Sorry this took so long. I'm typing this story on a phone, you see. And my phone had problems...yeah.
But that aside, here's another chapter. And to signify the next part of the story, here's a new intro scene. Hope it doesn't do terribly.
Music: Asterisk (Bleach Opening 1. The short version, not full version. Pretty sure the English lyrics are in a YouTube video somewhere...)
(...I obviously don't own Bleach...or KFP. At all.)
Why do I do intro scenes? Well...I don't really know, actually. Just wanted to do something a bit differently than most. If they suck, they suck. If they're great, then they're great. But they're mine. Not the songs I use, obviously. But the scenes I use them for are. And I'm pretty content with that. And as suggested, I change the intro when a certain number of chapters have past. So again, hope that's alright.
First a little something, and then an intro scene. Lets begin.
(Jong Sung's Estate)
The prisoner felt like something was wrong. Jong Sung was far too pleased during these past couple of days, and she didn't lke it one bit. She wished she could break out of this stupid cage, but her powers were still restrained. One of his summer home's we're destroyed a while ago, that was nothing to smile about, she didn't see the point...
Unless he did something despicable. That would be the only way he would be enjoying himself. Why else would he be looking so smug?
She heard him entering the room and she returned to her position in her prison, not acknowledging him with eye contact. Though he seemed content with that, and lit a torch I'm the room to bring light inside. Her wore a victorious grin that she hated intensely.
"Xue, my friend. I seem to have gained yet another victory." He said calmly with his arms around his back. With the room lit up, there was now a clear view of what Xue looks like.
Xuě was a goat, but not like other goats. She was taller than most, just a bit shorter than Tigress. Her white fur was neatly smooth, and a bit of it served as hair reaching to her shoulders. THe hords on her head curved slightly, and were very sharp. Her eyes we're a deep icy blue, and no longer slitted. Her attire was a white snowflake patterned cheongasm with a long slit on both sides of her legs which allowed for easier and more comfortable movement. The dress reached to her ankles, and hugged her form gently, showing that she is decently well-endowed, and attention can be brought to her legs. In all honesty, she was a very beautiful woman. She also has the aura of a very powerful fighter, her clothes do nothing to slow her down. Her cold gaze lingered on her jailor.
"Jong Sung...if you keep talking to an 18-year old girl like that while she's locked in a cage, people will get the wrong idea." She said coldly. "Now why are you more smug than usual today?"
He chuckled. "It's quite simple, really. Remember that sudden destruction of one of my summer homes? Well I hired the Lin Kuei to punish that action. The Valley Of Peace is currently, as I ordered it's destruction."
Xue paused, her mouth agape in shock. When the I understanding sunk in, she gripped the bars of her cage angrily. "You...bastard...Your cruelty has finally drove you over the deep end! How can you give such an order?!"
"Anyone who crosses me is punished severely. No exceptions to anyone. I don't know who would have the gall to do something like that, but it was a mistake. The Valley Of Peace serves as an example for those who cross me. Now no one else will think about doing such a thing." He nodded. "Now then...until next time, my friend. We'll speak again soon." The takin then closed the door to her room, leaving her there alone again.
Xuě stared at her paw, which began covering itself with ice and snow, then it disappeared. She clenched it and gritted her teeth while gripping the collae placed on her neck that constantly drained her Chi. This can't go on. Either someone comes for me soon, or I'll need to escape on my own...hold on...the Chi around me as changed...it's more free, and unrestrained than before...does that mean...? She began forming ice in her hand, which began forming into a key...it falls apart after five seconds. She sighed. Of course. But this means something serious happened. I can use this to my advantage. All I need is patience...and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. But sooner or later, I'll be free. I need to take the chance when it makes itself known. I won't be kept here for long...
Her mind briefly flashed years back, as she saw herself playing with a wolf cub, her being just a kid at the time. She then opens her eyes, which were filled with resolve. "I'm not going to taint his memory by remaining a prisoner here...I WILL escape...!"
