"Ok Ivanna, my dad says it is ok for you stay with him at his shop for the night, if that's alright with you that is." Po said as he and his father returned from the bushes.
I didn't really expect that his father would have agreed to this by the way he was acting before, and I still didn't like the idea, but on the bright side at least now I was going to be given the perfect opportunity to prove that I could be trusted.
"Well ok...if your sure it's alright." I said unsure.
"Of course it's alright, what did you think we were going to do, allow you to sleep outside in the elements?" Po joked.
"Well thank you for your hospitality, I'm very grateful for it." I said attempting to soften their feelings toward me, especially Ping.
"Nonsense, we are just doing what any decent person would do." Po replied as if he was not willing to accept any thanks.
"So is that the Valley?" I asked trying to play dumb as we walked into what I knew was the marketplace of The Valley of Peace.
"Yep. This is our home." Po replied.
"Dad why don't you show her to the shop, I have to hurry to the Jade Palace to tell them about what happened to us, and plus they are probably a little worried with me being out this late." Po explained.
"...but Po..." Ping said in a tone that was like...You're not seriously going to leave me alone with this girl are you?
"Don't worry Mr..." I paused waiting for his name as if I didn't already know.
"Ping." He said shortly and a little nervously.
"Well, anyways Mr. Ping, you have nothing to worry about, I don't bite...much." I said jokingly to ease the tension.
"Hey look dad she even has a sense of humor, I'm sure you'll be fine for just one night." Po said comforted by my banter, unfortunately it seemed to have the opposite affect on Ping.
"Right." Ping replied more nervously than before and still unconvinced.
"Well I'll leave you two to it then." Po said as he made a dash for the Jade Palace.
If I was him I would have probably run from that situation like a coward too. This was going to make for quite the interesting night I thought as Ping reluctantly lead me to his noodle shop.
...Po at the Jade Palace...
"Po! Where have you been! It's nearly midnight, I was about to send out a search party for you!" Tigress said sternly as soon as she saw Po rush into the Jade Palace doors where Shifu and the Five had been almost ready to go out and search for him.
"I was attacked while trying to escort my father to the prison to sell his soup." Po explained almost out of breath from running up the stairs so fast.
"What in the world would make your father want to do that, doesn't he know dangerous that is!?" Tigress questioned in disbelief while the others stood in shock.
"Believe me I tried to talk him out of it, but I couldn't. That's why I decided to go with him, and it was a good thing I did too. I don't think I was the one who supposed to be attacked that night, it was almost as if someone knew my father was going to be there, but when I showed up I obviously became the main target." Explained Po further finally gaining a little of his breath back.
"Who do you think would do such a thing Po?" Asked Shifu seriously.
"I don't know, I mean I was able to capture the person who attacked me, and I got a good look at her face...but something tells me she was working for someone else."
"Well if you have captured her, why don't we just ask her ourselves." Tigress said ready to interrogate someone who would dare attack her friends.
"Well about that...she kinda got away..." Po said sheepishly rubbing his arm.
"She WHAT!? Po how could this happen!" Shifu exclaimed face-palming himself.
"Hey its not my fault she played dirty and threw hot chili pepper powder in my eyes." Po said defensively and the others cringed at the information.
"Oh my word, are you ok Po? I think I now some pain remedies for this sort of thing." Said Viper worriedly.
"It's ok guys really, at least thanks to Ivanna." Po replied.
"Who's Ivanna?" Asked Monkey perplexed.
"She is this girl I met shortly after the fight, she heard me screaming and everything and offered me some water so my father could help flush out my eyes. She is kinda of a traveler so my dad agreed to allow to stay one night at his shop since she really didn't have anywhere to go." Po explained.
"Are you sure there isn't anything else you know of this attacker of yours?" Asked Shifu thoughtfully stroking his chin.
"Well actually..." Po said as he took out the vial of my sleeping potion.
"she did leave this behind, any idea what it might be guys?" Asked Po ever so curious.
"Oh no." Said Zeng as he walked in on the conversation.
"That is exactly like the bottle of stuff those two attackers used to knock out Shifu!" Zeng exclaimed.
"Are you sure Zeng?" Shifu asked calmly.
"Of course I'm sure, I could never forget what happened that night." The goose replied with a shutter as he recalled the events.
"Then this is grave news indeed, this means that however these people are they are not just here to send a message, now they are starting to up their game into physical violence." Shifu said gravely.
"What do we so Master?" Asked Tigress.
"All we can do now is be as on guard as possible, if anyone sees any one like this girl, or even anyone suspicious report it immediately to me. After all there was two of them." Shifu commanded sternly.
"But if we know who one is, who could the other be?" Asked Mantis.
There was silence for a moment then Shifu's face was suddenly painted with worry.
"Po how well do you know this Ivanna character?" Shifu questioned urgently.
"You don't think she would have anything to do with this do you?" Asked Po in disbelief.
"Well her being in the right place at the exactly right time is a little suspicious Po." Commented Viper.
"I can't believe you guys, she helped me...besides she hardly seemed like the evil type." Po defended.
"Well apparently a lot of people didn't seem like the the evil type to you, you do remember what happened the last time you trusted some random stranger." Said Monkey.
"But I'm telling you guys she is different, trust me Ivanna is no criminal." Replied Po defiantly.
"Are you absolutely certain Po? I mean you are trusting this girl with your father..." Shifu asked seriously.
"I'm sure, trust me guys, I've seen evil...much more than I even care to, but this girl ain't it." Po said confidently.
"Well ok if your certain, lets all just try to keep a look out as I said before, we know one, but the other one could be anybody...we need to remain vigilant. If any one of you are to site them, capture them if possible and report immediately back to me. For now let's all get to bed, we will surly need our strength for tomorrow." Shifu ordered them commandingly.
"Yes Master." The all responded in sync as the bowed and took their leave.