I do not own Kung Fu Panda. I only own my OCs.

Jadyn's New Home

The sun rose over the mountaintops, spreading a dull orange glow over the valley. The Bao Gu Orphanage was already filled with chattering kids, laughing and giggling, stuffing cereal in their mouths and spilling their drinks. Miss Woolworth was rushing around, handing out napkins and gently scolding the occasional child.

Since it was only five in the morning, Miss Woolworth was mildly surprised to hear a knock at the door. It wasn't often the orphanage got visitors this early.

"I wonder who that could be..."

...

"Jadyn!"

Jadyn grunted, her face emerging from her pillow as she tried to clear the morning haze from her tired yellow eyes. After a moment, the shout came again.

"Jadyn! Get out here now! You have a visitor!"

Scowling, Jadyn untangled herself from her warm covers and ran a paw through her messy white fur. She stared at her blue flannel pyjamas for only a second before shrugging her shoulders and yanking the sliding door open.

If it was the time of day she thought it was, someone would pay.

She stormed down the hall, the little ones diving out of her way as she glared at them. Some snickered at her appearance, but Jadyn ignored them. She knew she looked like a mess. Her fur was tousled, she was the only one in her pyjamas and it didn't help that she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

Miss Woolworth groaned as she stomped into the entry hall, paws on her hips. "You're not dressed!"

"Of course not! It's only five in the flipping morning!" Jadyn snapped. "You have just deprived me of six hours sleep."

Shifu stepped out from behind Miss Woolworth, causing Jadyn to still in surprise. "You mean that this child does not leave her quarters until late morning?" he demanded.

Miss Woolworth stuttered nervously, "Well s-sir, she can be r-rather irritable when s-she does not get her sleep and-"

"Like right now," Jadyn cut her matron off and turned to Master Shifu. She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "I'm already banned from dessert for two months. I apologized for taking the dang fruit. But I'll say it again. I am very sorry. Now can I please go back to bed?"

"No. You must start packing at once. Your training starts immediately."

Jadyn took a moment to process this. But the only response that came out of her normally smart mouth was, "What?"

Shifu raised an eyebrow at the young cub's confused expression. "The polite answer is pardon. We shall work on your appalling language and manners during your training."

"My training," Jadyn repeated.

"I will be taking you to your new home. The Jade Palace."

"Excellent!" Miss Woolworth cried happily.

Jadyn scowled at the older sheep and struggled to think of any possible way out of this. Going to the Jade Palace was every kung-fu loving cub's dream. But not her. She was too lazy, sarcastic and disobedient to think of taking up the art of kung-fu. And all of her personality qualities were not exactly qualities that were accepted at the Jade Palace.

"But the next adoption day isn't until next month!" she attempted to protest.

"I'm sure we can make an exception!" Ms. Woolworth smiled gleefully.

Jadyn frowned. "But I don't want to go," she said bluntly.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Shifu replied simply. "I will be waiting out front. If you are not ready in ten minutes, I will pack for you."

With that said, he strode out the front entrance.

Jadyn stood in the middle of the entry hallway, jaw open in shock and dismay. She took only a moment to glare at Miss Woolworth, who was dancing around the room, unable to contain her joy. With a scowl, she stalked back to her room, grumbling under her breath. She stripped off her pyjamas and put on a fresh pair of black slacks and a beige shirt.

She threw her cloak in her leather bag, along with the rest of her small collection of belongings. She slung the bag over her shoulder and went back into the hall. Before she left she searched for Joey and, when she found him, she gave him a rather hard kick in the shins in farewell.

"Miss Woolworth!" screamed Joey, and Jadyn gave a mock salute to the exasperated matron.

With barely a glance over her shoulder, Jadyn strode for the door and hollered, "Won't be missing you anytime soon!"

She met Shifu in the middle of the grassy yard and wiggled her toes in the dewy grass. She tried one last attempt to get the master to change his mind. "I am a pain in the butt," she insisted.

If she had paid attention to his expression, she might have seen the quick smile that flashed across his face. "Then I suppose we'll just have to change that, won't we?"

He started forward and Jadyn lagged behind. She turned her face up towards the sky and groaned.

Why me?

...

Jadyn gaped at the towering mountain and the many, many stairs that led to the Jade Palace. "Oh. Crap."

"That foul language will have to be dealt with," Shifu muttered as he climbed the steps with ease. Jadyn rubbed her eyes in dismay and quickly followed. The fog that was surrounding them made her feel a bit uneasy, and the last thing she needed was to get lost on the steps leading to the Jade Palace.

They were three-quarters of the way up when Jadyn began to swear softly and whine with every step she took. "Whose idea was it to build a palace at the top of a mountain?"

"A very wise person."

Jadyn rolled her yellow eyes and scowled. "Then that wise person was obviously not a lazy person."

"Another habit that we must work on."

"I am going to die," Jadyn muttered in annoyance and could not help but let out a sigh of relief as they finally reached the top. "Finally!"

The large wooden gates opened and Shifu strode inside. Jadyn followed and could not help but groan inwardly when she saw the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior standing in the middle of the field, waiting to greet her.

"I think we got off on the wrong paw earlier. I'm Po." The panda smiled and offered his hand.

Jadyn accepted it with a slight smile. "Jadyn. And sorry about the orange...and pretty much everything else."

"No worries."

"So, Jadyn. Are you ready for training to start?" Viper asked.

Jadyn tried to keep the panic out of her eyes. "R-right now?"

"Of course. We must begin right away. You may put your bag in your quarters and then meet me back here." Shifu turned to face the Five and Po. "You may begin your training. I shall call for you, Tigress, shortly."

Jadyn twisted the strap on her bag when Tigress looked at her. The expression in her eyes did not make her feel any comfortable. It seemed that she still harboured a grudge from their first encounter.

It seemed that revenge was on the horizon.