Here's how Skywalker spends his day with the Furious Five.
Chapter 9: A Day with the Five
The next day, Shifu was in his room meditating and Skywalker walked past him with the door open. He wanted to walk past him to avoid bothering him, but Shifu said, "Come join me, young Skywalker."
Skywalker walked back and asked, "Really? You want me to meditate with you?"
"Of course."
Without question, he went into his room and joined Shifu for some meditating. He sat down, crosses his legs together, closed his eyes and brings some inner peace in his mind. Shifu asked, "What do you feel?"
Skywalker sighed heavily and replied, "Anxious."
"What else?"
"A sense of finding inner happiness within myself."
Shifu opened his eyes and saw that Skywalker has already been taught to meditate. Probably because Musaki taught him how to do some yoga. He looked at him and realized that he was in perfect posture and thinks several thoughts and feelings to himself like never before. Soon, Skywalker brought up another thought; his stepfather.
He envisions him being in a fight every single time he doesn't want to follow his dreams and choosing his own choices. He relives every moment since he was 13 and believes that his stepfather cares about no one but himself. He hears screams echoing through his head and lots of violence and beating down at that tender age.
He opened his eyes quickly and starts to sweat. He panted silently and Shifu saw Skywalker looking completely intense. He turns to him and asked, "Is something wrong, Skywalker?"
He looked at him and pretended like nothing's wrong and quickly said, "No, nothing's wrong, master."
"You're sweating and your heart's beating faster and you're breathing hard."
"Those are just normal things."
Shifu gave him a glare and realize that it was something more than normal. It was more like, he was troubled. Skywalker saw the glare and he knew that it was a 'give me the truth' glare and admitted, "My stepfather. Often times, I would hide in my room or some other place, whenever I feel his presence towards me."
Shifu sighed heavily and asked him, "How often would he beat you if you disagree with going after your stepfather's dream?"
"I'm not sure, but I would say on a scale of one to ten, it's pretty much....31."
"31?!"
"31 times in one day or whenever he feels like it."
Shifu was shocked and couldn't believe what he just said. He started to feel very sorry for Skywalker and realized that he needed is a friend. He asked, "Why don't you hang out with the Five for the rest of the day?"
Skywalker couldn't believe what Shifu just said and asked, "Seriously? No training? No-- no carrying big pandas for exercise?"
"We'll worry about training another day."
Skywalker smiled and said, "Thanks, master."
He went away, leaving Shifu alone to his meditating skills, while he saw the Five in the kitchen, just hanging out. He thought it would be the perfect time to sort of get to know most of them. So, he enters the kitchen and they see Skywalker walking in. Most of the Five greeted him good morning and Skywalker asked, "Can I hang out with most of you guys for today?"
"You want to hang out with us?" asked Monkey.
"Like, of course. I've always wanted to hang out and get to know you guys more."
"I think that's an understatement." Tigress said.
"Excuse me?"
"Obviously, the reason you said that because Shifu told you, right?"
"Well, yeah, but--"
"Exactly. So, how do we know you're not playing a joke on us?"
"Can it, Tigress. This is Skywalker we're talking about. How do we know he is?" explained Viper.
"She's got a point. I think we're liable to hang out with Skywalker for a day. I mean, Shifu's meditating anyway, so we shouldn't bother him. I mean, Po could bug him three or four times and we would still hang out with each other, regardless." Crane said.
"You're always right about everything, aren't you?"
"Pretty much."
"Don't mind what Tigress says. We can hang out with you and we love it if you hung out with us." Mantis said.
Tigress scoffs and said, "And I suppose you're gonna make nasty comments about me, aren't you?"
"Of course not. I'm too fragile and sensitive to even say things like that, especially if you're a girl."
"What does that supposed to mean?"
"It's not that offensive." Viper said.
"So, what do we want to know about you?"
"Well, I know you guys were surprised that my stepfather beats me most of the time."
"I'm still wondering why does he do it."
"He does it to release some anger out or when we have an arguement and it goes horribly wrong and it seems as though he wants to have the last say or win the fight, but we lose every time."
"Why couldn't you tell him to stop?"
"If I did, he won't listen and he'll keep beating me up more and something will snap inside his mind that may be something that he's not capable of doing."
"How often would he beat you?" asked Monkey.
"Most times, like a couple of days when we argue and he beats me down 31 times."
"31 TIMES?!" the Five shouted.
"31. Kicks me 10 times, slaps me 5 times, punches me 5 more times, scratches and shoves me 11 times and that's pretty much all he does, when he wants to lose his cool."
The Five were shocked and astonished about what he heard and Viper asked, "Did you mom defend you?"