(Intro)
The Ghost of Oogway looks sadly upon the charred remains of the Valley of Peace. But he turns his back and smiles, as the heart and strength of the Valley still lives on in the two core characters: Po and Tigress respectively, as they both stood next to the still barely living Peach Tree. The latter strongly folded her arms with her tiger scarf flowing with the wind, and Po was placing his hat on his head, and had a small smile on his face as their current friends stood behind them.
The Title: 'Tales Of China' flash in a flurry of Peach Petals, before disappearing in a blur...
The current group makes their way forward. Monkey is climbing trees and looking outward, Fung checks a map for their next destination, Mei Ling served as a morale booster by wearing an energetic smile, Viper slithered alongside Mantis, and Crane overlooked them in the skies...before being rudely frightened by an amused Fenghuang. Mr. Ping and Zeng both laughed at him, then whimpered as Mrs. Yoon smacks them both in the head. Shifu silently facepalmed at them.
Po and Tigress we're looking over the recruits list, showing that half of the list was complete, and that they now needed the other half. They then close the scroll and continue moving onward.
The entire gang was making their way onward with the elders sticking behind to see how they do. Hordes of enemies try to get in their way, they're batted away within moments. Monkey's trickery, Crane's wind, Viper's smooth movement, Mei Ling's staff, Mantis's lightning-fast movement, and Fung's cleverness. All enemies before them fell to these elements.
The last scene had Po and Tigress simply sitting down and enjoying the company they now have, as the shadows of their loneliness has finally started to dissipate...
(End Intro)
(Later That Day)
"What...? Are you sure, Mrs. Yoon?' Po asked the goat for confirmation. When he sees her nod to this, he clenched his fists. "Why that lousy slimeball...he's going to pay for this!"
Mrs. Yoon had forgotten a major detail when she told them about the slaughter of the Valley Of Peace:
"Jong Sung, that's who. He's given us quite a lot of loot. This Valley must have really pissed him off to order us to do something like that."
She felt a bit guilty for forgetting this important piece of information, but no one blamed her not even a little bit. It was a bit of a traumatic experience since she was faced with a pack of bloodthirsty wolves who try to play off as decent businessmen. No one could boame her for hesitating ton recall that night in order to remember something very important..Viper even coiled around her gently to comfort her as she recalled the events.
"There there, Mrs. Yoon. It'll be alright, no one here holds anything against you for forgetting something very important. Someone as sweet and kind as yourself shouldn't have to experience something like that. So dn't blame yourself." Viper said, gently nuzzling Mrs. Yoon to comfort her.
Monkey clenched his paws as well, feeling extremely frustrated and guilty. "That petty conniving crappy bastard! He did this because we trashed his stupid summer home!? Damn him!" He sighed, as he turns to Po with sorrowful look. "I'm sorry Po. I was your first recruit, and you proved you we're genuine about being my friend by trashing his summer home. And he retaliated by trashing your home. If only I-"
Po placed a paw on Monkey's shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Monkey. I'm the one who made the call, so it's on me. Though...that doesn't mean I'm willing to let him get away with this so easily. If we ever see Jong Sung for real next time, then he's gonna pay."
"He'll surely be punished for this, since he's the one who ordered it in the first place." Tigress said with folded arms."Both he and the Lin Kuei will pay dearly for this act. We will make sure of it." Po nodded to this. Then he took a good look at her, then smiled. She raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Po?"
He just shook his head and pointed at her shirt. "It's just that with that short-sleeved red Kung Fu buttoned shirt you have on,instead of the training vest you used to wear...I dunno. You just look more relaxed with that shirt. I like that. Not that I have anything against your training vest, though."
Tigress blinked. Po may not have realized it, but in a simple general sense..he's saying that she looks really good in her shirt. She just managed a small smile, turned her head away from him and placed a paw on her cheek. There was also a small blush sprouting on her cheeks. "Um...thank you, Po..."
Fenguang raised an eyebrow at Tigress's reaction. Seems like she's never been complimented much on her looks, so it may be very unexpected for her to hear such a thing. Either that or she finds praise from the Panda specifically...very flattering. She smirked mischievously. How intriguing...I'll keep quiet for now, but if the latter hypothesis proves to be correct... I'll be interested in seeing how this develops.
