Nothing is more dangerous than being a Merchant or a Traveler making their way to the Valley of Peace; at night your vulnerable to Bandits, Murderers, and Thieves.
This one such Merchant Goose decided to risk it instead of camping for the night.
He was pulling his cart along the main road towards the edge of the Bamboo forest, as he was nearing the end he heard rustling to the left of him, so he stopped and looked to his left and three Wolves with swords in hand walked out of the forest and surrounded the Goose.
"Alright, give us your money and supplies, and we might not kill you." The wolf says, as he walks closer all four unaware someone was keeping a silent vigil. He silently jumped down from the tree, as the wolves had their full attention on the goose.
He knew if he wasn't careful they would kill the goose, he knew it was mostly dark out, so he wouldn't have a problem blending in, he could use a distraction to lure one of the wolves away, and silently take him out.
With plan in mind he silently moved over to a position behind the wolf who was rooting through the Merchants cart. He stopped by a tree and noticed a branch he could use this for his distraction, so branch clenched in hand he hit it repeatedly against the bamboo tree, as the wolves seemed to notice.
"Hey, go check it out." The lead wolf said, as the Wolf who was rooting around in the cart left and walked toward the noise; sword in hand. What he would see would be the last thing he would see for a few hours.
As soon as the wolf was close enough to the bush two red arms quickly shot out and grabbed the wolf and pulled him into the bush as the wolf's sword fell to the ground. All was followed by silence, as the two remaining wolves looked in the direction of their fallen friend, as he made his way around to position himself behind the second wolf.
"Hey, you alright?!" The second wolf calls out only to be met with silence, as the lead wolf raised his sword at the Goose.
"Do you have something to do with this!" The lead wolf yells, as the goose cowered in fear.
"N-NO! I have nothing to do with it! I swear!" The goose cries out, as they turn their heads when they hear a sharp whistle.
"Go check it out." The lead wolf says nodding his head in the direction of the whistle, as the second wolf walks off into the forest in search of the whistle, as soon as he was in a small clearing away from the eyes of his friend. He was grabbed from behind he didn't even have time to react, as he was pulled into the bush and silenced as his sword fell to the ground.
He made his way back around, and to the last wolf who was still holding the goose at sword point. He moved around the forest until he was right behind the last wolf.
"W-What's that?!" The goose shouts out, as the wolf turns around only to be met with a pair of narrowed blue eyes.
"Wha-" Was all the wolf had time to say, before he too was pulled into the bushes and silenced, as his sword fell to the ground the goose looked up and saw the wolves were gone. The goose stood up as he looked around and saw the three wolves unconscious and bound on top of his cart, as he heard a branch snap and looked in its direction while staying in the lamps light. He heard quiet footsteps until a figure dressed in red stepped into the light the goose moved back only to find he couldn't.
The person just stood there.
"W-What do you want?" The goose asks trying to shield himself, as the figure raises an arm and points to the Valley of Peace.
"You want me to go to the Valley of Peace?" The Goose asks as the figure nods then points to the wolves, as the goose looks at him.
"You want me to turn them into the guards there?" The goose asks as the figure nods again, as the goose grabs a hold of his cart and looks at him as the figure backs into the forest with a finger over his lips telling the goose to be quiet, as he nodded and looked one final time only to find that the figure was gone, so he picked up his cart and made his way to the Valley of Peace.
As the goose Merchant walked into the Valley he walked around to the back of his noodle shop where he was met by his son Po.
"Dad are you alright?" Po asked, as the goose nodded.
"I'm alright Po, if you would be so kind as to get these Bandits to the guards." Mr. Ping says, as Po pulls the bandits off the cart one by one, as he drags them over to the one of the guards, as Po returns to his father.
"Dad, what happened?" Po asked, worry evident in his voice.
"I decided to make my way through the forest at night instead of camping, and those three wolves surrounded me, and they demanded my supplies. One of them started going through my cart when we heard a loud crack in the forest, and the wolf that held me at sword point sent the wolf that was going through my cart. and when he reached the bushes he just disappeared.
Then we heard a sharp whistle to the east of us, and the lead wolf sent the second to locate the whistle, but he never came back, and the wolf threatened me. That's when I saw some one behind him, as he turned around he was dragged into the bushes, and when I looked I found them unconscious and bound on top of my cart. Then I heard a branch snap, and someone stepped out of the bushes." Mr. Ping said.
"Who was it dad? What did they look like?" Po asked, his tone taking on urgency.
"I don't know. I never saw their face; only their eyes and they wore an outfit that was all red, and a mask over their face." Mr. Ping said.
"We should talk to Master Shifu about this." Po said, as his father nodded in agreement, as they made their way up the thousand steps to the Jade Palace. Mr. Ping reached the top first, Po a few seconds later trying to catch his breath.
Eventually Po managed to catch his breath and return to his feet, as he pushed the gates open as they made their way inside, as they made their way towards the kitchen.
As soon as they entered the kitchen the others looked at them.
"Oh, hello Mr. Ping what brings you here?" Master Shifu asked.
"He was just attacked by wolf bandits." Po said, as the others looked at Mr. Ping in surprise.
"Is that true Mr. Ping." Shifu asked as he nodded, as Po directed him to an empty seat before taking the one next to him.
"Tell us what happened." Shifu said, as Mr. Ping spent the next ten minutes explaining what had happened, as the others looked on with interest when Mr. Ping got to the part of the person who saved him.
"Can you tell us what they looked like?" Tigress asked with interest showing in her eyes.
"They wore all red, I could only see their eyes, and they had a mask covering their face as well as a hood." Mr. Ping said, as Shifu stroked his beard in contemplation.
"I'll be right back." Shifu said, as he left the chair and he walked out of the kitchen.
After a few minutes he returned scroll in hand, as he took his seat again he unrolled the scroll to reveal a wanted poster showing the drawing of the person Mr. Ping saw.
"Is this him?" Shifu asked, as Mr. Ping nodded.
"That's him." He said, as the others looked at the drawings.
"According to the reports I received when I was given this scroll, he has already saved multiple people from bandits, and he even saved a family from their burning home. All of them saying that he bowed to them before disappearing, and they've started calling him a protector." Shifu said, as he rolled up the scroll.
"Master, what would you have us do?" Tigress asked, as Shifu looked at her.
"I want you to find him. I would very much like to meet this protector." Shifu said, as Po and the five stood up and bowed to their master, as the five went to their rooms to start the search tomorrow; while Po went with his father back down to the Valley before returning to go to bed himself; while Shifu went to the scroll room to do some research on this 'protector.'