Chapter 3

No Accidents

It had been twelve years since Po was first locked up at the Li Jao Facility. He had changed a lot. Where a happy, round face used to be there was instead a chiseled, scarred mug that was always contorted in any number of grim expressions. His chubby, soft exterior had been replaced with dense, strong, defined muscle. He had deep, ugly scars across his entire body. His mind was completely broken. He just obeyed the guards and accepted the torture. Sure it was just as horrible and terrifying as the first time everytime, but he didn't know anything else. At the end of each week he would always fight the gorilla for an apple which provided a temporary bliss that he could escape to if he won.

One day, Tzu Lin commanded Po into a different chamber. Chamber five. Inside chamber five, Po saw a large table with shackles on it. Four wolf guards forced Po into the shackles and locked him, belly down on the table. Po's face filled with fear, like it always did when he was about to get tortured. He caught a glimpse of Tzu Lin carrying a large, metal object around the length of Po's back. The object was in the shape of a vertical line with a circle around it's upper half. He saw Tzu Lin taking it over to a forge that Po hadn't noticed before and placed the symbol inside until it emitted a faint, red glow. Po's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He squirmed, trying to break free of his shackles but it was no use. He heard the rattling of chains as Tzu Lin slowly began lowering the symbol down until it touched Po's back. Po released a howl of pain as Tzu Lin continued to press the symbol into his back. He could feel his flesh sizzling. The smell of burning fur and cooked meat filled the air as Tzu Lin finally lifted the symbol off of his back.

*drip*

*drip*

*drip*

That horrible noise echoed through Po's head causing him to relive every torture he experienced in chamber four. Tzu Lin un-shackled Po and had his four wolves throw him back into his cell. His back felt weak and a painful throb was echoing throughout his whole body. He sat down and began to eat his rice when he saw something roll under his cell door. A metal nail that was maybe thirteen centimeters long appeared in his cell. He instantly bolted towards it and snatched it up. His mind started racing. What luck! He brought the nail up towards his face, aiming the point directly at his eye. He was ecstatic. He was finally given a way to end his miserable life quickly all because some idiot wolf guard accidentally kicked it under the door.

Suddenly he remembered something that forced him to stop. A person he hadn't thought about in years. He saw a memory of Master Oogway telling Po, "There are no accidents". He lowered the nail down from his face as he pondered this. Why did this memory come just now? Then he was filled with a feeling he hadn't felt since the first week he was here, hope. Maybe, just maybe this nail wasn't kicked under here for Po to end his life with, but perhaps for something else. Po began eyeing the lock on the door. He could reach his hand through the bars still. Then an idea hit him. He quickly promised himself that, if he couldn't pick the lock, he would end his life as he sat back down and began to wait until the incompotent night guards fell asleep at their posts.

*Three hours later*

Po stood up and looked to the left and right. Sure enough, both guards were snoring with their backs leaning against the wall. He grabbed his nail and began moving it around inside the keyhole when suddenly.

*click*

His cell door opened!

Po was filled with even more hope and adrenaline when this happened. He immediately ran over to the two sleeping guards and snapped both of their necks. I did it! I'm free!

He began towards the exit, but then he looked back and another emotion arose as he looked at chamber seven. He felt rage, deep and burning, as he moved his way towards the chamber. It was the only chamber with a wooden door and there was a sign that said "Tzu Lin's Private Quarters". Po stuck his ear up to the door and he could hear Tzu Lin snoring. A low, feral growl exited his mouth, a noise he never thought he was capable of making. He quietly opened the door and nearly gasped at what he saw inside.

