Chapter 4: Tranquil

Morning came to the valley once again bearing the slow winter chill underarm. It had snowed heavily the previous night, layering the village with a thick blanket of white. Due to the Jade Temple's altitude, it was an endless struggle to keep the doors from freezing shut, and as such the Five were woken particularly early. To be fair enough however, Shifu stressed that it would be wise to remain indoors, as the cold outside was particularly brutal and could result in minor, but hindering illness.

The only person to ignore Master Shifu's warnings was Hao, who, following a debate with Feng, was given reluctant permission to do as he wished, and his idea of fun in the snow was sitting still in meditation for hours with little to protect his body other than a pair of silk trousers and shoes to match.

Feng had sat inside with the others, and made frequent checks on his associate from the windows of the palace. Assuming that he knew what he was doing, Feng moved away from the window and smiled to himself. As he proceeded down the hallway, the smell of food filled his nostrils and a wash of hunger he hadn't felt in years blew over him.

It wasn't long afterwards that the smell began to work it's way outside of the Jade Palace's walls and into the courtyard where Hao was meditating, disturbing and taunting his nose with it's sweet scent. As his thoughts began to drift towards hunger, a sneaky smile crept over his face at every image of food that crossed through his mind.

"Hey, 'Big Guy'!" sounded a female voice that Hao knew bur couldn't identify. Alongside the Panther slithered Viper, wrapped in a long, furry jacket that almost seemed to represent a sock cut off at the heel. Hao opened one eye and looked down at the green snake, shooting her a sarcastically cheeky grin.

"Well, seems like you're back for seconds." he chuckled to his visitor, causing her cheeks to beam red.

"No thanks." she replied, lowering her brow sternly. "I'm just curious. I mean, wont you catch a cold sitting out here like that?" Hao closed his eyes and tried to regain his trail of thought.

"I grew up in worse conditions than this. No shelter, little food and no means to defend myself. I just…adapted." he answered back, allowing the smile to fade from his face as his mind cleared of hunger-inducing images. Intrigued, Viper slithered up onto Hao's leg and made herself comfortable.

"Didn't you ever go looking for shelter or food?" Hao reopened his eye and smiled again as he felt the warmth from Viper's body touch his leg.

"Well, yes, I did. But nobody would take in just any old kid off the streets. Mr. Feng was the exception I'd spent the majority of my life waiting for." Viper frowned to herself.

"That's horrible. I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be." Hao cut in quickly. "It wasn't your fault I had nowhere to go. I just got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Doesn't it ever make you sad though? Thinking about people in the same situation?" Again, Hao's smile disappeared momentarily.

"It has crossed my mind over the years. Yes…I guess the idea does upset me to some level." Viper frowned again and tightened her grip around Hao's leg in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's so sad…" the sighed, placing her head down against her body. Hao looked back down at the reptile and his smile reappeared.

"So, did you have it rough when you were a kid?" he asked, leaving his state of meditation completely and lying down on the snow covered ground. Viper nodded and rose her head a little.

"I was born without fangs." she mumbled, feeling the blood rush back to her face. Hao raised a brow and looked up at her.

"You were born with what?" he asked in confusion. Viper lowered her head in embarrassment and tried to hide the fact she was blushing behind the fluffy collar of her 'jacket'.

"I was born without fangs." she said clearly, continuing to retract behind the fluffy collar. Hao widened his eyes.

"Wow. For a snake, that must be a real bummer." he replied. Viper nodded in response again as she tried to stop blushing.

"Nobody thought I'd become a Master at anything, so I kinda' had a difficult upbringing." she continued as the red disappeared from her face. Hao lay back down and looked up at the sky.

"Well, you proved everyone wrong then, didn't you." Viper smiled back at his remark.

"Aww, thanks." Hao turned back to his guest still wearing his smile.

"Any time, miss…?" He asked back in intrigue.

"Miss…ahem…'Master' Viper." she replied, smiling at the thought of being referred to as a normal person. Hao laughed and face-palmed himself.

"Damn it Hao, you idiot." he chuckled to himself quietly. " Sorry about th..."

"Don't be." Viper cut in quickly, much like Hao had done with her. "It's just normal to ask someone's name." Hao smiled in response and turned his gaze back to the sky.

"I guess so. Thanks."

"For what?" Viper asked with a raised brow.

"For making me sound less like an idiot." Viper jabbed Hao in the stomach lightly with the tip of her tail.

"You're not an idiot for asking my name." she laughed, jabbing him again for good measure. "Right now, we're just two normal people talking in the snow." Hao's smile widened a little.

"Yeah…I like that." he mumbled, keeping his eyes fixed on the gigantic swirling cloud above him. Viper looked at him with a friendly smile and watched the sky with him.

"What are you looking at?" she asked curiously, placing her head beside his, incidentally tightening her grip on his leg a little. Hao looked over at Viper and back at the sky.

"Nothing interesting." he replied, continuing staring upwards. Viper turned and looked at the panther with a cheeky smile.

"Well…how about you?" she said softly, catching Hao's full attention. "You're pretty interesting." Hao smiled as his cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Nah. I'm a nobody." he turned and looked right into Viper's eyes. "You're way more interesting." Viper stopped as their eyes locked. As much as she wanted to push her head back behind her fluffy jacket collar, she couldn't do it. Feeling the heat rush to her face, she suddenly shook her head a little and jerked herself out of her trance.

"I…uh…" she stuttered, trying to regain her posture. "…thanks." Again, she looked up at the sky and noticed the looming snow clouds settling over the valley. "It's getting pretty cold out. Want to go back inside?" she continued, hastily unwrapping herself from Hao's leg. Hao sat upright and turned around with a nod.

"Yeah, I guess I've spent long enough out this morning." he replied, picking himself up onto his feet. Side by side, the duo headed back into the Jade Palace…

So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of my story. It's my first romance based chapter, so please R&R. Critisism is openly embraced, but if you feel the need to say something innapropriate, please take it elsewhere. Thankyou for reading and I hope you will enjoy the future chapters.

P.S. - I found a beautiful piece of Erhu music by Jia Peng Fang called 'Cherry Blossoms' on youtube that I thought would be very suiting to this chapter. Check it out if you want.