Thanks to everyone who left a review, favorite or follow! The idea that people are reading and enjoying my work makes this so much more satisfying for me. Also inspires me to keep pushing out content, which is hopefully good news for you guys! This story will update on mondays, for those that are interested.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda or any related characters. However, Traveller, Zarach and the Skaal are MINE.


Tigress stood at one end of the square arena, one arm forward and the other raised above her head in a battle stance. Po stood beside her, and the rest of the Five had fanned out in a V formation behind them.

Traveller stood across from them, his hands folded into his sleeves. He had thrown the hood up again, everything above his mouth was veiled in shadow.

"Po and I will attack him from the front." The tiger said quietly to the others. "Viper, you and Mantis circle around and take him from the left. Monkey and Crane, you have the right."

The others nodded in affirmation, though there was a hesitant look in Viper's eyes. Tigress looked to her left, and saw Shifu standing on the raised dais, his huge eyebrows furrowed as he gazed over the arena. She would not let him down again.

Re-focussing her attention on her opponent, a slight chill of foreboding swept down her spine. He remained still, seemingly awaiting their move. She was unsure why this unnerved her, but she pushed the uncertainty away and growled, then leapt forwards. Po ran fast beside her while the others fanned out, circling around to flank their hooded foe.

"Fist of Justice!" Po cried out as they got within striking distance, his paw already stretched outwards towards Traveller. Tigress gathered herself, then pounced into the air, extending one leg into a kick. Side-by-side they came hurtling towards the still-unmoving Eldar.

A split-second before they hit him, however, he fell backwards, ducking past their assault at a breathtaking speed. One foot lashed out from the ground position, smacking into Po's shin and sending him stumbling over their opponent's prone body.

With nothing to impact upon, Tigress flew over her target and barely managed to get her legs positioned to land gracefully just outside the square of the arena. The panda, of course, had a less fortunate landing, sliding on his chin to halt mere inches from Tigress's foot. They shared a quick, surprised glance before the tiger master turned, and saw Traveller rise. The rest of the Five were assaulting him from both sides, though Monkey and Crane were slightly ahead of the others.

This time, instead of waiting on the defensive, the Eldar took the initiative. He lashed out with a roundhouse kick at Monkey, moving with incredible speed. The master barely deflected the attack, while Crane struck at Traveller from above. Their foe grabbed Crane's leg even as his own attack was being deflected by Monkey. He brought up his other leg in a sudden kick, catching Monkey off-guard and sending him staggering back. Using this momentum he pulled Crane down hard, deflecting Viper's attack and knocking the snake to the ground. The snake had launched herself through the air to strike Traveller, but now she was coughing in the dust.

Tigress was now facing Traveller's back, and she charged at him going down on all fours to build up speed while behind her Po was groaning and attempting to rise. She let out a loud cry and leapt towards Traveller from behind. This time, he held his ground. He whirled to face her and in seconds they were locked in a deadly fist-fight.

They seemed evenly matched; in a few seconds of blurring speed, neither was able to get a hit in on the other.

Then Traveller changed the game. In one swift motion he grabbed Tigress by the forearms and pulled her towards him, their foreheads meeting in the middle. Tigress was momentarily stunned, more by the unexpected move then the actual impact, but that was more than enough of an opening for Traveller to exploit. A swift kick to the knee, followed by a strike with the heel of his palm to her midriff and a roundhouse kick knocked Tigress to the ground with the wind knocked out of her.

As she tried to regain her breath, she cast about for the others. Po, Monkey, Viper and Crane were all regrouping at one end of the arena, but Mantis was…

Attacking Traveller, apparently. The Eldar was reacting to blows she could not see, flailing around the arena in a desperate attempt to get away from his foe. Mantis must have made it in under Traveller's cloak, making it near-impossible for him to retaliate as the tiny insect attacked him mercilessly. Tigress slowly got to her feet, holding her side as she watched Traveller flail about under the impact of Mantis's attacks. She motioned to the others to attack all at once.

This is our chance. I'm not about to let it go to waste.

Suddenly, in a single seamless movement, Traveller removed the cloak, bunching it up at one end. Apparently, that was the part that Mantis was in; because it started spasming violently as the insect master attempted to break free. Before he could do so however, Traveller gave him a heavy kick that sent both cloak and insect flying into the walls of the palace.

Traveller then turned to face Tigress again, sun filtering through the brown hair atop his head. The chestpiece they had seen before was now revealed to cover both his front and back with no apparent clasps holding it together, much like a kind of carapace. His sandaled feet swayed slightly in the dusty earth, the dust kicked up from the motion settling on dark brown trousers to form an intricate tapestry of light and dark.

Tigress charged forward again, seeing Crane begin to spin himself like a drill as he powered towards Traveller from the back. Traveller was not idle, however. He ran at Tigress seemingly oblivious to the avian master who was fast gaining behind him. Tigress put her paws together for a dual-fist strike as Traveller approached her, and lashed out the moment he was in striking range.

