Tales Of China

by Ben10Extreme

A young Po meets a banished Fenghuang. Despite herself, she finds herself bonding with him and Mr. Ping. One circumstance leads to another, and she trains Po for their journey across China, with Tigress and Shifu, and even more friends made along the way. They'll meet China's various challenges to further better themselves and each other, with love and courage in their hearts.

32. Conflict With A King

I may have gotten a bit jumbled in some of these parts. Sorry about that.

Other than that, let's start.

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"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" The loud bellow of a shocked king echoed throughout the area. It made all of his men cover their ears in pain, as well as Po and the others. It took a good couple of moments before they were able to hear properly again. And what they we're about to hear would be disbelief, shock, anger, and a slight trace if disappointment. "How could you not have hard of me?! I'm well-known ALL OVER CHINA! And you have the gall to say YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF ME?!"

"Yeah." Po said simply, genuine confusion still being the most noticeable thing on his face. "Was I supposed to know you, or something?"

"You're serious?" Fung said in complete shock and awe at Po's confession. "You have never heard of Temutai?"

"Nope."

"The warrior king who has defeated many Kung Fu Masters in the past?"

"Nuh-Uh."

"Size to be extraordinary? Strength that remains one of the most fearsome? KING OF THE QIDAN CLAN?"

"Not ringing a bell."

Fung sighed as he rubbed his snout, trying to find some way to work around this. "Okay let's try a general question altogether. Have you heard of the Qidan Clan at ALL?"

Po looked like he was thinking reslly hard, and Temutsi actually thought there would be some true progresd made. But those hopes were dashed when Po pouted and shook his head. "Don't remember anyone or anything mentioning the Qidan Clan to me. Sorry."

The Warrior King folded his arms. "You haven't heard of me. Even children have heard of me because of all the parents telling them thrilling tales about my endeavors ever since I've become King...and yet here you are, Panda. Saying that you've never heard of me..." There was a small pause...then he unfolded his arms with his eyes wide and angry. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

Po scratched his head, not flinching at the loud water buffalo before him. "Um...totally possible. I've never heard of the Qidan Clan...and I've never heard of their warrior king, which is apparently you. Honestly, I haven't."

There was a large space of silence after Po said his piece. His eyes were simply curious to know what might happen next. Fung, Viper and Song were in complete disbelief at Po's lack of knowledge. Peng and Lian were showing caution in case they quit the silence and returned to being hostile.

The warrior king himself, however, was now placed in a problematic situation. They trespassed over his Kingdom, so he can't just let them off the hook with no punishment. Yet at the same time, he can't be too hard on them now because the lands didn't even realize that he couldn't just walk into places like this without warning. He wondered if he always acts like this. Thinking back for a couple moments, he realized the immense difference between the panda and his friends. Each of them have reacted in either shock or fear, the latter is something he always goes for as he is very intimidating just by size alone. Hearing of his victories over many Kung Fu Masters also contributes to the fear factor, and it makes many think twice about messing with him, his people, or his kingdom as a whole.

This panda was gazing right at him and didn't even flinch. He's sure that's never happened before. What he wasn't sure of was if he was very brave or just air headed.

"Hey, where are we anyway?" Po suddenly asked, rubbing his neck. It might be the latter as much as the former...

"Temutai is the King of the Qidan Clan, Po. So obviously, we must be somewhere in the Qidan Kingdom. I don't know WHY we we're ignorant enough to even realize it, but luckily at least Song tried to give us a heads up. Are you getting this now?" Fung explained to him while gripping the panda's shoulders. Though Po's silly grin made him sigh in defeat. "You didn't get any of that, did you?"

"Uh...can you repeat all of that?" Fung groaned in aggravation and he repeated everything he said to the best panda a bit more slowly and clearly the second time..The information hit it's mark this time, and Po's eyes widened with realization. "Oh! He's royalty!"

"Yes he is royalty, Po. Now do you realize how-"

"Hey, what was that delicious smell that we were following here?" Po cuts in, slightly forgetting the previous statement that was just conveyed to him. "If my memory serves me right, that smells like fried rice balls!"

Memory...serves him right? He is constantly forgetting that he's standing in front of a KING...and he has enough memory to remember what brought him here in the first place? Fung couldn't help but hold his head and shake it side to side slowly. "Of course...because why not...?"

"You say something, Fung?"

"Nothing. It isn't anything serious, bro."

"Alrighty then. If you say so."

Temutai scratched his head, now not knowing what he should do. He was so eager to punish the trespassers, but it appears that the incident was completely unintentional. So severe consequences couldn't be placed on them, not for something like this. He would have to be a bit fair about this...close enough to fair, anyway.

"This is...rather awkward. However, you'll still need to stay in this village for a very long time! Like...a couple days or so! Just to be sure you're not lying."

