54. Nebula's Parting

~ Sun Ritsu ~

The tournament’s eight finalists were all sitting in a designated zone so they could view the competition during each demonstration. Sun Ritsu was seated between Sparkplug and Sun Yong Kid. Thanks to Bodhi and Seven, Ritsu was able to secure the last slot for himself. He knew that he should be using this time to build up his qi, but all he could think about was how much he had screwed up.

While the stadium filled up and the casters went back and forth with their lighthearted banter, Ritsu thought back to the night before when he opened his eyes for the first time. He was in his bed, propped up on a pillow. His nightstand was covered in several containers of Melonrade, which Seven said he had to drink immediately in order to replenish his electrolytes.

Once Sun Ritsu’s vision had cleared, he was able to perceive Seven sitting on the edge of the bed, popping straws through the plastic seals of each Melonrade before holding them under Ritsu’s chin. Meanwhile, Ham Song was snuggled on top of his blanketed feet.

“Ham Song, I’m sorry, but could you move? I can’t feel my legs.”

“Good!” the pig wheezed. “I’m not letting you out of my sight this time. Plus I’m transferring my Luck to you right now, so be quiet and let me concentrate on getting better.”

Ritsu was about to comment on how sweet that was of him when Bodhi suddenly entered his periphery on the other side of the bed, grilling him on what the hell happened back at the theme park.

After a few deep sips of Melonrade, Ritsu told them everything. The school field trip that needed his help, depleting all of his qi, the transformation of the staff – all of it. Sun Yong Kid and Kevin even made it into the story.

By the end of it, Ham Song was dumbfounded.

“Monkey… you did all of that? Erased everything you had built over the past two weeks… all for some little snot-nosed brats?”

“Did you eat peaches, Ritsu?” Bodhi interjected. “Any sodas?”

Ritsu shook his head. “No. I’m clean.” Then he groaned and leaned his head deeper into the pillow. Seven attentively laid a hot towel over his eyes.

“The urge to help them was so strong, Bodhi. All I could think was that there were people that need to be fed. Hungry children.”

Bodhi made a thoughtful sound. “That was probably a side effect of carrying around so much qi in your system at once. Not to mention, everything happened in a place that holds a lot of sentimental value to you, whether you want to admit it or not. You’re not used to the feeling. Well, at least now we know what to avoid next time.”

Ham Song swore colorfully. “Benevolent monkey, you didn’t just burn through your qi. It sounds to me like you made something wondrous and true the day before it actually mattered.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Seven patted the top of Sun Ritsu’s head. “Hey, why the long faces, everyone? Can’t Ritsu just do the same thing tomorrow? All he has to do is imagine that everyone in the stadium is about to die of starvation and Blam! Free lunch heroes for everyone, am I right?”

Ritsu pulled the towel off his face. “I don’t think it works like that, Seven. I’m wiped. And to be honest, I don’t even know how I took it to that level. Everything happened so fast…”

Over the next few minutes, the three of them had not come to any reassuring solution. There would be another peach level evaluation in the morning since the finalists were coming back from a two week break. Even if he did have a chance to sneak in a peach, Ritsu wouldn’t have risked it. All he could do was accept the generous amount of Luck granted by Ham Song and hoped to heaven that it helped in the long run.

Bodhi told our hero that he needed to rest as much as he could and recover from what happened. The three spirits turned off all the lights except for one lamp. Then they stayed with the monkey until he drifted off into deep, exhausted sleep.

.

.

.

Seated just outside of the arena lawn, under the hot sun, Ritsu wished he could fall asleep again. His body still throbbed from the day before, his mind at the mercy of one unrelenting headache after the other.

It was in the midst of this fuzzy pain and soreness that Sun Ritsu realized that Yong Kid was talking to him.

“Yeah well thanks a lot, Riku.” The young sun clone folded his arms and dug his heels into the turf in the most immature way possible. “Thanks to you, I’m off my game. Puh! You just had to go and do the most yesterday. How am I supposed to concentrate on anything wondrous and true after having to watch you pull a thousand hot lunches out of thin air? So I hope you’re happy.”

Ritsu was too stressed out to be annoyed by Yong Kid’s whining. “Why… would that make me happy.”

“Oh shut up. The Barefoot Sun is about to get this party started. You’re not about to ruin the only good part of being this close to the Sevenfold Peach stage for me.”

Sun Ritsu still wasn’t sure how he ruined anything other than his own chances of making it through to the next round. Still, he kept his mouth shut and turned his attention to the trial. That morning Bodhi said that Ritsu should focus on finding a balance between building up what qi he could during the wait while also analyzing his competition.

Ritsu had his doubts about whether he could do both, but he was still going to try.

“The first contestant to start us off will be, let’s see here… ah, yes! Sun Zhaoling. Oh look, Chow. Here he comes now!”

The marching band revved up and the crowds roared with excitement. The jumbotron camera followed Zhaoling as he rose to his feet up and navigated the path out of the waiting zone.

As the serious-faced sun clone passed by the row of his competition, Ritsu realized that he hadn’t seen Zhaoling up close like this since day one of the tournament. His outfit hadn’t changed much. This time it was black joggers and a white crew neck sweater. He was barefoot of course.

Zhaoling moved about with that slow, slouched confidence, rotating his galaxy staff behind his back and over his shoulders repeatedly. Perhaps as a warmup or just to shake off the nerves.

The horns and cheers were quite loud. Zhaoling’s gaze was intently focused on his destination. So much so that Ritsu didn’t expect anyone to hear him say quietly under his breath, “Good luck.”

But that’s where our hero was mistaken, Dear Traveler because Zhaoling had indeed heard him.

The slump-shouldered sun clone came to a stop right as he was passing Ritsu; the only thing separating them were the velvet ropes marking the finalist section.

Time bended to Zhaoling’s movements, slowing down and warping so that every present noise got drowned out.

Ritsu wasn’t sure what was happening. A shiver chased its way up his lower back as Zhaoling straightened his spine ever so slightly and turned his sights on his fellow competitor.

Only now could Ritsu appreciate Zhaoling’s height, his calm focus, the broadness of his shoulders…

The sound barrier split again — an eagle screeched its existence to the world. The sound of a flute followed in its wake, trilling madly wherever it went.

Zhaoling smiled in a way that was both bashful and knowing, his canines already sharp though there were no cracks in his glamour.

“Thanks.”

The only thing Sun Ritsu could do in that moment was remember to shut his mouth and swallow what almost became drool.

“Same to you, Sun Ritsu.”

Zhaoling had spoken the farewell after he had already walked off. His voice echoed everywhere, but there was no way anyone else noticed. Not now that the sound in the stadium had returned to normal and the Barefoot Sun was loping his way toward the center of the lawn.

Ritsu swallowed the lump in his throat.

He knows — no, he remembered… he remembered my name?

“Hey. What’s that stupid look on your face for?” Yong Kid elbowed him. “What’s the matter with you?”

Sun Ritsu took that as confirmation that nobody, not even the cameras, had caught that brief interaction between himself and the Barefoot Sun.

Still, the monkey with the crayon red tail was digging his elbow in Ritsu’s side, demanding an answer.

“I’m just… excited to see what he’s going to do,” Ritsu said, his golden brown eyes tracking Zhaoling as he approached the center of the lawn.

The casters reminded that the contestant needed to concentrate now. The marching band stopped playing. There was complete silence, but rather, a whispering buzz crawling through the massive space.

Everyone watched with bated breath as Zhaoling honed his gaze on a spot in the earth and made his final approach.