Scroll One [ Earth ]
Chapter One, The Message
The sleek black raven flew past the clouds above. He didn't slow down to admire the view below, a pattern of rice paddies and lovely red roofed houses. No, there is no time for that. He has traveled too long to slow down and observe such mundane things. His priority now is the scroll tucked safely in his talons, that it is to be delivered with haste. He had been flying non stop for the past ten hours of the night and if he wasn't trying hard to control his breathing he would have let out a sigh of relief at the sight of his destination.
The Valley of Peace laid under a wall of mountains and it lives up to its name as the civilian greeted one another happily even in the earliest of mornings. Shop owners and trade markets already displaying their fresh produces as the their costumers piled in, hoping to get the high quality items before it runs out. Even from his distance above them, he could still smell the delicious food being prepared for breakfast and his stomach reminded him that he had forgotten to eat dinner last night with a growl. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and flapped his wings faster. The sooner he gets this over with, the better.
With a strong push of his wings the raven lifted himself higher to the sky, above the mountains that surround the Valley. He focused on one mountain in particular, one that carries the Jade Palace, home of the legendary Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior. He grimaced at the dizzying amount of stairs it took to reach the Jade Palace and thanked the spirits that he was born a bird.
The raven hovered over the grand building, scanning the area for any signs of his target. As he circled around the Jade Palace, he could finally feel the heaviness of his wings, the soreness of his shoulder starting to become known. Then, he heard a grunt from ahead and he spotted a courtyard from behind the palace. He saw a group of animals doing a series of flips and stretches, he hoped that whomever he is suppose to deliver this scroll to is there and spirits hope that he won't have to take another flight around the forsaken mountain.
When he arrived to the courtyard, he circled above them to announce his presence and then he carefully glided down making the warriors pause their exercises to stare warily at the bird. He took a minute to bring motion back to his legs and then inspected the seven animals that continued to determine whether or not he is a threat.
He bowed to his waist with a flourish of his wings. "Greetings, Defenders of the Valley, I have come with a message for a Master Shifu." He took the scroll from his talons and presented it.
An old red panda stepped forward, he held a wooden staff and an aura of great wisdom. He stood in front of the still bowing raven and took the scroll from his wings, "You may rise. Tell me, what is your name and where do you hail from."
"It is Chuanli, Master, and I hail from the far North to the Shèngrén Summit." Chuanli said, straightening up and adjusting his blue tunic.
"The Shèngrén Summi-" Shifu started to question but was cut off by an overly enthusiastic panda.
"The Shèngrén Summit?! No way! You really come from the Shèngrén Summit, said to have been made during the Great Dong-Lei War when the soldiers battled so hard that their kung fu molded the earth to create the highest mountain in all of China?! Not only that, but it's also home to the Legendary Master Weimin, Warrior of Ten Thousand Needles, Slayer of Injustice, Hero of-" Po had hurried to the bird, who had to lean back because of the panda's closeness, and inched closer to every question and exclamation before he was cut off by an annoyed raven.
"Yes. I do. Now, would you please… step away from me." Chuanli said dully.
"Oh, right, sorry about that, hehe." The Dragon Warrior slowly backed away to the Furious Five, majority of which chuckled at his embarrassed state.
Shifu ignored his student and read through the scroll. They watched with curiosity as he read through the message and suddenly his eyes widened and jaw drop with a gasp.
"What? What is it?" Po and the Furious Five hurried to their master's side to try and get a glimpse of the message.
"I was told to escort you there no sooner than later. We must make haste." Chuanli said before Shifu could speak.
"O-Of course, we will leave in ten minutes. You may wait for us by the gates." Chuanli nodded and flew to the gates.
"Wait, wait, wait," Po said, "Are we going where I think we're going? To the Shèngrén Summit?! Are we going to go meet the Master Weimin, why?- I mean not that I don't want to-"
"Master Weimin has requested to see us before… he passes."
Everyone was silent, trying to process his word, before Po let out a large gasp. "What?!"
"Wait a minute. Sorry if this may offend you, but who exactly is Master Weimin?" Mantis interjected from Monkey's shoulder. It was obvious from the lost looks of the five warriors that they had no idea who this Master Weimin is and Po gaped at them in disbelief.
"You-you don't know? He's only the-"
"Po, be quiet." Shifu ordered, which immediately quieted the panda. He looked at his students with a sombre expression. "We don't have time for stories, we must reach that summit before Master Weimin passes."
"But what about the village, Master? Who will defend it?" Viper asked.
"I will ask for Lee Da Academy's strongest warriors, I'm sure they would not hesitate, after all one of the Master's owe me after he lost against me in a game of mahjong," Shifu muttered. "Now go, we must make haste."
"Yes, Master!" And with that his students hurried to prepare their packs.
While Chuanli waited, he argued to whether or not fetch himself something to eat before his journey but his thoughts were cut off when Master Shifu and the six warriors appeared. It looks like another day without food and by looks of that out of shape panda, it would seem he would have to hold for another day more. Spirits have mercy on him.
"Are we ready to depart?" He asked.
"Yeah! Wooh! Let's go!" Po pumped his fist to the air. "To the Shèngrén Summit!"
"We will take as less stops as possible if we are to reach the summit in a day or two if not more." Shifu said. "Now, lead us to Master Weimin."
With a leap and a strong push of his wings he was airborne and took the lead, the group not far behind. Chuanli sighed as his stomach let out a loud growl and muttered to himself about missing breakfast.
"Heads up." A voice said.
Chuanli looked over his shoulder and barely caught the item thrown at him. He looked down at his talon and found a dumpling, still warm in his talons.
"Heard your stomach growling. I bet you haven't eaten breakfast yet." Crane said, flying next to the smaller bird.
"Thank you, Master Crane." Chuanli gave a slight bow and ate the dumpling, satisfying his stomach if only a little. Maybe he could snag a few snacks from the other warriors too.
Shèngrén- sage
Hehe. Surprise! It's a Kung Fu Panda Fic! I won't be thinking much about my grammatical errors, I'll be focusing more on getting the chapters done, so if any of you are getting ticked off at my mistakes then that sucks because I won't be editing this until I finish it or whenever I have the time.
Hope you enjoy!~
