Author's note: Hello, everyone. It has been a while, hasn't it? Now, I know you must be surprised to see me publish a new chapter after I openly announced earlier this year, in February, that I chose to put an end to my Fanfiction career so that I could focus on other important things in my life. Allow me to explain.
Even after stopping Fanfiction, my little mind couldn't stop thinking about it, creating ideas and concepts for stories. Lately, I started following a new program to live my life at its fullest and always give my 100% in absolutely everything so that I may never have any regret in life. My studies and training in 3D have been going very well lately. I also started creating my own fictional worlds, but I realized that I would have to wait until I hit a professional level before I could seriously develop them. With all of this, I made the ultimate decision to return here and keep this story going on, as I have way too many ideas to let them all go to waste. Plus, you all know how much I love Kung Fu Panda! I will continue Book of the Dragon and start two other stories in not too long. I hope you will enjoy them all, friends!
One of the things that fascinated Po the most about Kung Fu had always been the crazy moves. Even before officially beginning his training, he would always dream of performing impossible stunts like his idols, whether it be powerful attacks like Master Thundering Rhino's or swift and graceful moves like Lady Wind Song's. Sometimes, he would even picture himself beating bad guys with aerial flips and dives like those of Master Crane... in spite of his lack of wings.
The one thing he never pictured himself doing, however, was a series of stretches and poses that would test his flexibility and endurance. It was apparently one of the most important exercises to perform at the Jade Palace outside the usual dummy punching, meditating sessions and occasional Tai Chi practice. Back at his former school in Gongmen City, the one class Po failed at the most was gym - his teacher never missing a chance to call him down on his weight as the main factor of his failure. But this time, things were different. If Po could defeat bad guys with his belly, then he could definitely master the art of flexing and humping!
Or so he thought. Turns out that stretching your arm while resting all of your weight on one hand, lay on your side while lifting and lowering your leg without ever letting it touch the ground and trying to touch your toes with your hand was a lot harder than smashing things with your tummy. By the end of the session, Po's thighs trembled harder than a tree in a storm and his fur was so wet you would've thought he just came out of the shower. Good thing all of this was over; he didn't have any energy left for-
"Very well, the warming up is done. It is time to start the real training."
Of course...
By the end of possibly the longest and hardest training day he had at the Jade Palace so far, Po collapsed on his bed, wanting nothing except peace and a good nap. Once he recovered enough to move his body again, the panda sat up, stretched his body and let out a loud yawn. His gaze started wandering around his bedroom, from the posters of his favorite Kung Fu masters (including the Furious Five) to the little table in a corner where was lying his television with his game console and the box containing his video games right next to it - and his wardrobe. To think that he had been here for about four weeks now. Yet, it felt like he had lived here his entire life.
"Dinner's gonna be in about an hour. I wonder what I could do until then...?" the young warrior wondered, looking up at the ceiling while rubbing his chin. Then, he snapped his fingers as an idea came to his mind. "I know! It's been a while since I last checked my attributes. Menu!" The little screen only visible to Po appeared, and he immediately clicked on the attributes tab, excited to see how much progress he did since joining the Jade Palace. "Let's see... Strength, 12, constitution, 15, dexterity... still 13, intelligence, 9, wisdom, 14, and charisma... still 9?"
To say that the results disappointed Po would be an understanding. Overall, he only won two points in the strength department, one in constitution, one in intelligence, and none in wisdom, dexterity nor charisma. After so much work, he had hoped to get at least three points for each. Plus... he couldn't help but feel slightly offended by the fact that he did not win any point in dexterity and charisma. Was his Chi implicating that he was slow and not charming? As a matter of fact, now that he thought about it, what did he need to do to gain charisma points? Did he have to wash up often or something like that? Too bad his Chi powers did not come with a manual.
A loud sigh escaped the panda's lips as he took off his rice hat and looked at it. "Looks like I still have a long way to go before I can fulfil my promise, Oogway..." Placing the object back on top of his head, the panda was about to close the window and start playing some of his video games when his gaze landed on his skills tab. Almost immediately, his mind remembered a crucial detail: the day he went to Mr. Ping's Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant and accepted Mantis' suggestion to cook for his comrades. Of course, after everything that happened afterwards with Dice Daong, he completely forgot about it and only remembered now. Dinner was still one hour away; this was the perfect chance to finally show off his cooking skills to the Five before he would forget about it again. Besides, he was certain they were tired of eating nothing but pre-cooked noodles and tofu.
"Time for Chief Po to enter in action!" the panda excitedly thought as he stood up from his bed and darted his way into the kitchen. Nobody was present, so he had the entire working zone for himself. First things first, the panda rummaged through the different kitchen drawers to see what ingredients were present so that he could decide what food to make. While there indeed was decent ingredients, the drawers were mostly filled with sachets of instant noodles that just needed to be boiled up before they could be eaten. Dang, this place really was nothing like his mother or Mr. Ping's restaurant!
