"Well," said Tigress, "now we know what this Yang Stone is and where it came from. But if it's supposed to belong to the leader of the Tiger Clan, why would it be left with me?"
"It actually kinda makes sense, Tigress," said Po. "It is from the Tiger Clan, which I'm pretty sure is a clan of tigers, and you, of course, happen to be one. Maybe you came from that clan."
Tigress nodded. "That would make sense. I remember Qiáng Jiǎo telling me that it could my heirloom."
"Well, then that just makes even more sense! Tigress, you could be the future leader of the Tiger Clan – think about it, a clan leader. That's probably even better than being the Dragon Warrior. I mean, don't get me wrong, being the greatest warrior in all of China's pretty sweet, but to be leader of a whole clan? And we're talking about a clan that helped sculpt the usage of Kung Fu. Can you imagine that, Tigress?"
"It would explain a lot," Tigress agreed. "But there is some conflict to this—why would such an important heirloom be left with a discarded child?"
"Well, do you remember what I told you about the time I found the village where I was born and found out why my real mom left me in that basket of radishes?"
Tigress nodded.
"Don't you think that maybe in your case there were similar circumstances?"
Tigress withheld her answer for a short moment, as she thought it over. "Do you really think so Po?" She couldn't help but still think that the initially unstable temperament she had as a cub would be a likely, if not probable, explanation for being left at Bao Gu, yet she also couldn't help but reminisce on Qiáng Jiǎo suggesting a similar scenario to the one Po suggested.
Po shrugged. "What other reason would you be left at the orphanage with the Yang Stone?"
Tigress' eyes hooded over somewhat as she thought it over—on one paw, that was a good question. On the other paw, Po's theory did sound sensible.
"That actually would make a lot of sense," said Crane. "Some kind of catastrophe could have befallen upon the royal family of Tiger Clan, or maybe even the clan itself, and your parents left you here in the Valley to save you. They must've also left the Yang Medallion with you so that you would eventually learn about your heritage, and then when you came of age, you'd step up and take their place as clan leader and restore the clan."
Tigress looked at Crane, then looked at Po. A faint smile formed on her lips as she lightly nodded her elaborately-striped head. "You may be right, Po. Perhaps that is what happened." She turned her attention to the door of Po's room. "It seems we won't have to interrogate those bandits what the Yang Stone is, but we still need to know why they were after it—for all we know, it could be linked to why I was separated from my parents. They might know something about the Tiger Clan that we don't."
Crane nodded. "That's not a bad idea, but I think I should interrogate you on why I was the one to remind Po not to make any snack stops when I was pretty sure it was Monkey's turn to tell him that." He gave the thewy tiger a stern, skeptical stare, with wings on hips.
An amused smirk played on Tigress' lips as she folded her hefty, striped arms. "Well, firstly, you're the swiftest, and the one carrying the message from me to the rest of the group. Po would receive the message a bit sooner from the first one to hear it than a middleman messenger."
Crane rolled his eyes. Wouldn't I still be the middleman?
"Second," Tigress continued, "Monkey never bothers to remind Po about the snack stops."
Crane sighed. "Fine, let's just get to those bird bandits. But when we get back to Jade Palace, I'm going to give Monkey a serious talk."
Po nodded. "Right, let's get to it. Oh, and Dad, d'you suppose that when you have the chance you could give our thanks to those two sheep friends of yours, Féngrèn and Féngzhì for making those awesome new threads for me and the guys? I mean, I know I've already thanked them before, but I just don't think one 'thank you' is enough."
Mr. Ping beamed a warm grin at his ursine son as he nodded. "Of course, son. And good luck with those bandits. Oh, and be sure to give them a good clout for me, you know, for causing such havoc upon my shop."
Po chuckled. "Will do, Dad. And I'll be sure to give an extra special clout to the ones that tried to corner you." Lifting the small goose off his webbed feet, he gave him a warm bear hug. Mr. Ping returned the hug, wrapping his little wings around the panda as far as he could.