"She's the only one that doesn't abuse me."
"That's sad."
"Really sad. If my dad came here, he would comfort me with a hug and tells me that everything will be okay."
"I'm pretty sure a part of him is here with you."
"There is, in his heart."
"I see."
"Yeah. So, what do you guys do most of the time?"
"Us?" they asked.
"I want to know what you guys do, besides kung fu and all."
"Well, it's simple, really. Most times, I would do calligraphy in my room. Then, I would be the master of deflection. If you throw an object or something, I would swipe them back. When I was working at the Lee Da Kung Fu Academy, I always wanted to be like the kung-fu masters, but I was too skinny to even think of doing stuff like that." Crane said.
Skywalker's eyes widened and asked, "You? Skinny? No way."
"It's true. My legs are kinda skinny."
Skywalker looked at Crane's legs and realize that they are skinny. Despite that, he couldn't say anything negative about it and said, "Who cares that they're skinny or not? What matters is who you are."
Crane smiled and said, "You know, it did build me confidence to assert myself to be the kung-fu master of who I am today."
"I used to be the practical jokester before I joined these guys. I used to prank the others by leaving banana peels and watch them slip and fall, and then pants them down, but I soon realize that it happened to me once and I was acting just like them, so I left that behind, even though I do have a sense of humor. But other than that, I'm good at acrobatics and whatnot. So, it gets me a quick speed in my strength." Monkey said.
"Wow. That's awesome. So, you're invincible."
"I guess that's what I am. Invincible."
"Well, I'm not one to brag, but I was born with no fangs. My father has powerful fangs that transcends into this powerful venom. But, when he saw that I had no fangs, it was a struggle to have to deal with the fact that I have a birth defect. But, I became a master of ribbon dancing and when I was younger, I got a lot better at it. Everyone seems to think that the Vipers are fierce, but I'm actually a sweet and kind hearted snake, who has the heart of a warrior." Viper said.
"You're like an angel. It's like you have a compassionate attitude towards everyone."
"It's true, I do."
"Nothing compares this to my life story. When I was young, I used to be very impatient, like everything was taking forever. But, I got encountered by some stupid crocs that imprisioned me. So, I had no choice but to wait until something comes up. I was waiting for them to strike, so I can strike them back. That day I learned patience. Aside from that, I'm a master of acupuncture, and I'm a little guy and I can withstand everything from my size."
"Cool. You do acupuncture?"
"Sure, I'm good at it. I mean, if you want me to try it on you, maybe you might grow to like it."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not really. It makes you feel better, basically, so it doesn't hurt much.I'm pretty sure you won't feel a thing."
"Great, I can't wait."
"Well, here's my life story. I was in the Bao Gu Orphanage since I was young and most people at the orphanage didn't want to be around me, because I was too tempered." Tigress explained.
"That's no surprise, she still is." Mantis muttered.
Tigress cleared her throat and then, Mantis looked at her nervously and said, "But you changed, haven't you?"
"Yes, I did. I was isolating myself from everyone else, until Shifu entered into my life and he taught me how to play dominoes, but it actually gives me some serious discipline, and it gives out precison, grace, a still hand and a steady heart. It took me months, but I actually mastered it. After that, they got used to me, except for the parents. They were still afraid of me, except for Shifu, who took me in. He's been like a father to me ever since."
"Wow. I never knew that. I always thought you were the fiercest one of the Five."
"She still is, but she has a reason to be like that."
"So, I bet she must be surprised when Po was the Dragon Warrior, right?"
"Well...she was surprised, but in a good way....not so much."
"She didn't take it well when Oogway positioned him to be the Dragon Warrior, so she kinda treats him like crap and disrespects him and shows a bit of resentment towards him. But, as soon as he took down Tai Lung, she shows some respect to her and she's more comfortable abiut him being the Dragon Warrior."
"Why were you being such a jerk to him?"
"I had to. It's my intention, but I would never hurt his feelings." she explained.
"He is sensitive, though."
"That's how Po is. He kinda looks at the bright side of life and really turns it into a positive thing, so he's really a positive and kind person and we all love him for that."
Skywalker chuckled and said, "Funny, in a way, he's like my big brother."
"He's everyone's big brother. He's the big brother you never had and he likes playing that role. And that's why we like being around him, because he's so much fun."
"And a joy to be around."
Skywalker smiled and realized that hanging out with the Five is really a great thing. He continued talking to them and he's more comfortable about being with them and talking to him, almost as if he fits in well with them with no problems and no resentment towards him.
They're good friends, aren't they? More chapters on the way soon!