Fung scoffed at this, paired with a slight swish of his tail. "Po and lying make a very uncooperative combination. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about."

Po nodded. "Of course! I wouldn't lie about something like this. I really do want some of your fried rice balls!" At this point, Fung facepalmed while mumbling that's not what he meant. Peng, Lian, Song, and Viper took the time to snicker at his statement. "If we stay here...then can I have some?"

The Qidan King nods. "This is acceptable."

"HAHA!" Po cheered. He was being offered food and all he had to do was stick around for a couple days! That shouldn't be too difficult. Plus, it would also give him a chance to check out the village for a bit. It seemed pretty interesting to him.

"Well. Guess we're stuck here for a bit. We might as well have a little look around while we're at it." Lian yawned a little as she placed her paws behind her neck, relaxing a bit since the danger has seemingly passed. "Peng, what will you do?"

"I'll go with Po and Viper. Do me a favor and try not to get into a fuss. These guys seem like serious business." Peng turned around to see two of the soldiers in a fierce arm-wrestling contest...them one of them whines childishly when they lose, as the winner just as childishly tubs it in his face. Peng tilted his head. "...Mostly serious."

"I'm gonna be fine. Besides, I have a feeling that we'll be running into trouble anyway. You saw their King, right?" Lian smiled. Peng rolled his eyes with a smile, quickly kissed her cheek, and left to follow Po and Viper. Lian then turned to see Fung, who looked a bit embarrassed. "Whats your deal? Are you bothered by something?"

"Yeah...it's still a bit risky to let Po just roam free the way he's going. Maybe I'm being too cautious, maybe not. Either way, we need to be prepared for any kind of reaction." Fung folded his arms, as he sat in one spot and stared at the sky. "I'm really hoping that Po manages to keep out of trouble."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Song smiled. Though she too had a bit of concern left over the subject. As long as she's known him so far, Po did have a habit of unknowingly or intentionally attracting trouble. Fung has already confirmed it, and she's seen it in action. But she wondered...this is a kingdom. The King is a powerful warrior in his own right. Surely Po won't find any reason to be stupid enough to come to blows with him...hopefully.

(With Po)

As they were promised, Po and Viper had gotten their paws/tail on their own servings of friend rice balls, and were currently eating each of them with a high level of enjoyment. Peng couldn't help but laugh a little at how silly they were acting after finally obtaining the snack they wanted. Both pairs of eyes look completely at ease since they got their wish. Now they just had to find a way to spend their time.

"So we'll be here for a while since we're the trespassers, even if it was accidental." Peng said while looking around and taking note of the many warriors of this village's clan looked like they could do a lot of damage to surrounding residential environments if they truly wanted to. And yet at the same time, they didn't seem to be the kind of clan who would hold back when it came to taking what they desired with excessive force. That's why he was still a bit on edge, but not to the point of paranoia. Probably because Po was ignorant of their existence up until now, for some reason.

"I'm pretty sure we can find something to do. I mean, how hard can it be?' Viper said with a tail gesture that resembled shrugging her shoulders. "Who knows? We may end up liking this place if we give it a chance. Might be a pretty cool experience. For example...these fried rice balls. They're delicious." Viper smiled widely at Po. "Isn't that right?'

Po smiles and nods. "Totally delicious and awesome! Something so simple and yet so great! It just goes to show that sometimes even the simple things can be totally amazing." He placed a paw into the bag of fried rice balls...all gone. "Aww...they're all gone already."

Viper pouted in disappointment. "Really? Darn, I was hoping they lasted us a bit longer. I didn't even get a chance to stuff myself..."

"Ha...well I guess that's not gonna happen this time. Time to find another way to occupy our time that doesn't involve taking a nap. Even though I'd really like a nap..." Po sighed. He stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of someone falling into the ground, making him turn his head abruptly. "What was that?"

"Over there, Po." Peng turned his gaze to the side. Po mimicked him, and his eyes widened.

There was a little pig girl wearing green robes and a jeweled tiara on her head, she had stumbled over, along with the two boxes she was carrying falling over and hitting the ground. Her clothes we're a bit torn up, and she looked very filthy. It looks as if she hasn't bathed or changed clothes in a long time. Her face also looked sad and a bit depressed.

Naturally, Po decided to intervene. Peng and Viper followed without hesitation. Peng was the one who picked up the boxes, Viper helped the pig girl up and coiled around her gently, and Po kneeled a bit so she could meet the nervous girl's eyes.

"Hey...what's the big idea carrying these boxes on your own?" Po asked, his head tilted to the side. "It seems like it's a bit too much for you to handle on your own."

"N-No...it's alright. I can do it." She said weakly as she tried her hardest to stand back up. Though one could tell that she was beyond exhausted. Viper gently kept her from falling over.

