Hi all, I thought I update before I went off for a holiday :-) Thank you for all the faves, the follows and the reviews! It kept me motivated :-)
The previous chapter is a little sad, so let's redeem with this one (at least for a start). Also, I would still like to mention about the KFP fiction competition, 18 stories so far submitted, and the deadline still quite far, 30 Nov. So, it's not too late to enter yet!
A note for this chapter: don't worry about Mongolian hard names, even I can't remember them. At the end of the chapter, I will highlight the individuals which important to the storyline. Also, I would like to recommend a story by M4DG4RL, 'The True Warrior' and 'Warrior of Black and White' by transformer 0. They are excellent stories that will worth your time.
Ok, enough ramblings, let's get started.
Me: Po, what do you say about a love interest?
Po: Are you gonna…. pair me up with someone else now?
Me: I'll try.
Po: Why another one? Tigress, Mei Mei, Song, Lu-shi, are still not enough?
Me: That's the curse of being so cute...and that's entirely your fault.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
-Jimi Hendrix-
Three years after the Datong War. Somewhere in the heart of Mongolia, hundreds of miles north. It was hours close to midnight, the darkness wrapped around the large clusters of a majestic structure of where the Mongolian Royal resided for centuries. The only visible illumination came from torches and lanterns scattered along each building's' entrance. A moment of pure tranquility encompassed the landscape, except for one large makeshift yurt that served as the training hall.
"Kiyaaah!"
"Yataaaah!"
All kinds of battle cries were heard, breaking the pregnant silence, followed by the sporadic voice of a panda, barking his order. (Well, maybe not barking… but, you get what I mean.)
"Ok, that's enough for today," the panda concluded the day, nodding proudly at five of his promising apprentices.
"You...General Nabuhai, your form a little sloppy today, you need to be more focused, Master Genghis… you did bodaciously well, but impose more strength, Lord Erdene, and Tuul, you guys rocks, but both of you need to put more aggression, not just passively defending, and….Altansarnai, you have worked very hard, the spar you did was severely awesome."
"Yes, Thank you, Master!" His students replied reverently.
Po picked up all the scrolls he used for teaching that day, while his ears were absently tuning to the discordance of his students, speaking among themselves while tidying all the pieces of training equipment.
"We can be the Mongol's version of Furious Five, say… like, Funky Five!" One of his students offered. But swiftly refuted by another, "No, no… Fire-proof Five! Or Fleshy Five… since we are a lot bigger than the original Furious Five."
"What about, Fearsome, Fine, and Fabulous Five? That sort of summed up what we are, right?" Po heard another exuberant squeal.
"More like a Freaky, Foolish and Fumbly Four." The only female voice interjected, obviously extracting herself from the mixture."...and may be Feeble, Frail, and Fragile Four when you are retired."
The rest of her friends grunted distastefully at her witty yet satirical comeback. She dragged all the training equipment they gathered and went off to the store room.
Smiling stupidly as he often did, Po approached the rest of his students.
"Dragon Teacher… that was a seriously bodacious lesson. I had to say I enjoyed that very much." General Nabuhai, a Gobi bear, remarked,"...especially the bit where Altansarnai nearly maimed and kissed you at the same time. I bet she has done it on purpose." He leaned closer to Po, practically trapping him between the wall. Then, he gazed into the panda's eyes with searing passion and make a fake smooching noise. His absurd action invited a whopping gale of laughter from his comrades.
"Oh, Dragon Teacher, I want to taste your lips!" He mimed a feminine voice. Po just smiled dryly; he was very much used to this kind of affectionate torture.
"Don't tempt me," the panda grinned smugly, inched closer to the General and peering over him in return.
"Ugh…maybe next time, Dragon Teacher. That fierce-some feline may disembowel me for kissing you." the Gobi bear swiftly dished Po's arms away from him.
Lord Tuul immediately appended, "...besides, everyone thinks hostility is a secret sign of hidden affection. Just remember how many times Princess Altansarnai wanted to kill you?" The ox wagged his eyebrows up and down comically. Po swore, these bunch of mammals was far more mentally imbalanced than Monkey and Mantis combined.
