Camille thought.
With a powerful and desperate strike Dai Shi hit something. The sound reverberated in the dark, dank, deep grave the two men were standing in and tickled Rose's ears. Both women peered over. Elated, Rose smiled; her eyes big and exalted. "Careful!" she warned.
Mack and Dai Shi heaved the coffin out. Under the ever-watchful eye of the petite ranger, they placed Zhao Lee's tomb on the ground. Slowly and with much exhausted effort Dai Shi and the young Hartford man opened the tomb. Dust splurged over the side, rising in the night in small mushroom clouds. Rose immediately dropped to her knees, hovering over him; she extracted a knife from her pocket and was inches from making an incision when Mack grabbed her hand. Shocked and infuriated, Rose broke free, raising the knife as if to slice the constricting appendage off. "Wait, if you cut the wrapping, his body will crumbled and be nothing but dust."
Unsure, but freighted he might be right, Rose pocketed her knife. "Don't ever defy me like that again." She stood and began to walk away. "Let's go," she called over her shoulder. They turned to follow her, when she pivoted on her heels to face them, disgust noted in the curl of her upper lip. "Take the body, you imbeciles. Red, carry her."
Camille starred at Mack, his eyes so distant. He looks . . . so helpless, Camille thought. Mack picked up the mummified Zhao Lee; red finger prints marking the decaying, thin, tissue-like bandages.
Pai Zhuq Underground Chamber, Master's Room
Candles and glowing fireflies filled the small cavern they were currently residing in. Scrolls, books, and journals crowded uncomfortably on shelves. Center, sat a round table with red silk cushions; parchments unrolled and layered on the large table. "What – what is this?" Theo asked, dancing in circles. Slowly, all the rangers filtered in, a state of awe washing over each.
"Master Yao's room," RJ breathed.
"How come we've never been here?" Casey asked in a soft voice.
"Uh, Master Yao's room," Dom answered poignantly, his face illuminated by the flickering candle.
"We better get started," Ronny suggested taking in the overwhelming collection. The yellow ranger was surprised by the immense heat that lurked within an underground cavern, which had never seen the light of day. As the blonde took in the sight, she was wracked with loss, knowing very well, Rose, her best friend she considered a sister, would have reveled in the history and knowledge kept hidden in the vault-like area she was in.
As they began to spread out to look for more clues, RJ spoke, "Where, oh, where, are you my little scroll?" RJ wiggled his fingers slowly, using them like a mental compass to locate the coveted scroll. "If only Master Yao were here. He would make the search much easier, but then again, if he were here things would be different."
"How come he never showed us this?" Lily asked, dragging her fingers across some old scrolls, aimlessly.
"Master Yao was given the task of Keeper. Only a master can be Keeper and is selected by the former Keeper. And only can a Keeper lay eyes on the wealth of knowledge and secrets these scrolls hold, unless under extending circumstances to be determined by the Keeper."
"Who's the keeper now?" Theo inquired.
"Uh . . . I guess I am," RJ chortled. It wasn't a job the wolf ranger wanted, but like most things in RJ's life, it just fell into his lap, and who was he to question destiny?
Ignoring everyone, Dax had been preoccupied with the aged scrolls crammed tightly into some shelves. Compelled to touch one, Dax reached out. "Dax!" Ronny called out, seeing the scroll above the actor sway and teeter. Frightened the blue Overdrive ranger whirled around, bumping into the fragile shelves. A loud roar shook the cavern as a typhoon of stall dust hit the rangers, clogging their breathing; an avalanche of history, different parchments and scrolls poured down on Dax.
"Dax!" Will coughed, squinting to try and make things out. Eventually the dust settled, behind Dax was a doorway with a gold emblem in Chinese that said "Master of Secrets."
"There," RJ stepped around a shaken Dax and removed the remaining shelves with the help of Tyzonn. "Let's go." A unanimous groan came from the Overdrive rangers.
"You guys ever think of using a safe, or transferring things to disk," Will remarked, shuffling behind the others.
Room of Forbidden History
They settled into a grey, dark cul-de-sac, the whoosh of running water could be heard. "Where's it coming from?" the mercury ranger asked. Dom, Theo, and Will held their stump-looking candles high.
"Here," Casey called, gliding his hand along a grooved wall. Too dark to see, Casey navigated the tips of his fingers along hieroglyphs, desperately trying to make sense of the indistinguishable pictures.
Finding an oil slick that looked like a running moat across the bottom, Will tilted his candle, igniting the oil into a hurling blaze. The crackling of burning fuel revealed the gold plated wall. His eyebrows almost singed off, Casey glared at Will for the lack of warning.
A gasp reverberated into the tiny hole. RJ meandered to the far left, where Casey had stood. "Interesting," the Jungle Fury mentor hummed.
"What's interesting, RJ?" Lily asked, holding close between Casey and Theo.
The wolf ranger slowly transitioned from the far right of the gold plated wall to the far left. Soaking up the fine details of the wall, the elaborate story, he stopped at the end and turned to the two teams. Gravely he spoke, "This . . . is bad."
~ End Chapter 6