"No offense, but I highly doubt that you can. Looking at you as you are, I'm actually pretty surprised you can stand." Peng stated. "I'm also pretty concerned about those injuries. You don't get to tell me that those are merely nothing, we both know better." Peng continued to gaze at her, while shr was gazing at how easily he carrying the boxes in merely one paw. "Uh...it's not that impressive that I'm lifting these boxes, you know."

"Sorry. It's just that...you're so strong...yet so small..." Peng sighed softly at the pig's wording.

"Regardless...you're carrying these boxes somewhere, right? Where do you want me to put them?" He asked politely. The child's eyed widened a bit, before pointing towards a small stack of boxes next to one of the houses. He nodded as he set them on the very top of the stack before dusting off his paws. "Now that that's over with...we should give you a bath."

"A bath?"

"No offense, sweetie. But you smell horrible." Viper gagged a bit, keeping her tongue inside her mouth as best as she could. Sometimes smelling with just her tongue tends to be a bit of a drag in scenarios like this one. "You are definitely taking a bath. And you need to change clothes, they're ragged and torn up."

"But-"

"No buts. Bath time!" Po grinned as he picked the pig girl up and looked around for a bit. "Doesn't look like they have a bathouse here...looks like we're doing this bare-pawed." He paused a bit before turning his head to Viper. "And...tailed."

"Good attempt, I appreciate it." Viper smiled. Once again the child blinked in confusion as the others made the decision to get her cleaned up despite her gentle refusal. What Peng noticed that the other two did not, however, that she was surprised that they bothered to care about her condition. This was giving him a vibe that something was wrong. The other thing that made him wonder was the fact that she was the only child that they have seen in this warrior-filled village. He honestly wondered why...

With the feeling still hung over his head, he shook it off for the moment, as the pig child was their main concern for the moment. As Po said, the village didn't seem to have a bathhouse, so they chose to do something more hands-on. One of the houses remained unoccupied, so there didn't seem to be any problems with borrowing it's contents for a little bit.

It became a team effort. Peng found a barrel big enough for her to fit in, Viper managed to gather some clean water to fill said barrel, and Po gently removed her from her ribe and placed her in the water. Noticing how tired she seemed to be, he took the mantle of bathing the child. Back ti Vioer, she did her best to fix up the slightly torn robe that the child wears. She wasn't as good as Mrs. Yoon when it came to fixing up clothes, but she wasn't bad at it either. On the contrary, she's quite skilled thanks to her mother's influence. Peng kept a quiet lookout for anybody with hostile intentions that might come after them.

When Po was sure that she was completely cleaned up, he and Viper placed their pig friend back into her robes as carefully as they could. They smiled warmly at their success as she now looked a lot better than she did a couple moments ago. Po then sat down and lied against the wall while picking her up and placing her atop his belly. He placed his hat in the side and smiled.

"Alright we got you cleaned up. Now ya mind tellin' me why are you lifting those boxes anyway? That kind of work doesn't seem to be something you can handle." Po said quietly. He was aware that he was a stranger to her, and she looked pretty scared. So being too forward wasn't the best approach. "But before all of that, what's your name?"

It took a bit of time for her to respond. "Um...my name is Mei Li, Mr. Panda."

"No no. Just Po will do."

"Um...Po?"

"There ya go!" Pause. "...Hey, that rhymed! Sweet!" Po said with a chuckle. "Okay, back to the other question thing. Those boxes looked too heavy for you to carry."

She looked to the side so she couldn't see his face. "I do more than loft those boxes...I have a lot of work I have to do every day...and I can't take too long or else they'll never get done..."

"What are you talking about? 'Taking too long?' You can barely stand." Peng repeated the last part. "With or without carrying those boxes, you look like you're about to collaspe. What kind of work are you even doing?"

"Um...washing the warriors clothes...pushing blocks to fit certain buildings...setting up dummies for them to train on...polishing the weapons-"

"HOLD IT!" Viper stopped her from continuing. "Why would they allow a child to handle to handle sharp blades? Now we know why those cuts are there." The cuts have closed and healed a long time ago, but they were still visible on Mei Li's arms. She hid her arms in her robe while closing her eyes.

"It's my own fault for being clumsy enough to get cut..."

"Yeah...that's not an excuse." Peng deadpanned. "Even without that, the rest of those chores seems strenuous for someone as young as you, doesn't it? How come you're the only one doing these things?'

"It's my job."

"Okay...but why is it your job?"

Mei Li was getting noticeably more nervous after that question, as she didn't say anything after that. The other three didn't miss this detail, but also did not push her to answer quickly. Their calm, patient, gentle gazes told her that they wouldn't be leaving until she gave them an answer. It also told her that they had plenty of time to wait for her. With a bit of reluctance, she rose up and spoke again.

"Okay, it's not actually my job. But...it's something I still gotta do on a daily basis."

Viper shook her head. "All of these things are something they can do themselves, easily. What we want to know is why are they making you do it?" It's now plenty obvious that she was dodging the question, but they kept bringing her back to focus. They were serious.

