BANG!
"Three cheers for the Dragon Warrior!"
The citizens cheered as a bright scarlet explosion flashed above the harbor of Gongmen City.
Just sixteen hours ago, the evil peacock Lord Shen had been leading his armada through the city canals in what would have been the beginning of the end for all of China. Except that the Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five, the Grandmaster of the Jade Palace, and the remaining two members of the Masters Council had risen up to combat Shen's army. It was the Dragon Warrior alone who defeated the entire armada, performing the remarkable feat of redirecting the deadly and powerful cannonfire against Shen's own ships, reducing him and his army to carnage.
And now, more than half a day later, the celebrations were well underway. As fireworks lit the dark sky, in the streets below citizens cheered and danced to the uplifting folk music. The many buildings had been adorned roof to base with red and gold decorations.
In the city marketplace, a green tree viper with two white lotus head decorations twirled in the middle of the paving with a glimmering red ribbon, much to the awe of the watching citizens. At the front of the crowd, some small children attempted to copy the snake's graceful movements with their own ribbons.
A black crested crane wearing a wide rice hat clapped the loudest amongst the surrounding crowd.
"Wow, Viper!" Master Crane gaped at the wonderful display. "You weren't kidding when you said you were the greatest ribbon dancer in your village!"
Viper smiled as she twirled the ribbon high above her head like a shimmering crimson vortex.
"How's your wing?" She asked as she continued to dance for the audience.
"Much better, thanks for asking." Crane spoke. "It didn't hurt so much during the battle."
"That was pretty obvious, judging from your perfect performance of the Wings of Justice technique." Viper chortled. "Speaking of which… I know now that Po and Monkey weren't kidding when they mentioned that you 'ka-caw'!"
Crane went bright red, so red that it showed through his feathers, and scowled. She just had to bring that up, didn't she?
"It was a one time thing!" He exclaimed. The redness did not fade from his cheeks. "Please… no jokes when we get back home, okay?"
"Okay, then." Viper laughed as she lifted her entire body through a loop in the twirling ribbon. The audience clapped loudly at this remarkable feat, and the small children got themselves tangled up in their ribbons.
Meanwhile, in a tavern at the borders of Gongmen harbor, a golden langur monkey and a praying mantis sat at the bar sipping from pints of rice wine.
"Uh… what a day." Monkey groaned as he rubbed a bruise on his shoulder, inflicted during the battle against Shen's soldiers. He had worse injuries of course: a cracked rib or two had been tightly wrapped before he could be allowed to attend the celebrations.
"You said it, buddy." Mantis replied, absentmindely attempting to straighten a crooked antennae.
"I hope I never see another cannon again." Monkey took another sip, and then was sucking on nothing. "Fill her up!" He called to the bartender.
"Anything for the heroes of Gongmen City." The bartender called back. He almost knocked over a waitress in his rush to complete the task.
"That's gonna be a problem." Mantis replied, his mouth as thin as a noodle strand. "Once the celebrations are over, we're going to have to help the citizens fish the debris from the ships from the lake, so they don't cause any shipwrecks. Chances are there's going to be a few cannons that'll have to be pulled up."
Monkey groaned, and took a huge gulp of the wine.
"Brilliant." He muttered.
"Hey, it's not so bad." Said Mantis. "At least this time, the cannons won't be firing at us."
"You got a good point there… except for one thing."
"What's that?"
"I'll still have to look at them!"
Mantis rolled his eyes and inwardly decided that it would be pointless continuing the conversation any longer.
"Whatever…"
He grabbed a bowl of nuts are started nibbling.
On the other side of the city, Masters Storming Ox and Croc stared at the mess of wood and metal that had once been the Tower of Sacred Flame. Workers were climbing across the carnage, collecting the smaller bits of debris in what would be the beginning of three long days of cleaning up. Once the debris was completely cleaned, there was the process of locating the original schematics of the building, and then acquiring the necessary resources for rebuilding the tower in all it's former glory.
"I can't believe this…" Ox breathed. His ears dangled limply on both sides of his head. "It's unbelievable that Shen would destroy his ancestral home."
"Hey, it's not that unbelievable." Croc replied. His nostrils caught the slight hint of smoke that still lingered in the night air. "From what I've heard, that peacock really had it in for his parents."
They stared at the wreckage in silence for some time before either of them spoke again.
"So what happens now?" Ox asked quietly, ignoring the fact that he was actually looking to Croc for answers.