Mantis snickered. "Wow Tigress, you seem to be pretty embarassed by Po's been complimented on your looks before?" He folded his forelegs. "Well...I can't say I'm too surprised about that-"
Stomp
"You say something, you little bug?" Tigress said with an agitated smirk, placing her foot on top of Mantis, who was making a rather frantic attempt to get away.
"Me? Say something? Hehehe, I didn't say anything worth mentioning-OW! I'm sorry! Mercy!" He begged of her, causing most of the others to laugh at his expense.
Mei Ling was sitting on a rock, her arms folded, her tail swishing side to side behind her, and her staff on her back. Though judging by the middle detail, she was clearly eager. She turned to Po with a smile. "Alrighty then Boss." She says 'Boss' jokingly. There is no one clearly in charge of the group, but everyone seem to agree to follow Po. "Where are we off to?"
Po blinked a bit while folding his arms. He gazed up at the sky as his hat moved behind his neck, still attached with a string. After a while, he unfolded his arms and tapped his cheek twice. "I...have no idea where to go next."
Wham!
Most of them face-faulted, incredibly stunned by what the panda just said. Crane recovered first. "WHAAAAT?!" He screeched, as he flapped his wings rapidly, getting into Po's face. "You mean to tell me you have no idea where to go next, even after all that talk about sticking together?! You didn't think this entire thing out at all, have you?!"
Po sweatdropped as he raised his paws in defense. "I was just winging it up to this point! But the emotion behind it was definitely real! I'm sorry!"
The avian sighed while showing slight amusement at the 'winging it' comment, as he stopped flapping his wings and rubbed his head to manage his own headache. "How did I see this coming...?"
The panda shrugged, smiling nervously. "Well...I guess that's what being a rogue is like. They go wherever they wish to go. They don't always have a specific and detailed plan in mind. They just...ya know..." He stretched out his arm and slowly moved it forward to demonstrate what he means. "Go..."
"Oh for the love of-"
"Panda is trying to say that sometimes not knowing where exactly you are going is part of the fun of being on a long journey." Fenghuang stated casually.
Po blinked for a moment, before pointing at her. "Yeah that! I was TOTALLY gonna say that!"
"Of course you were, ya big dummy." She rolled her eyes with an amused smile. The panda pouted and covered his face with his hat.
"That was mean, Master. Why ya gotta be so mean...?" He complained childishly. This only made the owl laugh.
Shifu folded his hands behind his back while standing atop Oogway's staff, looking over the remains of the destroyed Valley of Peace. He knew this wasn't his fault, everyone was telling him this. But still, he grew up in this Valley and he has grown to watch over the Valley alongside his master. As such, he unconsciously feels as if this was his responsibility to seek out all beings behind this tragedy...and bring them down. But first, he had to at least let China know what happened.
He closed his eyes. "Other Masters will soon want to know why the Valley Of Peace has went silent. We will have to send a message out to all the Masters in China to let them know of this tragic turn of events. They all should be aware of this...and they'll also want to know about Oogway's passing. It will be quite a shock for the entire country...but the news must get out to everyone. This cannot stay quiet for long."
"Obviously." Fenghuang sighed. "There's no way in hell that an entire Valley being wiped out overnight will stay private. Sooner or later, whether we instigate it or not...this is gonna get out to everyone. Stopping it from happening is borderline impossible. So we might as well send the message out ourselves to prevent someone from messing around with the details. Some messengers are we etty enough to change up the details to make the story seem 'better'."
Zeng huffed, folding his wings. "How dishonest. Messages should be given out word for word. The honor of a messenger should not be tainted by false wording! Luckily I am a very focused messenger in my own right. I'm no slacker."
"Oh really? Then those 'extended lunch breaks' you tend to take all the time is not slacking off?" Tigress asked with a tilted head. This caused him to point to her in slight panic.
"I fly across entire regions in order to deliver messages! I DESERVE occasional extended lunch breaks!"
