I wanted to make things clear that I forgotten to do so in the first chapter. I shall not be using much material past the second movie(no matter how much hype I have for the third :3). Because AU is AU after all. Different events are bound to unfold.

Well, that's saying my piece for now. Let's begin.

Po didn't know how long he was out. All he knew was that his hunger, exhaustion, hypothermia, injured arm, and blood loss all equals a very long time to actually wake up. That wasn't even the end of it, because now he had to take even more time to fully recover from said conditions.

What happened...? My arm hurts a lot, I'm still kind of cold, I'm very...VERY hungry...and I'm still feeling a bit dizzy. Po then blinked. Wait a minute...how am I okay? Who saved me...? He moved his head slightly, only to feel something very soft and feathery press against the back of his head. Huh? I feel so warm right here though. Weird. Where am I, anyway?

"Hey boy. Try not to squirm so much. It's very difficult to carry you like this." It was that same feminine voice from before. He turned his head around a bit and looked up to his savior. It was the owl from before, no doubt about it. He was pressed against her chest due to her stuffing him in her robe. "Are you alright?"

Po could see that his life was out of danger, so he smiled and nodded to her with a smile. "Yes, I'm alright. But why are you carrying me like this?"

"Eventually I needed to fly up to my cave, so I had to keep you there so that I could see you, and I could focus on not dropping you as I flew up here. And after that I had to keep you here even longer." she responded. " But you also had hypothermia and I had to keep you warm somehow. You were painfully close to dying, boy."

"Oh..."

She then gently removed him from her robe, and placed him on the ground before stepping back. "Now that's outta the way, let's have a little chat, shall we? First off...how did those poachers even get to you? Poachers may not br too common around China, but there are still a couple occasional ones in certain places. But even then, they don't act in public places. What happened?"

The young cub sits down on the ground and folded his arms. "Well...I was just venturing out of my home for a bit, I can't say that I knew that I was going to get kidnapped. I never expected that to happen. I usually get to go out and explore, and I never ran into trouble before..."

"A 7-year old cub is running off without any kind of supervision..." the owl said incredulousy. "Hmph. That's great parenting, alright." She added with sarcasm.

Po didn't react negatively, like she halfway expected him to. He knew that her jab at his father was not fully intentional, but he also knew that she didn't care very much about it either way. It was her tone that gave it away. He smiled weakly at her. "Y-Yeah...Dad doesn't really have a lot of time to watch over or spend time with me, despite how much he really wants to. Cooking isn't as easy a business as it used to be. Though I can never blame him for it."

The owl looked at him again, this time with interest. "Your Dad hardly spends a lot of time with you, and you don't blame him?"

"No. He knew there was a high chance his problems would only double if he took me in. But he adopted me anyway." he said quietly. He could sense that the owl was not too interested in the subject. He knew an uninterested person when he saw one. They always have that look in their eyes. So he just shifted the subject. "So, how long have you been in this cave?"

What an interesting subject change. She thought sarcastically. "I've been in this cave for an awfully long time, Cub. In fact...I've forgotten how long I was even out here." She said bitterly. Po tilted his head at her. She's been living by herself in these mountains this entire time? How can she stand that? "Anyway...what's your name, Cub? We shouldn't continue our conversing without knowing each others names." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I...am Master Fenghuang."

Po's jaw dropped. He was just looking at her in pure childish surprise. She saw his look of surprise, and scoffed. "Well that's my name, Cub. I'm the real Master Fenghuang. What's your next move?"

His reaction was not what she expected. "That's so...so...supremely awesome."

She sighed. "Right. One mention about my name and you're already-" She took the time to recheck her hearing. "...wait...what did you say?"

"You said you're MASTER Fenghuang, right?" Po asked with a bright smile. "That means you're a Kung Fu Master! That's awesome!"

