Ghost Hunter
"Oh man, oh man, oh man! I really screwed up this time!" A heavyset panda panicked as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him through the bamboo forest.
It started off as a normal day for the Dragon Warrior Po Ping; waking up at the sound of the gong… with a little help from his friends the Furious Five, making and eating his breakfast, and a little bit of Tigress's. After that he went to the training hall for a few hours… but after being caught with a plate of sticky buns for the seventeenth time that week he was told by his kung fu master Shifu that he had to clean the dangerous artifacts room.
Po was told to take a small feather duster and lightly and gently dust everything off, not to touch anything and, "For the love of all that's good Po, don't break anything." As Shifu put it. Naturally Po, being the ever curious type, couldn't help but to put his big panda hands on everything he saw as "awesome". Which lead him to come across a sinister looking urn resting on a stone pedestal, that he couldn't help but get a foreboding feeling from. However his curiosity got the better of him and he opened the urn.
As soon as the lid came off a cloud of black and red smoke came out, followed by a wicked laughter. Realizing his mistake, the panda tried to put the lid back on the urn but was thrown back into a wall by an unseen force, knocking him unconscious.
When Po finally came to his eyes rested upon the fallen pedestal and shattered urn. After a few moments of panicking Po decided that he needed to do something about this before Shifu or the Five found out. He went over to the stone pedestal to find any clues as to the identity of the being in the urn, what he found gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The Urn of Yaomo
Responsible for the cataclysm of the fourth dynasty
Po's heart sank after he read the inscription, he had heard stories of the cataclysm of the fourth dynasty, he didn't remember all of it, but he did remember there was a lot of death, destruction and half of China burned to the ground. It was said that a group of legendary warriors, whose identities had been lost to history, banded together to defeat and seal away the demon in a sacred urn. The one that was now shattered at Po's feet.
Po figured he needed to fix this and quick, so he rushed out of the Jade Palace and was met with a grim sight. The skies which had earlier been blue and sunny was now black with thick clouds. He gazed down below him to see the villagers gather in the streets, trying to make sense of the sudden in weather. The sight of the villagers fueled his resolve to find and reseal the demon that could cause the destruction of all of China, so he ran in the direction he thought the demon had gone; the bamboo forest.
Po ran and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, which needless to say didn't last very long. In a clearing, he leaned against a couple of large boulders trying to catch his breath after about four minutes of running.
"Well looks like someone's in a hurry."
The voice put po on his guard, forming a battle stance he looked around at his surroundings to see… nothing. He dropped his guard and sighed. "I think too much blood rushed to my head from the running, I think I'm hearing things."
"No you're not."
Came the voice again. Po looked around wildly trying to find the source of the voice. "Who's there!" Po called out.
"Up here, big guy."
Po looked up over at the top of the boulders he was leaning on earlier and saw a black furred wolf wearing a straw hat, well worn traveling clothes and an amused expression on his face.
Po became cautious at the sight of the wolf and once again went back on his guard. "Listen buddy, I'm in a bit of a hurry so I don't have time for bandits so if you don't want me to rain a world of hurt on you, Dragon Warrior style, I suggest you-"
"First of all, accusing someone you just met of being a bandit is very rude." The wolf interrupted, the amused expression gone from his face, and an unusual sword, that looked eerily like a giant straight razor, in his hand. "Second of all, instead of worrying yourself with lowly bandits, don't you think you should do something about the demon that's roaming around?" The wolf asked, giving the panda a guilty feeling.
Po fidgeted nervously. "Uhh, how did you know it is a demon?" Po asked try as best as he could to sound innocent.
The wolf gave Po a flat look and gestured to the sky. "Does any of this look natural to you?" He then jumps off the boulder and nonchalantly circles the panda. "And that oppressive feeling in the air? Definitely the work of some powerful supernatural force. The question is…" The wolf mused, tapping his chin with the pommel of his unusual sword. "...what demon is causing it?"
"Oh, it's Yaomo." Po blurted out. He immediately mentally berated himself after the look the wolf gave him.
"Yaomo! Last I heard he was still sealed up in his urn. Now what kind of idiot would let him out?" The wolf asked. Po began to fidget nervously.
"Y-yeah. Who'd be that stupid, right?" The panda tried to hide his guilt, and failed miserably.
"It was you wasn't it?" The wolf asked flatly.