Apparently, Traveller was ready for her attack, and the momentum from his headlong charge was suddenly diverted into a sudden cartwheel, carrying him out of the way to the left. Neither Crane nor Tigress was so fortunate, though. Without Traveller to block their respective attacks, both masters hit each other with full force, Crane hitting Tigress just below the throat while suffering Tigress's attack straight to one shoulder. There was a popping sound as Tigress hit Crane, and the avian cried out in pain. The force of the blows catapulted both masters backwards, and Tigress's second landing was decidedly less graceful than her first.

Tigress lifted herself on her elbows to witness the fighting. Po was currently charging towards Traveller, who was focussing his attention on the panda while Viper and Monkey flanked him. The two masters were already in mid-air, Viper manipulating her body into a kicking motion and Monkey with one leg raised in an axe kick before Traveller made his move.

He leapt into the air and cartwheeled again. Despite the sheer ridiculousness of the move, it was surprisingly effective. He spun fast enough that one fist caught Monkey's paw, knocking him down to earth while a fist and a foot each found their way into Viper's body, shooting her sky-high. Before Monkey hit the ground, he wrapped his tail around Traveller's arm, pulling him down while rocketing himself up to attempt his own attack once more.

Traveller hit the ground, looking up just in time to see Po's mighty fist flying towards him. Acting quickly, Traveller grabbed Po's forearm with one hand, pulling him forward while the other arm grasped at the fur on Po's chest. The combination of the panda's own weight and momentum, as well as Traveller's leverage, pulled the panda into the air, not even touching the Eldar with his attack. Before he hit the ground, Traveller unleashed a kick that sent a sonic boom through the palace, enough to throw the descending Monkey off balance. The master landed in a crumpled heap beside the Eldar. The force of the kick itself sent Po flying up into the air.

That was it. No one was going to beat Po except for her. Tigress let out an outraged roar and raced towards Traveller on all fours. She was only a few feet away from him and beginning to rise to two legs when a massive weight suddenly hit her from above, sending her to a prone position in less than a second. Po had finally landed.

Traveller stood in the centre of the ring, surrounded by the beaten masters. He turned, and bowed to Shifu who was standing on the dais with his mouth open. Finally regaining his composure, the red panda sputtered,

"How… how did you do that?"

"Kung fu is not the only martial art that exists, Master Shifu."

Even as they spoke, Tigress was struggling to remove the weight of the panda off her.

"Get… Off… Me!"

"Oh! Sorry Tigress!" The panda apologized, removing himself and reaching down a hand to help Tigress up. She disdained it, rising and glaring at him. Her glare held no fear for him now, it seemed, as he began waving his hands in the air.

"That… was so totally awesome!" He shouted, Traveller turning towards the panda while he fanboyed. "Did you see that? We were all like Hyaaaah! And he was all like 'Oh no you don't.' And that kick! Ohohoho I wanna learn how to do that! You, sir," He finished, pointing a finger at Traveller, "Are severely cool."

Traveller seemed taken aback for a moment, then he smiled and bowed to the Dragon Warrior.

"I am glad to have made such an… impact on you, Dragon Warrior."

"Hah. Funny."

The rest of the Five were standing now, warily approaching the stranger in their midst. None of them seemed badly hurt, barring Crane who held his right wing close to his chest.

"Here, let me help you with that." Monkey offered Crane. The master nodded, and Monkey flipped up into the air, landing behind Crane.

"Right. On three… Three!"

Crane gave a slightly muffled grunt as Monkey popped the joint in his wing back into place.

"Why is it always me who gets hit?" Crane complained. "Viper never gets bones dislocated."

Viper gave Crane an incredulous "are you serious" look, causing the avian to wilt slightly.

Shifu hopped down from the dais and stood before Traveller, his bushy eyebrows drawn together.

"You are an impressive fighter, Traveller. But I fail to see how beating my students demonstrates your point."

Before Traveller could reply, there was a loud gurgle from Po's belly, drawing the attention of the others. He gave a sheepish smile and said,

"Uh, hate to interrupt your little moment here, but experiencing this much awesomeness at once really gives you an appetite. Why don't we, uh, talk up at the dining hall? I can, ah, make some food…"

"That's not a bad idea, if your master has no objections." Traveller replied, though his face was an unreadable mask. "It may be better for me to relay the information inside anyway."

"Very well." Shifu acquiesced. "But no more interruptions. I want to know exactly what brought you here, Traveller."

"Agreed."


Up at the dinner hall, Po was making the final preparations for his noodle soup. The rest of the Five as well as Master Shifu were seated at the table, while Traveller stood close to the open doorway, leaning slightly against the wall. Under normal circumstances, the Kung fu masters would be joking or at least talking amongst themselves. But the atmosphere was heavy, and as Po served out the soup, Traveller began to speak.