The owl blinked. "...I don't think you understand. I'm Master Fenghuang. A former member of the Furious Five. The one who...betrayed Master Oogway a very long time ago over a little...disagreement. Ever since then, everyone has known my name. And they all heard about me. Children in their nightmares, Elders in their complaints, that pint-sized midget Shifu...everyone."

Po tilted his head to the other side. "...Doesn't ring a bell."

Fenghuang's beak dropped for a couple moments..then she face-faulted. Recovering, she stood up and looked at him in pure disbelief. "Do you and your father live under a rock or something?! How can you pandas not hear about me?!"

"Oh, my dad's not a panda. He's a goose." Fenghuang face-faulted for a second time.

She recovers again, rubbing her head. "Okay, first off, you need to work on how you deliver your information." Po blinked innocently. "Second off, at least the adoption part makes sense. But still, NEITHER of you have ever heard about me? And you say me being a Kung Fu Master is cool?"

The cub sits back a little as he stares ar the cave ceiling. "To be honest, I've only recently gotten to like Kung Fu. It looked really cool when I got a glimpse of it."

"I see. I guess Oogway and Shifu know how to show off a bit, huh?"

"That's the cool part, it wasn't from them that I first saw it. It was a girl!"

This was what caught a bit more of her attention. "A girl...?"

(Flashback)

It was the middle of Fall at this time. Po walked along the Bamboo Forest, nibbling on a dumpling as he wore his red scarf on a rather cold day. His dad was once again very busy with work, so he was allowed to go out for a bit. Take away the approaching cold weather and early preparations for the Palace Feast and Winter Festival being only a bit stressful, everything was going pretty well for the most part. He wasn't worried at all. He and his father would spend a lot more time together during the Winter Festival.

"Winter Festival...one of my favorite times of the year, seven years in a row. So cool." Po said to himself, finishing his travel snack and allowed the autumn wind give him a sense of peace. Many of the other kids usually give him a lot of trouble, but he never really let it hurt him enough for him to be depressed for long. Spending time with his father was always an awesome time. Not much can come close.

He was a little bit too relaxed, as he failed to notice that he was walking by a boulder, which stood rather unbalanced due to not being stood up against something, plus the wind was strong that day. He was completely oblivious to it though, until the shadow came over him, slowpy toppling his way. He would look up slowly at the boulder, surprised that he has never noticed it. He thought that it was completely going to crush him...

Then he had to shield his eyes with his arms to block thr barrage of small pebbles when the boulder was shattered into many pieces right before him. He was so surprised by the swiftness of the event that he fell backward when it happened seemingly out of nowhere. When all the rubble stopped falling, he was able to peek at what has happened, and was surprised to see what was before him.

He had no idea where she came from. But he knows what he saw. Someone has stood before him, with both paws outstretched forward, which must have been the reason the boulder shattered. The person was wearing what looked like a red training vest, along with black training pants. There was also an orange scarf around this person's neck.

...it looked a lot like his red one.

This person was striped, and he could also see the rather long tail. He could see the person retreat from their stance, relax their shoulders...and slowly turned around to look at him.

Jade colored eyes have met Orange colored eyes. And he was able to tell, by their face. This person was no doubt a girl. A girl that just saved his life. She was...so strong to have done what she just did with her bare paws. He flinched. He hoped he wasn't hurt. He should probably say something-

"Be more aware of your surroundings." She said. He immediately noticed something off about her tone. She indeed had a high-pitch voice, because she was a cub like him, maybe a couple months older. Though there was something else about the tone of her voice. It bothered him. It bothered him a lot.

Her eyes and voice...both were harsh, but also full of curiousity, both aimed at him.

Before he could respond to her, she disappeared in a blur. "WAIT!" He reached his paw out where she was a couple seconds ago, but she was already gone. He was still in a state of confusion more than anything else.

"Who...was she...?"

(End Flashback)

Fenghuang listened intently. Po was able to see what Kung Fu was? "I see...she used a Double-Palm Strike along with Flash Step. Even if the latter is only on a short distance, it's very impressive for her age. She might be a prodigy." She sighed. "But that can only mean that Shifu took in a student. Not surprising." The owl said. Thoroughout this entire conversation, she didn't pay enough attention to one important detail. "Say...where is your home located?"

