The next morning, Tigress was the first one to wake up. At first, she simply opened her eyes and looked up into the ceiling, immediately purring slightly when the memories of last night's… Ahem, occurrences came into her mind. She then sat up slowly, being reminded that her lover was in her bed with her.
-''Po, sweetie, time to wake up…'' she whispered In Po's ear, causing it to twitch slightly. Then, Po opened his eyes, yawning.
-''Oh, man… I had the best dream ever…'' He said, sort of sleepily, still not fully awake yet. When Tigress understood what he referred to, she grinned and patted his shoulder.
-''Wasn't a dream, Po…'' she then said slyly, the grin still on her face. She got up from her bed and walked over to the closet where she kept all of her clothes. She then sort of hid herself behind the closet door as she changed her clothes. Po got up from the bed and walked over to the feline, his eyes still wide from what Tigress had said just a few moments ago.
-''So, we… did, you know… that?'' he then asked in a very sheepish tone. A now fully dressed Tigress stepped away from the closet, the grin still on her face.
-''Yes, we did. Don't believe me?'' Tigress then said, an almost malicious but still playful tone appearing in her firm voice. Po quickly nodded while assuring her that he always believed her. Tigress then walked over to Po, giving him a quick hug. When she pulled away, Po just as quickly kissed her cheek. She then placed her paw on his shoulder.
-''I think you should get back to your room before Shifu gets here. I don't think he is ready to find out that you are sharing a bed with me. Po nodded in understanding, saying a quick ''Gotcha'' and then proceeded to open the door leading out to the hallway of the barracks.
-''And what have you been doing?'' a voice immediately asked as Po stepped out into the hallway, making sure to not being spotted. Apparently, he did not do a very good job. Po jumped two feet into the air and then turned around to face the grandmaster.
-''Master Shifu! Uh, good morning… Master! Isn't this a wonderful morning?'' Po's voice, unbeknownst to himself, subconsciously raised in volume, as if he wanted Tigress to hear him and understand that trouble was underhand. Tigress gasped quietly as she heard the voice of her father. However, she was even more shocked when she heard that there was no tone of anger or anything of the liking in Shifu's voice.
-''It is indeed, Po. Now, how is Tigress?'' Shifu then asked, the friendly tone in his voice still remaining, being almost false. Po gulped slightly before stuttering a little once again.
-''Uh, well… She's completely fine, and… She's had a good night's sleep!'' Po's voice easily showed the panic that was present in it. Shifu gave a sort of weak smile before proceeding to knock on the feline's door. Po gulped once again, in fear of what Master Shifu would do to him when he found out the truth.
-''Did you have a good night's sleep, daughter?'' Shifu then asked in an almost unnaturally friendly voice.
''Seems like Karjak really got him to understand compassion and such…'' Po thought to himself as Shifu and Tigress shared a short father-to-daughter hug. Shifu then positioned himself so that he faced both Kung Fu Masters.
-''Just one thing more…'' Shifu began, stroking his beard.
-''Yes, Master?'' Po and Tigress said in unison.
-''Please keep it down the next time you decide to do it.'' With those words, he proceeded to awake the other masters, but not before witnessing two extreme blushes creep up on the faces of two of the people that mattered the most of him. He chuckled as the other Masters got out from their room.
-''Alright, students. You will have yourself a breakfast meal, and then you will train as usual. However, we are leaving tomorrow, so make sure that you really perfect the flaws I've given out to each one of you.'' With that, Shifu left the barracks and went to the training hall, the small smile still intact from what he had told the love couple.
-''Man, you really did it, didn't you?'' Monkey asked in awe as soon as Shifu was out of hearing range. Tigress' and Po's faces still held easily visible through their fur.
-''Isn't that a little obvious?'' Crane responded to the primate. ''I mean, I think you could be heard throughout the whole palace. It was really nice, wasn't it? I mean, it felt good, right?''
-''Um… Can we change the subject, please?'' Po then said awkwardly, the blush growing in strength on his face. Tigress' face was perhaps even redder than Po's.
-''Come on, bro! Can't you answer the question?'' Mantis then asked, jumping up on Po's shoulder. Po stuttered but eventually got himself to tell it.
-''It felt fabulous. Happy?'' Po then said slightly irritably, but still happily as he shook his head.
-''How did you feel about it, Tigress?'' Viper then asked. She was supposed to be the most mature of the group, but even she couldn't subdue her curiosity. Tigress casually rubbed her strong neck sheepishly with one paw, feeling pretty awkward.
-''Well, uh… I… It felt awesome. That's what it felt like.'' Tigress finally said, feeling almost just as irritated as Po. But seriously, could you blame them for asking?