No longer able to feign his innocence he… overdramatically confessed to his sins. "Yes! Yes it was me! I opened the urn and let the demon out! Now I gotta find out where he went and reseal him before Master Shifu finds out!"
The wolf shook his head at the pathetic sight before him and gave the panda the brutal truth. "Sorry to tell you friend, but there's now way you can fix this without your master catching wind of what happened. In fact I'm sure he's gotten suspicious of what's going on due to the sudden change in weather."
The very idea of Master Shifu finding out about Po's big screwup made the panda fear for his very life. "Dah! You're right I gotta get moving!" And with that Po started running in… whatever direction he thought he could find Yaomo.
"How are you gonna find him?" A voice behind him asked, making him stop dead in his tracks. He then turned around to see the wolf slowly closing the distance between them. "And what are you gonna do if you find him?" He asked, making the panda stop and think. "Are you gonna try and fight him? Back in the fourth dynasty it took over a dozen masters to even weaken the demon. And even if by some miracle you were able to defeat him on your own, what then? How will you seal him away again?"
Po couldn't answer the wolf, now that he was using his head, he realized he was royally screwed. But he also realized that this wolf seemed to know what was going on. "Can you help me?" The panda asked. The question made the wolf slowly smile, as if he were watching the panda solve a puzzle.
"Congratulations big guy, you're finally using your head. Yes I can help but we need to hurry, Yaomo is still weak from his millennia of imprisonment, we need to strike while the iron's hot." The wolf said putting his strange sword in a sheath on his back, then he held out his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Master Sora Ten Gu."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Po." Po shook Sora's hand but then got a confused expression on his face. "Wait, you're a master?" The panda asked.
The wolf smiled a little smugly. "Yes, I am indeed."
"Then how come I've never heard of you?" Po asked suspiciously.
Sora's smug look vanished. "Oh,that's easy, it's because I-" He began, but was interrupted by Po and his… overzealous fanboy nature.
"Are you a new generation master?"
"Uhh…" Sora tried to speak but was once again cut off.
"Did you do something really awesome to get the rank?"
"Actually I-"
"Were you appointed master by the Emperor? Or were you-" Po was unable to ask his next question due to Sora covering his mouth.
"Ask yourself this panda, is now the time for any of this? We got a demon to find." Po then snapped out of his fanboyish ways and got serious.
"You're right, let's get moving!" And began to run in a random direction. Sora shook his head and called out to the monochromatic master.
"Hey panda!" Po stopped and turned to the wolf. "Again, even if you find Yaomo, what then? We need to find a way to seal him away before we go after him."
Po had to admit that Sora had a point. This wasn't the time to go running in head first. A plan was needed, and it looked like the wolf had one. "Okay then, do you know where we can find an enchanted urn?" Po asked.
"We won't be using an enchanted urn, they break too easily." Sora answered making the panda fidget nervously, he was the one who broke the urn making the demons recapture currently impossible. "So we're gonna find a more permanent solution to this little problem, follow me."
Sora started walking over to the east with the panda quickly catching up. "Alright then, a new adventure for Po the Dragon Warrior and Master Sora Ten Gu!" Po said excitedly while humming an adventurous tune. Sora smiled and shook his head at the pandas antics. Then he thought to himself that this might be more fun than he thought.
After a few hours of walking, then running, then a five minute stop to catch their (mostly Po's) breath, more running and a quick snack break Sora began to tell Po a little bit about himself; he was the top student of a little known kung fu school in the southern part of China. He wasn't a well known master and that suited him just fine. The reason was, because he had a special occupation. He was a hunter. That meant that he was charged by high ranking officials, noblemen, and sometimes even the Emperor himself to hunt down, find and if necessary, kill the worst criminals China had to offer.
Occasionally Sora's jobs would take an unexpected, and supernatural turn. In a few isolated villages in the north Sora was charged to exterminate a pack of imp-like demons who were terrorizing the people there, one of whom was a blacksmith who forged Sora a special weapon to assist him in his future endeavours. The unusual sword he now had on his back, on the blade was inscribed one word: Razor.
After a couple more hours of walking and talking, the duo came upon a creepy looking cave. It looked like light wasn't welcome there, as the sunlight (or lack thereof) didn't seem to go past the mouth of the foreboding cavern.
Po went to a tree and broke off a few branches to make torches, he took his time with it because… he just didn't want to go in the cave.
