Po knew he should have used his powers to get Lotus away from Kai. All it would have taken was a simple, single command in his mind and the yak would have let go of the panda...and they wouldn't be in the Spirit Realm right now.
But Po knew that he could never have done that; he could never use his powers on a living being, not even Kai himself. Once was enough when he'd had to force the spirit warrior into his prison cell. Besides...he'd simply been too panicked and confused to think straight or even do such a thing, especially when Kai had claimed that Oogway had lied to him.
"Where are we?" a small voice asked in wonder. Po opened his eyes to double check and make sure that yes, they were in the Spirit Realm; the staff must have sent them here when Chao had grabbed it from Kai—it was still being held safely in the young tiger's paws. Why, Po wasn't sure, but he was thankful that it had sent them all to safety. Well, as safe as it could get. Still...he couldn't see Kai anywhere. Had he gotten left behind?
"I don't know," Chao responded to Lotus as they floated through the realm together in just as much wonder and confusion. The place was all so bright and colorful with yellows and greens, and there were even floating rocks and islands!
Po grinned to himself despite the situation. He'd just found out that Master Oogway, who he had always trusted and looked up to, had possibly been lying about hibernating for a thousand years. He knew that Kai was most likely trying to get under his skin, but Oogway did work in mysterious ways that didn't always make sense.
Pushing the thought away and still grinning, Po also knew that he was able to communicate with anyone that was in the Spirit Realm through their minds.
This is the Spirit Realm, he tried sending to Lotus.
The panda's ears perked up sky high, and he looked about wildly every which way in search of the voice's source.
"What was that?!" he cried in a panic, his gaze landing on Chao. The tiger cub turned to face his brother, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"What was what?" he asked curiously, wondering why Lotus was so afraid. He followed his brother's frantic glances, but no one could be seen in the odd realm besides himself, Lotus and Siyu; the 'Master of Pain' as he had called himself, had supposedly gotten left behind...which was a good thing.
And he calls me a scaredy-cat.
"...You didn't hear it?" Lotus asked, eyes wide. Was he the one going crazy?
"I didn't hear anything," Chao confirmed, starting to worry for his brother. What was going on? Lotus was never as freaked out as he was now, and he usually never made up anything like this, either. Maybe to scare him, but never anything too serious.
It's me, Po tried again, floating towards Lotus to try and comfort the little panda.
"That! Did you hear it?!" Lotus cried, failing to put two and two together as Siyu gave him a little nuzzle.
Chao shook his head, frowning at his attempts to scare him. "If this is another one of your stupid pranks to scare me..."
"It's not, I swear!"
Po concentrated on Chao, imagining his thoughts flowing into the tiger's mind. He's not trying to scare you.
"Ahh!" Chao jumped three feet higher than he already was in the air, eyes just as wide and ears just as perked. "Lotus, knock it off!"
"I'm not doing anything!" Lotus defended himself, using Siyu as a hiding place for any enemies that might be near—enemies like Kai. Was it some sort of magic? But magic didn't exist! Then again, dragons hadn't existed either before Siyu came along. "Something's trying to take over our minds!"
Po wondered if he was able to talk to two people at once. He'd only ever used it on one person at a time, like Tigress or Master Oogway. He concentrated on both Chao and Lotus, willing his words to be sent both ways.
I'm not trying to take over your minds.
Lotus attempted curling up into a ball to try and get the voice out of his head. Unfortunately, it was difficult when he was floating in midair.
Chao tried to be rational about the situation, though deep down he was panicking just as much as Lotus. If the panda had heard the voice at the same time as him, then that couldn't be where it was coming from—which meant that Lotus hadn't been lying when he'd said that he wasn't trying to scare him.
But the voice sounded friendly; it didn't sound mean or threatening like the bad guy that they had run into. It sounded warm and gentle and nice...the only other person in this strange place—or the Spirit Realm as the voice had called it—was Siyu. But that wasn't possible...was it?
"...Siyu?" Chao asked cautiously as the dragon continued to nuzzle his brother in a comforting motion. "Is that you?"
Yep, the dragon nodded with a grin. The word flew directly into Chao and Lotus' minds and their mouths hung open, shocked at the revelation.
"Woah!" Lotus exclaimed in just as much shock. "You can talk?!"
Only here in the Spirit Realm, Po explained. I'm not really sure why. He had never been sure why he couldn't speak as a dragon, now that he thought about it; maybe his vocal cords were just different than they were when he'd been a panda.
Lotus cowered in fright once more."So we're dead?!"