Before long, all the ingredients were laid upon the counter, and it was time for Po to decide what to cook for his friends. Opening up his techniques menu, he ran through all the meals in his repertory: 'Basic Noodle Soup', 'Spicy Noodle Soup', 'Lemongrass Noodle Soup', 'Watermelon and Corn Noodle Soup', 'Curry and Sweet Potato Noodle Soup', 'Steamed Dumplings', 'Cheese Dumplings', and 'Red Bean Buns'. While he did have a large selection of meals to choose from (with all of them being maximum level), the problem was that none of the ingredients allowed him to make any of them. Gotta believe neither Viper nor Zeng were used to play chiefs as much as Po's mother.
"What am I gonna do?" Po asked himself, trying to make a decision. Then, his gaze fell upon a drawer he hadn't open yet. This one was located below the counter's level, probably explaining why he failed to notice it. The panda kneeled down and opened the little door, revealing a book that must've been there for a long time, judging by the dust covering it. Reaching his paw for it, Po proceeded to blow the dust off the cover, making sure not to send any of it on the ingredients or cooking equipment. 'How to Cook Wonders!'. A cooking book! Probably belonged to Viper or Zeng since no one else cooked around. Maybe he could find something to cook with the ingredient she had in there! And, surely enough, two pages in, Po found the perfect meal for tonight. It was time to get to work!
While the panda washed his paws before he could start cooking, Zeng appeared at the dining room's entrance, a look of surprise on his face. "Sir Po, what are you doing here?" he asked, having thought that the panda would be playing video games in his bedroom; not standing in the kitchen before dinner.
"Oh, hi, Zeng!" Po greeted back, giving a quick look above his shoulder. "I was gonna make tonight's dinner, if you don't mind."
"Really? You know how to cook?"
"Yup! I don't know if you remember, but before coming here, I used to work at a restaurant with my mother, back in Gongmen," the panda explained while drying his paws off with a towel. "I've been wanting to make you guys a meal for a while now. I hope you don't mind."
"Oh, not at all. I don't think Master Shifu will be mad if I take a break from making dinner for one evening. I'm really excited to see what you will make!" the little goose beamed with an unusual enthusiasm.
"What's going on here?" By some sort of coincidence, Master Monkey happened to arrive in the place as well, the other four following closely behind.
"Oh, guys, you arrive just in time! I'm gonna make you the meal of a lifetime tonight!" Po announced with excitation, moving away from the sink and toward the counter.
"Really? You don't have to do that; I can make food if you want, Po," Viper suggested, not wanting her panda friend to overwork himself after all the exercise he did today.
"Don't worry about that, Viper," Mantis said, hopping up onto the table. "Po's a cook; he worked at a restaurant before coming here. If he's capable of doing anything like at the Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant, then I'm totally up for it. Besides, I'm getting a bit tired of always eating Zeng's tofu and cooked vegetables."
"Hey!" the little avian exclaimed with an undignified tone.
"Well, hold on to your seats, 'cause I'm gonna send your taste buds to heaven in little time!" Po declared with his usual confident and enthusiastic grin.
As Zeng and the Furious Five sat down around the table, Po got to work. He started by filling a large pot with four cups of water and made it to boil on the stove. The soup base, soy sauce, and yuzu juice were added once hot enough, the panda stirring everything up before setting the broth aside. Walking away from the boiling mix, the young bear grabbed a steamer basket which he placed into a medium-sized pot, poured water to its 1/3 level, and then made it boil to medium-high heat. He dropped the asparagus inside before placing the cover and lowered the heat to medium. Four minutes passed, during which Po stirred the pot a few times before removing the cover and seeing the vegetables were now crispy. Giving a nod of approval, he used a slotted spoon to transfer the asparagus to a baking sheet so that they could chill. He repeated the same process with the mushrooms, celery, and sweet potatoes, moving all the vegetables to baking chills once they were tender enough.
"This smells nice," Master Crane remarked as he sniffed the air, feeling drool coming up to his beak. The Master of Fujian White Crane Style removed his hat and hooked it on his chair before sitting down. "What are you making, Po?"
"I prefer keeping this a surprise."
"Man, this is getting me so excited!" Mantis practically jumped on the table, excited to eat the delicacy prepared by his panda friend.
After pouring the steaming liquid from the bottom of the pot into the reserved broth, Po boiled the glowing water and added the chilled vegetables into it. It was time to add the spices to season the broth alongside the oils. All the used bottles seemed to dance along the panda's paws throughout his entire work. It was time for the final phase. Opening a sachet of instant noodles, he boiled its content before adding it with the other serving bowls. Not stopping there, he grabbed a kitchen knife and cut pieces of an ingredient the others could not see. Once he added those pieces to the bowls, it was time to serve.