"Come on Po, what's the hold up?" Yelled Sora who was waiting at the mouth of the cave. Po slowly came over to where Sora was standing with a pair of ready-to-be-lit torches, looking a little pale. "Oh, come now, you can't tell me you're afraid of the dark?" The wolf said disbelievingly.
Po instantly got indignant. "No, I just don't like spooky places." He admitted nervously. "What are we looking for in here again?" He asked.
"Crystals." The wolf answered simply, getting a "Huh?' from Po. "Not a lot of people know this but you can trap a demon's soul inside a simple quartz crystal." Sora explained as they lit up the torches and stepped into the darkness (Po, reluctantly). "It was a few centuries after Yaomo's first imprisonment that a few spiritual experts and demon hunters learned that quartz had a… cleansing effect on negative energies. So they tested it out by finding a crystal, carving a few seals into it, and using it on a demon that was causing trouble somewhere."
Po listened to every word, hoping it would take his mind off their unsettling location. "So… what happened then?" The panda asked.
"It worked! The demon's soul was trapped in the crystal, and when the findings were presented to the Emperor of the time, he thought it was all a bunch of nonsense." He shook his head. "Turns out, he wasn't a real believer in demons and monsters and such, he said they were always bandits in costumes trying to scare the superstitious."
As they went deeper and deeper into the cave, Po wanted to do whatever it took to keep this conversation going. "How did you know that?" He asked, the flickering of light and shadows starting to give him the creeps.
"I read about it in a demon hunter's journal, they always leave them behind for the next generation." Sora explained. After walking a little longer, the two warriors came upon a massive room filled to the brim with…
"Crystals!" Sora exclaimed. "Now we just need to find the right one."
The lights shining off the hundreds of individual crystals growing out of the sides of the cavern may look beautiful to some, but to Po it only looked like hundreds of eyes staring at him. "Uhhh, do you think we could, maybe, go a little faster here?" The panda asked insistently. He had about all he could take from this creepy cave.
Sora was still looking over each and every stone there. "Keep your pants on Po, The crystal we need has to be just right; if it's fractured, or the wrong size it won't work and Yaomo will just get out again… Aha! Here it is!" Sora said, breaking off a sizable crystal with a sharp point. "Okay we can go now Po. Po?" Sora looked around to see that the panda was nowhere in sight, turning the way they came in he noticed a flickering light shrinking into the distance. "Wow. He sure is fast and quiet for a guy his size." The wolf commented as he followed the fleeing panda.
Once Po got out of the cave he fell to his knees and took several deep breathes of fresh air. After his (a little over dramatic) reunion with the outside world his eyes opened wide in shock. Not because the sky had grown darker, or that the wind had become more ominous, but because of the creatures waiting outside the cave for him.
They were short, with wide flat heads, with jaws that opened to reveal dozens of sharp teeth. They had long arms that ended with two razor sharp claws. More demons.
"Hey Po, what's the big idea leaving me behind like tha-" Sora stopped in mid sentence once he saw the pack of demons. "Well, that's not good." He said plainly, pulling out his razor sword.
Po backed up a little, definitely out of his comfort zone. "What are those things?" He asked, nervously getting into his fighting stance.
Sora threw his straw hat to the side and gave his sword a quick twirl. "Exactly what they look like, my robust friend. Yaomo must be onto us if he sent out his grunts."
"What do we do?" Po asked since he was in unfamiliar territory. Sora, on the other hand, had a smile on his face that was both confidant and a little wicked.
"We win."
And the wolf charged.
The fight didn't last long, maybe a couple minutes… but to Po, time seemed to get slower for him. The pack of demon's split in half, one half attacking Sora, the other half engaging the panda. Sora fought back fearlessly, Po on the other hand, having never fought a demon before (except in his 'Dragon Warrior hero' dreams) was a little unsure on how to handle this situation. So he fell back on what he already knew and belly bumped the lead demon, pushing it back into the others behind it, making them all tumble like a set of dominos.
Po was already brimming with pride, and started to do a little victory dance. "Woohoo! Yeah! Taste the power of the Dragon Warrior's bodacity!" He turned over to check if Sora needed any help, but saw that he had everything handled… and it scared him a little.
The pack of demons that had charged Sora was cut down to three… literally. There was no blood, no bodies the other demons just… disappeared. Before Po could ponder why a demon leapt at Sora with it's arm raised poised and ready to sink its claws into Sora's flesh. But the wolf and his razor sword were faster. Just a couple steps forward and a horizontal swing of his arm was all Sora needed to leave the demon in pieces. Again there was no blood; the demon dissipated into black smoke before disappearing entirely.
