"Ah jeez...sure am gonna miss those little buddies..." Po yawned a bit. Everyone was already well packed and leaving Mosho Town, as the orphans waved goodbye to them as they moved onward. "I had so much fun eating cake with them."
"Well, at least now we have some ground covered. We did pretty well here, to tell you guys the truth." Fung said with his arms behind his neck. "What those Lao Shu rats told us before...they have more than one boss. Like...three of them. Is that right?"
"Indeed, three bosses. All three of them are said to be quite vicious in some way or another." Tigress noted. "Both in ability, and personality in general."
Po pounded his left fist into his right palm. "Snjnnnnjjo we just gotta kck their butts! It's all so simple!" He rubbed his neck. "Er...of course we have to find them first..."
"That might be difficult, considering they didn't really disclose where they might be hiding, or even their names. Just what they're like."
"They also said that I may recognize one of them." Shifu stroked his beard whioe walking aside Fenghuang. "Who could it be? A fellow master? Probably not..."
"Jong Sung definitely isn't one of them. He didn't fit the descriptions they did make about any of the three. Although that won't stop us from tackling him head-on anyway." Monkey grumbled. "He still needs to pay for what he did."
"And he will. Right now, we should focus on out next destination, the Kung Fu Express." Fenghuang groaned while saying the name. "We're pretty halfway there. We can make a couple stops, but we have a sure path towards it, for sure."
"I've always forgot how seriously they take their mail services so seriously. They're a pretty crazy bunch, if you ask me." Taotie grumbled.
Mrs. Yoon waved her hoof. "I don't think so at all! After all, how would we receive all of our mail in such an orderly and timely fashion? I highly appreciate all the hard work they do in passing these messages around with so much skill. Actually going to the headquarters may actually prove to be a very interesting experience for me."
"Pfft, if your meaning of interesting is petty junk mail, then maybe." Fenghuang rolled her eyes.
Shifu glared at her. "Must you be so rude?"
"Must you be so short?"
"How many times must you go to that?!"
"As many times as I want to, Midget!"
"Ugh, you're impossible!"
"And you're a big crybaby about your wittle ears and rather short stature." Fenghuang huffed. "It must have been quite the awkward relationship to be shorter than your own girlfriend..."
Taotie gulped. She's done it now. She got Shifu started and now he might not stop.
Shifu jabbed his staff into the ground and hopped on too if it so he could meet the owls eyes with his own raging ones. "I have a right mind to put you in a birdcage and let you rot in it so that no one will have to put up with all of your obsessive squawking! A crow's tongue is cleaner than yours!"
"What was that?!" Fenghuang glared right back. Pretty soon, Shifu was surrounded in a coat of white Chi, and Fenghuang was coated in purple Chi. Both felt incredibly intense, and were forcefully grinding against one another, the pressure was powerful enough to make a crater beneath them. "You wanna fight me, Big Ears?! Because I'll pick your bushy-tailed ass over the sunset!"
BONK! BONK!
"AGH!"
"BAH! What the hell?!"
Shifu and Fenghuang sported bumps on their heads, they winced at the newfound pain as the Chi coating them slowly disappeared. Mr. Ping held a frying pan in his wings, and he looked irritated. "Both of you, can you please calm yourselves? Good grief. I know you're not fond of one another, but this time that was far too intense."
"But I-"
"Midget-"
BONK! BONK!
"OW!"
"GAH, DAMMIT!"
"I won't say it again...CALM. DOWN." The Masters were now silent, not wanting to face the wrath of Mr. Ping and his frying pan. When he was reassured that they wouldn't argue for the moment, his positive attitude came back faster than one can blink, and so did his bright smile."Glad that's settled! Now we can move on again!"
Tigress blinked in utter amazement..She adjusted her tiger scarf and turned to Po. "I am quite surprised that your father is easily able to intimidate mine."
"No one wants my Dad angry when he has a frying pan within reach. Or a rolling pin. Or just about any kitchen utensil that can cause bodily harm." Po laughed while rubbing the back of his neck. "So being on Dad's good side is probably one of the smartest ideas one could ever have. Take it from the guy that lives with him as a son, I've come to learn this lesson well just by watching him."
"Oh dear Po, I can't even begin to imagine having Mr. Ping as a Dad. It would be SO much more interesting to have a Dad like him around." Viper smiled. "It's probably a big adventure on it's own, every day, isn't it?"
