"Seriously... why couldn't they.. just... have put me in a cellar... close by... instead of dragging me up a... mountain..."
The sun was rising ever higher on a scenic tapestry of red and orange, the harbinger of the impending morning. The brilliant hues of the sky were already starting to fade. In perhaps another half hour, there wouldn't even be the faintest spectre of their existence, just a lost, golden memory until its visage was revealed again the next morning. Po, who had made a slight miscalculation in the distance between the magical well and the Valley of Peace, was trudging tiredly back home, dragging his feet on the ground. He was close, so close, to the familiarity and hospitality of the village. Never before would a homecoming be so sweet.
He had been walking for at least an hour; Po had watched the sky go from steely gray to the vivid colours it was now, and soon would come the perpetual blue that the sky was forever painted. Walking for an hour wouldn't have been such a taxing job in itself if you didn't add in ditches, ravines, thick undergrowth, rocks, the memories of recently being crucified by a group of madmen out to kill everything, and keeping the precious cargo he carried in his pocket safe.
For the hundredth time in the past five minutes, Po reached into his pocket and touched the yellowed bone of the vial, feeling the gelid chill of the Water through its grim container. He wondered who the bone had belonged to before, and how much longer they would have lived if it hadn't been ripped out of them. Taking the vial out of his pocket and looking at it again, he decided that it probably wouldn't matter now. The bone was old; whoever it belonged to had been dead for so long their names were likely not even recorded in history. He felt a pang of grief at the thought that this person's existence was completely forgotten by all.
Po had taken the vial from that small room that he had been tortured in and filled it with the Water, for Tigress. He had treated the carved bone with as much care as if he had put a scorpion in his pocket, constantly checking it every few steps to make sure it didn't fall out. This stuff could heal even the most lethal of wounds, so it should be able to heal hers. The Master said that the tiger had been taken before his minions could get to her, but he didn't say who had taken her. He didn't know if she would even have been still alive after losing so much blood, but he quickly silenced such treacherous dwellings. She was alive, and would be healthy again after he gave her the Water.
"Finally!" Po gasped, propping himself against the first building he came across in an attempt to catch his breath. "I made it! Man, I'm hungry." His gasping breaths seemed to echo through the streets, which he couldn't help but notice were unusually empty, even for this early. "Uh... I guess it's everyone's day off, then?" He began to walk down the street, glancing around cautiously to scan for any sign of life.
The feel in the town was different, foreign. Surely there would be some people awake at this time? He didn't even see the telltale glimmer of a candle flame in any of the windows he passed. The Valley seemed to be in a state of overwhelming desolation, like the shadowed ghost of a once great empire. Everything looked the same as it had the day before, but it still sent chills up his spine. It also sent up a few more chills when he heard the unmistakable, high-pitched sound of a jinghu playing somewhere close by, and the sounds of singing could be heard.
"Oookay." Po said to himself. "That's not creepy when the village is mysteriously deserted." Even so, he was curious as to why someone would be playing music when no one was around to hear it. He listened for a moment, before deciding that it was coming from the left of him. It turned out to be the right choice, because after about ten paces the jinghu became louder and the lyrics of the song legible. The singer had a harsh, raspy voice, like that of an old man.
"Hearken, friends, and watch the crows fly!
Fear their omens as they dance through the sky
The knell will ring loud, and the mortals shall pray
That the time of their suffering will not last but a day
When your name is written, in the book of the dead
You will hear their screams resonate through your head!"
Po turned a corner to see an old goose sitting on a dilapidated crate, his bow moving slowly along the jinghu. His feathers were gray with age, and his beak looked like cracked orange stone, but there was a strange, mad wisdom in his eyes. He didn't notice the giant panda standing there next to him, too engrossed with his acherontic song.
"Watch the sky turn red and the worms start to feast
As you follow the Master into the belly of the beast."
Po gasped aloud at the mention of the Master, and the old goose smiled, the skin around his beak wrinkling. "Greetings, Po. Have you come to listen to the herald's song?"
