I do not own Kung Fu Panda. I only own my OCs.
Pranks and Maturity
Jadyn awoke the next morning sore and stiff. She grunted as she swung her legs over the side of her bed and limped for her clothes in the corner. The last thing she wanted was for Shifu to throw another bucket of water on her head.
"Ouch!" she yelped and hopped on one paw, clutching the other. She glowered at the thumbtack on the floor and angrily stabbed it back into the wall. "Stupid pins." Hopping on one paw she reached her clothes and shoved her head through her beige shirt.
"What the-" her voice came out muffled and the cub pulled the shirt off. She studied the head hole and gaped at the stitches that held it firmly shut.
Frantically rifling through her other clothes, Jadyn was not happy to discover that every pant leg and shirt arm of her clothes were sewn together. "Tigress..."
Running a paw through her white fur Jadyn frowned and glanced around her room. She couldn't go to breakfast in her pyjamas, and the morning gong would ring in roughly ten minutes.
Maybe Po is getting an early morning snack.
Worth a shot. Maybe the Dragon Warrior could lead her to some scissors. Jadyn cautiously slid open the door and tiptoed down the corridor. She now knew her way to the kitchen and the dining hall, so moving around the palace wasn't so bad.
The cub peered into the kitchen and sighed with relief when she saw Po stealing from Monkey's cookie jar. "Psst! Po!"
The panda jumped and fell to the ground with a loud thump. Jadyn hastily shushed him and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Fine. What're you doing up this early?" Po grunted and got to his paws.
"I was wondering if you knew where I could find some scissors."
Po scratched his head and glanced around the clean kitchen. He wandered over to a drawer and yanked it open. "A-ha! Not bad for a guess." He pulled out a small pair of silver scissors. "Do I want to know why you need them?" he asked as Jadyn took the scissors from him.
"Probably not. By the way, you have cookie crumbs on your chin," Jadyn told him before hurrying back to her room.
Jadyn quickly hacked off the cuffs of her pants and shirts. She tried to make the cut as smooth as possible, but these were not fabric cutting scissors. "You are so going to get it Tigress!" she hissed.
She had just finished pulling her shirt over her head when the gong sounded. The girl shoved the sliding door aside and stumbled into the corridor a mere second before the others. "Good morning Master," she chorused along with the others.
Tigress glanced at her with a cool expression, but Jadyn saw the smirk that wanted to emerge. Scowling, Jadyn adjusted her horribly cut sleeves and gritted her teeth.
"Jadyn?"
The cub bit her lip and turned to face Shifu. "Yes?"
"What...happened?"
He said it cautiously, seemingly weary of the answer that would come next. Jadyn didn't blame him. She searched through her mind for a possible answer that didn't seem totally ridiculous. Sure, Tigress would get in serious trouble, but so would she. The last thing Jadyn wanted was to run the length of the village five times with Tigress. If that happened, there was a good chance only one would make it back.
And the 'one' that wouldn't would probably be her.
"I...I found a loose thread and it was bugging me."
Yeah. That seemed like a good answer.
Master Shifu glanced at her uneven cuffs. Jadyn shrugged. "Uh...one was shorter than the other and I messed up when trying to even it out."
Shifu decided not to push the matter, but both Jadyn and Tigress caught the suspicious look he shot at them before walking towards the dining hall. Tigress and Jadyn glowered at each other before storming after the others.
...
Jadyn scratched her head and craned her neck upwards. Today was the day where she trained with Monkey. It was also hopefully the last day she would have to spend at the Jade Palace.
To be honest, it wasn't as bad as she expected. Sure, Shifu was a bit too serious and strict, but she supposed that's what it took to become a great Kung-fu Master. The Furious Five were okay, with the exception of Tigress.
Ugh...Tigress.
There was no way Jadyn was leaving without getting the last laugh. Tigress better look out.
But right now she had to focus on what Monkey wanted her to do. "You want me to climb that?"
"I believe that's what I said." Monkey raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. Jadyn opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, and closed it. After a moment of thoughtful silence she spoke.
"I don't think I can do this."
"Po told me of how you leapt from tree to tree with skill and grace. Why should climbing one be any different?"
"That is a very tall tree. And what if I fall?"