"Here! It's ready!" Po announced, turning toward the table with seven bowls on his arms, that he dropped one after the other for everybody and himself. Viper had the kindness to set up the utensils and napkins while Po was preparing the food. Zeng and the Furious Five stared at their respective bowl with slightly surprised expressions.
"Po, is that a...?" Viper asked.
"Yup! It's an Udon noodle soup!" Po proudly announced. "This is my first time doing it, so I hope it won't be too bad!"
"But how did you make it? We didn't have the proper ingredients for an Udon noodle soup."
"It's easy; I replaced the usually self-made noodles by one of your instant ones. I also knew that it would be easy to use simple tofu, but I managed to find a good alternative." Using his spoon, Po picked up what looked like a piece of nut-colored meat for all to see. "This is seitan! While it may not have the exact same texture, it can be used as a substitute, just like tofu. I was lucky to find some in one of the drawers. Also, I found this old book that gave me the idea under the counter."
"You mean How to Cook Wonders? That book was mine!" Viper exclaimed with a smile on her red lips. "I bought it when I first arrived at the Jade Palace because I was fascinated with cooking back then. However, I quickly realized I wasn't really good, so I decided to focus on Kung Fu instead. But I'm glad someone else found a use for it."
"Well, let's discover if all of this was worth the wait!" Mantis announced and used the large chopsticks in his pincer to grab some noodles which he shoved into his small mouth, quickly chewing on it.
Master Crane stared down at his steaming bowl with some hesitation. Food like noodles was pretty heavy, and he preferred to have something that would go down his throat without resistance. However, at this point, he was so hungry that anything was welcome in his stomach. So, he lifted some soup with his spoon and slipped it into his long beak.
"I can smell the asparagus and mushrooms!" Viper announced before taking the first bite of her meal, Master Monkey following suite. Suddenly, the four masters froze on the spot, their eyes widening. It almost looked like they had been hit by a paralyzing bug and could no longer move.
"Hum... Is it bad?" Po asked, sweat strolling down the back of his head at the idea of making a meal his idols did not like.
"Bad? BAD?! THIS IS LITERALLY A WONDER FOR THE MOUTH!" Mantis practically screamed as he tossed his chopsticks aside and jumped into his bowl, eating everything at an unrealistic speed. Po just hoped he washed himself beforehand.
Zeng, too, widened his eyes after the first sip and looked down at his bowl with fascination. "Wow! In spite of its deep flavor, this is pretty light! I can let it stroll down my throat without even having to chew it!"
"And the seitan is also a strong part!" Viper added. "I usually don't like to eat seitan raw, but when mixed with this soup and the noodles, I just cannot resist it!"
"There's something else; what spices did you use? It adds a great flavor to the mix!" Master Monkey asked after taking two sips from his bowl without even taking time to swallow the previous one.
"Many ones... but the main one is black pepper! My mom told me you can make wonders with black pepper in every meal if added at the right quantity."
"Your mother was right, big guy!" the simian declared before practically shoving his head into his bowl.
A huge smile formed onto the panda's lips. His idols tasted his food for the first time, and they all loved it! His heartbeat increased - he felt like he could practically jump through the ceiling of the building! Before he could do so, however, a bothering detail caught his attention. Master Tigress did not touch her bowl and simply stared at it without any sign of interest. "Hum, is there a problem, Master Tigress? You're not hungry?"
In spite of this question, the Master of Tiger Style did not respond to the panda and simply pushed back her bowl, standing up from her chair. "I'm just going to eat tofu."
The burning joy Po felt moments ago shattered like glass. While he was glad that the others enjoyed the food, he secretly had hoped to impress Tigress the most. Even after four weeks, the feline master remained distant and cold with him. He had kinda expected it, as she had the reputation of being as serious and firm as Master Shifu himself... But still, it started to feel like she did not want him around and hated the fact that someone like him dared coming to the Jade Palace and train with her team.
"Tigress! Don't be so rude!" Viper scolded with an offended frown before turning toward Po and giving a 'sorry' expression.
"It's okay, nobody should be forced to eat something they don't want," the panda simply said, trying - and failing - to hide his disappointment, going on with eating his bowl.
"Well... If she's not going to eat it, then I'm taking her part!" Mantis quickly announced, as if he was afraid someone else would say it, hoping out of his now empty bowl and directly into Tigress'.
###
The rest of the dinner went by rather smoothly, with the conversations mainly revolving around the training they went through today and their plans for the weekend. Good thing Po prepared a huge quantity of Udon noodle soup, as his friends enjoyed it so much, they all took at least two portions of it. Well, except for Master Tigress, who merely took a few slices of tofu and was done. How could someone giving so much physical effort on a daily basis survive on such a strict diet? Po couldn't understand. Nonetheless, he went to pull his study of the first of the Thousand Scrolls to use by making chamomile tea for everyone to help them digest the heavy meal. His Experience System Chi popped two windows up after he served the drinks: 'Udon Noodle Soup Recipe level 1 has been unlocked!' and 'Chamomile Tea Recipe passed to level 2!'.