No! Anyone living can visit here and return to the mortal world. The staff can take you here and back.
"Woah, that's awesome!"
Po smiled at his excitement. But just as it had come, it slowly faded away.
Had Master Oogway really betrayed him by making him go to sleep for a thousand years? He knew that he couldn't just take Kai's word for it. He trusted Oogway more than words could say...but his trust was beginning to dwindle.
"Hey, Siyu," Chao said to get his attention, "what's Chi? I heard that guy talking about it...he said he didn't want to take it from you again."
Chi had been forgotten after all this time? Po was surprised. He had wanted to think that the art of Chi would have never been forgotten again after the pandas had re-learned it, but it turned out that he was wrong. Maybe Chi was just a very forgettable technique, which was unfortunate.
Chi is basically...you, Po said once he came up with a good enough explanation. Of course, Shifu probably could have explained it better. His teaching skills were rusty after a thousand years had gone by.
"Huh?" Lotus asked curiously.
"The energy of all living things," a new voice chimed in.
Master Oogway! Po exclaimed. The tortoise had found him again, just like he always did.
"It's good to see you once again...Siyu." Oogway gave him a little wink and Po couldn't help but smile; it was wonderful to see another familiar face, and someone who wouldn't attack him. He picked up the fact that Oogway had called him by his new name. Now that he was able to talk to Lotus and Chao, should he tell them that his name was actually Po?
He decided against it; they already knew him as Siyu, and he had already accepted that he was no longer Po.
"I must thank you two for helping the Dragon Warrior at the start of his awakening when I was unable to do so," Oogway told the two cubs with a gentle and friendly expression.
Chao and Lotus floated in place, unsure of what to think. On one hand, this was the great Master Oogway, the one who, like the Dragon Warrior, they had heard so many stories and legends about. He was real, too! On the other—based on what Kai had said—could they really trust him?
Master, please tell me the truth...
To his surprise, Oogway answered right away; Po had expected him to stop and think about an excuse for what Kai had claimed.
"I cannot interfere with anything that involves the universe's fate, except push those involved in the right direction." He nodded lightly towards Chao and Lotus. They blinked, glancing at one another in shock.
Po nodded. He understood...Oogway was like a guide leading people to their destiny. He had led Chao and Lotus to the Dragon Grotto cave so that he wouldn't be alone upon waking.
"I am not bound as you are; like your dragon counterpart, your soul is also attached to the universe, granting you immortality to bring balance every thousand years. It is true that you could not have remained awake from the time when you first began your hibernation. It is also true that once you made the decision to keep your Dragon Warrior title, there was no way for you to change back to your original form unless it was through one's Chi, which would have been a very painful and dangerous transformation. This was permanently sealed when you made your decision final."
That made sense...kind of. Hardly anything Oogway said made sense. Po decided it was best to just go with it; he never should have doubted Oogway in the first place. How could he have ever let Kai get to him like that?
Immortality...I don't know if I can do this, Master. I'll never see any of them again...it hurts so much...Was everyone he had ever known in the Spirit Realm now? Maybe he could find them...
Po glanced down, unable to meet his master's gaze. He'd never asked to be the Dragon Warrior. It was his own stupid fault that he had made fireworks that sent him flying over the walls right in front of the tortoise, who in turn had taken his accident to be fate.
"Do not despair, Dragon Warrior, for they are always watching over you, always thinking about you. You will see them again one day...and her, as well."
Her? Po questioned. Did he mean Tigress? He was going to see her again? The thought almost took his breath away and his aching heart skipped a beat.
But when Po looked back up, Oogway was gone.
Wait! What are we going to do about Kai...? his thoughts trailed off and his thinking pattern suddenly became muddled and hard to focus in on. His entire body gradually began to tremble, and the trembles turned into shakes...shakes that became more violent as he realized what was happening, and that there was nothing he could do to control it.
"Siyu...are you okay?" Chao asked tentatively. Lotus was waving his paw through the spot where Oogway had disappeared.
No, no, no! Not now! Po thought that after he'd made his choice of permanently becoming the Dragon Warrior, he wouldn't be taken over by the dragon again.
But he'd thought wrong. He remembered that the dragon didn't like to be taken away from the mortal world in a time where it was needed the most, and that meant...
He directed his next thoughts towards Chao the best that he could. It's starting...you have to use the staff to get us back!
"What's staring? How?!" Chao cried.
But Po wasn't able to send anymore words to the two frightened cubs, for staring back at them was a growling, wild dragon with black eyes.