The Moon's Successor

Reaching A Temple

Finally got one out! Sorry for being gone for so long. Family got COVID and I had to do more to avoid getting sick, so I didn't have time to do much. I'll try to be quicker with the next one since they're all better now!

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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽Sandy's Truck☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄Linwan⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

"Feels like we're just jumping from one apocalypse to the next." MK looked down so he wouldn't  find himself staring at the cracks in the sky anymore, and honestly, Linwan could relate to just how he was feeling. She hadn't exactly looked at anyone after they managed to get out of Megapolis... After her dad was... "But you said there was a way to fix this, right little man?" Sandy broke through her umpteenth down spiral since last night. She huffed from her spot and stared at the sky as Mei tried to recall what was said out loud. "Something about, uh, stones?" "Hmm... Five colored stones." Wukong spoke up as he rubbed near his temple. Right, that circlet was tighter than that monk's version of it... Speaking of the monk, Tang was literally squealing in delight at the mention of these stones. "The stones the goddess Nüwa used to mend the heavens? I didn't think they were real!" "MHM!" MK nodded excitedly. "They're just hidden and guarded and we have no idea where to find them." Everyone looked at Linwan as MK let out a nervous chuckle. She could only sigh in response at their reflections in the window. "Dad was right... we don't know anything about them, just that they apparently exist." "WHAT?!" Pigsy looked towards the young hero, who just shrugged. "It's fiiiine. All we gotta do is gather the Five Stones, find the Pillar of Heaven, mend the cracks in reality, AND FIX EVERYTHING. Bingo bango, good as new." "What about the thing where WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THESE STONES ARE?!" "That's whyyyy, ready? We're gonna ask someone who does: Nüwa!" Mei's eyes sparkled as she responded to his plan. "Yeeees. She's gotta have a temple we can go to, right?" "Uh-huh!" Wukong's head perked up in realization. "At the Burning Mountain!" He smiled back at the two who began cheering at their new road trip. Tang... did not share the sentiment. "WHAT?! No! We're not going to the Burning Mountain! It's burning!" "So, you gonna keep complaining while I do the lore dump, or-?" "Oh. Alright." Linwan peeked at Wukong who tried to give her a small smile that she sighed at, then looked at Tang as he spoke. She wasn't trying to be mean or anything. It was just... a lot right now, and clearly the Monkey King understood if his expression was anything to go by. "The Burning Mountain rises high above the Sunrise Jungle of the East. Legend tells of a fiery beast that guards secrets from a past calamity and a hidden temple to Nüwa herself." "There's always a temple." Mei whispered and Pigsy nodded in agreement, but Tang quickly shifted from his story telling voice to his normal one. "But if that's where you're going, count me out! I've had enough trials by fire without getting literal about it." "Sounds like Tang's on board! Le'go!" Sandy accelerated with Tang screaming and some of the group cheering.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽Burning Mountain☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Everyone climbed out of the vehicle once Sandy stopped and took a look around. "We're here. We're really..." MK looked up the mountain when Linwan pointed to how much further they had to go. "GONNA HAVE TO CLIMB ALL THAT?! Nooooo..." The shadow user shrugged, having remembered how often Macaque would make her climb their training mountain just to then burn through training for hours. Maybe... he was a bit more intense than she remembered. At least he did it all with her though. "Sandy is good to go!" Everyone glanced at Sandy to see him toss a tool to Tang, but he sidestepped it. "Ohohohoho, a climb? Me? Oh my sweet blue rue." He summoned his khakkhara before Mei jumped onto his back. "Oh yeah son! Time for the classic Tango-portation oooorb!" "Woah." Wukong grabbed the magic staff and shook his head. "We're not going to be able to use that kind of big mystic energy, Jangles." He threw it over his shoulder, but it ended up right back in Tang's hand through magic. MK gasped at what he figured the reason was. "Cuz it'll count as cheating! We can't fail the Trial. By. Fiiiiire." That made the warrior actually snicker. "Uh, he gets that trial by fire is just a metaphor, right?" "There's no trial. We just can't use magic cuz Li Jing will track us." Wukong huffed. "That makes sen-" As Linwan tried to agree, MK distracted her a bit. "You're going down, staircase!" She rolled her eyes in amusement as Wukong picked her up then grabbed MK with his tail. "Oooor we're going up!" He summoned his cloud and zoomed off, leading the two students to hold on tight as MK screamed. "See you at the top!" "KING!" It didn't take them long to reach the top, which led to Wukong dropping them both. MK landed on his head and Linwan on her butt. "Talk about skipping a step. Amiright? Haha!" "King, I can be as spiteful as dad when I wanna be..." He gave a nervous chuckle then peeked at MK, making Linwan turn to him. He was on the ground, close to crying. There were even tears in his eyes. "B-b-b-but we cheated. We didn't climb the stairs like the trial wanted us to." "Bud, there's no trial. Besides, the cloud's not even technically magic." "It's not?" She raised a brow in confusion and the Sage shook his head. "Nope!" He hugged the cloud and spoke to it like it was a puppy, even scratching under its... uh... where a chin was likely supposed to be at on a pet. "I's just my good fwuffy boy, arentchu?" He spread his hands out and smiled widely. "Loopholes, baby! And you know what? If this was a trial, there'd be consequences for cheating." Linwan tried paying attention but she kept hearing something. It sounded like the mountain, but it was moving which was confusing. "Um..." "Duh!" "Kin-?" A smash and a cloud of dust made everyone pay attention to the bird that opened its wings. It screeched then slammed a foot down, causing the group to scatter, even if Wukong decided to say more. "THIS PROVES NOTHING!" The bird shot a ball of fire at the king then began looking around for the three. "King, isn't that the mystical beast protector from Tang's story?" He blinked at his shadow where the girl decided to hide for the moment, but she just ended up offended by his expression. "What? I paid attention!" "It just seemed like you were sulking too much to." "HEY!" It shrieked and she huffed as she went back to focusing on the bird. They both paused when they saw what the bird spotted. Wukong managed to rush in at the last moment to block the breath of fire the bird used to burn the young hero. With Linwan trying to keep her shadowy self away from the flames by going into MK's shadow and MK panicking about the heat, they somehow went through the wall, but not without the boy pulling the monkey's tail and causing him to stumble in with them.