"I can't believe you hardly interested in her. I mean...look at how bad she is falling for you? I bet she is willing to have your babies." Lord Erdene, the younger ox, shook his head incredulously, "She owns a to-die-for curve, excellent fighting skill, and excellent political connection. I mean… if you married her, you could be a royal and no longer a captive! Not to mention you can just lift your toe to summon us. All. Problem. Solved." He concluded.
Lord Tuul chuckled at his older brother's reasoning."What do you call their kids? A panon? Lipan? Or a..." he trailed off.
"Ask your Dads whether they are ready to have blonde haired grand cubs." Master Genghis teased, his lips spread into a mischievous grin. "And, if you were a royal, you can travel freely to China, and marry your stripy fiancée, Tigress. She can be your second wife," he added innocently.
Po's eyes widened, his stubby ears twitched erratically, "W-what? What did you say? Geez, do you have a feeling that all of you are crazy?" He complained, trying to dismiss his friend's slanderous remark.
"All the time," the General answered promptly, tugging with a twisted smile.
"You are saying as if you don't consider yourself crazy as well, Po." Master Genghis reprimanded the panda's hypocrisy,"...just proving my point, insanity is contagious. You've started all this."
"But I can see why she has fallen for you, even when it takes time. You are a perfect blend of heroic bravery and selflessness, embedded in a …" The ox found himself worked his mouth but no words to fill it.
"... a body of the most unexpected form of a warrior." His brother offered to end it nicely.
"Yeeaah… her knight in shining armor!" Lord Erdene blandished, jutting his chest and his chin pretentiously, "... or more like a mindless retard in patchy pants." Everyone, even Po, laughed at his rhetoric.
"Speaking of the devil... here she comes," the General flicked his sultry gaze towards the approaching feline, and jabbed the panda on his side,"Good luck to you panda...let's hope we won't be attending your funeral tonight." The rest of his comrades was grinning delightfully and cheering the panda. The General quickly shepherded everyone towards the door of the training tent. The panda responded with incoherent, repressive groan. He was dreading this.
"Remember… hostility… affection…killing….loving…." The General added, smiling deviously as he repeated his love mantra.
The Lioness approached him. Her soft, shiny pelt glistened under the perusal of the ashen moonlight. Her sculpted figure was wrapped in a red vest, perfectly complementing her earthen tone. Her pelt was impeccable, her posture was perfect, and her azure pupils gazed intensely at him. And he couldn't help to notice she had abandoned the first few buttons on her vest, which made him a little uncomfortable. Realizing his enraptured reaction, she proceeded to lick her succulent lips sensuously―called it a polite suggestion, which in turn igniting something unknown in him. Indisputably, Altainsarnai was a stunning looking woman, a mortal embodiment of unrivaled bravery and exquisite beauty. But his wonderment ceased right there. He quickly stomped out the sudden uprising primal urge and hampered his mind from entering the land of defiled fantasy. Po knew there was forbidden territory that he would never allow himself to cross over its limit.
Right, you just have to assert yourself, Po. Show her who is in charge. He mentally coaxed himself. But alas, smoothness, haughtiness, and assertiveness were not his natural propensity, he soon found himself failing miserably to press his dominance on her.
"I had a feeling you are talking about me, Panda!" She smirked, sweeping her inviting sight up and down the panda's round figure. Po felt like she disrobed him with her eyes. He gulped thickly. The creeping fear was getting harder to ignore.
"Ugh, no... I, not really," he fibbed unconvincingly, playing his nervous fingertips in futile attempt to maintain his cool. She leaned forward, close to press her body to his, and cornered him to the wall.
"You lied to me, I know," she whispered. Po shivered at the slight touch of the air around his ear, or was that her lips? No… He didn't want to know. For once he cursed his exploding reputation that had invited unwanted attention. Well, this kind of attention.
"So… how's your day?" Po attempted to change the topic, politely excusing himself from the spotlight. She narrowed her hazel pupils focusing her sole attention to the uptight creature in front of her, before smiling triumphantly and answered him, "Nothing much, I just practicing here almost all day. The mission to Darkhan was canceled last minute, so I decide not to waste my time and practice my Kung Fu instead."