"Did someone say extended lunch?" Po asked, looking very hopeful.
Fenghuang turned to him with an amused smile while shaking her head. "Of course not, Panda. Palace Servant is just whining about his job. Nothing that requires your concern."
"Aw man...I was really looking forward to having lunch. I couldn't really eat yesterday. Because...you know..." Everyone understood what he meant by that.
"That's alright, Panda. Once we secure a definite destination to go to, we'll take the time we need to eat."
"Sweet! So we gotta send a message out to China as a whole to all Kung Fu Masters, right? So how are we going to do that?"
Shifu stroke his beard while looking outwards. Then he hopped off the staff, whisked it into his hands and turned to everyone. "Our first destination will be the Kung Fu Express Headquarters."
"Nnnnnoooooooooo..." Fenghuang groaned loudly, gaining an annoyed eye from Shifu. "Not that place. The place where all those guys and gals take their mail WAY too seriously!"
"That's because the Kung Fu Express is in charge of urgent messages and very important documents!" Shifu shouted at her. "And in case you failed to notice, this situation involves both urgency and importance! Which is why sending a message would be extremely necessary!"
"Don't shout at me, Midget!" She shouted back at him. She huffed while closing her eyes. "I still just see those guys as a mail delivery service that puts far too much passion into their job. It's just mail, for crying out loud."
Shifu rubbed his ears. "I knew you would still be unable to grasp the significance of this organization. So you're free to stay behind if you dislike them so strongly, but we're heading for he headquarters. It will be our destination, because it will send out the message we plan to make throughout China all at once. It's the most effective way to send out our message. Because it MUST be sent, Fenghuang."
The owl groaned again, before looking to the sky for a couple moments. Then she nodded with acceptance. "Fine. Whatever. Let's get to the stupid Kung Fu Express Headquarters, then. The sooner we get in, the sooner we get out. And I don't even wanna go in." She paused. "Plus, you can't tell me what to do. I'm a grown woman."
"A grown woman with the mindset of a whining child. Of course your maturity hasn't improved since you've been gone."
"Ohohoho! Look who just turned into Mr. Smartass!" The elder masters glared at one another, so hard that there were sparks.
Fung shrugged, ignoring their banter, and adjusted his helmet. "We'll work something out. But nothing will get done if we're just standing here idly. Let's just go and figure out our plans when we get there. We have a message to send, that will be our way to send it."
Po pounds his fist into his other paw, grinning with excitement. "Alright then, that's our plan! Ur first stop is the Kung Fu Express Headquarters, so let's get a move on!" He then blinked, and rubbed his neck nervously. "Er...which way do we go?"
"Ah boy..." Crane shook his head in slight embarrassment. They knew that it would take a long time for them to get to the Kung Fu Express Headquarters. That location was anything but close to where they currently were.
Mei Ling got up from the rock she sat on and stared out towards the opposite side of the Valley. "I really wanted to know this place better, honestly. And then look what happens to it, all because some petty rich noble couldn't take a loss. What a shame. The Peace in it's name has been taken out and shredded it to pieces for nothing but revenge and profit..." she lowered her eyes n sadness. She was never really sure about it, but the number of bad events occurring in the Valley each seemed to be an omen that lead up to something like this. And now it's one true.
"It'll be alright, Mei Ling." Crane patted her back, as she smiling at his support.
Fenghuang blinked a bit, and looked upwards. "You know what...I may have a good idea on where to start while we're making our way there."
Shifu turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Where would that be?"
"Moshou Market. We'll need some supplies, as it's something we're beginning to slack on. In another way, we may be able to find something useful that can help us out."
The smaller Master blinked slowly as she said these words. "Moshou Market...the place that specializes in supplying black market merchandise...? Why would we go to a place like that? It's highly untrustworthy in many places that I don't even want to know about! It's unfit as a place to gather supplies!"
The owl shrugged, not understanding the smaller Master's complaining. "Why not? I took Po here all the time when we took a break from training." This only seemed to increase Shfiu's anxiety, which still had her a bit confused. "What are you so panicked about?"
