I carried the mat up to the Jade palace hallway, hoping to deliver the final gift in person. I learned that Shifu's room was to the right of the end of the hallway so even if he wasn't there, I could just leave it there as well as a note. I opened one of the doors, and walking in, I noticed a duck, or a goose, in yellow robes, wearing a yellow hat, cleaning armor which probably belonged to a rhino due to the horn shaped metal sticking from the top of the muzzle. Was this the janitor? I've been training at the Jade palace for a while now and this was the first time I had ever seen him. Or her, I really couldn't tell from afar. Though in all honesty I thought the same of Tigress first time I met her face to face until I heard her talk. Good thing I kept my mouth shut about it otherwise I would likely been beaten to a pulp before being tied into the shape of a pretzel. The second the guy noticed my slithering in his direction, he immediately stopped cleaning and bowed to me.
"Good morning Master Mike". He spoke in a slight nervous tone. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh upon being called a master. I still had a long way to go before even I could call myself that. Nevertheless, I bowed back to the duck and decided to learn a bit more about the guy.
"Good morning..."?
"I'm Zhen. The palace messenger".
"Pleasure to meet you Zhen. I must say, I've never seen you here before".
"Well, it's been a busy week for me. I've been having to deliver messages across nearly half of China"! He half wheezed as though he had just returned. Then again, maybe he has.
"Seems you came back at a good time, what with it being Chri- the Winter feast today". I spoke up, nearly forgetting that here, Christmas didn't technically exist.
"Yeah. Lucky me". The goose chuckled somewhat nervously. I better that hurry and give Shifu the meditation mat before I forget.
"You haven't seen Shifu around have you"?
"He's out of town for a meeting. He won't be back for several days". Would have been helpful to know that earlier.
"Alright then. Thanks Zhen". I turned to leave Zhen to his chores until something struck me. If Shifu was gone for the winter feast, then what was I meant to do with this meditation mat? By the time Shifu returns, according to Zhen, it would be far too late to give him the mat as a present. However... I suppose I could still give it to someone else. I took another look at Zhen, who was now moving onto a yellow pot on a thin post which looked as though it could easily be knocked over. I looked between the mat coiled with my tail and back to Zhen. I guess it was obvious what was going through my mind.
"Hey Zhen". The goose turned to me just in time to react to catching a rolled up mat. "Happy winter feast".
I gave him a friendly smile which Zhen returned after realizing what it was I had just thrown over. I then left the hall. Not exactly the way I expected things to go but still, worked out all the same. I met Viper at the top of the steps leading down and we headed into the town. Before viewing the town like she told me we would, I found myself being led back to the noodle shop one more time. However, instead of there only being ten people, the place was packed with twice as many creatures! All the usual ducks and pigs, the furious five and even a few new animals such as a water buffalo in green pants and a panther about my own age wearing a beautiful sky blue dress with golden patterns on it, almost as though she was waiting for someone to ask her to dance. All of them were standing near the entrance except for Mr. Ping and Po who stood at the opposite end, facing the crowd of thirty.
"Good afternoon residents of the valley"! Po announced loudly so that everyone could hear. "Today, we celebrate the winter festival! Everyone feel free to stuff your faces, declare snowball fights and all the other bodaciously awesome stuff that comes around once a year"!
I'll say this, Po knows how to make an interesting speech. Not that it bothered anyone as my eardrums nearly exploded from the roars and cheers around me. However Po hadn't finished.
"But before we do, let's give a big Valley O Peace welcome"... valley O peace? That's a new one I've had yet to hear. I just rolled my eyes at Po's attempts to act cool. ..." To the Valley of Peace's one and only Honor Guard, Mike! And give it up for Ralph the water buffalo and Yinshen the panther the newest residents"!
Wait, what?! Where the hell did the words "Honor guard" come from? I don't remember that being in the job description! Before I could say anything, the crowd erupted in a mix of cheering, hollering and hooting and I found myself being pushed forward to the front of the crowd and before I knew it, I was standing next to Po while facing the crowd with Ralph and Yinshen. I could nearly feel my irises shrink. I just hope we don't have to give a big speech or anything. Soon enough, I saw the Panther bow towards the crowd. I followed her lead, as did the water buffalo, nearly accidentally hitting me with his large horns. As we returned to our normal stances, we walked back into the crowd. I got into the middle of the crowd as best I could, trying to avoid being called out again. I then listened to the rest of Po's... unique speech. Unaware of Yinshen standing next to me until she spoke.
"Not a fan of being the center of attention hmm"? I looked to see the panther smiling at me with green eyes.
"I never saw myself as a popular guy anyway". I responded smiling back, being as polite as I could to the newcomer.
"Can't say I blame you. Popularity can get you into a lot of trouble if you're not to careful". I nodded. A few seconds of silence between us passed and I saw the panther stretching her left paw out towards me.
"I'm Yinshen".
"I know, Po mentioned it". I spoke back, hoping I didn't just sound like a rude jerk.
"No reason why we can't introduce ourselves to each other in person". She said calmly, her smile never dropping as though she was in the highest of spirits. I soon wrapped my tail around her paw and shook it up and down.
"So, the Valley of Peace honor guard? Pretty impressive. Or is it the Valley O Peace honor guard"? She joked. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Whichever one suits me best". I playfully replied. Yinshen chuckled.
"So how about you, when did you move to the Valley of Peace"? I asked. "Only a couple of days ago. I couldn't stand the life of the big city any longer so I decided to settle down in one of the most peaceful towns I could find. And with the name of this village, I guess I found the right place".
"You never know, names can deceive".
"True. But given the scenery as of right now, I'd say it's impossible for this place to become anymore peaceful. Wouldn't you agree"?
"Good point".
Before I could continue talking, Viper interrupted us.
"Hey guys, how are you"? She asked cheerfully.
"We're good Viper, thanks".
"May I say, it's a pleasure to meet you master Viper". Spoke Yinshen before bowing to the snake who did the same.
"Yinshen was just telling me why she had just moved to the Valley of Peace".
"A good thing she did too. But just so you know dear, sometimes things may become... hectic around here". Viper warned the panther who gave a small chuckle.
"No worries master Viper, I can take care of myself if the situation calls for it".
After giving a small smile, Viper explained something about exploring the rest of the town as we discussed. Crud, I nearly forgot about that too!
"Right, of course. Yinshen, would you like to join us"?
"Sorry. I wish I could but I'd better introduce myself to Ralph and a few other latecomers. Hope you don't mind".
"No no. Don't worry about it, we understand". With that, Viper and I left the noodle shop.
... YINSHEN'S POV
I watched carefully as Mike and the other snake left the shop. Once they did, I couldn't help but smile a little bit wider before thinking. "Cute guy. Shame my job comes first". As soon as I was certain no one was watching me, I exited the shop and made my way around the corner with only one objective in mind.
...
That's another chapter done. Plus I managed to introduce a new character so that's a bonus for myself. But is she what she seems? Guess you'll have to find out in the next chapter