Chapter 21: To Prank A Prankster
Every sound in his mind was soft. Soft but loud. He heard rushing water like he was sitting next to the banks of the rapids. The only rapids he could think of were the ones that were a day's walk from the Jade Palace. So that's where he was. The body of water had no name, but there was good reason for it. Hardly anyone knew it was there. The rapids were seperated from public view, not only because of the scarcity of the villages around the area, but beause most of the forest that surrounded that section of the water was filled with sharp bushes of bristles and thorns.
He often remembered times when his master would bring him here when he was younger. Just barely an adult, but he still needed guidance. Especialy through the maze of paths that led to the waters. He would often laugh inwardly in rememberance that because his Master was protected by a shell, it was always easier for him to get to the rapids. Where as he would always have the habit of swishing his tail around impatiently, and end up getting it caught in the painful bushes.
But after a while he came to recognise how patient he would have to be. And after his master- no...no, he wouldn't think of him as just a master anymore. On more than one, hell more than a dozen occasions he would go to the village at the bottom of the Thousand Steps and drink his sorrows away at the fact that he never called his master what he really thought of him as. A father. When his...father died, he rarely came back to this place. But it was odd. For some reason he thought that he shouldn't be here. Like he was supposed to be in another part of the world.
He felt a set of claws on his shoulder. Another odd occurence. Wasn't he alone? He opened his eyes to see the smile of a familiar turtle.
"Monkey. It is so good to see you again.", said the turtle in a calm and comforting voice.
Monkey immediately let tears stream down his face as he hugged the turtle."Father."
Oogway looked a little shocked. A rare thing to see in the sage's face. But he quickly recovered and put his arms around the primate's back. Oogway had imagined many a time this day while living in the Spirit World. He thought of Monkey as a son, but never imagined that he had seen him as a father. Though it made sense. Since his death and after Tai Lung had been defeated by Po, Oogway tried on many occasions to visit Monkey. But whenever he attempted to connect with his mind from the Spirit World to his location, Monkey's mind would be swarmed with sorrow and burned with alcohol. It made it impossible for him to come. Sure, the turtle tried. But on the few occasions he did try, Monkey, in his drunken haze, would only receive nightmares from his vision of the turtle. But thankfully for the past two days Monkey had kept his mind clear for the most part. And Oogway saw his window of oppurtunity, and took it.
Monkey released his grip on the turtle and bowed to him in respect."I am sorry, Master Oogway. I did not mean to disrespect you.", he said, his voice heavy with emotion.
"Do not apologize, son. You have not disrespected me but given me a great gift. My heart has been filled with joy to be called your father. Now Monkey, I wish that we had more time to discuss and catch up. But you will awake soon in the middle of the night, and with my visit I doubt you will sleep again."
Monkey nodded and wiped his tears with his wrist.
"Monkey, have you read my letter?"
"No master, I...I have been too afraid...", he bowed his head in shame.
"Son, do not fear my words. For they contain the aid that you and your friends need for this part of your journey. I am very glad that you stopped drinking so that I may speak with you, otherwise I would have had to have spoken with Po. And though he is a good man, I truly wished for this meeting between us."
"Wh-what does the letter say, f-father?", Monkey asked.
"You will have to see for yourself.", the turtle put his claws on Monkey's shoulder again."But please. Stop your drinking, my son. It destroys you. And it does not allow me visits with you. And I do not wish for you to die just so we may see each other. You have a long and wonderful life ahead if you choose to lead it."
Monkey nodded again,"Yes, father. I will try.", he blinked."Master, I feel that I do not have much time.", he said as the sounds of rushing waters grew louder.
"I understand, my son. Just remember that I am always here for you. And that I love you.", said Oogway, his smile wide across his wrinkled face.
Monkey hugged Oogway tighter this time and sniffled."I love you too, Dieh!"
