Ch.9/ Tsunami Shadow

The two pandas traversed in silence into the barren town; they were unsurprised yet relieved that not a soul could be found in the town they knew so well, but they could clearly see the massive crowd that was no doubtedly the wolf army slithering their way up the Thousand Steps. Po had kept his mouth shut the entire time, and in all truthfullness Shifu was both impressed and proud that the bear had not begun pummeling the master with questions about the mysterious being Shifu had dubbed 'The Jade Spirit'. In fact with his history of Kung Fu knowledge, Po would most certainly crave every detail like he did every meal he recieved.

But no question came. And Shifu's curiosity began to turn to worry. After all, this was very unlike the Dragon Warrior. Shifu continually threw Po an occassional glance as they made their way down the deserted streets. Po looked like he was thinking, and thinking hard. Perhaps he was trying to piece together history that he had heard, that maybe he would have learned it on his own without even figuring it out. But he would not. There was no text about the spirit, no scroll nor painting. Shifu could remember the day that Oogway had told him about the spirit. A day that still sent shivers down the old man's spine.

Master Shifu and Oogway were standing in the Dragon Grotto; it was pitch black outside and with naught but a few candles sitting around in the shallow cave, a rather uncharachteristicly spooky lesson had been planned by the turtle.

"You wish me to what?", exclaimed the middle aged red panda with his eyes as big as his ears. He was wearing his red robe and had considerably less wrinkles in his face.

"Now Shifu, do not feel so shocked. It is a necessary exercise for any Grandmaster of Kung Fu. After I pass on, you will be the one to succeed me. And I do wish for you to be as prepared as possible on that fateful day, my friend.", the old turtle smiled with his shaking staff at his side.

"Bu-but this seems so extreme! To lose your entire arm, an-wait! You are a Grandmaster, and you still have both of your arms!", shouted Shifu out of fear, pointing to the turtle in his obvious ploy to get out of the lesson.

"Shifu, you still think with your head and not with your heart. Now trust your master. And put your arm in the dragon's mouth. And grab the jewel that you see in it's clutches.", Oogway waved his arm towards the statue, then stepped from stone to stone with the aid of his staff to get out of Shifu's way and watch the event.

Shifu gulped hard and stared at both of his paws. Perhaps for the last time. But which one? He gripped and lossened his fists and with careful thought, the choice was obvious. The left one, of course. The red panda hopped up to the dragon's claw and began to outstretch his arm, but paused when he heard an almost unhearable sigh come from the turtle. Shifu glanced at Oogway, not moving from his position. But then he straightened up on the stone he balanced upon, and looked at his paws once more.

"Think with your heart. Not with your head.", said Shifu under his breath. He looked at his master again, who smiled wide and bobbed his head once in a nod. Shifu returned the grin with a small smile and outstretched his right arm. He gazed at the barely visible gem on the back of the dragon's tongue, and grasped it's cold surface gently in his warm shaking fingers. It was all he could do to stretch out his fingers enough to get a good grip on the purple jewel that was as smooth as a pearl. It was a miracle that he was able to pull it out, yet it could also have helped that the gem was oval shaped and rather flat; but it was still much too wide for the red panda's comfort.

Shifu pulled the precious stone out of the dragon's mouth and smiled a small smirk at his master for his accomplishment.

"Now why do you still have both of your arms, Shifu? I told you that you would lose an arm if you took out the jewel, yet here you are with all four limbs. Explain.", said Oogway in a fake strict voice. And for a moment Shifu thought he was serious. But Shifu quickly sighed in relief and widened his smirk into a smile before answering.

"I used my right arm, master."

"And how, praytell, does that make a difference?", Oogway smiled a little and raised a brow with his claws and staff behind his back.

"Because the left paw has the vein that connects directly to the heart. And I decided to keep my heart in the stead of my head.", his smile grew wider when Oogway laughed softly.

"No."

Shifu's face dropped,"But! I-I I mean, I-"

"You did not lose an arm because there was no risk. You had no reason to be afraid of any defenses. Of course you used your right instead of your left.", Oogway added with a small shrug and a glance to the ground.

"Master forgive me, but I am confused.", Shifu said with his drooping ears and sloping shoulders.

"Do you know what you hold in your hand, Shifu?", Oogway hopped to the stone in front of the statue as Shifu hopped down onto the same surface. Shifu felt the gem. It was certainly peculiar. Purple, so clear it could have been made of glass, and the shape was almost in the form of a clam.