"As I'm sure you all are aware, my kind is not native to this area. I come from lands far beyond the furthest reaches of China. Before I came here, I spent many years fighting against a dark empire that threatened to swallow the world."

"And so you came to us." Po interjected, "The most awesomely bodacious group of all time to help you overthrow this brutal tyrant and bring him to justice!" The panda's voice had gotten progressively louder as he spoke, and by the time he was finished he had raised a victory fist in the air and struck a heroic pose.

"Po, sit down." Shifu snapped.

"Yes master Shifu." Po replied dejectedly, dropping his pose and seating himself across from the older master. There was slight chuckling from Monkey, who quickly covered his mouth to muffle the sound.

"Thank you. Traveller, if you would?"

Traveller inclined his head slightly and resumed his tale.

"After many years of fighting, I and the allies I had found managed to overthrow this dark empire and destroy their hold on the land. However, their leader, as well as several of his people managed to escape. They disappeared and we were unable to follow them.

"It was total whimsy that led me to China, and I had not planned to stay long. But one night I came across their camp."

He looked around the room, meeting the eyes of the other occupants and relaying the seriousness of the situation through his gaze.

"King Zarach and perhaps three hundred Skaal warriors. And they are headed to the Valley of Peace."

Shifu stood on his chair, slamming his hands on the table.

"Here? Why here?"

Traveller shook his head.

"I'm not sure. I was unable to overhear much more from their camp for fear of being spotted, and I know little of the area. It may be nothing more than Zarach's idea of a cruel joke, beginning a new conquest in the Valley of Peace. But I do know this. They are coming, and at their current rate of travel they will arrive here in three days."

Crane spoke up.

"This, Zarach you mentioned, he's the leader?"

"Yes. He's the same one who led the Skiyr Empire. Of all his kind, he is the greatest. Cunning, brutal, merciless and powerful. And… he is my match."

"Uh, like your match like your mate or-"

Traveller slammed a fist into the table, breaking off Po's rambling.

"He is my match as in my equal, in power and in skill. When we fight, it is the toss of a coin that decides the victor. Do you understand?"

Though still portraying her emotionless outer shell, Tigress felt the icy claws of fear grasp around her heart. Traveller had beaten all of them in combat, seemingly with ease. The idea of a foe with the same level of skill...

There was silence around the table, so Traveller took a deep breath, then continued.

"It has been some time since their defeat. I believe that Zarach is looking to begin a new Empire here. He must be stopped. The amount of pain and suffering that creature has caused is unfathomable."

"So, what are they?" Mantis asked, scratching his chin with one claw. "Rhinos? Crocs?"

"I will show you."

Traveller took a step forward, away from the wall he had been leaning against, and raised a hand. There was a brief flash and the Kung fu masters shielded their eyes from the sudden light. When they re-focused, there was a monster in the middle of the room.

The creature stood as tall as Po at the chest, a long serpentine neck extending from it's torso to end in an almost perfectly spherical head. Large, sickly yellow eyes, slitted like a cat's glared with a deep malice above an overlarge mouth. Even with the creatures jaw firmly shut, razor-like teeth protruded from it's maw at strange angles. Atop the creatures head were three curved bone spikes, each attached with a strange webbing like frogskin, but with a leathery texture.

Spines similar to the ones on it's head appeared on the bottom of the midnight-furred abomination's forearms, as well as the back of their legs near the heel. Massive, heavy-set claws extended from the end of each wide finger, the point of one claw nearly touching the table the masters sat at. It's arms were long, each almost brushing the floor on which the creature stood, balancing on it's misshapen feet with it's cat-like tail.

It stood, frozen, one arm raised as if reaching for them while the other hung limply at it's side.

Immediately upon viewing the beast, Tigress knocked over the table, unmindful of the bowls she sent flying as she did so, intent only on putting up a barrier between them and the creature before them. The rest of the masters took cover with her, and she slowly peeked over the table to see Traveller giving a slight grin with his hand still extended in the air. The creature still had not moved.

"There is no need to fear." Their guest intoned, wiping the smirk off his face. He lowered his hand and the creature vanished. "My kind are able to project images of our memories. It saves me having to explain them to you."

"You could have given us a warning first." Shifu grumbled, looking down at the fresh soup-stains on his robe. "Tigress, would you put the table back?"

"Yes, master." Tigress replied, feeling suddenly foolish for her rash action. While she returned the table to it's original position, the other masters gathered around Traveller.

"Okay, so, like, is there a legal limit to coolness? Cause you may be close to breaking it, Travel-dude."

"The Dragon Warrior is easily excited, yes?" Traveller asked Shifu quietly while Po continued to rant.

"You have no idea."