Tigress couldn't help but indulge in the sight of this scene. She remembered the time she, Po and the Five were sailing to Gongmen City, and Po was relating to her the revelation that the father [the goose] he had known his whole life wasn't his true father. The only thing surprising about this news to her was that he hadn't realized this until decades after his adoption, when (as most anyone would agree) it should have been obvious long ago, even though on more than one occasion he had questioned if the goose really was his father. This, however, did not block her concern over whether this revelation bothered Po, and despite his denial of it, she knew he felt deeply troubled by this. She remembered the time she tried to force Po to stay in Gongmen Prison when he refused to answer her interrogations – that was when she listened as Po confessed his desperation to know of his true parents, whom he claimed Lord Shen knew about.
Tigress had long suppressed the troubles of her separation from her parents; one could say she had left it behind at the orphanage long ago (along with her doll, and—unbeknownst to her—the Yang Stone), or one could say it had been buried long ago by the new troubles she faced with the lack of love her care-takers provided her. Nevertheless, she understood Po's troubles, she understood them well. And soon, he, too, came to understand the true compassionate side of his hardcore comrade when she hugged him. She was glad he managed to find the truth about his true parents, but she was even more glad to know that he not only accepted the goose who raised him from cubhood throughout all those years as his father, but embraced him as his father.
Tigress snapped back into reality as she noticed a sound filling the air. It was a soft, velvety sound, and it was awfully familiar. She touched a paw to her throat and found that it was vibrating—she was purring. Turning red beneath her orange fur, she ceased before anyone else would notice and beckoned to Po with a wave of her paw. "Come on, Po, we'd better get to those bandits—they've probably come to by now."
Putting his father down, Po hurried after Tigress. "Oh, right! See ya, Dad!"
"Oh, son, have you and your friends had lunch? I do still have some noodles left over if your hungry."
The three warriors paused in their tracks upon hearing the goose cook's offer and exchanged glances with each other—they haven't had a chance to have lunch yet, what with having to deal with those bandits back at Bao Gu Orphanage, delivering them to Jìng-Suǒ Prison and having deal with more bandits at the Noodle Restaurant.
Meanwhile, in the city of Gongmen, many a citizen watched as Āmā the goat Soothsayer made her way down the streets of Black Dragon Alley, flanked by two hefty-bodied escorts cladded in hooded habit-like robes of green silk and gold trim with blue stripes, which made it impossible for the onlookers to identify what species they were. The trio finally reached their destination, a stout-looking building that was originally built as a Kung Fu academy for young trainees, but was converted into a prison for Masters Ox and Croc during Lord Shen's reign; now it served as a temporary domicile for the two Masters whilst the Tower of Sacred Flame—which was destroyed by Shen in a failed attempt at his capture by Po and the Furious Five—was being reconstructed.
The old goat ceased before the antelope guards standing by the building's entrance. She bowed her horned head respectfully. "I bring a message for the Masters."
The guards exchanged glances and nods, and then returned their attention to Ama.
"You may enter," said one of the guards. "But the other two must remain out here."
Āmā nodded. "Very well." Her two robed escorts stood in place as she was escorted through the entrance by two of the antelopes.
One of the remaining guards tilted his head as he gazed inquisitively at the curious robed figures, straining to figure out what to make of them. "Who are you?"
A black paw emerged from the voluminous sleeve of the escort standing right of the questioner as he placed on his chest, bowing slightly. "We are escorts of the Soothsayer, sir."
"Yes, that is apparent," replied the questioning guard. "But what are your names, and what kind of creatures are you?"
"I am Bǎi Cháo," answered the first escort to speak. He then gestured a paw to his companion. "This is Bāo Líng. I am afraid the one whom we serve does not permit us to reveal out identity any further."
The guard seemed to toy with his lance as he carved circles in the air with it, then lowering its head almost disarmingly. "Hmm… I see. But if say…THIS were to happen?!" No sooner had he uttered the word 'this' than he gave an expertise flick of his lance, flipping Bǎi Cháo hood over to expose his features. He, along with the rest of the guard, then gasped in shock, and his lance fell with a clatter from his now limp hoof as he found himself gazing into one of the last faces he, or anyone else, would ever expect to see again.
