Chapter Thirteen

Master Shifu watched Crane, Monkey, Mantis, (a little scuffed up, he was droped from pretty high...) and Tigress performing their moves with grace and style. He was angry with himself. Why had he sent Po and Viper away, just before a huge clan of bats attacked too... What had he been thinking? He needed Po here, and the absence of the two most cheery people had had an adverse affect on the group.

He sighed. For once, perhaps he had been too strict.

A loud snapping noise brought him back to reality. Monkey and Tigress had been sparring, with instructions not to stop until Shifu told them to. Tigress had just managed to break Monkey's staff, and was proceeding to rain down blows from all sides.
Shifu acted quickly, rushing in-between, pushing Tigress away from Monkey with his staff. Tigress stopped her attack with remarkable speed: years training her discipline hadn't been wasted. Shifu looked around. He realized he was far too distracted to allow them to train physically. Taking a deep breath, he gave them an order he had never given before.

"Everyone...I want you to take a break. Go and do whatever you please."

Everyone stared at him. Tigress even ventured to ask if he was feeling okay.

"I'm fine, Tigress, just distracted. I've got a lot to think about."

The others were just as confused, but hey, if Shifu was going to give them a break, far be it from them to refuse! They bowed, and left the room.

Shifu watched them leave, and sighed again. What was happening to him? He had never been so distracted over sending someone away. He wondered if it was possible he was beginning to care about that panda. He quickly shook the thought from his head. His relationship with Po was strictly that of master and student, nothing more. He could not allow himself to become attached to any of his students.

Even his daughter.

He stiffened, thinking of Tigress. She so desperately wanted attention as a daughter, but his own fear kept him from giving it to her. Deep down, he knew he was a bad parent.
That was probably why Po meant so much to him. Po, Shifu realized, saw him as as more than just a master of a defense style. He saw him as a hero, someone he could look up to. Po was able to see through his facade of the strict, heartless teacher, and saw the pained, heart stricken, animal who wants to love, and be loved, but was hidden by his own fear that his love will betray him again.

He sighed. Perhaps it would help to learn to show a little mercy sometimes. Shifu sat, and thought.

The relieved masters were each doing their own thing. Crane was writing calligraphy, and Monkey devising some new mischief maker with Mantis. Tigress, however, was different. She never had been one for fun. She was practically an emotionless rock, if you didn't know her. She sighed. She missed Viper. She was always the kind you could talk to, a sweet, kind, and rather (Tigress thought) naive girl.
She was gone, so Tigress just sat around, doing nothing. Eventually, she decided to train some more, but when she went back to the training hall, Shifu was still there, staring listlessly. Normally, she would have gone in, but it seemed rude to go back in and train, right after someone has given you a rare break. He probably thought he was being pretty nice, and would probably be insulted if she started training again. So, she turned around, and slowly meandered through the palace, lost in her own thoughts.
Finally, an idea came to her. She could read some of the scrolls! She was behind on her studies of them anyway.

Making her way towards the room where they were kept, she felt the walls with pleasure. She always liked this part of the palace; the lighting, and it's shelves filled with vast amounts of knowledge gave this room an air of mystery. She looked around, puzzled. Something seemed...wrong. She swept her eyes around the room, and the problem became apparent. the scrolls were gone! Every last scroll and manuscript was gone! Her eyes widened. Who would do something like this? Those scrolls were priceless, not in money, but for the knowledge that they contained. Countless generations had been trained using the teaching of these scrolls. The secret to stability, the recipe for superb green tea, all gleaned from those scrolls. And now they were gone! She had to tell someone.
Master Shifu! He would know what to do.

Master Shifu moved with smooth, slow, flowing movements. Concentrating on your style was a great way to clear one's mind. He gracefully span, moving slowly and carefully. With his eyes closed, he weaved his arms and legs in perfect harmony, as if dancing to an unseen rhythm. However peaceful on the outside he looked, however, inner turmoil refused to loose it's grip on him.

Opening his eyes, he frustratedly sat back down. Perhaps it was because he was never really at rest; he always had so much to do. He began to get angry. Why couldn't he forget this...this depression and move on? Some master of his emotions he was turning out to be. Clenching his fists, he could tell he was losing his temper. Emotions were boiling within him, churning and twisting and eating at his soul.

At that minute, Tigress ran in.

"Master..."

"WHAT?!"

Tigress did a double take. What had she done to make him so angry? Shifu realized that he had shouted, and apologized.

"I'm...sorry Tigress, I'm just a little... Upset about something. What is it?"

Tigress inwardly groaned. If he was upset already, then what she was about to tell him surely wouldn't help him feel better. Shifu noticed this.

"I'm fine, Tigress, truly. Now what did you want to tell me? She took a deep breath.

"Master,"' she said, "the scrolls are gone."

Silence. Worse than the loudest shout at times.

"What do you mean, "gone"? Are they stolen?"

Tigress answered. "I believe so, master." She was scared, Shifu was one of about ten things that scared Tigress, and even so, she rarely was scared even, by him.

Shifu looked around for a moment. He felt like his life was ending. Why was everything going wrong all of a sudden?
"Well," he said, "that's just about it then. Go get the others. We are going to get those scrolls back."

Tigress turned and ran.

"What happened?"
"How did this happen?"
"When did this happen?"
"What's going on?"

The room was full of questions, and no answers. Shifu was pacing back and forth restlessly. He too, was full of those same questions, but he kept them on the inside.

"Tigress!" he called. "Tell everyone here what happened."

Tigress hated being put on the spot like this. But really, what choice did she have?
"I was heading toward the hall of scrolls," she began, inwardly squirming at the eyes on her. "I entered the hall, and saw that the scrolls were gone. Nothing else was touched."

Shifu paced back towards Tigress. He had to ask a question. "Did anyone else see you enter the hall?"

Tigress knew what he was really asking. "Master, I could not have removed the scrolls in such a short time. I swear by my honor!"

Shifu sighed. "I know that, Tigress, but I am examining the possibilities. To remove all those scrolls would take a very long time, or a lot of animals..."

the red panda grew silent, as a possibility dawned on them all.

"The bats?" they all exclaimed in unison.

"They certainly had the numbers." Crane mused.

"To do this indicates a complete disregard for laws and disrespect for our culture." Shifu stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What are they planning? Could they be planning to sell them, or are they going to..."

they didn't seem like the type to spend long, careful hours poring over scrolls. However, if Shifu had learned one thing during all his years as a master, it was that you should never presume to understand your enemy. Tai Lung, oh!...the very thought of him brought a pang of guilt, anger, and pain. He had thought the very highest of him, loved him, took pride in him, only to find that he loved a monster. He had failed to understand his own SON, so how could he think he could understand an enemy?

Shifu had to break his trance for the third time today. He looked around, saw the four pairs of eyes on him, and proceeded to give orders.

"Search around. They are bats, so every cave is a likely target. Search every one. We must find those scrolls!"

The four masters bowed, turned, and left. They each had pre packed a small bag of supplies, so were ready to leave at a moments notice. In just a few more minutes, they were leaping down the stairs, not quite sure what to do, or where to start, but one thing was certain. They would find those scrolls, and someone would pay for taking them.

Authors note: I am really sorry about this... for some reason, the protocol decided to remove the spaces when I posted this chapter. So sorry... Anyway, thanks for reading, this story has had 1,200 views! I'm sure thats just a small amount, but it means a lot to me.