"The Valley Of Peace."

The owl cursed her rotten luck. Of course. Of COURSE! Two rare cases in one. A panda shows up injured on her mountain, and NOW she finds out that he's from the Valley Of Peace. Well this was just perfect. She couldn't go back there. Oogway was there. If she goes back there, Oogway was SURE to apprehend her and send her to prison. And she wouldn't be able to escape so easily. She's wanted all over the country.

...but if she doesn't take the panda cub back, she would be reponsible for him. She couldn't leave a cub to fend for himself. He was physically damaged enough as it is. And if those poachers come back, he won't survive. They usually just drop caution and just kill the boy. Fenghuang was definitely not the nicest person in the world, but she wasn't heartless. She wouldn't hurt a child, nor would she leave one to die.

She then got a good look at his face again, his big eyes staring into her own, wondering what she'll do next. She could not help herself. He was adorable. What, with those big eyes, pudgy cheeks, that little tuft of fur on his head, the tiny black tail...

Don't admire his cuteness, dammit!

She cursed her feminine side for that manmer of thinking. Just then, yhey both heard a loud rumble echo through the cave. Fenghuang honestly thlught it was an avalanche, but discarded that thought when she saw Po hold his belly. He looked up to her with a small whimper. "Master Fenghuang...I'm hungry..."

She had no choice, she had to get the cub back home, while find a way to avoid Oogway's detection. Wait, she learned to mask her chi, so that wasn't a big issue. But another issue was finding a disguise AND have Po keep her identity a secret. Fantastic. With a deep sigh, she neared Po's face. "Listen to me, Cub. I need to keep my face hidden while we get back to the Valley, and you MUST NOT tell anyone who I really am, nor where I reside. Okay?"

The panda nodded with a smile, though he was a bit annoyed that she kept referring to him as a cub. "Okay."

"You swear?"

Po did a salute, trying to look serious. It only made him look cuter, but the intention was understood. "I swear!"

The owl nodded. "Good. Now arms up." Po blinked, before he raised his arms up. She then picked him up and placed him in her robe. She couldn't risk having him ride his back, nor is she willing to carry him with her talons. "Try to stay still, Cub. This flight won't be TOO comfortable." She warned, as she flapped her wings and flies off from the cave.

He peaked out from the robe and looked up to her. "Master Fenghuang...what are these soft things?"

"You can ask that question again when you're older." She deadpanned.

(Meanwhile)

"POOOOOOOOO! POOOOOOO? POOOOOOO?!" Mr. Ping shouted to the top of his lungs. Considering that his voice is usually loud, this wasn't good for everyone else around him. There were constant shouts of 'Shut Up!' Or 'It's too late at night for this!' Or 'Crazy Quack!' Or 'Is your morning special ready?'

But he didn't care for any of that. Not one bit. The only thing he had his mind absolute on is finding his son. His paranoia was amped up to crazy levels when he found out that his son had not yet returned. It put him in a lot of distress. So much distress that he was sure he lost plenty of feathers during his major flipout. Though once again, he did not care. His parental panic was cranked up to max, and it wasn't going down until he knew he was safe.

"POOO! My dear boy, where are you!?" He yelled again, calling out to the darkness of the snow. Though he could not see anything, nor did he get any sort of response. The goose was beyond was full of dread at this point, and it was shown with his tears. "Oh this is all my fault!" He covered his face with his wings, and began walking out of the snow. "The Winter Festival is in a few weeks..and this is when Po goes missing! That's it! I need to go back to the shop and get a lot of my cloaks, and I'm going out there to find him!"

He turns to where his shop was, then his beak dropped. Po was in a chair at one of the tables, waving cheerfully. "Hi Dad."