"I guess that the tower will get rebuilt." Croc said after a few seconds, not taking his eyes off the destruction. "And then there will have to be a decision made over who will be the new leader of the council."
"I still can't believe Rhino's gone…" Ox pinched the bridge of his nose as the sorrow he had pushed aside before the battle washed over him full force. "He had always seemed so… invincible. If I hadn't lost my temper and leapt recklessly at that peacock…"
"Neither of us could have foreseen what Shen's weapon would do." Croc's tone was stern, yet he put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Do not blame yourself."
Ox nodded silently, and held up Thundering Rhino's wind hammer, which had miraculously survived the destruction of the tower and had been recovered only minutes before.
"We should find a place to put this." He said, running a hoof over the blackened dent in the stone.
Croc nodded, and together the two comrades departed the scene of their friend's death.
In Gongmen Infirmary, Master Tigress sulked in her chair as a pig wrapped linen bandages round her torso, professionally keeping his eyes from straying to her chest area.
"I still don't see why this is necessary." She muttered, golden eyes narrowed in displeasure, ready to floor the pig if he looked anywhere but her midriff.
"You have three cracked ribs." Said the Soothsayer, who was sitting in a chair in one corner of the room, sipping from a tiny green teacuo. "You should be fortunate that the cannon didn't give you any other internal injuries, or you would never be allowed to leave the infirmary tonight."
Tigress sighed, defeated. The old goat was right. She should be thankful that she could still attend tonight's celebrations despite her injuries.
"Almost done…" the pig tied the two ends of the bandage together and patted it to ensure that it was tight enough. "We'll just get you some pain-relief tonic and then you can go."
Tigress nodded, and the pig left the room to retrieve said tonic.
The second the door closed, Tigress lifted her chair, set it down in front of the Soothsayer, and sat face to face with her.
"May I ask what you're doing here?" She asked, slightly hoping that her tone did not sound too accusatory.
"I did make quite the unexpected appearance, didn't I? I apologize." Said the Soothsayer with a small smile and a chuckle. She sipped the last of her tea and set it down on the little table next to her "I'm here because the Dragon Warrior is in turmoil."
Tigress frowned. Po, the cheery, powerful Dragon Warrior in turmoil? That sounded odd, even to her.
"I thought he had achieved inner peace." She said.
"He has." Said the Soothsayer. "I am talking about the grief he feels for the loss of his people."
"His people?"
The Soothsayer removed her small glasses, wiped them with a silken purple cloth, and set them back on the bridge of her nose before continuing.
"Nearly thirty years ago, the village where Po used to live was completely destroyed by Shen and his army."
Tigress's eyes widened. Her heart skipped a beat.
"At this point, it would appear that Po is the last surviving panda. Though he is at peace with the loss of his parents, the fact that he is seemingly the last of his kind is sure to be devastating for him."
Tigress gripped the edges of her seat hard enough to splinter them. She had never known. She had always thought that Po had always lived a comfortable life in the Valley of Peace, never considered that perhaps he had also suffered like she did. Was she really that naiive?
"I understand…" Tigress said thickly. But did she really? "And what does this have to do with me?"
"Out of everyone, you are the closest to him." Said the Soothsayer bluntly. "You are so different from him, and yet you and Po have so much in common. You are both orphaned. You both strived all your life for a seemingly unattainable dream. Only you can help him cope with such a terrible loss."
Tigress didn't reply.
"That is all I have to say." The Soothsayer got up from her chair as the pig reentered the room. "Good day, Tigress, and I hope you enjoy the celebrations."
She disappeared through the door, leaving the feline alone with her thoughts.
On the roof of one of the taller buildings, a giant panda stared up at the fireworks with an expression of deep sadness.
It was strange. He had just saved the entire country from a psychotic peacock, achieving inner peace in the process, and yet all he felt right now was overwhelming sadness.
Why? He thought as blue and emerald explosions lit up the night sky. Why is my heart aching so much on one of the greatest nights of my life? I hope I'm not coming down with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 'cause that would be a real bum-
"What is the matter, Po?"
"GAAAAAH!"
Po jumped two feet in the air, nearly falling from the roof in the process. An elderly red panda in a beautiful jade green robe had just materialized next to him.
"Master Shifu! Don't do that!" Po exclaimed as he put a paw over his racing heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I do that a lot, don't I?" Shifu replied indifferently. "You haven't answered my question. What is the matter?"
