Well, after finishing it on Deviantart, I've taken some time to warm up to the idea of posting this story. For all those who are new to this story, let me tell you that this is MAJOR CROSSOVER! Different cartoons into one!

May I suggest going to Deviantart and see my work and how my cartoon universe?

First show featured in this chapter: Skunk Fu!

Please read and review!
_

Lightning flashes and rain poured harder as an elderly panda pushed his way through the thick rapid wind as he held on tightly to a bamboo umbrella that was unsuccessfully shielding him. His fur was wet and the coldness that hit his face stung like a thousand needles. But being the wise and strong master he was, he had to overcome such elements.

He chose a bad night to go out for fresh plums.

Suddenly, he heard a soft but wailing voice of some kind in the distance.

The panda's ears perked up, wondering who on Earth besides him could be out in one of the coldest, rainiest nights of the year? He wiped his face, unsuccessfully ridding the cold, stinging raindrops that soaked his fur and made his body shiver. Following his instincts in case there was danger, the elderly panda traveled towards the noise in deep concern that someone was either lost or gravely hurt. He followed the noise for a few moments, never giving up the need that unfortunate person. He turned around a corner of a nearby boulder that belonged to the rocky mountains beside it.

Behind it, he found a bundle of cloth laying on the cold, wet ground and heard crying coming from it.

Panda, on his best guard, slowly came towards the bundle, hopping it wasn't some trap placed by his enemies. As soon as he got near to it, his eyes widened as soon as he took a careful look.

It was a baby. A baby squirrel.

She was sobbing and wailing as rain continued to pour on her what Panda noticed to be tiny curls of blonde hair, her innocent cries loud despite the booming crashes of thunder. She seemed to be struggling through the bundle that failed to warm her through this terrible weather.

Panda quickly reached down and picked her up, holding her under his umbrella. He gazed into large, nervous brown eyes that had shed tears mixed with the rain.

Panda sighed, grumbling under his breath. "The stork must have dropped you during the thunderstorm..." He tucked her under his chin as he held the umbrella above them.

And the baby seemed to calm down. She did whimper a bit, but it was because of the horrid cold and the frightening thunder that still boomed throughout the night. The elderly panda did as best as he could to shield her, hoping the gods in the heavens would help him do so. Despite the situation, the panda smiled down at the baby squirrel as he continued on.

"But do not worry, young one..." He told her soothingly. "Master Panda has saved you."

Entering a nearby cave that was well-lit by a fire, Panda was greeted by an elderly duck and turtle.

"Thank goodness you're alright," the elderly duck breathed, "you should know better than to go out at this type of weather, Panda!" She shook a fingerly feather at him, giving him a hard look.

Panda chuckled as he placed down his umbrella and held the baby in both his arms as he approached his friends, rinsing water from his soaked fur..

"Ah, Mrs. Duck," he chuckled, "a little rain cannot stop a panda from getting to his plums."

Then the baby began to cry.

"What in blue blazes?" The elderly turtle exclaimed. He peered at the bundle in Master Panda's arms, and his old eyes widened. "Panda, where'd that baby come from?"

Panda sighed as he comforted the baby until she calmed down. "I found her on my way over here," the Panda said quietly as he gently handed her to Mrs. Duck, "the stork dropped her."

"Oh, my," Mrs. Duck gasped as she looked down at the baby with great concern, "on the coldest of nights? She might be sick!" She gently rocked the baby squirrel back and forth, comforting her and using her feathers in hopes of warming her cold fur.

"Thank goodness Baboon or any of his ninja monkeys didn't get to the kid first," the elderly turtle sighed, "who knows what could've happened...Dragon would show no mercy even to the youngest." He growled as he tightened the grip on his walking stick. "I swear, if that beast came out of his pit, I'd-"

"Peace, Master Turtle," Panda told gently him, "it was his decision to go over to the dark side. There is nothing we can do." His voice grew faint as soon as he said those words. He sighed deeply as he closed his eyes for a few moments, remembering full well of the friend he had lost to the dark side...

"Oh, the poor dear," Mrs. Duck crooned as she unwrapped the baby squirrel from her wet bundle of rags and gently placed her on a feather-stuffed pillow a good distance away from the fire but close enough to keep her warm. She turned to Panda. "Shall I tell the others?"