"Po...? PO!" Mr. Ping cried, flapping his wings rapidly before rushing forward and ensnaring the cub in a hug, crying tears of relief. This relief was emphasized by animated hearts circling around them. "My son, you're safe! You're safe and sound! You had me so scared! I thought...I thought that you were...*sniff*...I'm so glad!"

"Dad, I'm fine." Po said, trying to calm his father down, despite that he had every right to be concerned and relieved. He was hurt, he was cold, he was hungry, and he was tired. But Mr. Ping didn't need to hear HOW exactly he ended up like how he is. He didn't want to lie to him, either. He rubbed his neck. "I just...had a bad day at exploring. I fell down a steep hill and I rolled too much." Luckily for him that was the truth, just not the full truth. He doubted he had to give precise details about his misfortune. He was safe, he knew that's the only thing Mr. Ping cared about.

"Goodness Po, I can't keep letting you out of my sight like this." Mr. Ping sighed. "Not mention you're freezing. I can tell you haven't eaten anything, and you hurt your arm." He folded his arms and closed his eyes. "And most importantly, you forgot to tell me that we have a guest." Po's eyes widened. "I know my shop top to bottom, Po. I'll know when something is out of place. Come out now, stranger."

On cue, Fenghuang, in a long cloak that covered her face, jumped down from the roof of the house and she landed on the ground next to them, and tucked in her wings. "You have quite the observation skills, Goose." I thought Po was joking about the whole 'goose being his father' thing...

"Thank you for that. Now do you mind telling me who you are, stranger?"

She had to take a risk here. Sure, she was a good lier, but was that necessary right now?

Should I tell him my true identity? I mean...Cub did swear that he wouldn't tell. Will his father do the same? He looks like he knows when someone is lying...? *sigh* I'll have to chance it. I'll deal with the consequences later. ""My name...is Fenghuang."

Mr. Ping grabbed her wing in a wing-shake. "Well it's pleasant to meet you, Fenghuang."

She blinked. "...wait. That's it? That's really it? You're not going to ask anything else about my name?"

Mr. Ping waved her off. "I don't probe into other people's lives against their will. If they want to tell me, they'll tell me. If they don't, they don't. That's all there is to it. I'm sure you're the one who allowed my son to get home safely, so you have earned my trust. If you're self-conscious about your identity, then I will not bother you about it. You have my word."

She slowly removed her hood, and blinked. She couldn't believe it. Honestly she thought that the Cub was pulling her leg, but this proves it. These two...truly didn't know anything about her. Po is too young to completely understand, so he's somewhat justified. But then the goose casually says that he trusts her just for helping his son get home. He offered trust to a total stranger solely for that reason.

Just who are these two...?

Mr. Ping clapped twice, as he wore a face of glee. "Now then! I'm going inside to make lunch, since I know Po is hungry. Why don't you stick around and eat with us?"

Fenghuang waved him off. "That won't be necessary-" Her eyes widened as she heard a very loud rumbke come from her stomach. She folded her wings stubbornly. "Like I said, not necessary." There was another rumble, and she blushed from embarrassment. "Curses..."

"Not to worry, I'll have something for you in a bit."

"But...I don't have any money..."

"My son is safe because of you. It's on the house."

Fenghuang looked up to the structure they lived in. It was not borderline hazardous to live in, but it was very clear that these two were very poor. And he was willing to let her eat here without pay...? He's either very foolish, or far too nice.

...maybe both.

After a couple minutes, Mr. Ping had three bowls of noodles fully cooked and gave two of them to Po and Fenghuang. The former is extremely relieved and eagerly digs in. The latter seemed a little hesitant. Though after a couple moments of persuasion, she gave up her stubborness and takes the bowl. She had very few times to actually have some good food, as she's always been hiding out in the mountains. It was luck she ever came across food at all. It would be her first time eating food from a village in quite a long time. With a steady wing, she began to eat...

