"Thats right, little buddies. Eat up and fill your tummies~" Po encouraged the orphans in his presence.
The others we're slightly surprised by Po's actions. He was a really big eater, a trait he embraced and fully accepted as part of his character. He hasn't eaten since everyone left the lifeless Valley of Peace, which was a very long time. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't hungry, and he's a terrible lier. But he's willing to hold off a little longer to make sure these orphans bellies we're completely full. They needed it more than he did.
Taotie's place was pretty roomy. Not very impressive, but it was decent enough to live in. There was an upstairs and downstairs, a small living room, a kitchen, and most other necessities for regular housing. Everything that a simple house needed. Now his 'lab' somewhere next to the living room...that was off-limits go no one but himself. Not that anyone would want to go in there anyway. The only one that lives with him was his son, and he couldn't care less about his projects. Bian Zao's laziness was a major annoyance for his father.
Back to the kids. They have been bathed first, cleaned from head to toe because they definitely needed most of the soap and water. It has been made clear that they have been living in filth for such a long time that they needed an extended bath, affectionately provided by Mrs. Yoon. After that, the six of them were wrapped up in little towels, and all of them were served two bowls. One filled with noodles, and the other filled with dumplings.
And they enjoyed them so much.
"I don't think we've eaten so well in forever!" Liang said as he early eats from both of his bowls while sitting on Tigress's lap. The others were eating their foods as well, including the adults but not including Po. Lippy, Ho, Piggy, and Chang were also wrapped in towels and eating from their bowls in various parts of the living room alongside a couple of the adults. Yue Yue took her seat right on top of Po's belly, and she seemed quite comfortable there, as she cheerfully bites into her dumplings.
"These are really good, Mr. Po!" She gleamed.
"Hehe. Just call me Po, little buddies. And don't worry, there's plenty for all six of you." The panda smiles while lying on his back, his hat currently resting on Mr. Pings head.
Yue Yue tilted her head while looking down into Po's eyes. "But what about you? You seem pretty hungry too, Po."
"Nah, I'm good." He tried to deny. But then his belly growled again, gently jiggling with the rabbit on top of it, causing her to laugh. "...again. That proves nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"Po. Dude. Just go ahead and eat already. I'm pretty sure the little ones are pretty close to eating their fill." Monkey stated, balancing on his tail. "You wanted to wait until they clean themselves up, and they've eaten plenty already. They did both of those things, so you're in the clear."
Po seemed a bit hesistant, though he immediately let go of his restraint as his father placed a bowl of noodles next to his head. "You have to eat, son. The children are safe, they're clean, and they're fed. Heck even they want you to eat."
"Yeah...I am pretty hungry...but first things first. Tell me what's gong with these kids. Monkey, Viper." Po leaned forward with a face full of seriousness...but that seriousness was downplayed when Yue Yue finished her food and climbed on top of Po's head and keeping her place there. Such a cute sight combined with Po's attempt to be serious made the image look ridiculous. But they got the message, and most sat down to settle themselves.
"Alright, we interrogated some rat who was roaming around the orphanage, and he had intentions to hurt these kids because they spoke to us. But we stopped him and extracted information from him." Viper explained.
"Viper...how did you interrogate him?" Tigress asked.
The serpent turned towards her. "I constricted him and threatened to break every bone in his body as I kept squeezing him." There was a long silence after she said this. Her eyes blinked innocently. "...What?"
"Dude. Do you even hear yourself right now?" Mantis said in disbelief. "You threatened to break every bone in is body and then talk about it so casually. How can you do that?"
"I didn't cross any line I couldn't come back from." She said calmly. "Plus I have a hard time holding back when I'm facing someone who works for someone who deliberately subjects children to abuse and forcing them to be thieves."
"Little Mini-Thieves? Now why would they do that?"
"To take attention off themselves for whatever they're doing behind the town's backs. Besides, these villagers are shady and dark, but not to the point of harming children. Plus they can for in small spaces and run away pretty quickly and easily. Hesitation of the villagers put together with the children's teamwork, sneaky tricks, and some extra intervention from those rats, it's been highly difficult to make some progress in reducing the problem. Food is scarce now, and so is money. All because these people have the audacity to use children to do bad things, and then use them as a shield when they themselves are in serious danger. They'll be back to square one every single time they try."
