(Yes, I finally decided to do some of these too, inspired by both Luna and Peter. It just took me a while to listen to my playlist and find the right songs to inspire me, then figure out what I'd write about before I started the songs playing. Yes I know that isn't really how this is supposed to work, which is why mine turned out a little longer, though still short for me! But I always have to work stuff out in advance, it's how I write. And no, I don't intend to expand on these, whether in this same venue or in my vignettes, though they ARE all canon to my world. And there will be at least one more set of five, though when I don't know.)
"I'll Make A Man Out of You", Mulan OST
In the center of the tournament arena, the Dragon Warrior waited.
Today was the day. Everything he had done in the last several months, all the kung fu, all the weapons training, the backbreaking, grueling work—it had all been aimed toward this moment, this achievement. Now at last he had arrived, had accomplished something he had never believed he, the son of a noodle chef, could ever do. The empire would be safe, protected, and peaceful. The Jade Palace once more had a great contingent of warriors who had come from all across China, ready to act in defense of the Valley, as it had in the days before Heian Chao's betrayal.
Striding forward so that the golden cape which Xiulan had woven for him flapped and rippled elegantly in the wind, he lifted his head to look out from beneath the brim of his dou li, green eyes narrowed in determination, chin lifted high, sunlight glinting off the golden dragon woven upon the belly of his Hanfu pao, as well as the unstained steel of the Sword of Heroes which glowed viridian in his right paw.
He cleared his throat, thrust out his belly, and called out in ringing cadence across the arena.
"All right. Everyone! Listen up." Before him, arrayed in line after line, the warriors he'd been training snapped to attention, in perfect alignment.
"This is it. This is what I've been preparing ya for. I've taught ya all I know, all th' Furious Five and Master Tai Lung have taught me. There's nothing more anyone in th' empire can teach ya. But don't ya worry, it's more'n enough. You're gonna make everyone proud, you're gonna earn th' greatest honors th' Emperor can give his soldiers, an' you're gonna do it 'cause you're th' best kung fu fighters this side of th' Great Wall. Now tell me: who's gonna be th' best? Who's gonna get out there an' kick th' other guys' butts? Who's with me?"
Everyone was silent. A few robes rustled, a throat cleared here and there. Then, tentatively, one small, white-furred paw rose from among the ranks. Po nodded toward its owner, a bit peremptorily, but also with an undeniable sense of dread.
"Uh…Master Po?" the quiet, adorably cute voice piped up. "Can I go to the bathroom, before I kick their butts?" The little rabbit flushed in embarrassment.
Po buried his face in his paw. "Yeah. Sure. Anyone else?"
Every single hand in the crowd of young kung fu trainees went up too.
"Halloween", by Aqua
Very slowly, with a trembling, shaking hand, Shen Zhuang set down the mug of shaojiu on the kitchen table and looked up at Po and Mei Ling with a tight throat and a wild, terrified gaze. Two sets of equally disturbed, worried eyes met his in return.
"I…I still can't believe it. How…how could anyone do such a thing? Let alone someone like Commander Vachir?" The bull shook his horned head, his voice hoarse and raspy.
The Dragon Warrior nodded, his white-furred face even more pasty than usual, starkly bathed by the flash of lightning which shone in the windows as it briefly illuminated the entire Jade Mountain. "I know what ya mean, buddy. I only ever heard th' most awesome stories about him. I mean, th' Anvil of Heaven? They're, like, th' greatest warriors in th' empire! They took out so many Mongol hordes, slaughtered th' Huns…how could someone who led such an amazin' army ever do somethin' like what happened t' th' Weis?"
On the other side of the table, Mei Ling gazed down soberly at her tightly knitted paw fingers. "You'd be surprised what kind of things warriors can be driven to in battle. The Mongols and the Huns have great codes of honor…they love their families and protect them to the death…but look at the kind of horrible atrocities they commit on our people all the time?" Her chin hardened. "And then there's Jia."
Po ignored that; after his conversation with her in the dormitory, he still couldn't believe she was the awful assassin her half-sister made her out to be, let alone that she could have murdered their father Wu Xuan so cruelly. "This…doesn't seem like that, ya know? Commander Vachir…he never would've hurt a kid, let alone something as…awful as that."
He felt sick to his stomach, and had to bite down on his fist for a few moments to hold back the bile rising up. Add in the fact that, according to Zeng, there was something dark about Vachir, something which seemed to have possessed him, and…
The builder nodded slowly, solemnly, his face gray beneath the fur. "Whoever did that…they wanted to make sure the Weis suffered, and didn't stop until he was ready for it to end. No parent should ever have to bury their child…but Chang and Hai, they had to hang there for a month and a half, staring at his body, while their blood ran out, while they hung from those hooks…" Tears welled up, and the bull began to sob softly.
Mei Ling reached over and gently laid a paw on his shoulder. "Hey…it's okay. Yeah, Chang's blind now…and they can't ever get their son back. But at least you freed them, ended their pain, and got them here where we could get the doctor to look after them. And all by yourself, too. That's pretty hardcore, Zhuang."