"Why did you ask?" She leaned closer again, "have you been…. missing me?" She stepped forward and closed the gap between them; paws was ready to capture her prey.
"Wooooah…. hang on there!" He hastily impeded her paws, backpedaled and struggled to set free.
"You may have defeated me in physical combat, but not on this one." She articulated smoothly.
"Okaaaayy, b-but… not in front of other students…." He squeaked with a tiny voice of unease,"…..please?" and putting his best puppy eyes as he begged.
"Why not? I am sure; they won't mind a little bit of…. entertainment." She purred while seductively running her claws on his bare chest, inviting his compliance."Besides, there are no other students." A despicable smile blossom out of her.
Darn, Po forgot that his comrades had abandoned him a few minutes ago. Leaving him in solitary isolation with a lioness whom hungry look seemed ready to tear his trousers to pieces.
Oh, Dragon Warrior, I could just collapse in your arms.
"C-can we talk about this in more… erm… in more, friendly… no, I mean c-civil m-manner way?" He said timidly with an edgy chuckle. Alas, the panda's anxious appeal only made her predatory grin grew an inch wider.
You have no idea how adorable you are when you are scared, Panda.
Po had no clue why he seemed to be a magnet that genuinely attracted assertive females. Not just limited to a hardcore warrior like Altansarnai and Tigress, even the dainty, painfully glamorous one like Mei Mei who revealed to be boisterous, flirtatious and overwhelmingly narcissistic. His mind frantically searched for any possible distraction, or calculating any possible moment to abscond, unfortunately, he found none. The thought of what could happen to him had made him extremely flustered.
"I thought you liked being treated like this? Besides, you look incredibly irresistible when you are….distressed," she commented, as the burning tension became more apparent in his face.
But unexpectantly, his mind trailed off to a particular feline that frequently teased him with the same line. Behind his lids, the unforgettable memory replayed―recollecting how he often sneaked out to watch the feline perfecting her kung fu sequence, how her form was executed with precision, strength and ultimate elegance, how her strong arm often eagerly pinned him to the ground on their spar. He swore Tigress could give him brain damage just by existing. Oh, how he missed her… her lustrous voice, her no-nonsense attitude, her hypnotizing stripes, her mesmerizing fiery eyes, her smile that could leave him in mental disarray… and her kiss! How he forgot the taste of her on his lips? It was firm and passionate, leaving his mind in a land of perpetual blissfulness. How could tofu taste that good anyway? Absently, his face mollified, and his lips turned to a gentle curl.
Unfortunately, this upheaval on his face had not gone unnoticed by the increasingly vexed lioness. Altansarnai immediately fastened her grip on his shoulders, eliciting a tiny yelp from him.
Hell.. It's that stripey cat again! Does his brain have a square inch that isn't occupied by her? Heck, he even has the audacity to think about her in front of me!
"Look at me!" She instructed him forcefully. Her paws eagerly cupped his chubby cheeks, attempting to win back his attention. Po testified a thundering storm of rage and envy brimming in her cerulean eyes. Her posture stiffened, and her tail erratically beat the ground. He chuckled nervously while silently chiding himself for being so careless guarding his emotional facade in front of the lioness, who obviously strongly disagree with his current mindset.
Dragon Warrior found himself completely defenseless in the hand of the over-dominating, jealous woman.
Dear Guan-Yin, please don't make me a scratching post… or a wall ornament... a taxidermy… or a eunuch.Thankfully his prayer was heard as an authoritative voice broke the lioness attention, and gave Po an instant remedy for his frayed nerves.
"Altan...! Enough now, don't torture the Dragon Teacher… he had enough of you for today." A stern, imposing voice was heard, timely defending the vulnerable Dragon Warrior from being a subject of the forceful advancement from the lioness. It was none other than Kaidu Naranbaatar, the crown prince of Mongolia, and her adopted brother.
"You are such a supportive brother, Kaidu." The lioness deadpanned and rolled her eyes in retribution.
"I know, it's a gift," Kaidu quipped, matching his adopted sister line of sinister banter. He grinned resplendently at his sister piqued facade.