With more reluctance, Mei Li spoke honestly. "I'm...a princess. And due to something between my own kingdom and these guys kingdom...I have no choice but to be their slave..."

"What?! Princess?! Kingdom?! Slave?!...No choice?!" Viper gaped in stummed shock. "What the heck is going on here? Why would the Qidan want a Princess as a slave?" Especially a little girl?!"

Peng folded his arms. "I may have heard something like this. The Qidan Clan and another Kingdom came to blows...and the Qidan defeated them with little to no difficulty. The terms of surrender included handing over a princess every few years at a time. It didn't matter how old they were, as long as they got their princess."

"And that princess is Mei Li this time? How could they?!" Viper shouted. "Mei Li-"

"Yes...I knew about it. Mom and Dad knew about it for a long time, too." Mei Li sighed. "It's tradition and we can't fight it. The Qidan are just far too strong to resist their hold over my people. They lost the war, so we had to follow the tradition of giving away a princess to the Qidan King to be his personal slave. Once I left my Kingdom a couple months ago. I knew I wouldn't be coming back, ever. That's why...I didn't bother to get close to anyone."

"Get close...? What do you mean?"

"I was meant to be a slave as soon as I was able to. If I were close to anyone in my kingdom, they would be so sad to see me go when the time came for me to leave. I didn't want that to happen to anyone." She turned her gaze to Po and rubbed her ears. "I've acted like a big jerk to everyone around me back in my home...so that I wouldn't break their hearts when I left. If they had the memories of a nice and friendly princess on their minds...they would be miserable. So I left them with the memories of a rotten, spoiled, bratty princess...so they wouldn't miss me when I left."

"You're saying that you acted mean...to spare their feelings?" Viper said softly. "But wait...Peng said your kingdom hands over a princess every few years...but the deal was that the princesses work for life. So why...?"

Peng also checked back on his words...then his eyes widened. "Don't tell me..."

"I most likely won't even survive a year..." Mei Li said sadly. "Its like you said, it's taking all of my energy just to stand up. I just...didn't find a point in connecting to anyone, because it'll only end in heartbreak. I just accepted my fate quietly so that no one but myself gets hurt..."

It was only slightly faint, but it was clear to them. This Clan treats the princess if their enemy kingdom so cruelly that none of them can survive very long. And yet they have reached chosen this over allowing the Qidan to attack their kingdom again. To think they would be faced with a dilemma like this, and be forced to do what Mei Li did...it must have been horrible for each and every one of them before her. Cut off all connections so that no one will miss them when they're gone...that's a heartrending decision for sure.

"So you see. I can't run away from this. I can't have any friends because they'll only be sad in the very end. For their sake...I have to be alone." Mei Li shook her head. "It's not like I had any friends in the first place anyway. People pretend to be nice to me because I'm a princess. I see it in their eyes...they couldn't wait until they didn't have to serve me anymore. So I wasn't really leaving much behind to start with. I just did what I did so that I would be sure."

The silence that followed this was almost too painful for any of them to bear. Almost to the point that they didn't notice Po's silence to the entire thing. When he was sure she had finished talking, he picked her up and placed her on the ground. He then patted her head gently and left the room confusing her.

"Where's Po going...?"

"After hearing this...I got a pretty good idea what he's going to do next." Viper said slithering after him quietly. Peng held Mei Li's hand and followed the both of them. The princess had an understandably concerned look on her face.

With each step feeling more tense than the last, the group was heading for the center of the village. They were reunited with Fung, Song, and Lian. Fung saw the seriousness in Po's eyes. "Oh man, I know that look. What happened...?"

Temutai also saw the serious look on Po's face when he approached the thron he sat in. "Ah, you returned. And without your rice balls. Did you eat them all already? That must be why you're upset. I'll be sure to get you some more-"

"Mei Li is going home." Po said blankly, but the impact hit it's mark nonetheless.

Temutai's air of hospitality vanished at that moment, as he stood up and glared down at the panda. "That is not something you should have discovered."

"Well that's too bad, because I did. And I gotta say, I don't like what I heard from her mouth." Po glared. "How could you make a small little girl, a PRINCESS, your slave for the rest of her days?! And by the looks of things, she won't survive the rest of this year with the kind of treatment she's put through and the work she's forced to do!"

"This is the agreement her Kingdom made with the Qidan as a result of the war they lost to us many years ago. It is tradition. They send over a princess to the Qidan King. As a result, the Qidan don't attack their Kingdom. And the cycle repeats. The Kings before me have continued this tradition, so shall I. With this balanced agreement between the two kingdoms, we have been at peace."

"That arrangement is stupid." Po pointed directly at him. "You're stupid!"

"What did you say?!" The Water Buffalo growled angrily.

