The Moon's Successor

Obvious Avoidance

Upset Linwan, missing MK, separated from all forms of comfort and guidance... Yikes. What am I doing to these kids? At least we get a tiny bit of Mac-dad in this chapter!

》* • ˚ ˛ * 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚* 。 • ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚《

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽Temple ☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄Linwan⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

While the group was waiting for Linwan to show herself, they sat at a table with Master Subodhi and watched as a few people were training. Tang had gotten his hands on a bowl of noodles and decided to take the time to enjoy it. "Oh yeah, baby!" Mei cheered in her excitement. "I can't wait to learn some kung fu skills!" Master Subodhi quickly bonked her head which caused her to loudly respond to him while rubbing the new bump on her head. "OW! HEY!" The old man stuck his nose up a bit as he spoke. "Do not bother with what they are doing. You will need to focus on the task ahead of you." He aimed his small pointer stick at her, but she shoved it away as she spoke. "Uh, yah, that's what I'm doing. Isn't that why we're wasting time here to learn how to stop Azure Lion from TAKING OVER THE WORLD?!" She slammed her hands onto the table as she yelled, but Tang simply smiled at her. "Relax, Mei." He held out some noodles, offering them up. "Here, have some brain food noodles." He was the next to get bonked in the head, causing him to drop the noodles onto himself as he whined. Pigsy and Sandy looked pretty shocked as the master yelled at Tang "And you need to stop gorging yourself on our rations!" "I'm sorry." He slowly put his noodles down on the table. "It's just that I'm stressed, okay? Stressed that Azure Lion has probably taken over the Celestial Realm by now, Monkey King is gone, MK is MIA, Lin is still very upset so she's not showing herself, and I can't use my powers reliably. I feel so useless." Everyone seemed to sigh depressingly and a small huff was heard from the shadowed temple behind the group, though Mei simply nodded with her arms crossed.

Master Subodhi immediately spoke up. "You're too overcome by emotion. Until now, you've overcome adversity through sheer power and luck. That won't be enough this time. Azure Lion, The Golden Winged Peng, and Yellowtusk the Wise. Alone, they can best a thousand-man army. Together, they are nigh unstoppable. I do not make a habit of extending my training to any mere mortals. The very fate of the universe depends on you. But as you are now, it cannot!" He pointed at them then looked at Mei as she yawned. "You, girl, are too impulsive." He ignored the angered "WHAT?!" and the green fire that Mei spewed out of her mouth like a flamethrower, turning his attention to Tang. "You are a groveling coward with scrawny ankles." The scholar in question fell over dramatically as he whined, proving his point, so he pointed to Pigsy. "You, pig man, are too stubborn to see the truth." He simply gave a "hmph" as he turned away in response. "The one in the shadows... I do not even know where to begin there." The shadows swirled slightly from where she was curled up, lashing out in response to his words. She really didn't need him adding more onto her right now. "And you, blue one..." He paused, seeing Sandy give him a classic frog blink. "are simply delightful!" A shimmer came to Sandy's eyes and a blush went across his cheeks, clearly flattered. Subodhi even went so far as to give the blue demon a very shiny star as he smiled. "You might be the most studious of the lot." Most of the group glared at the star on Sandy's chest in jealousy. Mei and Pigsy gave a "what the-?" while Tang grumbled that he wanted that star. "You all have potential for unimaginable power. The only ones standing in the way are yourselves." The group all looked at one another.

Linwan found herself sitting on one of the temple's lower rooftops, her chin resting on her knees as she watched everyone standing in a basic fighting stance. Subodhi paced back and forth as he spoke loudly, making her quickly cover her ears with her hands in a pained grimace. "Right now, you're like a jagged stone. Once I'm done with you, you'll be worn down, chiseled, and refined. Except you, Sandy." Another star was placed onto the water demon. "You're chiseled enough." This being his fifth star made the other three adults below glare at him, and Tang was even crying a bit through the glare he gave. It was too bad that Linwan was simply focusing on not overwhelming her own senses to have the girl laugh at them. Her dampening illusions were already active, but it wasn't enough. Usually she'd focus on MK's heartbeat or his warmth but he wasn't exactly here at the moment, and focusing on the others would be focusing on all their noise so that wasn't a choice. It didn't take long for her to slip back into the calmer shadows, but even they were being a bit too volatile and finicky for her liking. 'What is going on?...' She paused her wondering when she watched Tang be led to the library by Subodhi, though she didn't follow. Instead, she opted to watch as everyone was brought to certain areas for personal training with the master, even watching from the shadows from time to time. She was close enough to see, but far enough to ensure she didn't get overwhelmed or... hurt anyone. Mei was brought to the training grounds (Linwan definitely avoided lingering in the shadows near the flames that went a bit too far from the dragon girl), Sandy helped around the temple since he was "perfect", and Pigsy was... well, he was stubborn about this training stuff but he was coming around. It was making the girl feel a little better to see her family growing though, even if she was now struggling with her shadows... And herself apparently.