"No master, I am afraid that I do not.", said the panda. The turtle took the gem into his claws.

"Good. I am glad, for that would have been spectacular. It has no name.", Shifu's face turned like Po's would years from now in the same spot; a bored look with drooped eyes and an almost dropped jaw hidden in his closed maw. The turtle tossed the jewel into the water, and it strangely made no noise when it hit the surface before them. Shifu's eyes widened as he watched under the rippling water."He, however, does have a name."

The water turned completely black all throughout the small pond. And suddenly Shifu's world turned dark once the blackness found it's way over the few lit candles. After the darkness became evident, Shifu stood and stared into nothingness; he prayed for some form of light in this moonless night. And he got his wish when a small orb of red light appeared in front of the two.

Shifu visually shivered, making Po raise a brow."Master, is there something wrong? I mean, it's not exactly cold out here."

"Yes Po, I am fine. Though I was about to ask you the same thing,", replied Shifu with his own raised brow at the apprentice as they walked up the back way to the Jade Palace where they would find themselves at the barracks when they reached the top.

"Hm? Eh, it's nothin.", Po looked back up the stairs.

"I would prefer to be the judge of that, panda.", Shifu's eyelids narrowed his gaze at the larger creature.

Po inhaled a deep breath and let it out silently,"I feel guilty, master. This was all my fault. If I hadn't have flown off the handle and chased Fuhai, then this would never have happened. And Tigress wouldn't be hurt. And just thinking about what that peacock did to her...", Po made a growling noise,"I want to throttle him!", he made choking motions in the air in front of him.

"Inner Peace, Po. Inner Peace.", chimed in Shifu with his continuous inward grunts up the shallow stairs. However long he had become accustomed to these steps, it was still a chore to try and make it up the small juttings of stone with his newfound restraints.

Po breathed slowly and closed his eyes,"Right, right, Inner Peace...Inner pe-oof!"

Shifu let out a small sigh with lowered ears as he stopped his progression up the steps, awaiting the panda behind him while Po got up and rubbed his nose from where his snout had made contact with the step.

"A word of advise, panda: Those who have trouble with stairs on a regular basis do not do well with their eyes shut on said terrain.", said Shifu as he and Po continued their ascent.

Po grumbled a 'yes master' out of embarrassment when the two found the top.

"So how are we gonna get to the others without being found out by the army?", asked Po, scratching his stomach with his gaze on the distant Jade Palace.

Shifu stroked his beard in thought,"Hmm."

Po looked at his master, then glanced back at the closed doors of the barracks,"Uh Master Shifu, if this is gonna take a few minutes do you mind if I get a snack?"

"Panda, this in no time for your disgusting habits! We need to find...", Shifu's voice trailed off with his newly formed plan. The old panda's features now revealed a smile,"For once Po, you may be onto something."

"Huh?", Po gave Shifu a look of confusion, and a look of amusement was his answer from his master.

A few minutes later...

The wolves searched high and low, sniffing about every inch of the Jade Palace in search of the villagers and the remaining masters that they had yet to encounter. The tracks were fresh, but the scents were so strong and there were so many that it became too confusing to distinquish one from the others.

Just as the wolves' sweeping turned to the corner to the path that led to the Dragon Grotto, one wolf's ears perked up. And he raised his head to sniff the air. That led to another doing the same, and another and another. Soon most of the wolves began to sniff the air and turn their gaze towards the direction of the barracks. And before the peacocks knew it, the army was emptying the courtyard and arena and running towards the dormitories.

"Wait- where are they going!", shouted Fuhai."Get back here, you dogs!"

The peacocks pushed through the giant crowd of canines and made it into the barracks to see what the commotion was. They found many wolves packing into the kitchen, all of them acting ravenous.

"What do you fools think you are doing! This is no time to be eating!", spat Shen as he smacked one wolf with the upward swing of his cane into the canine's jaw in his emphasizing. The wolves made room for the two birds and tried to let their looks of shame hide their feelings of fear,"Search the rooms, find whatever idiot who decided to have a midnight snack!", many of the wolves in the kitchen, particularly the ones with bacon grease still glistening their lips, rushed out of the kitchen in search for those responsible,"Do not worry uncle, we will find the path to the refugees when we torture the fool who stayed behind,", smirked Shen with a gentle wave of his half destroyed left wing.