All the others, sans Mr. Ping, instantly understood many things about Po and Fenghuang. Moshu Market was a very shady place, and to think Fenghuang actually taught him Kung Fu near a place like this. It explained a bit of Po's behavior, and Fenghuang's playful negativity towards seems nearly effortless at this point. Po was taken in by a snarky Owl, trained in Kung Fu near shady town, and he's been there for 15 years. His roughness would of course build during his stay there. And yet Mr. Ping is the only one who hasn't changed at all, which is very surprising. If anything can count as a change for him, it's his business becoming well-known, even with a noodle cart There was a very good chance that Mr. Ping played an active role in keeping Po from people that were too shady.
"Fenghuang made a big impression on Po, Shifu. And not in a bad way not bad at all. Likewise she wasn't the only one." Mr. Ping said, gaining the small Master's attention. "There was...one other person..." is voiced trailed off for a moment as he entered into a state of deep thought. Then he brushed it aisde and smiled. "Bah, it doesn't matter right now. We oughta get going, we stalled ourselves long enough."
Po smiled. "Dad's right. Come on guys, let's go!"
Shifu sighed. "Why do I get the feeling I won't like this...?"
(Mosho Town)
It took up a little up to a couple hours to travel all the way out to the Mosho Market. Not too rare from a typical village, the Mosho Market is a pure marketplace village where travelers can get what they need, be it regular supplies...or something of a dark magical kind. And to be honest...Shifu didn't know what to think of the place right now.
Sure, the place was still extremely shady in many ways. But the place seemed...cheerier for some reason. As in many of the citizens here are much more positive than they usually were. Even during their somewhat dark dealings most of the time. Many of them wore a couple honest smiles, even. Some didn't smile, but were just nice enough for them to tell be able to tell the difference. It was something unexpected of them.
Shifu just looked around the through the darkness of the market, where blue lanterns over many of the shops were used to illuminate the area, giving them a slight eerie appearance. The place was eerie for sure, and so are some of the items. But the people were usually nice. He realized the descriptions of this place may have been a bit over exaggerated.
"You weren't completely incorrect about your assumptions of this place, Midget." Fenghuang stated when she recognized his confusion. "Yeah, this place used to be much darker than it used to be...but that's before Po wandered into town with his little feet, walking alongside me and Mr. Ping. After a couple of months, many people here were helping us look after him when one or both us got to busy. Like when I was training him, or Mr. Ping was doing business with his noodle cart."
Monkey stared at Po in surprise. "No way. This place is a haven for shopkeepers who do dark and mysterious dealings behind everybody's back with nothing but trouble in the area. You actually got them to become a decent marketplace while still being dark and mysterious? How'd you pull that off...?"
Po shrugged. "I was just really nice to everyone. I didn't think they would get nicer too. Who knows, it may be a good thing. And considering that we're officially rogues...who knows? This may be a good place to properly kick it off. Ya know, get some supplies, say hi to a bunch of folks, give them a helping hand...it'll be a good time."
"You're really willing to give the word 'rogue' a strange name, you know that?" Fung told him. "Not that I have anything against that, just stating an observation of mine. In fact, I think we can learn to like them."
Po grinned and wrapped an arm around him. "Now you're talking! Now let's go shopping for supplies and stuff!" He then paused. "Wait...what are we shopping for again?"
"The essential supplies. Ya know, backpacks for each of us, a large-scale map of China, scrolls to draw out and sent messages, calligraphy pack for Crane, couple of ingredients for preparing our own breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinner. We don't need all four at once, but it would be nice. Mr. Ping needs more ingredients and utensils if he's going to keep his noodle cart a success." Monkey told them. "...I also need ingredients myself. I can tell that Po already misses my cookies. So overall, we're going to go get a lot of stuff."
Po was lost in a daze. His eyes sparkled and shined at the prospect of being able to prepare their own food in large quantities. Mr. Ping noticed this, and chuckled softly while raising his wings up. "I believe we lost him at breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner." Everyone else agreed. "Po...son? Are you going to be alright?"
