Life of Po
As my parents once told me, "YOU DON'T OWN SQUAT!"
Hello, my good people. I'll be brief. The reason why I'm rewriting "Life of Po" is because of several things. One, it wasn't the real story that I wanted to tell you guys, but I didn't know how to write it the first time. It was the first draft. Second, the characters were either extremely out of character or altogether wrong. Third, I've grown as a writer and now have the tools and knowledge to make it much better. Fourth, it just needed to be rewritten. The grammar and spelling were just horrible. I can not promise that it will be as good as the first because that would involve multiple proofreading and revision, and simply because the second isn't really as good as the first naturally. But I will try my best to make this a more in-depth story.
That was not brief at all. Sorry :)
The man walked down the paw beaten road, kicking up the dust from his feet. The bamboo shoots covering the road with their leaves and sticks were trampled underneath his feet. The sun showed spotted shadows and spots of light through the leaves as he paced through the tunnel of plants. His traveling stick was about as tall as him, about 5'7". His brown hooded robe covered most of his K-9 features, but there was no use in covering his black tail. He wasn't really walking the road. The road was really just a field for him to use to his own advantage. No. He was listening, waiting impatiently for them to strike. He was beginning to think he accidentally left them behind. Suddenly, four silhouette figures jumped out of the bushes and out from the shoots surrounding him.
"It's about time," He gruffly grumbled as he swung his staff around, getting into a fighting stance. "I was beginning to think you guys chickened out." The five figures lunged at him and-
"PO!" The panda jumped up as all his friends looked at him with slightly annoyed faces. "You were daydreaming again," Monkey sighed.
"Oh, right! Sorry guys. What were we doing?" Po asked, a little embarrassed.
"If you must know, Dragon Warrior," Shifu said in a disapproving tone. "We are talking about the crime spree that has happened lately. It has taken an unprecedented growth. Despite our best efforts, bandit crime has been on the rise, whole villages have been rumored to disappear, and somehow they bandits have grown in strength."
"What do you mean, Master?" Viper asked.
"Somehow," Shifu explained, "The bandits are using... different tactics. It seems as if they're more organized now than ever."
"We'll just take out the head bandit, easy peasy lemon squeezy," Po replied. The whole room looked at him. "Yeah, the 'squeezy' part was really unnecessary."
"Anyways," Shifu sighed. "The emperor is commissioning a new supervisor for warriors and Kung Fu masters because of this. We do not know when that supervisor will be here, so treat everyone with respect."
"So you mean to suck up to him?" Po asked.
"No!" Shifu remarked. Po still looked at his master with a knowing stare. "A little, yes," Shifu finally confessed. "This is very important, Dragon Warrior. Regardless of the fact we don't need permits to practice Kung Fu, this supervisor could still title us as outlaws if we get too... rough with him."
"Oh," Po gulped. "Well, I'm sure that we'll be able to fight back. I mean, we're Kung Fu warriors. There's nothing we can't handle." The whole room looked at him again. "What?"
"There may be things we can handle, but we're not so sure you can," Mantis said truthfully.
"What do you mean?"
"Po, after defeating Kai, we realized how... reckless you can be. There are several times that you nearly lost your life because of it," Shifu said, truly concerned. Po shrugged.
"It's nothing that I haven't been doing," Po muttered to himself.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Po nervously chuckled. "Anyways, what did you have in mind to help me?"
"We need you to train again. You may be a teacher and master now, but you still have some things to learn," Shifu replied. Po sighed.
"Great, more training," Po sighed as Monkey patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Po. It's nothing that you can't handle," Monkey encouraged. Po was about to reply when Zeng rushed into the Hall of Heroes.
"Bandits in the village! They're taking the vendors' money!" the goose exclaimed frantically.
"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Po shouted excitedly as they charged down the mountain. As the team raced down the mountain, in the village, the bandits tried their best to get all the stuff. They were wolf bandits.
"You're getting too much," Said one of the wolf bandits.
"Calm down. Our plan is foolproof," replied the one taking the merchandise.
"Yeah, but you're the fool in this plan," remarked the other bandit.
"I don't know, I think you both have equal opportunity to get the prize," said Tigress from behind them. The bandits whipped their heads around to see the Furious Five, ready to pound them to grapes.
"You're right, sneaking up behind them is much better than announcing our entrance," Po commented.