"Such cruelty...and such an act of cowardice. They want to stay just out of reach, so they used these children to take the fall for them." Tigress narrowed her eyes while her tail bristles with irritation. "They better hope that we don't find them. Unfortunately for them, I can be a very stubborn person."
"Yeah. We kinda figured that out already." Monkey mumbled. This prompted Tigress to roughly grab him by the vest, which made him sweat a little. "I didn't say it was a bad thing! Chill out!" She smirked and released him, allowing him to catch his breath. "Jeez, I need to know what sets you off...so I can avoid them."
"That wouldn't be very fun, now would it?" She responded with a smile. This did not ease Monkey's nerves.
"I don't know what your idea of fun is...so now I feel like I'm in constant danger."
"Depending on our interactions in the future, and considering our earlier ones...that might be true."
"Yeah...wait what?!"
"Cut it out you two." Shifu stated. He sat down with crossed legs, and stared at Taotie. "Taotie...if you don't mind me asking...when did you...well...you know..." This was an awkward for the two of them, very awkward. Neither of them had gotten into conversation fro years. And now the first thing Shifu chooses to talk about that doesn't involve them descending into a shouting match...
...is when Bian Zao happened...because how he happened should be pretty obvious...Yeah...neither of them felt very comfortable about this...entire thing...
Taotie sighed as he turned away from the others and sat at his desk. "A lot of things happened since I left the Jade Palace, Shifu. I put mechanisms in my life and tried to do the best I can without Kung Fu clouding my mind. I can just give you the gist of it. Through some miracle, I got married. Through some miracle, I got a son, whom you met already. Though my wife didn't survive the childbirth...not so miraculous..." Shifu's ears lowered at this. When he tried to speak, Taotie turned and cut him off. "The three of us have something in common, don't we?" He pointed to himself, Shifu, and Mr. Ping. "Three single fathers for three different reasons. And all of them are pretty sad."
Shifu's mind wandered into thinking about the rogue Mei Ling, and Mr. Ping remembered his fsiled attempt at gaining a partner. Both of then sighed quietly at the similarity the three of them seemed to share. This was not lost on Po and Tigress, who also sighed with a bit of exhaustion..Bian Zao, who was just passing by, sighed with a sense both boredom and a sense of unbelonging.
Some people say sighing is contagious. They'd be somewhat correct. In any case, Po had gotten his explanation, and decided that he would like to meet Bian Zao. After all, he was on the friend list. So he was pretty obligated to be his friend.
"Alright, I'm gonna go up and befriend him then!" Po smiled with crossed arms. "He looks like he really needs one. Is that alright, Taotie...sir?"
"Be my guest. I actually hope you can get a reaction out of him that he doesn't compare to the word 'lame'. Seriously, if you can at least get him out of the house, I'll be very grateful. But wait until tomorrow. With all this junk about the Valley, and these kids, Shifu coming back...I just...need some time to process all of this stuff. You get it."
"Yeah, we were all pretty overwhelmed by how crazy wrong things turned out. But we had to keep moving somehow, right? At least...that's what I think."
"We'll have plenty of time to think about it tomorrow, Po. These kids have filled their bellies, and now they're getting all sleepy." Mr. Ping said. "Now how will we deal with sleeping arrangements...?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" Song raised a paw, and the others turned to hear her out. "Grab a child and snuggle up with them. Keeping them warm and safe is probably something they haven't experienced in a long while." She hugged the goat child Lippy next to her, and grinned. "Like so~"
Tigress rubbed her neck nervously. "Um...I'm not sure I'm-" she blinked when she feels Liang latch onto her leg again. Seeing the hopeful gaze in his eyes quickly shooed away her nerves, and she picked the rabbit up in her arms. Seeing how much more relaxed he got in her embrace, she smiled. "Oh alright. I suppose I can give that a try."