"How do you know about the worms, the Master?" Po asked him, although he was somewhat afraid to know the answer. "... And my name."
"Worms are decomposers, an essential part of life" The goose said, still playing the instrument. "And everyone has a master, Dragon Warrior, even you. I simply sing a tale of woe and tragedy. What do you claim I know of?"
"Oh..." Po suddenly realized that blurting that information out was stupid at best. Trying to change the subject, he looked around the street. "Do you know why it's so empty this morning?"
"They feel it, the people, and try to hide. They know that a shadow blots out the sun and will cover this world in its tenebrific entirety. You feel it too, else you wouldn't have sought me out."
"Well, actually it was more so your music that made me seek you out." Po said, sitting down next to him. The old goose stopped playing his jinghu and looked at the panda. "So... what about this shadow thing you were talking about?" Po asked him.
"It is just the beginning. The darkness that this Valley will face in the next few days will be the ultimate fate of the world as a whole. Surely you have felt its power, heard its cacophonous screams, saw the shadows grow deeper and darker when the sun still shines in the sky. Your inner peace has given you a spiritual attunement to this doomed universe, so you should have noticed the signs."
"I've definitely noticed something," Po said, rubbing the palms of his hands where the nails had been driven through. "Wait, how do you know about my inner peace?"
"If only you had picked up on it sooner, then perhaps you may have stood a chance against the tides of war." The goose continued, ignoring the question. "Those villages were just the beginning of this madness. They will be here soon, the madmen will. Sniffing out blood like sharks, drawn to death like a moth to a flame. I herald their arrival, I warn you of the cataclysm that is soon to take place, but there is nothing that can be done to stop death. They bring calamity, they bring pain. They bring with them the screams of those destined to die, and the anguished weeping of the widows. Their calls shall mark the end of this fragile earth."
"So you do know something about the Master."
"What I know... can be of no use to you now. If only Master Oogway had simply told the plain truth to you, to Shifu, to the Valley. Everything would have turned out so much differently if you had been prepared. But his riddles were the death of him, and will be the death of you as well." The old goose placed his musical instrument on the ground and stood. "This town stands on the edge of the abyss, only a gentle push from plummeting into the void. If you had any sense, you would get out of this country while the getting's good."
Po felt a chill run through him that wasn't caused by the temperature. The bird's words rang with the conviction of a prophecy. He swallowed, then spoke. "I don't know exactly how powerful whatever it is that's coming for us, but there is no way I'll run from these loonies. I'm the Dragon Warrior; I swore to protect these people. I'm not gonna give up on my word."
The old man was walking away down the street before Po had even finished. "You have taken a fool's oath, panda. So be it. I must depart from this town. You will not see me again, Po."
"Okay. Goodbye then." Po said, waving cheerfully to the goose's back. "Wait, what's your name?" he called, but if the goose heard him, he gave not the slightest indication. The giant panda shrugged. "Well, that was weird."
"Po?" He nearly jumped out of his skin when the unexpected voice came from behind him. He looked over his shoulder. It was Crane, staring at him from beneath the brim of his hat. "Oh, hey Crane." Po said casually. "You got back early."
"You could say the matter solved itself. Po, where were you last night?" His voice had an underlaying tone of... grief? His beak trembled slightly. "Do you know what happened to Tigress?"
"Oh, yeah, she got hurt pretty bad by the Puppet Master. Do you know how she's doing now?" Po asked. "I really need to see her."
Crane closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "Po... she's dying."
Despite the fact that Po already assumed this, and despite the healing Water in his pocket, this news hit him like a blow from a hammer. With nails. The water healed me, and Sârmă, and probably Dubaku as well. It'll work on her. He shook his head. "No, she isn't."
The avian looked taken aback by his denial. "She had a vital artery severed when she received her wound. Min said she shouldn't have even survived till dawn. "
"Yeah, but Min doesn't have what I do." Po said, taking out the vial from his pocket and showing it to Crane. "There's something in this vial that's so awesome it's gonna turn your brain into shit. Trust me, Craniac, she won't die. You said she was at Min's shop, right? Let's go, no time to lose!" He took off, not quite running, down the street towards the healer's place before the avian could ask what was in the vial.