Panda regarded the her for a few moments, then shook his head. "No, no one shall know of her but us three," he said, his voice growing serious., "or else news will spread out upon the mountain and reach dragon..." He sighed. "Fox, Rabbit, and all the other children are in enough danger as is; I don't want to risk another one."

"So you're just going to confine her from the Valley?" Turtle exclaimed, unable to believe what Master Panda was thinking.

"No," the panda responded wisely, "she will have her freedom...but she must not ever be spotted by anyone but us three." He reached down and stroked the slumbering baby squirrel's blonde hair. "Many of us who had been brought here and noticed by Dragon are in great danger. I cannot risk another one..."

"But to hide her..." Mrs. Duck's voice trailed off, shaking her head.

"How interesting..." Turtle said as he peered down at the Squirrel. "She has hair. Blonde hair."

The little female squirrel looked up at the elderly turtle with her huge brown eyes, her tiny ears twitching a bit as she struggled in her warmth, desiring to crawl around and explore the cave she had been brought to. Tiny strands of her blonde hair fell a bit over one eye and she cooed in delight as she reached a tiny hand to grasp some of it playfully.

"We can't all have what this unique girl has," Panda chuckled as he watched the baby entertain herself. "Even young Fox couldn't sport such freely hair."

"Another little girl in the Valley..." Mrs. Duck sighed as she poured herself some herbal tea from a cauldron. She took a long sip before sighing in content. She smiled down at the precious little girl she thought was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. "I shall train her in the art of fan fan and many other things. She will certainly become a proper lady, I know it." She reached a wing down on the young squirrel's head and smoothed her blonde hair. "And I will certainly teach her how to make herself even more lovely."

"And I shall be teaching her about the art of intelligence," Turtle chuckled as he held his cane proudly. "Rabbit's so stubborn to learn from me...hopefully, this little lady will pay respect to her elder's lab and not blow it up in his face." He winced as he recalled a certain memory involving Rabbit having fun with his chemistry set.

"Then it is settled," Panda said. He smiled down at the baby squirrel, who looked up at him with a smile that melted his heart. "Welcome to the Valley, young Squirrel."

No other name was sure to be given to their new arrival, so the name Squirrel had stuck with the child, considering she was, of course, a squirrel. And a very lovely one, as Mrs. Duck had told Panda and Turtle countless times.
_

For many years since that night Panda had found and took her under his wing, Squirrel had been trained under the watchful eye of her three masters. They taught her everything she needed to know, from certain fighting techniques to the art of pacifism and inner peace. Her blonde hair was growing into such a healthy gold as well as her tanned brown fur glistened and smoothed as time went on, and her she herself was growing inch by inch.

But that was not the only thing that was growing on young Squirrel as soon as she reached age eight...

"Mrs. Duck?" Called the innocent voice of Squirrel as she approached a nearby tree where Mrs. Duck was cooking a nice stew in a big cauldron. "Am I going to learn how to bake dumplings now?" She hopped up and down in anticipation, her mouth watering at the smell of the delicious stew Mrs. Duck was cooking.

Mrs. Duck chuckled as she concentrated on her stew. "You certainly will," she said. "You're very eager, Squirrel. You certainly will be-" As soon as she looked at Squirrel, she dropped her spoon, beak unhinged and eyes wide. "Goodness gracious!"

"What?" Squirrel asked in confusion.

"Oh, um..." Mrs. Duck stuttered. "You have...um...oh dear." She quickly grabbed a nearby rag hanging from a tree branch. "Put this around you body!" She urged as she handed it to Squirrel.

Squirrel raised an eyebrow at the elderly duck, but she did as she was told and the rag was nicely wrapped around from her neck to her legs.

"Is something wrong?" Squirrel asked as she smoothed her 'clothing'.

"Oh, nothing, dear!" Mrs. Duck assured her quickly. "Just, um...never take off the clothing, alright?" She gave the young girl a nervous smile.

Squirrel nodded, though confused she still was.

"Good girl," Mrs. Duck sighed, "now why don't you run along and practice? I'll have a nice sweet potato pie waiting for you when you finish."

