Instinctual

By: Lacey52

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Author's note: BA-da-BA-BA-BA! I'm lovin' it! Anyone else miss the old jingles? Seriously though this is the shortest chapter I've ever written for this story. I really, really like the end though lol.

...not even close to being edited, so call me out!

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Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Power of Choice

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Jian stood impatiently, watching the panda hope over, dive around, and wiggle under various fighting creatures, 'Why does he not simply plow through them? He is strong enough, and the weak make way for the strong.'

His gaze drifted to the ridge, finding a rather amusing scene; the great Grandmaster Shifu of the Jade Palace stood with his mouth gaping as Master Viper apparently tried to comfort him, 'Perhaps the rumors of the tiger being his daughter are true. Brave, but stupid of the Dragon Warrior then, to kiss her so brazenly.'

It was concerning, slightly, that the other warriors had found them so quickly, but truly he tired of the mess Nabendu had created and drawn him into. Like quicksand, the more he struggled the further he sank, and so Jian focused solely on the fight. The rush and thrill of defeating an opponent. The pride of standing at the end, being the victor...being alive.

"Hey, whoooo, one second," the panda flopped forward into the dusty area that no animal entered for fear of the yak. Po lay, panting, as he rolled onto his back, then slowly stood, shaking himself out lightly, "Took me a minute to get here..."

"So it seems," the yak inclined his horns in a nod, arms folded as he waited with little patience for the bear to ready himself for a fight, "Ready, Ping Po?"

"As I'll ever be!" he grinned his answer, shuffling clumsily from foot to foot. Jian raised his brow.

Po did the same, then darted forward with a grin.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

"Master?" Viper broke him from his trance as everyone around him laughed nervously and little murmurs about the kiss broke out around him.

"Viper, Monkey, go assist Crane in protecting the Emperor and his family. The Dai wolves are with you," he turned silencing everyone with a glance, "Dishi, do what you need. Mantis, with me to find the beads. Their pull is strong so everyone be careful."

"Before you go, you'll need these masks," Dishi motioned towards Hu and Hi, who stood with several scraps of cloth, "We've got a little white drug of our own."

"What does it do?" Chung asked, remembering the strange scent that had washed over her in the assassin's wake.

"Oh, just makes everyone take a nice nap...or at least slows the bigger ones down quite a bit," the pangolin slipped his mask on and slid past, "Let's go."

Viper and Monkey raced smoothly down the hillside, weaving and dodging gracefully through the writhing mass of fur and feathers and scales, the Dai pack hot on their trail.

At the bottom of the hill Viper tensed and leapt out for a strike, slamming into a stoat who was ready to clamp onto the back of Crane's neck, "Hello Crane, sorry we're late."

"Am I glad to see you," the bird tossed his head to the right, where the Emperor stood patiently with his family, "Let's get them out of here."

"Come on, my little highnesses," Monkey pulled the two youngest chicks into his hold, "Close your eyes tight, we'll be right out."

"Emperor," Li fell to his knees, ears lowered and head down in shame, "I...I am so deeply sorry fo-"

"Come now, Li, there is no time for that," the red-crowned crane stepped to his side gracefully, one wing to the wolf's shoulder, "The only reason I left was because I knew you would be along to collect us shortly. I hope that you will forgive me for my hasty departure, and any undue distress I've caused?"

"My Lord," relief flooded him and he stood shakily, kicking a rather stupid dhole right in the snout. He nodded to his sovereign, then looked at his kin, "Time to go."

As they began to work their way out, Dishi and his assassins were working their way in, right behind Shifu and Mantis. The masters were making a beeline for the Yexing Beads and leaving a rather convenient open path in their wake; a path that the Dishi was taking full advantage of.

The assassins were light footed and began to peg the animals around them in the face with soft-ended canes, each of which was filled with a white powder. It rendered most, but not all, unconscious instantly.

Shifu spared a glance behind him to find the pangolin wielding two canes, happily and roughly jabbing faces; the force alone was probably enough to knock them out. The few hundred animals that were still up and fighting would be dealt with swiftly.

His only focus would be the beads.

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As the circled animals readied to strike, something rippled through the crowd and they drew back as one, nerves apparent in their movements. Tigress tensed, unsure what to expect out of their sudden odd behaviour. With one eye to Po, who had suddenly charged Jian, she nearly missed Ge-Ming's lithe form leaping from the crowd, claws ready and aimed for her eyes. She blocked and forced her attention away from her panda.

Her opponent was before her and she could afford no distractions.

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Po felt his knees buckle under the massive weight of Jian's blow, the sharp sound of his claws grating against the yak's gada echoing in his ears. The mace stung his paw pads badly, but Po decided he'd rather brave the sting than let it hit him full on again.

"You're faltering," the bull chided, drawing back for another blow, "You've still learned nothing and so, remain afraid and confused."

"No way," Po blocked again, then pushed pack with his full strength, moving Jian and managing to impress him for the first time, "I've learned plenty, buddy. You're the one who's still confused."

"Confused?" the yak twisted sharply, the tempo of their fight spiking as they spoke, "I am confused over nothing."

And yet, there was a hesitation in his voice, a barely noticeable missed beat in his rhythm, and Po latched onto that.

"You're lying," the panda found an opening and was suddenly snout to snout with Jian. He wrapped one great paw over the gada, his claws hooking around the handle as he stepped forward and caused the yak to lose his balance, "I know you're confused. You have to be, because there ain't no way anybody can have equal amounts of light and dark in them. The scales have gotta' tip, one way or the other!"

Jian wrenched himself away, letting his back right hoof slam into the panda's knee in what some would consider a dirty move, though the bull believed that there were no such things when fighting for one's life. Something in Ping Po's words had just rocketed through his core, and he tried to distance himself from an opponent that he had formed an incomplete view of, "Scales?"

"Yeah," Po took a hobbled step back as well, "Sure. You've gotta' have both light and dark in you. Everybody does. But, nobody is ever gonna' balance them perfectly, even if you think you can through instinct."

"You don't make sense," Jian snorted loudly, unsure and angry for once.

Po stood his ground and rolled his eyes, "Look, it's not about being all good and light, or all bad and dark, or even about being both. We all have instincts, even if we choose to ignore them. That's what's special. We chose."

"Chose?"

"I choose to not just follow my instincts. I choose to be happy and eat food all the time and goof around and protect the animals around me," Po stood tall, smiling softly even as Jian took another unsure step back, "It's all about the choices we make, and the choices we ignore. And I'm going to prove it to you."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Jian stepped forward, gada raised.

"Simple," Po closed his eyes, paws open, pads up before him, "I choose to not fight you."

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