"What is he going to do now?" Crane wondered aloud. With a heavy heart, he spread his wings and took off the ground, staying slightly above the rooftops. He felt no need to go any higher than this, since he was going to be landing soon anyway.
It only took a few minutes to reach Min's shop. The building, though nothing truly impressive, was a bit more expensive than most of the other shops, a testament to Min's skill in the healing and alchemical arts. Po kicked the door open with a loud "Hi-ya!" and jumped into the room. There was a pig sitting on one of the rickety wooden chairs in a corner, his arm in a splint. He looked shocked at the panda's abrasive entry. "Hey buddy," Po said cheerfully. "You know where Min is?"
"Upstairs." Was all the pig said, and Po was already halfway up the stairs before the word had left his mouth. He found himself in a short hallway, with two doors on either side, and one at the end of the corridor. The rooms to his right and left were for patients with more serious ailments, while the single door at the far end was where Min slept. Crane caught up with him at the top of the steps. "How can you be so cheerful at a time like this?" the avian hissed in Po's ear, making him smile.
"Because," Po said "I have found the key to..." He paused for a second, as though awaiting something. He sighed in disappointment. "No drumroll, then. Eternal life!" The look his friend gave him suggested that calling him crazy would be an understatement. "Seriously, I'm not kidding. Really!" He added when Crane kept walking down the hall. "Just tell me which room she's in."
"Tigress is in here," he said quietly over his shoulder, before opening the closest door to Min's room on the left wall. Po hurriedly followed him and ducked through the threshold, since the doorway too low for him to walk upright through. Without a head injury, anyway.
Po first saw Tigress, laying on a cot with a blanket pulled up to her neck. Her eyes were closed, and it didn't look like she was moving. He was terrified that he had tarried too long, that she had died before he could administer the Water, but then he saw the faint rise and fall of her chest. Though the room was only lit by a candle on a small beside table, he could make out the round ears and small stature of Master Shifu sitting on a chair, his gaze on his daughter. There was a heavy, somber feel in the air. Min was at the back of the room where a larger table was set up, mashing a poultice with a mortar and pestle.
"Alright guys, step aside." Po said loudly, making Min and Shifu, who were previously unaware of his presence, jump and turn their attention to him. "The Dragon Warrior is here to save the day!"
"Sure, don't knock. Just barge in and start yelling" Min drawled, not even looking up . "It's not like someone's dying in here."
"You are one hundred percent right." Po responded confidently. "No one is dying in this room today." He walked on over to the cot and knelt down beside it, next to Shifu. He pressed the back of his hand to Tigress's forehead. She was cool and clammy to the touch, and her breathing was slight and rapid. She needed the water immediately.
"What happened last night, Po?" Shifu asked. There was no anger in his voice; he just sounded tired and forlorn.
"Man, we'd be here all day if I told you now. I'm gonna just use my magical powers to heal Tigress, then I'll tell you. Hey, she might even wake up in time to hear what happened to me."
"This is hardly the time for your games, panda." Po's upbeat response may have stirred some anger in his mentor, if Shifu's sudden change of tone was any indication.
"This is no game, Master Shifu." He said. "This is the coolest thing in the history of ever. Watch."
Po gently lowered the blanket to get a good look at Tigress's wound. Min had wrapped pretty much her entire upper chest in linen, which, unfortunately, made it impossible to see the wound. It did spare him a great deal of awkwardness, though, as he didn't think she'd be wearing her vest under the bandages. He slowly began to unravel on of the bandages around her left shoulder, where the wound was received.
"What in the hell are you doing?" Min was beside Po faster than he'd ever seen anyone move. He grabbed the panda's hand and pulled it back, showing an incredible amount of strength for his size. He applied pressure to Po's wrist, making sharp jolts of pain shoot up the panda's arm.
