"... Man... these stairs... are... no joke..."

By the time Po reached the end of the thousand steps, his body had not a single drop of energy left. It was a bit hard to believe that the masters of the Jade Palace would get up and down these steps every time they would go down in the city and back up to the palace. Somehow, this made Po's admiration for them grow even stronger. Once the pain in his heart faded away, the panda pulled himself up to his feet and looked at his surroundings.

The cliff was so high that he could see all the city down below. The bottom of the steps was so far that Po had a hard time believing he actually made it so far. But the best part stood behind him. The Jade Palace. One of the most ancient sites in China that have not been modified by modern times. The red and jade-colored metal constituting it reflected the sun's light and allowed the structure to stand proudly so high in the middle of the Valley of Peace.

"Wow!" Po beamed, jumping in excitation. "This place looks even more awesome in real! So this is where Grandmaster Oogway, Master Shifu, as well as the Furious Five live?" He looked at the entrance gate of the palace. "I wonder if I'll get in trouble for giving a quick look inside... Bah, it's worth a shot."

The panda advanced forward and pushed the gates open with some difficulty. But then, his emerald eyes widened in awe. The Sacred Hall of Warriors. Po has always dreamed to see this legendary place! Not only was the room built in the most beautiful jade material Po had ever since, but it was the numerous artifacts decorating it that made his heart skip a beat.

The panda turned his attention to the first artifact he spotted. A long spear topped with a glowing blade. "Oh my gosh! The Golden Spear of Dragon Mountain! I heard so much about it! We say that its blade reflects the fire of the dragon and can detect evil in the most hidden forms. If any unworthy animal was to take it, he would get burnt instantly!"

The next artifact to catch his attention was a large twin-bladed halberd that had a jade dragon pattern marked on its blade. The Sword of Heroes! Of all the artifacts he knew about, this was easily Po's favorite one. It was said that it was so sharp that you could get cut just by staring at- "Ow!" Po held his index finger as he a sharp pain suddenly hurt it. The legend was true!

Po spent the following minutes admiring all the artifacts in the hall: the Golden Shield, the Invisible Trident of Destiny, the Iron Fist of Justice, the Urn of Whispering Warriors, the Iron Fist of Justice, Flying Rhino's Armor, the Blade of Bao Ding, and the Thousand Scrolls of Kung Fu. This was so amazing! Seeing all of this in the same day!

But then, his eyes turned toward a scroll hanging into the mouth of a golden dragon statue planted in the ceiling and over a beautiful pool filled with water. "Is this...?!" Indeed it was. The Dragon Scroll! Po heard so much about it: created by Grandmaster Oogway, it was said to be the most powerful item in Kung Fu history. Reading it would grant one unlimited power. Many former Kung Fu warriors - including Master Tai Lung - turned to the dark side in an attempt to take hold of this scroll.

"He who will read it will become the Dragon Warrior," Po mumbled in excitation. He then rubbed his chin. "I wonder who it's gonna be?"

"He-hem." Po froze upon hearing a little throat-clearing coming from behind along with the sound of footsteps approaching. Turning around, he was surprised to see five figures he was very familiar with staring at him and he gasped. "T-The Furious Five?!"

The panda started jumping on place with excitation. However, the five warriors did not look happy at all, judging by their glares. Especially not Master Tigress. "Who are you?" she demanded in a rather threatening tone. "What are you doing here?"

Po's eyes slowly widened as he realized the situation. He entered the Jade Palace's Hall of Warriors out of nowhere and without announcing his arrival. This was enough to pass for a thief! "What have you come to steal?" Master Crane asked with a glare.

"W-Wait, it's not what you think! I haven't come to steal anything! I'm just a fan and I wanted to meet-"

"Intruder!" Master Tigress suddenly exclaimed and dashed forward to deliver a painful kick into Po's stomach, which sent him crashing into one of the hall's pillars. Before he could fall down on the floor, Master Crane flapped his wings to catch him by the shoulders, drag him up in the air, and then toss him toward Master Monkey who delivered a spin kick that almost broke the panda's jaw.

As Po tried to deal with the pain of the blows he received, he felt something sneaking underneath him and lift his whole body. It did not take him long to realize this was Master Mantis who started spinning before tossing him many feet away, causing him to land on the jade floor with a thud. Before the poor panda could even try to get back up, Master Viper came to wrap her body around his, pinning his arms against his sides and allowing Master Tigress to press his head against the floor with her arms.

"Talk now, intruder!" Master Tigress firmly said in a threatening tone. "What did you came to steal here?"

"N-Nothing!" Po groaned in pain. "I-I just wanted to see you in action, I swear!"

"What is going on here?!"

Everybody stopped and immediately turned around to see two figures coming. A small red panda wearing maroon robes and an old tortoise walking with a wooden cane. Po almost immediately recognized them. Master Shifu and Grandmaster Oogway, head leader of the Jade Palace and creator of Kung Fu.

"Master!" Tigress said and bowed. "Sorry for this confusion, but we found this intruder sneaking into the palace. He wanted to steal something."

"Is that so?" Master Shifu asked with glaring down at Po.

"N-No! That's not what I came to do. I swear!"

Just then, Grandmaster Oogway lifted his hand and pointed a black finger toward Po. "Very interesting..."

"What is wrong, Master?" Shifu asked.

"It is you... You are the Dragon Warrior..."

Author's note: Looks like Po got himself in trouble with the people of the Jade Palace. But Grandmaster Oogway has got him out of it. Yes, the way Po becomes the Dragon Warrior is different in this. His training will also be different.

This story is a prequel to "The Frog Dojo" since it takes place some time before it. I'm gonna incorporate elements from the movies, the TV show, and some of my own for this fanfic. I hope you will enjoy it and may the gods watch over you all.