"Cookies..."
"Yep. We lost him." Fenghuang raised her wing and slapped Po upside the head. Not enough to hurt, but to snap him out of it. He immediately shook his head and looked around frantically.
"Huh? What happened? Where am I?...where'd the cookies go?"
"No cookies at the moment, Panda."
"Aw man..."
They had plans to distribute the money earned from Mr. Ping's noodle cart, which was plenty enough to get just the right amount for each thing they need. They each decided to split up and search for their respective supplies. Po, Tigress, Crane, and Mei Ling were just taking a stroll around the market. Needless to say that Po was quite upset that he didn't get to go get the food alongside Mr. Ping, Zeng, Fung, and Mantis. Shifu and Fenghuang would be keeping an eye out for anything that might look dangerous to the young ones, and they were also in charge of getting the map they need in order to make their way to the Kung Fu Express Headquarters. Viper and Monkey would be looking for scrolls to write in. With everyone's role decided, they split up and went on their search.
...Po was still upset that he didn't get picked to get the food.
"Maaaaann...I really wanted to pick out the food. I would have picked out something awesome." Po folded his arms, pouting childishly.
"Calm down, Po. Your father is more than well-suited to do the job for you so that you can search for many of the other supplies alongside us. We're being flexible when it comes to stocking up on supplies, that's all. Nothing to be upset about."
"Ha...ah man...I know, you're right about that, Tigress. It's still pretty suckish that I didn't get the chore I like."
Crane adjusted his hat, sighing. "It may have been a smart move. If YOU were in charge of stocking up on out food...well...no offensive at all to you, Po...but we have suspicions that we might end up with less than what he asked for...and not because you didn't buy enough."
"Are you saying I might eat some of the food myself if I'm not supervised?!"
"No!...possibly...yes."
"How would you know that, huh? I'm not even hungry right now!" Po's belly shook a little from it growling for a couple seconds, and he pretended not to notice. "...That proves nothing. Nothing at all."
"You sure about that?"
"Yep."
Both Tigress and Mei Ling chuckled at Po's refusal to prove Crane correct. Then they heard a voice.
"My my...is that a panda you have in your group?"
All four of them blinked, as Po lifted his hat. "I am that panda. Who's talking about me?"
"Over here." They turned to the sound of the voice, towards someone who was shown under the light of a blue lantern. A snow leopard was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, a chin in her paw, and a small smile on her face that goes along with the sly look in her eyes. She was currently wearing a red and brown vest along with her black sweatpants. There was a red parasol right above her head, which was clearly hers. "Hey there."
"Hey!" Po waved. "You noticed me, so it means ya wanna chat. But let's try and introduce ourselves first. My name is Po! This is Tigress, Mei Ling, and Crane. Nice to meet you!"
"Only you would be so cheerful and friendly in a shadowy marketplace like this...then drag us into it." Crane mumbled.
The snow leopardess smiles at Po. "Po, hm? Such a nice name you got there. Well, it'd be bad manners if I didn't give my name as well." She stood up and cleared her throat. "My name is Song. Nice to meet you, Po."
Po smiles at her name, thinking it was quite a fitting name for her...then his jaw dropped. "Wait a minute...your name...is Song?"
She didn't know what he meant by this, so she just continued to smile politely. "Um...I'm pretty sure my name is Song. Are you having a hard time believing that, or something else?"
"No, it's not that. It's just that..." Po recalled the 'friend list'(he grew tired of the word 'recruit' in the title, they weren't soldiers) and remembered that the name 'Song' was definitely on it. "Guys we found her! Our next friend is here! That was so easy I can't even say how easy it is!" Po stopped himself, and tapped his chin. "Wait..."
In the midst of this, Song was blinking in confusion, not understanding what the Panda was so excited about...
(Meanwhile)
Fenghuang yawned slightly in boredom, blinking slowly. "Where the hell do we find a map...?" I forgot far too much about what this place to even remember where they keep them. Are we really gonna have to search the entire market in order to find a mao that's good enough to get us through during our future travels?"
