HELLO KUNG FU PANDA FANS! UNCLE SAM THE MAN! I am here to present to you some material based on the Amazon Prime series, Kung Fu Panda: Paws of Destiny. For those of you who have seen the show and are a fans, especially of Jade tusk and Huifang, get ready, cause this is part 1 of a multipart series. In the series, you will also see author notes and trivia from others areas of entertainment. So, without further ado, I present "Something to Me."
High in the mountains of Ancient China, there was a secret village. This village was known to very few. The few who did know, where its inhabitants, the pandas. The few others who knew were dear friends. Over the years, the pandas had faced many hardships; persecution and slaughter by a crazed peacock, terror and agony from a chi hungry yak, and, just recently, pain and destruction from a power mad dragon. The most recent event left the village in a state of much needed repairs. But, the pandas had received help from an unlikely source; the former followers of the fire-breather, which were the water deer of the Poison Clan. Over the many weeks following the attack, the deer had assisted the pandas in rebuilding, but for some, the scars of their master's betrayal still lingered. In a hut, set near the edges of the village, a lone water deer sat meditating in the middle of the small living space. Said deer was the FORMER lieutenant of Dragon Master Jindiao, and leader of the Poison Clan with the loss of the tyrant dragon that oh-so-loved to abuse them verbally, physically, and, his most favorite, telepathically, with her taking a majority of the onslaught for her countless "failures." The water deer's name is Jade Tusk, although she felt that Jade was simple enough and less formal. Her left tusk, as her name suggested, was made of pure Jade, which glimmered in the ray of sunshine peeking through the window blinds. Her red training vest lay on a chair in the corner, while she wore a silk, white colored, free flowing, long sleeved tunic with gold trim, graciously prepared by the local seamstress. However, her mind was not on the physicality of her being, but rather the internal struggle within her.
"I meant nothing to him." Words that she realized only too late, were very true. Jade felt like such a fool. To think, she actually believed with some semblance of hope, yes HOPE, that Jindiao, her master, the one she had devoted her life too, cared for her. All the years she spent training under him, molding herself into the perfect follower, were for nothing. Even when she began to form her own doubts, she actually let herself believe that the mock concern he showed for her when she was being held hostage by that ribbon dancing panda, was genuine. But she was wrong. The blast he gave off was more powerful than any punch any opponent could through at her, for it came from someone she trusted. Not just that, but someone she was willing to die for, as evident when they were buried in the avalanche caused by the angry, little girl panda. And not to mention someone she would willingly execute her own clan "failures" for. That last thought, though, brought about even more pain.
She had allowed members of her clan, her companions, her SISTERS, to be executed because they had, as Jindiao put it, "failed their master." At the time, she felt nothing of it; their cries for mercy fell on all-but-deaf ears, for all that mattered was her master's approval. But, after learning the hard, very painful way, as evident by the bruises on her abdomen, which she tenderly caressed with her hoof, what the former Dragon Master's true thoughts of her and her clan were, the thought of her clan sisters cries for mercy, only to be followed by silence, began to ring at full volume in her ears, and weigh heavy on her heart. And that's when it came to her, the one clan member who she had used as a punching bag so often since her arrival.
Jade had always wondered why Jindiao showed the ever bumbling Huifang (wEE-fAHng) the amount of mercy some of his other followers prayed for. Most of the time, Huifang's antics resulted in harsh glares or verbal signs of annoyance. Jade even voiced her curiosity at one point, "Why do you show her such Kindness?" Most who annoyed the red vulture-disguised dragon were normally thrown into a seemingly bottomless pit, and that's if he didn't drain their chi first. "Her uncle works for the Emperor." Short, simple, and confusing. Why worry about the Emperor when he, the Great Dragon Master, was about to achieve all the power he could ever want. But, she never questioned it any further; it was not her place. Despite having this bit of information, Jade always grew frustrated with the ditzy deer's antics, such as asking questions at inappropriate times, looking for her "lucky sea-shell", and being amazed at the panda children's abilities. These antics normally led to physical outbursts. One such time occurred when Huifang was amazed that the panda children threw themselves off a cliff rather than be captured. "WOAH! I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!" SMACK! Jade had brought her fist down on top of Huifang's head, which imbedded the latter's long tusks into the wood beam of the cottage. "Right, sorry," the gullible deer said as she attempted to pry her tusks out of the wood.