The mountain cat paused, then added with what seemed extreme reluctance, "Of course…the one who did this is still out there on the loose, and all of our friends are about to face him, not knowing who he is or what he's really capable of."
For a long moment they all stared at each other, the shadows seeming even more ominous and horrifying at what they might conceal whenever they closed in around them.
Po reached for another mug. "Uh…I think I'll take one of those too, now."
"Right behind you, big guy," Mei Ling murmured fervently.
Zhuang sighed and propped his chin up in both hands, worrying his lip between his teeth. "Gods…well, all I can say is, I hope I never run into the one who was making Vachir do this. I don't ever want Yi to have to go through what the Weis did."
Lightning continued to flash and thunder rumble outside the palace. Then the panda lifted his mug to clink it against the bull's. "I'll drink to that."
"Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)", by ABBA
In the juniper bushes outside the Jade Palace bunkhouse, a slim, slender figure with spotted gray fur and cloaked in black peered intently through the window—fixated determinedly on the single figure sprawled on his back in bed.
It had been twenty years since she'd last seen him. Then, she and her sisters had been so close to obtaining his loyalty, convincing him to join their clan…seducing him into their beds. Xiu had always been more manipulative and nastily domineering about it, while Chun had been rather half-hearted about the whole thing, only seeming to care about the power having him at their side would have given them. But for Jia, it had been different.
Ever since Wu Xuan died…had been murdered by Xiu…and she had taken the blame for it, no one had seen her as anything but a wicked assassin with a bounty on her head. A marked woman, a woman with no future but death, violence, and crime, a woman who would one day run out of chances and choices until she was finally caught and executed by the Emperor's men.
Certainly not one to take to bed for more than a casual fling. She was merciless, pitiless, ruthless like their mother. At best, no man could ever grow attached to her for fear he would soon lose her.
And then had come Tai Lung. A man who could so easily be swayed to their point of view, once he was denied the Dragon Scroll—for really, who could ever believe a saintly, pacifistic turtle like Oogway would ever give the secret to limitless power to a snow leopard with such a temper, one who was so willing to use the thousand scrolls in any manner to win, no matter the cost?
He had denied them then, his golden eyes fixed only on that single prize he somehow believed, irrationally, would give him acceptance, love, and the pride of his father. It would be different now. Jia knew then he would never obtain such things…not when she'd had them stripped of her, when Xu Mei herself had drawn up the writ for her arrest.
And as soon as Heian Chao had told them who they were targeting and why, she had jumped at the chance—she would have done so for free, without a single fen added to their coffers.
Narrowing her violet eyes, she peered inside the room once more…licked her lips and let out a soft moan of desire as she feasted her gaze on those sculpted, white-furred pectorals, those broad spotted shoulders, those chiseled abdominals, his face so handsome and brutish at the same time to show just how fierce and badass he was as a fighter…and of course, on the very prominent bulge in the sheets much lower down.
"You're mine, Tai Tai," Jia whispered to herself harshly. "I'm not going to be alone, not anymore. Not when I've got a perfect stud like you to get me through the night."
And she leaped soundlessly from the tree branch, through the open window with its bamboo curtains…darting across the room to climb with svelte, lithe agility into Tai Lung's bed.
"At Your Side", by The Corrs
"You know, that damn cape is going to be the death of you one day," Tai Lung growled. "You're going to get it caught in a door, or a Mongol spear will pin it down, or you'll fall from a great height and you'll choke when it snags on a tree…"
"Oh, you're just jealous 'cause you didn't get one," Po retorted.
"No. No, I most certainly am not." He crossed his arms over his chest huffily; he was most adamant about that.
The two of them were facing off against the Crocodile Bandits, who had somehow gotten it into their brains to come to the Valley of Peace to get their long-delayed revenge on Mantis. Apparently, they hadn't gotten the memo about the choosing of the Dragon Warrior—or who was now Master of the Jade Palace.
As the next wave of reptilian robbers rushed toward them through the mountain pass that descended into the forests of the Valley, the snow leopard shifted instinctively into his low, signature crouch, his trailing right foot ready to whirl about in a roundhouse, his paws clenched in mirroring Tiger and Dragon Fists. But even as he struck out again and again at the swarming crocodiles, he was growling in peeved annoyance at Po.
"Now tell me: did I ask for help? Do I look like an invalid?" He punched a downward-snapping jaw, nearly knocking it completely out of alignment and sending teeth flying in a spray. "I am perfectly capable of handling a threat like this all by myself, you know."
"There's another bandit coming," the Dragon Warrior observed.
"Don't change the subject," Tai Lung snapped. "I think you're getting above yourself, panda."
"Tai!" Po cried, sounding panicked now. With a sudden lunge that interposed his black-and-white bulk between the snow leopard and the incoming crocodile, he whirled in a roundhouse himself, and when the villain ducked was waiting with a powerful punch of his own that sent the reptile sprawling, unconscious, at least ten yards back into the pass.