Monkey opened his eyes and rushed to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly as not to wake Crane. But the sound of Monkey moaning with a loud sprinkling sound made Crane stirr in his bed anyway.
"Ugh. Told you to lay off on the wine, Monkey!", he yelled before pulling his pillow over his head.
Monkey came out a few seconds later as a sigh of relief left his mouth."Sorry, man. But it wasn't wine, it was lime juice.", he said as he walked over to his bag and pulled out the scroll that Oogway left him.
Crane, who was watching him from imbetween the folds of his pillows, had sat up when he noticed Oogway's seal on the scroll."Master Oogway's letter...you're going to open it?", he sat up on his bed, watching Monkey as the primate sat on his own bed and sighed, brushing his thumb on the seal.
"Yeah...but, is there anyway I could, you know, open it without breaking the seal?", Monkey asked, hugging the scroll against his body slightly.
"I could get a candle-"
"Without melting it!", interrupted Monkey as he glared at Crane.
Crane got up and laughed as he talked,"I know, I know, I was only kidding.", he reached for the scroll and gingerly took it out of Monkey's paws. He examined it to see if there were any lifted spots on the seal. When he found none, he sighed."Oogway did it himself, alright. Looks like we'll have to do this the old fashioned way.", he gently slid the end of his beak against the paper until he made contact with the hardened wax.
He continued to do this in rotation as he softly pecked at the wax, making it evenly give way until it simply popped off. Monkey caught it in his paw and grinned."Thanks, man."
"Anytime.", he handed the scroll back to Monkey and stood there as curiosity would not allow him to leave his friend be.
Monkey set the seal down gently onto his mattress and took a deep breath before letting it slowly flow out of his nose. He opened the scroll at a snail's pace. The first thing he saw was a symbol he had never seen before. It was a line that almost formed a perfect circle, but stopped halfway imbetween the point where the circle would begin and the spot which could only be called the three quarter section. In the middle of the almost-circle was the shape of a heart. It was cracked. Just outside the opening of the almost-circle was a line that led from the outside of the circle up to the top of the heart. On the outside end of the line was a small section that seemed just the right size to complete the circle. The heart and line almost looked like a kite at a glance, but upon further examination one could see that the line was trying to enter the heart and heal it, but there was a large black dot imbetween the line and the inward corner of the heart.
As Monkey continued to open the scroll after examining the symbol, he saw the letter in Oogway's handwriting.
Dear Monkey,
As you know, I have just passed on. But do not grieve for me, my son. I am alive and well in your heart.
But though you must not grieve, you must also be on your guard. As my death may bring you and your friends many dangers. I am sorry for burdening you all for my own mistakes of the past. But what is done is done. Now it is time to tell you what must be told to prevent future mistakes.
When I was young and attained the knowledge of harmony and focus at the Pool of Sacred Tears, I was alone. But soon as I spread my knowlege with others, the Pool became very popular. People thought that it was the Pool itself that gave me such powers as Kung Fu. Although the Pool allowed me to find my way to the grand path, it was not the Pool that gave me the power. It merely gave me the drive to earn my dreams to become a reality.
Many who failed to realize this truth failed in their attempts to ask the Pool for power like mine. But four people were wise enough to understand. When the masses abandoned the Pool when nothing was gained but peace of mind, the four stayed.
The first to learn the truth was a female, blue scaled Dragon. One of the few left in the world at that time. Her name was Seikaku. A beautiful but hot tempured woman. Yet she valued her friends with her life. Her power that she chose to learn was that of how to listen, truly listen to the world. She gained the skill to predict when the weather would change, when the flowers would grow. And she was able to sense every life when it was born. She later became the Dragon whose spirit merged with the universe and brought more harmony and peace to the Valley of Peace than any of us ever could The land became sacred with her sacrifice.