Po leant backwards, stabilizing himself with his hands, as he continued to look up at the fireworks. He sighed, remembering a similar question from a currently deceased elderly but wise tortoise.
"I don't know." He eventually said. "For some reason, I'm feeling like a hole is punched through my chest, when I should be celebrating one of the most awesome nights of my life. What's the deal with that?"
"I'm not sure." Said Shifu, as he wiped the soot from last night's cannon fire off of his staff. "But I believe that you may figure it out sooner or later. Why don't you tell me what happened after you were shot by the cannon." Shifu tried not to falter at mentioning the horrible moment he had envisioned during his meditation.
The largest firework yet briefly turned the black sky golden as Po hesitated before answering.
"After I got shot into the river… the Soothsayer rescued me and brought me to this old deserted village. It soon turned out that it was the village where I was born…" Po suddenly stopped talking and bit his lip.
"Go on." Shifu urged him gently.
"When I was a baby, the village was attacked by Lord Shen and his wolves." Po bit his lip harder as the memories he had once repressed again came to the forefront of his mind. "I was the last survivor." Even at thirty years old, the memories were still vivid. He could still remember the screams of the fleeing pandas and the howls of the wolves who had slaughtered them… his birth father stepping in between his infant son and the attacking wolves and striking the Boss Wolf in the eye with a rake… his mother hiding her child in a radish basket and running up the snowy hill to her death…
Po suddenly realized that his cheeks were stained with tears. He could feel them dampening his facial fur.
"It's because I'm the last of my kind, isn't it?" Po spoke with a quivering lip. "That's why I'm upset."
It was a while before Shifu answered.
"It is indeed a lonely feeling, to be the last of your species." Shifu said quietly, and for a split second Po thought there was slight sadness in the red panda's tone. "I myself have not seen another red panda other than my father."
"Really?" Po blinked through his tears, which he hurriedly wiped off.
"Really. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I and my father are the last of our kind." Shifu stood up and faced his student directly. "And just because one village was massacred, that doesn't mean that you are the last of your kind. You must hold out hope that there are still pandas out there in the world aside from you."
Po looked up, his lip no longer shaking.
"You really mean that?" He asked.
"Yes, I do." Shifu smiled. "Now wipe that ridiculous frown off your face and enjoy the fireworks."
Po grinned back, and then Shifu leapt off the roof and disappeared.
A minute later, a striped feline appeared in his place.
"Tigress!" Po's grin widened and politely gestured for her to sit beside him. "How are you feeling?"
"Just a couple of cracked ribs." Tigress sat down beside the panda with a smile. "The healer said I could attend the celebrations so long as I don't over-exert myself."
"Thank god…" Po breathed. "You gave us all one heck of a scare when you collapsed at the docks this morning."
"Sorry about that. I hadn't realized just how much damage the cannon did to me."
"Speaking of which…" Po adjusted himself so that he was directly facing Tigress, his grin gone from his face. He had pushed it aside when it had become clear that Tigress needed medical attention, but now that she was out of danger, he had to know. "Why did you push me out the way just before Shen lit the fuse?"
To his surprise, Tigress didn't answer. Instead, she bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Why did you push me out the way?" Po asked again, keeping his tone gentle.
"I already told you…" Tigress finally spoke in a tiny voice. Was it his imagination, or did she seem unsure, as if she herself didn't know what the answer was? "It's because I can't watch my friend be killed."
Po nodded, deciding to leave it at that.
The two friends looked up at the sky, where the fireworks lighting up the sky steadily increased in number, increasing the entertainment.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Tigress whispered as a scarlet firework exploded overhead.
"Like you…"
"Huh?"
"Like your super awesome kung fu moves!" Po said quickly, turning bright red. "They were so beautiful and graceful when we were fighting last night!"
"Oh…" Tigress smirked. Po would always be the child-like fan boy, no matter how many cannonballs he redirected.
Where the heck did that come from? Po thought, his cheeks still burning.
"Hey, I hear that Viper's displaying her ribbon dancing in the city marketplace." Po eventually said, his cheeks still crimson. "Wanna go see?"
"Sure, I would love to." Tigress replied, one of the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Shifu's right, Po thought as he and Tigress climbed down from the roof. I should stop despairing over my old family and hold out hope that there are still some pandas left in the world. And in the meantime, I'll enjoy the family I have right now.