"You mean to tell me that this is how the two of you keep peace?! By sacrificing a little girl every time a certain amount of time has passed?! No. No way. That is messed up."

"IS IT, NOW?!"

"Yeah! Her Kingdom has to give up their princess so that they can save themselves from destruction. YOUR Kingdom works that poor princess to death. Mei Li is barely able to stand up and it hasn't even been half a year!" Po shouted angrily. "She's already given up on her life because she knows that with this kind of fate she won't have a chance to live it!"

Temutai huffed as he crossed his arms. "It isn't my fault. I'm just following what history has repeated many times. They should have never started a conflict with my clan in the first place. Enslaving their Princess is suitable enough. If they can't handle the strain, then that makes her weak just like her people, doesn't it?"

Po's eyes narrowed. "You say this...you KNOW they can't stop you from having your way...and you're taking full advantage if it?" He said as his fists clenched hard enough to hear small cracks. "You're not warriors...you're bullies. They can't resist you because there's no one strong enough to push you back. But that changes right now. I'm breaking this terrible tradition...and Mei Li is going home where she belongs."

Temutai's eyes narrowed. "Why should this concern you anyway?" He unfolded his arms. "THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"

Po's eyes darkened dangerously. "You don't decide that for me."

"Fine. If that is how you wish to react...THEN THIS IS MY RESPONSE!" Temutai's arm raised up and swiped Po aside, making him crash into one of the houses and causing it to crash on top of him, picking up dust and debris. "HA! As if a pands of all creatures could pose a threat to me! YOU, PRINCESS!" He bellowed at Mei Li, who was looking horrified that Po had just been attacked for standing up for her. "You're going back to your room where you can't cause trouble like that!"

"Mystic Spiral."From behind the clouds of dust, a green glowing ring shot out and slabbed into his midsection, the impact strong enough to knock him off his feet and be smashed right through his throne, destroying it in the process. With a pained grunt, Temutai got back up whioe holding his side in time to see Po walk out of the destroyed building. He had a bit of scratches o him, but he wasn't slowed down at all. "Did I surprise you? I hope I did."

"You...what did you do?"

"That was Mystic Spiral, one of the Impossible Moves my Master taught me." Po folded his arms. "I used to call it 'Flying Ring Of Energy', but that didn't sound as cool."

Temutai's angry look did nothing to intimidate the panda. When he realized this, he smirked. "You'll fight for her life?"

"Of course."

"Very well. What's your name?"

"The name's Po." He tilited his hat a bit. "And this...is my hat."

"Uh...right. So Po, I'll cut you a deal. You see, I haven't had a battle that actually made me push myself in a long time. If you can defeat me..I'll set her free, and I'll also promise never attack her kingdom. But if you lose...YOU'LL be my personal servant instead of her."

"Deal."

Temutai raised an eyebrow. "Hm! You accepted these terms quite quickly."

"It doesn't matter if I win or lose. As long as Mei Li doesn't stay here." Po said. "Because unlike her, I can take whatever you dish out. Be it a duel, or being your slave."

He's seriously not bluffing about this...I haven't seen determination like that in a long time... Temutai dusted himself off and nodded. "Very Well. LET US BEGIN!"

"Po stop! Don't get yourself hurt for me! I'm not worth it!" Mei Li tried to get to him, but Viper wrapped her tail around her to keep her in place. "What?!"

"He's made up his mind." Viper said quietly, gazing at the two from afar.

One of the warriors nodded to one another, and made their way towards the princess, which gravely unnerved her. "Just in case...let's keep her in her cage anyway. Gotta make sure she doesn't-" The warrior speaking those words was met with a kick to his skull, which sent him flying across the village like a ragdoll.

Peng landed back on his feet. "You're not putting her back in a cage. She's staying right here, and none of you are going to touch her." He growled with a tone of warning. "Just stay where you are, and we won't have any more problems."

Lian yawned a little bit, scratching her ear. "I'd advise for you to listen to him. Peng tends to get carried away when he gets too excited." Peng mumbled something about that not being true, which only made her giggle.

Fung sighed a little as he pinched his snout. "It hasn't even been an hour and Po's already picked a fight with the Qidan King. And it's for a good reason. That's why I can't be too mad at him over this." Song nodded slowly, as if to agree with him.

Po skidded back as a kick he thrusted at Temutai's chest had noneffect at all. "That's a seriously tough hide. Unfortunately for me, I'm not Tigress. Physical strength won't do me a lot of good here..." His eyes widened as he blocked two fists coming down on him with both of his paws, but the strain could clearly be seen on his face. "Which is bad, because it sure seems to be HIS specialty..."

"Come now Po, I know that's not the best you can do!" Temutai shouted as he rose a fist again and brought it down even harder. Po didn't bother blocked this one, but he rolled to the side as the punch made a sizeable crack in the ground that spreads out a couple feet. Not quite finished, he then charge headfirst straight into Po. He tried to grab his horns and push him back in an attempt to stop him, but his moment was far too great. Po was charged through another house, wrecking it completely. The Water Buffalo kept charging and crashed him through yet another house before finally coming to a stop and letting Po hit the ground.

