"But Shifu, remember what happened the last time you sent me to clean the archives?"
"Yes, Panda- that is why this time, I shall be watching over you."
Po cringed- now how would he get to check out all the memorabilia? The two warriors made their way through the hall and into the shadowed, dusty archives, where Shifu promptly lowered himself to the ground and gestured for Po to begin, before settling into the familiar comfort of meditation.
The larger panda rolled his eyes, and picked up the duster that still remained there after his last 'adventure'. He began to dust the numerous robes, helmets, weapons, and other mysterious artifacts, but soon found himself simply looking at them. He even went as far as trying on a few things, rushing from stand to stand with childish pleasure.
Shifu remained in his meditative state, and looked to all the world to be asleep. Po knew better thought, and made sure to make as little noise as possible. At times, when his master did open his eyes and check up on him, the Dragon Warrior simply pretended to be dusting yet another helmet or sword.
After another one of these close calls, Po allowed himself a small, satisfied grin, remembering his first night with the Furious Five. He gave a little shudder, and continued on with his 'work'.
After about an hour, the Dragon Warrior had tried out every artifact in sight- he sighed.
Well, at least they aren't dusty anymore! He thought grudgingly, squeezing the duster in his sweaty palm.
He was about to inform Shifu of this, when something bright in the far corner caught his sharp 'fan-boy' eye. He made towards it, careful not to disturb his master; as he came closer to the mysterious item, Po could tell that it was a goblet of sorts- two of them, in fact. They were a dazzling white, with one ruby red eye painted on each one. Red lines wove in and out of each other at the rims, and when caught by the light they seemed to actually move.
Huh, Po thought, I've never head of these before... what are they, the Goblets of Truth or something? He reached out and picked one up, inspecting the inside. As expected, it was empty. But at the very bottom, something seemed to be... glowing? A faint, red light emanated from the empty goblet, causing Po's eyes to widen.
"Panda, what are you doing?"
His master's strict voice made the monochromatic warrior jump, and he set down the cup, praying that Shifu didn't notice.
"AH! Shifu! I'm a- nothing. Just, ah, doing a little dustin'...like you told me too..." He trailed off awkwardly, giving the two goblets a slight dust-off.
The elderly red panda raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem to acknowledge the action. That or he did, and simply marked it as non-important.
"Good. We can go now, you've done enough- it is almost dinner time, after all."
Now Po was shocked- almost dinner time?!
"Coming!"
The Dragon Warrior sped off in the general direction of the kitchen, leaving Shifu to smile, shake his head, and slowly follow his student.
"Po, next time you cook." Mantis stated, pointedly glaring at Monkey.
"Hey! At least I can cook!" The simian replied indignantly, crossing his long arms.
"Come on guys- it's not that bad..." Po offered, always the peace-keeper. He brought one of the so-called 'dumplings' to his mouth to prove the point, trying his best to make sure the leaking contents didn't end up on the floor. 'Trying' being the operative word. Master Shifu, who was situated at the opposite side of the table, merely rolled his eyes and continued to quietly sip away at his tea, while The Five snickered and gave small, stifled laughs.
Po, trying to cover up his mistake, called out loudly and nervously-
"So, who wants drinks!?" The exclamation came out of nowhere, but it actually seemed to do the trick as Monkey, Mantis, and Shifu answered with an unexpected 'yes'.
"But Panda, aren't you forgetting something?" Master Shifu inserted, raising a brow.
Oh, yeah, that's right... Po thought, thinking back to that very morning, when he and Monkey had challenged each other over who could build the tallest tower out of glasses. He had no idea where that idea had come from, but he remembered that is what had gotten him dusting the archives in the first place. Where was he going to find glasses now? It was a little late to go to the village, and even if that option had been available, Po would have been too lazy to follow it through. Then, he suddenly remembered the two goblets-
That's it, the archives!
"I'll be right back!" He called out over his shoulder as he sped away towards the Hall. He raced into the room he had been in not too long ago, and quickly snatched the two white and red cups.
"But what about Monkey and Mantis?" He thought worriedly out loud, not wanting to disappoint his friends. He rushed back into the hall, and straight away almost tripped over an elderly goose carrying a tray of dirty dishes. An idea hit him, and he grabbed two of the cups from the tray.
"Sorry, Ma'm, but I need these!"
The goose-lady merely scowled at him, carefully picking up the rest of the set.
Po hurried back into the kitchen, out of breath, and presented them with the four drinking vessels as though they were made of solid gold. He must have looked pretty ridiculous, for The Five- Tigress included- burst out laughing, and even Shifu gave a deep, amused chuckle.
Po poured some water into the four cups, and handed them around. He made sure to give the two cups from the archives to Shifu and himself, purely out of respect. Well, respect in Shifu's case, and more like greed in Po's. The three masters thanked him, and soon after a small fight broke out between Monkey and Mantis, as the latter refused to stop joking about the angry simian's cooking.
Thirty minutes, a few towels, and a bruised Monkey and Mantis later, Po, The Five, and Master Shifu made their way slowly to the designated rooms.
Po jumped noisily into his comfortable, welcoming bed, letting out a long, tired sigh, followed by a yawn.
"Goodnight Tigress!" He called- loudly, to make sure she couldn't pretend not to hear him.
"Goodnight, Po."
"Goodnight Viper!"
"Goodnight Po!"
"Goodnight Crane!"
"Goodnight..."
"Goodnight Monkey!"
" 'Night."
"Goodnight Mantis!"
"...Uh-huh..."
Po knew that Shifu slept separately from them, but all the same The Dragon Warrior whispered softly-
"Goodnight, Master Shifu."
