A Hidden Secret (Part 0)

Chapter 1

A Hidden Secret

By: Skyyler

Crane stared at the tigress' squinting, focused eyes, as he was about to strike once again. He was slowly flapping his wings, so that he was somewhat levitating above the cold, unstable training stones. Tigress was perched on a high stone that stood above all the others. Below them, fog. Many steep rocks were poking out of the ground, giving Tigress a frustratingly complicated obstacle: to stay balanced on them. Master Shifu proposed they train for the whole day, for he would be off somewhere... somewhere he didn't want to tell. That sly animal, always keeping his secrets.

Tigress quickly squatted down, and in a split second dove for the bird, or so he thought. He attempted to dodge her by swinging his body forcefully to the right, only finding that she was diving to the right, also. He gasped, as the tigress took him down.

Twisting, Crane forced Tigress towards the ground, as she quickly let go of him in need of something else to grab onto; the ground. It was too late for her to react though, and she fell to the ground with a loud thump. She slipped down, and almost lost her grip as she held onto the single-standing stone with her right paw.

Using her momentum, Tigress swung around the rock, and came back up, attempting to hit Crane in the beak. He spun gracefully, and nailed her hard in the hip. She fell once again, hitting the same rock.

Crane landed, and looked at the tigress. "Tigress... this is your worst type of training course, why don't we start at something easier for you to warm up on?"

Tigress slowly got up, as she looked down to the endless fog below her. She then focused her eyes back on Crane. "Which is why I need to train here more. I need to perfect in grounds I'm not comfortable in. We all need to be able to defend ourselves in the worst of spots." She clenched her fists. "Again!"

Po stood there blindly above the Sacred Pool of Tears, in hoarse stance, meditating. He needed to get so much off his mind from what happened just a week ago, after the slaying of Tai Lung; the untrustworthy seeker of the Dragon Scroll, and the place of the Dragon Warrior, in which Po had. It wasn't just being chosen, but being summoned. It's not the beings place, but just him. Po slowly opened his eyes, as he saw the sun was somewhat halfway up in the sky. He breathed out once more, and closed his eyes.

It was mid-summer, and very hot in the day. Po got use to the long, meaningless hikes and sweat, for it was good to do it, of course. It was all about the discipline: The more you have, the more dedication and endurance you will have in what is to come, like a soon to be battle. All was well now, but the Furious Five, along with Master Shifu were starting to act up. They were stubborn most of the time, and spent most of their time away from the Jade Palace. Po worried about them much, and kept on thinking what could be the problem. Did they like Tai Lung? He knew that they couldn't.. they didn't!

Po sighed once more, as he tried to keep his sense in his mind. Thinking, he finally opened his eyes, and got out of his peaceful state of meditation. He had to make lunch for the five, for they were tight on their hunger, meaning they were always hungry, probably due to their training. Po started to catch onto their training also, as he was already starting to learn many of the One-thousand Scrolls that he was destined to learn.

The panda walked down the mountain, looking at the waters of the Sacred Pool of tears. It was beautiful: like a light blue. It never went a different color, nonetheless, it never got dirty. It was always... clear, and... motionless, and peaceful. Tears are like the ocean's water: They are very rapid when they crash on the sandy shores, yet very vast when you're out in the middle of nowhere, counting on them to lead you to safety. Po thought deeply, as he made his way up the long, dreadful steps to the Jade Palace.

Viper slithered in, while Mantis and Monkey followed her.

Monkey ran to the kitchen, expecting to see a nice bowl of soup sitting out for him. Finding nothing, he grunted. Getting to his seat, he sat, as he fixed his tail so that it wasn't in between his legs. "Where's Po?" He asked stubbornly, out of no-where.

"Don't ask me... not like I could predict the future." Mantis glared at Monkey, as he hopped on the table.

Viper was silent, as she also slivered up her chair. Behind her, the doors slowly opened, as Tigress, Crane, and Po stepped in.

"It's about time you showed, Po!" Monkey barked.

Po gently closed the wooden framed door with a quick slam. He turned to Monkey, while Tigress made her way to her chair also, and Crane flew to his room. "Well at least I can cook!"

"Oh please, how do you think we ate before you showed up?"

"Well I dunno. Did you eat bananas, like normal monkeys do?" He clenched his fists at the Monkey.

Monkey ground his teeth together. "Come on, panda! I'll take you on!"

He got up from the table, soon being stopped by the door swinging open right in front of him. He saw Master Shifu walking in. The four quickly got into their respecting stance, as if to bow. They heard Master Shifu was panting loudly, as he tried to hide it.

"Master, what happened?" Tigress asked.

Shifu sighed, and shook his head. "It's nothing concerning your ears." He walked to his seat.

"Master?" Tigress looked down at him.

"I said!" He blinked at his outburst. "I said it concerns nothing you need to know." Sitting in his seat, he looked up at Po who was now serving the soup, as he rested seven steaming bowls of won ton noodle soup on his two arms. He easily served everyone in a split second, as he also got to his soup.

Monkey tasted the soup, soon spitting it out. "What happened to your soup? It's horrible!" He stared at the panda with questioning eyes.

Po didn't want to believe Monkey's soup was good, as he used the Dragon Scroll to make it taste like toad's legs: Monkey's most hated type of food.

"Monkey, settle down!" Tigress banged the table, as she was about to reach for her chopsticks. "Don't take it out on the panda." She turned to Po. "Thank you Po, for the soup."

Monkey squinted at the softly smiling panda, while the others looked down at their soup.

Po knew something was wrong... but he just couldn't get what the answer was, no matter what he tried. Maybe, it was the slaying of Tai Lung? He questioned himself over and over again, What's wrong with these guys? What would they think of me now? Where was Master Shifu that whole time? What could he have possibly been doing?

Not eating his soup, Shifu pushed out his chair, as he left his steaming, untouched soup to cool. He decided to go to the Peach Tree, just to rid his mind of what happened that morning, and how he could focus his mind back on what he needed to be focused on this whole time: Kung Fu, and meditating.