"Aww, that hits the spot!" Monkey sighed as he laid back in his chair and patted his stomach
"I don't think eating has ever been so satisfying in my entire life!" Crane agreed, failing to prevent a little burp from coming out of his long beak. "Excuse me."
"I. Never. Wanna eat. Anything besides that. Ever again," Mantis declared, his usually thin body now looking like a green blob ready to pop like a balloon. With his eyelashes dropped so low, the little bug seemed ready to spend the night in his empty bowl.
"It's getting late," Tigress pointed out as she stood up from her chair, not looking as relaxed or satisfied as her comrades. "We should all go to bed now." And with that, she disappeared from the kitchen, not even wishing goodnight to anyone.
Master Viper widened her jaw as a loud yawn escaped it. "She's right; I'm getting veeeery sleepy. Plus, I have to lay off early if I wanna leave the palace in time, tomorrow morning."
This remark caught Po's attention. "You're going somewhere?"
"Yup. There's a village in the south section of the valley that celebrates its annual anniversary tomorrow; they requested that I attend to perform, and I gracefully accepted. I'm leaving tomorrow morning so that I can get there before the celebrations at night," the female reptile explained her panda friend before pulling her bowl in the dishes to clean section of the kitchen and heading for the exit.
"That sounds amazing! Say, can I come with you? I didn't have the chance to visit the Valley of Peace much outside the village at the bottom of the thousand steps. This would be a good opportunity to do some tourism!"
Viper tapped on her chin with the tip of her tail, thinking about it, then gave a smile to the panda. "Of course, I don't see any problem with that. Just make sure to wake up at dawn, okay? Goodnight!"
"No, no, NO! That can't be it!" panicked the leopardess. She hurriedly walked back and forth, holding her head in her paws, and tried to proceed with the situation. How could such a horrible thing happen to her?
"Miss, miss, please calm down!" begged the shopkeeper. "I'm sure we can find an appropriate replacement for you!"
"A replacement? A replacement?!" bellowed the feline in frustration and impatience. "That harp was made of cerium! Do you know what cerium is? It's a rare material that can practically be found only in Afghanistan! You can't just replace it with random metal or the first tree you come across - I'd be blessed if I even get the chance to see cerium again in my entire life!"
"Please, miss Mei Ling, this is not-"
"By all the gods, why is this happening to me?" Mei Ling desperately asked, placing a paw on her forehead. "I'm still in my prime and my career was going better than ever! But without my precious harp, I will not be able to do anything! And I was supposed to perform tomorrow! This is a nightmare - AND I CAN'T WAKE UP!"
The shopkeeper frowned, unable to deny that the poor feline lady was in this state because of him. He really should have watched the chair before pulling his statue on it and snapping the poor client's harp like a twig. As much as he wanted to make it up to her, however, he couldn't possibly see how. His humble musical instrument shop could not simply replace a cerium harp like this... Unless maybe...?
"Well?! Don't just stay there!" Mei Ling suddenly exclaimed, snapping the old animal out of his thoughts. "First, you break my harp, and now, you don't even try to compensate for it? What kind of businessman are you?"
"Huh... True to be told, I might have something that can match your harp in terms of quality, but I strongly doubt-"
"Excellent! Let's go get it!" Mei Ling suddenly beamed, clapping her two paws together.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, the old animal turned around and made his way to the back of his shop, returning moments later with a large item in his hooves. In spite of the late hour and the lack of sunlight, the golden surface of the object could easily illuminate the otherwise dark room. Its mere length, design and shiny material were enough to send a powerful shiver down its soon-to-be owner's spine.
"Oh. My. GOD! IT'S PERFECT!" Mei Ling beamed, paws on her cheeks. "This would be more than enough to make up for my broken property!"
"I guess... But I still gotta warn you; there's a strange backstory with this harp. All those who previously held it in their possession either went crazy or mysteriously disappeared. Apparently, there's a rumor saying that this harp might be cursed. That's the main reason I never even tried to play it before."
"Oh, please," Mei Ling nonchalantly scoffed with a wave of her paw. "You can't seriously want to let such a wonder lay in the back of your shop just because of some superstitious story for kids. Besides, you still owe me after destroying my property, so I will take it please," she demanded without the slightest bit of respect, holding her paw forward.
A sigh escaped the shopkeeper's throat at the understanding that he would not change her mind, and handed the golden harp to his client. "Just be careful with it, please."