''Seriously, can we change the subject?'' Po then shot in, getting slightly annoyed by the other's curiousity.
-''Alright, let's get some breakfast, love birds.'' Monkey then said as the rest nodded and followed him, save for Po and Tigress, who asked for a few minutes of privacy and that they would catch up to the rest of the Five very soon. When they were gone, Tigress turned to her black and white lover.
-''Was I really that loud?''
The rest of the day passed by, without much else than the usual training, and of course, the different meals that took place throughout the day. However, just as the evening's training session was done, someone knocked on the Training Hall's door. Shifu opened the door to be greeted by a small rat.
-''How may I help you?'' Shifu then asked in a slightly more harsh voice than he had intended.
-''Oh, hi, Master Shifu.'' The rat said, sort of weakly. ''I… I have a request.'' The rat's voice almost began to crack.
-''What's the matter?'' Po asked as he came over to the door. Shifu threw him a quick glance as he turned back to the rodent in front of him. The rat gulped almost invisibly and then began telling his story.
-''My name is Rat, and… I live, or I lived, in a village far away from here. Then, one day, we were attacked by a large marauder band, and… They, they destroyed, and they… Killed, and…'' Rat's voice cracked again as he kept telling the story. ''They killed my family, everyone, and… I was forced to flee. I came to several villages, but for some reason, I couldn't stay in any of them… I was kicked out by every single one. I don't know why… So, I've finally come here, and I wonder if I can stay in the palace… No one in the village allowed me to stay in their houses either.'' Rat then looked down into the ground, his voice cracking as he spoke.
-''What use could we possibly have of you? You're too weak to do any Kung Fu, and you don't look very useful in any other department either.'' Shifu was about to close the door when Rat came up with an idea.
-''Wait! I'm really good at repairing things!'' Shifu raised an eyebrow.
-''Is that so? Well, in that case…'' Shifu disappeared for a little while, leaving Rat and Po to exchange awkward looks. ''Then you might fix this.'' Shifu then said as he returned with a small piece of what looked like machinery in his hands. ''It's a vital piece of equipment that we use in a station of our training hall. Ever since a certain somebody accidently broke it…'' Shifu emphasized the word while glaring friendly at Po. ''…We haven't been able to use it.'' Shifu then handed the piece of equipment to Rat, who took it and looked it over.
Rat felt his confidence return. If there was anything he could do, it was repair things. He didn't remember much of his home, as he had been abandoned and left by his parents in a forest at an extremely young age, but the person that had taken care of him up to his late teen ages had showed him how to repair things, seeing as the young Rat had shown great interest in fixing things, and since the one that had taken care of him was a craftsman, it would be a good idea to show the art of building and repairing. When he died out of a disease, Rat was forced to leave his home. Then, he had travelled throughout the world and helped different people with fixing things. Seeing as he had no advantages in fighting, being captured by a resurrected Tai Lung didn't speak well for him. Now, he was forced to work for said villain. His current mission was to infiltrate the palace and find out any weaknesses in their tactics. He couldn't possibly defy Tai Lung, for he didn't want to die, so he had to do what he was told. The fact that Rat was skilled in repairing made this so much easier.
-''Oh! Well, this'll be pretty easy to fix…'' Rat then mumbled to himself, but he also made sure that Shifu could hear him. After a few minutes of fidgeting with the piece, he returned it to Shifu.
-''There, it's all done.'' Rat said as he handed it to Shifu. ''Just a little edge in one of the gears.'' Shifu looked over the piece and then stepped aside.
-''Come in.'' He said shortly, Rat slowly walking into the hall. ''If it works, you may stay. There are more things that will need fixing.'' Rat sighed of relief inside and followed Shifu to the great hall, being awe-struck as he saw all the machinery that made up the different training equipment. It didn't take long to get to the machine that Shifu had mentioned as broken and unusable. Rat checked it thoroughly before putting the now repaired piece of equipment back in place.
-''Okay, it should work now.'' He said shortly while turning to Shifu, clapping his hands together in a motion that indicated that he was done. Shifu nodded and then called for Viper, who had, along with everyone else, been watching this whole ordeal without saying much. She slithered over to Shifu.
-''Yes, Master?''
-''Viper, I want you to try The Cyclone of Demise.''
-''Isn't that broken?'' Viper asked curiously, cautiously eyeing the rodent who was standing at Shifu's side. Shifu chuckled and then turned around once again, facing the large machine.
-''Well, our… friend here says that he has been able to repair it. Now, would you try it out to see if it works?'' Viper hesitantly slithered up to the small circular wooden plate. Almost immediately, a number of spears started to shoot out of the holes in the walls that surrounded the great machine. Viper hadn't used it in quite a while, but soon, the natural dodging abilities came into play, and Viper started to gracefully dodge all of the spears.
