"W-What are you doing here, Song?" Po asked his feline friend as she stopped hugging him.
"Well, you told me to come and visit you and your friends anytime I wanted back in Moshou Market. I was really missing you, so here I am," the leopardess explained with a smile and a paw on her hip.
She looked into Po's eyes which made him blush. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind and a big smile formed on his face. "Hey, Song. Since you're here now, what do you say we go get something to eat? I was just about to go to my father's place, so what do you say?" Po asked the leopardess who widened her eyes in shock.
"Is he asking me out?" she thought while turning away to hide her blush.
"Are you okay, Song?" Po asked in concern.
"Yes Po, I'm fine," she answered with a sweet tone. "I'm just tired, that's all."
"Well, if you're tired, we can go-"
"NO!" she interrupted him, making him jump a little at her sudden outburst. "No, it's alright, I'd like to spend some quality time with you." She then took Po's paw and led him toward the village.
They failed to notice a figure watching them in the shadows of the Hall of Heroes. This figure was Tigress who let out a low growl before slowly following the two friends from a safe distance.
Po and Song walked out of the village together with the leopardess leading the way. "Where are we going to, Song?" Po curiously asked.
"I know a good restaurant in a village not too far from here," Song replied, her umbrella resting on her shoulder. "I'm leading us there to have some fun."
Po rubbed his chin and smiled. "I have a better idea. I know a spot of primal animals that I could use to make a good little meal of mine. This is what a Cooking Hunter would do after all."
They stopped walking as Song gave him a curious look. "A Cooking Fighter? What's that?"
Po blinked his eyes. "Seriously? Nobody in this valley has heard about the Cooking Fighter community? Yet it is as large as the Kung Fu one. Anyways, the Cooking Fighters are animals - cooks most of the time - who likes to explore the world and find rare ingredients to create extraordinary meals. Most of these individuals are generally for hire, taking varying fees in exchange for the retrieval of ingredients that would be inaccessible to the contractor under common circumstances. Many of the world's most notable and influential individuals are or were Cooking Fighters during their life.
To prove their worth, Cooking Fighters tend to create Full Course Menus made up of Ingredients they've hunted, so that clients can see how good they are, though this isn't compulsory. The higher the quality of the Cooking Fighter's Full Course, the stronger the Cooking Fighter in question. Cooking Fighters tend to do their jobs solo, though there are some exceptions. Sometimes groups are formed, though this does not necessarily mean that they work as a team. This also might attract Chefs to which the Cooking Fighter can form combos with."
"Wow," Son said, amazed. "I never heard about these guys before. And you're a Cooking Fighter too?"
"Yes," Po replied with a nod. "I too wanna create my own Full Course Menu - the best in the world actually. And I was lucky to be born during the Gourmet Age too."
"The Gourmet Age?" Song asked with a curious eyebrow.
"The Gourmet Age is the title given to the golden age of food-driven prosperity that our world has known for over 500 years. It began around 500 years ago with the actions of the legendary Cooking Fighter Arcadia, who ended the preceding Gourmet War by enlightening world leaders with the mystical taste and power of his main dish, GOD.
The age was named for the great cultural and economic obsession with food which resulted from Arcadia's actions, ushering in an age of appreciation towards all delicacies and a desire to discover and share unknown tastes," Po explained.
"Really?" Song asked in surprise. "This sounds amazing! But what didn't I ever heard about all this before?"
Po rubbed the back of his head. "Unfortunately, Cooking Fighters are not as popular as Kung Fu masters in China. I mean, I love Kung Fu, but Cooking Fighting is pretty cool too, y'know."
Song giggled a bit. "So you said something about getting primal animals to make us a special meal?"
Po smiled once again. "I sure did. Let's go!"
Sometime later and the two friends arrived at a part of the forest which had a huge lake and some big stones they could sit on around. It was relatively quiet and didn't seem to have anything special.
"We've arrived!" Po joyfully announced though Song didn't share his enthusiasm.
"Hum...Po, there's nothing around here," the leopardess remarked.
"Actually, there's an EXTREMELY special creature in here with a flesh that can make an extraordinary meal!" Po said with rubbing his paws together in anticipation.
"...Okay, but where is it?" Song asked. "Is it supposed to be hiding somewhere in the lake-"
SPLASH!
She immediately got her answer as a figure jumped out of the water, landing right in front of the duo and towering them with its size. "Oh, there it is! The Red Gator!" Po said with a smile.
The Red Gator's overall appearance resembles that of a normal alligator, though it is much bigger (larger than an elephant) and has eight legs and red skin with two rows of sharp, yellow spikes that go down it's tough, scaly, back, much like his claws. It also has green eyes that tend to glow in the dark. Its teeth are white and sharp, protruding out of its mouth.
"W-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Song exclaimed in panic.
"It's a Red gator," Po nonchalantly said. "We came here to get him; I can make an awesome meal with his flesh."
"B-But did you ever beat a creature like this before?!"
"...No; I only read books about him," Po simply replied.
"It's not reassuring at all!"
Po gave her a smile. "Don't worry; if I could defeat Tai Lung, one of the strongest Kung Fu masters of all time, I can surely-WATCH OUT!" He managed to grab and pull Song down just in time as the Red Gator swang his big tail at them. "Hey! It's impolite to attack people in the middle of a discussion!"
"I don't think he really cares, Po," Son pointed out. The Red Gator rose his tail and slammed it between the two friends, forcing them to jump away from each other.
Po grabbed the gator's tail in his arms and used his strength to make the big creature spin just like he did with Tigress earlier in the morning. After many seconds, he tossed the huge reptile away. To his surprise, it actually landed safely on his limbs. He roared before leaping at the panda.
