The Summer rain obscured the mountain range from view. The rain was warm as it resounded on an old tortoise's shell. He moved slowly up the muddy slope, not letting the rain stop him from enjoying his surroundings. The hills were truly alive with green plant life, and as far as the rain would let one see there were great trees adorning the landscape. Although it was beautiful, the tortoise knew that he was needed in the village ahead.
He strolled into town, slowly placing one foot in front of the other as he entered the main road that connected the small shops in the village together. As he did so, the rain slowed to a drizzle, and the drizzle slowed till the rain only dropped from the tallest trees. The old reptile meandered over to a small dumpling shop that had just reopened its windows. The pig working there noticed him hobble up to the counter where, after a brief analyzation, he said, "How can I help you sir? Interested in a serving of dumplings?"
The tortoise waved his scaly arm and replied, "No, thank you. I am too busy to stop and have lunch just yet, but some tea would be lovely."
The pig just snorted and went to the fire pit to boil some water. The tortoise removed his straw hat and sat it on the ground next to him. As he did, two other strangers made their way onto the dirt road. These two were much larger however, one being an ox and the other a croc. The two also came to the dumpling shop and sat down roughly at one of the tables situated outside the store. The ox turned around to face the shop and yelled, "YOU THERE! Pig! Get to serving us on the double."
The pig, who was quite flustered by his newly arrived customers scampered to their table. Before he had the chance to speak the ox grabbed him by his shirt, and lifted him up into his face. "Two orders of dumplings. Get on it." he said, then threw the pig back to the ground with a thud. The pig hurried back to the counter and got out the dough for the dumplings. The tortoise frowned. When the kettle began to boil the turtle used his cane to lift it from over the fire the pig had started and poured it into the cup with the tea. The pig, frantically busy making the dumplings for the unwanted guests, hardly even noticed.
The ox and the croc were muttering amongst themselves, but not as quietly as they'd like to think they were. The tortoise could easily hear every word they said. What they said was this:
"I say we attack the shops now! Where else are we gonna find a punch of places to rob all in a row like this?" the croc quietly screamed.
The ox scoffed, "Why do it before we've had our fill? That way we'll have eaten already and won't have to pay our bill! Then we can get out of here with full wallets AND full bellies!"
The croc laughed sinisterly. The ox smiled.
"Excuse me," came a voice next to them.
Both animals turned wildly to see the old tortoise standing beside them, smiling so that all his many wrinkles could be seen. He continued, "I hope you aren't thinking of harming these people. You see their protector has fallen ill recently, and can't get up out of bed. I am actually here to delivery the herbs to help in his recovery. It would be most considerate of you to wait to pull your heist another time."
That ox and croc looked at one another, wide eyed. Then the ox stood up with a fierce look. Loudly he shouted, "I am Li Bo and this is my partner Xing. Together we have a combined bounty of 10,000! Say something like that again and we won't have any trouble roughing up and old man."
Li Bo bent down to see eye-to-eye with the tortoise. But the old turtle kept calm. He set his staff on the table to rest, then got into a fighting stance. Once again the croc and the ox looked at each other, their mouths gaping slightly. This gave way to anger on both their faces. The ox pulled a large knife out of his sheath, and the croc flipped over the table and landed in a stance of his own. There was a moment of silence as the townspeople crowded around to see what was going on. The ox was the first to strike, yelling at the top of his lungs he swung his knife back and lunged. The turtle dispatched him by swinging down his left arm and deflecting the oxen's strike. He turned on his heel to receive the punch coming from the croc. Then he spun his opposite arm and leg back around to strike Xing's neck and trip him at the same time. Li Bo came back around and thrust his arm at his opponent's shell, but the old reptile fell backwards to the ground and used his legs to bring the ox to the ground. Using his arms to spring up, the tortoise dodged Xing's kick, causing the croc to kick the rear end of his companion. The tortoise landed back on his feet and regained his stance. The croc and ox looked bewildered at this point. They snapped back to reality and charged at the tortoise. He wasted no time by shooting out his fist and knocking the knife out of Li Bo's hand and simultaneously sweeping Xing's ankle. He then used his other foot to sweep Li Bo's feet from under him leading to a swift kick in Xing's side. The croc hit the wooden wall of the dumpling shop hard, knocking him out. The ox stumbled to get up and face the old turtle. By the time Li Bo put up a stance the tortoise ran at him, pulling his arm down and lifting the ox over him in the air. He brought the huge animal crashing down into the muddy road. Li Bo was down for the count.
The tortoise made his way back over to the counter of the dumpling shop. He took a long sip of tea before picking up his straw hat, leaving a few coins, and walking out of the store. He got to the table and picked up his staff. As he was shuffling away the townspeople cheered for him. Some of the villagers gathered close and inquired the identity of this powerful traveller. The tortoise smiled and pulled his hat down. He plucked a small leaf wrapping from his sash and gave it to one of the smaller children in the crowd.
"That is for the man who protects this place" he said with a toothless grin, "make sure to tell him his old mentor Oogway wishes him well."
With that the old tortoise strolled out of town, making sure to admire the beautiful landscape around him as he went, for it was much prettier now that the rain had stopped.