(I'd love to hear any comments, criticism, or suggestions)
Chapter 1 (continued)
As they exited the main temple, Lee walked at the same hurried, non-running monk pace that all the monks seemed to have. Harrison trotted to catch up with him. “I don’t think Master Wong likes me very much.”
“What makes you say that?” Lee asked over his shoulder.
“He assigned a novice to me as a guardian. Is that unusual?”
Lee sounded like he was smiling as he spoke and walked quickly, “The assigning of any guardian is an unusual event here at the temple. As for assigning a novice, there are very few masters while the vast majority of monks are novices. Even a novice may well be a skilled warrior and a candidate to soon become a Master of the Path of Flowers.”
“Do you know this person? What was his name again?”
Lee unfurled the top portion of the parchment and read aloud, “Kau-Tien-82. I do not know him.”
“Kau-Tien? Do you think he’s a relative of Master Kau-Chien-?” Harrison faltered as he forgot the number after Master Kau’s name. He was the 51st member of his family to have the name Kau-Chien? Or was it 52nd?
“Doubtful,” Lee answered. “Kau is a very common name here.”
Lee guided Harrison out of the main temple proper and through the halls of bamboo groves. They passed a large group of monks each carrying a bowl. They were heading towards the dining hall where they would each receive their daily portion of cooked grains and some vitamin supplements. Harrison had eaten here the day he met Master Kau. Monk food was bland and tasteless and he had no desire to try it again.
The bamboo grove ended as they approached Master Yang-Wohan-13’s dormitory. The double wide hallway was sculpted into a likeness of an open gateway. Two monks knelt on either side of the gates, ceremonial guards with decorative halberds that made no move to stop the visitors or even averted their gazes from directly ahead of them. Lee led Harrison through the gateway. This section of the station was largely open architecture. The central courtyard had space for a hundred monks to assemble and perform exercises. There were wooden racks with spears and staves, ropes and cords neatly arranged. Massive stone blocks sat in a central spiral and rivulets of water trickled over them into a pond in which floated several lotus flowers. Encircling the courtyard were stacks of nondescript sleeping cubicles. One sleep pod was gold colored and set apart from the others.
Lee pressed his palm against the door and a wooden chime sounded. The door slid open. A bald monk wearing the same robes sat with his legs twisted under him in the center of the floor. Lee bowed to the Master, presenting the scroll to him without a word. Master Yang unraveled his legs and stood without using his hands. He carefully opened the scroll and orange holographic characters floated off the page like wisps of flame. The Master read methodically, then glanced at Lee and then to Harrison behind him. “You are here to take Kau-Tien-82 to act as your guardian?”
“I am.” Harrison replied.
Master Yang’s movements were flowing and gentle. With a sweep of his fingers the glowing words drifted sideways to a much longer parchment hanging on the wall of his sleep cube. The words touched the parchment, burned away a line from a long list of characters, then returned a new stream of floating, flame-like characters back towards Yang. As the words fused to the scroll, the monk rolled it back up, completely closing it just as the last holographic brush stroke etched itself into the surface and motes of light fell like embers. He strode towards the door of his cube and swept past the two men, his robes billowing behind him. “Come, Father Medina. Let us meet your new guardian.”
Harrison and Lee followed the Master into the courtyard. He strode towards one of the rows of sleeping cubes and stopped for a moment before a door. With no more than a slight bend, Master Yang leapt straight up and placed his hand against the upper cube’s door, sounding the faint wind chime sound, and landed with barely a rustle in his robes. A moment later the door opened and a young monk jumped out, landing before Master Yang and bowed with one fist in his hand before him. He was bald, like all the monks. He was shorter than Harrison, with a thin build, but the muscles in his forearms looked like steel cables. His eyebrows were dark and thick, his gaze intense as he arose from his bow.
“Kau-Tien-82.” Master Yang spoke. He offered the scroll to the young monk. The novice took it from him and unceremoniously flicked it open. He quickly scanned the contents, moving his lips slightly as he read.
“I’m leaving?” Kau-Tien looked incredulous. “To serve as a guardian?”
The master performed a subtle nod. “Master Wong-Fe-64 believes you are the best choice. I concur.”
Kau-Tien glanced back at the scroll then up at Harrison. Glanced again at the scroll. “So, you’re the guy who got my dad killed?”