Kung Fu Panda Fan Fiction: The Pendant of Diànyuán
Me: In honor of Thanksgiving, I would like to give special THANKS to JubJub0250 for all of his support and The Assassin of Xion for being my friend and mentioning me in a shoutout. You guys are so awesome. It really means a lot to me that all of you enjoy my writing, even if the story line is moving somewhat slowly. I hope everyone is being thankful for their blessings right about now.
Po: I'm sure they are.
Me: Always good to check. Thanksgiving always seems to dim in comparison to other major holidays. For goodness sakes, radio stations are already playing Christmas music and Thanksgiving vacation hasn't even started, for me anyways.
Po: Yikes! Well, to get in the spirit of things, what are you thankful for?
Me: Tons of things, but right now, at this very second, I'm thankful that I'm not in pain.
Po: Say what now?
Me: Poor K-...Xiānglǐnài got beat up so badly in this chapter, and hearing about someone in pain makes me feel in pain. It's normal for me but it really isn't important. (PS: almost undermines my dream of being a doctor) Something I'm also grateful for is that I got this chapter out before Christmas.
Po: Nice. Should we get this show on the road?
Me: Sure. Disclaimer?
DISCLAIMER: I own no Kung Fu Panda or DreamWorks.
First Day of Training
All Karina's POV
"Five more minutes Granny. Just five." I heard a very annoying sound. I had barely gotten any sleep last night. The sound just kept pounding in my ear. Honestly, what did I sleep on, a rock!? My eyes slowly fluttered open as I yawned and stretched my arms. I sat up straight and looked around my room. Wait...(man does she think this a lot) this is NOT my room. Where was my tv and purple wallpaper? Where was my backpack? Where was my phone!? Where was...EVERYTHING!? I shot out of bed and ran to the door.
When I opened it, The Furious Five, Po, and Master Shifu were standing outside waiting for me. I pinched myself just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Of course, after I gave myself a bruise, all of yesterday's memories came flooding back into my memory. Everything from being a tiger to meeting the Dragon Warrior had returned to my brain...after I hurt myself. That's when I realized the reason I had gotten no sleep was because I slept on a bamboo cot instead of a plush mattress. How am I going to get through a day of training if I can't even get a good night sleep?
"If you are to stay here, you must learn to be bathed, clothed, and outside your door when the morning gong is rung! Am I understood?" Master Shifu scolded. I really just wanted to stick my tongue out at him and try to get some more sleep, but if I was to get him to give me respect, I would have to give him respect.
"Yes, Master Shifu. I will try to do better," I said as I bowed. He raised an eyebrow, so maybe he was impressed by how much I changed in one night. I didn't stutter, and this time, I bowed. Take that! Unfortunately, somehow, I still did something wrong.
"Work on your bow. I expect it to be worthy of presentation to the emperor by sunset. Now hurry up and get dressed." Then, he walked away. I just stood there in shock for a moment watching the Furious Five leave. I was about to get dressed when I realized that all I had to wear were the clothes on my back. How am I supposed to get dressed when I don't have clean clothes?
Po must have noticed that I fell asleep in yesterday's clothes because he walked over and whispered in my ear, "I left five sets of training clothes on your desk." Then, he left to join the Five. Thank DreamWorks for PO!
I rushed into my room to find a pile of fresh clothes on my desk. I took a quick wash off (just pretend this world has something like a shower) and realized just why cats hate water. Lugging around wet fur should be made a punishment in prison instead of the death penalty. This was torture. Good thing Po also left towels. I dried myself off and put on the first training outfit that I saw. It was a sleeveless lavender tunic with silver accents in the shape of a flower on the back. The outfit came complete with gray pants and matching sandals. Man am I going to hate training in these shoes, but it's better than going barefoot.
As I walked out of my room, I smelled food. When I heard my stomach growling I knew I was pretty hungry. I had skipped dinner last night, so that makes sense. I followed the smell all the way to what must have been the "dining room" (I don't know what they call the place where they eat. If it has a different name, please let me know). When I walked through the door, the Five turned to stare at me. I looked around for Po, but I guess he was still making breakfast in the kitchen. Then, I stared back at them like a deer in headlights. These are Kung Fu masters! How am I supposed to talk to them? Po's different. He knows where I'm coming from, but these guys aren't even close to newbies. They probably don't even remember life before Kung Fu! Okay, so maybe they remember a little or Secrets of the Furious Five would have been a complete lie, but still. It took forever for them to accept Po when he was the Dragon Warrior. How long will it take for them to accept me-
"Hey newbie!" Monkey said. "We saved you a seat." He patted a chair close to the end of the table. I scrounged up every ounce of courage I had and walked over to the seat. When I sat down, I was bombarded with questions.