The second one's name was Tsuka. She was a brown feathered Hawk. She was friendly to most, but feirce in battle. She drove for a skill much like mine and attained it remakably fast. Her skill was to make use of everything and turn it into weaponry, no matter what it was. She had the ability to see the strengths and weaknesses out of anything and was able to exploit it in the blink of an eye. She was the one who trained Master Flying Rhino in this art, who taught it to his son who soon became Master Thundering Rhino.
The third to find peace and harmony was a tan furred male Tiger named Yogan. He was always happy and jubilant in whatever he did. He made many mistakes on his road to finding his dreams, but was persistent. He finally found his calling to be in metallurgy and became the inventor of many of the weapons still used today. Including the Nine Ring Broad Sword and the Rope Javelin.
But the fourth...she was a red lion. Her name was Moeru. I had never seen a more beautiful creature. She trained with all her heart to learn the secrets of the world, much like Seikaku.
Monkey, these people along with me, were the first Furious Five. We were a great team, and we eventually became a great family. Two of us had even fallen in love, Seikaku and Yogan. They had no children, but their love will forever be a symbol of how two worlds can become one even in the most unlikely of times. But that is another story.
For years we stood at each other's sides and defended China to make good use of our knowledge. But it was never enough for one of us.
Moeru would always join us in our missions to protect the villages that eventually made up the Valley of Peace. But she would be distant with us at all other times. She would spend her times off always building and adding rooms to the Jade Palace. She made them in the deepest of caves and when she eventually stopped, she had created a laberynth within the walls. Later on it was revealed that she did these things to keep us from finding her whilst she continued her training, particularly Seikaku, who early on began to sense the evil in her heart. But her heart, though it was in the right place, had grown to thirst for too much knowledge. Knowledge that no mortal should have. The Pool gave her the drive to do so, and she began her descent into madness.
One day I was returning from a trip to the encampment at the bottom of the Thousand Steps to discuss plans for the town that the people that had immigrated to us wished to build. They were simple folk who wanted nothing more than to live in peace. And what better way to do so than to live so close to the five most powerful beings in China? Anyways, I had entered the Jade Palace with Seikaku when we saw Tsuka flying out of the barracks. She had been crying, but her face showed much anger about her. When she landed infront of us, Seikaku asked her what was wrong. Tsuka would not and could not speak. But by the look in her eyes I knew.
She had seen something unimaginably horrifying. So much so that even the brave Tsuka would flee from the sight. I walked into the barracks and found Yogan limping down the hall holding his side. He said nothing to me, he just looked down as if in shame. I examined him and found that he was bleeding from the side, and his wrists were bleeding as well. But the markings looked like he was cut by a rope that had been rubbed against his skin til the skin broke. I asked him who did this, and he simply pointed. I followed his finger to it's destination.
It was Moeru's room.
I patted his back and told him to go outside. When he left, I walked to her door and knocked. No one answered so I opened the door. What I saw...it truly was a horror.
Moeru was naked and had her eyes closed while in the lotus position. She had made a circle in the floor around her and had cuts all over her body, particularly around her genitals. She had candles burning all throughout her room. I looked at the other side of her room. Her bed was massacred, but I could see blood covering the sheets and torn ropes lying on the top. The other ends of them were tied to the legs of the bed.
She opened her eyes and told me that she was now the leader of the Furious Five, and that I could either let her command or die. I did not answer her, but asked her what she had done. She told me that she was taking her powers to another level. She said she wished to learn all of the secrets of the world and that the only way to do this was to conquer it first. I then asked specifically what she had done to Yogan. She did not answer me, but merely smiled evilly. It was very frightening to say the least. Little did I know that outside, my question had just been asked by Seikaku. And Yogan answered.
All I could hear next was a massive roar, all I could see was an enraged Seikaku bursting through the walls of the barracks breathing fire. She saw me in the hall way and flew through the walls of the rooms. When she crashed into Moeru's room however, Moeru simply rose up and dodged her attack. But Seikaku twisted around her and attacked again. The battle went on for the rest of the day. Eventually we all battled her at once when Yogan and Tsuka recovered and she ended up bloodied and beaten. Tsuka was about to stick her with the blade of a spear when she escaped. We never saw her again.
