Chapter 2
I woke the next morning to a loud gong, followed by multiple voices saying "good morning master!" When I looked around, I noticed Tigress wasn't in the room. I got up and walked over to it, ready to open, but suddenly Master Shifu opened it for me.
"Good morning Sky" he said
"Good morning master Shifu" I replied
"Have you prepared an explanation?" he asked
"Yes. Where shall we do this?" I asked in response
"Come to the kitchen. We can have breakfast and tea while we discuss" he replied
We then walked down the hall and to another building, where there were bathing areas and a kitchen. We went into the kitchen and there was already food made. Fried rice, dumplings, and fruit tea. I prepared a plate for myself and Shifu while he was talking about a special tournament that would be happening tomorrow. To find someone who will be the Dragon Warrior at least I think that's what he called it. When I sat down with my food, I waited for Shifus permission to begin. He took a sip of his tea, and then nodded at me.
"OK, I'm gonna start way before my generation. Back when my grandfather was alive. He was the first to set on a quest to master every version of martial arts. He was an amazing fighter…so great, he could shatter a boulder with one finger! But his skill came with a cost. Many warriors from all over the world came to challenge him, all of them wanting the title of greatest warrior, so no law enforcement would dare get in their way. One day, an extremely powerful army of these people came, each seeking to destroy him. Naturally he beat all of them, but they were too strong to stay dead. Their power brought them back to life, in a form much more powerful. They became the first Phantom Beasts. My grandfather had the only power that could defeat them…the Xing power. He used it to defeat the army, but at great cost. It took his life. His brother has trained my uncle in the Xing arts, and my uncle trained me. But I'm not a master of Xing yet. The only art I haven't mastered is Kung Fu. We though the Beasts were gone, but we were wrong. They returned, stronger, and with larger forces. All of the Xing Warriors were killed, and my people were wiped out. That's why I've come here. I need a master in Kung Fu to teach me the tiger style" I concluded
Shifu pondered all the information I gave him. After a little while, he finally spoke.
"With this information, I can see you are a very important warrior. But I cannot teach you Tiger Style. If Tigress is willing, she can. Try asking her, and she might" he said
"Thank you Master" I said as I exited the Kitchen and ran to the training hall to find Tigress
When I got there, she was sitting on a bench clenching her chest. THAT'S RIGHT! She broke a rib. I walked over to her.
"Let me guess…tried to train with that injury?" I asked
"I have to deal with it. I have to compete in the tournament tomorrow" she replied starting to get up
"Well then come with me. I've got a way to heal you right up" I said
I grabbed her wrist and began leading her out the door.
"Hey! Watch those claws! They're sharp" she yelled
"Sorry. Not used to having them" I replied
Without another word, I brought her to the steps of the palace that led down into the valley. Wanting to show off an awesome technique, I picked Tigress up in my arms.
"Hold on. This is gonna be fun!" I said, causing her to grip on to my shoulders
"Flying Technique!" I yelled, then jumped into the air and glided down the stairs effortlessly
It took about 5 minutes for us to make to the bottom, but we did without any injury.
"Fun or what?" I asked, trying to put tigress down, but she was frozen, holding on to me
"That…was not…a Kung Fu…technique" she said, slowly letting go of me
"Nope. That was Karate" I clarified
"So is there a good noodle shop around here?" I asked
"Yeah. Pings Noodle Shop, but we don't have any money, and he doesn't give free meals" she replied
"Got it" I said
I then took my staff off my back and drew a symbol for current money, which makes a small bag a full of money that I can use wherever I currently am. Once the symbol was drawn, I put a little Xing power into it and a bag of money small enough to carry in my hand appeared.
"How did you do that?!" Tigress demanded
"I was born with a special power, and I can do things like that with it" I said
"And you need me to train you?" she asked
"Yeah is you cou-how did you know that?" I asked
"I was taking a bath when you and Shifu were talking about it" she replied
"You think I'd of noticed" I said, then added "anyway, I'm gonna go grab a bowl of soup, stay here"
She nodded and I walked over to the noodle shop. When I walked in, I noticed a big panda sweeping the floors.
"Sorry dude, we aren't open yet" he said
"I could tell. I need an order of to-go soup for helping someone heal. I overdid it in a duel and now Master Tigress-"
"Master Tigress! You know Master Tigress?" the panda asked while running over to me
"Yeah, she's kinda like my sister now I guess" I replied
"You gotta get me up there to meet her!" he said
"You can come up tomorrow at the tournament" I stated
"What tournament?" he asked
"I'm not supposed to tell anything past there. Sorry. Anyway, think I could get that soup?" I asked
"I still can't make anything until we're open" he said
"Then I'll be back later. Got other things to get" I replied then walked off
I went outside to find Tigress.
