Epilogue

The red panda ran and jumped quickly upwards.

The Misty Mountains of Manchu was not a place fit for the living. Their cliffs were steep and sharp, the weather around them unpredictable, and with winds that blew so hard and so cold that it would take peoples breath away, and fill their lungs with heavy ice.

Many travelers from afar had bet lifes on besting it, only to cash in grimly for their arrogance, for knowing a safe way across it was only half of what was required to wander assured through this place. The rest was up to luck, which was usually all out during this time of the year. Summed up, any higher and unfriendlier wonder of Chinese nature, was hard to think of.

Yet here was this elderly red panda, swiftly jumping up the mountainwall at rapid speed!

It was apparent what an advantage it was for this old animal to have skills in kung fu, in order to proffesionably mountainclaim. That and his very small stature (though not as small as some, as you may figure out later).

Regular guides and travellers would have to walk and clime for days, all in order to reach the heights that this tiny creature had reached in approximally two hours after breakfast. Eventually he had reached cliff high above him. His tiny feet sank into the snow on impact as he made it up there. The sun had gone up by then, lighting up the whirling desert highlands around him to an almost blinding white.

His surroundings were full of it by the way. But not in the matter of which were natural. It was all showed in waves his way, going over the kant in a round and broken off bow. A large avalanche had gone this way. The master turned and set a hand over his eyes, so that his gaze could try and make something out in the north.

Upon his arrival in the village below, the red panda had immediatly gone looking for a tavern. It was by then getting dark, so not much people were out. The exceptions were a few rabbitchildren, playfully making a fat snowman while dressed in heavy brown woolcoats.

As he passed them their heads turned, and he could feel their curious eyes in his neck. Red pandas were obviously not common in these parts. He was certain that if they were, the villagers would have known of his race's keen hearing, and not say "My what big ears that racoon have" behind his back.

He walked with a steady pace and took a good look around while he passed through.

There was a large amount of cabins, most of them turned grey by the many years of weather frisky. Yellow lights from lit lanterns peeked trough from within them like a hidden fire in the night.

The streets were wet and muddy, the ground dusted with a layer of powdersnow. And all around the surroundings there was the spread of large white chunks of ice broken.

His journey had been very long. Days hade gone by, and passing every few miles he had sensed the temperature dropping. He had gone from the regular features of midsummer that were glissening back at his home to the harschness of heavy winter in hunt for what he was after.

Who he was after.

So he figured that some rest and a cup of hot tea wouldn't hurt. He also knew that if there was any place to find information, it would be in a restingplace, where all travellers probably stayed.

And then he found it; small, rundown, and practically in the center of the village, a tavern.

It was not luxuruous.

As he made his way in, a family of cockroaches crawled passed him. One of them, brown, shiny and big as a thumb, stopped in his tracks and looked up. It wiggled it's horny antennas in a disgusting manner towards him.

"Don't eat de food." It said in a low monotone accent. "It'll kill ya."

The red panda's eyebrows raised.

"What about the tea?"

"I dunno, but why risk it?" Then it crawled away through the door with it's six hariy limbs, following catching up with it's apparent relatives.

Yes, it definally was not luxurous. But did not matter right now, did it?

The floor creaked loudly as he walked in and awoke the counterman; a boar who looked at him in illslept halfdrunkedness and disbelief.

"One room for the night. And a jar of hot tea." The boar looked at him with tiredness and boredom.

"If you want something to drink my short friend." He said, "you ask the antilope in the bar. She can poor you some. What kinda room do you want?"

"The simpelest. I will depart in the morning."

"Heading somewhere?"

"Yes. How much?"

"Two pieces for one night." This was more than overcharged. But beggars can't be choosers the red panda figured, and he'd rather not be the one to start any unnecessary fights. He took a few shiny pieces out of his pouch and put them in the left hooflike hand of the boar.

The boar weighted the pieces in his deformed grip, then took them to the corner of his mouth and chewed on them with pleasant judgement.

"To leave in such hurry." He then said out in the blue. "Where could you be going stranger?"

The red panda closed the pouch and looked at him, his eyes hard to figure out.

"We will see about that."

He went over the bar who just a few meters away from the counter. In it was a few drunkyard goats in heavy discussion (or rather argument) about the mountains, some nervous looking travellers in expensive looking, yellow robes, a middleaged lynxlady with a menacing appearence, a drunk rat who apparently slept at the barcounter and an owl who suspiciously spun it's head around in all directions while carefully eating out a bowl filled with sunflowerseeds.