The panda was in noticable pain, having to take a couple moments to actually stand back on his feet while holding his back. He could have sworn that he was bleeding a bit there. A bit of a check with his right paw proved that theory correct. Luckily his hat remained undamaged, but thatrthe least of his problems. Come on Po, think! If you don't start making progress he'll overpower you with nothing but brute force. I don't have that kind of physical strength, not like Tigress. What am I gonna do...?

"I know you're not defeated yet, Po! Come out and face me!" Temutai bellowed. Po was hiding in one of the still intact buildings to give himself some recovery time, and time to think.

He's gonna start smashing through his stuff just to get to me. Think Po. You can't match his strength on your own, think of a counter. Po tilted his head and closed his eyes, thinking hard on how to deal with this problem. After a certain amount of time passed, he opened his eyes and clapped. That's it, I got it!

"Ahah, there you are!" He heard the sound of charging, and his grin suddenly dropped.

"Ah crap." He got up and rolled to the side again, avoiding Temutai's reckless charge just barely. He stood back up and grasped his arm. One of his horns must have scraped him.

Temutai turned around to meet Po's gaze. "What's wrong, Po? I thought you were going to fight!"

"I am. I just needed a little time to think, that's all." Po grinned. Just like making figurines. Have some creativity. "I'm ready for you this time."

"Very well!" Temutai charged forward headfirst again, faster and more forceful than all the other charges.

Po took a deep breath and readied his paws for the upcoming attack. His eyes opened slowly. "Wind Hammer..." He waited for the opportune time as his opponent draws closer. Right when he was within range, both of Po's paws glowed green, and he thrusted both of them into his opponets chest. The glow disappeared for a moment before it reappeared out of Temutai's back in a burst of green energy. "Double Palm Strike!" The power behind the impact caused Temutai to lose consciousness for just a couple seconds, before he was sent flying back once again across the village until he hit the remains of his throne. The green good in Po's paws vanished as he sighed a bit. "Tigrese inspired that one."

"Gah...gack..." Temutai wiped the blood away from his mouth as he stands back up again, just barely. It was then that his soldiers have had enough, and began to surround Po with their spears and axes. "Men...what are you doing?! Stand down!" This was not the time for them to start getting defensive of their king. This was HIS duel.

It didn't matter, though. They were all swiped away by the mighty swing of a powerful tail. Fung spun in an arc, using his tail to strike all of them at once when he finished. "They said they wanted a one-on-one duel! Stay out of it!"

"I warned them to stay where they are. Even the King wanted them to stand down." Peng said as he stood up. "If they don't listen, that's their beating to take." He says this as he jumped up and avoided the sharp point of a spear. He grabbed it and swung the weapon with it's holder still attached to it, knocking down and knocking out all the warriors who we're unlucky enough to be in the way.

Throughout the entire spectacle, Mei Li watched with shocked awe as Po stood on even grounds with Temutai, and he was winning. She had no ides where he came from or why he's here...but he just decided to help free her when no one else had the strength to do so. Or the bravery to call out on the cruel traditions the two kingdoms had to go through.

Po scratched his head as more of the soldiers continued to surround him. "Jeez, you guys are pretty intent on keeping us from dueling further, huh?' He sighed as his paws glowed green again and he put the two of them together. "Mystic Spiral..." After this, he harmlessly placed himself in the middle of the energy ring as if it were a hoop to jump through. He then spread his paws apart while shouting "Expand!" The ring did just that, it expanded and fort fully blew away most of the soldiers standing in his way. Many of them crashed in town the ground, others we're thrown over the gates, others got stuck in the gates. There was now nothing standing between him and his target.

Temutai watched as the panda had made surprisingly short work of most of his men and he was now completely focused on him. The strike from earlier just barely allowed him to stand, let alone breathe. He knew he couldn't beat me with pure melee combat at his current level, so he improvised. Heh...serves me right for saying nothing about not allowing him to use attacks like those. I got too excited... His blunder now made clear to him, Temutai closed his eyes and forced himself to stand up. "My men interfered when I specifically told them not to. Therefore, they have cost me this match. So Po...you won by default."

Po blinked. "Wait...I did? So...Mei Li can go free? You'll let her go?"

Temutai nodded. "I am a warrior of my word, Po. She may go free. And my Clan will never attack her kingdom again. I swear on my honor as a Warrior King." With this knowledge in mind, Po immediately fell backwards on his back, shocking all that were present. "WHAT?! PO, WHAT IS WRONG?!"

"Using Chi attacks tends to wear me out quite easily. I'm not as refined with them as my Master..." Po panted, his tongue stick out slightly. "Must...replenish...strength...must...get...renergized. Po...needs...food..."