"WHAT?!" The voices of Masters Croc and Ox boomed thunderously throughout the building in unison.
"Two of the Wu Sisters are free?!"
"That is impossible!"
Āmā shook her head. "Nothing is impossible. My visions do not lie, and neither do I—I am a soothsayer, thus I am to say what is, and I am here to do as I must."
Storming Ox's outraged expression quickly became rueful and apologetic as he knelt down. "Forgive us, Soothsayer, we do not doubt your word. It's just that it's so hard to conceive the Wu Sisters escaping a second time."
"I understand," sighed Āmā. "I too sorely wish it were not so, but my visions tell me what is to be, and so it shall be. Two of the sisters of Wu are freed once more, and soon so shall the third one, Su Wu."
The hearts of the two Masters sank.
"Su Wu? But then there will be all three," said Croc. "We can't take them on. We would be able to if Thundering Rhino were still here, but just us two against all three of the Sisters? Those are risky odds."
Ox stood up, his eyes burning with determination. "Then we can't allow the third one to escape." His eyes then shifted to his right, and he espied a horn mounted on the wall by two metal brackets. Rushing to the wall, he took the horn and sounded with all the vigor he could muster until a small fruit bat came fluttering in.
The bat landed beside the hulking bovid, panting heavily as he readjusted his fez. "You…called…sir?"
"Húfú, I want you to fly to Jìng-Bào Prison," bellowed Storming Ox with a strength in his breath sufficient enough to topple the little fruit bat. "Tell them that as an order from the Masters' Council they are to double—no, triple—no, quadruple the guards, quadruple the weaponry, quadruple the security…quadruple everything! Su Wu does not leave that prison!"
"Yes, Master Ox," squeaked Húfú, not bothering to question the motive for a sudden demand for a dramatic increase in security in a prison that wasn't even in his home city—one did not need the wisdom of Oogway to know that these were urgent matters and that this was no time for something as trivial as asking questions. Without further ado, he took to his wings and hastily made his way to the exit.
Āmā simply shook her head as she watched the bat depart. "I am afraid it is no use. One's efforts to change one's destiny is like wing against the unmoving mountain—the wind may hurtle itself unto the mountain with all its might, but the mountain will not nudge in the slightest. I remember I had a mentor who taught me the art of fortune telling; he was an old tortoise who knew many things, and he had many sayings—one of them was that one often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it, and sometimes it can even turn out to be the shortcut. I had predicted that Shen would be defeated by a warrior of black and white, and he did everything he could to prevent it, but in the end he met his destiny on the road he chose to avoid it. Sometimes the actions we make to alter our fate will only succeed in sealing it."
"But we can't just sit around and wait for Su to escape," said Croc. "If the Wu Sisters reunite, all of China could be in grave danger, again. And the first thing they might do is come looking for us, seeking revenge."
"Yes," agreed Storming Ox. "And as you said: two against three are risky odds. Should it come to us having to stand up to them, we're going to need a third fighter on our side to fill in the blank that Thundering Rhino left. If our number is even to those of the Sisters like it was the first time we fought them, we might actually have a real chance this time."
"Agreed, but we can't hire just any fighter."
"You're right. We need someone with a greatness that matches Rhino's; someone who among the best of the best, the greatest of the great; the most renowned fighter in all of China. We need…" Storming Ox paused. Both he and Croc turned to each other, locking gazes in a long dramatic pause before they both finished in unison.
"The Dragon Warrior."
Just then, the two Masters heard the entrance door opening, the hasty pitter-patter of rushing hooves, and a voice calling out urgently, "Masters, there is something you must see!"
Who exactly are these escorts of Āmā? Will Storming Ox's decision to send Húfú to Jìng-Bào Prison prevent the escape of Su Wu, or only aid it? Stay tuned…
A/N:
Húfú (Pronounced: Hoo-Foo) = Fruit Bat, or Fox Bat (literal translation)