As Po had suspected, more people came to see Hou-Yi face Tigress and Monkey in archery. Hou-Yi was given a run for his money for nearly two hours. Whether it was boredom, not factoring for the wind, or fatigue in their arms, the two members of the Furious Five lost, being just the tiniest bit off-target. The next day the family and Hun-ch'ung went home, promising to talk to the pandas about visiting Po.
It was only a day or two later that the Jade Palace heard from Shou Village.
To the masters of the Jade Palace,
The panda Syaudi and his daughter Chwun Hwa are very pleased to hear of the existence of another panda and are highly honored to be invited to the Valley of Peace. They ask only permission to bring a few bodyguards and other servants. On another note, I hope to see you soon Shifu.
Signed, Amah
"AMAH!" cried the red panda with a smile. Po had run off shouting how awesome it would be to finally meet other pandas.
"Who's Amah?" asked Tigress.
"She was someone I met a long time ago. When I was first training at the Jade Palace, she came with some refugees from the south. She was very sick and undernourished when she first arrived. When she was well enough to speak she told me she was from a country south of China, which was at war. Her husband, an officer, had been killed by the enemy, and she and her twins would also be targeted. She traveled north with her baby twins, but became ill when she entered China. Finding no one to take her children, she had to leave them by the side of the road, then wandered away until she fell unconcious and was picked up by the refugees. We became very close, and before she left to try and find her twins she gave me a Master Yao's traveling box action figure."
"So that's where you got it!" cried Po delightedly, returned from his running. Shifu glared at him a little before instructing everyone to begin cleaning the Palace.
"She's almost here!" whispered Shifu, watching something through his telescope and squirming giddily. Po was just as excited, watching the gateway.
Sometime later, a swan landed in the court yard, panting. "Masters," she panted, "I have come with Syaudi. We had just entered the village when Syaudi's daughter collapsed in front of a restaurant. The owner let us take her inside, he said he was the Dragon Warrior's father -"
Po and his friends ran down to the village before the swan could finish. She flew behind them. At Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, a red panda and a tigress stood guard at the doorway. The red panda looked around middle-aged and had red fur all over his face. The tigress had white fur and no stripes. She was a little taller and slimmer than Tigress and wore gray clothes.
"Who are you?" the red panda asked as the group approached. He held a spear.
"I'm the Dragon Warrior, this is my Dad's shop!" panted Po. The red panda noticed the swan with them and allowed them in. The white tigress leaned against the wall, casually observing everything.
In the eating area (A.N. I don't know what to call it, a courtyard?) another red panda, a tiger, and a large snake were speaking to Mr. Ping. They turned when the Jade Palace masters entered. The tiger was a head taller than Tigress, had broad shoulders and chest, and had reverse colors; black with orange stripes. The red panda looked exactly like the one outside, except female. The snake raised himself up so that he towered over them all; he was huge!
"Hi there," Po greeted, a little nervous of the snake.
"This is my son, the Dragon Warrior!" Ping introduced proudly. Po introduced his friends.
"Hey, I'm Chiszle," began the tiger, "and these are Ungwa," he nodded to the red panda, "and Hsiao Lung," the snake bobbed his head. "My sister Lihai and Ungwa's brother Shei-He are outside," continued Chiszle, who appeared to be checking out Tigress.
About that moment, a large panda emerged from the restaurant. He wore cotton robes and had a short white beard and mustache, and a samurai headband wrapped over his eyes. He carried a walking stick which he tapped on the ground; he was blind. "And this is Prince Syaudi!" declared Chiszle.
The swan went over to the panda and led him by the hand. "Thank you, Syau Yen," the panda said.
Po was completely awed. He had been dreaming for ages about meeting other pandas, but now he could not think of anything to say. And Chiszle had said Syaudi was a prince! Syau Yen helped him by placing Po's hand in Syaudi's. "Nice to meet you," Syaudi said gently.
The other masters were introduced to Syaudi, then Monkey asked, "Are you really a prince?"
"I was, but I have nothing to be a prince of," sighed Syaudi sadly.
Another female red panda came out of the building, a bit older than the twins. "Amah!" blurted Shifu before he could contain himself, then he continued a little more composedly, "Very nice to see you again!"
"Hallo, Shifu!" she answered in an accent. Then she turned to Syaudi, "she has fever, but very low. Should be better tamarrow." Syaudi nodded.
"Is there anything we can do?" volunteered Crane.
Syaudi shook his head, "My daughter fainted when we got here. She's always getting sick! She's too thin for a panda! Her mother died in a flood when she was four, and she's just never had a good appetite since."
They spent the rest of the night at the restaurant, getting acquainted and keeping watch over Chwun Hwa (well, her dad, Crane and the women did). The next morning, Amah asked Po to take a bowl of noodle soup to Chwun Hwa. The panda went up to his room, stopping at the top of the steps. Chwun Hwa was about as tall as Po, but she was only as big around as Tigress! That is extremely underweight for a giant panda.
She wore a maroon dress. Her head was perfectly round, and the black patches over her eyes did not stretch much further than the eyelids. Her long, black hair had been tied in a bun, which was now coming loose. Po did not want to wake her up; she looked so beautiful and delicate!
"Baba!?" she cried as her emerald eyes snapped open. She looked at Po, surprised, but not alarmed. "Where am I?"
Po loved her voice! It was soft as silk. "You're at Mr. Ping's, in the Valley of Peace. He's my Dad; I'm Po, the Dragon Warrior." The female seemed satisfied with his answer. She settled back into the bed. Po smiled nervously, then stepped up to the bed. "Amah asked me to make sure you eat this," he offered her the bowl.
Chwun Hwa glanced at him, "Thank you, Po. You can set it down. I'll eat later, I'm not very hungry right now."
"Oh, no you don't!" Po smiled, "You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Lookit how thin you are!"
Chwun Hwa sat up and held up her arms, which were trembling a little, "My hands are shaking. I'll eat later, when they're steady."
"Nice try!" Po would not be put off. He sat on the edge of the bed and held out a spoonful of soup to the girl. Chwun Hwa looked at him a moment, then smiled and opened her mouth. Po made sure she ate every last bite before he left.