Kung Fu Panda

Light and Shadow

Chapter IX: Glasses

The valley is a little foggy.

Still better than raining.

Loud breathing in.

And much better than the desert. This valley remembers me of my home, with the river, which crosses the valley, the wet grass and bushes and a little tavern right on one side of the river.

The valley is not big; to be precise with except the short green banks there is only the river in this valley. It would resemble sooner a tight pass, when this river wouldn't be there.

But this isn't disturbing me.

In this region my target should be.

I go the road further, which is nothing more than a trail, which is used also by carts.

On my way to the wooden bridge, which is built between this bank and the other to enter the tavern, I see an old snake.

He had a black-yellow striped pattern with a black head and tail. He has also a magnificent moustache and goat beard, both in white. And beside him is an Erhu, a two-stringed fiddle, which he is playing right now. It's rather beautiful, but that's why I am not here.

I pass the old snake.

"You should look out, young traveler." I hear. I turn to the old snake, which had stopped playing and looked at me. He is blind.

"What do you mean?"

"You should look out for the fear. In this part of the world fear reigns."

I smile and shake my head. "I do not fear anything."

"Everyone says that, who never learned true fear." he says and starts to play again.

I look for a while at him and then shake my head. I turn around and continue going.

I cross the bridge and enter the tavern.

It is rather full, like I must admit.

Everywhere are sitting and standing people: bunnies, cats, goats, oxen, sheep, geese, ducks and many more. Noticeable is also that the bar belongs to a grim looking panda with an eye patch.

And to him I go.

I sit down at a stool by the bar. The host is cleaning a cup.

"What do ya want?" he asks me with a rough voice.

"Something to drink would be good." I say and throw a coin on the bar. Silver. Since we stole the money there remained not much.

He serves me a cup full with a reddish fluid and beside it a big black container, which resembles an urn.

"What is this?"

"Rice wine."

I never tried this stuff from the east.

Try and learn.

I take it and drink it down in one go.

Bitter.

But not so hard stuff I am used to.

And it is still somehow to my liking.

I take another cup.

Then I refill my cup and turn around to the tavern.

There are really much people.

I see some oxen, which remind me of lumberjacks. There are some kids, who are playing tag, while their parents try to stop them. And there are female goats and sheep in more expensive clothes, which are chitchatting. And right beside them two silent wolves, who look like guards.

In a more closed part of the tavern some rabbits, geese and roe are playing some game with dices.

I grin. It remembers me of some saying, which someone had said once: "The die has been cast."

I shake my head of amusement of this not fitting memory.

Then I look to the other side of the tavern. On one of the tables is sitting a fatter white rabbit with something like rectangular glasses on his nose. But these ones are darkened, almost black. They look somehow cool.

I drink up my third cup and turn back to the host.

While I refill my cup, I ask the host in a minor important manner: "I am searching for something."

The Host turns around to me. He cleans again, but this time a plate.

"And what's that?"

I grin. "The Order of the Black Claw."

I didn't say it loud. Not even in a special dramatic fashion.

But after I had said it, the until now rather loud tavern becomes silent. Completely.

I look around a little confused. All of them are looking at me.

With an odd face.

Only the rabbit with the glasses continues to drink out of his cup normally.

It last not very long, when the people start to talk again. Some of them stand up and leave the tavern. Most often the people with kids and the richer ones.

I turn back to the host, who had stopped cleaning and is looking at me with a serious look.

"Seems that there are people who know them. You, too?" I say to him in an amused manner.

The Host keeps silent and then looks behind me.

An axe lands on the bar hard with its blunt end.

"When you are not stopping to talk about "It", you will come to know us better." says someone with a deep voice.

I turn to him.

The four oxen lumberjacks are standing there prepared with their axes. They are only wearing pants and vests in different colors.

"When you want to quarrel do this outside." the host says with a bored voice.

I grin at them.

"Then let's go outside." I suggest and stand up.

I go as the first and can see that more people had left the tavern that I had expected.

Except me and the oxen only the host and the white rabbit are still here. And the last one is still drinking his whatever.

When I first step out through the wooden door, I know that these guys will not play by the rules.

Thank the gods that I am not born as a guy with something like pride or honor.

The first ox attacks me already after I do my first step out.

He rushes at me, lunging his axe.

I go a step backwards and bow down a little. In this way I can lift my right arm in the right moment to hit my back of the hand in his face.

He staggers forward and I grab his axe with both my arms.