"Then I'll catch you."
Jadyn nearly rolled her eyes at his matter-of-fact tone. She sometimes wondered if they knew she was only ten.
With a weary sigh Jadyn braced her paws on the sides of the bark. She glanced nervously at Monkey and he gave her an encouraging nod. She slowly climbed up the tall and narrow tree, wind nipping at her fur. She scaled the branches and soon she reached the top of the tree. Perching on the top branch, Jadyn widened her yellow eyes and stared below.
This is way too high for my tastes!
Gripping tightly to the rough branch she whimpered slightly. Cold fear twisted in her gut and she squeezed her eyes shut. "I hate this!"
A loud cracking sounded and she instantly snapped her eyes open. "Please don't be the branch."
It was.
With a shriek that could have possibly been heard all the way across the Valley of Peace, Jadyn hurtled from the top of the tree and down twenty feet. A blur swung up and caught her before she could strike the ground.
"Told you I'd catch you," Monkey said a bit too cheerfully and set her down. Jadyn lay on the ground and tried to settle the pounding of her heart and control her choppy breathing.
"That...was...terrifying," she panted.
"But will you be so scared now if you try again?"
Jadyn was about to tell him he was crazy, but considered the question. Now that she had fallen and Monkey had caught her like he said he would, then she might not be so cautious this time around. "I suppose not."
While climbing trees sure beat running, she really didn't appreciate the amount of heights.
...
Jadyn stumbled into the palace a few hours later and sighed wearily. Climbing trees was more work than she initially thought.
At least I can focus on pranking Tigress now.
Jadyn smiled a bit and made her way to the kitchens. She peered inside and smiled slightly. It was empty. Dinner was already cooling down on the wooden racks, which meant she didn't have much time. Pulling a plant leaf from her pocket, Jadyn grinned wickedly.
It was a type of leaf that was also used as a sleeping drug. It was a good thing she took a walk through the garden on the way back to the palace.
She scanned the dishes and slipped the leaf into what she hoped would be Tigress'. Every dish had a different arrangement of appetizers, and she quickly learned that Tigress seemed to have a love for peaches. So every dinner dish she had had slices of fresh peaches.
Grounding up the leaf, she sprinkled the pieces over the dish with the peaches on it.
Jadyn quickly left the kitchen and walked down the corridor. After a pause she decided to see where Po was. Maybe he would want to play cards or something.
The things she would resort to when she was bored.
...
Jadyn popped a dumpling in her mouth and studied Tigress. She was still eating her way through her plate and Jadyn was eager to pull off the next part of her prank.
Good thing I brought those firecrackers with me from the orphanage. Jadyn kept the smirk off of her face. But I'm going to have to be patient.
She locked her yellow eyes on her food and continued to eat. Soon Tigress stood up and excused herself and left the dining hall. The cub's hand twitched with anticipation.
Time to get started.
Jadyn excused herself as well and quickly strode out of the dining hall. She nearly tripped over Tigress' sleeping form in the middle of the corridor. "I guess the saying is true. The bigger they are the harder they fall."
With a grunt and a lot of effort Jadyn dragged the tiger down the corridor and outside. The sky was an orangey-red. She dragged the tiger all the way to the fire pit in the middle of the grounds. Panting slightly Jadyn collected her breath. "Let's get started."
She pulled the firecrackers from her pocket and scattered them a safe distance around the master. She lit a match and lit the first one, knowing a chain reaction would start in a matter of seconds.
Jadyn sprinted for the cover of the gnarled trees and crouched low, a smile flicking across her features.
Three. Two. One.
Crack! Crack! Boom! Crack!
The firecrackers went off in rapid succession. The colourful lights exploded in the dim sky and Tigress shot up several feet in the air, howling in confusion and agitation. A loud roar soon erupted from her mouth when the master realized what was happening. Tigress had to do a bit of a jog to avoid the sparking embers.
Jadyn rolled around on the grass, screaming with laughter and pounding the dirt. So muc better than I could have imagined.
"Jadyn! Tigress!"
The furious shout was louder than the firecrackers themselves. Jadyn widened her yellow eyes and shrunk back. "Uh oh."
Shifu did not look happy.
And that meant trouble for both her and Tigress.
