Chapter 8

Shifu's POV

"Master!" Shifu cried catching up with the old—yet surprisingly fast—turtle.

"Yes my friend?"

"Please tell me this is a terrible jest. That panda cannot be the Dragon Warrior."

"Shifu is your misjudgment of Po blinding you? Did you not see what he did back in the kitchen or in the Hall of Heroes?"

Shifu thought back to how Po caught the vase just before it fell. "He said it was just quick reflexes."

"And what about the tea he made?"

"What about it?"

Before Shifu knew what happened, he felt a sharp pang across his nose.

"What was that for?"

"Well it seems your nose appears to be working," Oogway said in a mocking tone. "Did you not notice the scent of ginseng in the air?"

Shifu thought back once again. It annoyed him at how he had been taken off guard so much by Oogway's announcement that everything else did not play a factor, but now that he had taken the time to think about it he realized the turtle spoke the truth.

"Yes Master."

"And where is it written that such a proper mixer of tea and ginseng can restore a person's strength and relieve sore muscles?"

Shifu took on another shocked expression. "The first scroll of kung fu. But how? The only copy of it is in the Hall of Heroes, and the panda has only been here only an half hour. He could not read through the whole scroll and understand it's meaning in that amount of time."

Oogway smiled proudly. "And that is why he had been chosen as the Dragon Warrior."

"But…but master, I had—" Shifu was at a lost for words. How could he reveal to Oogway that he had thought Tai Lung was going to be named the Dragon Warrior? Worse yet what was going to do once he arrived.

"If you still doubt my word, then by all means give him a test of his skills," Oogway said walking past him. "I am sure he will surprise you."

Po's POV

Po pinched the front of his nose. This was not what he wanted. He didn't want to be the center of attention again, where everyone bowed or distance themselves from him. To be praised as some hero.

And yet here he was in the middle of the Jade Palace kitchen with everyone looking at him.

The only comforting thing was they were not eyeing him with awe, but more like stun confusion, and in Tigress case pure anger.

"You can not be the Dragon Warrior!" Tigress snapped. "You're just a panda!"

At least you didn't call me a fat panda.

"But Tigress, you saw how he blocked Oogway's attack," Crane said.

"Yeah," Viper said turning to face Tigress, "and you have to admit even you're not that fast."

"I don't care! I will not stand aside and let this panda just stroll right in and take what rightfully belongs to me!"

"Tigress!"

Po and the five turned to face the kitchen door to see Shifu.

It was clear he did not look pleased, though whether it was from Tigress's action or Oogway's announcement was unclear.

"I want all of you to the training hall. Now!"

Tigress grunted but did as she was told.

Po remained where he stood, arms across his chest, eyeing the red panda. "I take it you're not all that pleased about this as Tigress is."

"No," Shifu said plainly, "but I will adhere to my master's wishes. So regardless of my feeling or belief I will train you. Now come with me."

Po grunted. It would seem he had no way out of this mess.

Po followed Shifu down the steps from the student barrack to a small to a small open court yard.

"Here is where the students train in the basic skills of kung fu," Shifu said a carefree voice. "It is also where they come to spar against one another and perform their assessment," he paused as they reached a large wooden building, "here however is where the students work on the more advance extreme kung fu style. As the Dragon Warrior, you'll be spending a good deal of your time here."

Po was not all too keened by the evil look in Shifu blue eyes.

"Shall we?"

Together they walked up to the main doors. With each step Po could make out crashing sounds and high pitch cries. As Shifu opened the door, Po made out the faint sound of something breaking and as he entered the training area, he saw what looked like a large spike club coming toward him.

Like before with Oogway, Po reacted without thinking and thrust his fist out smacking it squarely against the flying object. The resulting impact caused it to shatter into several small chucks; the largest of these pieces flew back where it came from to nail Tigress across the face.

Tigress's POV

Training hall, several minutes ago…

Once the Furious Five entered the dojo, they quickly went to work, training in their own unique style: Crane worked on his speed and timing while deflecting wave of arrows. Mantis shot through a horde of wooden warriors, Monkey flipped, rolled, dove or otherwise kicked his way through the Ringed Blades. Viper maintained her speed and flexibility as she avoided jets of fire on the field of Fiery Death. Each of them held a level of self-control and focus while master their skills.

All expect for Tigress.