Shifu settled into his own warm, inviting bed, relaxing his small body completely. He closed his eyes, curling into a tight ball, with the Grand Master's soft tail resting over his nose. It was the only way he could sleep, and that used to bother him- curling into a ball wasn't what one would expect from a kung-fu master; but he had learnt to dismiss this stereotypical fact. It was just a way of resting, after all. A clap of thunder echoed in the distance, and soon the pitter-patter of rain on the roof lulled him to sleep.
The following morning, Po woke up with a strange feeling in his chest. It felt as though his heart was beating somewhat faster than normal, yet not uncomfortably so. He was also aware of an array of sounds- someone chopping wood, probably in the nearby forest, the sound of a mother goat scolding her kids, two geese standing guard at the gates, bickering over who could slurp noodles the fastest, the flapping of wings as the messenger passed by the palace and made his way down to the Valley... It was too much, and Po went to cover his ears in hope of some quiet- but when his hands connected with his ears, The Dragon Warrior's already racing heart just about ripped through his chest; they were huge! About as huge as Shifu's! His eyes snapped open, and the panda bolted out of bed- only to overbalance and fall. He brought his hands up to his face;
"AHH!"
There were tiny! And brown! And not Po's! He recognized them alright- they belonged to Shifu! Po tried to stand up again, and, with the help of the bed, succeeded. He looked around frantically, and at once realized he was in Master Shifu's quarters. Knowing there was a mirror at the far side of the room, Po half-hopped, half-crawled over to it, and slowly stood up. In the mirror, staring back at him, was an elderly red panda, looking as though he had just seen a ghost. Po looked into the hard, ice-blue eyes, and felt a shiver run down his spine. The Dragon Warrior held up for about nine seconds, and promptly passed out.
Earlier that morning, Shifu had woken up to find that not only had he gained at least 200 pounds, but had also just about lost his hearing. Upon standing up, the Grand Master encountered the same problem as Po would- different center of gravity equals complete loss of balance. He recovered much quicker though, and bolted to the small, cracked mirror at the foot of Po's bed. He had to kneel down to look into it, and what he saw caused his oddly slow-beating heart to skip a few beats. It reflected an... er... large, monochromatic panda, with soft, innocent, bright green eyes and childish features.
Shifu's experienced and trained mind was already working away- this obviously had something to do with Po, but what? He thought back to yesterday- training, archives, dinner... Had he swallowed a shift-stone? No, that was impossible. Deciding he should probably find Po, and figure it out together, Shifu set off towards his room, moving awkwardly and clumsily. He wasn't used to this, erm, size, and found it difficult to walk without falling forward or bumping into something.
Soon, after many crashes that would undoubtably leave bruises, the Grand Master arrived at his quarters- only to see, well, himself, out cold in front of the mirror.
So, Po changed too? He thought, picking up the smaller panda and placing him on the bed. It felt incredibly strange, carrying yourself. Shifu expertly prodded a few nerve points, causing Po to wake up and take a huge gulp of air.
"Panda, wake up!" He exclaimed in Po's voice, and was surprised at how intimidating it sounded with that sharp edge.
Po, with his eyes still firmly shut, let out a sound similar to a purr.
"Oh, you won't believe the dream I just had, Dad..." He murmured, turning onto his side.
Shifu was a startled for a moment- that was something he had never been called... But he shook his- or rather, Po's- head, and used the method he and The Five had perfected over time.
"Po, breakfast is almost over!"
The Dragon Warrior shot upright, eyes wide and heart racing.
"Wha- When?!"
Shifu couldn't help but smile, and gently put his hand on Po's shoulder.
"Po, don't panic. Do you remember this morning?"
Po looked at Shifu, and came face to face with himself. He blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes, and delivered a few light punches to the head for good measure.
"Po, stop it!" Shifu exclaimed, stopping his arm before Po could hit himself again.
"But you- I- this can't be happening!"
"Calm down Panda, breathe..."
Shifu stroked Po's hand, while the latter seemed to still be in shock. Finally, after a good five minutes of staring and breathing, Po got his heart rate under control.
"So... you're me... and I'm... you?" He asked, examining himself.
"Yes, so it appears. Po, I need you to remember- did you touch anythingat the archives? Anything at all?"
Po stared straight ahead, torn between not wanting to disappoint Shifu, and wanting to get out of his body.
"I... er... might have... accidentally brushed a few things..."
Shifu face-palmed, shaking his head.
"Okay," he continued irritably, "What was it?"
"I swear, I don't know! And anyway," Po replied indignantly, "none of the stuff came anywhere near you. Oh! Except..."
"Except what, Panda?"
"Except maybe those cups that we both drank from last night..." Po trailed off towards the end of his sentence, and with his now inferior hearing Shifu couldn't make out what he said.
"What?"
"Those cups that..."
"What!?"
"Those-cups-that-we-both-drank-from-last-night; phew, there, I said it!" It came out in a rush, and Po looked down at the ground shamefully.
Shifu let out a sort of growl, and Po looked up and tried to appear innocent- but Shifu's facial muscles couldn't quite pull it off.
The Grand Master sighed.
"We have to undo this, Panda." Shifu rubbed the ridges of his, or, well, Po's eyes. "We shall have to go back to the archives, and see what information we can dig up about these 'cups'."
"Yeah, but... could we eat first?"
Shifu rolled his eyes.
"Yes, probably."
(A/N) So, how was it? I actually started this story at about 2:00am, so my apologies if it's a little... 'meh'. Should I continue with it? R&R! :D