The lioness growled balefully, flicking her annoyed stare towards her brother before making an exit. Po let a loud explosive sigh, a facade of absolute relief cascaded on his face, and a genuine note of appreciation entered his voice. "Thanks, Buds."
"Hey, don't mention it. I am sorry… I know my sister's aggression could be mentally disturbing," the yak hastily apologized.
"Oh... don't worry. It's hardly her fault. I am born attractive." Po taunted back with a flash of his usual goofy smile. Kaidu chuckled, Po clearly wasn't a typical stereotype of warrior everyone had in mind. He was very much a total opposite of aggression, often pulled a frivolous act, falling short of gracefulness and often innocently humiliating himself. But these embarrassing moments seemed to be the one that kindled Kaidu's burgeoning fondness and paved their budding friendship.
Po was very much sincere, spunky, kind and humble creature. He took pleasure in listening to others. His eyes spoke the depth of his benevolence, and the volume of his selfless deeds. All those completed with his robust ability in the training hall; the speed and agility that no one would have guessed came from someone holding a corpulent curve and ginormous weight such as his.
That moment of eureka suddenly made Kaidu understood why he had been entitled China's best warrior. Not only he was able to sow his humble yet amazing influence to win the heart of his adversary, but also his fighting ability truly fascinated him―to the point Kaidu asked Po to train some of his best general and his appointed soldiers. Po gladly accepted, with one condition―that those skills should never be used against the innocent and helpless citizens. His approach to teaching was equally astonishing. Besides the normal workout routines, he created games as fun diversions, which aimed to hone the fighter ability to work as a seamless unit. He taught them to choreograph their combo moves, which emphasizing on teamwork, and knowing one's strength and making up their weaknesses.
While Po's charming personality had managed to captivate everyone's heart, at first Altansarnai was the only one who took unyielding resistance. Altansarai's father was one of Mongolia's most treasured general, who had dedicated his life and soul in loyal servitude for the prosperity of the country. Her mother was an illustrious warrior and had joined hand in every battle her husband was on. Unfortunately, fate had decided to take both of Altansarai's parents and made her an orphan. Out of sympathy and gratitude, she was adopted by Kaidu's father to be his sister and raised her as his own.
Altansarnai was groomed into being a warrior herself. With her unparalleled dedication, determination, and obstinate discipline, she was undoubtedly one of Mongolian best fighter, not to mention the only female warrior. All that compiled with her unnatural strength, tactical dexterity and strong willfulness had even pushed her further to the top of the rank as the King's trustworthy battle companion.
It's her deepest desire to live and hail the similar standard of nobility, honor, and virtue as her parents. When Po came to the palace, and Kaidu asked him to be their Master in training them Kung Fu, the lioness treated Po as an immediate threat. The panda might be klutzy…. negligent… and childish, but here was the bitter reality; she hadn't won any single spar against him. Po immediately took the spotlight in the training hall―all the commendation, and adulation, from people all assortment of ranks poured unto him.
Irritably, the panda himself wasn't in any sense manipulative for begging such attention, he genuinely cared for everyone and spoke the matter from his heart, making people not only loved him but also respected him. Initially, her jealousy over Po's success made her doing and saying mean things to him. But soon it transformed into a serious desire to kill and eliminate the panda. Whether Po had been negligent, oblivious or simply didn't care, he had never retributed her ill-treatment except with act of kindness and patience.
But her hatred, abhorrence, and jealousy were written off after one nearly fatal incident.
"Get ready to lose panda!" She growled with truculent vehemence in her voice.
"We see about that." The panda rebutted with taunting tone, grinning lopsidedly like he often did.
As soon as the spar ensue, it was clear that Po, even with his gentle moves, was far more skillful than she was. She sheathed her claws, claiming every lethal punch and kick without holding them back. But there was no evidence of hostility in his eyes, even when he perfectly knew she had a real intention to hurt him.
Out of nowhere, she saw a few knives glinting innocently by the floor of the training hall, perfectly laid within her reach. With her perfect stealth and agility, she swept them and leaped to slit the panda's throat. But the panda managed to lean back at the last second, staggering backward as the lioness brutally charging forward at him.