"You can call it adventure. I...just call it a regular day with a goose and panda."
"Oh come now Po! You know you always enjoy our father-son time together!" Mr. Ping grinned lightly, as he gave Po a fatherly hug. Po grinned and return the hug, lifting him slightly.
Fenghuang rolled her eyes. "You two and your hugs. Well...Po is a hugger, after all."
"A really fluffy hugger!"
"Yes Po...yes you are."
Mantis hopped on Po's shoulder and pointed forward. "Hey, Big Guy. Check out what's up ahead. I think I can see a bit of smoke, in that weird creepy looking forest place."
Po and Mr. Ping stopped right in their tracks. This did not go unnoticed by Tigress, Fung, Crane, and Mei Ling. They both blinked a little before they nervously gazed at the insect on Po's shoulder. "Ya don't say...? Creepy Looking Forest Place...um...what does it say on the map...?"
Shifu raised an eyebrow, but gazed at the map. "That forest should be..Xin Xao Forest. Why?"
Po clasped his paws, and Mr. Ping whistled a little. "Nothing important..." They both smiled. But inside they're saying: Crapbaskets!This is not good! NOT! GOOD! AT! ALL! This is everything bad and nothing of the good! "Yep, nothing important at all!"
Shifu hopped in front of the two, narrowing his eyes. "You're not lying to me, are you? Because both of you are quite poor at lying. Are you two hiding something from us?"
"Nnnnnnnnoooope! Nope, uh-uh. Not at all. No ma'am." They both said while looking away awkwardly in different directions. Everyone deadpanned at their performance. Po groaned. "Okay, we might have something to hide. But we can't tell you anything about it!"
"Why not?" Fung folded his arms in suspicion.
"Because it would break my promise, and this panda is NOT a fan of breaking promises!"
Everyone sighed at this. It was true that breaking promises would cramp Po's genuine nice guy style, and he'd give it his all to keep that from happening. He was stubborn like that.
...and so was Tigress.
I've never seen Po look so nervous...what is he and Mr. Ping hiding from us...?
"Ahem. We should see what that smoke is, and who's making it." Mr. Ping suggested. His eyes veered to the side. This is bad! Who could be lurking around there?! They'd better not be who we think they are, otherwise we are in for a deep DEEP mishap!
"I guess we can do that." Crane shrugged. "Do you want me to fly ahead and see what's up?"
Mr. Ping and Po rapidly shook their heads, and the former answered for the both of them. "That won't be necessary. We should all check it out at the same time. It never hurts to be cautious, after all!" They both folded their arms, nodding to this statement and sticking to it.
"Um...alright. But we should still be at least a bit careful. Taotie, Mr. Ping, Bian Zao. And Mrs. Yoon are not fighters. If it comes to that, we need to be able to secure a safe place to hide.'
"Hey!" Mr. Ping shouted. He looked down nervously and kicked the ground. "I...I can fight a little...but I see your point."
"You do know how to fight, but it's not enough to be a threat for something bigger than you. And we don't want to ruin your frying pans and rolling pins." Fenghuang told him. The goose sighed. The owl then turned to Po. "Alright Panda, your move. We're heading to Xin Xao Forest and seeing what's got you two so freaked out." Po also sighed. He could feel Shifu's ears listening closely on them, he was highly unlikely to let this go. But it doesn't matter. He made a promise and he was not going to break it for anything. Not even food. And he really loves food, so this was no small feat.
Po lead them all downwards towards Xin Xao Forest, where the source of the smoke was coming from. His footsteps and Mr. Ping's footsteps were highly cautious, as if the forest itself was in danger. But they tried not to break their straight faces under the gazes of their friends. They were constantly gazing at the two, trying to see what could be bothering them so much.
Tigress was the one who kept her gaze on Po the longest. She was definitely aware that Po was keeping something from them. But she would wait for her chance to confront him about it. He seemed really intent on keeping whatever secret he was hiding in this forest. Fung was just as suspicious of his intentions, but wasn't as mentally active about it as Tigress was. Po must have had his reasons. But considering the curiosity of felines...Tigress was unlikely to let it go.
Pretty soon they begin to here voices, and they all hid behind different trees in the area in order to hear what might be going on.
'Why are we out here looking for some creature that supposedly doesn't exist?'
'Hey, we were sent on this job to either confirm or deny the existence of this thing. Whether we run into it or not doesn't matter to me, because I still get paid either way.'