Fuhai was silent, still looking at the pan of what was once filled with freshly fried bacon. The older peacock raised his lowered head and flew out of the small window of the kitchen; a tough but doable accomplishment, but with his realization he may not have the time nor the luxery of using the front door.

Fuhai stood on the roof of the barracks and scanned the Jade Palace. The palace was in utter silence, save for the dozens upon dozens of wolves still roaming about the courtyard mumbling to each other. And thankfully all of his wolves were black or brown furred, otherwise he would not have caught the white blur out of the corner of his eye. His orbs locked onto his suspisions and made his eyelids narrow in anger when he watched the pair running passed the Sacred Peach Tree and into the mountains,"There they are! Go, the pandas will lead us to the villagers!", he shouted, and the wolves ran in the direction he was pointing.

Po and Shifu were running up the trail towards the safe zone, both seemed very tired and quite ready for a break from all of their running. And Po did not help matters with his constant complaints.

"Are we...there yet?", he panted,"I thought we were going to the Dragon Grotto!"

"We are, now silence!", spat Shifu.

"But this is the long way!", retorted Po.

"Exactly! It will give us much more time if they follow us directly! Now come!", exclaimed the master as his small feet tredged on faster, making Po groan and give a feeble attempt to press onward.

The two finally stopped once they reached their destination, and Po immediately dunked his head into the small waterfal outside of the cave. Shifu hopped up to the dragon statue and put his right arm into the dragon's mouth. He pulled out the jewel and sighed inside with his eyes staring at the now invisible glass stone. Leaping down, the Grandmaster awaited for Po to come walking up behind him before tossing the stone into the water. Again it made no sound.

Po raised a brow as he saw Shifu's strange movements, for he had not seen the stone himself in the light of the full moon."Uh master, what's uh...uhhhh...", Po's jaw dropped when he saw the water turn black."M...master, wh-wha-wha-wha-wha-what...is...THAT?", he shouted. But though his voice was raised in volume, the sound it made was quite muffled. As if he had just screamed into a pillow. And that was the new form of their conversation; complete, muffled, barely comprehensible speech.

"That, Po, has a name.", muffled Shifu. Po only glanced at his master. It felt like he had cotton in his ears or something, or at least it sounded that way to him.

Po put his smallest finger in his left ear and rubbed around inside,"Uh, so this...thing is the Jade Spirit?", he replied as the red light formed before them. Po looked at the large eye and flinched,"He uh...really doesn't look all that...'Jade-y'."

"Dragon Warrior, show respect and apologize!", snapped Shifu. Po had to admit, he was starting to like this feeling of silence. Shifu didn't seem as threatening with his voice sounding so far away. But the Grandmaster's eyes of fury that were reminiscent of previous moods passed made Po instantly press his fist into his palm and bow low to the Spirit in an apology.

The Spirit had now taken form, and it was in the shape of...well if Po could describe it, he would say it was as if someone had taken the head of an ox child and stuck it on the body of a fully grown lizard. But it had no tone nor detail at all; it was just this inky mass of a life, with one large red light of an eye in place of where it's face should have been. In fact the only reason Po could even tell that the Jade Spirit was even there was the fact that it's weird eye had vaguely illuminated the Dragon Grotto.

"Si ingen sannheten og fortelle nei løgn, gis offer og beskyttelse vil forlenge"

"What the...what'd he say?", mumbled Po to the red panda to his left.

"It is a lost language in this part of the world, Po. His people spoke in riddles. If we can solve it, then he will help us. The riddle is,'Speak no truth and tell no lies, penance be given and protection will bide'.", the Grandmaster kept his expression solemn and poise.

"Speak no...penance...", Po looked down for a moment, then looked at Shifu, who had kept his eyes on the figure."Do you know the answer?"

Shifu closed his eyes, then turned his head and opened them to Po,"I do. But I have already given it once before. And one soul cannot answer the Jade Spirit's riddle twice in a lifetime. You must answer him.", he said with a soft wave of his left paw, his right unwantingly following. Shifu's ear then twitched as he clearly heard the wolves a few miles away; inside the red panda was thankful that the Jade Spirit's barrier of silence only stopped at the edge of the grotto and held no power over his accurate hearing, otherwise the panda beside him would surely have panicked from the pressure of the actual sound."Hurry, Po. Hurry and give him your answer. We do not have much time."