With each miss, the lioness grew infuriated, increasing the speed and intensity, attacking the panda with such ferocity. She was trying to find an opening; she just needed one chance when her opponent's defense would drop. She just required to be lucky once, and she would win the spar, nevermind if that killed the panda…. he was just a mere worthless captive! Surely... no one would miss him.
She roared as she thrust her knives forward. One time, Po caught and swept her arms, and the momentum caused one of the knives to fly and impaled the wall. Growling in a fury at the loathsome touch, the lioness somersaulted back into the panda's quarter. She abruptly aiming his eyes, her effort was rewarded when her scimitar cut strands of fur from his cheeks. She sneered in delight, and she charged forward, bringing her blade down to the panda below her. But Po was quick to deflect her move and swiftly rolled over while kicking her wrist with one of his legs. The sudden force threw the knife; it flung and accidentally cut the rope that securing the weapon rack to the wall. If she had been in the right state of mind, she would have noticed the sound of the equipment scraping the surface of the rack as the weight of its load looming towards her.
But she didn't. Her thought was so much preoccupied with her effort to bring the panda to meet his miserable end.
The panda was a few pace away, but upon seeing the upcoming demise, he went to her rescue.
"LOOK OUT!"
He shoved her out of the way, rendering himself to bear the injury instead.
"Ugh…. my tenders…" He squeaked, and writhed painfully as his face contorted in an agonizing twist. Thankfully it was just innocuous laceration and a mild bruising around his 'tenders' but enough to make her exceedingly ashamed of herself.
Plaguing remorse enshrouded her heart every time she reminisced that incident. But the panda seemed to be completely chilled about the fact she nearly got him killed (and neutered), both voluntary and involuntary, even dismissed her contrition altogether and said it was normal she was hostile towards him as he was unwittingly stealing her thunder.
Soon her contentious feeling changed into admiration, and soon, admiration had turned into affection. There was no denying that Altansarnai had fallen rather badly for the panda, even though Po himself had verbally told her that his heart's door was sealed for no one else than the striped tiger herself.
Frankly, Po did admire her. She was undeniably beautiful, attractive, and in many ways remind him of Tigress. But Altansarnai knew, his admiration stopped there. There was a place in his heart that he never allowed anyone, herself included, to enter, and he had selfishly reserved that spot for someone else. But the lioness was insistent on keeping on trying.
Just watch out Master Tigress...it just a matter of time―and that panda will be mine.
At the same time, hundreds of miles south in the heart of China.
Tigress tossed and turned on her bedroll, cold sweat cascading down her forehead, her mouth whimpered and muttered an incomprehensible writhe. Viper who happened to be walking through the corridors, heard the discordance coming from the tiger's room.
"Tigress...Tigress? Are you alright?" the snake shook the tiger's shoulder expectantly. The sudden jerk brought her consciousness back.
I should never take an afternoon nap. She berated herself.
"You have a bad dream?" Viper inquired, her face etched with a mixture of genuine concern and apprehension. Tigress nodded ruefully. The occurrences of the same nightmare seemed to haunt her to no end.
"Is it about Po again?"
Tigress just exhaled slowly as an answer. The thought of Po pressed hard against her soul, her chest abruptly tightened, choked in the sea of anguish torrent. Why she even wanted to harm him? Was she brainwashed? Had someone manipulated her? Had she gone insane?
After convincing Viper that she would be fine, Tigress hobbled out from her room out to sit by the Peach Tree. In time like this, her mind often abruptly settled back in remembrances of the panda that had changed her life.
However, she knew the universe wouldn't allow them to be together the way she sorely desired.
She quickly shook off the temptation to succumb…..spiraling down in grief. Instead, she was arranging herself in lotus position as she landed her gaze onto the peaceful valley laid below. The sun progressively sunk into the distant horizon, yet the small plateau underneath continued to shine brightly against the darkness… numerous twinkling light outlined the village below. She futilely attempted to clear her mind, suppressing his monochromatic image to spontaneously surfaced in her thought. She was much familiar with this mental battle, day to weeks…months to years ― she fought to forget him; to ignore the enthralling look of his gaze, to brush off the sensation of his tender embrace, to abandon the last taste of his kiss and to neglect the sincerity of his thoughtful expression. But how could she? In her heart, he had carved countless memories no one could steal, and in turn, inflicted such insufferable hurts no one could heal.