"Is it true that you fell from the sky out of a big ball of light?"
"Did you really defeat Bolin with nothing but a strand of string?"
"Were you taken care of by a bunny?"
"How were you able to survive Po discussing his favorite color?"
"I don't trust you."
I decided the best way to handle this was to answer in the order I heard the questions.
"Yes, it was actually rope, yes, that is...classified, and I don't expect you out of all p- animals to trust me." After I answered, Monkey reassured me that Tigress had nothing personal against me. She didn't even trust the mailman whom had been coming to the Jade Palace for 30 years.
"Planning something for 30 years," Tigress and I said in unison. Why do I have to know so much about Kung Fu Panda? The Five must have really good hearing because even though I practically whispered what Tigress had said, they were all staring at me like I was a freak.
"How did you know what I was going to say?" Tigress asked as she and the rest of the Furious Five eyed me suspiciously. Good thing Po walked in with breakfast before I had a chance to answer. Saved by the panda!
"Eat up guys! We have a big day ahead." Po said cheerfully while setting bowls and chopsticks in front of me, Crane, Mantis, Monkey, and Viper. He set a plate of tofu in front of Tigress. When he sat down, everyone started eating. Yes, FOOD! I was really hungry, and I needed energy fast. When I reach for the chopsticks I looked down at the contents of the bowl to find...rice. I am terrible with chopsticks and rice, and tiger paws do not help whatsoever. I tried to pick up the rice, but only got a few grains. When I stuck it in my mouth, I tasted mostly wood. Blegh. There was no doubt about it. I looked ridiculous and everyone noticed.
"Are you okay? Aren't you hungry?" Viper asked out of concern. How do I say that I was never taught how to use chopsticks with rice. Don't five year olds in China know how to do this?
"I-I guess I'm not." I lied. That was probably the worst decision I made because Po immediately took my bowl, said, "I'll eat it if you don't want it," and scarfed down the whole meal. I retract all mental compliments towards Po. Why was he made to love food? MY FOOD!?
"Too bad," Mantis said while eating some rice.
"You would have needed it for today," Crane added.
"What do you mean?" I asked anxiously. Tigress stood up after finishing off her last tofu cube. As she headed for the kitchen, she said, "Master Shifu has planned a rigorous day of training to introduce you to Kung Fu."
"It doesn't seem fair to me, but that's probably because I already went through it creating level 0." Po said while wiping rice off of his mouth. Then, he got up and collected the bowls and took them to the kitchen. While he washed the dishes, the Five started heading for the Training Hall.
Before they left, Monkey whispered in my ear, "Good luck. You're going to need it." What have I gotten myself into?
In Training Hall
When I finally found my way to the Training Hall, I was astonished at just how skilled the Furious Five and Po really are. DreamWorks had barely scratched the surface of how amazing these guys are. They leaped through the air with ease, did perfect splits while dodging arrows, and had the most powerful punches and kicks I had ever seen. It's true what they say, it looks better in person (in her case animal). It was almost like dancing, but way more powerful.
When Master Shifu saw me, he signaled for the Furious Five and Po to stop and walked over to me. When I saw the look on his face, I knew I was going to be in for a rough day.
"You're late. Why did it take you so long to get here?" Shifu inquired. What did he expect? Does every new animal (she did it! Now she has to say it...Oh boy) who winds up in the Jade Palace just know where everything is? No one lead me here.
"I didn't have anyone to show me the way." I said while bowing. Look, I need all the help that I can get with my bow, or I can say goodbye to the Jade Palace.
"Work on your bow and being on time. Today, I will overlook this, but you must arrive to training on time. Understood?" It is official. Master Shifu will never give me a break.
"Yes, master."
"Speaking of training, what do you know?" Nothing! I wanted to shout, but my mouth said, "It would be an honor to gain knowledge that I do not have. Might I start at level zero?"