Monkey, I tell you all this now because I have heard rumors that she has returned. As I meditated on these rumors, I saw a vision. And it is true. She is building an army, Monkey, and I fear that we may not be able to stop her this time. For my life force has all but run out. Seikaku sadly has passed on. Yogan became forever silent after his lover's death and refused to eat. For fifty years he simply meditated, for it was the only way that he could connect with his love in the Spirit World. Eventually I found his body laying in the Dragon Grotto after I returned from my travels around China. He looked to have passed in happiness. Tsuka is still alive to the best of my knowledge, yet I know not where she is. She was last seen on the other side of the Yangtze River, but this was almost a year ago.
Goodbye, my son. I hope you will be safe.
Monkey was breathing harder and harder as he read the letter. Tears began to stream down his face."No...no, I...I can't believe it. This is all my fault!", he threw the letter to the floor.
Crane, who had been reading the letter along with him, was just staring at the floor in the direction where Monkey was holding the scroll infront of them both. He wasn't contemplating an idea, he wasn't processing emotion, he was just thinking. Of what he wasn't entirely sure but he knew that it had something to do with wanting to break a bottle over Monkey's head.
Monkey was pacing back and forth in a panic. He was panting and mumbling to himself."What am I going to do? Everyone is going to hate me! I did this! Why couldn't I have grown the balls to read this sooner? I can't handle this! I need some air!"
And with that, Monkey ran out of the room. It took Crane a couple of seconds to realize that Monkey had left, mostly because he felt the cold air hit his legs from the open door. Crane shivered, picked up the scroll, rolled it up, and shut the door. But not before watching Monkey run down the street.
The primate ran and ran, not knowing where exactly he was headed. But his feet would take him there even if his head couldn't decide which way to turn. Eventually he slipped and fell. When he sat up he looked at the building he fell infront of. It was a bar. Monkey stood up, looking apprehensive.
After a minute or so to think, he sighed depressedly."There are no accidents...",he then walked into the bar.
However, as he reached for the door handle, two large skinny claws kicked him aside and away from the door. Monkey hit the ground with a grunt, but flipped onto his feet and got into his defensive stance to face his attacker. But he sighed in relief.
"Oh, Crane it's just you. What the hell? Why'd you attack me?"
"Because you don't need to be in there right now. In your mental state you'd probably drink until you drown.", stated Crane.
"It's my business, I'll handle it on my own.", Monkey started to walk past Crane, but Crane quickly swatted him away from the door again.
"No. You've got to stop doing this, man. You did it to deny what could be in the letter and now that you've read it you're drinking because of what's in the letter! No more!"
Monkey gestured his paws to his left as if he was telling Crane to observe something,"Did you even read that thing? It's my fault the Demon has gotten so strong! I think that calls for a bit of poison!", he said defensively.
"I don't care! You can't keep this up.", Crane shook his head for emphasis at this last sentence.
Monkey didn't respond. He didn't move. He didn't look away from Crane.
Crane didn't move either. He glared at Monkey.
They stood for almost five minutes waiting each other out. Eventually Monkey sighed and bowed his head."I'm just sick of this, Crane. Sick of being such a screw up."
Crane softened his glare and patted Monkey on the back,"Hey. You're not a screw up. You were dealing with some issues. No one could have possibly known what Master Oogway wrote. Come on. It's almost morning. Let's get some breakfast.", Monkey nodded and walked with Crane to the hotel to grab some of their money and head to a restaurant.
As the sun rose slowly over the wooden walls around the mountain village, a small beam of light slipped through an old rotting bell hanging above a well in the middle of a street. That beam of light hit a mirror through the window of a beauty shop. That light reflected onto a small patch of ice on the ground outside the hospital. And finally, the light found it's way to Po's eyes as the light reflected off of the metal pipe holding up the hospital sign.