The inside was lavish and warm. There was an enormous bed in the middle of the room as well as a small kitchen and a private bathroom. The walls were oak and the floor was carpeted. Po noticed a shelf next to him that held different forms of alcohol, but what really caught his eye was the bottle on top that read "Lantern Oil". Po had another idea, this one far more cruel. He grabbed the lantern oil, before grabbing one of the still lit lanterns. He quietly walked over to Tzu Lin as he began to pour the bottle of oil all over him, the floor, the bed, everywhere. As soon as Tzu Lin began to stir, Po shattered the lantern on the ground, lighting the whole room as well as Tzu Lin himself on fire. Tzu Lin jumped out of bed running around and screaming like a maniac. He ran out of his room, still on fire but was met with a fist in the face. He was out cold… or… warm as the other captives began to wake because of the commotion. Po walked to the wolves and grabbed the key to the cells off one of them before unlocking each of the cell doors and uttering the only words he ever said and ever would say to these people.

"Be free."

The smell of cooked meat began to fill the air. Po looked at the wolf and leopard who were now eyeing Tzu Lin's medium-rare corpse. Their eyes looked feral. He couldn't blame them. They were both species that were prone to carnivory, so he could only imagine what twelve years of rice and apples did to them. The thought still disturbed him despite the torture Tzu Lin had put him through. He just sighed and began to make his way towards the exit as he heard the leopard and wolf begin to tear into Tzu Lin's body.

At the Jade Palace

Oogway was shocked out of his meditation causing him to, uncharacteristically, fall onto his back. Something had happened. The universe had given him a message. He stood up and began to ponder the image that had shocked his mind. It had only appeared for a second, but Oogway could remember it clearly. A panda with jade green eyes stood before a river.

"He-he's alive…" Oogway whispered to himself as he looked around his surroundings.

To his right was the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. It had just turned to spring and the tree had begun blossoming. The ground below him was bathed in the soothing, pink of the blossoms. Ahead of him was the village, bustling with life as always. Oogway sighed as he appreciated the beauty of his home, before he set off to speak with his disciple.

Shifu had… changed over the last twelve years. His previously kind yet firm personality had been turned cold and emotionless after Po's disappearance. He gave little to no affection to Tigress as she grew older, treating her as merely a student rather than a daughter. His greatest show of affection was congratulating her if she did something well. He taught Tigress that emotions were weakness and that logic was strength. He barely interacted with his students or even his own son outside of training. The only person he frequently spoke to was Master Oogway.

Oogway summoned Shifu to the Hall of Heroes.

"Master." Shifu bowed before asking, "What matter must I attend to, Master?"

"There is no matter, Shifu, rather I have had a vision." Oogway responded calmly.

"Vision? What of?" Shifu asked.

"He lives, Shifu." Oogway responded quietly.

"W-who?" Shifu asked, though he was already thinking of someone.

There's no way! That's impossible! No way the panda could still be alive after all this time!

"Ahh… Shifu, I believe you already know who it is I speak of." Oogway said, a sad smile on his face. "Po."

"I-I must tell Tai Lung! We must restart the search for him at once!" Shifu said.

"No, Shifu." Oogway said as he stopped his student. "I'm afraid that Po must find his way here naturally, without our help."

"But-but why? I don't understand." Shifu said.

"Because it is his destiny." Oogway stated simply.

Shifu just stood there.

What type of answer is that? Shifu thought.

"I-I understand, Master." Shifu lied as he bowed to Oogway.

"Good, now, it is getting late. I shall head off to bed."

With that, Oogway began moving towards the Grandmaster's Quarters.

In the student barracks

Tigress had been affected the worst, besides Tai Lung, by Po's disappearance. The smiling, playful tiger that she used to be was gone. She was like that ever since Shifu changed. She always looked up to Shifu, always wanting to be like him, and, as such, she tried to become cold and stoic. "Emotions are weakness" was her guiding philosophy through much of her teenage life as she tried her best to keep up with Tai Lung. She managed to appear stoic to those around her, but she couldn't, ultimately, suppress her emotions. Every so often, they would hit her all at once and she would have to excuse herself to cry in private, where no one saw or heard. She grew frustrated with herself for these fits of emotional turmoil, so frustrated to the point that she tried to suppress them as well, but this failed spectacularly and only led her to experience them more often as well as form quite a temper. The only one she ever confided any of this in was her assistant mentor Tai Lung, but he too had grown quite distant and unstable, still unable to cope with the terrible loss he had experienced so long ago.