"Don't worry; nobody's more careful with musical instruments than I am. Goodbye!" Mei Ling beamed after heading for the exit and closing the door behind her with her foot, since her paws were full at the moment. She barely attempted to hide her excitation to get out of this instrument shop. "What a pretty little thing you are," she cooed at her harp while heading back home. "You and I are gonna make wonders tomorrow and everyday forward, beautiful harp!"
The poor leopardess did not have the fortune to notice two slits opening up and revealing red eyes on her new harp at this moment...
For the first time since joining the Jade Palace, Po actually managed to wake up ahead of his comrades. This was both due to his excitation for the adventure awaiting him that day, but also because he knew that he had to demand Master Shifu's permission to leave with Master Viper. The gods only knew what would happen if he decided to skip training without asking the red panda his blessing to do so. To his joy, he received the blessing from his master to accompany Viper to the neighborhood village. Excited and eager to depart, he went to search for his comrade in question.
He found her in the training courtyard of the palace, where she, indeed, was training... but not in Kung Fu. Instead, a music box was lying next to her, blasting a rhythmic sound to which she moved her long, scaly body. A flashy pink ribbon was held by the end of her tail and swirled around with every move the reptile made - sometimes twirling in circles around the air. Po did hear the beauty and grace of Master Viper's dancing moves... but seeing them happening live was a whole lot better. With the rising sun sending its glorious rays over her apple-green scales, the dancing show was nothing short of poetry in motion.
Throughout her practice, Viper kept her eyes closed, so she didn't notice her panda comrade approaching at first. "Oh? Hi, Po. Slept well?" she asked, turning the music box off upon opening her eyes.
"Like a bear in winter. So, are we leaving soon?"
"After breakfast. The village is pretty far from here - we should arrive there by evening time. Just in time for the celebration party."
"Cool with me. Speaking of breakfast...," Po's stomach growled as fiercely as a tiger, "... I think we should go eat right now with the others..."
With an amused giggle, Viper nodded and slithered alongside her friend back to the dining room. The others (minus Tigress) practically begged Po to cook for them again, which he more than happily obliged. This time, he decided to give a try to Viper's blueberry oatmeal she made so many times for breakfast, and saying that he not only succeeded but also improved the thing would be a correct statement. Everybody (once again minus Tigress) affirmed it was more delicious than usual, which, thankfully, did not upset Viper too much. After doing the dishes, Po followed the Master of Snake Style out of the building, down the thousand steps (ugh!), all the way through the village, and then out toward their destination.
A loud yawn escaping his mouth, Po placed his two paws behind his head and found himself admiring the stunning and diversified landscape. Luscious green fields stretched beyond sight and thrived under the sunshine. Having spent most of his life inside an industrial city with almost no way for nature to rise up, the young panda couldn't help but enjoy and even admire the different atmosphere. Sure, his home with his mother was located on the outskirts of Gongmen, but criminal activities were so common that his mother rarely allowed him to leave and preferred him to stay in the safety of the city. Walking along a caravan route, the two warriors came across the occasional tree, traveler, and even some shops and inn. With the dazing warm summer temperature mixed with the fresh campaign wind and the mountains proudly standing far in the distance, Po could affirm with certitude that this walk was amongst the best he had ever taken.
His gaze soon drifted away from the landscape and down on the snake slithering next to him. With her apple-green scales mixing perfectly in the grassland, he almost forgot her presence. In spite of the serene atmosphere of the Valley of Peace's open fields, the young panda could sense the awkwardness of the silence between the master and himself that went on for an eternity. Maybe he should begin a conversation before things got too awkward between them.
"So... You're going well, Master Viper?" The panda mentally slapped himself. Couldn't he find a more cheesy way to start a conversation?
"Yes, very well, thanks for asking, Po," the snake thankfully responded with a friendly smile. "But you can just call me Viper, you know. We're teammates, so there's no need for formality between us."
"I guess you're right," Po admitted with sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that... I've always dreamt of learning Kung Fu with my heroes, and my little mind still has a hard time accepting that it became true."
"Always wanted to learn Kung Fu, huh?" Viper asked, turning her head to look at her panda friend with interest. "Didn't you say you were from Gongmen City? This is where Master Thundering Rhino is running the Gongmen Martial Arts Academy, right? Why didn't you apply there, since it's in your city?"
"I did. But they demanded a very high level in academic progress... A level I didn't have," Po admitted, his gaze dropping to the road at his feet. "It probably would've taken me tens of years before reaching the required level. And I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in my mother's restaurant before being able to chase my dream." He gazed back at his reptile friend with a smile. "You know, back in my hometown, I heard plenty of stories about your family, about you, the greatest ribbon dancer in all of China. I always wanted to attend one of your performances in real life."
"Really?" Viper asked, a faint blush forming on the scales of her adorable cheeks. "I didn't know that. But if you've really wanted to see me dancing for so long, then I'd be more than happy to pull on one of my best performances for you tonight," she affirmed, giving a little wink at her friend whose cheeks turned redder than cherries...