Behind the bar there was as said an antilope, a rather young female one who at the moment was trying to wake the rat by poking him with a whinebottle.

The red panda walked and over and stood there. The antilope didn't seem to notice him and continued the poking. He cleared his troath loudly and spoke.

"Uh... Good evening?"

"Nah, as usual." The antilope said. She suddently ceased the poking and started shaking the bottle back and forth, then turned it towards him in an offering gesture. "Whine?"

"No thank you. Tea."

"Okay. I'll put the cattle on." She put the bottle on the counter and went away for a few moments. Small, surpling mumbles could be heard from the rat while it's tail twitched every now and then.

When the antilope finally returned with the teapot it gave away a high snort, who sounded like sob.

"Poor guy is down on his luck." The antilope said as she poured the tea into a small cup and passed it over to the red panda. "Wife and nine small kids... all gone. They just left to live with the grandparents in the next village. Taking most of the cheese with them I suspect."

"I see." He took a gulp from the steaming hot tea. He grimaced; the taste was outwatered and terribly bitter.

"Sorry, we've been low on tea for some time. My boss only lets me use half as much of the spices than usual because of it."

"I am sorry to hear that."

"Well I am not the only one. Everyone in the village is cutting down on at least something."

"Why is that?"

"Ah, you wouldn't care." Oh, but he did. He got the feeling that she was reluctant to say more, but since the rat still slept and there was nobody else nearby to talk to, she continued.

"Okay, it was an avalanche. Big one too. The biggest one since the Great Spill, mother of all avalanches 20 years ago. This one blocked the pass completely, so now no supplies can come through until the path is cleared. But that's only half of it." She shook her head, making her horns go from side to side in an annoyed fashion. "Theres more than a few loonies running about, blaming blooddrinking and babyrobbing ghosts for the whole thing, scaring everyone... You don't have to drink the rest you know." She had observed the tormented features of the red panda as he had taken another sip of distaste.

"It's the best I've had for days."

That was actually true. It was the only other liquid other than the cold water that he had consumed in a long time (and the first hot thing for even longer).

"How much do I owe you?"

"I dunno, the boss always increase the price. But judging by your face I'd said you're the one who should be paid for drinking it. It is pretty old too. I've been working here for six years, but you're the first one I'ved served it too since I bought it."

The elderly red panda, who had taken the cup up for another zip, let the cup drop in distaste at the revelation. Instead he took a casual look around the bar. In it was a group of drunk goats arguing about the mountains, travellers in expensive looking robes, a middleaged lynxlady with a menacing appearence, a drunk rat who slept at the barcounter and an owl who suspiciously spun it's head around while eating out of a bowl filled with sunflowerseeds. None of them seemed to be smart or seasoned enough for the sake of sharing information, and he was growing impatient.

"How did the avalanche start?" He blurted out.

"Well that's a sudden change of subject." The antilope said while cleaning a few glasses with a spotted blancet. "I didn't even catch your name stranger."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Well the readers already know who you are but, uh, what they want is some kind of acknowledgement. That's pretty much the whole reason I want to know." The red panda gave her a look.

"...Readers? Are you writing something?"

"Autobiography. It's what keeps me going." She placed the glass behind counter, to not much cleaner improvement though. Now the greasy fingerprints were just smudged out to fat blurry streaks.

"Uh ... that's interesting. And it's Shifu by the way. Just Shifu."

"I see. Well... concerning the avalanche, nobody really knows what caused it. Usually we get smaller ones caused from some sound lower down the mountain. This one started way higher. Not even those old mountaineers over there know what started it." She gestured towards the drunken heep of mountaingoats, who now had stopped arguing and begun singing boistourysly loud.

"I reckon it could have been caused by some disturbance high up then."

"Probably. Question is still what. Nobody goes there unless they have to. Those mountains are way too dangerous for casual travelling... Sir?"

The old red panda had tensed up. It was as if something grim and illboding had pulled him away from the sleazy bar and put him in the line of an oncoming and dangerous location.

"Shifu?" The antilope asked, alarmed by his sudden tenseness.

"I guess it would demand someone extraordinary to accomplish that."

"Huh? Accomplish what?" The red panda rose to his feet in a manner so quick, that the sleeping rat beside him woke up and fell backwards in sleepy halfdrunkedness.

"I must leave."

"What? But bad weather is coming! It's not gonna be safe to be out!"

