Chapter 5

Isolation

Kai stretched out lazily and yawned, "Uhh. I can not wait to get back to the Jade Palace. This mission has been such a drag. Just need this stupid caravan to get here."

He leaned up against a tree and looked down the road absently as Enkii walked up to him.

"Patience is a virtue, but… yeah. Me too." Enkii said, sitting on the ground next to Kai.

They were sent on a mission into Gongmen city two weeks earlier to obtain evidence that Lord Shen was building a destructive new weapon in hopes that, when reported to the emperor, he would shut down Shen's operation. They had to fight hundreds of wolves just to get a vial of gunpowder and a sketch of the weapon itself. They were both quite eager to return to their home considering how bruised and drained they were after the mission. As of now, all that stood between them and a hot meal was a transport caravan that they needed to ride in for the sake of stealth.

Finally, after a lengthy wait, the caravan arrived. They hopped in and were instantly smacked by the strong scent of opium and sweat.

Kai pinched his brow, "You have got to be kidding me. They set us up in a smuggler caravan!?"

One of the other passengers, a rough looking boar, looked up at Kai, "Not all of us were born into wealth, asshole."

Kai glared at him, "Shut the fuck up. I earned everything I have from nothing, you pathetic mor-"

"Kai!" Enkii slapped her paw over his mouth, "That's enough."

She looked at the boar and smiled apologetically, "Sorry about that. He's a little grouchy right now."

The boar just grunted and looked away.

Kai grabbed her wrist and pulled her paw away from his mouth, before pulling out a tobacco cigar and lighting it.

"Hey, pretty boy, who said you could smoke in here?"

This time the question came from a croc sitting directly on the bench directly across from Kai. Kai just flipped him off as he puffed his cigar a few times.

"Why you little-"

Before the croc could even move to attack Kai, the wagon had started moving. The croc fell and bumped his head into the bench, knocking himself out cold. Kai huffed humorously.

"Fuckin idiot."

Enkii sighed and placed her forehead in her palms, "You are a handful, Kai."

"Yup. Sleeping on a pile of rocks for two weeks will do that to you. Not to mention the countless times we almost died, having to eat exclusively mushrooms and fish, fighting hordes of wolves every day, not having sex for-"

"Ok! Ok! I get it. Calm down. We'll be back in a day."

He grunted, "We better."

And with that, the wagon was silent save for the occasional cough or sneeze.

Enkii's eyes began to feel heavy as the lost sleep from the last weeks finally caught up to her, and soon she was peacefully snoozing on Kai's shoulder. Completely unaware of the world around her.

When she awoke, the wagon was stopped and nobody else was in it. She heard laughing and talking coming from outside.

She moved the flap and went out to investigate. It was night now, and the wagon had stopped in a small clearing off the side of the dirt road. The men had started a fire and were cooking something inside a large cauldron.

Kai was now talking with the boar and croc about something relating to drugs and the other few passengers were just chatting idly, waiting for whatever meal to be ready.

She walked over to Kai and sat next to him on the log, letting him wrap his arm around her shoulders.

Kai continued to talk with the boar and croc for a while until they finally decided that whatever they were cooking was done. The boar dished out a few bowls, piled high with some sort of brown, chunky stew.

Whatever it was, the smell was intoxicating, and Kai could feel his stomach growl at the thought of having something with some semblance of flavor. He quickly grabbed the bowl as soon as he was handed one and began to eat with ravenous intent.

He finished his bowl first and walked over to a nearby stream to wash it out.

Enkii looked at him as she savored her meal, "I was expecting you to get seconds considering how starved you were acting."

Kai just waved her off, "One was plenty for me, probably because my stomach has yet to have adjusted to eating a normal, healthy amount."

She nodded and finished off her meal.

XxxXxxX

After dinner, they talked for a few more hours before going to sleep. Kai slept with his back to the ground and let Enkii sleep on top of him, acting as a sort of bed for her.

One more night then I can finally get some real sleep

As for right now, Kai would have to be content with two hours or so of sleep, maybe three if he was lucky. He just couldn't fall fully asleep with rocks and twigs under him. He found himself wishing he could switch roles with Enkii as he lay there, eyes wide open, despite also feeling heavier than lead.