But her attempt to forget him had procured reversal effect, because her imagination was vividly depicting him coming alongside her, morphing his large figure along with her body contour, draping his arm around her waist and inviting her to lean on his broad, comfy shoulder. She hastily wiped the last evidence of salty water from the corner of her eyes.
Not again Tigress. Why would you cry over a man! You hadn't done this for a long time, not again!
You are destined to be an exemplary warrior, a pinnacle of what a woman could achieve.
Don't you know relationship hold you back from such greatness?
Besides, you have more important matters to attend to than… male companionship.
It's time to move on Tigress!
She promised with grim determination, not allowing petty melancholy to dictate her action and to cloud her judgment.
As the days turned to years, the notion was clear….just about everyone had resigned the wishful thinking that the panda was even still alive. Time was their greatest enemy, as it consumed their hope every second, depleting the faith of his mortal existence. Shifu even had made a small altar by the Sacred Peach Tree for anyone who wanted to 'talk' to the Dragon Warrior, making it as if the panda had ascended to the Spirit Realm. Within months, everyone else paved back their way into normality, running through the course of repeated action and fulfilling their duty as before Dragon Warrior sudden arrival, and this had left Tigress rebuking herself to be the only obstinate hurdle barring the rest of them to move on.
There were some days where her effort to occupy her mind would pay off. But there would always be a small persistent voice within her heart that declaring she would never achieve the same peace and to be aligned with universe as she once was―until she quenched the thirst of her soul with the thought of his presence. Finally, Tigress accepted with merciful finality, that she would always love him… in his presence nor absence.
"Tigress… are you okay?" A slender silhouette landed behind her emerged, disrupting her string of rumination. It was Crane, he had become the second in command since her emotional turmoil was growing more apparent affecting her tactical judgment, and Shifu wisely elected the mature and humble avian to come to her aid.
It's been awhile she didn't wear that lackluster, petulant look. Something must have happened, Crane mused.
"What happened? You can tell me anything…" He offered with a voice full of sympathy.
"I had a bad sleep. A bad dream." She admitted despondently. Crane studied his friend prudently, searching into her eyes for the truth. Tigress was the pinnacle of forbearance, though as nails, impassive, and here she was openly confessing defeat? She must be really in a bad shape having to concede such thing.
"Was it about Po?" Crane asked with a caring voice.
She nodded with such heaviness. Her crimson orbs declaring endless riot of emotion―indignation, sorrow, and hope. Tigress felt her throat tightened, her tongue cleaved to her mouth, and her eyes warmed with tears, as she about to articulate her innermost emotion.
"Crane… I-I miss him." She could only afford a faint, terse whisper, a somber proclamation of her unfulfilled yet fervent desire.
Barely finishing her sentence, she felt her friend lithe wing pulled her to his side, she felt his warm breath against her ears, as he spoke."...I know you do..…. I am sorry it ended this way Tigress..."
A familiar surge of sadness sliced through her bleeding soul. She knew no matter where she opened her sail, regardless of the direction of the wind, nor numerous adventure she would endeavor along the way, her heart would anchor towards him. Crane sighed mournfully as he comforted his hurting friend.
Po… wherever you are, if you heard us…. Please come back home.
Dorji Clan:
Ganzorig: A male spotted leopard, Shifu former student, the sole heir of Dorji clan, and the man who asked Tigress for help to deal with Demon Claw and his gang.
Enkhtuya: A female fox, the soothsayer. She was the one that foretold the prophecy about Tigress being the warrior who will side with the victor of the squabble.
The Royal Clan:
Kaidu Naranbaatar: A male yak, the heir of the Mongolian throne, the nephew of former King Duwa ― who had captured Po as war appeasement. His name 'Kaidu' was taken from the real name of Genghis Khan's grandson. Naranbaatar means "the sun hero," which I think fitting for his position as the equivalent of Chinese Emperor.
Altansarnai: A lioness, Kaidu's adopted sister. Her name means "the golden rose." I picked her to be a lioness, so her name will well suit her golden pelt.