"I'm really proud of you all, my students. You too, Kodok."
Following the first phase of the Legendary Tournament, all the participants who failed packed up their things and left. Which explained why the Valley of Peace's main entrance was so busy that morning. Those who succeeded, however, returned to their respective Dojo or home to celebrate. The masters of the Frog Dojo did the latter. Well, except ONE master.
"Why would you be proud of me, Master? I lost," the amphibian replied with looking sadly at the floor.
"Because you gave your best and fought with honor, Kodok," Shujinko replied. "The way you earn a victory is just as important as the victory itself."
"Except I didn't get any victory. I failed!" Kodok said with clutching his fist really hard. "I failed because I couldn't take that big guy down fast enough. I failed... because I'm not as strong as the others."
"Don't say this, Kodok," Shining Eagle said with putting her wing on her frog friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "You did extremely well. I never saw you taking such a big guy down on your own without getting backup from any of us. And besides, I'm sure you would have won if your door had been located closer to the victory zone."
"Wish I could believe that," Kodok mumbled under his breath and looked away.
Shujinko sighed in sadness, knowing that trying to cheer his student up was pointless for now. Therefore, he decided to change the subject. "So, since you have passed the first phase, you are all qualified for the second one which is scheduled to take place in five days. The staff of the tournament sent me this information by message this morning. But in the mean time, we are all invited to attend the Legendary Tournament Feast in two days."
"The Legendary Tournament Feast? What's that?" Yukan asked with a curious look.
"It's a special event that takes place between two phases of the tournament - this time between the first and second," Shujinko explained. "As the name implies, it's a big feast hosted in a location of the tournament's staff's choice where the participants, their masters, and their fellow Dojo comrades can relax, meet each other, learn more about their future opponents, or just have fun. The purpose of this feast is to allow the masters from everywhere to form bonds amongst themselves."
"Sounds cool," Kivuli remarked with a smile on her black beak. "You think there will be a lot of people there?"
"Yes; every time, there are many famous Kung Fu Masters - and even Grandmasters - attending the feast. If you want to meet your idols, it's the place for you to go," Shujinko said with a smile.
"That's wonderful!" Shining Eagle beamed, flapping her wings in joy a bit. "We're gonna have so much fun!"
"I'm not going."
Everyone turned to look at Kodok in surprise. "What are you talking about?" Kivuli asked.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I'm the only one who failed to pass the first phase. I wouldn't fit in such an event. I'm not sure I'll be in the mood to see anybody anyways." The frog then took out his slingshot and started walking away. "I'm gonna go train more."
The four masters looked at each other, all worried and sad for their frog friend. This defeat truly was a punch to his self-confidence.
The two days passed by with the masters of the Frog Dojo training hard in order to be ready for the next phase. During that time, they attempted to convince Kodok to go to the feast, but their attempts were all fruitless. The invitation said the guests did not have to wear robes or anything fancy for the event. Good thing, because Yukan and Kivuli HATED wearing complicated and uncomfortable dresses. However, Shining Eagle forced her martial eagle friend to accompany her to the spa for a little session ensuring their feathers would be clean and shining too.
"Wow...," Yukan mumbled in amazement.
The Legendary Tournament Feast took place at the Sun Resort Hotel in the Valley of Peace. This hotel was known for hosting many famous encounters between politicians, receiving legendary Kung Fu masters, and even the Emperor himself one time. And upon arriving in the dining hall, Yukan and his friends understood why. The room was huge with tens of different tables being covered by all sorts of food that one would not know where to begin with. The Frog Dojo masters found themselves amongst a large crowd of participants, Kung Fu masters, statesmen, provincial governors, and other high-ranked officials and military agents.
"This place is huge!" Yukan continued.
"And so beautiful!" Shining beamed, stars glowing in her eyes.
Shujinko chuckled at his pupils' reaction. "Indeed, it is quite huge and beautiful. You are free to walk around for the rest of the evening. Go chat, eat, and have fun as you wish." He then rubbed his hands together and walked away. "Now let's go see if they have any mint flavored tea."
The frog's students chuckled a bit. Their master loved tea as much as he loved Kung Fu... maybe even a little more. "Shining Eagle!"
The female avian's golden eyes widened upon hearing this familiar voice. Turning around, she came face to face with a familiar bird figure. "F-Father?!" The male eagle who arrived before her nodded with a smile.
This male golden eagle wears robes of pure white with silver trims and a golden sash around his waist. A pair of metal talons is tied to said sash and a small hoodie accompanies his robes. His body feathers are deep brown in color and the primary flight feathers black at the tips, shifting to black in the middle, and turning white at the base. His black eyes are floating in pools of yellow.
Even Yukan had to admit this avian looked glorious. Upon giving him a deeper look, he soon realized something. "W-Wait a minute! Shining Eagle... your father is... Master Eagle?!"
"Yes," Shining Eagle replied with rubbing the back of her head with a wing. "Sorry for not mentioning it before."
Yukan could not believe it. Master Eagle was famous in the Kung Fu community for being one the best - if not THE best aerial master of all time. He fought in countless battles, wars, defeated countless criminals, and currently owned his own Kung Fu school, the Aviation Kung fu Academy, which was considered the best place for any avian to learn martial arts.
"It has been a very long time, Father. How are you?" Shining asked as she turned back to her father.
"I'm doing very well, my daughter. Still running my academy and all. Nice to see you again too, Kivuli." The martial eagle nodded to Master Eagle. He then turned to look at Yukan. "And Master Sunbird, correct? My daughter told me a lot about you."