"I can't afford to waste time." The old red panda said. "Not now when I am so close." He pulled out a pouch and from it took up sparkling gold coin that he placed on the counter. "This should be enought for the tea. Keep the change." The antilope picked up the coin. It was autenthic, Chinese gold.

"But...! This is way too-" Though when she looked up, the traveller was gone. As if evaperated. The awakened rat turned his head towards the antilope, his eyes reddened by insomnia and old intoxication.

"Whazz was all that about?" He asked drowsily. He received no answer, for the antilope had not heard him. She had gone into deep and sudden thought, followed by an epiphany. There in her hand she held a golden coin, which in value probably summed up a months payment. When she regained her sense of reality again, the wretched rat had gone back to sleep. Before anyone saw it she hid the coin in an innerpocket. There she would have till she got home and started with her biography again. Ah what joy, this would make an excellent new section for her to write! And now she had some funding to really get into it as well.

Shifu hardened his gaze into the stormy whiteness. The roaring snow raged through the vast space that was between the dark, shadowy figures that was the other mountains.

And then he saw it. Joining together in a seemingly hungry grasp, the unmistakeble shape of a scorpion claw reached towards the sky. The infamous "Unpassable Pass of the Winterscorpion" spoke of his right arrival.

Then he turned and ran over the plain, leaving small tracks after himself. As he ran, he paused at certain hills that was in the snow. He used his staff to poke in them repeatedly. This gave off a crunchy sound of snow crumbling, or small knocks as it hit solid rock or ice. This he continued to do repeatedly for quite a while, carefully lissening to the sounds with his large ears. It was not until after crossing pretty much the whole plain and poking systematically in all it's bulches, that he found what he was looking for. It was the largest hill of them yet, and it was located just near the foot of the slope that led straight up to the far above mountaintop. He knocked again, just to make sure. Yes, the sound was right. It was hollow.

Shifu put down the staff, then he took a stance and clenched his fists. The impact of his punch made the wished for effect. Snow began to crumble and fall down, revealing what had been so carefully hidden.

He had found the deserted temple.

He jumped up on top of it, and looked around for a possible entry. Fortunately enough, his delivered blow revealed that a portion of the roof had fallen in. He leaped towards it, and landed on the solid floor within.

It was a small qudranted room. The entrance that had once led into this room had a large portion of snow that had flowed in at some point (most likely cause of an avalanche, though if it was the recent one or not he couldn't determine). In the room was also a Buddah statue, which seemed to be unharmed except that it tilted towards the right. Shifu gave it a respectfull bow and continued to look around. Then he found something interesting. On the very point on which he had landed there was a collection of wood and paper halfwayburned. There had apparently been a campfire set up there. It had been located under the hole, most likely to let the smoke out.

This however, was not what had caught Shifus attention. Next to the old fireplace he saw a small pouch. It was white and frosty, as if it had been there for a long time. He tried to pick it up with difficulty, for it had locked itself on the floor with ice. It eventually went loose and he opened it to inspect its contents.

In it was a pair of old roots and waterbottle made of bamboo, heavy with the frozen water. He recognized the fabric of the pouch, and the bamboobottle was too. They were both made by the distinctive, raw material that the Valley of Peace had.

"Tai Lung." The red panda thought. He put the pouch within his own pouch and continued to look around.

It was with difficulty that he crossed the corridors of the temple. Alot of it had been demolished, by time and harsch weather most likely. It had probably once been a monastary for monks. There were quite alot of old scrolls lying around, all with ancient chinese written in it that he could barely decipher.

However, as she got further into the temple, more anomalies seemed to make themselves clear.

These were made up of broken down walls and splinter. Wooden splinter of had a way of changing color after the passing of time, going from bright, treelike interior to a darker, yellowish tone. These splinters were still bright! Shifu twitched his ears in a suspecting manner. He went further in, and as he saw three parallel, deep marks on the surface of the stonefloor, he confirmed his suspicions; there had been a battle here, on the very place where he stood.

Cold swet ran down the red pandas neck. Had hunted his former student for a long time in fear... Fear of not catching him in time.

Then he stepped on something sharp. He yipped in pain and looked down.

He had cut himself on something very sharp and cold, something that made his him feel even colder. It was a small throwingstar, but that was not what made him feel colder than he had felt ever since he first gotten up on the mountain. Next to the star there was a scroll, bloodred and exposed on its back. Black markings on the back took the shape of a sinister eye, with a slit for a pupil.

The blood from his foot got absorbed by the snow, and he clenched his teeth in agony.

His fears had come true. His former student, the great Tai Lung, had been taken.

Taken by the enemy.