Sora wanted to check on the panda's progress… so he looked over to where the panda was fighting and saw the pack of demons that was fighting Po squirming in a pile not even five feet from him. "Well done Po!" Sora called. "Now finish them off!" He said to the bewildered panda as another demon swiped its claws at him. The demon lost it's arm but when it was safe to check on Po again, Sora noticed he didn't move. "What are you waiting for panda? Kill them!" But Po only shook his head.
"I can't. I just can-"
"Look out!"
One of the demons disentangled itself from the pile that Po belly bumped them into and jumped and landed on Po's shoulders. It raised it's claws, ready to deliver a fatal strike to the Dragon Warrior. Without thinking Po reacted with mind numbing speed, he grabbed the demon standing on his shoulders by its ankles and slammed it head first into the ground. The demon disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving the panda with a look of shock/horror. Po would always fight to the best of his ability, and do just about whatever it took to win… but he never killed anything. That's where he drew the line.
Sora had finished cutting down the last demon then turned over to Po. The panda was on his knees surrounded by the rest of the pack. "Po!" Sora called out, but Po was not responding. The demons surrounding Po prepared to pounce… but Sora, thankfully was faster. The black furred wolf charged forward and, with a few quick swings of his sword, cut down the rest of the pack.
Now that the danger had passed Sora turned his full attention to the panda, who was still on his knees, unmoving, eyes wide. "Po? What's up pal?" Sora asked, worried about his pudgy friend.
Po responded albeit slowly. "I- I've, uh… never killed anything before." He said in a soft voice. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, the panda looked up to meet the kind gaze of his canine companion.
"You don't need to worry about those small fries Po. They weren't exactly what you would call 'alive'." Sora said reassuringly.
Po tilted his head in confusion. "Whaddya mean?"
Sora was silent for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain it. "They were… constructs Po. Think like shadows brought to life with dark magic. Or like stone statues moving around on their own. They are just Yaomo's creations. They may look alive, but trust me, they're basically moving dolls."
Po's guilt swiftly disappeared, he rose to his feet with renewed confidence. "Alight, what's next?" Po asked with his signature grin.
Sora picked up his hat that he threw earlier and explained the next stage of their mission. "Well, now that we have the crystal, we just need to find Yaomo. I can carve the sealing inscriptions on the way.'
Po gave a little fistpump, completely thrilled that this little adventure would be another milestone in his Kung Fu career of awesomeness… and hopefully if he brought back Yaomo in a crystal, Master Shifu wouldn't punish him too bad.
"Now we just need to go to the Hellfire Caves, confront Yaomo and-'
"Wait! What!?" Po shouted. He didn't expect to have to go into another cave.
"Yes Po. That's where Yaomo will be." Sora said flatly.
Po began to get nervous again. "Uhhh, are you sure? Maybe Yaomo will be somewhere… outside?"
Sora smirked at the panda. "What's wrong Po? You're not scared to go in the caves are you?"
"Uhhhh..." Was all Po could say.
The wheels in Sora's head began to turn, he needed Po's help if Yaomo was to be sealed away so he came up with a little ultimatum to coax Po into going to the caves. "Alright then Po, I'll continue alone from here and you can head back to your master… empty handed." Po gulped. "I'm sure he won't be too mad at you. Well, take care panda." The wolf waved farewell at the Dragon Warrior and began to walk away, still smirking.
Po was beginning to sweat profusely. He then decided that he would rather deal with a powerful demon in a dark cave than brave Shifu's wrath. "Hey Sora, wait up!" And set off at a run to catch up with the wolf.
Another few hours went by and the sun was beginning to set… not that you could tell though. The clouds became so thick that darkness shrouded the land hours ago. Po and Sora stood at the mouth of the Hellfire Caves, on the way Po suggested to gather some branches to make torches… but it wasn't necessary; the interior of the caves were glowing with an ominous crimson light. "So, how do we know Yaomo is even in there, I mean besides the obvious?" Po asked.
Sora nodded at the caves. "Because this is where he was imprisoned the first time. The Masters of the time followed him here, a place that was said to be the closest point to hell." Sora went on to explain that the masters who confronted Yaomo all those years ago weakened him to the point where he had to retreat to these caves, where he could regain his strength. The Masters attacked while he was still weak and sealed the demon in the enchanted urn.