Her eyes widened as she stares at the noodles in shock. "This...this..." In no time at all, she began eating much, much faster, in a change of mind that surprised both the males in her company. When her bowl was completely empty, shejust stared in disbelief at her now empty bowl. "I...have never...enjoyed eating food so much." She turned to Mr. Ping, feeling awkward. "May I...um...may I please..."

"You're one of those prideful ones aren't you?" Mr. Ping pointed out. "You don't like asking to ask for things. I've met my share of people like you. If you want more, take some. Just remember to at least clean after yourself."

"Are you sure you're not going to charge me?"

"I have better things to do. Po has to come first. I've got to get us ready for Winter Festival. This is the time I have much more time to spend with my son than I usually have."

Fenghuang looked at both Mr. Ping and Po. He had already eaten his bowl of noodles and had fallen asleep on the table. Then she looks back at the poor state of the shop. "But...how much longer are you willing to endure these poor conditions?"

"As long as I need to." Mr. Ping said firmly, as he softly pets the sleeping Po, which causes them both to smile. "I knew that adopting Po would have some cons, but I'm more focused on the pros. The main one would be to have a loved one to come back to." He sighed. "This goose was quite lonely, ya know."

Fenghuang lowered her eyes."You're making your own life harder for someone else's sake. That doesn't sound foolish to you?"

Mr. Ping shrugged. "People can say what they want. But I never regretted that decision."

The owl had to take a bit of time to think about that. Maybe over some sleep. "Whatever. Is there some place for me to sleep for the night?"

"Oh, you can use Po's room. He won't mind at all. He's always willing to help people. I'll just get Po his blanket." Mr. Ping smiled, as he walked back into the shop and up to Po's room. While he was going out to do that, Fenghuang was staring back at Po again. Her mind was reeling. Even when they had every reason not to trust her, they do so anyway. They're...strange. Very strange.

She felt chi from the entrance of the shop, and turned her head quickly. She was surprised to see a tiger cub peeking slightly from behind the wall, her eyes just staring blankly at the sleeping panda. Fenghuang saw an orange scarf around her neck, and was able to connect her to Po's memory immediately. There was no mistake.

"The panda is safe..." She could hear mumble quietly. She then released her grip on the wall and walked away from the shop. Fenghuang was slightly relieved by this, because there was a chance she wouldn't be exposed. But she was obviously confused by the moment. The cub completely disregarded the fact that the owl was there(or knew she was there and just didn't care) and focused solely on Po for an entire minute. He must have really caught her attention.

But how? And why? Fenghuang decided not to worry about that, it wasn't her problem. Her problem was paying the consequences for her deed, because she was somewhat trapped. What she did had to worry about was keeping her chi undetected, otherwise Oogway will find her. She can't fly away while he's vigilant. She needed to wait for an opening. But for now, she'll just have to keep a very low profile, keep her face hidden, as well as gather some money. She didn't want to stay here, but there was no way she was going back to that mountain. She HATED that mountain. Though Oogway wasn't going anywhere anything soon either, and waiting around was only increasing her chances of getting caught. And to top it all off, the Winter Festival was coming soon, where a LOT of people were going to be moving around.

Just...perfect...

"Curses. I had very few problems up until now. I cross a panda ONE time and suddenly they all multiply. This is what I get for having a soft spot for children." She grumbled. She stared at the sleeping panda while pouting. "You're a bigger handful than I thought you were going to be, Cub..."

Meanwhile, the tiger cub from before had taken a little while, but she climbed up the Thousand Steps to the Jade Palace. When she reached the doors, they had already been opened by GrandMaster Oogway, who greeting her with a warm smile. "Ah, Tigress. You were out for a little longer, today. Shifu is waiting for you."

"Sorry, Master Oogway." She said while bowing. Her mind made a quick flash to Po, while looking up to Oogway and nodding. "I just needed to check something, that's all..."

I know things must be slow, but please bear with it. I did much better than I thought I did for the first chapter, so I thank you for letting me know that. The Next Chapter will be out soon.

Feel free to review~