"So, Shifu's out of town I hear"? I slithered along with Viper through the town,watching as she pointed out the decorations and the spirit of the festivities. It was then I decided to raise a question or two.
"Yes, this is one of the few times he's been invited to another palace for the winter feast. Mostly, the feast of the masters is held at the Jade Palace. This year, the masters agreed to have it at the Onyx temple. Afterwards, he'll be sparring with some of those masters he studied with years ago, kind of like a reunion".
I nodded in understanding. I still wanted one more question answered before going any further.
"So what was all that about earlier with Po"?
"What do you mean"?
"The whole honor guard thing. I don't remember having to be called that"?
To my surprise, Viper let out a laugh.
"Oh don't worry. That's just Po's way of making things sound cooler. At least to himself".
"Ah. Say no more".
I guess I'm still just a normal warrior or something for the time being. Soon enough, Viper went back to talking about the town and soon, began to talk about how she became who she was today which was a very interesting talk. Eventually we got to a quiet location all to ourselves and sat down on a nearby bench.
"... And that's how I became one of the Furious five". Viper finished after talking for God knows how long. Not that I had a problem with her talking about her life, it was just that after listening to something for over an hour straight, you get tired. Basically like my life through school.
"So how about you"?
I turned to face her. "Sorry"?
"What about your life"?
Well shit. This wasn't good for me. I mean, what was I meant to say? That I lived in England in a different universe and was killed by thieves before being sent into China by Shifu's now deceased master? Part of me wanted to say exactly that, just to see her reaction but obviously, I couldn't in case she thought I was insane. Then again, I would think the same thing if I was her. Guess I'd have to make something up.
"I... worked on a potato farm until I was twelve". I began already making up stupid fake memories. "Once I had become thirteen, I set off from home and traveled the country until taking a boat to China. I roamed the land for a couple of years, came here and... well. Here I am".
I finished my incredibly short, non detailed story as I couldn't think of anything else to add in. Needless to say that Viper wasn't impressed.
"Sounds... nice". She struggled to say, finding the right words.
"Yep". Was all I could reply. I then looked around, trying to help block out the now awkward silence. Nothing interesting either left or right of me. I then looked up to find... seriously? Effing mistletoe. Okay, no worries. As long as Viper doesn't-
"Is that Mistletoe"?
Shit. Well maybe she won't get the idea to- Viper began to blush. Nope. Too late, she's already thinking of it. Well perhaps I can sneak aw- she's holding my tail now. Effing fantastic! Don't get me wrong, I like Viper as a friend. But this... this is just weird to me. I may be a snake but I'm still human on the inside who likes human girls. Not snakes! Plus, I didn't feel comfortable with putting my face near to something with fangs.
"Viper, I know what you're thinking, but you don't have to"- I was then cut off.
"I know, but everybody has to if they're under mistletoe, especially if someone's nearby. Kind of like a tradition. Just imagine it as... a game".
I'd like to know any sort of game that relates to kissing! Maybe truth or dare but nothing else came close. I sighed. Screw it. Regrettably I closed my eyes and sensed Viper leaning in. She was just about to- I heard someone screaming. Yes! Thank you merciful God! I instantly pulled my head back and let go of Viper before zooming off, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. I didn't bother to look back to see Viper but I imagined that she was just as relieved. After all, she did say that it was tradition. Just like some people at Christmas back home. I made it into the west side of town and into an open area. There I saw a female pig screaming wildly as though something was inside her brain. I slithered up to her and tried to calm her down.
"Madam, is everything alright? What's wrong"? I asked quickly.
"I-I- my necklace, i-i-it's be-been stolen"! She stuttered. "It was given to me by m-my husband ten years ago"!
I nodded and promised to track down the thief at once after getting her out of harms way and leading her back to the noodle shop with some of the guests. I then began to search for anyone suspicious. A few minutes of searching and I wasn't having much luck. I couldn't find a single person let alone a thief. I travelled along and turned a corner and could hear footprints running in my direction. It sounded too rushed to be a normal calm citizen. Only someone who was trying to escape would be running so quickly. I readied myself to strike. Soon enough, I turned the corner and struck once the thief was only a few feet away, only having enough time to barely stop as I saw who it was.
"Yihshen"? Sure enough, it was Yinshen. She looked tired from running around. "What are you doing, running around"?
"Trying to find Mrs Dechen's necklace. I assume you're doing the same thing"?
I nodded.
"How kind of you to help. The poor lady's in tears"!
"How do you know her name"?
"I'm a close friend of Mrs Dechen, it's part of the reason I moved here in the first place. I went to visit her ten minutes ago, that's when she mentioned that she had been robbed and I've been searching since"!
I nodded and followed the panther. Two heads are better than one after all, and it didn't take long until we found something that likely linked to the robbery. Yinshen suddenly stopped upon noticing something in the ground. Footprints. I took a look, my first thought was that these footprints proved next to nothing. However, Yinshen said different.
"These footprints seem to be stretched out, as though someone was running away. And from the shape, it seemed to be someone with hooves for feet".
"That narrows the culprit down a bit". I argued.
"I agree, if it wasn't for the width between each hoof print, plus the prints are slightly larger than a pig or a boar. Almost as though it was a... buffalo". Yinshen stood up before facing me. "I know who stole the necklace".