###
The rest of the travel went by smoothly for the two warriors of the Jade Palace. They stopped for a lunch break twice, during which they actually got the chance to chat without having to look where they stepped. Po told about his life in Gongmen prior to coming to the Valley of Peace, his fascination for Kung Fu and the cooking skills he developed thanks to his mother. The snake told her friend that his mother seemed like a nice person and that she would like to meet her one of these days.
"And I'd give anything to meet your father, the legendary Grandmaster Viper!" he exclaimed in return.
Amused by her friend's enthusiasm, the Master of Snake Style promised to take him with her to meet her family the next time she would go to her home village. At one point, she even told him the infamous story where she defeated the gorilla bandit who destroyed her father's legendary venom with his metal armor, using only her dancing ribbon. Sure, he did hear this story countless times, but hearing it from the one who actually lived it was completely different. As means of repaying her, Po shared his own childhood story when Oogway came to Gongmen and when he saved that goat lady from the bandit by sneaking behind him and biting his leg.
"Say, is Grandmaster Oogway returning soon?" Po asked his snake friend once he finished telling her his story. "I'm really excited to see him again and show him everything I've learned since the day he gave me this hat!" he said with proudly pulling his paw on his rice hat.
The cheerful smile left Viper's lips, her turquoise eyes dropping to the ground. "I honestly don't know, Po. Oogway left the Jade Palace three years ago, saying that he had something important to do. 'Friends to find and accomplish something for the Universe', he said."
Po's jade-green eyes blinked multiple times. "Friends to find and a quest for the Universe? That's a big vague. Did he at least said where he would go?"
Viper shook her head. "No; he just said he needed to go, and that's all. You know how enigmatic he is."
"That, I know," Po chuckled, remembering the air of mystery surrounding the old tortoise whenever he saw him at his mother's restaurant.
Late in the day, by the time the clear blue sky started turning auburn in color with the dark of the night on the horizon, the village that was supposed to be Po and Viper's destination finally came into view. Even from afar, the panda could see that the little houses making the village had the same architectural structure as the ones at the bottom of the Jade Palace. It was accessible via a small bridge going over a large river and many trees decorated the landscape, their fruits probably serving as one of the main resources for the inhabitants.
"Finally! We couldn't have arrived at a better time! My feet are killing me!" Po sighed in relief. "Oh? Looks like the party's already underway! Have you seen all that smoke? Come on! They must be doing a heck of a buffet with all of this!" he beamed, licking his lips in anticipation.
Viper, however, stopped on the spot. "Wait a minute, Po!" she exclaimed, halting her friend with her tail before he could cross the bridge. "Something's not right. Nobody told me anything about doing a celebration fire. Plus... that's way too much smoke for a normal celebration," she explained, her turquoise eyes analyzing the huge amount of dark grey smoke rising to the skies above the village.
"HELP!"
By some sort of coincidence, a figure was seen running away from the village and toward the two warriors across the bridge. A male sheep whose robes and wool had seen better days. The way he coughed immediately made the two warriors understand that the smoke coming from the village indeed was not intentional. "What's wrong, sir?" Po asked as he caught the poor man in his arms before he could fall to the ground.
"Mei... Ling... It's Mei Ling...," the sheep weakly coughed out.
"Mei Ling? The famous harpist who was scheduled to perform before me?" Viper questioned, her eyes blinking multiple times. "What has she done?"
"She... She came with a beautiful golden harp... She started playing it, and... Everything went out of control. Things started to explode, she floated, she-" The sheep had to stop as he coughed violently once more. With Viper's help, Po placed him against a nearby tree so that he could get a proper rest.
"Stay here and rest; we're gonna take care of this, sir," the snake softly told him. "Come on, Po! Let's go see what's going on!" she commanded her partner, who nodded and followed her as she rushed across the bridge.
The village was in chaos. Animals ran in every direction, their screams piercing the atmosphere, frantically looking over their shoulder to see if someone followed them, and mothers clutching their kids close while trying to save their lives. Po and Viper felt like they entered a furnace, the burning air forcing them to cough many times. Luckily, they managed to reach possibly the only part of the village with pure air before their eyes could get too watery. On their way, they had to avoid many burning houses and shops. After coughing until their lungs were clean, they realized that they were now standing in the middle of an open arena with a severely damaged performance stage and tables covered in food. Probably where the celebration was scheduled to take place.
"At least, we're able to breathe in here!" Po remarked after coughing many times. "Now what, Viper?"
"Stay on alert. We don't know where she-LOOK OUT!"
Viper suddenly launched herself at Po, somehow managing to push him to the ground just as a lime light flashed past his face. A booming sound pierced his ears at the same moment his body hit the ground, and dirt was sent flying across the air. Recovering from the shock, the young panda stared at his snake friend. "W-What was that, Viper? What just happen?"