Po groaned and stirred as he lifted his left arm to block the light. But he couldn't. He was stopped by a hard body with soft fur. He looked down at his chest. Tigress had her arms wrapped around his left arm as she laid on top of him under the covers with a smile on her face as she slept. He chuckled inside and spoke softly,"Heh, deja vu.", but then he blinked, and he felt around, followed by a blush. She wasn't wearing any panties. And his paw was really wet. He felt around a bit to confirm, making her stir and groan softly. Yep, none whatsoever.
Po smiled and kissed her forehead as he decided to give his love her 'good morning pick me up', as she called it. He started to rub and swirl his fingers around gently. Tigress purred loudly in her sleep, rubbing her cheek into his chest. Then she began to moan quietly as he rubbed harder against her opening. He noticed her cheeks beginning to turn red, which was usually hard to see with her fur. He raised a brow and rubbed faster, this time teasing her softly as he would occassionally brush his dull claws against her flesh. Her instincts gave in as she rode his paw in her sleep, moaning more as her claws were now unsheathed.
The panda then started to get a little 'cocky' as she rubbed against him. He slipped in a finger and moved it rapidly. Tigress dug her claws into his stomach and let out a half growl half purr as she began to pant. Po winced slightly as he felt her claws, but only went faster.
Tigress then opened her eyes wide as she awoke, looking up at Po as she was on her verge and growled at him lustfully,"You-you're evil!", she whispered through her panting. He realized that if she came she was going to make some noise. She was a definite screamer, he knew from history. So he put his other paw infront of her face and whispered.
"Bite down. Don't want you attracting any attention from outside the room, right baby?", he smirked. She hesitated, but he was right. She bit down on his paw. Hard. He bit his tongue in pain as her fangs dug deep, but he didn't want to ruin her moment so he showed now signs of pain. Her moans were muffled in his flesh as she came onto his paw, squeezing his paw with her thighs like a vise as her juices sprung out. After she finished, she panted into his other paw before letting go. His blood began to seep out and she frowned at the sight.
He noticed her frown and smiled,"Don't worry, hun, I'll be alright.", he put his paw up over his head as the bleeding slowly stopped. She smiled softly and nodded, but grimaced as she licked her fangs.
"Ugh. Now I've got the taste of your blood in my mouth. I need something to get rid of this taste.", she smirked up at him as she released his paw from her thighs. He brought his paw up.
"Hmmm. Dunno what you could use. I know I'm set.", he smirked back as he licked and cleaned his paw. Tigress purred at him and licked his stomach.
"I think I have an idea.", she whispered suggestively before disappearing from under the covers. Po started to chuckle, but suddenly gasped as he felt her tongue. Po simply closed his eyes and relaxed, leaning his head back against the wall as he enjoyed the attention from his mate.
After a few minutes the large mass under the covers began to move up and down. Po moaned softly as he whispered her name. He laid his non bleeding paw over the spot where her head was and rubbed softly, which of course made her purr. Which of course made Po's pleasure heighten. He began to pant as he felt his pressure building up. And at the very second he released into her mouth with a stifled scream in pleasure...
"Good morning, Dragon Wa-OH MY GOD!", Dr. Kimeru turned on her heels and shut the door behind her as she went back outside into the hall, her cheeks burning red as she held a paw over her mouth, staring wide eyed at the floor.
Just then, Viper and Mantis slithered and walked up. Mantis looked wide awake, but Viper was about close to falling back to sleep as she yawned.
"Good morning, Dr. Kimeru.", she yawned again.
"Good morning Masters Viper and Mantis", she bowed, trying to stop blushing."What brings you to the hospital so early in the morning?"
"Well, we were sleeping until this one got too hungry to stay in bed!", replied Viper in an annoyed tone.
"Sure, blame my stomach. We would normally be getting up in another hour anyways.", said Mantis in his defense.