Po shut his eyes and thought for a minute; however long the minute was, it seemed to last forever to the bear, but gratefully that time in his escape into eternity allowed him to gracefully accept the true answer. Po opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He closed it with a smirk to the Spirit. And then he got on his knees. And he bowed in a complete kowtow of respect, and thought his request to protect the one he loved, and the innocent lives that could be lost.

The Jade Spirit's eye turned to Shifu, who gave him and smile and a bow. Not a bow as low as the one Po had performed, but one of complete respect nonetheless.

The eye now shrunk down and split itself into five seperate small eyes over it's forehead. The eyes then turned to jade, as did it's claws and horns. But the ink that made up it's body remained. And the two Kung Fu masters were now shown a beautiful green light to replace the scarlet one.

"Din sinnet klarner ingen men egen kropp. Jeg gir til ingen men dine tanker", said the Spirit in a now gutteral tone, for the soundless barrier had now disappeared.

"Ugh. I apologize, but could you please use some other language? Or at least not sound like a drowning man?", asked Po in a shudder.

"Po! Even after that you still show disrespect!", shouted Shifu.

"His arm bears the same stripes as yours now, he gifts no dagger of poison.", said the Spirit. It's voice was no longer gutteral, but it still remained deep and almost monstrous.

Po sighed in relief,"Thanks. Now what was it you were saying before?"

"Your mind clears none but your own body. And I yield to no one but your thoughts, Dragon Warrior."

"Sweet! So does that mean you can basically grant wishes?", asked Po ecstatically. Shifu facepalmed and shook his head.

"The sea holds all life that inhabit it, though I fish merely in the bank.", the shadow then gestured to the cave around them.

Po nodded in a somewhat diappointed manner."Yeah, okay. I hear ya. Thank you for your services.", he bowed to the Spirit.

Shifu's ear twitched once again as the pads of the wolves' feet could no longer be ignored.

"Po, we must leave.", Shifu darted to the edge of the cave to look out at the path behind them. The black figures in the distance were gaining speed.

"Yeah-okay.", the panda glanced at the master before bowing to the Spirit again,"Please defend our path and keep every soul with evil intent from passing."

"With the shedding tear of my heart, I give you my veins.", the Jade Spirit returned the bow of respect before Po and Shifu ran out of the Dragon Grotto to continue their quest.

The two pandas ran as fast as Po could run, which with their small rest allowing them to regain some energy, they had created a speedy pace.

Po glanced back behind them to see the wolves darting in and out of the rocks that blocked parts of their path. Then he looked ahead, and he smiled when he could see the feint glow of torches far up the mountain.

"There they are!", exclaimed Po with a broad smile.

"Yes, Po! We will rejoin them soon! Now faster!"

"Yes, master!", yelled Po. The muscles in his legs tightened even more than before, and his lungs pushed and pulled the air around him with even greater force. The great panda was soon passing his master and running up the path with a new vigor unlike any he'd ever felt before.

Shifu smiled and caught up to the Dragon Warrior to match his speed.

And with the running of the pandas kicking up dust on the ground behind them, we now see the dust form into droplets of splashing water, where others have been running through small waterfalls over the cliffside.

The villagers were now running. Not from fear of bandits or soldiers in their sights, but from fear of how close they were. For while the others were busy looking ahead or behind them, Mantis was watching the progress and happening of the far off Jade Palace. And when he saw a large amount of smoke rise up from the sky, he found the base of the pillar of smoke to be made of the Jade Palace Barracks, which were aflame. So now they were running. Running as fast as they could without anyone getting left behind.

"Viper, has she calmed down yet?", yelled the bug through the wind that he felt from atop of the travelling tent.

"Yes, but we need to get her some herbal tea! Go find Mr. Tso Bai, he should have something in his stock!", exclaimed the snake before bringing her head back inside the tent with a sigh. Tigress was now awake, and sitting up. Her arms and legs were now strapped down so that she could not move them, for she had previously kept trying to leave the tent. Suffice to say, she looked very displeased. Viper looked at the tiger and frowned,"Tigress, I'm sorry, but Crane and I couldn't do anything to help. I'm sure they're fi-", she was interuppted by the vicious and hateful look from Tigress' eyes. Viper looked down,"Okay, so I don't know if they're fine. But we have to hope, sister."

Tigress opened her mouth and started to speak, but her voice was so weak you could barely hear it. Yet Viper could hear her perfectly, making her wish she had gone deaf."If something happened to Po, I will never forgive you."