Squirrel's eyes widened and the largest of smiles formed on her lips as soon as the elderly duck mentioned pie. "Thanks, Mrs. Duck!" She exclaimed as she scurried off, her lush tail flying around as much as her growing blonde hair.

As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Duck drew in another sigh of relief, wiping her forehead.

She had realized now that Squirrel had sported something very revealing neither Mrs. Duck nor any other female animal had never had. Something totally unexpected.

Squirrel had gone into womanhood.
_

Master Turtle and Squirrel stood before a large pile of wood he had hauled from the Valley earlier today. Panda and Mrs. Duck were already teaching her in the art of fighting as well as being a proper lady, but Turtle was teaching her how to use her intelligence.

"See here, Squirrel," the elderly turtle chuckled as he pointed a cane at the pile of wood. "I'm going to teach you how to build transportation. Now see...back in the Valley, we sometimes ride in carts to carry our things. Which reminds me..." He slipped an arm inside his shell and took out what appeared to be a candle. "Hold this, will you? Forgot to put it away from last night."

Squirrel gladly took the candle. She seemed unable to tear her eyes away from it...

"Now I'm going to teach you how to build a cart," Turtle went on and he grabbed some tools on the floor and grabbed a nearby piece of wood. "It doesn't have to perfect, but it needs to be mobile."

"Mobile..." Squirrel repeated, the word rolling off her tongue. She glanced over as Master Turtle began sweating as he placed a piece of wood face up and began to hammer it.

"It can take a couple of hours..." He went on as he nailed the wood with another piece of wood. "But maybe it can-"

"Wait!" Squirrel began.

Turtle looked over to her. "Yes?"

"I don't think that's how it should be..." She said quietly as she walked over to him and took the hammer from his hand. "First off...I think maybe if we start by sanding down the edges to avoid splinters..." She grabbed a nearby chisel and a rock. She cut a bit of the wood off and began scraping at it with the rock. "Considering I'm using a rock, it won't be as splinter-free..."

Turtle watched as she worked, amazed by how much she was learning...and he wasn't even teaching her at the moment!

"And wheels..." Squirrel began as she took another piece of wood. "We cut them at a circular shape...then we put a tiny whole at..." She pondered the right word. "At the exact radius."

"Radius?" Turtle wondered. "Was that in your studies?"

But he didn't have time to think as Squirrel began banging away at the wood with the hammer, gently breaking off piece by piece. Laying before them was a neatly rounded circular object with a whole in the exact middle.

"Got anything to hold this into the crate?" Squirrel asked him as she observed her work. "Like metal?"

"Metal?" Turtle repeated. "No, sorry...we basically just use wood." He handed her a tiny wood stick that could fit through the hole of her wheel into a tight fit.

Squirrel studied it for a for a few moments. "You know...if this was metal, I could somehow stick it right through the wood and that way I can attach it to our cart and it won't just suddenly slip off when were going..." She smiled as she remembered the word. "Mobile."

"Wow..." Turtle observed. "I...I guess I'm teaching you well, kid."
_

Mrs. Duck smiled as she watched the young squirrel nibble on one of the dumplings she had made earlier. "Now we learn how to make miso soup..." She began.

Squirrel swallowed before looking at Mrs. Duck. "It involves adding greens, right?"

"Yes, of course."

Squirrel pondered a bit. "You know, what would it be if maybe...maybe I added those greens to this broth?" She began as she reached over to a nearby pot and took the lid off and showed Mrs. Duck the steaming broth that was saved for warming the dumplings. "And maybe we could chop some chewy stuff up and add it in here?"

Mrs. Duck raised an eyebrow at her. "And what kind of soup would that be?"

Squirrel pondered again. "I guess we can call it chicken noodle soup."

Mrs. Duck's eyes widened at the name. "An old friend of mine was a chicken!"

Squirrel gasped, realizing what she had just said. "I'm sorry! I just suddenly had this craving for something a little meaty and...!"

"It's quite alright," Mrs. Duck assured her. She gazed back at the broth. "Um, maybe we should decided on something else..."

