The look that came over Fu's once they entered the village was a shocked and happy one. Perhaps it was because he had been trapped for so long. Whatever the reason, he was looking at the village as someone seeing a busy village for the first time.
Almost as if Monkey could read Fu's mind, he quickly grabbed a hold of Fu's wing to keep him from bolting.
"Stay near us Fu. We don't want to lose you." Monkey said.
Fu paused for a moment, as if thinking those words over. He then suddenly embraced Monkey in a strong winged hug.
"Awww, I wouldn't want to lose you either. You're a nice friend!" Fu said.
Monkey gasped for air, Fu's grip stronger then it appeared. Finally Fu released him. Crane couldn't help but chuckle a bit and whisper to Monkey.
"He gets attached quickly. Doesn't he?"
Though still getting air back, Monkey couldn't help but grin in agreement. Fu by now was following after Po, keeping close though from the way he looked around it was clear he wanted to go off and explore everything. It was rather much like watching a big kid.
As they headed to Ping's shop, Fu started to ramble on about whatever topic occurred to him to talk about.
"So yeah. I like Lilly pads. Their just so great because their nice and would never lie to you. What you see is what you get with a Lilly like rocks. But who wants to hear about rocks, right? Oh, and I-"
The rambling continued on like that until they reached the shop.
"Okay, we're here." Po said, slightly glad for the chance to interrupt Fu.
Fu stopped his rambling. Though the moment Po's back was turned he made his way into the kitchen,
"Hi!" Fu shouted from behind as he stirred a pot of noodles.
Ping cried out and very nearly flung the spoon he been using into the air. Once his heart started beating normally Ping turned to face Fu and Po who had just stepped in.
"Sorry, sorry! Fu here sort of got away from me." Po said.
"A new friend I suppose?" Ping asked, relaxing now both from his sons appearance and the fact Fu was grinning in a way that was non threatening.
"Yeah. But uhh, just a heads up. Try to be patient with here is umm... doesn't exactly have all his noodles in the bowl if you know what I mean." Po said.
Fu tilted his head.
"Noodles? What noodles? I don't have any noodles."
Ping looked to Fu, his look softening when he got at what Po was saying.
"I see. Well, since he's your friend you know he's always welcomed here." Ping said.
A loud sneeze and a cloud of white was what resulted of Fu sticking his head into a flour sack the kitchen had a light dusting of flour, including on Po and Ping. Ping did not look amused.
"He's still welcomed in the shop, but not back here." he finally said.
Po nodded in understanding and started to lead Fu out.
"Come on Fu, it'll be much easier... and probably a lot less messier, if you eat at one of the tables." Po said.
"How disappointing. There were no flowers in that flower sack at all." Fu mumbled.
Night was starting to fall over the valley. Though the night sky was serene and clear, the figures standing on top of a hill over looking the village promised trouble.
"Great... the palace is up all those stairs." a battle scarred warthog snorted.
"Maybe the stairs wouldn't look so daunting if you know, exercised a bit." a lanky wolf that looked like he had the touch of the mange chuckled.
The warthog glared at the wolf and swung his fist at him. The wolf only back flipped out of the way and laughed. Only two more of the group remained and the deep brown with black stripes cat was the next to speak.
"I wouldn't worry yourself over stairs Gang. I believe this crane we're looking for is in the village. Also, please put Haun down. I personally don't care if you two kill each other once out of my sight. But as long as I'm involved with this job, there will be no killing. Understand?" the cat said.
Gang let go of Haun's throat, dropping the wolf. Haun only laughed once he hit the ground.
"And just how do you know where the crane is anyways, Dewei?" Gang snorted.
"As I have explained many times, I have tracked his aura." Dewei replied with a deep sigh.
"Let me know when you have an actual answer for me. But as for the no killing thing, I wouldn't worry about me killing anyone. It's Xi Xu you'll want to keep an eye on." Gang said, glancing down at their last member.
The small rabbit said nothing. This might had been because of the metal mask on his head, the metal shaped into a terrible, grimacing face of a tucked demon. Xi Xu didn't even turn to look at the others. He only pointed at the village with one of the long, metal blades that seemed to be attached to his fingers.
Even in the silence, the group got his meaning.
"Well then boys, let's go catch us some cranes." Gang said with a grinned.
"Bet I catch one first!" Haun said with a whoop and started down to the village.
Dewei and Xi Xu were the last ones to follow. Xi Xu slowly made his way down the hill while Dewei followed. The cat couldn't help but shudder at the blank darkness he saw in Xi Xu's aura.