Standing up from her meditation position, the emerald toothed deer limped over to the window. Peeking through the blinds, she saw the activities occurring outside. Throughout the village her clan sisters where helping the Panda's rebuild their village after the battle with Jindiao, you now, when the pandas weren't sleeping or eating. Some were assisting in patching up roofs, others cleaning debris, and some were taking a brief lunch break, being provided with fresh noodle soup and dumplings by Dragon Master Po's goose father, who, out of his own sense of generosity, knocked the price down ten percent (classic Ping). But one stood out among the rest; Huifang, garbed in the same tunic as Jade, but blue in color, was standing with her forehead against a pole, eyes covered, and appeared to mumbling something. Before Jade could even begin to fully ponder what was going on, Huifang's head shot up.
"READY OR NOT, HEAR I COME!"
Upon seeing the other deer move to a stack of crates, Jade automatically knew what was going on as soon as the boisterous doe reached into one of the crates and pulled out a giggling panda cub; they were engaged in a game of hide and seek. Jade couldn't help but let a small smile tug on her face, and release a small huff of amusement, at the site of Huifang offering a form of distraction for the young pandas as their parents worked; Since the battle at the village, she had grown to accept her bumbling colleague's bubbly, albeit ditzy, personality, accompanied by her childlike innocence, which is probably what, as Jade observed, made her such an excellent babysitter. In fact, the doe's childish nature reminded Jade of Dragon Master Po's personality, whom the former had actually formed a close bond with.
Soon the smile on Jades face faded, as she reminded herself of how cruelly she treated the young deer. Limping back to the center of the room, Jade returned to her meditative position. But, try as she might, she could not calm her mind enough to slip back into the deep sleeplike state that was mediation. Nearly fifteen minutes went by, and the more she thought of the pain she had caused, as well as received, the more she fell into a deep state of despair. As this occurred, tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she held them back. That is until…
"HEY JADE!"
Jade nearly fell over in surprise as the deer who was just playing outside with the panda cubs came bursting into her temporary residence, bolstering a huge, toothy smile on her face.
"You wanna come to pond with us?! I was gonna teach some of the kiddies how to swim!" The doe exclaimed, clearly excited about the idea.
All Jade could do was stare at the doe before her. How, after everything she had put her through, could Huifang still treat her with such kindness and respect. She should hate her, resent her, make her suffer the same as she had. However, Jade reminded herself that Huifang could not hurt anyone, or anything; try as she might. Instead, she still treated the emerald tusked doe with the love, kindness, and respect she and Jindiao had deprived her of. Something she did not deserve from anyone. Unable to hold back anymore, Jade allowed the tears building in her eyes to fall freely down her face, while bringing it into her hooves. Her shoulders began to violently shake as she began to release pained sobs of agony. She soon brought her arms down, and wrapped herself in an embrace of self-loathing. Believing she had done something wrong, Huifang ran to Jade's side, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Jade," she began softly, "I know I should have knocked first. So stupid." She finished her sentence by hitting her forehead repeatedly with her clenched, free hoof.
"No," Jade managed to choke out as she continued to cry, "I-it's n-not that-t…"
Listening to herself, Jade could only cringe. Pathetic, she thought. How could Huifang respect someone who weeps like a newborn calf? You are weak. "I d-don't…" but she couldn't finish, as her previous thoughts of self-doubt weighed heavy on her. Bringing her knees to her chest, she brought her head down and cried into her knees. Huifang, still trying to provide comfort to her leader, tried to think of what could be making her so upset. Realization dawned on her quickly.
"Ooohhh, I get it," she said. Jade, confused, pulled her eyes away from her knees and looked up to the doe who had a knowing smile on her face. "YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO SWIM!" she cried out. Jade's demeanor quickly changed from sorrowful to annoyed, which went completely unnoticed by her companion. "It's cool, I can teach you. It's really not that hard when you get the general ide…"
"NO!" cried out Jade, who, at this point, made her annoyance well known to the other doe by slamming her hoof down on the floor and sending a menacing glare. Huifangs ear's quickly fell flat on her head and, learning quickly from being in Jindiao's presence, mimed closing a zipper across her mouth and turning an imaginary key to lock it when it became very clear he wanted her to stop speaking. After a few moments of intense staring, she cast down her eyes as she clutched one hoof to her chest with the other. Quickly rising from her current position, she began to move toward the door. Jades heart heaved at the sight of the hurt doe leaving the hut; she didn't want her to leave. After a moment of hesitance, she spoke.
