A/N: Hello there, whoever is reading this. This is my first story and I'm personally pretty proud of it. I hope you'll like it and if you have any feedback or advice, I'd
gladly hear about it. :) Please enjoy this first chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda.
The massive wooden door opened with a heavy creaking noise and a red fox entered. The old Kung Fu Master wore his usual blue robes and had a sly grin was on his face.
The red fox walked through a dark hallway with various items on each side. There were paintings, sculptures, weapons and a lot of other things. But Junjie was only concerned with six.
At the end of the hallway, Junjie came to a circular room. The room was lit up by a few lanterns, which cast a dull light into the room.
In the room were six people, all very different. None of them knew each other, but Junjie knew all of them.
The six stood on a line, facing Junjie and as he entered, the six looked up and over at him.
"You might wonder why you have been gathered here," Junjie spoke and started walking back and forth in front of the six. "I'm here to answer that question."
"I'm sure you're all aware of the tournament that will take place next week," Junjie continued after a short while. "You six may not know each other, but you will have to work as a team – my team."
"I expect great things from you," Junjie continued. "Not from six individuals, but from one gathered unit."
Po punched forwards, but Monkey dodged and countered with a punch, which Po blocked. They stood like that for a second or so, then jumped backwards and as they were about to continue their sparring, Shifu told them to stop.
"Students," Master Shifu called and all six students stopped their training matches.
They all gathered in front of their Master and quickly bowed to him.
"Hey, Master Shifu," Po started. The red panda's ears twitched a little, then the panda continued. "We were just wondering if we could have one of the next days off to go see the-…"
"The Rising Phoenix Tournament?" Master Shifu asked.
"Yes," Po said, surprised. "How'd you know?"
"Because it was what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Are we all going to go see it?" Po was now truly excited… even more than he was before!
"No, you're all going to participate," Master Shifu said, but barely had the last words escaped his mouth when suddenly Po freaked out.
"Yes! I can't believe it! We're really going to participate!" Excitedly the panda unconsciously started shaking Monkey in pure happiness. Monkey had no option to be shaken for a while until the happy panda eventually let go.
"Master, that is such a great honor," Tigress said, ignoring Po's babbling. "But why didn't you inform us earlier?"
"Because Po wouldn't be talking about anything else if I told you a month ago," Shifu replied with a faint smile. "Anyhow, this means that as of tomorrow, you will all have to train at the maximum of your abilities… All of you."
"Yes, sure!" Po said happily. "Right now I have so much motivation! Watch out Rising Phoenix – the Dragon Warrior will come to win you!"
"There is a certain Master, whom I have a… dreaded relationship with," Junjie explained, still walking back and forth. "His students are some of the best in China. But I have faith in that you will be able to counter them."
Junjie stopped in front of the student furthest to the left. Junjie then started walking from left to right in front of the six, introducing them to one another. "Cobra… Eagle… Lynx… Jinshu… Gorilla… Stag…"
Junjie stopped in front Jinshu after turning around. The younger fox was a bit taller than Junjie and instead of red fur like a normal fox he had gray fur all over. "And Jinshu will be your leader."
Jinshu brought his right fist to his left palm and bowed for his Master. Jinshu wore, just like the others, some rather old and simple robes. Junjie did have in mind to get them some new robes for the tournament, but that would have to wait.
"Master, with the deepest respect," Gorilla started while bowing. "Is this tournament the only reason why we are here today?"
"Yes… but the reason why you six and not somebody else is here is because… You six are here because I have chosen you – not because you choose to come here." Junjie looked at the six for a moment, then continued.
"I'm sure you all believed that you had your own reasons to come here." Junjie got eye contact with Lynx, then Eagle. "And some of you may believe that you came here for… more selfish reasons."
Stag looked up at Junjie and Cobra couldn't help but feel that it was targeted towards him as well. The beetle and the reptile realized that Junjie knew why they were there.
"Master, when will the training start?" Eagle asked, a bit of anxiety in her voice. Eagle was the only female on the team, which at first had bothered her, but she had eventually just chosen to ignore it.
"Tomorrow," Junjie replied calmly. "You can go now… you might want to go to bed soon– we'll start early tomorrow."
The six bowed for their Master and started walking down the hallway towards the exit.
"Jinshu," Junjie said as the six left. "Can I have a word with you?"
"… Of course, Master," Jinshu replied and walked back over to his Master.
"So who else will be there?" Po asked Shifu in an excited voice, hoping to see and meet some great Kung Fu Masters.
"Lots of different people," Shifu replied calmly. The red panda was sitting next to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, meditating… or at least trying.
"Like who?" Po asked eagerly. "Someone we know?"
Shifu sighed.
"I know that Master Croc and Ox will be there," Shifu replied, eyes still closed. "And I do believe that master Chao and the rest of the Sacred Onyx Council will be there as well-…"
"The Sacred Onyx Council?!" Po asked amazed, making Shifu lay his ears down to shield them from the loud sound of Po's voice.
"Yes, they will," Shifu replied, opening his eyes and looked over at Po. "They will be the jury at the tournament."
"Now, will you leave me alone, so I can meditate?"
"Of course, Master," Po replied and ran off, still muttering various nonsense to himself.
Po almost couldn't believe it – it was his first major tournament and what tournament it was! The Rising Phoenix Tournament was only held once a decade and Po hadn't been there to see it the last time, since he hadn't had a chance to go to where it had been held.
"Guys, this tournament will be so cool!" Po said excitedly when he got back to his friends.
"Yes, but also hard to win," Viper said with a smile. "So, how about we get back to training?"
"Yeah, let's!" Po said.
"And there are enough disciplines to train for," Crane added with a smile.
"Disciplines?" Po asked curiously. Obviously Crane knew more about this tournament than Po did. Maybe the Five had watched or participated in the last tournament.
But Po had never heard about certain disciplines like that in a Kung Fu Tournament.
Crane nodded. "They made some new rule this year."
"How come?" Tigress asked curiously. Apparently Crane was the only one of the Five who knew about the changes.
Crane shrugged. "I don't know, maybe because of some of the younger members of the Sacred Onyx Council."
"Younger members?" Po asked.
Crane nodded. "Even though they are new to the council, their influence is still great."
"It'll be quite unusual then," Viper said thoughtfully.
"I think it'll be fun!" Po said excitedly. "I'm so going to enjoy it!"
"Jinshu… I hope you're aware of how much this tournament means to me," Junjie said. Jinshu nodded. "Then I hope that you will do your best – and that you will work with the others."
"But Master, I could have just participated alone," Jinshu said. It was obvious to Junjie that the younger fox wasn't a big fan of the term teamwork. Jinshu sighed and looked down at the floor. "Is it really necessary with the other five?"
Junjie nodded.
"Yes, a certain… other Master will be having six students at his own disposal," Junjie said sneakily with a slight chuckle. "So I gathered the others so that we could counter them. Also, the council changed the rules for this year."
"The Sacred Onyx Council?" Jinshu asked. Junjie nodded. "Aren't you part of it?"
"Was," Junjie corrected the younger fox. Jinshu could barely see a streak of anger glide across the Master's face. "But my hopes are that you and the others can bring me back into the council – after all, students are supposed to be a reflection of their Master's abilities as a teacher… But that is all, you may go now."
"Right," Jinshu said and bowed, knowing not to question Junjie's plans. "I'll see you later… grandpa."