"Ooh! That's a splendid idea! I say we do it!" Mei Ling clapped, as she turned and picked up Piggy in her own pair of arms, after taking off her gloves. "C'mere little Piggy, Mei Ling is your snuggle buddy for today~"
"U-Um..."
"Come now. You can trust a mountain cat like me. I'm a nice lovable gal." She smiled and rubbed her cheek against his. "You're so adorable! All of you are! But I can only hold one, so I pick you~" Piggy smiled and further relaxed in her embrace, nudging slightly towards her chest.
Monkey blinked at this. "Wait a moment...she's not a fan of wearing her wrap...that's means..." he blinked slightly, then softly pounded one fist into his palm. "That lucky little jerk-" SLAP! "Gah!" Viper hissed slightly after tail slapping Monkey upside the head. "Oh come on! I was kidding!" He laughed nervously, then his eyes mischievously veered to the side. Mostly...
Viper muttered a couple things about Monkey, then tended to the little goose named Ho, and his twin Chang. She coiled around them as gently as she could, then kissed them both on top of the head. Keeping them very close to her was something she desired, as it seems these children might still have difficulty sleeping. They needed to feel safe and secure if they were to fall asleep.
Five of the six children were now asleep, and most of the others nodded off alongside them. The only one left was Yue Yue, who has once again rested on top of Po's soft, jiggly, furry belly. "Po...your tummy is so soft...fluffy..."
"Hehe, yeah. I get that a lot." Po smiled, his paw reaching up to pet her head. "Now Yue Yue, it's time we call it a day. Gotta go to sleep now."
The small rabbit yawned and complied with Po's request. She curled up on his belly and slowly falls asleep, clutching her doll. The panda smiles as Mr. Ping hands him his hat, placed it on top of his face, and also succumbs to sleep, very quickly.
Tigress pets Liang's head while easing him to sleep, her eyes gazing over to Po. She smiled that he found slumber easily, then she stared at the rabbit resting happily on his belly. The feline found the sight very pleasant. The little one in her arms wasn't so bad to look at either, so she hugged him gently, lying back and falling asleep alongside the others.
Taotie folded his arms at the sight. "Hm...these kids you took up. They're not bad at all, Shifu."
The red panda shook his head. "They are a handful sometimes, but I do enjoy their company."
"I just wish that my son can take an example from these guys, they seem like good people. Who knows? Maybe they can actually rub off on him and make him just a bit more open with others. Then maybe I can get more work done without worrying about him."
Mr. Ping widened his eyes at this. This scenario was far too familiar ro him in order to not be real...but he couldn't put it to notice until he was absolutely sure. So for the time being, he stayed quiet.
"Huah...anyway, I'm gonna hit the hay. Goodnight Shifu, I guess." Taotie walked backwards into his own room, and slid the doors shut.
"Indeed...goodnight." Shifu said quietly. He then sat in the middle of the group of younger adults, and tried to take a position of meditation. He realized that Fenghuang ,as gone for a pretty long time, though that may be her just being lazy...again. Or it's just incredibly difficult to find a map. Either way, he wasn't worried about her, she could take care of herself. What he was really taking note of, however..."Bian Zao, is it?"
The young teen flinched at the sound of his name being called, and he stopped hiding in the shadow's of the stairs. "You could hear me?"
"My ears are not here just for show, you know. Now do you mind telling me what brings you down here after your father went to sleep?"
The teen sighs as he rubbed his neck. "I just...didn't want to get involved with the personal biz he has with you. I'm not interested in that stuff at all, so I don't really appreciate it when he tries to drag me into them. Though I have nothing against the rest of these guys. I just find it lame that he was making such a fuss about seeing you after such a long time, he says. To be honest...I really do wish that he would just drop that grudge of his with you. But you guys said your home was wiped out, right? That should be enough to get my dad moving...somewhat."
Shifu raised an eyebrow. "How strange. He wishes the same for you. To leave the house and actually do something. Spend time with friends, perhaps?"