"Of course." Fung sighed.

Po turned towards Mei Li with a wide smile. "Hear what he said, your Highness...? You're going home..."

The Pig Princess gazed at her saviour with a look of surprise, admiration and most of all, gratefulness. What was surprising was that he came out if nowehrre. What was admirable was that he fought for her despite just meeting her. And gratefulness because he gave her life a purpose by soaring her of her terrible fate. With all of these mixed emotions, the Princess ran up to Po and jumped into his arms, crying.

"Po...I...I..." she mumbled in his chest fur, unable to finish her sentence. Po gently pushed her back a bit onto his belly.

"Hey now, if you wanna thank me...all you gotta do is give me a smile." Po said gently, patting her head. Enough time has passed, and she gave a small smile in his direction. He smiled widely. "See? A Princess is MUCH prettier when she's smiling and not crying."

"PO! DON'T DO ANYTHING-" Po blinker as he turned to hear the shout of Shifu, followed by the others. The red panda blinked when he saw that the conflict was already over. "...Stupid?"

Po waved cheerfully to Mr. Ping. "Hi Dad!"

"Hi Po!" Mr. Ping cheerfully waved back.

"HIS FATHER IS A GOOSE?!" The Qidan Warriors all shouted in shock, eyes bugging out slightly.

"Yeah. Why the shock?" Po asked with genuine confusion.

"Never mind that, Panda. What the heck happened here?" Fenghuang asked, tucking in her wings.

"Oh, Hi Fenghuang!" Po waved again. "Well, I challenged this Temutai guy to a fight for Mei Li's freedom. I won."

The owl actually beak-dropped. "Wait...you actually defeated Temutai...?" She whispered in shock. Then she stomped the ground childishly. "My student beat the crap out of the Qidan King...and I MISSED IT!?"

"THAT'S why you're upset...?" Song mumbled in disbelief.

"Eh? Master Shifu? What are you doing here?" Temutai had finally acknowledged that the red panda was there, despite him being the first person to speak.

Shifu sighed. "I am not 'Master' Shifu anymore. I left that title behind." He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you get the message?" When Temutai shook his head. Shifu took the time to explain everything...and the warrior king grew pissed with each passing word.

"I received no such message!" Temutai shouted. He then turned around to glare at his men. "Which one of you handles the mail?!" One of them in the very back raised his hand nervously. The King pointed at him furiously. "NO SUPPER FOR YOU!"

"Ah man..."

"Incompetence..." Temutai mumbled. "Ahem. As I was saying. I will have someone contact Mei Li's kingdom, and let them know that she is free to go. And that my clan shall never attack them again." He continued. "This...Po. He gave me what I've been missing for years. A fight that actually challenges me and pushes me. Actually give me a reason to go stronger. And I guess I'm satisfied with that for the moment."

"Thats it? Huh." Po looked around the village as he stood up, paws on his hips. "By the way, sorry about the damage to your village."

"Meh. Easy to fix."

"So we're cool?"

"Yeah. We're cool."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SPEAKING SO CASUALLY NOW?!" Fung shouted in disbelief. One moment, they were at each others throats. The next, they were speaking as if it were a conversation between buddies.

"Wait...Kingdom? Po, what was going down here?' Monkey asked. Po then took the time to explain what he and the others heard, as well as Mei Li's story.

Tigress was not pleased. Not one bit.

"Po...cover Mei Li's ears." She asked quietly. The panda tilted his head, but nonetheless covered the pig princess's ears. She then turned towards Temutai and slapped him across the face. HARD. "You deserve far worse than that, you bastard! If it were me here instead of Po, I wouldn't have been as nice!"

"Yes...I kinda deserved that one." Temutai rubbed his sore cheek. Or more like his skull. With the damage he's already taken, that slap almost knocked him completely unconscious. "Alright...you won't have to worry. I have given up that tradition. The Kingdom's feud is over."

"It'd better be. I don't want to have to come back here." Tigress glared, before turning away.

"I am a warrior of my word. You have nothing to be concerned about!"

"So...we were late, and now everything's fine?" Crane asked while rubbing his head. "I'm so confused..."

Bian Zao yawned. "Po did good, that's all we really need to know. Can we move on now?"

"But seriously, Po. You gotta save some for us." Mantis hopped on his shoulder. "I mean, working a little girl to death...? We ALL want a piece of Temutai now, despite knowing who he was. But you beat us to the punch already. And now all of a sudden you two are buds?"

"Probably. He wanted a good fight, I wanted to free Mei Li. We both got what we really wanted, so why make the conflict longer?" Po shrugged. Mr. Ping swiftly placed a bowl of noodles in his paw, and he grinned widely. "Sweet relief, here I come." He takes the bowl and wasted no time with beginning to eat.