"I need my beauty sleep!", she hissed back.
"Hey, I say you get plenty! I mean, look at you!", he said in an attempt to get her off his back. And in her grogginess it worked.
Viper blushed at his words, but didn't smile. She was too tired to smile,"You're such a charmer.", she mumbled as she began to go to the door, but was stopped.
"I-I think...we should wait just a few minutes until you go inside.", she said, her cheeks still blazing.
Viper looked at her through half lidded eyes and closed them again with a sigh and a soft laugh,"Seriously? This early in the morning?", she yawned the last word.
Mantis laughed as well."Judging by your face, I'm guessing you walked in on them. Oh this is just fantastic.", he laughed more.
Dr. Kimeru growled at him and Mantis stopped immediately. She was even scarier than Koru.
Suddenly, Po opened the door. He laughed nervously."Uh, g-good morning Dr. Kimeru. Uhh...sorry about that..."
She shook her head,"Mm mm. I should have knocked."
He shrugged,"Uh yeah, okay.", he cleared his throat and looked at Mantis and Viper,"Good morning, you two.", he then turned around and walked back in. They followed nervously. Tigress was sitting in one of the chairs by the bed trying to keep her head down to hide her blushing face.
"So erm, what time are we leaving?", Dr. Kimeru asked.
"Depends on when we can get everyone together and start a plan for the next part of our journey.", Po replied.
"Wait, leaving? I thought you were on bedrest, Po.", Mantis said as he, Po and Dr. Kimeru stood in the middle of the room with their backs to the bed. As he spoke, Viper slithered over to the seat next to Tigress and tiredly gave her a good morning, 'hi', before blushing scarlet and snapping her head away without warning.
"Well since he'll have a doctor with him at all times, I find it only fair. After all, Koru seriously needs to see more of the world, and the sooner the better.", Dr. Kimeru said as Tigress eyed Viper confusedly. Viper wouldn't look at her, but pointed at her own mouth. Tigress realized what she was saying and blushed just as much as she did as she covered her mouth with a paw and licked up the residue that was sitting in the corner of her mouth. She resited a purr as the taste rested on her tongue, instead clearing her throat to let Viper know that it was gone.
Viper glanced at Tigress and nodded. Tigress stood up,"I'm going to go freshen up. Viper, can i use the shower at your hotel room?"
"Sure, we're in room nineteen.", Viper replied, still not looking at her. Tigress nodded in thanks and walked out of the room.
"I'd imagine that I don't smell too fresh either.", Po mumbled. Mantis laughed.
"You could always use Koru's shower.", he said.
"What's wrong with Crane and Monkey's?", Po asked.
"Eh, they left a note on their door saying they left their room to go get an early breakfast and they locked the door."
Po facepalmed and groaned as he slid his paw down his face.
"I'm sure Koru wouldn't mind.", said Dr. Kimeru with a smile.
Po shrugged."Ookay. Mind taking our bags back to the hotel for us? Thanks.", he followed Dr. Kimeru out of the room, leaving a frustrated Mantis and Viper.
"Surprised he didn't try to get in the shower with Tigress.", said Mantis after the two left after Po and the doctor, carrying Po and Tigress' bags.
"Mantis, those showers are too small for two people. Besides, with those two they'd end up on the bed. The bed we shared last night. Do you really want that on your concience?", Viper asked with a raised brow as they arrived at the hotel. Viper then slipped into their room with the bags and came right back out.
Mantis shrugs,"I guess not.", he said after Viper returned.
"That's what I thought.", she flicked her tongue out as she won the disagreement."Now let's go get something to eat, I'm starving."
Meanwhile with Po and Yunwei.
Po was standing to the right of Yunwei so that he would be down wind of her, at her request. Po apologized embarrasedly as he aquisitioned her request. They made their way to the other side of the town and Po was surprised at what he saw. Not in a good way, either. The place was big, but it was a dump. The house was old as the wood it was made of had rotted away from the constant barrage from the snow year round. Some of the wood on the roof had fallen to the ground, and was scattered around the front yard as the light wood had been tossed by the shredding wind.