'I still think this is a major waste of our valuable time.'
'Your so called *valuable time* involves nothing but hitting on women in some bar and getting drunk off your ass.'
'...Okay a waste of MY valuable time then!'
'Just shut up and keep looking around.'
Po and Mr. Ping's eyes widened. Yes, this was immediately defined as an incredibly bad was only and they mean ONLY one creature that could possibly be out here and be speculated as nonexistent. And it was a creature they encountered a long time ago. If this turns out to be the case, then they needed to deal with the issue immediately. It was then that Fenghuang could now understand why they felt extremely tense, because she was informed about the event when it happened. So she, unlike the others a couple moments later, did not react in surprise when the two suddenly disappeared from view.
It took only a couple seconds to realize that Po and Mr. Ping had clearly vanished, and the first to react was Mantis. "What the...where did Po go?! And Mr. Ping?!"
"W-Wha? They we're just here a moment ago!" Crane exclaimed, flapping his wings. "How can they just vanish like that?"
"Fenghuang, did you teach Po how to Flash Step?" Shifu questioned her.
She rolled her eyes. "No way did I teach him that. As cool as he thinks it is, he's not really nimble enough to control a Flash Step properly. Unlike your daughter."
"Huh?" Shifu looked around to see that Tigress has also vanished without his knowing. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't sense her leave...either I'm a better teacher than I thought, or I'm losing my touch."
"The latter does go with old age." Fenghuang shrugged. Shifu glared at her before shifting his gaze back to where he just saw Tigress...
(Meanwhile)
"This is bad. Truly horribly bad to the bone kind of bad!" Po said while gripping his stressed head as he walked alongside his father. "Somebody is hunting for our friend! We have to worn him before it's too late!"
"I agree, son. I don't know who those guys were, and we couldn't even see them. But that hardly matters at the moment. We must make haste!" Mr. Ping keeps leading the way as Po constantly looked around them to make sure they were not being followed by anyone. They would eventually stopped in front of a normal-lookng boulder, and they approached it slowly, raising their arms to it...
"What are you two doing?"
"CHEE HOO WAH!" Po jumped and turned around to see Tigress right behind them. She wore a face that demanded an explanation for the panda-goose duo's actions. Po slowly lifted a nervously shaking arm and pointed at her, his eyes blank and white with surprise. "Wha...what...what are you doing here...?"
"I could ask the both of you the same thing." Tigress said with folded arms. "What are you both doing here? Why did you separate from the group to come here?"
Po began to sweat nervously. "Uh...nothing."
"Po...you're lying to me. We both know you're horrible at it."
The panda pulled his lips to the side, averted his eyes and waved off the request. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Tigress . No clue at all."
"Po."
"Um...it's...kinda a secret that I can't reveal because it would break my promise!"
"The promise is that important to you?"
"Look, we just can't, okay?! Tigress, haven't you heard the phrase 'Curiosity Killed The Cat?'"
"I'm no ordinary cat, though."
"...Dammit that's right." Po rubbed his neck. "Okay. We'll tell you what's going on. Better yet...we'll show you. But...it's important to keep this a secret until we deem it safe to talk about. Do you understand?" Tigress nods in confirmatiom. "Okay...I'm trusting you. Now me and Dad will be back in a moment. Just wait there for a second."
Tigress showed confusion as they Po and Mr. Ping turned around towards the boulder, raised their arms and tapped it multiple times in an assorted pattern:
Knock, tap, knock, tap...knock, tap, tap, knock...
This did nothing for a couple moments...then she showed surprise when a large scaly green hand reached out and grabbed Mr. Ping, and he phased through the rock in an outline of blue light. It reached out again to grab Po and he phased through as well, getting his entire body inside...
...Except for his rear, which got a bit stuck mid-entry. His small ball like tail wiggled slightly as he struggled to get through.
You've got to be kidding. The magic entrance thinks my butt's too big?! Po thought angrily and also embarrassingly to himself. He finally got unstuck, and he made it inside the boulder...leaving behind a terribly confused Tigress.
"Po? Mr. Ping?! What's going on?!" Tigress shouted at the boulder, becoming extremely worried that she received no answer. She then yelped in surprise as the same hand reached out and dragged her inside. Her tail was the last thing to pass through as she disappears into the boulder.
Inside the boulder, she landed on her side, rubbing her elbow to get the dust off, and did her best to stand up...