"You are the one who suggested this place, Fenghuang. Why are you complaining about it?" Shifu asked with an irritated twitch of his eyebrow. "We'll find a map soon, so I truly do suggest that you calm yourself down for a bit. Are you able to do that for everyone?"
The owl groaned, and rubbed her head with her wing. "Fine fine, I'll calm down for a little bit. It's just...it's nothing against this market. I think it suits me. Dark, mysterious, and a fair share of sarcasm."
"How does sarcasm fit into that description?"
"Oh wow, you can't understand what I mean. I'm very surprised." The two rolled her eyes. Shifu understood at that moment, and it had quite the right amount of irritation. The owl then stopped and pointed at a wooden shop. "I don't think I've seen that shop before. Let's check it out."
Shifu and Fenghuang walked up to the, shop at hand, and knocked on it to gain the attention of the person in charge of it. They heard a couple of things being moved around, along with the sounds of someone talking...and slight banter to follow it. Then the door began to open, and the shopkeeper came out...
The shopkeeper was one of the last people Shifu expected.
"Hello there, and welcome to ou-" Jaws dropped, both his and Shifu's. "Whaaaaaat?! Shifu?!"
"T-T-T-T-Taotie?!"
Both the warthog and the red panda stared at one another for a very long time. Then they both sported tick marks on their heads and pointed at one another with anger. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"Oh goodness no. Old men quarrel." Fenghuang groaned, rubbing her beak with a feather. "Maybe I should have went with the panda. Then at least-"
"Dad...what are you doing yelling already...? You usually yell AFTER your customers call your things crap." They heard this as another warthog stepped out with a lazy yawn as he observed the commotion with little interest. "They're not gonna trash our house, are they?"
Taotie sighed and turned to the younger warthog with a stern glare. "Bian Zao. Get back inside, this doesn't involve you."
Shfiu backed up when he tried to regain the sense of what he just heard. "Taotie...you...you have a son...? And his name is Bian Zao...?"
Fenghuang narrowed her eyes. Bian Zao was one of the people on the list...but he looks so young that she'd wondering if they got the right Bian Zao. She thought that all of the recruits would be around their twenties at best. But he looked like a simple teenager. She was going for 15 years old. Which means around the years she was with Po and Mr. Ping, this child was born. It was only a guess.
Bian Zao looked between Shifu and his father. "Is this some kind of...awkward reunion or something?"
Taotie glared at Shifu and sported a careless wave to Fenghuang. "You could say that. I bet you're curious about our history, son."
To their surprise, the teen merely yawned and scratched his back. "Nah...sounds pretty lame. I'm going back to bed. Try not to argue so loudly, alright?" He turned and walked back into the shop/house. His father and Shifu we're left utterly speechless.
"W-Wait! Are you sure you don't want to hear about it?! It involves a lot of-"
"Laaaaaaaaame."
Fenghuang blinked. Then she blinked again. Then a third time. "...That boy...impresses me..." she said with an insightful look, as Shifu turned to her, his eyes asking what that meant. "It took me years to master the art of being deadpan...but that boy is deadpan by nature. I don't think I've seen that before."
"I swear you're paying attention to the wrong things." Shifu sighed, holding his head. "What matters is that we found our next person. We ought to tell the others about this and then have Bian Zao join with us."
Taotie adopted a serious expression when he heard this. "...Did you just say that you were going to take my son somewhere with YOU, Shifu? Where are you going?"
"That doesn't concern you."
"That's my son you are talking about. It's my business by default! So tell me why he has to come with you! Because if I don't like your answer, then I'll have to ask the both you to leave. You already ruined plenty of things for me already, Shifu. You're not going to add him to that list. I won't allow it." Both he and Shifu glared at one another once again. Luckily no OK he else but Fenghuang was wondering n the area.
The owl sighed and flew up on a roof, perched on the edge. "Yep. I am not getting involved into their personal quarrels. They can work this dispute out themselves." She paused.
Hopefully...
Remember when I said that recruiting will get increasingly more difficult. Well, this is the time where it REALLY comes into effect.
Until next time!