Yunwei creaked open the front door slowly. It was very dark since it was so bright out. There were no windows. There were no walls to seperate rooms except for the restroom and the kitchen. There was no furniture. The large room was filled with busted wooden dummies, cracked stone blocks, and the floor was riddled with dried bloodied rags. Small unlit candles were scattered throughout the home. Po could see a flight of stairs on the far side of the room that led to the second floor.
The two walked in as Po whispered,"How can anyone live like this?"
"He has saved us many a time. He is excellent when it comes to Kung Fu. But a homemaker he is not. He does not know anything else but Kung Fu. Sadly though, he is still poor for our town cannot afford to give him much for his services.", Yunwei replied quietly as they walked through the room.
"Guess he needs a good homemaker then, eh?", teased Po as he elbowed her gently.
Yunwei blushed and giggled,"I guess so."
Po followed Yunwei upstairs carefully as the wood creaked and groaned as he stepped. When he saw the second floor he supressed a giggle. Koru was asleep in his cot on the floor with his tongue hanging out, his tail flicking back and forth in the air as he slept on his stomach.
Yunwei kneeled down, smiling as she started trying to gently nudge him awake. As she worked on that, Po looked around the second floor. The room walls were a little nicer but not by much. They were filled with many different types of weapons. There was a window in the front of the building bringing light to reflect onto all the metal in the room making it quite bright.
As Koru awoke he let out an almost roaring yawn, but shot up as he realized Yunwei and Po were there.
"Uh, h-hello Yunwei. Master Po.", he bowed to Po.
"Relax man, I just wanted to know if I could use your shower."
"Oh, uh-of course.", he replied.
"Thanks Koru.", Po turned to walk to the stairs, but as he turned he fell straight through the wood as it broke away. He hit the floor below with a groan.
Koru winced as he muttered,"Been there."
"Po, are you alright?", called out Yunwei.
"Yeah I'm good.", he called back in the darkness.
Koru stretched for a few minutes, then sighed before starting down his steps.
"Where are you going?", asked Yunwei, causing Koru to stop and look back at her on the stairs.
"Well, I was uh...thinking maybe a jog?", he replied.
Yunwei shifted in her standing position nervously as she swept the floor with her foot softly, looking down."Oh, okay."
"Did you uhm, maybe want to come with me?", he asked.
She blushed and shrugged slightly as she stared at the floor,"I don't know, I don't think I could keep up."
"I'd go slow for you.", he said. Then blushed hard and cleared his throat when she perked up her ears and looked at him,"I-I didn't mean it like that!"
The wolf blushed more and giggled,"I know what you meant. And okay. But we've gotta be back in an hour.", she said as she started down the stairs after him.
"Why?"
"Because we're leaving soon."
He stopped at the foot of the stairs and she accidently bumped into him from behind. As she made contact, she began to fall back with a yelp before wrapping her arms around his waist to stay standing up.
"K-Koru?", she said looking up at him.
"Sorry, I just didn't expect that. I knew it'd be soon, just didn't know it'd be now."
"Are you scared?", she hugged his waist.
He supressed a growl, but spoke through his teeth,"No I'm not scared..."
"Okay...", she laid her ears back and stood there as she let go of his waist, letting him walk away. He stopped when he was out of arm's length of her and sighed.
"A little. You wanna get some breakfast?", he said in a defeated tone.
She smiled and ran to his side before taking his arm in hers and running to the door, dragging him behind her as they went outside.
A few minutes later Po came out of the bathroom and sighed in relief as he felt clean and refreshed. He went upstairs and blinked when no one was there."Hello?"
An hour later, he arrived outside of the hotel room where Mantis and Viper were staying at. Everyone was there, well almost everyone. Dr. Kimeru and Koru were still at the restaurant.