Po managed to move aside and avoid getting snapped by the Red Gator's jaw before going for a punch to his cheek. However, this only caused him to hold his wrist in pain as the reptile's scales were pretty solid. Before the panda could recover, the Red Gator span and slapped him away with its tail, sending him crashing through two trees before coming to a stop.
"Po!" Song screamed in horror.
The Red Gator sniffed her smell and then attempted to snap her with his jaw too. Luckily, the leopardess managed to dodge him with impressive agility. She jumped really high and landed on his snout where she started slamming her umbrella to cause some minimal damage. The Red Gator soon got enough and tried to slam her away with his paw, only to end up hurting himself as Song jumped away at the last second, landing on the ground with elegance.
"Strong but too slow, sweetie," she said with sticking her tongue out.
Unfortunately, the reptile was not amused at all and pushed a strong roar that sent the leopardess flying backward and crash into a tree, dropping her umbrella in the process. He then ran quickly at her, ready to snap his helpless prey.
Luckily, it was at this moment that a feline jumped out of hiding and delivered a strong double palm strike to the Red Gator's face, knocking him back a few feet away. He growled and glared at Tigress who stood between him and his prey while taking her fighting stance.
"T-Tigress?!" Po asked with a shocked look. "What are you doing here?!"
"Hum...," Tigress said with looking down and rubbing the back of her head. "I was just passing by and...I heard you screaming...so I thought you were in trouble."
Po smiled. "Cool, that's nice of you. But don't worry, I'm gonna take this best down!" He suddenly pressed his paws together and closed his eyes, reciting a prier in his mind. Once he was done, he opened his eyes again and focused his Chi in his right arm which took the shape of a fork and into his left arm which took the form of a knife.
"W-What's this?!" Tigress asked in surprise. "I never saw him do this before. A new technique?"
The Red Gator roared and charged at the panda once again. However, this time, Po was ready. "Fork Punch!" Ducking, he used his Fork Chi to punch the gator in the stomach, creating three small holes there. He then raised his other paw in a Karate chop position. "Knife Chop!"
The panda sliced through the Red Gator's vital organs and made sure to give him a quick and painless death before allowing his corpse to collapse down. Po sat down and panted with adjusting his rice hat while his two feline friends were looking in amazement.
"G-Great!" Song exclaimed with a smile. "Po really is a great Cooking Fighter!"
The panda smiled before looking at his friends. "Oh, Tigress, this is my friend I told you we met in Mosho Market, Song. Song, this is Tigress, the leader of the Furious Five."
"Nice to meet you," the leopardess said with extending her paw for a handshake.
However, Tigress was giving her a suspicious look. She couldn't explain why but she felt that she couldn't trust this girl. She had this aura around her...a thief. Yes, she felt like this girl was a thief.
"Is something wrong?" Song asked as Tigress just kept staring at her.
Po felt an awkward raising between them and decided to change the subject. "Alright, let's start cooking this Red Gator and eat; I'm starving!"
A few moments later, the three friends were sitting around a campfire which Po used to cook the large pieces of meat from the Red Gator. They were currently pierced on a wooden stick and the meat was getting juicy and smelled good from cooking above the fire.
"See this watery, glittering meat!" Po exclaimed with taking a piece of meat in his paw. He was already drooling from the sight.
"The flesh is like stars shining in the night sky!" Song exclaimed, looking at the shining, juicy flesh of the meat.
Po pulled the piece of cooked meat into his mouth and started munching on it. After swallowing it, the panda's eyes suddenly shot open with amazement.
"That's great! Only one bite and its water started to flow out! My mouth is literally flooding!" he exclaimed.
Song picked a piece of meat and looked at it with hunger. "I wanna try it too!" She pulled the meat in her mouth and started savoring its delicious taste. It wasn't long before a huge smile formed on her face. "The softness and fat are melting in my mouth."
Po then thought about something. "Oh yes, if you're baking on this stone, maybe it will be even better." The panda placed another piece of meat onto one of the small stone that was heated up by the campfire and it started cooking again, erecting sweet steam of flavor.
Song and Tigress were looking at it in anticipation as they could see the flesh cooking up with the juice. "I'll saute it out by using oil from its meat and guard its casks so as not to be lost," Po explained. After a few more seconds, he took out a knife and fork from his pockets.
"Now!" Cutting the piece of meat in three parts, he gave one to his two friends and one to himself. They started eating it in joy.
Tigress widened her eyes. "The outside is tasty and crisp!"
"And the inside is sweet and juicy!" Po added.
"A TRUE DELIGHT!" Po and Song exclaimed together.
Later on, the Red Gator meat was completely gone and the three friends were laying on their back. "I can't remember the last time I've been stuffed like this," Tigress said with patting her round belly.
"Please Po, tell me you're planning to add this wonder to your Full Course Menu," Song said after letting out a little burp.
Po sat up, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. He then looked at her with a smile. "Nope."
"WHAT?!" the leopardess exclaimed. "How can you not want to?! This meal was perfectly delicious!"
"I agree, but there are lots of more meat food in this world that I wanna try before taking my decision. If I choose an ingredient for my menu and discover another one that I like even more afterward, I'll have regrets. And if I want to make the best Full Course Menu in the world, I can't allow myself to make that mistake."
Song smiled at the panda. "Alright. Let me know when you'll have made your decision; I wanna be the first one to try the food of your menu." She then gave him a kiss on the cheek which caused Po to blush madly. However, this also earned her a glare from Song.
"I don't know who this girl is, but if she thinks she'll take my panda away from me, she's wrong..."
Looks like jealousy is rising up inside Tigress. Will this be the start of a rivalry between her and Song over Po? I don't know, but for now, I have to eat; writing this chapter over cooking opened my appetite.