Viper closed her eyes and nodded, holding back her tears. She opened her eyes and inhaled deep to try and keep strong,"I need some fresh air. Please drink the tea when Mantis brings it to you.", she slid out of the opening to the cloth door and climbed up to the top to hide her tears of guilt from anyone's prying eyes.

Tigress lay there frowning and regretting her words. She sighed through her nose, closed her eyes, leaned her head back on her pillow, and opened her eyes once again to the fabric that was her current ceiling. She could not begin to describe how much she was stressing in worry from not knowing where Po was. And the headache she suffered from right now was only a miniscule taste of the pain she would feel if anything happened to him.

Never in her life had she felt so useless. Even in Bao Gu they would use her great strength to hold up wooden beams when they collapsed; until they were repaired, that is. And even though she felt like a monster, she still had a purpose there. At this time she had no purpose. No task, no job, nor any mission. Just lay there and heal.

The tiger looked at her restraints and inaudibly huffed. Then she closed her eyes in defeat. And slowly she drifted off to sleep.

A moment passed in her dreamless mind, but when she awoke her yellow and red eyes took note of how dark it now was; meaning all the torches held by villagers and guards had been put out. She wondered how long it had been since she had fallen asleep. Tigress twitched her nose with quick, short inhales of breath. In her sniffing she noticed three things. That Viper and Mantis were seemingly at either end of the camp, that Monkey was sitting on top of her tent, and that there was a vaguely familiar scent that sent a painfully angry chill up the back of her neck. Worse yet...it was very close.

Tigress tugged at her restraints hard, growling in her weakened status. Suddenly she heard a quiet laughter, and she went rigid at the sound. That sickening, hateful, demented laugh could have only come from one person.

The feline's glowing eyes turned to the end of her tent. God how she hated being so weak, it made her perceptions waver. For at the end of her tent behind the flaps stood a feint shadow. But then the shadow slid through the broadening gap like a bout of thick smoke, and it took form in front of her once the thing's feet touched the foot of her mattress. She did her best to growl as loud as she could, but it did nothing but merely stunt her voice even more.

"Good evening, Master Tigress.", whispered Fuhai in a mocking bow."How goes your recovery?"

Tigress narrowed her eyes at the bird and bared her fangs,"You have five seconds to leave, or I'll?"

"You'll what?", he whispered, then took a small step closer in his crouched position,"Oh please do tell me what you will do, because it would be a most facinating Kung Fu technique that could get you out of this mess, hmm?", chuckled the peacock quietly as he stroked her jaw with his feathers. Tigress hissed at him and attempted to bite at his feathered hand, but he withdrew it much too quickly.

"You make me sick!", spat the feline.

"And that is supposed to insult me how?", asked Fuhai dryly. He smirked and produced a blade from his robe; exactly like one of Shen's feather daggers. Tigress chuffed and cringed.

"What are you going to do to me?", she tighted her paws around the sheets of her bed in anger.

"My dear, you must understand that this is not about you. When has it ever?", Fuhai examined the blade in his grasp, gently carressing the smooth side,"I mean just look at you; a hardened, bitter, cumbersome female who does not even begin to try and make her race proud. Why should anyone care about you?"

Her ears flattened against her head and she looked down at her lap. He was right.

"But...but Po..."

"Ah the Dragon Warrior, of course. He does care about you. Or does he?", Fuhai gazed at Tigress with a mixture of venom and pity.

She blinked with her brows stapled together,"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Let's just say that a Mr. Po Ping has been hiding something. Something that will make you all see him in a completely new light. Especially you."

"Why should I believe you?", hissed Tigress.

"Because your master has been arranging it this entire time.", whispered the peacock slowly. Tigress' eyes widened in disbelief and hate.

As the eyes of hatred burned, so did the torch of the incoming forces for good.

The four masters stopped at the front enterance to the village, with three of them panting slightly. They gaped in horror at the flames and smoke. And with no battle taking place in their sights, they assumed the worst: The Dragon Warrior, The Grandmaster, The Furious FIve.

Dead.

"That-that-that...abomination!", spat Master Antelope before he ran off through the streets, followed closely by the other three. The four kept their stare at the burning palace barracks. As the hooved master sprinted up the stairs far ahead of his comrades, he muttered under his breath a swear,"By every drop of blood in my body, Fuhai, I will bring you to justice!"