Tigress ran back and forth across a set of rotating balance beans, while at the same time avoid a group of swinging spike clubs. Her eyes burned with rage. To those around she appeared to be deeply focused on her training, but that was far from the truth.

How could Oogway possibly choose a panda to be the Dragon Warrior? It takes more than quick reflects to be a kung fu master. Though he didn't cringe when I faced him down back in the at Mr. Ping's shop so that means he has courage, but I've been training so long to earn the title…and what about those piercing jade eyes…

In her enraged state, Tigress jumped to the center of the beans where she quickly stood up and began punching the swinging clubs. She punched the last one with such force the chain snapped sending it flying toward the entrance where the panda had now appeared.

In a whirl of speed and strength, Po thrust his fist out to shatter the club. She could not believe her eyes. Nor could she react in time to prevent the large chuck of wood from smacking her across the face. The resulting blow caused her to stumble and fall.

She had fallen from the beans during her earlier days of training so she was ready for the hard impact against the wooden floor and yet she did not feel the blow. What she did feel was soft and warm. Opening her eyes she found herself being held up by Po.

"Are you alright?" Po asked, a look of worry plastered across his face.

Tigress's eyes narrowed; though did not fill angry but more or less embarrassed. To think she had allowed herself to slip so easily. "Put me down you panda," she snapped in growl though slowly turned into a gentle purr as she pushed off against his chest forgetting how massive it felt.

Po's POV

Po swore under his breath. There were times when he cursed the sharp reflects his training had given him. Most of what he did happened beyond his control.

Kind of like now.

After Po saw Tigress begin to fall, he moved around the three beans, his body nothing but a blur and caught Tigress before hitting the ground.

He could not help but smile as he held Tigress in his arms. Despite her hardcore appearance, she looked rather beautiful when surprised, and the way her eyes caught the light was almost spellbinding. Her stunning beauty did not last long as she began to push against his chest, demanding to be released.

Not wishing to reveal his true strength—even if it was to someone so beautiful—Po calmly dropped Tigress where she staggered back a little to lean against a railing.

"Oh my goodness. Are you alright sister?" Viper asked.

"Yeah, I was taken by surprise is all," Tigress said.

Po gave the tiger some space. The smile still on his face which only widen a little as he took note of the darker shade of orange along Tigress's cheeks. Uh-uh? What was that? He took a solemn breath to steady his thoughts. I've never felt anything like that since…since…Jiao. The very thought of her caused a shudder to run along his back and a tear to creep down the side of his face. I better nip this in butt and quick.

"Panda?"

"Hey! I have a name," Po snapped, glaring at Shifu, "it's Po."

Shifu's ears twitched. Around him, Po noticed the others backing away, even Tigress.

"Why don't you show us what you're capable of doing in terms of kung fu…panda?"

Po grown, knowing there was no other way out of this, he glanced about the room until he settled on one of the wooden warriors. "Alright," he said walking past Shifu adding, "Shrimp."

Po stood before his intended foe, took a simple stance and began punching. The wooden figure rotated about forcing Po to counter with upper and under blocks and forward thrust. The baggy over size sleeves of his robe hindered his movements and made several attacks sluggish and his timing was off a few times where he either missed or got hit in the arm or side.

"Panda!"

Po turned to face Shifu.

"Perhaps you would do better if you remove the robe."

"Uh yeah," he said with a chuckle, "you see I have some nasty scars and I wouldn't want to gross you out."

Shifu released a heavy sigh, pinching the front of his nose. "Fine," he said, then glared over at the window. "It's getting late. That will be enough for now. Everyone return to the barracks."

"What about dinner?" Monkey asked.

Shifu turned to smile at Po. "Well seeing how our new chef here has wasted our time with his lame kung fu style, we will be spiking dinner as he will be spending the night cleaning the training hall."

Po narrowed his eyes. He was really beginning to hate this red panda.

The other's grunted but left without a word. Tigress lingered, as their eyes met, he felt the onset of another smile forming, but it quickly faded and turned his back on her. He hated to do it, but he could not allow himself to become involved with someone else, not so long as the memory of Jiao hung firmly in his mind. He waited till he heard the hard stomps and her appealing scent to be carried off by the wind.

Damn it Xiong don't do this, he thought shaking his head. Not again.

"I expect you to have this dojo clean by morning," Shifu said in a harsh tone. He then tossed him an old broom.

Po caught the broom without hesitating and began sweeping the floor.

Shifu grunted again and turned to leave.