"He hasn't been out of the urn for long, so he is still weak, and him sending out his grunts didn't help him much. We need to strike now." Sora said. Po was getting nervous again, and Sora noticed. The wolf placed his hand on the Dragon Warrior's shoulder. "I don't blame you for wanting to be somewhere else. Not for one second. But I can't do this without you friend." Po looked the wolf in the eyes and suddenly gained new confidence from the wolf- no, from his new friends strength.
Sora held his hand out. "Are you with me Dragon Warrior?"
Po clasped Sora's hand with his own. "Let's do this, Master Sora." And with a traded smile, both warriors entered the cave.
They walked through the caves in silence, there was no need for conversation. Both warriors were there with a job to do and they both swore on their lives that they would see it done. After fifteen minutes of walking, they made it to the deepest part of the cave; the point closest to hell. And there, they saw him.
He was at least ten to twelve feet tall, his body long and skinny. His long, thin arms were tipped with wickedly hooked claws. It's head was almost shark-like, complete with the teeth to match. Its skin was ashy grey and looked like tough worn leather.
The wolf and the panda didn't bother to hide or to keep their approach quiet, Yaomo already knew of their presence. "So, you both finally arrived.?" The demon spoke, its voice seemed oily to Po. "I was wondering when you two would show up. It's not very polite to make others wait you know.?" Yaomo grinned wickedly.
Sora spoke first. "Yeah, sorry about that, we had to make a quick stop first." He said holding up the crystal. The demon's eyes narrowed at the wolf.
"So you mean to imprison me in that piece of rock? How ludicrous." Yaomo sneered.
"Whats ludicrous is how fast you're gonna find yourself sealed up in this piece of rock!" Po said, puffing out his chest. Yaomo smiled after Po spoke.
"Ahh, if it isn't the one who set me free. I suppose I should thank you for opening the urn. And I shall, by making your death quick and painless." The demon smiled, licking his claws in anticipation.
"We'll see about that Yaomo." Sora said, pulling out his razor sword.
"Yeah, get ready to feel the thunder!" Po said getting into his battle stance.
Yaomo smiled wickedly and moved forward, and moved fast. Before they knew what was going on both warriors were thrown into the caves wall. Po and Sora got up quickly to see the demon rushing at them with speed that could only be defined as 'unreal'. Once he got close enough to Sora, Yaomo raised his arm and prepared to slice the wolf in half with his claws. The wolf raised his sword to intercept the oncoming blow, hoping he would at least cut off the demons fingers, but was shocked to see that when the demon's hand dropped onto his sword… he didn't even scratch him.
"You're going to have to do better than that, mortal." Yaomo snarled and with the back of his hand, knocked Sora into another wall. The demon didn't have time to gloat, however as Po threw a flying kick at his jaw, knocking out a few teeth. Yaomo recovered quickly and knocked the panda into the same wall as Sora. The two warriors didn't stay down long, Sora rose to his feet first and put his hands on the small of his back and gave it a quick crack.
"Nice kick their Po. He's definitely not at his full strength." Po got up and rubbed a sore spot on his shoulder.
"How do you know?" The panda asked.
"Because if he was , we'd be dead already." Sora said simply.
"It doesn't matter if I'm at full strength or not… you still won't win against me." Yaomo smugly said.
"And what makes you say that?" Po asked as both he and Sora prepared for another bout.
"Simple." Yaomo's smug grin got even bigger. "You are mortals."
Sora chuckled and shook his head at the demon. "In case you've forgotten, Yaomo…" Sora said as he pulled out a pure white cloth and began to wipe it on his razor sword. "... It was mortals who sealed you away the first time, and that was millennia ago. We mortals have learned a few tricks since then."
"Oh? You have?" Yaomo disbelievingly asked.
"We have?" Po whispered trying to see if Sora was bluffing.
Sora passed the white cloth to Po. "Yes we have." The wolf said confidently. "Wipe this on your hands.
Po took the cloth and wiped his knuckles with it. As he did a calming, sweet aroma filled his nostrils. He didn't know what was on the cloth, but if Sora pulled it out then it had to be a game changer.
"You ready, panda?" The wolf asked readying his sword once again.
"Yeah, let's show this demon the combined bodacious power of the Dragon Warrior and Master Sora Ten Gu!" Po exclaimed getting into his battle stance again.