"Well, I keep thinking that maybe we should mix these dumpling skins with some tomatoes..." Squirrel began as she picked up the crate full of tomatoes. "Of course, I think we should mash them first..."

"Oh, my..." Mrs. Duck muttered as she watched Squirrel set to work. She ducked as Squirrel used a hammer and mashed the tomatoes together, creating an interesting mushy, red sauce of some kind.
_

Squirrel hummed to herself as she glided from tree to tree, her flying become better than perfect as her short, blonde hair flapped in the wind. It was when she was able to walk and talk had Squirrel realized she was not just a squirrel but a flying squirrel; Master Turtle had done a thorough check on her and realized that her arms held a special yet tiny body part that could help lift her into the air whenever she needed to. Panda had told she had gained such a wonderful gift in flying; he had told her she had to be the very first animal he knew that could fly and didn't have to be of a bird species.

Suddenly, she heard shouting in the distance. Lowering herself to the ground, Squirrel pressed her back against the tree as she slowly turned her head to witness what was going on.

In an open field, a young fox and rabbit were engaging in battle.

"Too slow, Fox!" The rabbit laughed as he hopped in the air to avoid a slide-kick.

"Or so you think, Rabbit!" The animal known as Fox chuckled as she reached her hands toward his feet, grabbed them, then hurled him face-first into the ground.

Rabbit spat some grass out of his mouth and wiped his lips.

"Huh, lucky shot!" He snorted as he got up.

Squirrel thought he looked funny with grass in his mouth, she nearly didn't have time to suppress her giggles as she watched the two argue and battle it out.

Then she heard a cough.

Squirrel's eyes widened, and she slowly and fearfully turned to see Master Panda. His arms were folding and he was giving Squirrel a very serious look.

"Oh, master!" She exclaimed. "I just noticed-"

"Come along, Squirrel," Panda ordered before taking her hand and dragging her away from the scene. "You know what I told you."

Squirrel sighed as she took one last glance at Fox and Rabbit before she obeyed her master's wishes and continued walking with him.
_

Night came upon the Valley and light shone from the cave, and Mrs. Duck had made a meal for Squirrel and the other masters. While Squirrel ate heartily from her bowl of rice and greens, the elders sat at a table and were deep in discussion.

"She isn't like us, Panda," Mrs. Duck told him quietly. "This afternoon, I've witnessed special growth on her...from her bosom to up to her chest." She sighed deeply, and stirred her tea. "First the hair, now this..." She motioned to an oblivious Squirrel. "Even Fox hasn't gone through anything as unusual as this...this...formation."

"You think that's out of the ordinary," Turtle chuckled as he took out some scrolls, "look what the lil' youngster drew during lab." He opened a scroll he had given to Squirrel for creative time during her studies and pointed at the drawing.

"My goodness," Mrs. Duck exclaimed as she and Panda looked awestruck at the drawing. "What on Earth is that thing? Are those...wheels?"

"Squirrel says they can make transport go faster in a hundred miles per hour," Turtle explained. "At least, she hopes. The youngster's been working hard trying to make wood go like the speed of light!"

"She certainly has an advanced mind..." Panda said quietly as he glanced over at Squirrel, was feeding her face with a third bowl of rice.

"That's not all," Turtle said before opening another scroll, "during creative literature, Squirrel wrote down things I've never even heard of before...music with stuff she thinks is called 'class'? Tea with a lot of sugar that it makes you hyper? Moving pictures? How on Earth can you move a picture unless it's for rearranging a room. Boy, this girl's got a big mind! And I'm not just saying that because of her incredible math skills. I mean, she built a cart of some sort in which she called a 'pick-up cart'."

"Her cooking skills were quite surprising," Mrs. Duck added. "She added many new ideas to cooking. Why, she even invented this food where you place sauce on top and place a variety of foods all over, such as sausage and fish!" She smiled as she recalled the memory. "And it was quite delicious."

"She's not like us, Panda," Turtle told him in a serious tone. "She's different. Much different. Not that I'm calling her bad or anything, but..." He took a deeo breath before he regarded his friend of many years. "maybe our world just doesn't seem to fit her view, you know?"

