The Painter: part 1

On a clear and sunny day in the Valley of Peace, the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were practicing under the watchful eyes of Master Shifu. It had been several weeks since the defeat of Tai Lung and the villagers had finally finished the repairs to the temple and houses damaged during the battle. It was the first day the six masters had time to practice, and it showed.

Crane let out a startled squawk as his tail feathers were singed by the fire traps. He just managed to make it to the edge of the fire floor when Master Shifu appeared by his side.

"What happened Crane, you know better than that!" Shifu scolded.

"Sorry Master. I lost my focus," Crane replied.

"Crane, are you alright?" asked Viper, slithering over from the wooden rollers.

"I'm fine, it only singed the tips," Crane said, raising his voice to be heard by the rest of his friends as they gathered around.

"Fine or not, you lost your focus in battle. Be lucky it was only your feathers that were scorched this time," Shifu said angrily.

Crane was about to respond, but was cut off by Shifu.

"I have been quite disappointed in all your performances today. I would have kept you training if I had thought you would have lost this much," Shifu said, addressing the group. "I want you to go meditate and not come back until you are ready to perform by my standards."

"Yes Master," chorused the group before they left the training hall.

"Is something wrong Crane? You haven't been yourself lately," asked Po as they walked out the door.

Crane started to shake his head, stopped, and said "I don't know Po, I just haven't been able to concentrate lately."

"Maybe you'll figure it out after you do a bit of thinking. None of us has had a moment to ourselves recently," piped up Mantis from Monkey's shoulder.

"Maybe," Crane said, doubt evident in his face.

The group split as each person headed to their preferred place of meditation: Tigress going to her room, Po to the sacred pare tree, Monkey and Mantis to the gardens behind the temple, Viper to a particularly sunny part of the roof, and Crane taking off for his favorite overlook of the city.

As Crane soared toward the overlook, his head was filled with thoughts about the morning training. While it was true that he was having trouble focusing, it wasn't because he was out of practice. He had been distracted by the sight of Viper training nearby. Unbidden to him, the image of Viper, her body poised to strike at nearby target, formed in his mind. He tried to think of something, anything else, but his mind kept retiring to that wonderful sight. Viper, her beautiful green scales, her gorgeous blue eyes, the detailed pattern along her back. Crane shook his head violently, nearly destabilizing his flight.

"You can't be thinking of her like that," Crane angrily thought to himself. "She is your friend and a fellow Master, besides she certainly does not feel the same way about you."

With a little more force than usual, Crane landed on the edge of the isolated overlook, his mind still clouded with images of Viper. He looked out at the village neatly laid out before him, later to be framed by the setting sun. Regrettably, his mind was too turbulent to enjoy the vista before him, so he sat next to the edge and settled into a troubled meditation. After what seemed like ages, his thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound behind him. He froze, ears straining to identify the noise and after a moment of thought he had it. It was the sound of a brush on canvas, interspersed with an occasional quiet mumble.

"Who could be painting way up here?" Crane thought as he started to turn around, his mind dimly noticing the start of the sunset over the valley. Before he could fully rotate, he was interrupted by a male voice behind him.

"Hold still just another second, I'm almost done," said the voice.

Crane couldn't tell what surprised him more, the voice or the fact that he was in the painting. He held still, straining to catch a glimpse of the person out of the corner of his eye. About a half minute later, Crane was about to turn around anyway when the voice spoke again.

"Ok, you can move. Sorry, I wanted to finish before the sun fully set," said the voice apologetically.

In one fluid motion, Crane stood and turned to face the mysterious painter.