"Well, with Po's rather surprising actions today, he seems to have resolved a years ling conflict just by fighting this Qidan King. Luckily he's the type of King that keeps his promises." Taotie said. "Now that that's over with, where do we go now?"

"We won't find out while we're sitting here, obviously. Time to move out!" Mei Ling called out. "Qidan! You better keep your promise and be sure that Mei Li gets home safe!"

"I told you already! I AM A WARRIOR OF MY WORD!" Temutai bellowed, but Po was able to tell anyway that he was being genuine. "But wait...about what happened to your home, Po. You said that Jong and the Lin Kuei were responsible for it?"

Po suddenly stiffened, but lowered his hat and nodded. "Yeah. What, do you have something for us?"

"Yes. I may know where the Lin Kuei are hiding." Everyone grew quiet at this, and listened very closely. "The most likely place you'll find their gathering place is on Mugu Mountain."

WHAT?! Shifu and Fenghuang screamed in their thoughts, but they were silent on the outside.

"Right. The Lin Kuei are on Mugu Mountain. We'll get them after we get Jong." Monkey said. "Neither of them are getting away with what they did. We won't let them."

"Ah. Then best of luck to you."

"Bye Po! Take care!" Mei Li waved at the cheerful panda, who waved back with a smile.

After enough distance has passed, Shifu and Fenghuang looked at one another. "Mugu Mountain..."

"Yes...that is the mountain where we banished Master Ding." Shifu finished. "But...what has transpired couldn't have been his doing."

"It's unlikely...but not impossible. Either way, the Lin Kuei are there. So at some point, we have to go there too." Fenghuang said. Shifu reluctantly nodded to this. It still made the two of then nervous. Master Ding was trapped on that Mountain for life after turning on the Valley Of Peace. Him wanting vengeance was expected, but there wasn't any way for him to be the one responsible for the tragedy that took place. He didn't orchestrate any of this. He couldn't have been responsible. It was Jong that gave the order. He was the one ultimately responsible.

...Right?

(Jong's Complex)

"Did you see what that goat did to me? My leg has been maimed by ber ice powers." Jong groaned as he held his bleeding leg. "Why can't you just leave us alone?! I've done everything you've asked of me up to this point! I'm most likely going to be convicted when this is over!"

"Everything you've done thus far was because you had no choice, Jong. Except for that goat. I couldn't care less what happens to her." Someone spoke out to Jong, mockingly.

"You're setting me up. You're setting the Lin Kuei up! And you're setting those band of rogues up! And for what?! Your revenge?!" Jong shouted. "My reputation will be in complete shambles at this rate! Everything I own will be taken away from me! And my son...you couldn't have left him out of this?! Why did it have to be me?! WHY?!" Suddenly he was lifted up and thrown against the wall with enough force to slightly crack his spine. With a pained groan, he just barely managed to get up.

"Why you, hm? You ask me a question like that. Fine. You're selfish, you're greedy, you're sarcastic, you break your vows, you're also very sadistic on a level. You care for no one but yourself and your son, whom you're setting a very bad example for. And as I've said before, who else to blame all of these atrocities on? You don't even care about having the Lin Kuei completely crush the Valley of Peace. You're still only worried about yourself. And that makes you a pretty good candidate, if I do say so myself. Besides..."

There were orbs. Three glowing blue orbs that were emitting powerful mystical energy. They seemed to be levitating on their own...but that wasn't case. The one controlling them made himself known. The pig with black skin, brown eyes, a small white beard, yellow garb with red trims and a metal headpiece...he was calmly controlling the Spirit Orbs above his paw while starind down at the terrified Jong.

Master Ding.

"It was YOUR idea to reside in my castle on MY mountain, despite the many times people warned you not to. That choice is now costing you dearly. You'll be the only one taking the fall for all of this. Because these days, everyone finds it immature to blame your faults on ghosts. You came about this without thinking of the consequences. Now look what situation you've placed yourself in. You're stuck with me until I either fail or succeed, and I don't plan to fail. Either way, you'll be finished by the time this is over." He grinned. "And whatever happens to you will be of no consequence to me."

Jong shook his head. "You're out of your mind if you think I'll continue subjcting to your sick games!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Ding raised his other paw, and a blue chi bubble came into existence. Jong's eyes widened when he saw his son sleeping in said bubble. "Remember the reason why you're stuck here, Jong. Even you aren't cruel enough to leave your son behind. However...I'm cruel enough to keep him out of your reach until I'm satisfied. I'm a ghost. I don't have to play fair when it suits me so well." The chi bubble disappeared along with the boy, and he grinned evilly. "Oh, I almost forgot. Hope your leg heals properly, Jong. Tehahahahaha!" He vanished to anither part of the mansion, leaving Jong alone in the dark with the echoing cackling.

The takin was left alone, as he's slowly come to regret the immense error in judgement he's made in ever coming across this mountain...