"No soup?" she asked
"They aren't open yet. The panda in there seems to be a really big fan of yours" I replied
She shrugged
"Let's go get the right herbs for the medicine" I said
She nodded and we went to the market, getting all the herbs we need, and talking.
"So what's the big deal about being one of the Furious 5?" I asked
"We are the most well trained warriors in china. One of us is destined to be the dragon warrior, and everyone seems to think it's gonna be me. Easy to say I'm kinda excited" she replied
"What's the big deal about being the dragon warrior?" I asked
Suddenly, she fell to the ground clenching her chest again.
"Crap. You've been walking too much. Go back up the Jade Palace. I can handle this" I said
"But-"
"Don't argue. This medicine won't work if you put too much strain on that rib. Just go" I commanded
She walked up without even trying to argue. I then went back to shopping, getting all the Herbs. Once I'd gotten everything I needed, I went back to the noodle shop to get the soup. As I walked in, I noticed the place was packed. There was a long line at the counter where you order your food. I stood at the end of the line, but 2 seconds later the panda walked up to me with a bowl of noodle soup.
"Here, I made it as soon as we opened. It cost 2 copper" he said
"Thanks. I'll get this to Tigress and she'll be back to normal in no time" I said while handing him the money
"But can I get another bowl? This smells really good!" I said, but suddenly he screamed and ran behind the counter
I turned around and saw a bunch of Snow leopards carrying umbrellas, and everybody was running out of the Noodle Shop in fear. I turned back around and walked up to the counter.
"Seriously though, I'd like that soup. It smells awesome!" I repeated, ignoring the cats behind me
"Are you crazy? Hide! Those the ladies of the shade!" the panda said
"I don't have time. I need to get this stuff back to Tigress" I replied
"That's a valuable looking staff you got there" said one of the leopards who was now standing next to me
"Really isn't worth much in the hands of an inexperienced fighter" I stated
"You saying I'm inexperienced?" she said, anger clear in her voice
"No. I'm saying this staff is special. Used by the wrong person, it's useless" I clarified
"Well then we'll just take this useless object off your hands" the one behind my said while wrapping her fingers around the staff
"I wouldn't do that. You'll regret it" I warned
She laughed and took the staff off my back, and began walking away. I sighed and put all my herbs and the soup down, then turned around.
"Split Tiger Strike!" I yelled, sending out a small wave a Xing energy that split into 3 and hit all of them
The one holding my staff was knocked over, throwing my staff into the air in the process. My staff landed in front of me, so I picked it up and put it on my back again. I then grabbed my stuff and walked past the leopards on the ground, but noticed one of them crying.
"If we go back with nothing, we'll be homeless" she said to herself
I felt bad so I pulled out the bag of many and threw it in front of her. She looked at me with confusion.
"Say you stole it" I said, took to flight
When I got back to the palace, I noticed a bunch of cannons and stuff being set up for tomorrow. Pretty intense stuff, I must say. I walked up to the barracks and into Tigress' room. She was reading a scroll when I walked in. I then mixed the ground herbs into the soup and gave it to her.
"This will make you better in no time" I said
"What did you need the soup for?" she asked
"If you didn't mix it, it would give you major stomach problems" I replied as she started eating
"Who are the Ladies of the Shade?" I asked
"A group a Leopards who make their living by stealing, tricking, and acting. Why?" she replied
"I ran into three of them and they tried to take my staff. When I knocked them over, one started crying and said that if they go back empty handed, they'll lose their home" I said
"So what'd you do?" she asked
"I gave them what was left in the sack of money and told them to act like they stole it" I replied
"Well I'll cut you some slack since you're new, but they played you" she stated
"Noted. Rest up until tomorrow. From the looks of it you're gonna be fighting hard. I'm gonna prepare for some side entertainment" I said
With that she laid back and continued eating her soup, and I went down to the village. I needed to put up posters for what I was planning. It was gonna be awesome! Very common where I'm from, but new to this place. I used my staff to draw a picture in the dirt, then drew a symbol over it that turned it into a stack of posters that said that I'd be performing an unknown talent to them. But when I did that, I couldn't help but feel eyes on me. But when I looked, there was nobody looking.
I decided to ignore it and went on hanging my posters on various walls. I also put one outside Mr. Pings Noodle Shop. But before I could move on, the panda walked out and towards me.
"Hey, you still want that bowl of soup? We owe you one for getting rid of those three earlier" he said
"Sure, why not?" I replied
As we began walking in to the eatery, he said "My name's Po by the way"
"Sky. Pleased to meet you" I replied
"Skip the formal stuff, I'm not in to that" he commanded
"Ok" I replied
We then walked in and I sat at an empty table. After a few minutes, he brought me my soup and sat across from me.
