"I'm sorry, brother, I thought you said you were ready!" I instantly reminded him. Mockery? No... Well, I guess so. I had to show the panda no mercy. It wasn't like any of the others accepted him, and it was my duty as a student to follow my master. Master Shifu, the greatest of all Kung Fu teachers, was enjoying making this poor excuse for a mammal feel the pain. It disgusted me.
Sure enough, I couldn't say a word. Anything against your master was taken very sternly; reason to get thrown out even.
I was so worried for the guy. It wasn't his fault that Oogway saw something in him. Maybe he was destined to be great, though I seriously doubt it's to be a warrior.
I leaned over him, keeping my balance through coiling my tail behind me. It wasn't as hard as some people think, moving about without any arms, wings, or even fins. Sure, it makes some things more difficult, but not impossible. You just had to be determined.
Cautiously I approached the dazed panda, who had precariously landed on his head. Oh gods I hope I hadn't knocked him out. But, peering closer, his eyes were wide and shining, as if he were a toddler glaring down a toy isle. Energy seemed to boil out of him.
"...That was AWESOME! Let's go again!"
What? Had I just heard him correctly? I gazed closer to him, awestruck. Had I actually heard right? Sure enough, he was conscious. He even did the hand part of the bow, while on his head! Hmm, he was quite obviously determined.
The word struck again. Determined.
A minute or so earlier, Crane had pulled him out of a failed split. Of course, I've never tried a split before. But I was around when Tigress, Mantis, Crane, and Monkey each worked on their own. None of them got very far on it for at least a week. Of course, it wasn't very far into our training that we worked with stretching and forms. It's the base of many types of fighting, being able to command your body effortlessly which direction to go. Some, like me, naturally don't have to worry about all of that. Realizing just the amount of effort this panda was giving, I questioned my own thoughts again.
He wasn't just a big fat panda. Sure, I joked with the others, about the only thing he cared about was when his next meal was coming. But how could I so stubbornly shoot this guy down? Didn't I learn anything about giving everyone a chance? Isn't that the reason we fight evil?
I sighed to myself, shuffling away as Monkey pulled out his fighting staff and another for the panda. Something inside of me didn't rest well. Master Shifu wanted to see this poor guy suffer, for a choice that wasn't even his. Sure, he could quit. But what would that say to the village about him? Who would want to eat at a failure's noodle shop?
THUD!
The panda's body hit the dirt, his pole smacking him once more on its way down. After a moment, he popped back up and bowed. Unsatisfied, Master Shifu again snapped his fingers, and told Crane that he was next.
Do you know how humiliating it is to have to pick someone up, just to get them to stand on the edge of the Jade Tortoise? Because of his weight, the instrument continually fell over as he tried to get up onto its edge. Crane stood on his edge, watching the array of failure flutter across from the panda. Monkey held the Tortoise still while Tigress shoveled him onto the equipment. It took her a little coaxing to realize that she was the only one able to do it. I couldn't for quite obvious reasons, no arms. Master Shifu, too, was short. Mantis, didn't even get a part in the reasoning.
All Crane had to do was sit and wait for the panda to move. Gravity performed its wonder, and pulled the oaf down, into the Tortoise, where he bounced around for a bit, until Monkey grabbed hold of it again.
I was again disturbed when Master decided that the panda hadn't felt enough pain, and instead had Mantis 'warm up' on him. By now, I wasn't seeing my master as a very caring person, even though this 'father figure' had been THE example for an uncountable amount of years. All he seemed to want right now was watch the panda feel pain.
Was it revenge Shifu sought? Did he feel offended when this creature fell to the ground in a ball of fire, and claimed the Dragon Warrior as his title?
Even as Mantis pulled the monochrome mammal down to the ground, the panda did not falter. Never once did he complain, he merely took it all. Invited it even, as he again signaled to Master Shifu that he could continue.
Furious, Master Shifu snapped. He declared he would be the next to fight the panda. I glanced at Crane, who shared an equally worried look. The panda's eye shimmered, and Master Shifu began the assault.
I hid my eyes. As children, we were in practically the same situation, naught but determined. However, Master Shifu never did anything like this to us. In all honestly, if he had, I wouldn't be here. I doubt any of us would have continued if he had treated us the way he treated this panda.
At last, Master Shifu delivered his final blow, punting the panda out of the palace.
The Five of us walked out the door he had just been kicked through.
"If he's smart, he won't come back up those steps," Tigress murmered.
"But, he will," Monkey confirmed the panda's unwavering perseverance.
"He's not gonna quit, is he?" I shared my thoughts with all but Tigress, who had promptly left.
"He's not gonna quit bouncing, I'll tell you that." I hissed at Mantis, who had presented this disrespectful comment.
"You know what, Mantis?" I snapped at him. I got Crane and Monkey's attention as well, surprised at my outburst. "You're going to give him acupuncture later with me. I think he's gotten enough pain from Shifu; he deserves a little pain relief, especially if he comes back up all those stairs on his own."
- - - - - - - - - - -
"Ow!" the panda, Po as we later found out, cried. "I thought you said acupuncture would make me feel better!?!" He winced as Mantis shoved another pin in.
"Trust me, it will," the insect confirmed, "it's just not easy finding the right nerve points under all this...-"
"Fat?" Po asked sensitivly.
"Fur! I was gonna say fur!"
"Sure you were."
The bug continued, "Who am I to judge a warrior based on his size. I mean, look at me." The panda glanced over the wrong shoulder. "I'm over here," Mantis explained before pinning the panda again, causing Po to shout again.
"Maybe you should take a look at this, again?" I asked, trying to make sure Po was feeling as little pain as possible. I held up the chart with my tail, and Mantis peered around Po's head to look at it.
"Oh, okay!" he said, either seeing something new, or just trying to make me feel better. He proceeded to puncture the panda twice more, before retrieving a few more needles.
Po sighed, obviously troubled by something. Part of me knew what he was getting to.
"I know Master Shifu's tryin' to inspire me and all, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trying to get rid of me!" He tried to play it off as a joke, laughing to himself. Mantis and I merely stared, surprised that he had realized this much sooner than we had anticipated. I smiled, trying to hide my worry.
"I know he can seem kinda heartless," Mantis reminded the panda, before stabbing him with another needle. "But you know he wasn't always like that."
"According to legend, there was once a time when Master Shifu actually used to smile!" I returned, pushing the grim subject of Shifu's abuse off.
"No!" exclaimed Po.
"But that was before..." I trailed off, touching the panda's extreme curiosity. He leaned closer to me, and egged me to go on.
"Before what?" he pushed.
CREAK! The door behind me opened, revealing Tigress. "Before Tai Lung."
Dang it! I thought to myself. I wanted to tell him the secret! She always has to steal the spotlight, doesn't she?
- - - -- - - - -
(Author's notes) The beginning of my ViPo! AHA! This fic was actually asked for at a forum, 'cause no one had seen a ViperXPo yet. Unfortunately (well, not unfortunate, but still), I was beaten to it by the writer now known as BuddhaBooty (Merk). Merk writes better than me anyway... No grudge or anything ^^ I loved it. Oh well. Now it's just being done 'cause the muse is still there. I shall warn you that updates will be slow, and this isn't planned to go through very many chapters, so...