Yaomo laughed at the two warriors. "Well then, come on; give me your best shot!" And with that, the wolf and the panda charged forward.
Yaomo stayed still, for he decided to give them a fighting chance. His plans was for them to learn that defeating him was an impossible task. And when they have fallen into the deepest pits of despair, he would deliver the finishing blow.
Sora struck first, swinging his razor sword at Yaomo's unguarded side. The demon's smug look vanished quickly as a white hot pain shot through his body, his very blood ignited in white fire as it made contact with Sora's blade. Yaomo didn't have time to think on how this mortal could have given him such a grievous injury, because out of the corner of his eye a large, black furred fist came right at his face. When Po's fist came in contact with Yaomo's face there was a burst of white fire, giving the demon terrible burns where the panda's fist was. The demon lashed out, knocking both warriors into a wall… again.
Getting back to his feet, Po rubbed his sore back. "My back is going to have one big bruise by the end of this. But nevermind that, what was on that cloth? That was awesome!"
Sora cracked his neck. "Special oil blessed by a monk from one of the northern monasteries. They work really well against evil."
"That's… so cool." Po said wide eyed.
A deep snarl brought their attention back to Yaomo. His face was severely burned by Po's oiled up punches. And fire still dripped from the large gash on his side. His eyes were filled with hatred, right now he wanted nothing more than to kill the two mortals before him. "I was going to make your deaths quick, but now I've changed my mind. I'll rip your skin off one strip at a time and eat it."
"That's gross." The wolf said getting ready for another run. Before Yaomo could continue monologuing Sora spoke. "I think I heard enough from you, let's finish him Po!" And rushed forward.
"Right behind you buddy!" Po followed quickly.
Sora attacked with his sword low, Po attacked with his kung fu high. With the blessed oil on their side the advantage was clearly on their side. Every time they made contact with the demon white fire would erupt from his injuries. After a two minute onslaught, in which Yaomo had many grievous burns on his body, a lost arm and all but one finger on his other hand, the demon fell to his knees. His eyes still burning with hate… and now fear.
"I think it's time to end this, don't you Po?" Sora asked.
"Yep, time to skadoosh a demon." Again Sora charged first with Po close behind. Just as they were about to deliver the finishing blow, Yaomo's arm moved with snake like speed, his claw now buried deep in Sora's torso. An evil smile had returned to the demon's face as he rose to his full height and lifted the wolf off his feet.
"I'll admit the two of you might have done a better job pushing me to my limit than the past masters had. But now we'll never know will we?" Yaomo said with enough venom in his voice to kill all of China. "Any last words?" The demon asked, licking his teeth and preparing to chomp down on Sora's neck.
Sora muttered something incomprehensible, so the demon brought him closer. "What was that?" He asked.
"'X' marks the spot."
Sora swung his sword twice forming a burning 'X' across the demon's chest. The sudden attack caused Yaomo to drop the wolf and scream in pain.
"Po! Now!" The wolf yelled and threw the sealing crystal in the air. The panda leapt in the air and with a quick "Shakabooey!" kicked the crystal into the demon's chest, right on the 'X'.
As the crystal pierced Yaomo's flesh, it turned from foggy white to a sickly black. The demon's body then crumpled and turned into a pile of ash.
Po bent down and picked up the crystal that now contained the demon Yaomo, he had won… but at what cost? The price of his victory was the life of his newest frien-
"Well done Po. I knew you could do it." Po heard as a hand clasped his shoulder. The panda turned to see Master Sora Ten Gu alive and well. Po's eyes widened in shock, and his jaw began to slack.
"H-H-H-How are you still alive?" Po asked, shakingly.
"Uhh, what do you mean?" The wolf asked.
"I saw Yaomo kill you with his claws! How are you still alive!?" The panda asked again.
"Oh that. Like this." Sora then took his razor sword and turned to one side and made it look like he impaled himself with a playful grunt. He turned again to face Po who saw that the sword was hidden beneath his under arm. "He missed!" The wolf explained.
It was silent for a moment until the cavern was filled with an uproarious laughter. The two warriors left the caves and stepped out to a beautiful starry skied night.
"Well that's it, we won." Sora said.
"Hey no need to get crazy Sora, I mean we only stopped a powerful demon from destroying the world." Po said playfully nudging Sora's arm.
"You're absolutely right Po, I'm sorry for flying off the handle like that." Sora responded nudging back.