"That's what we came to find out." After Shifu said this, I started walking over to the children's adversary, but Shifu grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the more advanced training mechanisms. Oh snap! He can NOT be serious. An untrained student like me has no business doing all of those acrobatic moves. Sure, I'm a dancer, well former dancer as of yesterday, but have you seen these guys dodge and jump. It's insane! I mean, even Po started with the children's adversary, and he's the DRAGON WARRIOR!
"Wouldn't it be better for me to start at a...um...lower level considering I have never done Kung Fu?" I said nervously. Shifu let go of my wrist, turned around, and looked up at me.
"Never question your master. If you do ever again, I can always arrange 100 laps up and down the 1000 Steps."
"Nevermind," I said quickly while remembering yesterday's events. The longer I don't have to go to the village, the better.
"Go on. We're waiting," he said putting his hand behind his back.
"For what?"
"You to train."
"On this?" I blurted. Crud. I just questioned him. There goes my freedom.
"Yes."
"Um...okay." I slowly stepped onto the still, wooden, swiveling vines found underneath the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion. I almost slipped off, but I was able to find my balance. When I did, I turned to the group and bowed. Shifu nodded and said, "Tigress." I noticed Tigress was standing by a switch next to the door. When she flipped it, the vines beneath me started to turn and the clubs above me started to swing. I was losing my balance, and it got worse as everything went faster. While trying to keep my balance, I saw three clubs headed towards me. The first was spiked, so I ducked and managed to dodge. The second was bare so I punched it causing it to swerve around me. The third was also bare, but I lost my footing from my last punch. I got hit smack dab it the face and swung past the Seven-Talon Rings, getting numerous cuts and gashes in the process, and into the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom.
This was slightly more stable, so I tried standing up. I shook my head to regain composure, but once I was done, I saw Crane on the other side of the Tortoise.
"Sorry in advance," he said. I barely had had time to process what he said before I felt a powerful gust of wind hitting my back and pushing me into the center of the Tortoise. I rolled in there until I was too dizzy to stand. I didn't need to. Crane's wings are much stronger than they look. He used them to fling me into the air and used "Wings of Justice" to send me spiraling into the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors.
I was too discombobulated from everything prior, so I just spun around like a top running into almost every wooden arm, leg, and tail this part of training had to offer. Everytime I dodged one, I ran into two more. I was beaten to the bone when I emerged. I was so relieved that this torture was all over...until I remembered the same thing Po forgot on his first day.
The Field of Fiery Death. I must have lost my sandals along the way because I could feel the heat was rising. I saw small billows of smoke around me, and the only safe place was off of the field. I ran. I could feel the heat catching up, and somehow, I sensed when the heat would rise in front of me. I was able to dodge quiet gracefully for my first try. I had almost made it out when a lot of smoke gathered in front of me. The whole field was about to go up in flames, and I was too far from the edge to get past safely.
"I need to jump," I said to myself. When I said that, I was enveloped by a blinding Golden light, the same one that brought me here. I knew that if I didn't make the jump, I'd smell like a barbequed cat for weeks. I took my best running start and jumped. When I did, the light filled the whole room, and I almost touched the ceiling. When I came down, I landed on my feet (in this world, I guess cats always do) as the light dimmed.
I did it. I made it through the Training Hall. No sooner had I realized that, I collapsed to the ground, nearly unable to bear the pain. My vision was blurry, but I was able to make out six figures rushing over to me. I was surrounded. I saw their lips move, but I could barely understand the words.
"...she...okay?"
"How did...do..."
"Get...room."
"She...got fried."
"...not...jokes."
"Ouch...hurts. I...know..."
It was to hard to focus on anything, but I was able to understand one full sentence from a small, blurry mammal that walked over. It said, "She is definitely not a level zero." Then my world turned pitch black.
Po: What was that? Was there a point to this?
Me: Eh. (shruggs) Just first lessons and boring stuff like that. What did you expect, an epic battle between the-. Uh nevermind.
Po: (eyes suspiciously) Okay.
Me: (changing subject) Soooo, what are you grateful for?
Po: Everything!
Me: Even walking up the 1000 Steps?
Po: (thinking) In a way...yeah. Climbing helps me build strength.
Me: Glad that you seem to always find a silver lining in every situation.
Po: I'm just that awesome. (grins widely)
Me: (chuckles) Whatever you say, Po. That's all for now. Find something to be thankful for and have a-
Me and Po: Happy Thanksgiving!