"And there is where a big part of my problems lie." Bian Zao mumbled. "My dad is 'that guy'. The crazy mechanic who keeps making junk that can seriously hurt someone, so people stay away from him. Sure, the son of a person like that will have plenty of friends to hang out with." He said all of this bitterly, as he left the room while heading back upstairs to his own room. Shifu sighs as he slips back into meditation.
...Po smiles. He had his hat just slightly lifted off of his face without being noticed, so he was able to get a good look at Bian Zao. He also now knew what kind of issue Bian Zao has. But he has to get him to admit it first, before he can actually move in and do anything about it. Because he already knew how to solve it. After all, he used to have the same problem. So with a reassured mind, he let his hat cover his face again and slipped back into slumber, all without disturbing the little rabbit sleeping on top of him.
(The Next Day)
"I've come back, fools! Celebrate my return!" Fenghuang landed in front of the shop and spread her wings gloriously. An awkward silence took over for a minute, before she tucked her wings and sighed. "Damn that was lame..."
"Hey, you beat me to it." Bian Zao stepped out of the house, yawning. This must have meant he had seen Fenghuang's attempt at a cool entrance. And that she kinda failed at it. "Maybe you should...never do that again? Because I was enjoying my sleep, then you go an wake me up at such an inappropriate time..."
She blinked. "Morning time is almost over."
"I know. This is when people are at their loudest, and I don't want to deal with an environment like that. It's so lame..."
The owl blinked again, gears turning in her head as she was thinking about something important, well...important to her. She then gasped, and pointed a feather at the teen Warthog. "Lazy-Ass!"
"W-Wha?!" He was obviously taken aback by the sudden nickname she had come up for him. Both the sudden decision, and the name itself, caught him off guard.
"Deadpan is your default nature, you like to sleep a lot, and you label a lot of things as 'lame'. Therefore, I have officially decided that your nickname is Lazy-Ass."
He rubbed his neck tiredly. "That name...doesn't sound very promising."
"Whatever do you mean, Lazy-Ass?"
"Dude, don't bother." Monkey rubbed his eyes while coming outside with the others. "She has one for all of us so far, except for Song and Taotie."
"Oh, they're easy." The owl shrugged off. "Cat-Burglar and Nerdy Warthog."
"Cat...Burglar?" Song repeated.
"I am NOT a nerd!" Taotie shouted. He then looked at his son. "Am I...?" Bian Zao chose not to answer.
"And yet those names aren't very creative either." Monkey pointed out.
The owl turned her head towards him, with a small glare. "Got something against my creativity...Shithead?"
The primate turned around and curled into a depressed ball, slowly rocking. He had really, really hoped that she would eventually forget about that nickname she had given him because he didn't keep his mouth shut. He had brought that on himself, and now he was cursed with a very distasteful nickname...
Po walked out with a yawn. "The kids are under Shifu's watchful eyes so they should be safe...huh? Monkey, what's the matter?"
"I'm cursing the nickname that will forever prevent me from getting a girlfriend..." Monkey sobbed comically, a river of tears streaming from his eyes.
"...Oooookaaaayy...I have no idea what that's about." Mantis stated bluntly. He hopped onto Po's shoulder. "So Big Guy, we know what issue the kids are dealing with. So how do we draw the Lao Shu out?"
Po rubbed his paws together. "By giving the town something these jerks made sure they were scarce in...more food."
"Uh...Po?" Tigress was slightly confused.
"These Lao Shu guys are responsible for the food shortage...so Song and Fung will have the job of finding that hidden food stash. When they bring it back here, we'll give it out to all of Mosho Town, then we may be able to end this food shortage! And get those kids into proper hokes. Or at the very least, give them an actual caring caretaker. Then we'll be set!"
Darn it Po! Of course the first thing you do for her is set her up with me on this objective! Fung shouted in his head, fighting off his blush. My mind is telling me NOT to be left alone with her, I'm not ready! I might make a total fool of myself! I need someone to come with me. Not Tigress, she obviously doesn't like her already. Not Monkey or Mantis. Especially not Mantis. Po is busy handling the food. Think, who's more awkward than I am...Ahah! "Hey Crane! You should come with us, ya know? Strength in numbers!...and other important stuff."
"Uh...okay then..."