Only to come face to face with a creature she hasn't seen before.
She was met faced with a pair of green eyes. As the creature stands up, she could see him entirely. Green scales, black fingers, antlers on his head, a lighter green chest/underbelly. He also wore a apron like garment around his waist, creatively colored blue, had a red outline and it was sided green with yellow flower patterns. But the only thing that didn't set her off...
Was his smile.
"Well lookie here! It's Po's bestest buddy I've been hearin' so much about!~" He smiled as he turned around and roamed his cave in a boulder. "Now don't get shy on me. You're a guest, and I always want my guests to be comfortable. Please, come on in!" She blinked at the turn of events just dumped on her, but nonetheless followed the creature into the next room.
She was honestly surprised when she saw the inside behind the door. The place had plenty of paintings hung on the walls, a couple incense placed on different tables, a cabinet in the far back, a drawer on the side with more paintings, and a portrait on the top of the wall...
A portrait of this creature, Mr. Ping, and Po.
"Hey Tigress!" She blinked to regain her focus as she could see Po and Mr. Ping sitting at the larger table, waiting on her. "Come sit with us!"
"Er...okay." She said awkwardly as she slid over a chair and took a seat near Po. "Po...I believe now is a better time to ask than ever...who is this?" She pointed to the creature currently rummaging through his cabinet.
Po turned around. "Oh, that's one of my friends! Qilin."
Her eyes widened at this. She's heard so much about the Qilin growing up. And most of them were many negative ways...and a couple of them were a bit too vulgar for her to hear. However seeing the creature for herself, up close...those rumors may have been incredibly exaggerated. Especially if Po managed to befriend him. What really confused her was when and how this happened.
"That's right. Po and his Daddy right here are pretty close friends of mine. They kept my existence a secret like I asked them to. But I can understand if they let you in. They said you tend to be the stubborn type, and you do have the aura of a stubborn person. Not that that's a bad thing, not one bit." He paused, and held a tea cup out to her. "Green Tea?"
She took the moment to pause, and take the cup from him like he offered her too. She knew that Green Tea was one of Shifu's favorite teas to drink. So she gained a favorite for it too. She took a quiet sip from the cup, then expressed surprise when she set it back down. "This...this is amazing."
"I know, right? Such amazing tea." Mr. Ping smiled, sipping his own cup.
Qilin smiled as he walked over to the table, taking a seat of his own. "Like I was sayin', I know these two pretty well by now. Po also told me a lot about you."
"He...he did?" Tigress gazed at Po for a moment, who nodded to confirm this.
"Indeed he did. Despite only knowing you for a week before you and the croc separated from one another, he learned a lot about you. He admires how strong you are, as well as your dedication to building that strength. But you were in desparate need of a friend, a role he said he gladly accepted. I wish I could have seen you as a cub, but there isn't any use worrying about that. Looking at you from my point of view, you have indeed given yourself the image of a powerful warrior." He reached out and stroked her cheek. "As well as a pretty young woman."
Tigress felt her cheeks heat up from the compliment. "P-Pretty...? M...M...Me...?"
"Hahaha! I think I get it now! On the battlefield you're a force to be reckoned with. But in a normal conversation you don't know what to do sometimes!" Qilin chuckled a bit, before calming down and staring her in the eyes. "You're definitely a strong person physically. But on the inside ya have a bit of a shy side due to not havin' any friends around for a while. Am I right?"
Tigress looked downward, covering her muzzle with her scarf. "...Probably..."
"It ain't nothin' to be ashamed of. Pretty natural for your case." He waved away. He then grabbed a bowl and handed it to Po. "Mooncake?"
"Eh? Aren't those saved for the Mid-Autumn Festivals?"
"They're very much available during that time, but it don't hurt to eat them at any time."
"Oh...in that case..."
There is something very amusing about seeing Po's cheeks being stuffed with Mooncakes. Mr. Ping and Tigress clearly thought that it was hilarious to see. When he was done with those, he reached for more.
"So tell me somethin' Po." Qilin continued, stopping Po in his tracks. "Why aren't you three in the Valley Of Peace? Shouldn't you be there?"
"..." Po, Tigress, and Mr. Ping all turned silent when these questions were asked. Qilin noticed he had touched a sensitive subject, and was about to attempt to change it, but it had already sunk in to them. "The Valley...is gone."