Instead of responding, the reptilian master simply stared in a direction with her turquoise eyes narrowed. Po followed her gaze and found himself widening his jade-green eyes. Floating many feet above the ground was a stunningly beautiful snow leopardess, on whose silver fur danced the auburn lights of the flames down below. Her teal and pink dress seemed to come straight out of a noble's wardrobe, the golden headpiece on her forehead giving the impression to look at a princess. Po would no doubt qualify her as one of the most graceful animals he ever met... was it not for the creepy blood-red orbs serving as her eyes and the even more scary-looking golden harp in her paws that looked like the angry face of a dragon.
"You managed to sense my attack? Impressive!" she talked in a somewhat disformed, intimidating voice. "This is the first time I miss my target... And the last, hopefully!"
Po quickly stood up and re-adjusted his rice hat before asking: "Is she the bad guy-er, girl? She totally looks like a bad girl! Right, Viper? Viper?" Turning his head, he saw his companion's face twisted by a mix of surprise and terror. "Huh... Viper? You alright?"
"... Oh, no...," she mumbled. "Mei Ling, what have you done? Where on earth did you find the Dragonbite Harp?"
"The dragon what now?" Po questioned, rising an eyebrow.
"The Dragonbite Harp! That thing she's holding!" Viper repeated herself with pointing the tip of her tail toward the scary harp in Mei Ling's hands. "It's one of the 15 Cursed Instruments! I thought that the Empire had gotten rid of them for good!"
"But that's not the case, as you can see!" mused Mei Ling, a sinister (and slightly cute) chuckle escaping her mouth. "Now... let's play a little music, shall we?" Spinning on herself, she tossed her harp at an unbelievable speed toward the two warriors.
"PO! RUN!"
Viper grabbed Po by the wrist and pulled him in the opposite direction before they started running (slithering, in her case) away from the incoming projectile. Mei Ling's harp seemed to follow them on its own will and cut through trees and tables like a buzz saw. The duo found cover behind a house when the harp stopped following them and instead returned to the paws of its owner.
"For the... love of... dumplings! What kind of harp is that?!" wondered Po, trying to catch his breath back from his little jogging session.
"The kind that can cause a lot of pain and suffering in the wrong hands!" Viper replied, peeking her head around the corner of the house currently serving as their barricade. "We need to stop it before it can bring chaos to all the villages across the valley!"
"Alright!" Po slammed his fist into the palm of his paw. "We just have to knock her out, like Monkey and I did with Fai Suan! Let's go!"
However, before he could leave, Viper stopped his train of enthusiasm with her tail. "No, wait, Po! This is different; I know Mei Ling, and she's not a criminal like Fai Suan. She's just possessed by that evil harp; if we wanna stop it, we need to snatch it off her paws!" she explained.
"Oh? Hum, okay. How do we do that?"
"I have a plan. Listen very well," the snake instructed as she started mumbling into the panda's ear.
"Where are you, little rats? You don't wanna play with me? We barely started!" Mei Ling mused while running her red eyes all around the burning village, searching for her two preys. As if on cue, she spotted the long, green body of her enemy as it darted out from behind a tree and across the open field of the village. "There you are!"
Running her long claws over the strings of her harp, Mei Ling sent green blasts of energy at the snake, who avoided them all with ease thanks to her slender body and the speed of her moves. That wasn't to say, however, that the force of the blasts colliding with the ground did not slightly push her around. After avoiding about ten blasts, she came to a stop and turned toward where she came from. "PO! NOW!" she yelled.
Confused, Mei Ling followed her gaze to see the panda from earlier appearing out of nowhere with a grin. He was holding a stone in his paw. "TAKE THAT, CRAZY HARPIST!" Taking a good swing, Po launched the little stone at full speed toward the floating feline... who deflected it by simply rising her harp. Everything stopped on the moment, the panda and feline awkwardly staring at one another.
"What was that?"
"Huh... Our attack plan?"
"... You... actually planned to make me drop my harp with... a stone?"
"He, he... Yeah, we actually did," Po admitted, toying with his thumbs in an awkward manner.
Mei Ling's eye twitched a bit before turning into a full glare. "WHAT KIND OF IDIOTS ARE YOU?!" Rising her evil instrument, she once again started shooting energy blasts at the young panda. This last one pushed a comical yelp as he started performing flips and moves to avoid the deadly attacks launched at him. A little giggle escaped the possessed feline's lips as it looked like her enemy was doing a ridiculous dance to save his life.
"No! Argh! Stop it! OH, MY DUMPLING!" shouted Po as the blasts narrowly passed by him, their heat burning bits of his black and white fur. Seeing that things needed to change if he didn't want to turn into a flambé panda, the young warrior ducked one last blasts before rolling his plump figure forward and then took an odd position with one arm stretched forward in Mei Ling's direction and the other stretched backwards, close to the ground. It almost looked like he was trying to form a bridge with his shoulders. "Now, Viper!"