"No, I need to see the wound!" Po protested, trying to get his hand out of the sable's grip. He was damn strong for a healer. "Trust me on this, I can save her."
"Nothing can save her now!" Even so, Min leaned to the side and met Shifu's eyes. The red panda nodded, so slightly it was almost imperceptible, and said. "It's the only chance she has, unlikely as it is."
Without saying anything else, the sable picked up a small scalpel off the table where he had been grinding the poultice, and carefully cut the bandages that covered her wound. Po sucked in a breath through his teeth. It was bad- no, that was an understatement- it was lethal. The wound had to be an inch and a half across, and still slowly oozed blood despite the bandages. It was too big to even stitch up. "Alright, are you guys ready for this?"
Silence answered him.
"Here goes!" Po exclaimed, his voice growing gradually louder as he pulled out the bone vial from his pocket. "ALLA-" He popped the cork off and poured half of the contents of the bottle onto the wound. "-KAZAM!"
Min, Shifu and Crane gasped as the occult magic of the Water took effect. Her wound began closing around the edges, like an iris, and the blood flow quickly stopped. Po sat back with a smile on his face, not surprised anymore about the power of the Water. Then, suddenly getting another good idea, he poured more of the elixir onto her fingers and toes, wondering if the Water would heal her claws. Now it was his turn to be surprised. Tigress's claws simply... grew back, in a process that looked similar to pouring black oil into an invisible, claw-shaped container. Within seconds they were all whole
"Holy fuck on a hot day..." Min whispered, putting his paws over his eyes for a second and then uncovering them, as though he expected the wound to have reappeared. "Those mushrooms should have worn off hours ago. I can't work like this."
"It's not a hallucination, man." Po said, holding up the now empty vial of the Water. "It's called 'Awesomeness'." He turned to Shifu, who was staring at him, awestruck. Not once had Po seen that expression on his face. "Where did you get that?" He asked.
"Storytime!" Po then relayed the details of the night to his mentor, beginning with him getting the flyer for the puppet show, and ending with the crucifixion and the discovery of the well. Shifu remained silent throughout the whole story, a troubled look in his eyes which became grim when he mentioned the Master. Then Po recalled something important, and his hand shot up to his mouth. "Oh no!" He said "We left the bodies in the alley! We thought that... aw, man! We should have taken care of them before we went out puppet-hunting"
"We found the dead before you returned." Shifu said. "Viper, Monkey and Mantis are out informing their families of the tragedy, and the bodies are being taken to the undertaker by the Palace Servants."
Po was glad that they had taken care of them before anyone saw them. Last night, him and Tigress had had to question the Puppet Master before he hauled ass out of town. They now knew it was unnecessary, since Sârmă was clearly not going anywhere for a while. His dark obsession with him and Tigress prevented that from happening. At the time, though, they assumed that Sârmă was a wandering psychopath, travelling from town to town and killing people at random.
"This Master of theirs..." Shifu began, a deeply troubled look in his eyes. "You met him. Did he give you his name?"
"I asked Dubaku, but he just started talking in crazynese, which I'm not too fluent in" Po shrugged. "I guess this Master guy is going for that mysterious vibe. I did, on the other hand, find out the names of another two of his henchmen- Tabula Rasa and Mèng. I have absolutely no idea what they look like. I know that Tabula Rasa is a woman, though, and I think Mèng is a kid. The Master did refer to him as 'that child'"
Shifu said nothing, but stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Should I have left the room before you told that story?" Min asked from beside them. He had gone back to grinding up his poultice. Po had completely forgotten he was still with them. The sable was observing the area were the wound had been before, frowning curiously. The fur hadn't grown back, suggesting that the Water couldn't heal lost hair. "This potion of yours..." Min began.
"Water." Po corrected.
"Hmm. It's not water. Not in the truest sense of word, anyway. I can sense... great power, ancient power, coming from it. I have never felt anything like it before, but I know without a doubt that it is dangerous. I must ask something of you, Dragon Warrior."