"GET THEM!" Shouted the lead wolf. Their attack caught them off guard. Rather than have the majority of them attack them, a small number started to fight them while the rest ran. The few that did fight were obviously the better fighters as they managed the keep Viper, Mantis, and Monkey busy. As Viper launched her body at one of the bandits, she cried out to the others,
"We got them. Go after the rest." Tigress, Po, and Crane ran after them. The bandits started to break off. Two of them broke off from the group, and then another two. Finally, there were three bandits with big large bags on their backs and they broke away from each other.
"I got the one on the right," Tigress called out. "Crane, the left. The middle one is yours, Po. Don't lose him!" Po ran after the bandit into the forest. The bandits tried to weave his way through the forest to lose Po, but Po knew this place better than the bandit did. When the bandit thought he lost Po, Po jumped in front of him and tackled him to the ground. Po went for the bandit's bag as he sat on the bandit.
"UGH! GET OFF OF ME!"
"That's what you get when you think you can outsmart-" Po stopped short when he realized that the bag was empty. It was full of stuffing. "What? Where's the money." The panda replayed the whole scene in his head. "The bags are decoys, aren't they?" Po said to the bandit.
"I'll never tell you." Po bounced on the wolf, squishing him further. "AHH Alright, yes. They're decoys. The real money is with the runaways. Plus, we stole some earlier and left before you came."
"That means there are about twenty of you," Po muttered thoughtfully in a serious tone. The bandit was surprised.
"How did you know?"
"I'm the Dragon Warrior, I know these things," Po said as he got off of the bandit. "Get your bag and get out of here," Po said tossing the bag to the bandit. The wolf scrambled away and darted out of Po's sight. He ran through the bamboo shoots and through the forest until he thought for sure that Po was gone.
"Lost him," the bandit said to himself. "I didn't even have to use the smoke bomb." The wolf walked to the hideout, making sure to get there by nightfall to prevent anyone from seeing him. He walked through a nearby village, hoping to lose any suspicious eyes. When nightfall came, he walked to the mountain range where a small hidden boulder covered the entryway of a cave. He pushed the rock aside and slid into the cave. "Guys! I'm back!"
"You weren't caught?" they asked.
"No, the stupid panda let me go," He said. They all looked horrified.
"You idiot," shouted the lead wolf. "You could have led him right to our hideout!"
"Relax," The wolf assured, "I made sure to lose him in the village. We'll be fine."
"I don't like it," Murmured the lead wolf. "Let's rest the things here and go back for more next week when things have cooled down." Unbeknownst to the wolves, Po had managed to tag the wolf all the way to the hideout and heard the conversation through the rocks of the cave. He went back to the Village of Peace when it started to rain.
Meanwhile, the Furious Five were frustrated that they couldn't find the stolen merchandise. "We've been duped!" Mantis shouted.
"We know that already, Mantis," Crane sighed. "I just don't get it. Why would they have bags full of stuffing?"
"It was a decoy. The run-offs had the real money," Tigress explained. "What I don't understand is why I didn't see that coming!" She grumbled, banging her fist on the table in the kitchen, frightening everyone.
"It wasn't your fault, Tigress. None of us were expecting it," Viper soothed, but Tigress just folded her arms in frustration as the lightning flashed outside. Then a thought came to her head.
"Where is Po?" Tigress asked Crane.
"I thought he met up with you," Crane replied.
"I thought it was with you. We have to find him," Tigress urged getting up from the table.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Po reassured, coming into the kitchen.
"Where were you?" Viper asked.
"I... did some research about the bandits. I know where and when they're going to strike again," Po said seriously.
"Really? How?"
"I have my ways," Po smiled at Viper, but Tigress was suspicious.
"What exactly are those ways?" She asked.
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyway," Po replied, truthfully. Spying on people successfully wasn't Po's style. Rather, the Furious Five didn't think he could do it right. "They'll be attacking the village a week from now. We can prepare to get ALL of them there. Crane, how far can you see?"
"Pretty far," Crane replied.
"Okay, I'll explain my plan later on. I need to brush up on some things," Po said, leaving the group more confused than ever. Po walked down the hall of the barracks and went inside his room, carefully closing the door behind him. He looked underneath his bed and took out a locked trunk. On the trunk was a puzzle lock that Po knew, it was a sliding puzzle. Po undid the lock and opened the trunk to reveal a plethora of stuff. He picked up a painting and sighed. "I should know that technique. I should know it well," Po sighed.
To Be Continued...