-''I'm actually surprised you could get it to work; no one in the village managed to get it to work. Very well, you may stay at the palace. Viper, that's good!'' Shifu then shouted to the serpent, which immediately came down from the training machine.
-''Anything else I can repair?'' Rat then asked, sounding a lot more self-confident than before. Shifu shook his head before resuming spending the rest of the days' time with the Five.
-''You may use our storage room for the night. We have no other rooms available, unfortunately.'' Rat then nodded excitedly before Shifu ordered Po to show him the way to the storage room.
The Next Day
As usual, Tigress had asked Po to stay with her during the night, but they hadn't done anything unusual. Like always, they done their morning routines, and before they knew it, it was time to departure. Like they had before, they all got their bags and gathered in the courtyard. Shifu and Karjak were looking over the situation.
-''Alright, are you ready for this?'' Karjak then asked. ''There is doubtlessly going to be enemies over there. Even though Xiton may not have found out about the Orb, the fort has been and probably still is a popular robbing site. Several bandits have been spotted in the area lately.''
-''I'm not scared by some bandits!'' Monkey then said with a cocky tone. ''Are any of you?''
-''Not at all! I'm so pumped to beat 'em up, my fingers are itching!'' Po then said, repeatedly swinging his arms around, imitating someone who was beating another person up.
-''How long will it take to get to the Fort, Karjak?'' Viper then asked gently, rolling her eyes at the panda's proclamation. Karjak remained silent for a few seconds before responded.
-''Half a day, at most. Remember the Plains of Yinga? We'll have to cut through there in order to get to the region the Fort lies in. Any more questions? The more time we waste, the more the risk of Xiton succeeding in finding all the Orbs.'' When no one said anything, Karjak nodded and started to walk down the Thousand Steps, the rest of the group following him.
-''I hope we find the Orb of Fire now…'' Crane began, flying briskly, looking down at the others on the ground, a few feet below him. ''I mean, it wouldn't be so nice if we found out that the Orb isn't there, right?''
-''Don't worry, Crane.'' Karjak replied, walking just as quickly. ''It's there alright. The tricky part will just be to get out of there without getting killed.''
-''We won't be killed.'' Tigress said shortly, walking closely to Po all the time. ''I mean, we're seven masters of Kung Fu, and one of us is even a God… Could we seriously lose?''
-''Well, come to think of it…'' Karjak then said, stretching his back a little, knocking the backpack he was carrying upwards a bit. ''Most of the bandit bands consists of up to several hundred members. You sure you can handle that?''
-''Of course we can!'' Mantis joined the conversation, still on his seat at Monkey's shoulder. ''Bandits aren't a really big deal, are they now?'' After this, no one said anything more for a question.
Eventually, the group reached a clearance in a forest that lead to the Plains of Yinga. It was pretty late in the afternoon, and as far as Karjak knew, travelling through these lands at night-time wasn't the smartest move one could pull off. That is why Karjak came to a halt after a few hours of brisk travelling.
-''Alright, we'll set up camp here for the night. We DON'T want to travel out there during night-time. Who's taking first watch?'' No one arguing with Karjak's decision, Viper volunteered for taking the first watch. After spending the rest of the evening together, it was time to sleep, Viper taking the first watch.
All the while that this was happening, Shifu and Rat had stayed behind at the palace. Shifu had said that he approved of Rat staying at the palace, but since he didn't want the rodent alone there, he had stayed behind as well. During all of the time that the Five and Karjak was out and travelling, Shifu and Rat had at first not talked, but eventually softened up and started a conversation about different things, mainly about Shifu's past and Rat's skill in repairing, but also a lot of other things. Eventually, it was time for these two to go to bed as well, and by that time, they were good friends. Granted, you might see it as weird for two complete strangers to befriend each other as quickly as they did, but ever since Karjak taught Shifu about compassion and such, he had become a much nicer person, although a small hint of his harshness still remained in him, but he had indeed become a much nicer person.
The next day, the group had gone well past the Plains of Yinga and was now moving rapidly towards the Fort.
-''How much longer until the Fort?'' Po then asked as he ran alongside everyone else. Karjak stopped slightly before looking up into the sky.
-''I'd say… about one more hour if we continue in this pace. Remember to be ready for a fight anytime now. Bandit groups are very common in this area, so don't be surprised when a dozen of wolves or so comes dropping in through the bushes. If that happens, we'll have a very pleasant party on our hands.'' Karjak chuckled slightly before falling silent, twitching his ears. ''As a matter of fact… I think we have one right here!''
He only barely finished the sentence before a large group of wolves attacked, accompanied by an all-too-familiar peacock.