"She did?" the sun parrot asked with looking at his friend. She rubbed the back of her head and chuckled.
"Yeah, I talked about you in the letters I sent my father since you joined the Frog Dojo..."
"You did very well in the first phase, young one," Master Eagle said with looking down at Yukan. "You too, my daughter. I hope you will all do even better in the following phase."
"Yes... Father," Shining responded, her head hanging low and a somewhat sad look on her face.
Feeling the conversation was getting awkward, Yukan decided to find an excuse to leave. "I'll go... have something to eat. See ya later." He walked away as his friends waved at him. Kivuli decided to go her own way as well, leaving Shining Eagle with her father.
After remaining with her to discuss a bit, Master Eagle left Shining Eagle to go see other Kung Fu masters and clan leaders. The female avian walked away to the buffet and took herself a slice of honey cake which she munched with her beak. She sighed in sadness. "Am I ever going to make him proud of me?"
"Excuse me? Are you Master Shining Eagle?"
The female avian turned around and was surprised to see a duo of warriors before her. One of them was a female apple-green snake with two lily pads on her head while the other was a yellow monkey with black pants and metal bracelets on her wrists. She quickly recognized them.
"Master Viper and Master Monkey of the Furious Five?!"
"That's us, alright," Monkey said with a smile.
Shining Eagle bowed. "It's an honor to meet you in person. I heard a lot about you and the other masters of the Jade Palace."
"We're honored too," Master Viper said with a smile. "May I say that your feathers look lovely?"
"Oh, thanks," the golden eagle said with a cute blush. "Your scales look pretty good too."
Viper giggled a bit. "I made sure to clean them to perfection before coming here. Hey, our friends and I are sitting at a table not far from here. Do you wanna join us? Master Shifu and the Dragon Warrior are there. You can bring your friends too if you want."
Shining Eagle blinked her golden yellow eyes a few times before rubbing the back of her head. "Huh, thanks for the invitation, Master Viper... but I don't think this would be a good idea."
"Why's that?"
"Well, you see, my friend, Yukan Tori, doesn't like the masters of the Jade Palace... He even outright hates you..."
Meanwhile, Yukan helped himself at the buffet, eating pretty much anything that looked delicious. To his joy, the food was a pure delight and he even managed to find some spiced pastas, his favorite meal! As he munched on the tasty food, the avian felt something tapping his shoulder and turned around to see a familiar face.
"Hey, Yukan," Po greeted with a smile.
"Po. You came," Yukan said with a smile. "Though I should've guessed it because there's plenty of free food... and you like food, right?"
"I sure do! I'm the biggest eater you'll find around the Valley of Peace. And even across all of China!" Po beamed with enthusiasm. "Speaking of which, I brought some food from my own restaurant for the event. Wanna taste it?"
"Sure, why not," Yukan said and followed the panda to a large cooking pot filled with a liquid that produced steam. Just smelling it caused water to rise into the sun parrot's beak. "This smells delicious. What is it?"
"My father's Secret Ingredient Soup," the panda replied with filling a bowl for his friend. "Try it; you're gonna fall in love." Taking the bowl, Yukan used a pair of chopsticks offered to him by his panda friend to slip some of the noodles into his beak... and his eyes widened. "So? What do you think?"
In an instant, Yukan started pulling the whole soup into his beak, eating like it would be his last time ever. He swallowed everything in one shot and sighed happily. "This. Is. The. Best. Food. EVER!"
Po chuckled a bit at this. "Believe me, you're not the first one telling me this after tasting the soup, man."
"Can I have more?" Yukan asked with holding his now empty bowl.
"I would like to have some too, Dragon Warrior."
Yukan turned around to see Master Shujinko approaching him. Someone accompanied him. A male red panda wearing maroon robes and with large ears using a wooden staff to walk. Yukan's joy instantly faded away. "Not him..."
"M-Master Shujinko?!" Po exclaimed in surprise. "Of the Frog Dojo?! The hero of the Dragon Wars?! Oh my gosh, I'm a fan!"
"Oh, but I assure you it is an honor for me to meet the hero who saved our beautiful city from Tai Lung too," the old frog said with a chuckle. He then looked at his student. "Yukan, may I present to you the leader of the Jade Palace, Grandmaster Shifu."
"Master Sunbird, right?" the red panda asked as he stepped forward and bowed. "I have heard about everything you did since joining the Frog Dojo. I must say I am impressed that you managed to defeat the Qidan Clan with your fellow masters. The Qidan King has never been defeated in singles match before."
"... Thanks," the avian replied without any trace of gratefulness or joy in his voice.
"Grandmaster Shifu has invited us to share a table with him to discuss and build camaraderie between the Jade Palace and the Frog Dojo," Shujinko said with a smile.
"Thanks, but I'd like to stay up for a while," Yukan denied.
"Yukan, you can't deny an invitation from a Grandmaster," Shujinko said in a scolding tone. He then turned toward the red panda and bowed. "My students and I will be honored to join you for the feast."
Author's note: Did you guess that Shining Eagle was the daughter of Master Eagle? Did you? No? Oh.
Yukan and his friends will properly meet Shifu, the Furious Five, and the Dragon Warrior in the next chapter. Perhaps we will learn why Yukan acts so cold toward Tigress and Shifu, but not Po?
Do not worry for the other characters who participate in the tournament: we will see them in the next chapter too. Until then, constructive reviews are welcome and may the gods watch over you all.