While he is collapsing, I jump away prepared to fight axe against axe.

The next two rushes at me.

I rush at the closer one and use my axe as trip hazard and in the same motion as a shield against the second axe. Of course my wooden part of the axe meets the wooden part of the other axe, in which way the sharp side of the opponents axe is stopped right in front of my face.

But otherwise than my inexperienced lumberjack ox here, I don't stop with my movement.

I strike his axe to the side with pressing forward the handle and pulling backwards the metal peak of the axe and in the same movement pushing the opponents axe away with the handle.

And then in a swift movement I turn the axe to the other side and hit with the blunt side of the axe in the face of the second ox.

Then the fourth ox attacks me – oddly enough the one, who had talked to me – and I bow down under the attack of his axe and hammer the end of the handle in the middle of his belly.

His chin comes forward and I lift the handle hard against his chin.

While he is collapsing I go to the first ox, who wants to stand up again and hit him with the side of the metal axe in his face.

Then I turn to the second ox, who had achieved to stand up and who had realized right now, that I have beaten up all of his buddies.

He looks at me with a scared face.

"Buh!" I say to him amused. He turns around right now and runs away.

I go to the fourth ox, who seemed to be the leader.

I hit the ground right beside his face with the axe.

"Better you follow his example." I still say and enter the tavern again.

It is a complete different atmosphere now, when it is empty.

I go to the bar, take my cup and container with an amused grin and go to the table of the rabbit.

I put down the container loud on his table, before I sit down opposite of him.

I look at his neutral face.

I pour in my cup some of the wine and then let go of the container.

"So you know something about the Order?" I ask him the rhetorical question, while I take a slug.

The rabbit puts down his cup and now I can see that there is tea.

"What do you want from the Order?" he asks me.

Deeper than I thought for a fat rabbit.

"Nothing. I want something from a guy, who is in the Order." I answer honestly, while drinking up my cup.

The rabbit grins amused. "Then I can't help you."

"And that is why?"

The rabbit takes his cup in the hand again and nips on it.

I pour in another cup.

"Because I can't say you anything about different members of the Order." he replies.

I scratch my fur right upwards of my mouth, while I put down the full cup.

Then I draw my sword fast and hold it right in front of his throat.

"Wrong answer." I say threatening.

The rabbit still seems not scared in no matter.

"You don't understand. It is not that I don't want to, but more that I can't."

"And why is it so?"

"Because of the organization of the Order. It is organized in cells. I know only the members of my cell and no other."

Interesting, but not useful now.

"Then think if he is in your cell. His name is Moc."

The rabbit wants to shake his head, but remembers the point of the sword.

"Don't know him."

I shake my head in a dissatisfied manner.

"Then you will take me to your boss. The one or ones that supervise every cell. And don't tell me, that these ones don't exist. I know that they are existing."

The rabbit seems to be a little surprised, but this glasses disguise this rather good.

"That I can't do."

I shove the sword closer to his throat.

"No, wait!" he says and has finally lost his cool, "I have a better offer for you."

I shake my head. "I want to have Moc. No one else."

"No, this can bring you to him."

That pricks up my ears and I shove the sword back.

"I listen."

The rabbit pants a little.

"The Order had….some issues in the last time. Bigger issues."

"So what?"

"The issues were that, that not an insignificant amount of members left the Order. To join an army under a monkey with the name Tian Yi."

"So?"

"Your friend or whatever he is to you, could be a member of these runaway."

I think about this.

"But he can easily be still in your Order." I state.

"Yeah, but the location of the Order HQ I can't tell you even, when you kill me. But the location of this army I can tell you."

I think about this.

When I let him go, he will surely warn the others and my biggest advantage, the surprise effect, would be gone.

But I don't think that he will tell me otherwise what I want to know. And there is a chance that Moc is part of this army.

"Tell me.", I say finally.

The rabbit smiles.

"His army is at the Sun Wukong School of Martial Arts, some days south from here."

I nod.

Then I think about killing him still.

I smirk.

I take my sword back and pull it back to its sheath.

The sword needs to be clean for Moc.

I stand up, while drinking the wine out of my cup.

"Thanks for the information."

I take the container and put down the cup on the opening.

Then I take the glasses of the surprised rabbit and put them on my nose.

Splendid.

"No offense, but I think I look better in them."

And then I leave the tavern.

"Kung Fu Panda" (c) DreamWorks Animation

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Characters you don't know are from me.