He sighed.

One more night

XxxXxxX

The night finally gave way to the morning and Kai was quick to his feet, helping pack up the camp and eating a light breakfast, eager to get moving.

Enkii was a bit slower on the uptake. Perhaps because she slept perfectly fine last night, what with her having what was essentially a heated, furry, bed with built in rocking.

She yawned and stretched before lazily loping into the wagon, scooting up next to Kai and hugging on to his arm.

"Well you're awfully affectionate today? Where was this earlier huh?" Kai teased sardonically.

"That was when I was still starved and sleep deprived."

Kai nodded as the wagon started moving.

He couldn't help but smile as his home lay only a few hours ahead.

XxxXxxX

The masters of the Jade Palace were unsure how to handle Po's situation after the previous night's incident.

Some were shocked that he bore the mark of the Qinchai, but others weren't. All the details seemed to line up. His mysterious disappearance, the scars all over his body, the obvious trauma, et cetera.

But one thing didn't click in their, or more specifically, Tigress's mind.

Why did they want him?

The question would be left unanswered though, as Kai and Enkii had just returned from their mission.

Kai ran up the Thousand Steps in record time. He swore he would have kissed every single one had he not been with Enkii. He was just that happy to have made it back in, relatively, good condition.

He was fully expecting to immediately be hounded by Shifu for the evidence and a post mission briefing, but what he wasn't expecting was to be charged and tackled by an unfamiliar panda as soon as he entered the barracks.

Po attempted to bash Kai's head in for a few seconds before Kai effortlessly threw him off and stood to his feet. Tigress and Enkii immediately grabbed Po by his arms and held him back.

Kai looked Po up and down, "The hell is with this guy?"

Po gritted his teeth. This bear who stood before him looked exactly like Tzu Lin, save for the long scar across his left eye.

But that's impossible

Truthfully, Po had attacked Kai less out of anger, and more out of fear and panic.

Po began to hyperventilate as Kai walked forward and continued to scrutinize him. As soon as he got close, Po jumped back.

"Get away from me you monster! I don't know how you're back, but I'll- I'll kill you again you hear me!?"

Po continued to scramble away as Kai just stared at him in confusion, "Why did you let some whackjob panda into the palace?"

Enkii looked over at Tigress, "Yeah. Why?"

Tigress sighed, "It's a long, sad story, but he isn't a whackjob, Kairos. I don't know what's going on with him right now, but he isn't normally like this.

Po was still bumbling when Tigress smacked him across the face, shocking him back to reality.

Po looked at her in confusion, then back to Kai. His eyes widened again, "Stay back from me! Stay-"

"Po!"

Po jerked his head back to Tigress.

"How do you know this man?"

He pointed at him, "That's Tz-tzu Lin!"

Tigress raised her eyebrow, "The terrorist?"

Po nodded.

"What? No. That's Kairos and his girlfriend, Enkii. They won the Gonglu Tournament and are now training as masters here." Tigress explained.

Po shook his head, before standing up and leaving, "I need to be alone for a while."

Tigress sighed, "Anyways. Kai, you and Enkii need to report to Shifu. He'll explain everything, and he needs to do a post briefing anyway."

Kai chuckled, "Fuck that shit. I'm gonna go take a bath and jerk off."

Enkii face palmed, "Kai… fucking… ew."

Kairos chuckled again before heading off towards the bath house, laughing the whole way and, leaving Enkii and Tigress behind.

Enkii looked over at Tigress, "Men huh?"

Tigress just shrugged, "I spent my whole life surrounded by men, so I don't even notice it anymore."

"Of course you don't."

And with that, Enkii went over to Kai's bag and grabbed the vial of gunpowder before walking over to the Hall of Heroes where she would be briefed by Shifu.

XxxXxxX

Later that night at dinner, the solemn bunch had gathered in the kitchen to eat. All except for two people.

Kai and Enkii entered with significant bravado and zeal, elated to have finally bathed and rested after a long mission.

The rest of them just greeted them with no enthusiasm, save for Po, who was still content on glaring at Kai.

They sat down and looked around the table, waiting for someone to break the awkward silence. Nobody did.