Fenghuang shrugged. "I already have the map to the Kung Fu Express Headquarters, so you lot can do what you wish. We're not in any hurry."
"Alright, good times up ahead. Get moving, guys." Po nodded. He see's Song, Fung, and Crane off in their search for the lost food stash. For him, he turned to Bian Zao. "As for you, B.Z., you're coming with me and my Dad."
Bian Zao blinked. "Uh...B.Z.?"
"Yeah! B.Z.! Ya know, abbreviation for Bian Zao! I think it's pretty sweet, don't you think? Hehehehe!"
Fenghuang placed a wing on her beak. "Hm...not bad at all, Panda. I'm still gonna call him Lazy-Ass, though."
"I'm cool with that. Now then, B.Z. Walk with us." Po gestured, patting his back and moving him along. He made a little attempt to break away, but it was ultimate useless when Tigress also placed a paw behind him, while adjusting her scarf.
"I forgot to mention, this isn't a choice for you." Tigress said with a bit of an apologetic tone in her voice. "Sorry, but you'll be coming with us for today until further notice."
"Ugh...lame..."
"You won't think so for long. Not after what we have to talk about." He raised an eyebrow at this, but really did have no say in it, as the two adults dragged him away from his house, leaving the others to do as they please.
After a short distance away, Bian Zao sits down on Po's request, and sighs. "Alright...what do you want?"
"Let's answer that question with a question." Tigress folded her arms. "What do you want, Bian Zao?" He was caught off guard by the question, she could tell by his slightly widened eyes. "You must have something to do that you like. And we're here to help you see it through."
The warthog tried to avoid eye contact, but Tigress gently grabbed him by the horn and made him face her. "Bian Zao...look at me. I know what may be bothering you, and I think both me and Po can help you with it, as we've both been in the situation before in our lives. It's not the whole 'lame' thing, that I know. That's just you being a teenager."
He sighed, now fully realizing there was no way out of this. "Alright...what do you think my main issue is?"
Tigress nodded and proceeded by sitting next to him. "Bian Zao...does your father pay much attention to you?" She guessed correctly, as she could feel him stiffen up. "As we suspected."
"Suspected what?"
"Dude, you're even gloomier than a regular non-caring teen tends to be because your Dad rarely pays attention to you." Po took over for a bit. "He's always busy with work, and he's incredibly sore about his past. He has the fused problems from both of our fathers back then."
"Father had a sore heart when my brother ran away from us." Tigress continued, being careful not to reveal who her brother was to him. "So during his depression, he neglected me for a while as I was growing up and he was training me. But I didn't blame him for feeling that way, because I cared about my brother too." She pawed at her scarf for a bit. "But I got really sick one day from pushing myself too hard. I was afflicted with River Fever, and I passed out. When I woke up again, Shifu was right next to me, patiently but worriedly waiting for my recovery. He refused to leave my side until the day was over. And ever since day, he's been doing his best to be a good father regardless of our trauma." She saw the warthog had really began listening to them, meaning that they we're getting through to him.
"As for my own Dad, it was due to being incredibly busy with the Noodle Shop back home. Of course he didn't mean it, but I sometimes disappeared into the crowd without him ever noticing." Po said, talking about Mr. Ping. "But then I had...quite an uncomfortable experience."
Bian Zao raised an eyebrow. "Uncomfortable how?"
"I wandered too far away from my house...and I got kidnapped." Po noticed the warthog's eyes widen. "Yep. I don't know why they were there, but poachers kidnapped me and I was being dragged off over a faraway distance. If it wasn't for Master Fenghuang coming to my rescue, I would have been sold off...or dead from the freezing cold mountains." Po sighed. "You get taken from your home under the impression that you'll never see your loved ones again...that can be a bit traumatizing to some children."
"There have been cases of children being snatched from their homes and never being seen again. I am glad Po didn't become one of them." Tigress stated.
Po nodded. "So when I got back home, I found my Dad bawling hysterically because I was no where to be found. So when he saw me, he was so relieved that he cried even more. Heh...my Dad's a goofball sometimes. Sometime's even more than myself, and I'm a goofy guy. Ever since then, he cut down hours on his shop time so he could get even more time with me. That was pretty nice of him to do so."