Having completely forgot about her, Mei Ling watched as the Master of Snake Style slithered out of nowhere and behind her partner. She darted over to the arm that faced backwards and smoothly made her way from it, across Po's shoulders, and all the way to the tip of the arm facing forward, using it as a propeller to gracefully take off in the skies. Her apple-green scales glimmered both from the flames burning down below and the shining full moon up above. However, Mei Ling caught sight of something else glowing in the snake's trail. Something pink.
"What the-ACK!" Before she knew it, the possessed feline found herself with a snake moving all over her, wrapping her body with a pink ribbon. Groaning, she attempted to break free, but the little piece of silk refused to snap. "Let me go, you fool!" she ordered.
"Alright, Po, finish it off!" Viper ordered while struggling to keep Mei Ling immobilized.
"Get ready to feel the thunda!" With a huge grin on his face, Po charged forward. By immobilizing her, Viper also pulled Mei Ling closer to the ground and to her partner's hitting reach. Once he got close enough, Po sucked his stomach in as much as he could, tightened his rear end, then pulled his whole torso forward, hitting the evil harp at full power with his belly. The golden instrument was sent flying at least twenty feet away.
"Nooo! My harp! I want my harp! GIVE ME MY HAAAARP!" yelled Mei Ling, her body shaking violently and her voice changing. Twenty seconds later, she came to a complete halt, collapsing on the ground with her eyes closed, unconscious. Viper finally released her from her pink ribbon and panted in exhaustion. She reached the tip of her tail to the feline's neck, checking her pulse.
"... She's okay." She looked up at Po with a smile. "Po! She's still alive!" As her friend gave her a thumb's up and went to cover the Dragonbite Harp with a towel previously covering a now destroyed table, Viper made sure to keep a check on Mei Ling until the feline blinked her now yellow eyes decorated with beautiful teal irises, groans escaping her mouth. "Mei Ling, are you okay?"
Hearing this soft voice, Mei Ling stared at Viper with the look of someone who just ran a marathon. "M-Master Viper... I just got... possessed... Of course, I'm not fine..." Once she found the strength to stand up again, the musician proceeded to stare at the chaos surrounding her, her soft features quickly twisted by guilt. "Oh no, I did all of this..."
"So you remember what happened?"
"Yes. I was conscious, but I could not control my actions. All of this because of this stupid harp!" Rubbing her eyes with two fingers, Mei Ling turned to look at Viper once again. "I sincerely apologize, Master Viper. I was so obsessed with giving the performance of a lifetime that I was ready to sell my soul to the demon. This is so unworthy of an artist like me..."
Viper gave a sincere smile, reaching the feline's paw with her tail. "At least, nobody got killed, Mei Ling. However, I'm afraid you're gonna have to lie low and forget about performing for a while. If you want to make up for what you did, then you can help Po and I to tend to the wounded and pull that cursed harp away."
"I would be more than happy to do so..."
"That, was, AWESOME!" Both girls jumped up a bit as their panda friend suddenly came out of nowhere, carrying the wrapped Dragonbite Harp and throwing a fist in the air. "I know you were turned evil and all, but the way you shot those beams was too cool! I never had to move so much in a battle before!" he exclaimed, reproducing the little dance he did earlier when dodging Mei Ling's attacks. This caused both girls to giggle a bit in amusement at his enthusiasm. "Maybe I should take dancing lessons with the moves I have!"
At this statement, Viper and Mei Ling exchanged a brief stare before looking back at Po and smiling. "No offense, Po, but... I think you should leave the dancing to me," Viper remarked, pressing her tail against her lips to suppress her desire to laugh. "Come on, now, let's go tend to the wounded. After that, we can rest for the night and return to the Jade Palace with the Dragonbite Harp."
As Viper and Mei Ling started walking away, Po was stopped from following them by a little notification screen that appeared before him. "Charisma has been upgraded to 10!"
Author's note: That was quite the adventure for little Po! After getting to bond with Monkey and Mantis, he got to spend some camaraderie time with sweet Viper. Only Crane and Tigress left now.
This chapter was slightly based on the Tales of Po's chapter titled 'The Legendary Harp of Legend'. So, before you all start yelling at me that Mei Ling is supposed to be a golden cat and the best student of Lee Da, it's not the same Mei Ling, okay? Man, why do we have to get so many characters named Mei Ling in the KFP universe? It's so confusing!
Easter egg: the move that Po and Viper did to reach Mei Ling is the same one that Viper did with Monkey to attack Tai Lung during the bridge battle in the first movie.
A little heads' up: just because I decided to return as a full time author does not mean I'm going to publish chapters as frequently as before, unfortunately. I still have a lot of other things to do, after all. However, I will publish when I can and count on me to give my 100% for every future chapter!