Kai began tapping his lower paw until he decided to break the silence, "So uhh… I believe we had a bad start, panda. I didn't catch your name. I'm Kairos Sao."

He reached out his paw, but Po ignored it, "I'm Po." he said blankly.

Kai leaned back and frowned, staring at Po with one eye over the scar that lay across it.

"Well I guess I should explain why I'm here then huh?"

Kai looked around and saw nobody objecting, so he began.

"I was born in the far northern village Lu Shi. I was raised by my dad because my mom died when I was young. Our relationship was… let's just call it complicated. At least it was until he went and drank himself to death when I was five. After that I wandered around a bit till I found a place that would take me in. It was a martial arts academy. I lived and trained there for eleven years before I moved to Kirpon with my mentor and brother for… reasons. That's where I met Enkii via a friend of mine. After I spent a few months there, we moved back to Lu Shi, where we defended the village from an attack by the Qinchai. Then, these guys heard about our achievement and invited us to the Gonglu Tournament, and now here we are."

Po just nodded, still avoiding eye contact.

Kai shook his head and beckoned for Enkii to explain her story.

"I'm Enkii Ulta. Nice to meet you, Po."

She reached her paw out, and this time, Po took it, shaking it once and releasing it.

Kai leaned back in exasperation and mouthed 'what the fuck' to Enkii and she just shrugged.

"I was born in the Ulta Fide clan in southern China. I was raised to be a competitor in the Li Jo tourna-"

Po bolted upright, "You said Li Jo?"

"Y-yes. Why?"

Po shook his head pensievely, "Nevermind."

Tigress looked over at Po with concern as Enkii continued her story.

"Anyways. After I won the tournament, my clan lost a war against China and I was forced to move to Kirpon with my mother. We took asylum in the home of a family friend for a year until I met Kairos. You know what happened from there."

The awkward silence fell back over the room as they continued to eat. After what felt like forever, Tigress decided to speak up.

"So, Kai."

"Yes?"

"Before you got here, we," she gestured at the group, "had a discussion about Po. More specifically about you possibly being his mentor."

Po stared at her in shock and Kai just sat there, arms crossed, puffing on his cigar.

"We believe Po has had a… tumultuous past and we think you can umm… relate to this the most." She looked around a couple times, "Aaand you're also the only one strong enough to take him in sparring."

Po looked down in shame.

Kai chuckled, "I see."

"Is that a yes?"

"Sure. I'll give it a try."

It's settled then."

"Yeah."

XxxXxxX

Po and Kai now stood, facing each other in the training hall.

They had filled Kai and Enkii in on Po's situation the previous night after Po went off to bed. Kai's mood seemed to change after they told him. He seemed darker and far less confident that he could get Po past his issues. His speech went from being full of "when"s and "will"s to being full of "if"s and "might"s. He looked tired and visibly depressed the next morning as if he didn't sleep at all.

This concerned Enkii majorly as she stared at him standing in front of Po, waiting for the gong.

*BONG*

"Fight!"

Po instantly lashed out at blinding speeds, roaring like a feral animal. He threw a wild haymaker at Kai, who caught it easily and flipped him to the ground. Po growled and rolled back to his feet before running in for a tackle. Kai nailed him with an uppercut then a right hook that sent Po tumbling into a wall ten meters away.

"The victor is Kai!"

The instant those words exited Shifu's mouth, Po's eyes returned back to normal. He looked up to see Kai standing above him, trying his best to give a warm smile.

He offered his paw, "Come on Po. We have a lot of work to do."

Po swatted his paw away, "You can't fix me. None of you can."

He looked around the room, his face slowly turning to sadness, "Not even God could fix me now. Not after what happened to me."

"Po, if you would just tell us-"

"I'm not gonna talk about it."

"-you might find that we can relate-"

"None of you can relate. None of you would understand."

"Po-"

"I'm not gonna talk about it!"

Kai gritted his teeth, "Fine."

They returned to their spots for sparring, facing each other again.

*BONG*

"Fight!"

Po was filled with that feral rage as he stared at Kai. It was different this time, though. This time it felt like it was directed at someone. Him. Kai. It was directed at him.