"Tacky, Po, very tacky," the spotted feline drawled. "You don't have to throw them all the way to the Great Wall, you know. Stop trying to show off…" He sighed in a deeply put-upon fashion. "Fine, as long as you're here anyway, but stick to your own bandits. You throw me off-balance."
The Dragon Warrior looked hurt. "I just need a little practice."
Tai Lung snorted. "You need instruction in etiquette, too. You don't just leap in with help; that's very bad form."
"Another bandit coming," his friend said, very politely. "Do you wanna get it, or should I?"
"Don't get snippy, panda."
Po snickered, then glanced sidelong at him. "Just for that, let's make this really interestin'. A little wager. Whoever knocks out th' leader first gets t' decide where we eat dinner tonight…while th' loser has t' pay for it."
Tai Lung grinned, showing all of his fangs, then cracked his knuckles and rolled his head to do the same to his neck. "Hope you like stir-fry, and that your cash-string's as heavy as you are. Because you…are…on, panda!"
Both of them leaped into the fray at the same time.
"I Don't Want to Wait", by Paula Cole
Panting heavily, gasping and trying to get enough air to his lungs, Crane struggled to keep his hat fixed on his head as Mei Ling bodily dragged him through the teeming village streets. "Wait…wait—Mei! I…I still don't understand! What's going on?"
The mountain cat, by contrast, didn't seem to be out of breath in the least, and barely glanced back over her shoulder at him as she continued pushing her way between the thronging people. "No time, no time! We have to get to the temple, and we have to get there now!"
Sighing heavily, the waterfowl shook his head. She'd been like this the whole time they were traveling, everywhere they went in the empire, especially once they'd resumed their journey after Tai Lung and Tigress's wedding. It was as if she was determined to be in two or three places at once, to rush endlessly around China and eliminate every single danger, every threat to peace and stability, until Po, the Five, and even the Emperor's troops had nothing to do but sit around twiddling their fingers and play mahjong all day.
He loved her with every bit of his heart, he truly did. But did she have to be so…controlling? Couldn't she let anyone else make decisions, act on their own, be a hero for a change?
By the time they reached the steps leading to the temple entrance, Crane was fit to be tied. And for once, he was determined to put his foot down. "Mei…Mei!" He slid to a stop and literally dug in his talons until the mountain cat was forced to halt between the shi lions guarding the doorway.
"Now look, I know your heart's in the right place and you're doing everything you can to give Jia a chance to show everybody she's changed. But I'm not going a step farther 'til you tell me—what is going on here? Who would attack the temple?"
The mistress of the thousand scrolls put her free paw on her other hip and regarded him candidly. She somehow looked both amused and admiring at the same time. "That's sweet, really. And believe me, I love knowing you're getting a backbone and standing up for yourself for a change. But you really have to trust me on this one. Okay?"
Crane clamped his bill shut as he felt his ire rising. "Fine. But this is the last time. After this, you discuss everything with me before we do anything, got it?"
Mei smiled beatifically, something which he didn't like at all. "You help me out here at the temple, and I promise we'll do everything together from now on." He eyed her suspiciously, but she was already pulling him up the steps.
Inside, the quiet, dim stonework of the sanctuary was undisturbed by any sound, let alone those of battle. In fact the place seemed to be utterly deserted, save for a solitary Shaolin monk standing at the altar at the far end—a shaven-maned lion who looked somehow vaguely familiar. Incense filled the air, and more distantly the sound of chanting and prayers, but otherwise that was it.
"Mei? What is the meaning of—"
And she had whirled him about to plant a fervent kiss on his bill.
By the time it had ended and he could breathe again, the mountain cat was gazing at him intently, even as she also gave a small, sardonic smile. "I don't want to wait any longer, Jien. I don't want to wait until we're old and grey, or one of us is on our deathbed, or until every threat is gone, or any other arbitrary point we've decided on to put this off has come and gone. You took forever to tell me how you feel, I couldn't spit out how I felt either, and we both dragged this out long enough as it is. You and I are getting married. Now. Today. No ifs, ands, or buts. Got it?"
For a very long moment he stared at her in stupefaction, throat working soundlessly, while his gaze flicked from her, to the observing lion who seemed far too amused for his own good, then down to her paws clasping his wing feathers tightly. Why you conniving little…gods, I love you.
Crane sighed…smiled lopsidedly…and then nodded as he returned her kiss (much more sedately). And as he let her guide him down the sanctuary toward the monk, he only said two words:
"Yes, ma'am."
(A/N: Only a few things to note. The pao with the dragon on it, the cape, the hat, and the Sword of Heroes is all part of a bit of concept art of Po as the Dragon Warrior in the Art of KFP. So once again, I decided to bring it back. Snippets two and three are obviously scenes we never saw but which actually took place during ADL; please don't kill me for the awful foreshadowing/Tempting Fate bit with Zhuang, at least you got to see him alive again. The bit where Tai teased Po about the cape is, of course, a shout-out to The Incredibles. And his exchange with Po after that is aping a David Eddings scene between Garion and Belgarath. Lastly, yes that lion monk who is going to marry Crane and Mei is the same one Tigress knew and was interested in; he's going to have a role in their vignettes, too. R/R!)