"Helping people is my job and hobby, man."
"Get me another vial of this water," Min waved the vial under his face; somehow he had taken it right out of Po's hand without him noticing. "And you must never, ever use it again. Until I can be sure it's safe."
"What?" Po shouted. "This is a miracle potion! Everyone should have some of it. There's a whole well of it in the mountains."
"No powerful medicine is without side effects, Po." Min retorted. "This one is clearly magic-based, and whatever else it might cause could be absolutely catastrophic to you, and your friend here. That's the problem with magical potions; too damned unpredictable. I must study it, and anyone who has been healed with it, before it can truly be called a 'miracle potion'"
Po hadn't thought of that. Suddenly he felt like he had made a terrible mistake, but then he remembered that Tigress would surely die without it. Still, the Water coursing through his veins felt like a cold, alien poison. He shuddered and turned away. "I really didn't need to hear that, after I used a ton of it on Tigress."
"Yes, you did," said Min, pulling up the blanket to cover Tigress again. "You don't want to be giving something like this to everyone with a papercut just because it can apparently heal anything. You may have condemned Tigress, and yourself, to a fate worse than death." When Po gasped, Min quickly caught himself. "Although that is unlikely. Like I said, it's just a game of chance. But the risk is too high to wantonly throw this Water around. At least until I can truly know what it does."
"I haven't felt anything," Po said, feeling dizzy all of a sudden from his newfound uncertainty.
"The side effects could be slow-acting ones."
"You're not helping."
Before either of them could say anything, the door opened again. It was the rest of the Furious Five; Monkey, Mantis and Viper. "Master Shifu, we've taken care of-" Viper began, but then her eyes widened when she saw the panda sitting there. "Po? You're alright! Where were you last night?"
"It's not just me that's alright." Po said, gesturing towards the supine Tigress. "She is, too."
"Seemingly." Min interjected. "Have you forgotten what I told you ten seconds ago?"
"Okay, she's not dying anymore. She should wake up soon, I think. I don't know. And I was having a heart-to-heart with the Master of all Freaky People last night."
"The Master of..." Viper shook her head, turning her attention to the more . "How is it possible for Tigress to be alright? Didn't she have a vital artery above her heart severed?"
Shifu nodded. "The panda seems to have acquired magical Water that can heal any wound. Min was just explaining how dangerous magic can be."
Mantis hopped onto the bed and slightly lowered the covers to see that the wound was, in fact, gone. "Whoa." Was all he said. The expression on his face was one of both relief and utter amazement.
"Yes, whoa." Min said. "Now, if I may ask you politely, get the fuck off the bed."
"Man, how is that even possible?" Monkey asked. "She was bathing in her own blood when we found her. Seriously, Po, how did you pull this off? This is unbelievable!"
Po shrugged. "Y'know. Magic. Water. The two make a great pair. There's a well of it in the mountains."
"You've got to take us there sometime soon." Viper said "We could save so many lives with this Water."
Min sighed, rubbing the bridge of his snout. "Once again, I feel like I'm talking to myself. This Water- to put it in the simplest of terms- has ancient, dark power emanating from it. Side effects aside, do you know what kind of conflict this could bring to China? It would bring all sorts of warlords, bandits, and madmen here, vying for a chance of immortality. These lunatics who have it now should be proof enough of how dangerous it is. They must know the side effects, and how to counter them."
"How do you know if there even are side effects to it?" Viper asked.
"I..." Min suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "It isn't something you should know. Po, just be aware of what I told you. I will explain it to Tigress when she wakes up. If you feel any form of sickness, aches, death, come to me. It could be a side effect. Now," the sable said his tone becoming lighter, "the sound of your stomach growling is beginning to make my mushroom-addled mind think there is a dragon in the room, and that is not a good thing. Besides, I think your father may need assistance at the noodle shop."
Po couldn't help that. He hadn't eaten since yesterday, an hour or two before he and Tigress went to the puppet show. "You seriously were patching Tigress up when you were on drugs?" Was what he said instead.