"That is absurd!" Panda exclaimed angrily. He immediately stopped himself when Squirrel turned to see what was going on. When nothing happened, the child went back to eating her jellied desserts. Panda calmed down before regarding his startled friends. "She is a Valley animal."

"Technically, Valley doesn't seem to fit her," Turtle said, still looking at the scrolls Squirrel had wrote on. "She even saif something about big places and these things she calls...places where everything is constructed of metal."

"Metal?" Panda repeated.

"This Valley doesn't seem to fill her needs anymore," Mrs. Duck told him gently. "She's growing up."

"But she is only eight..." Panda said quietly. He looked over to Squirrel, who was drinking from her cup of tea. Then he remembered something he had promised once Squirrel was grown and her training mastered.

He promised that one day she would be ready to take down Dragon.

Dragon was now completely loyal to his dark ways, with no chance of ever returning to the loyal friend Panda once knew. And Dragon vowed to destroy the Valley and everyone who lived in it, making sure evil reigned all life. And Panda vowed that Squirrel would stop him, restore the Valley's peace, following her destiny...

But was it really her destiny? Panda assumed...the stork did drop her and Panda had found her...fate meant to do something because of that...

It was time for bed, and Panda was tucking Squirrel under a silken blanket atop her big feather-stuffed cushion, and then placing a stuffed turtle doll next to her. He given her that doll for her sixth birthday.

"Pansy?" She asked as she yawned. That was the special name she always gave him, considering she sometimes had a hard time pronouncing his name. "How come I can't be seen by anyone but you?" For years, since she could learn to walk and talk, it had never occurred to Squirrel exacly why she had to hide all the time. Panda taking her away from viewing Fox and Rabbit fighting really stirred some questions in her.

Panda sighed as he threw a pail of water unto the fire, the cave now becoming dark and only the stars outside shone light.

"It is better this way, young Squirrel."

And he left her to sleep.
_

Squirrel was now ten. She wore a long red tunic that Mrs. Duck has knitted for her and her hair was held back by a red ribbon. She bit her lip as she climbed up a nearby tree. When she got to the top, she glanced down. There sat Panda, a pebble laying in his hand.

"Patience, Squirrel," Panda reminded her as he gracefully tossed the pebble up and caught it atop his head. "Remember the art of patience One must always wait time to go by before claiming something, such as this pebble."

Squirrel narrowed her eyes in wonder. Then she took out her bo staff, which Panda had given to her when she was eight, and stood her ground as she looked at her master.

"Remember," Panda told her as he sat in a yoga position, "think like a pebble... be patient...you are a pebble."

Squirrel's body began to calm as she took slow breaths, to ease her running mind. "I am a pebble..." Squirrel repeated softly to herself, closing her eyes as she balanced on one leg while she spread her arms.

She stood in that position for a few moments, one arm sticking out holding her staff while the other was up in the air, as if she was mentally communicating with the sky.

She reopened her eyes and smiled at Panda. "May I have the pebble, please?"

"Certainly," Panda said before placing the pebble in her hand.

Her eyes widened as the pebble glistened in her hand. "Whoo-hoo!" Squirrel cheered, jumping up and down. "I did it!"

"You certainly showed a new way of fighting skill," Panda chuckled, "that one must not always be violent to win in the end. You, my student, certainly have a compassionate side."

"I do what I can," Squirrel laughed, tossing the pebble from one hand to the other, feeling very proud to success another training session.
_

That day came that neither of the elders, even Panda, had thought would happen.

Squirrel was leaving the Valley.

The elders had discussed it a few days before, and Panda had to reach the nerve-hitting decision that Squirrel certainly needed to leave and find her true place in life. She was growing up...not just growing up...she was developing, both in body and mind. The elders knew Squirrel had an advanced mind, seeming to know about the world 'out there'. Though she tried not to show it, they knew that Squirrel was growing tired of the simply things given to her. She wanted to do more than train and cook.

She wanted to live.

It was almost like a mission for Squirrel, except it was to find what she had been looking for since her ten years in hiding and being in a small-cultured lifestyle. She was not like the other animals. She was different.

So the choice was made, and Squirrel had packed to depart from her home.