"So how'd you manage to become friends with Tigress?" he asked
"Well, I needed someone to train me in Kung Fu, and everybody recommended Master Shifu, so I went up to request that I be trained, when out of nowhere, Tigress attacked! She hit me from behind, causing me to fall, and then the rest of the five surrounded me. For some reason they thought I was some dude named Tai Lung. Guess he must be a white tiger too, huh? Anyway, once we cleared up the fact that I wasn't, they asked me what my business was being there, so I told them I wanted Shifu to train me. But they said I needed to first last 60 seconds in a fight with one of them. I got to choose which one. I chose Tigress and accidentally bruised a couple of her ribs. So in apology I bandaged her. But then she decided to run, and tripped. She broke one of her ribs, and I continued to care for her. we both finally came clean yesterday and told each other that I remind her of a friend she used to have, and she reminds me of my little sister who was killed in a really big battle" I concluded
"That…is…AWESOME!" he exclaimed
Right then, I finished my soup.
"I've got some preparations to make. I'll be back tomorrow for lunch. Later, Po!" I said
"Bye!" he replied
As I was walking out, I ran into someone. Who then dropped a bag of groceries. We both instantly dropped to the ground to start picking them up.
"Crap, I'm so sorry" I said
"No it's nothing, don't worry" SHE said
I looked up at her just as she looked at me, and saw a very, VERY beautiful Jungle Leopard. What I also noticed was a slight glow in her eyes. Like the glow I've got except hers let off an orange glow. Mine let off a blue. She wore a long sleeve silk shirt that joined with ties going in a straight line down the middle of her torso, and the same black silk pants as everyone else. We then stood up and she walked in as I walked out. I turned around to look at her and noticed 2 daggers attached to the back of her belt. The handles and sheaths were decorated with orange symbols that I could swear I'd seen somewhere. I decided to forget it for now and go back up to the palace to prepare for what I was gonna do.
I walked up the stairs since I didn't want to fly. It took a while, but I got there eventually. When I walked through the gate, I saw Viper slither into the barracks. Probably going to see tigress. After I set up my "Surprise" for after the tournament, I went up to the barracks to go get ready for bed. When I got up there I heard Tigress and Viper talking. Something about some new girl in the village who seemed odd. I knocked on the door for fear of walking in on a naked tiger.
"Come in" I heard Viper say
I walked in and noticed that Tigress was standing up instead of resting on the bed.
"Your rib feeling better?" I asked
"Mostly. If I'm just standing then I'm fine, but if I try to do anything more than running then it hurts" she replied
"Then it won't be healed in time. Sit on the cot and lift up your arm" I commanded
She complied and sat down, lifting up her right arm for me. I then place my left hand on her upper arm to hold it still, and pulled my other arm back into a punch position, with my pointer and middle finger extended. She suddenly jumped off the cot.
"Whoa!" she screamed
"What'd I do?" I asked
"You were gonna jab me in my broken rib!" she replied
"What? You've got this all wrong. Just trust me, and sit down. This won't hurt at all. Depending on how well I do it, it may even feel relaxing" I said
"I swear if this hurts, I'll kick you straight through the wall!" she warned
"And I'll let you. Are you gonna sit down or what?" I asked
Without saying anything, she sat down, and I got back into the same position. I focused my energy into the tips of my two fingers, and they began glowing blue. I noticed that Viper was curled up like a rattle snake in the corner as if afraid I was going to explode. I then slowly placed my fingers where her broken rib was and started transferring the energy of my fingers to it.
"Oh my god! It's like a massage!" she said while sighing
After a few minutes, I stopped and let go of her, standing up straight.
"See, no pain!" I weakly said
Suddenly, my legs gave out and I fell on my knees.
"Sky!" they both yelled as they rushed to me
"What happened?" asked Viper
"Healing broken bones is pretty exhausting. I'm gonna need to sleep a little extra tonight" I replied
I then crawled over to my normal spot on the floor.
"You can sleep on the cot with me if you'd like. I kinda owe you now" Tigress offered
"Thanks, but that's a small cot. I don't think we'd both fit. I'm fine here, but I will be looking in to buying a matt" I said, then sat down cross legged to take my vest off
One my vest was off, I lay my staff on the ground next to me and said my goodnights, ready to fall asleep, when Viper spoke.
"Did you see anyone that seemed odd in town today?" she asked
"Yeah. I bumped in to a Jungle Leopard outside Mr. Ping's. She wasn't a lady of the shade, but she was carrying these really weird daggers decorated with symbols that I could swear I've seen somewhere before" I replied
"And she was also wearing a weird Gui(G-ee.) It was orange and covered with tree designs. Kinda like how my vest is covered with bamboo and clouds. I'll have to sleep on this. Goodnight" I said, closing my eyes
