The Mission


"Well, a few people have died since you've been gone. Old folks really, but still sad. Of course, I got a new helper in the kitchen. You must have seen him today, a snow leopard?" Mr. Ping explained. I nodded.

"Yes, we saw him. Seemed very happy until work was over. He must love this job," I guessed. Mr. Ping lowered his head.

"Well, he's sad whenever he has to return home. That kid has it rough. His name is Peng." He replied.

"What's wrong at home? Parents arguing, fighting, not feeling appreciated? Can we help?" Po said eager to help. Mr. Ping shook his head.

"I doubt it. His problem is that his uncle, whose taking care of him, is a big shot in this town."

"Ah," Po realized,"he feels unimportant."

"It gets worse. The house he lives in has other big shots like his uncle. And his uncle's adopted father is very strict on everybody's training and never shows any real love, and the other people in the house only treat him well around his uncle. Otherwise, they'll ignore him." Mr. Ping said.

"Wow, kid's got it bad. Where does he live?" I asked. Mr. Ping pointed to the mighty mountain that the Jade Palace sat on. Both Po and I were amazed. "You mean that he's a relative of one of the masters of the Jade Palace?"

"Yep, but he comes down here to get some helpful advise and to work his mind off of the tension that goes on in that building. I just wish that I could help him," Mr. Ping said sadly. "Well, let's change subjects."

"Okay, who's the new Furious Five?" I asked.

"I would imagine it's still Master Crane, Tigress, Monkey, Viper, and Mantis." Po said thoughtfully. Mr. Ping nodded. "So who's their leader. Master Shifu or Master Oogway?"

"Neither. Tai-Lung is the leader unofficially," Mr. Ping replied. Po and I were confused. We asked who was Tai-Lung. "Tai-Lung is Master Shifu's adopted son, just like Tigress is. He was being trained to be the Dragon Warrior but Oogway said no. Tai-Lung was mad but there was nothing he could do about it, so he continued to help the village."

"Well, that would help get his mind off things," Po said.

"Well, no, he's very...cold and silent. Even when people are praising him, he forces a smile and just goes back up the mountain to train. Don't know why he trains, he's mastered all the Kung Fu moves. He's never happy. Much as change since you've left." Mr. Ping finished.

"Hmm. Wow, this village is worse than I imagined," Po replied. I rolled my eyes.

"Is it this bad because you've left?" I suggested. Po just ignored it. "I wonder what the Master is planning. I feel that this mission will be the biggest mission we'll ever have." Then I yawned. "Well, it's getting late. Time for bed. Hey, maybe we can help you in the kitchen tomorrow morning, Mr. Ping."

"That would be much appreciated. And I know Peng would like that. He needs to talk to someone else other than an old eccentric goose," Mr. Ping joked.

"You're not old. Eccentric? Yes, but not old," Po replied. Mr. Ping just smiled.

"Okay, get some rest. See you in the morning," He said as we made our beds on the floor and drifted off to sleep.


I had a dream that night. A dream that the Master's voice was talking to me. I can never see his face but I know his voice. I was in a misty area and could see four figures through the mist. "Lion," a voice said.

"I'm here, Master," I replied.

"Do you see these four people?" The Master asked. I focused my vision to see Peng, a tall muscular snow leopard, a fit female tiger, and a small old red panda.

"Yes, I do," I replied.

"These four are monsters to the village and themselves. How is that?" The Master asked. I pondered this for a moment.

"It's not that they ARE monsters. They have troubles that make them APPEAR to be monsters. In other words, they have monster problems," I reasoned. The Master always talked to me like I was a child, but I didn't mind. Sometimes having a child mind helps figure out seemingly complex problems.

"You have seen well. These four need the help of you and Po. These four are in need of finding the truth about themselves. So I send you two to help them."

"We can't do this alone," I replied.

"Do not worry. I will be with you," The Master said.


I awoke to the early morning light in my face. It was still sunrise, but we usually get up at this hour. I looked to the side of my bed to see Po getting ready on the other side of the room. He looked at me and said, "Nice to see that you're up. You slept in a little."

"Not slept in," I replied, "I had a vision of what the Master wants us to do." Po stopped what he was doing to hear what the mission was. "Basically, we have to change this entire village's way of thinking. In order to do it, anyways." Po groaned.

"That's hard to do when these very people are stubborn to the bone. Who specifically do we have to change?" Po asked.

"I'll tell you down the stairs. First person we have to help is this kid Peng. I think that's obvious," I said. Po nodded. "Come on, we got to get to work."

We started to help around the kitchen and the noodle shop. Po and I were extremely happy in serving. We did our traditional way of wowing the customers; letting pots and bowls of noodles and stew fly across the room. In the spare time between shifts, we would tell the kids stories of our adventures (Leaving out the fact that we were the ones who took the adventures. We still wanted to stay low key.) It was about three in the afternoon when Peng came in with a surprised face. We just got done with serving a 12 person table, and it was time for our break. We went into the kitchen where Peng followed us in. "Hello, I'm afraid I haven't met you. I didn't know that Mr. Ping had other workers," Peng said looking over to the goose.

"Oh, Peng. So good of you to come! This is my son, Po and his field teacher, Lion," Mr. Ping both introduced us. We bowed to each other.

"Mr. Ping has mentioned a lot about you, Mr. Po," Peng said politely. Po laughed.

"Just Po is fine. And thanks, it's nice to meet you. My dad has told me a lot of good things about you," Po replied.

"Might as well just have rumors about both of you," I joked while everyone chuckled lightly. Peng rolled his shoulder to get rid of some type of pain.

"Well, I'm here to work. I saw that you guys did some nice tricks. Where did you train to do that?" Peng asked. I shook my head.

"You don't need much training in order to learn what you love doing. We love serving people. We also like making people happy. And if that's doing tricks like that, then we'll do it. Hey, you should stick around and come with us. You might have some fun." Peng looked down at the ground sadly.

"I'm sorry, but I have some...other training to do. But while I'm here, I guess I can have a little fun," Peng replied.

"Alright! Let's get it started! Who wants to play with the panda?" Po asked the children as they ran up to tackle him. Peng laughed wholeheartedly at this. I smiled but I thought to myself 'This is going to be harder than I thought'

To be continued