"Remember, dear," Mrs. Duck said, her eyes filled with tears, "be a good lady as you grow older...if men harass you, show them no mercy!"

Squirrel had to smile, tears sliding down her cheek.

"I will, Mrs. Duck," she said before she hugged the elderly duck one last time. She took in the scent of her sweet perfume one last time, its odor always had a calm, peaceful effect on the Squirrel since she was little.

"I made you some dumplings for your journey," Mrs. Duck sniffed as she patted Squirrel's bag on her back. She knew once Squirrel went 'to the other side', there would be other foods far better than what Mrs. Duck had made for Squirrel all those years she had stayed in the Valley.

"Heal the world, missy," Turtle managed to chuckle, keeping a strong face. "Remember everything I taught you about medicine and all that."

"I will be a good doctor," Squirrel promised, though for some reason, she had her fingers crossed behind her back. "Maybe something other than a doctor..." She muttered quietly under her breath.

Turtle chuckled, tears sliding down his cheeks before he brought her into a hug. Of all the students he had taught over the years, Squirrel was his brightest, and most respectful. Though her mind had been too much for him to handle all those years, Turtle knew that it meant that it could really benefit for something toward the world she was heading for.

"There are some gold coins in your bag," he told her, "but I know it'll probably be worthless once you get there..."

"Don't forget," Squirrel giggled, "I think I can do some sort of foreign trading, or exchange, or whatever."

"Right," he chuckled.

Finally, Squirrel turned to Panda.

Out of all of them, Squirrel was the closest to Panda...the person who had found her, rescued her, raised her...he was like her special friend.

A friend she was leaving behind.

The elderly panda sighed as he gazed at the baby that had grown into a grown kid, and was well on her way to becoming a teenager. He made this decision...he made it for her. Because he knew this is what she truly wanted, truly deserved.

He remembered that vow he made that one day she would fight Dragon...some vows were meant to be broken. But he knew Squirrel did have a destiny...

...and that destiny was somewhere out there in 'the other side'.

The elderly panda sighed as he continued gazing at his student of many years. "Please be safe on your journey, Squirrel." His voice cracked a bit.

Squirrel, unable to calm herself, raced into his arms and hugged him. She quietly sobbed to herself. Panda patted his student gently, allowing her to cry on him, her tears soaking his fur. He embraced her back.

Mrs. Duck and Turtle thouht they saw a tear in Panda's eye..

"I hope you find what you're looking for..." Panda said before they broke their hug. Despite the sadness, he gave her a small smile.

Squirrel sniffed, then she took a deep breath. She gave him a strong, determined smile. "I will, master," Squirrel told him, trying to keep up a brave face. "But even though I find special places in the world...remember that my home is still here...in the Valley."

"Wiser words have never been spoken," Panda said, smiling.

And they bowed to each other, which was to be the last time.

Squirrel looked at the three elders...then she gave them a small wave, tears falling down her cheeks. Then she stood her ground...she spread her arms...

And took off into the air, high above the trees.

Taking one glance at the elders, who were now just a tiny speck from where she was flying, Squirrel tearfully turned away and continued on her journey.

Panda watched as his student disappeared among the clouds.

"Good luck, young Squirrel..." He said quietly, the sadness returning in his voice.
_

A few months after Squirrel's departure, chaos ensued.

Ninja monkeys, ordered by Dragon, were practically attacking the Valley almost every day. Dragon was getting more and more restless and malicious as time went on, his desire to destroy all things good increasing, and he had vowed to kill Panda.

But the Valley animals always won in the end, and Panda always found a way to defeat his former friend.

But was it enough?

Panda sighed as he stood atop a cliff, lookng into the horizon of the Valley he loved deeply. He bowed respectfully to his home before he looked up into the sky, his eyes raising toward the light...filled with plea.

"Great heavens..." he said as he raised his hands as if to reach up into the sky. "Dragon has joined the dark side, and the Valley is in deep peril..." He closed his eyes, half meditating, half praying. "I beg of you for a sign to restore balance..."

Suddenly, he felt something fall into his arms.

Panda opened his eyes.

A bundle lay in his hands...and in it was a baby.

