Learning One's Self


Po and Master Shifu were on the floor looking at the rising sun. "Now Po, you see the rising sun before you. Like the peace of the sunrise, you must learn to find peace not only with yourself but also with others." Shifu heard a particular sound emitting from Po. Shifu sighed. "Dumplings."

"What, where, who?" Po said completely awake. Shifu groaned.

"In short, before you go to sleep again, not everything can be solved in conflict," Shifu said.

"But Master Shifu, usually my fists can settle conflicts," Po said confidently. Shifu whacked him over the head with his cane. "Ouch!"

"Yes, but you know personally that that usually gets you in more trouble than ever," Shifu countered.

"Like when?"

"Like when you told Peng about his uncle, Tai-lung," Shifu said grimly. Po looked ashamed.

"Okay, so peaceful fights have some good things. But no one goes for peace anymore. Most bad guys just want to hit or attack," Po replied.

"Exactly," Master Shifu agreed, lifting his cane up, which was pointing to Po's nose. "That's why you must learn to think outside the box. Yes, your fighting style is unpredictable, and for the most part, you are adaptable, but you must learn how to apply your unpredictable fighting style other ways. Ways that can often put you in better situations than if you just used forced. Think outside the box." Master Shifu sighed from relief as he looked at the sunrise. "For now, your training is over." Po stood up and bowed. He went to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Trying to make sure your 'weapon' is maintained," Said a jealous and angry voice. Po was startled but knew who it was. His initial startle became a cocky smile.

"You're still upset about me beating you in the spar, Tigress? That's bad for your health I've heard," Po smirked. Tigress growled lowly.

"You cheated," She retorted.

"Says the loser," Po said cheekily. Tigress growled louder.

"Who uses their belly as a defense mechanism?"

"Who can't punch a simple belly?"

"Watch it, Po," Tigress grumbled, placing a finger on his chest. "I can find ways to attack you so you wouldn't know I did it. And Master Shifu wouldn't know either."

"'When you least expect it, expect it.' I've come to learn that from you. You keep me on my toes, Tigress. Besides, one master did say that there are no lessons in winning but a thousand in defeat. So what did you learn, Tigress?" Po asked with an irritating smug look. Tigress punched the food pantry cabinet door out of rage.

"Lesson? The next time I spar with you, I go for the kill," Tigress snarled. Po only smiled.

"Aw, nice to know you care about me," Po smiled cheekily. Tigress stormed out of the room in a fit of rage.


The Killers went to a nearby village the next morning. The village near the Valley of Peace would undoubtedly have some information on the Dragon Warrior. The two asked around the shops and areas. They couldn't ask the bosses because that would violate some of the codes they had between each other. "Okay, I've been asking around, honey. I've come to one conclusion."

"What?" Liexing asked.

"This will be an easy kill," Sheng said a little disappointed. "From what I can gather, the guy's name is Po Ping, panda, Dragon Warrior, he lives in the Jade Palace in the Valley of Peace, and other things." Sheng's stomach growled. "Let's get some 'supplies' before we get to the job." So they went to a nearby a restaurant. The setting was really romantic.

"You know, if I didn't know you any better, I would say you were taking me on a date," Liexing smiled. Sheng chuckled.

"My dear," He said gently taking her hand, "You make it sound like I don't know anything about romance." Liexing quickly tried to stab his hand with her chopsticks, but Sheng quickly removed them. "You, on the other hand, could take a lesson on love." Liexing shook her head with a smile. She casually dug into her pocket and pulled out her ring.

"Sheng, why did you marry me," She asked out of curiosity. Sheng rolled his eyes.

"This again? I've already told you. You keep me on my feet," Sheng joked. Liexing was serious.

"Come on, tell me. I know it's not because of my looks."

"Liexing, you're the most beautiful independent person I could think of. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. I'm just shocked you said yes." Liexing smiled. "Come on, we've eaten enough. I don't want to stay long in this sappy lovey guck." As they were leaving the village, a bunny girl caught up with them.

"Excuse me, what do you work as," she asked.

"Why do you ask," Sheng replied, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.

"Because you guys have different working clothes than the rest of the villagers. I've never seen these before."

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," Sheng said, whispering to her, "I cause people to not breathe."

"Sheng!" Liexing exclaimed. She didn't want the little girl to be traumatized. But the bunny girl seemed to become bouncy when she heard the news.

"You're assassins? Super! So cool! How did you guys become assassins?" Wow, that question took the Killers back a long time ago.

Sheng's full name is Xiao Sheng which means laughter in Chinese. His parents moved from Somalia to China when he was a baby because of persecution. They didn't like Sheng being an albino hyena and thought him illegitimate. Sheng is an unusual joke, a wisecrack, and overly dramatic at times. He is also mildly crazy, which is unto this day debatable. His wife Liexing is a female Chinese black wolf. Her name means spirited, which she certainly is. She is happy, slightly smug sometimes, suggestive other times, curious, and very independent. She had to be independent because her parents died in a raid by bandits and she was left alone. The two met when they discovered a secret assassin's training camp. It took in young recruits and trained them to be assassins. Sheng and Liexing both met each other and they both became the best in their camp, which started to cause some jealousy and greed. Then, Sheng heard a hit announced on them. Anyone who could kill them would be greatly rewarded. So Liexing and Sheng did something about it. They destroyed every last person in the assassin's training camp. Students, teachers, leaders, everyone was destroyed. When people heard about this, the Emperor secretly gave them reward money for stopping the training camp, but the Killers kept their skills.

The jumpsuits they have are loaded with reloads and weapons for jobs. The thing about the Killers is they charge an unusually high fee for kills. And they usually only do one kill per job. They don't do assassinations of entire people, although some say they could. Though many saw the Killers as merciless and skillfully deadly, they did have some rules.

"It was a lot," Sheng told the girl. "Sorry, we can't tell you much. But we'll get you something if we come back, okay." the bunny girl was excited as they left the village.

to be continued.