"...what?" He asked quietly, hoping he had misheard. Unfortunately, it seems that he did not.
"The Valley Of Peace...it's basically gone. Jade Palace destroyed. Everyone there has been killed. The only one who could have stopped it was Master Oogway...but he passed away at the worst of times..." Tigress explained quietly while staring blankly into her tea. "Our home is nothing but charred remains...now we are just wanderers, having no clear destination in sight. We just know that we have to keep moving..."
"Ohh dear." Qilin gasped, his paws on his mouth to keep it in. He then made his way over to Po, Tigress, and Mr. Ping, then he wrapped his arms around all three of them in a group hug. "That's terribly tragic...I'm sorry for your loss. It must have been incredibly hard for you to leave your home behind like that..."
"We didn't have a choice...there was barely anything left to salvage. And with no one surviving except for Mrs. Yoon...Shifu's Master status is most likely revoked due to his failure to protect the Valley. All of us...we're merely wanderers, as said before. We have no permanent home anymore. We only travel to where we think would be best to go next. We're nomadic...in a way."
Po nodded quietly, as Qilin patted his back. "There's no need to feel sorry, Qilin. We're still going through a bit of a recovery. We already knew it wouldn't be that easy. Anyway...that's not what we're here to tell you. We we're just passing by your home on our way to our next stop, when we come across the forest. We think there may be hunters out there that know you're here. And they don't seem to be leaving anytime soon."
"There's no doubt that they're dangerous, so we just wanted to warn you to be extremely careful. Just to be sure of it, we're volunteering to chase them out of the forest so you can continue on with your business." Mr. Ping explained.
Qilin sighed, sitting down and pouring some tea into another cup. "It ain't like I'm doing anything out here...I've been hiding out here for years in peace and quiet. It ain't that I don't like it, it ain't that at all. Just that...it's not as welcoming as it used to be. I just wish people would stop coming after me. They don't even try to tolerate my presence. Being mean, calling me names, just because I may look a bit different than them...or a lot different."
Tigress's ears flattened against her ears. "We know how that feels..."
"Po told me about that too. Told me that people were mean to the both of you when you both were merely cubs. And I say that's mighty ridiculous." Qilin said strongly. "Po's physique is a natural part of his body, that ain't somethin' to pick on him for. He didn't bother anybody, but they insisted to bother him regardless. And Tigress. The little lady is gifted with enhanced strength, what about it?" He folded his arms. "She didn't learn how to restrain her claws and fangs at the time. That ain't no reason to lock a sad little girl behind a cage because she looked dangerous. I mean, look at me. Sure I look dangerous, but spending enough time with me, Mr. Ping called me one of the nicest guys he's ever met. My looks were never an issue to these two. Being a nice guy was all it took to be their friend."
"Wow..so you know what it feels like to be an outsider...and outcast." Tigress said quietly, in which Qilin nodded. "But wait...how do you know Po and Mr. Ping?"
He was about to explain, but his ear twitched suddenly, and he stood up abruptly. "I hear someone outside. Did somebody follow you?"
"No, it couldn't be. Sure we kinda ditched our friends for a little while to come see you, but they didn't follow us. We couldn't have possibly led them here." Mr. Ping shook his head, but he couldn't deny the fact that something was going on outside. "But...that does sound like somebody is outside..."
"No choice. We'll have to go out and see what it is." Tigress stated, getting up from her chair. "If this presence is hostile, it's best that Mr. Ping stays in here."
"Yeah, good call." Po agreed as he also got up. "Qilin, we need you to get us outside."
"Done and done." Their friend got up and led them back to the entrance. He held both of their arms and walked through the boulder together. They completely phased through in a blue shine of light. Only to see that no one was out there, at least as their eyes can see. "Well that's strange. I could have sworn I've heard somebody out here..."
Po looked around cautiously. "That's weird...I thought for sure there was-"
Tigress thrusted her paw in front of Po out of reflex. She felt her paw hold onto something, so she gripped it tightly and heard something that was similiar to a wolf's whine. Her first act was to quickly let go and sent a kick to the air, seemingly. Po could her her kick impact something, and hit the tree in front of them, then call back to the ground, picking up dust. They were both surprised to see that a wolf suddenly became visible, now unconscious from the force of her blow.
"What the heck?! That guy just appeared out of nowhere!" Po exclaimed.