Tigress nodded. "What we're trying to say is that if you want your father's attention when he's in this kind of state, you need to reach out and grab it. You don't need anything dangerous or hurtful happening to you or anything like that. Just do something that will catch his interest, because once you do, you'll keep it for quite a long time."
"But you can't change your relationship with him if neither of you take the first step, and he seems pretty persistent about not bringing up the subject about you in too many conversations. Because he doesn't know too much about you." Po rubbed his neck. "It's a bit understandable, as he's a widower who has to raise his son by himself while maintaining his grudge against a friend and has no idea how."
"However, the destruction of the Valley of Peace, a home to both of them, seems to have softened their relationship just a bit. We can't waste this chance." Tigress stated. "So I ask again...what do you like to do, Bian Zao?"
The warthog kept looking down at the ground. Po reached out and patted his head. "Come on, B.Z. We want to help you, but you gotta give us a place to start."
"...Cakes."
"What?" Po heard him mumble, though he didn't catch it.
"When my Dad isn't around...and when I have the ingredients...I like to bake cakes. Then I pass them out to the villagers for free." Bian Zao admitted. "It's the only thing I genuinely enjoy doing..."
"Cake...did you just say...cake?" Po asked mysteriously, his belly grumbling just from the mere mention. "B.Z...you can cook...?"
"I'm not a pro like you or your Dad...but yeah, I can cook. I kinda taught myself to cook since I had plenty of spare time."
"And you say you give cakes out for free? You don't do it for profit?" Tigress asked.
"No. I just...find it...I dunno. It feels kinda weird...a good kinda weird...to just give people the cakes I bake for free...and they have these big idiotic grins on their faces because they enjoy them so much...it's one of those times I don't consider being around people...lame. They really enjoy what I do for them. Now if my Dad could just notice them...then maybe that would amount to a pretty decent day."
Po's mouth was agape for a couole moments, before he fist-pumped. "This is just what we were looking for! We have an edge!" He paused for a bit, turning over to Tigress. "Heeeeeyyyy Tigress! Wanna bake cakes with us?"
"I...don't think you want me cooking, Po." She said nervously.
"Awww...why not?"
Tigress rubbed her neck nervously as her mind recalled a certain event: 'The kitchen is on fire! Good heavens THE KITCHEN IS ON FIRE!' 'I didn't know! I didn't know it could spark like that!' The voices of Zeng and poor teenage Tigress said with shock and disbelief, along with Shifu and Mrs. Yoon's frantic cries of 'PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!' in the background. Her mind then returned to reality. "Er...you'll just have to take my word for it." Thinking back, she was glad she didn't have her scarf on during that rather embarrassing attempt at managing the kitchen by herself. It...did not end well at all.
Bian Zao instantly recognized her discmfort, and decided to be blunt. "She has that 'I'm A Terrible Cook' face."
Tigress's eyes turned to pure white dinner plates, her jaw dropped, her arms hung limply on her sides, she seemed a bit tense. Her entire body comically turned white and her fur stood up straight. She was NOT prepared for one of her weaknesses to be revealed so casually. Bian Zao sweatdropped. Maybe that wasn't the best idea...this reaction wasn't foreseen. I...don't think she's used to admitting her failures...
Po was also surprised by her reaction. He was then confused as she then just knelt on the ground and shyly began drawing in the dirt with her claw. "I have become a warrior so that I learn new skills and overcome any challenge that's thrown my way..." she mumbled, her voice filled with shame. "...but cooking...has always been one of my weakest skills. I have accepted that...yet it persists to frustrate me..."
Po shrugged. "That's fine, Tigress. Everyone has a flaw, or something they're bad at."
"Oh yeah? What's your most obvious flaws, Po?"
"I'm still pretty clumsy, I'm a pretty bad liar, tend to get lazy once in a while..." Po's belly grumbled again. "And then there's that."
"And you're okay with those flaws?"
