"It's been long enough! I'm going to get him!"
"Oh hush!" Wuya cried. "It's only been a few hours and you've been watching him on your crystal ball thingy the whole time! You're worse than mothers that put tracking devices in their children!"
"He doesn't know what he's getting into!" Chase exclaimed. "Jack is an imbecile. He will lead him down a path of failure!"
"They just beat the monks and stole back their Wu. That doesn't seem like failure to me."
"It will come."
"And if it doesn't?"
Leave! Now!"
Wuya made a face and disappeared from view, leaving Chase to glare into the crystal ball. He watched Stryker say something to Jack, something they both laughed at. A pang rocked his chest and caused him to clench his fists tighter. He briskly waved a hand over the ball, turning it off. Then he turned and headed for the door of his castle, flanked by two of his lions.
*********************************************************JP************************************************************************
"Perhaps you would like to tell me where you two went wrong?"
Kimiko and Raimundo glanced at each other before shifting their eyes back to the ground. Clay and Omi were seated behind them, nervously shifting to and fro. Master Fung was rarely angry, but right now, he appeared furious.
"Raimundo?" he barked, his tone causing Rai to flinch. "I would like to hear your reasoning."
"We...we got caught offguard, Master Fung," Rai explained, managing to keep his voice steady. "Stryker and Jack, they-"
"You believe I am upset because of the Shen Gon Wu?" M. Fung interrupted, his blue eyes blazing as his temper flared.
Rai's eyes snapped up to meet his, his mouth gaping as he tried to think of a response. M. Fung took a deep breath and composed himself.
"Kimiko, sit down," he said calmly.
"But, Master-" Kimiko started.
"Sit. Down."
She hesitated, but eventually did as she was told, nervously glancing at Raimundo, who'd gone stiff.
"You are very good at knowing what I am going to say before I say it, Raimundo," M. Fung said, his voice hard and cold. "So tell me, since your first guess was wrong, what am I going to say next?"
Raimundo stared at his master, confusion and a flicker of his own temper on his face. Both disappeared an instant later.
"This has nothing to do with the Wu, does it?" he guessed timidly.
"No, it does not," M. Fung told him. "What do you think it is about?"
"Stryker?"
"Close. How did you react to Jack's fear?"
Raimundo blinked.
"We-" he started.
"How did you react to Jack's fear?" M. Fung interrupted.
"...I...laughed at it..."
M. Fung nodded, boaring into Rai's eyes as he tried to get him to understaind. He did.
"Master," Rai started, staring at M. Fung in disbelief. "It's...Jack's afraid of the toilet-"
"What is your fear, Raimundo?" M. Fung interrupted once more.
"A jellyfish thing, but-"
"Do others who don't have this fear find yours rediculous?"
"Maybe, I don't know!"
"Do you mock your teammates because of their fears?"
"No! Never-"
"Then why do you ridicule Jack because of his?"
"He's afraid of the toilet!"
"He is not!"
M. Fung and Raimundo were almost in each others faces now. Kimiko, Omi and Clay looked ready to jump in case they decided to settle this more violently. But Rai remembered his place and stepped back, quickly calming himself. M. Fung saw his respect and composed himself as well.
"Jack's brain cannot process a tramatic event he went through," he said. "Because of this the image is different, completely, from what actually happened."
"How do you know?" Rai asked, his voice ragged from shouting.
"Because he told me himself."
The monks gave M. Fung looks of disbelief as he cleared his throat.
"I don't know how often we have to go through the lesson of humility," he started. "But for now, I will just say this: the next monk to mock another for their weaknesses will be demoted. I will not teach monks who behave as the Heylin they are fighting against."
The shocked gazes turned to horror. M. Fung dismissed them and turned back to Raimundo.
"I made you Shoku Warrior because you are clever, determined, and have grown the most out of your teammates," he said. "Do not let your lack of empathy be the reason I find someone else to lead."
With those heavy words in the air, M. Fung left. Rai stood where he was, mulling over the monk's words.
"...Raimundo?" Omi asked as he, Kimiko and Clay approached him.
"Are you okay?" Kimiko asked, putting a hand on his arm.
"Hey, look," Clay started. "We're all to blame here-"
"No," Rai said, shaking them away and starting for the door. "I'm the leader. I'm supposed to be an example."
"Rai..." Kimi started, coming towards him.
He turned away and left. Clay put a hand on her shoulder as she watched him go.
"He just needs to think, lil miss," he said. "You know how he gets."
"...Yeah..."