"So that was Zarach?" Crane asked, cutting off Po's monologue

"No, that was one of the other Skaal. They all look much the same, though Zarach himself is larger than the rest, with a pattern of scars around his head that make it look as though he is wearing a jagged crown. In battle, he carries a large curved sword." He took a step back. "He and his kind are dangerous, ruthless and cunning. They will not hesitate to kill you or the villagers under your protection."

"He'll have to go through us first!" Viper hissed fiercely.

Traveller gave a little half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. For a brief moment, the Eldar seemed to change, grief wracking his features as he became old and bent, and Tigress could almost see a sudden weight descending onto his shoulders. By the time she blinked the sudden vision was gone, though the grief in Traveller's face remained.

"There is one other thing." He said heavily. "But I must speak with Shifu, Tigress and Viper. Alone."

The two women in the group looked to Shifu, who hesitated for a moment then nodded.

"Very well, Traveller. The rest of you have earned the remainder of the day off."

Normally this would be a cause for at least mild celebration, but those left behind could not help a rising feeling of dread as they watched their friends walk away.


Traveller shut the doors to the Hall of Warriors behind them. Then he leaned upon said doors for a moment, seeming to be gathering his thoughts.

Tigress was getting more and more apprehensive. She didn't know if this was a trap or not, but she had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation. And still she was unable to focus, her concentration constantly being thrown off by one thing or another. She tensed as she felt a pressure on her arm, but relaxed when she saw it was only Viper, looking up at the tiger warrior with concern. Tigress attempted a smile to reassure her friend, but didn't quite manage it.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Traveller turned towards them.

"Battling the Skaal holds many dangers. But the greatest danger is to you Tigress, and you Viper."

Tiger and snake gave each other apprehensive looks.

"Shifu, as the master of this place, I thought it best that you were informed of the danger here."

"What danger?" Shifu asked harshly.

"The Skaal are savage and brutal creatures, and they revel in suffering and mayhem. When we fight them, you must ensure that you are never captured by them. The Skaal will not kill women if they can help it. They have developed several techniques for subduing them instead, bringing them back to their camp." He shuddered in revulsion. "Whenever we broke the Skaal lines, intending to rescue their prisoners, there was never anything left to rescue. All we ever found was the dead… and the broken."

"Is it that bad?" Viper asked nervously when there was no response from the other two.

"No. It is worse." Traveller took a step closer to them, his eyes burning with intensity. "There are no words in language that accurately portray the horror within a Skaal camp. If you are taken there, death will quickly be the only mercy left to you."

Tigress barely heard the sudden argument that broke out between her master and Traveller. Between what Traveller had told them, and the sheer conviction with which he spoke, she became completely numb, her eyes wide with horror. She could barely breathe, let alone move.

They had fought many things before, even long before Po had arrived, but this… it seemed they were to go to battle against walking nightmares. Despite everything in her that wanted to believe Traveller was lying to them, she couldn't do it.

She felt smooth, dry scales as Viper coiled her tail around the tiger's leg, and looked down to see the same horror and revulsion she felt reflected in her gentle friend's eyes. She reached down and picked up the snake, allowing her to wrap around her striped arm. Then she saw Traveller turn away from Shifu, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Go, I must still speak with your master."

They could not leave the hall fast enough.


Po and Crane were idly playing a game of Mahjong just outside the Hall of Warriors. Their minds weren't actually focused on the game, of course. They wanted to know what was going on in there, but so far had been unable to make out anything said within.

Crane placed a talon on a tile and was about to knock it over when the door burst open. Both the players stood quickly, knocking over the already-forgotten tiles in their rush to be the first to greet their friends, but their internally-prepared speeches died long before they had a chance to escape their lips.

Po had never seen such raw, unbridled emotion on Tigress's face. Tigress was a warrior, one of the strongest martial artists he had ever met. She was never scared. Or, at least that's what he had believed. The twisted, horrified expression that was perfectly matched in both her face and Viper's was so great, that neither Crane nor Po could say anything as the two others hurtled past, seemingly desperate to be away from the hall.

Finally, Po came enough to his senses to call out and begin to run towards the two women.

"Tigress! What-"

"No."

Po whirled around at Shifu's voice to see his master and Traveller both walking out from the hall. Shifu was leaning more heavily on Oogway's staff than usual, and Traveller seemed to have aged a few decades since they had last seen him.

"They need time alone. Leave them be."

"What happened in there?" Crane asked as both Shifu and Traveller set off in a different direction than Tigress and Viper had taken.

Traveler said softly, so low that they could barely hear,

"The truth."

As they walked away, leaving Crane and the Dragon Warrior standing alone amidst the Mahjong tiles, Crane muttered,

"I haven't seen Tigress like that since…"

"Since when?" Po questioned, reeling at the implication that this was not the first time Tigress had been so distraught.

"Since the attack on Shen's factory, when you got shot out of the building."