"Mmmmmmm," Min replied, which could have meant anything. "Alright," Po said, getting up from his chair and walking to the door. "I'll go, then. Will you please send someone as soon as she wakes up?"
"Of course, Po." Min said. "The rest of you must leave as well. I have some... things to ponder over. Like I said to Po, I will send someone for you when she wakes up. And she will wake up, I assure you."
The rest of the Five hesitated, before they bowed and left. "Po," Shifu said before the panda had left the room. He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thank you. For saving Tigress. You as well, Min. She would have surely died without your assistance."
"No need to thank me," Po said.
"You're not going to thank me when you see the bill," Min laughed. "...just kidding. Always an honour to help a fellow Kung Fu Master."
"Whoa, whoa, did I just hear you right?" Po said. "You're a Kung Fu Master?"
"I was." the sable responded. "I trained under Oogway himself, alongside Shifu. Although, many people trained under Oogway, so it's no huge deal. I just decided I would rather heal than harm, so I gave up my title. Now, if you two will finally leave me to my thoughts..."
"Of course, Master Min." Po said, doing the traditional Kung Fu bow, before walking out the door. A second later, his head came back around the frame. "You're awesome. Just thought you should know." Then he was gone. Shifu slowly rose to his feet, his eyes still fixed on his daughter who had been brought back from the brink of death by a most unlikely savior. "Min."
"Yes?"
"Did you really mean everything you told the panda, about the Water?"
"No." Min admitted. "I didn't want to scare him. It is a lot worse than what I said. I just hope that its power doesn't make this all end in tragedy."
Shifu sighed. "As do I. I know that you cannot make any conclusions yet as to what it might do, but please update me whenever you make a discovery. Farewell for now, Min."
And then the aged sable was alone with the sleeping tiger. Her breathing had gotten significantly deeper and less laboured the second the panda had given her the Water, but he wasn't going to be fooled. He wasn't just a healer. Not even a Kung Fu master. He was an alchemist and a warlock, and when you used magic enough, you could smell the evil on certain potions, like a gigantic shit stain that spread its reek to everything it came in contact with.
Min had lied when he told them the mushrooms should have worn off a while ago. He had taken them only a half hour before Crane had suddenly arrived with the mortally wounded Tigress. He was beginning to reach the climax of the trip now, and it looked to him like the walls were breathing, pulsating. Whenever he moved, everything left a ghost trail behind it. The evil power of the Water was beginning to affect his psychoactive dream for the worse.
Min had taken the hallucinogens in an attempt to induce visions, a method that shamans sometimes used to commune with the spirits. Then, of course, Crane had showed up. His first thought upon seeing them had been "Oh fuck," but fortunately the fly agaric hadn't kicked in yet. It was incredibly hard to patch up a wound when snakes, pigs, dragons, and other weird creatures he'd never seen before kept crawling out of it. He sat down heavily and began writing notes down in relation to the Water the panda had used to heal Tigress with.
"She should be dormant. But shes awake, alive." Min said out loud, as though the unconscious form on the bed could hear him. "I am sorry, Tigress, Po... I should have felt her presence in this land decades ago. Whatever fate befalls you, it is my fault. All my fault..."
Min was truly terrified. Terrified for Tigress and for Po. The Water seemed to be a miracle potion outwardly, but in reality it was a poison. He could smell the stench of evil upon it, and that was something he was more than familiar with. But that wasn't what terrified him, no. It was the uniqueness of the evil that shook him to his very core.
The Water had the essence of the ancient demoness, Lamashtu, swimming within it. How a Mesopotamian figure of evil had wound up in China, he was unsure, but he had to get answers on the matter immediately. He knew a couple of people who might have those answers, but he had parted with one of them on not-so-good terms. He needed to speak to both of them regardless. Well, after his patient was awake and functioning. And after the door stopped threatening to kill him. Yes, once those factors had been erased, then it would be time for enlightenment.