"Trust me Tigress, having flaws isn't nearly as bad as you might think it is." Po tilted his hat down. "Accepting them will prevent you from becoming something you won't be proud of..." She was thrown off by how insightful his voice sounded at this moment, then she saw his grin. "So anyway! B.Z.! Ready to bake some cakes!"
"Uh...I'm still not completely-"
"Great!" Po grabbed his arm and pulled the surprised Bian Zao along, back to the others. Tigress shook her head in amusement, and followed them during Po's excitement boost."
The others see them coming, and that Po was excited about something. Viper took up interest. "What are you so excited about?"
"We're gonna go cake baking! It brings smiles to a lot of people! This may juuuuussssst be the thing we need to raise their spirits! They don't expect actual volunteer work." Po grinned, Bian Zao rubbing his arm awkwardly.
"Did he say cake? We heard the word cake. We're gonna be baking cake?" Monkey and Mantis said in unison. Then they, along with Po, all shouted: "CAAAAAAAAAKE!"
Mei Ling folded her arms, grinning. "I do agree that cake can be pretty persuasive. Giving them out will be pretty cool." She placed a paw on her cheek. "I wonder how Crane, Fung and Song are faring in their own objective?"
(Meanwhile)
"Nothing yet. We'll just have to keep searching, regardless of how long it might take." Crane stated as he stood in the middle between Song and Fung. "And I do suspect it might take a while..."
"Haha...how great." Fung sighed to himself. He definitely didn't think he could get into a scenario like this so quickly. Crane was the only thing standing between him and Song, and he hoped it would stay that way. He felt being alone with Song would only lead to trouble on his part. So he wanted to do his best to avoid it. "Where would they keep a large food stash anyway?"
"Probably somewhere they don't think anyone would look. And even if they did, they'd intimidate the citizens into backing out." Song guessed. "Luckily, I may know where they might be. During my night trolls, I spotted a couple warehouse just barely outside Mosho Town than no one really notices. We should check them all out and see if my hunch is right. Besides...stolen goods are a rarely NOT kept in a hidden warehouse."
"Well, I did find Fu-Xi's fear venom containment in a warehouse far away from Viper's Village...maybe Song is onto something." Crane shrugged. "Anyhow, we won't know unless we take a look."
It was a matter of time before they reached the hidden warehouses. Song was cautious, so she first leapt on the side and looked through any space such as cracks, windows, and holes in the walls. To her extreme luck, she had already found the food stash, and it wasn't being guarded at all. "Well well, ain't I lucky?" Song turned to Crane. "Can you be a dear and let the villagers know about this discovery?" Fung widened his eyes, and tried to mentally will his avian comrade to decline the request.
"Sure thing."
Of course. Fung mentally facepalmed as Crane took flight back towards Moshou Town. This was exactly what he was afraid of. He fussed that he and Song would have to guard the goods in case somebody tries to move them, or something else of that nature. But that didn't change the fact that they we're alone together.
He. Was. Not. Ready. For this. They just met and something about her just makes his heart pound faster, and he doesn't have the foggiest idea why. Maybe it's because she's a thief, that may be what's putting him on edge. But he could usually handle the usual thieves with a steady heartbeat...which means that Song is no ordinary thief.
"Soooo...anything you'd like to talk about while we wait?" Song spoke up after the sioence passed, and Fung went stiff. What was he supposed to do now?!
"Um-"
"Hey! You two! What are you doing here?!" They paused and turned to see a rat where Crane used to be. "You know what, it doesn't matter, because you're leaving...unless you'd like to be beaten within an ich of your lives."
Fung was slightly relieved by the interruption, as he straightened himself out. "You think you can manage something like that?"
With a simple whistle, Fung immediately regrets jinxing himself. Large suits of armor a couple inches taller than himself surrounded both himself and Song, all in certain combat stances. He could see even more rats in the suits of armor. It looked like they we're all working together to control these armors. Its highly likely that these were stolen.
"Um...Fung? I think you kinda jinxed us." Song said, holding tightly onto her parasol.
"Yep..." he mumbled without emotion on his face. He then grabbed his helmet and threw it to the ground. "DARN IT!"