There were some new faces around the Jade Palace as well. Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis who, with Tigress, made up the Furious Five, the defenders of the Valley of Peace. How they came to be was one of the few moments in Tigress's life that she actually cherished. When the Valley of Peace was faced with a threat, Tai Lung and Shifu had both been incapacitated by an unknown illness that put them out of commision for three weeks. As such, Tigress had been directed to summon four warriors to the valley to fight the threat. The list she had been given named four disciples of Oogway to be brought back, but, by random chance, Tigress had been given the wrong scroll which called for a comedian, a dancer, a cleaner, and a doctor. She searched far and wide, stumbling upon each of these "warriors" one by one. Eventually they met the threat to the valley and took it down together. Shifu took notice of the teamwork they demonstrated and decided to take in the other four as students.

There were also two more people. Kairos Sao and Enkii Ulta, the first and second place of the Gonglu Tournament, a competition that happens once every hundred years where the best warriors throughout the world are pitted against each other. They were both incredibly skilled and won their spots with relative ease. They had only been at the palace for a little over a year, yet they were already part of the family, if you could call it that.

Tigress sat on her bed, fidgeting with a small wooden figurine. Po had given that to her as a gift during the Winter Festival the year he disappeared. It was mostly formless, though you could just barely make out that it was supposed to be a tiger. She clutched the figurine as a single tear fell from her eye.

"Why did you leave us so soon?" she whispered in anguish.

She set the figure under her bed before laying her head on the pillow and drifting into a light sleep.

Back with Po

Po had been walking for two weeks now. He was starving and his feet were sore. He just sighed as he stopped and sat down under a tree. He nodded off for a few hours before heading into the woods to search for food. Eventually he happened upon an apple tree. He picked one and began eating it. He appreciated the burst of flavor in his mouth before he suddenly started to panic. The taste of the apple brought him back to chamber four where he was ruthlessly tortured for twelve years. Each of his scars began to hurt with a phantom pain. His mind relived all of the horrible moments from the last twelve years. He quickly spat out the apple and threw it into the woods, deciding he was no longer hungry. He stood up and began walking again not knowing where to go other than towards a large mountain range he could make out over the treeline.

After a few more days of walking, Po finally came upon a large river. He eagerly ran up to the water's edge and began to wet his incredibly dry throat. Once he was done drinking, he sat down under another tree, his back up against the base. He was waiting there for a boat to arrive and maybe take him to the Valley of Peace or at least point him in the right direction. Of course, he had happened upon traders and merchants while traveling on land, but most of them had no idea how to get to the Valley of Peace and some didn't even know what it was. The ones who did know told him that the only way to get into it from the south was via boat. The only other way into the valley was by approaching from the north and taking the Thread of Hope, a long, treacherous rope bridge that spanned from the northern wastelands to the Valley of Peace.

Eventually, a small fishing boat came floating by. Po instantly flew to his feet and began shouting at the boat.

"HEY! OVER HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Po shouted.

The fishing boat quickly turned over to Po's side of the river before throwing down the anchor. Po walked up to the boat and noticed the two pigs inside staring at him in equal parts fear, awe, and shock. One of the pigs was holding a poster and kept looking from it to the panda that stood before him.

"We-we found him…We found him!" the pig said excitedly. "Though he's definitely much more grown up, I'm sure the Jade Palace will still give us the five hundred thousand Yuan reward."

The second pig looked at the poster as well and his eyes lit up.

"Y-yeah that's him!"

The two pigs quickly let Po onto the boat and immediately noticed how poor shape he was in. Po had obviously not slept much for a while and he was covered in dirt and dust. He was dressed like a slave, having only a raggedy sack for pants as well as no shirt. He had no shoes, rather he had a pair of thin, flimsy, bamboo sandals. The pigs asked him where he needed to go.