The baby looked at him with big, glassy eyes. It had a gleaming red nose, short strands of what was possibly white hair, and its fur was black.

"A baby panda?" Panda exclaimed in surprise as the baby looked at him with big, curious eyes.

Suddenly, the baby let out a cloud of stink that emerged from within its bundle, and the smell hit Panda's nostrils.

"That's no panda?" Panda exclaimed, trying to breath as he leaned back away from the odor.

He looked more closely. It was a skunk!

But then he held the baby close as he looked up into the sky...into the heavens...

"Thank you, heavens..." he said gratefully. "...for your precious gift." He gazed at Skunk with the same expression he had given a certain baby in a bundle all those years ago. "I will ready him for this great responsiblity, and the great task that lies ahead."

Suddenly, the baby skunk began to cry.

"No, little Skunk," Panda told it soothingly. "Don't cry..." He gave it a gentle pat upon its head, something he had done a long time ago.

And the skunk stopped crying as his big eyes sparkled while looking down at the horizon, not realizing what was in store for him.
_

Many years later, Skunk, now a young, little boy, was running beside a grown Rabbit, followed by an ox with a bird on its head. They were suppose to be training, but bided their time with fooling around.

"Nice shot, squirt!" Rabbit laughed as he dodged one of Skunk's kicks.

"I'll get you!" Skunk laughed playfully. He glared over to the ox and bird. "Hey, Bird, Ox, aren't you guys going to help?"

"I'd help," Bird said as he lay on his back atop Ox's head, "but that'd really cut into my sleeping schedule, you know?"

"Um, yeah!" Ox said, nodding his head. "What he said!"

Skunk nearly got hit as he dodged one of Rabbits kicks.

Rabbit laughed...suddenly, he stopped. His ears began to twitch.

"Rabbit?" Skunk asked as he waved a hand in front of his face. "Anybody home?"

Rabbit held a hand to shush him. Then he dropped on his stomach as he placed one of his large ears against the ground.

"I hear something," he said in a quiet, serious tone.

"What is it?" Skunk said, standing in full alert, holding a fighting pose. "Monkeys?"

"No..." Rabbit said slowly, lifting his ears as they began to twitch again. "It's coming from the sky..."

They all looked up, seeing nothing but blue skies and white clouds.

"Hey," Skunk said as he continued looking up, his eyes squinting, "what's that in the sky?"

"I don't see nothing," Bird whined, stifling a yawn.

Ox peered up...

...then suddenly, a flash of light shone in his eyes for a quick second.

"There's..." Ox gasped, trying to regain the memory of what he had just witnessed so quickly. "...there's a girl in the sky!"

All the others looked up him as if he were insane. He was moronic, but never insane...

"Oh, yeah?" Bird laughed, playing along with Ox. "Well, is she a doll or what?"

"She's got to be an angel!" Ox exclaimed, getting a bit excited.

"Sure..." Bird said sarcastically rolling his eyes. "And Skunk will be a kung-fu master someday..."

"Hey!" Skunk retorted. He continued looking up, wondering if Ox was right. "Where'd she go then?"

He ran forward and jumped into the air, hoping to feel for something. He fell back down to th ground.

Suddenly, he saw a twinkle of some kind in the sky...

"She's coming down!" Skunk cried as he saw an object carefully glide down from the sky. "Everyone, be prepared!"

"Oh, I'm always prepared..." Rabbit chuckled proudly.

"Ah, Skunk," Panda said as he emerged from the bushes and walking towards his student, "there you are. We still have to train with the art of the pebble." When he noticed Skunk paid no attention or even whined about training, he grew very suspicious. Then he noticed he and the others were looking up. He followed their gaze...

His eyes widened.

"Wha...what is that?" Skunk asked in fear.

"Do not fear, Skunk..." Panda assured him, despite his own sanity about to burst. The largest of smiles formed on his elderly lips. "...for it is an old student of mine."

"Old student?" Skunk asked in disbelief.

Two delicate feet placed themselves on the ground...

And Skunk and the other students' jaws dropped.

Panda cleared his throat, his eyes never leaving the sight of the newcomer. However, this person was no new to the elderly panda...

"Skunk..." Panda began. "...this is Squirrel."