As Po arrived, the others watched him impatiently.
"Hey guys, what's going on? We ready to go?", he walked up beside Tigress, who had her back to him as she was finishing reading Monkey's scroll for the third time, then she handed it to him.
"What's this?", he smiled and put his arm around her as he started to read. While everyone waited for him to finish, everyone had a different idea going through their minds, most were thinking of ways to kill Monkey. Crane, who had already gone through the phase, was betting against himself in his head on how Po would react when he was finished. Monkey was wondering on how far he could run until everyone caught him and beat him to a pulp.
As Po finished he sighed heavily and looked at Monkey. Everyone stayed as quiet as possible as they awaited his judgement. He gave the scroll back to Tigress. He walked right up to Monkey. For some reason, Monkey was terrified. Po looked really intimidating right now. Po looked him dead in the eye and spoke softly,"Monkey..."
Monkey winced,"Yeah?"
Po wrapped his big arms around him and hugged him tight."I'm sorry."
Everyone, especially Monkey, was shocked to say the least.
"Po, why are you apologizing to him?", asked Song after a minute of silence.
Po looked at everyone with confusion on his face as he set Monkey down. Monkey didn't notice right away, but tears were now matting his cheeks.
"Come on, you think this has been easy on him? He must've felt horrible when he first read this! You did just read this, right?", he mumbled to Monkey, who nodded.
"Po this isn't like the time he used olive oil to cover the bottle of lemon juice you were using to make fruit sake. He allowed the Demon to grow in power.", said Tigress.
"Okay sure-yeah, he messed up, he-wait that was you?", he shook his head,"Anyways, sure he messed up big time, but that doesn't mean we have to blame him for it. He was grieving and fearful. I'm sure Oogway forgave him, so why can't we?", he said looking at the group standing infront of him, with Monkey at his side.
Tigress sighed at her lover's insightful additude."You're right, Po. He may have been a complete idiot, but...he's still family. And I guess that's what families do. I forgive you, Monkey.", she put a paw on Monkey's shoulder before turning to Po's other side.
Shiro walked over to them, shrugging,"He was a buffoon of a baboon, but I don't see any reason for me to blame him at least. According to you all, I was a monster before.", he stood behind Po and pats Monkey on the back.
Everyone else either sighed, rolled their eyes, smiled at Monkey, or some combination of the three as they walked over to join him.
"Maybe it's best if Koru and the doc don't know about this yet. They don't know what a good person you are, Monkey, they don't understand why you greived and how scared you were at opening this thing.", said Po.
"Know about what? What thing?", said Dr. Kimeru as she and Koru walked towards them. Monkey quickly swiped the scroll from Tigress and rolled it up. Koru noticed this and swiftly took the scroll in a matter of seconds before returning to his position behind Yunwei.
Koru read the scroll and began to breathe harder and harder as he got closer and closer to the end, Yunwei was reading it with him while resting back against his chest. As they arrived at the final sentence at the same time, Yunwei put her paw on Koru's chest,"Now Koru, stay calm. Give them a chance to explain themselves. Guys?"
Mantis poked Monkey in the ass, causing him to jump in surprise as he made a few steps towards the two nervously. He explained everything to them about his relationship with Master Oogway, and even his dream excluding the peeing part. When he was finished, Yunwei sighed,"Well, just as long as we can end this and get everyone back, I suppose we can forgive you. Right Koru?"
Koru stared at Monkey and nodded curtly.
Song sighed,"Okay enough of this little love fest. If we're gonna leave for Kirokuyoru City, we might as well get going now."
Koru and Yunwei looked at each other, then looked at Song.
"Wait, that's where we're going? Song, you do know that Kirokuyoru City has been closed off, right?", said Yunwei.
"Huh? That's impossible!", Song shouted.
"She's right. No one goes in. No one comes out.", said Koru.