"I need to return to the Jade Palace." Po responded.

The pigs looked at each other happily as they received the answer they had hoped for.

"Well it seems today is your lucky day because that is exactly where we were heading!" the first pig said.

Po just smiled a bit, something he hadn't done for some time now. He thought about how he was finally heading home, after all these years and it filled him with delight.

They arrived at the Valley of Peace within three days. The pigs, Li and Peng had given Po forty Yuan to buy new clothes and rent a bath stall before he returned to the Jade Palace. They told him that, if the reward was still available, they would greatly appreciate it if Po told Shifu it was them who found him.

Po thanked them many times before he got off the boat and began searching for the bath house. Eventually he found a small business simply titled "Bath Rental" where he rented a stall for ten Yuan. He made his way to his stall, all the other customers staring at him. They were all in shock that a panda was still alive, they were even more shocked by the countless ugly scars painted across his back and arms, but what got them the worst was the enormous brand on his back. A line with a circle drawn around the top half, the symbol of the Qinchai, a terrorist gang synonymous with Tzu Lin.

Po simply ignored the stares as he finally made it to his stall. He opened the rice paper door to reveal a large in-ground tub. Next to the tub was a forge with multiple large stones glowing red inside of it. Po undressed and stretched a bit. He was happy to finally be taking a bath somewhere other than the facility though he was a bit nervous to get in based off of his previous reaction to eating the apple. He grabbed the wooden tongs near the fire and dropped eight of the fist sized stones into the tub. The water began to steam immediately as Po dipped his toe to feel the temperature. He decided that it was acceptable and hopped into the tub. He was instantly greeted by a terrible pain rooting from the still-healing brand on his back. He winced and clenched his jaw hard as he sat there waiting for the pain to subside. Soon it did subside though it left his whole back numb. He began rubbing down his fur with the lye soap he had been given before hopping out and drying off. After he got over the pain, Po was relieved to find the bath rather pleasant, and he was happy to finally feel clean.

Po walked out of the building and continued to ignore the stares of onlookers as he spotted a clothing shop. The shop was titled "Valley Premium Threads". He went inside and began looking around. He noticed that the interior was rather sparsely populated with only a few people going up to the main desk to purchase anything. Po began looking around at the different tunics, vests, and robes until he spotted one that caught his eye. The whole thing was a deep black except for two white symbols. On the front was the Chinese symbol for will, and on the back was the Chinese symbol for strength. He instantly knew this is what he was going to buy. He grabbed the robe and made for the main desk to purchase it. When the shop owner saw the panda, his eyes widened in fear.

"H-how may I h-help y-you sir?" the goose asked, trying to muster a smile.

"I would like to buy this robe." Po said politely.

"T-that will be forty Yuan s-sir…" the goose responded.

"I only have thirty…" Po said with a slight frown.

"I-I will take thirty. B-better than nothing r-right!?" the goose laughed nervously.

"Well! Thank you kind goose!" Po said somewhat awkwardly. After all, one's social skills tend to deteriorate if you are deprived of interaction with others for twelve years.

He exited the store in confusion. Why was that goose so intimidated by me?

He ran to an alley and quickly equipped his new robe. He was surprised by how comfortable it was. The sleeves weren't too loose and didn't go any further than his wrists while the robe itself only sagged a little past his knees. He closed the front of the robe, revealing the symbol as he moved out of the alley. He gazed north and his eyes instantly locked onto the beautiful Jade Palace.

"I'm coming home… dad." Po whispered to himself as he set off towards the palace.

When he arrived he eagerly knocked on the door. He was answered by Zeng

"What do you wan-"

He stopped and stared in awe at the panda that stood before him. Zeng instantly ran off to the palace to alert the masters that there was someone there for them.

After waiting a few minutes, Po was greeted by a familiar female tiger.

"Po?"

Well, there's chapter three. If you wanted to see more of what happened to Po during the time skip, worry not because there will be plenty of flashbacks. Please review :)