As Po stared at Kai, all he could see was the face of Tzu Lin taunting him, and the nature of his rage changed again. Less was it a feral rage rooted in hunger or hate, and more was it a defensive rage. The type that comes from fear. To Po, this was now a game of survival. The bet was his life, not an apple.

With that thought, he bolted forward faster than before, laying a brutal combination of strikes and claws all over Tzu Lin's face and neck.

"You bitch ass panda!" Tzu Lin yelled at him as he backed up, blood dripping from his neck.

Po just lunged forward again, clawing wildly, in the vain hope that he would hit an artery. He landed a few cuts on Tzu Lin's arms and chest before tackling him and digging his teeth into his throat.

Kai roared as he tore Po off his body, throwing him to the ground. Po stood up, still with that feral look in his eyes. Kai immediately hit Po with a brutal hammer fist, slamming Po's face into the wood, breaking a hole in the floor.

The hall shook a little, and Kai picked up Po by his neck.

"What the hell is your problem!?" He said, clutching his neck with his free hand.

Po just continued to writhe in Kai's grip, desperately trying to kill him.

"Po! Snap out of it!" He shouted into his face.

Nothing happened as Po just kept snarling and frothing at the mouth until Tigress spoke.

"Po!"

Her voice rang out in his mind like a bell. He was instantly dragged out of his hallucination as Kai dropped him and stormed out of the hall. Enkii ran after him shouting his name as Tigress ran to Po's side.

Po now looked defeated and dead again, "I told you no one could fix me."

With that he stood and went off to his room, ignoring Shifu who was telling him to continue training.

Kai's situation was a bit more urgent as he was beginning to lose a lot of blood, fast. He kept holding on to the wound on his throat, each breath he took he could hear the gurgle of blood.

"Kai!" Enkii said once she caught up to him, "Oh Kai…"

She stared at the wound his paw was concealing. Tears rimmed her eyes as Kai spat out easily a pint of blood.

"I'm fine. I just need Oogway." He fell to one knee with a grunt.

As if on command, the aged tortoise appeared next to him, already with his claw outstretched, sending that golden light into him.

Oogway sighed, "Was it Po?"

Kai nodded, "It was Po."

"Mmm. I thought as much." Suddenly Oogway smiled down at Kai, "You must continue to mentor Po, Kairos."

Kai looked at him in bewilderment, "What? He barely lets me talk to him. I don't have the charisma to teach him."

"It just takes patience and a little faith." Oogway patted Kai on the shoulder, "You must have faith in him, and you must have faith in yourself."

With that, Oogway walked off.

Kai sighed rubbing the scars on his throat, old and new, "I better go find Po huh?"

He stood and began walking, but was stopped by Enkii, "You can't seriously be planning to continue. What if he rips your throat out or claws one of your eyes?"

Kai turned around and hugged Enkii, "Enkii, how long have we been dating?"

She buried her face into his chest, "Going on six years."

"And how many dangerous situations have we been in since then?"

"Too many."

"And how many have we survived."

"All of them."

"You see. I won't let him kill me. Not when you're still around."

Kai chuckled reassuringly.

Enkii looked up at him, still concerned, "I still worry."

Kai shrugged, "You worry about everything. Now, we need to go get Po. His training has only just begun, and we have a long… long way to go."

They went off searching the grounds until they found him sulking in his room.

Kai threw open the door, "Po, go to the training hall at once."

Po glared at him, "I'm not working with you, Kai."

"Heh, that's Master Kairos to you, and bud," Kai shook his head, "you have a lot to work on."

Boom. Chapter five. I'm happy that it didn't take three months for me to get this chapter out, and I'm hoping this chapter isn't horrible. We've met the oc's now. They will play a very large role later on in the story, but for now, they will mostly take a sideline to Tigress and Po. This story, by the way, is not going to unfold like Fate Can Be So Cruel. There is a different direction that this story is meant to take, and I will be taking it there.

Also, for those of you who've read my main fic, The Fallen, Kai and Enkii from that story are not the same as Kai and Enkii here. The main differences are that in this story they've been dating way longer, they're only 21, and they have some major differences in personality and morals. The backstories are pretty much the same, but there are also some major differences that I will reveal later on.