"Take a good look at his shoulder, Po." Tigress focused her gaze on the wolf's shoulder. Po was able to see it as well. "It's a Lin Kuei Mark...they're the ones looking for Qilin, I bet."
"Lin Kuei...?" Qilin said quietly. He then heard something, and suddenly disappeared from sight without the other two noticing.
"But how were they able to follow us here, is what I don't get...wait, what is that?" Tigress narrowed her eyes at the wolf's head. She takes it off his head and gives it a quick look. "I feel a faint dark Chi emitting off of this headgear...it surely has to be a magical artifact. It seems to be the reason why he was able to become invisible. Hm...maybe Shifu will know what it is when we get back to him and the others."
"There is no need for that, Tigress."
Po and Tigress stiffened up from this. The former began to sweat nervously as he began to think about how the situation will turn out next. "Tigress..."
"Yes Po?"
"Um...is that the sound of your Dad I hear...?"
"...Yes Po. That sounds like Father."
"Oh...joyous joy..." Po turned around and waved nervously at the others. "Hey guys...how's it going...?"
Monkey clicked his tongue, folded his arms and shook his head. "Po my panda man...Tigress my feline maiden...if you two wanted to spend some quality alone time with one another, you should have just said so."
"...Huh?" They both tilted their heads.
Song knew just from look king at them that it wasn't what Monkey thought it was...but that wouldn't stop her entertainment. Po was still a bit innocent and naive. Tigress was obviously the more mature one. This lead to a rather interesting idea. She took on an innocent facade and placed her paws on her cheeks. "My my, Tigress...I knew you and Po were close...but this is an entirely new level."
Tigress narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
The snow leopardess placed one paw on her hip and wiggled her finger. "You don't have to pretend, Tigress. You know what kinds of things can happen when a man and a woman alone in a forest, don't you?"
Tigress froze up and blushed brightly, while Viper jawdropped. "Tigress! You didn't!...Did you?"
"N-No!"
"I'm not so sure about that answer, Stripes. Despite your closed in nature, you seem to be the dominant type." Fenghuang rubbed her beak. "The 'interactions' between the two of you could be quite...interesting."
Tigress groaned and pawed her face. "You're not helping, Master Fenghuang."
"I'm stating an opinion. Wasn't trying to help you or obstruct you."
Tigress sighed. She should have known better. Po looked around and raised his paw. "I...don't understand what's going on...what is everyone talking about?"
Monkey tilted his head. "You don't know? What we're implying is-"
"You'd be wise to abandon that statement, Monkey. Unless you want to become nothing but a bloody pulp twitching on the ground...in a fraction of a second." Shifu said with a twitch in his eye. Monkey paled considerably at this. "Now before any of you make any other preposterous assumptions..." Po and Tigress turned to him. "Mind telling us why you really came out here?" They both looked nervous, so Tigress hid her face with her scarf, and Po with his hat. Shifu sighed. "I can still see you."
"...How do you know it's really us?"
"PO!"
"Okay! Look, we did come out here for a reason, but not one we can tell you!"
Shifu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why not?"
"Because...uuuummm...because..."
"And where is Mr. Ping?" Crane asked.
"Well he's...I...uh..."
"And why are you at a loss for words?" Taotie asked.
"APPLES! IT'S BECAUSE OF APPLES!" everyone backed up a bit at Po's outburst. He then sighed and rubbed his neck. "Sorry...I'm kinda hungry."
Didn't we JUST have snacks, though? Tigress mentally sighed.
Another voice sigher, causing most of them to jump. "I just can't stand by and watch this."
Po flinched and turned to the source of the voice. "Don't do it...I can figure this out, really!"
Everyone looked in all as Qilin came out of hiding, rubbing his neck with a guilty look on his face. "I can't do that, Po. I don't want you gettin' into trouble for my sake, Po. Not again."
Again...? Has this happened before? Tigress wondered mentally again. It was then that Tigress noticed that everyone had stayed perfectly still when they noticed Qilin walk out next to Po and Tigress. There was no denying that their faces demanded an explanation.
"I'm sure you're all wonderin' who I am...or what I am, for that matter. So I'm just gonna tell ya and get it over with." He breathed in deeply, then sighed. "I...am the Qilin. It's also my name, don't wear it out."
There. Qilin has made his decision and was going to stand by it no matter the cost. But he made sure he stayed close to Po and Tigress. Now they just had to wait for their reactions in order to decide their next move...