"I don't deserve your kindness." That made Huifang stop dead in her tracks. Looking behind her, the now timid doe looked into the tear filled eyes of a broken water deer. Eyes once filled with a stone-cold gaze, were now filled with heartbreak; and HER heart went out to the broken doe. Jade expected to see resentment, or disgust on the face of the doe she had just shown such weakness to. Instead she saw her face melt into a warm smile, and her eyes fill with love and compassion. Jade lowered her head and cast her gaze to the floor. As more tears began to fall from Jade's eyes, she felt two hooves cup her face, lifting it so she was face to face with her subordinate, NO, sister.
"You deserve to be happy," said the comforting doe as she used her thumbs to wipe away the tears. The wide eyed clan leader was then brought into a comforting embrace. One arm encircled her, as the other brought a hoof down to rest on her head, which pulled it close to the chest of the warm hearted deer before her. Soon, Jade began to relax as the steady heartbeat of her sister calmed her. The sobs had stopped, but the tears kept flowing through her closed eyes.
"How can you forgive me, Huifang," inquired Jade, "after everything I have done to you? I demeaned you, beat you, and used you just as I should have known Jindiao was using ME. How is it you are still willing to be by my side?" And there it was; the question she had been bottling up, was now out in the open. Looking up, she saw the deer's expression change into that of nonchalance.
"Oh, is that what this about," she finally chimed. "Don't worry about it. My uncle always told me not to let anything get me down. And boy was he right. I mean, stressing about something that is never gonna really matter is such a bummer. Forgive and forget, am I right?" Placing her head back on her companion's chest, Jade smiled a small smile, realizing that the deer she had abused in the past, had already forgiven her. But her mind still remained troubled.
"But there must be something I can do," she said. "Something to show how genuinely sorry I am for what I have done to you and everyone else. I mean, I blindly followed Jindiao, only to find out, I meant nothing to him." Soon, she began to release more tears, after remembering everything in her time with the tyrant dragon, was a lie.
"You mean something to me," responded Huifang. (Peter Griffin: "AAAHHH, SHE SAID IT!) ; )
"I do?" replied Jade.
"Yeah," continued Huifang, "you are an awesome fighter, a great leader, and totally hardcore. You are just the most awesome person I know." Jade was at a loss for words. She had released herself from the embrace of her companion, and actually smiled a full smile, not to the point where it reached ear to ear, but enough to let others know it was there. As Jade basked in the warm feeling given to her, Huifang was hit with a brilliant, in her mind, idea. "Hey!" she yelled, making Jade jump and look at the deer, "you said you wanted to do the right thing, right?" Jade just slowly nodded her head, with an inquisitive look on her face. "Well you can start by being my friend." Jade was speechless, but after a few seconds of deep thought, she finally spoke.
"WE are not friends, Huifang," responded Jade, with the cold face the young doe had grown used to. Huifangs ears slowly flatted against her head once again, and her eyes were downcast. But what she heard next made her ears perk upright, and her eyes light up; "WE are sisters." (Cheesy, I know, but cut me some slack). Looking up, Huifang was met with warm eyes and a gentle smile. Jade was then enveloped into a tight embrace as Huifang wrapped her arms around her new sister's middle and nuzzled her head underneath her chin. Jade then felt her tunic become wet. It wasn't until she looked down that she saw that Huifang was crying tears, not of sorrow, but of joy. Regaining her composure, Jade retuned the embrace, wrapping her arms around the joyful deer, and letting tears of her own fall from her eyes as she rested her head gently on top of Huifang's. A few minutes into their sisterly embrace, Huifang remembered why she had sought out Jade.
"OH!" She shouted, raising her head so quickly it bumped into Jade's chin. "Do you still wanna go swimming?" She enquired as she rubbed her head. After massaging her now sore jaw, Jade looked at Huifang with eyes full of curiosity and, the latter couldn't be sure but suspected, hesitance.
"I suppose," replied Jade, with a bit of reluctance, "On one condition."
"What's that?" inquired the other doe.
"Let's just say, I actually do need a teacher." Responded the sheepish cervine.
"Well then, as my first act as your sister, I shall teach you the Art of Swimming," Huifang proclaimed in a regal-like voice. "It'll be so Fun!" she finished in her normal voice. Jade let out a soft giggle as her sister took her hoof, and led her out of the hut to join the group of panda children waiting to go to the pond. As they started walking, they passed by many pandas, as well as water deer. The pandas waved at Jade, offering large smiles and hearty greetings, while her followers simply bowed, but also offered bright smiles to their leader. It was then that Jade realized, Maybe I didn't mean anything to Jindiao, but know I know I mean something to the people that matter. And, for the first time in years, Jade felt at peace, knowing she had found the people who meant most to HER.