The two companions walked for hours, reminiscing about their adventure. By the time they had gotten to the Valley of Peace the morning sun had risen. "Boy I could use something to eat." The panda said about to make his way to his dad's noodle shop. "What about you Sora?" Po turned around to see the wolf hadn't moved.
"Sorry Po, but this is where we part ways." Sora said with a smile, Po's on the other hand faded away.
"Whaddya mean? You gotta meet Master Shifu and the Furious Five. We have an amazing story to tell them… I can't do it without you." The panda began to tear up, he did not want to say goodbye to his newfound friend. Sora stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on the pandas shoulder.
"You're a true friend Po, and believe me I don't want to say our farewells either… but I can't stay. Mention my name to your master and you'll see why." The wolf master then placed his fist in his hand and bowed to the Dragon Warrior. "But first I have to say; it was an honor fighting by your side, my friend." Po wiped his eyes and returned the gesture.
"Ok, you at least gotta meet- Tigress!?" Po turned around to come face to angry face with a very familiar feline.
"Po you are in so much trouble! Do you have any idea how livid Master Shifu is?" Tigress scolded the panda.
Po turned around to ask for Sora's assistance only to see that the wolf had vanished. Before he could say anything, Tigress grabbed Po by his ear and started dragging him to the Jade Palace. "Master Shifu wants to see you, now."
"And that's what happened." Po told the entire story from when he opened the urn to when Tigress dragged him back through the door. At first everyone's expression was that of rage and disappointment, but whenever Sora was mentioned, they changed to looks of surprise.
"Panda, did that wolf really say his name was Sora Ten Gu?" Shifu asked. Po nodded in response. Without saying a word, Shifu went over to the back wall of the Hall of Heros and started looking through the many scrolls there. Once he found the scroll he was looking for, he walked back over to Po and unfurled it. "Is this the wolf you saw?" The red panda asked.
Po looked upon the scroll and saw… Sora himself, complete with hat and sword. A large smile graced the pandas face as he nodded vigorously. "Yep that's him!" Po exclaimed.
"Impossible. It couldn't have been." Shifu said matter of factly.
Po started to get confused. "Whaddya mean?" He asked. When Shifu didn't answer Po looked around the room at everyone else. They all seemed unsure of how to tell him. That or they were afraid of how he would handle it.
Viper stepped… slithered forward and told Po the painful truth. "Po, Sora Ten Gu… he died fifteen years ago."
Po couldn't believe his ears. His friend, the wolf he had a awesome adventure on… was dead? The panda shook his head disbelievingly. "No…" Tears began to well up in Po's eyes. "He was there. I saw him, he and I fought together, we both beat Yaomo. Look, the crystal proves it, I mean come on, you think I could have come up with something like this?" Po tried desperately to make everyone believe that Sora was really there. Shifu placed his hand on Po's wrist.
"Come with me panda." And Shifu lead Po to an area behind the Jade Palace, a graveyard. There they all came to a stone that had engraved upon it…
"Here lies Master Sora Ten gu."
"Swordmaster and Hunter, he fought the darkness"
"So the light would reign across the land."
Tears spilled down the panda's cheeks, before him was a friend that he would never see again. He dropped to his knees and said a little prayer for his dear departed friend. The Five behind him remained respectfully silent.
Once he had finished, Po reached into his pocket and pulled out the crystal that held the soul of the demon Yaomo, and presented it to Shifu. Po wanted this to be called "Sora's last good deed." And despite Shifu not entirely believing that it was truly Sora that Po saw, he agreed that Yaomo's new prison would have a special place to honor the departed wolf master.
"You did well cleaning up your mistake panda." Shifu said after they had all returned to the Hall of Heros. "However it does not excuse you from your punishment." Po's eyes widened in horror.
"Y-Y-You mean…"
"Yes panda, you will scrub the Thousand Steps, from top to bottom… with this." Shifu pulled out a toothbrush.
From the Jade palace a despair filled voice could be heard from miles around.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
A/N
Wow… longest one-shot I've ever done. Anyway, hope you all liked it. Please review if you did, or like or whatever.
Quick thing, The next chapter of Kung Fu Wolf: Rising of the Moon will be posted soon, how soon i don't know, but soon. Also I'd like to thank everyone who voted so far on Hiro's new weapon, if you haven't voted yet there's still time (but not much).
Well that's it, see ya later.