She figured it out already? And just by looking at some tracks in the sand? Part of me was shocked by how quickly she had solved the first part of the puzzle while the other part of me wasn't because of her being a panther. Big cats in the wild usually have excellent hunting skills. Even the female lions do most of the hunting for its kin so I guess the same would apply for panthers and other big cats.
"Let's go. We've got to get moving. now"!
The both of us ran as fast as we could, following the prints to the end of town. It was there we saw a water buffalo running into the bamboo forest. A buffalo with green pants. Ralph. In his hand I saw a white necklace grasped tightly.
"Looks like we found our thief". I acknowledged.
"Then let's go get him". Yinshen agreed and we both ran to catch him. Speed was on our side and we where easily able to catch up to him within seconds. I then threw myself at his feet and wrapped my body around his legs and tightened my grip forcing the guy to fall over.
"You're not going anywhere big guy". Yinshen spoke.
However, once she did, another two buffaloes dropped from the bamboo stalks. One in orange pants and another in blue, both wearing shoulder pads.
"Hand over the necklace, and we'll leave you unharmed, kitty cat". The one in orange spoke up. Yinshen began to smile.
"Looks like you boys are about to learn the hard way"... She then got into a defensive stance like a kung fu warrior. "... that this cat has claws".
I then saw her charge at both buffalo. The one in orange swung a punch at her which she grabbed with one paw before twisting it to the left, causing the buffalo to trip allowing Yinshen to use momentum to pick the beast up and throw him straight into a bamboo stalk which broke in half at the force the buffalo hit it. The second buffalo foolishly attacked but before he even got the chance to hit Yinshen, she dropped to the ground and spun her legs round in a three sixty motion and knocked the blue one off his feet. Then, before the guy could even fall to the ground, Yinshen swung her legs upwards and over the buffalo then bringing them down quickly on his chest, causing him to slam into the ground much harder than if he had fallen normally. All I could now hear were groans of pain from both buffalo as Yinshen got to her feet and walked back over to me, one paw on her hip.
"Well, that was fun". I smirked.
Then I heard a groan below me. I looked down and realized that I was still wrapped around Ralph's legs. I then let go, certain that he wouldn't have been stupid enough to make the same mistake his buddies made. Turns out he was. The minute I released him, he tried to go for me. I responded by hitting him in the stomach with the tip of my tail, as though I was thrusting a spear into him, then pulling my tail back, I jumped into the air and did a front flip with half my body sticking out far enough to hit Ralph on the head, easily, but ferociously, knocking him to the ground. I think I managed to knock him out, he didn't seem to be moving. He was certainly breathing so at least I didn't kill the guy.
"Not bad for someone without limbs". Yinshen complimented.
"Thanks. You know, that was the first actual fight I've had". I admitted proudly. Up to this point in my life, I often ran from fights rather than face them. Now that I had faced a fight, I felt like an entirely different person. In more ways than one. "Still, I wish I hadn't knocked him out. It would have helped to know why he was after a simple necklace".
I took the necklace from Ralph's hoof. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I'd better return this".
I was about to head back to the village until Yinshen spoke up. "Perhaps I should do it. I am Mrs Dechens friend".
"Maybe, but I need you to look after these guys, in case they decide to get back up". I then slithered into the town with the necklace before Yinshen could argue and quickly headed into the noodle shop within a minute. There, I found the pig. Upon seeing me with the necklace, her mood instantly changed from super upset to over excited and ran over to me to take the necklace back and put it around her neck.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou"! She repeated several times before calming down".
"Think nothing of it Mrs Dechen, I was only doing my job".
Once I had spoken, her look became confused.
"Umm, my name isn't Mrs Dechen".
"Pardon"? "I'm Mrs Tien, owner of the Valley of peace clothe shop"?
"Wait, then why did Yinshen say that"... I trailed off and slithered as fast as I could back to the spot where I and Yinshen encountered the buffalo. I got to the forest easily enough, but Yinshen or the buffalo were nowhere to be seen.
"Damn". Was all I could say. There weren't even any footprints to follow. I looked into the forest before slowly heading back. Unfortunately I wasn't looking where I was going and accidentally bumped into Po's soft belly.
"Hey bud, what's up"?
"Long story".
"...You wanna talk about it"? "Not really, everything went alright until I left Viper under the mistletoe, then things became"-
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa"! Po interrupted.
"What"?
"You left Viper under mistletoe"?
"Is that really relevant at this point"?!
"Hey, I'm just saying, ya know? I mean, it is tradition".
"Oh Jesus Christ Po, don't tell me you believe that stupid tradition too".
"Okay... I won't"?
I sighed. "I'm out of here". I suppose in fairness, I should at least apologize. Viper wasn't hard to find, just look for a long green slithering figure which stood out among the population, simple enough. I saw her sitting down on another bench and decided to say something while I could.
"Hey Viper, I just wanted to apologize for... you know... leaving you under mistletoe and... stuff".
She turned round to face me, however instead of having the face I expected, anger, I was given one of sympathy.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I heard about what happened with Mrs Tien". She slithered off the bench and in front of me. "You did the right thing".
"Thanks, but just before we nearly... did what we did... I heard a scream. Why didn't you follow"?
"I... I guess I got distracted". Viper blushed.
I sighed. "You know what? I'm still willing to uphold tradition if you want".
"Oh! well, are you sure"?
"Sure, why not"?
I saw Viper close her eyes and waited. Luckily I had already planned on this, finding a way of upholding tradition without properly kissing the snake in front of me. So I simply leaned forward, and kissed her. On the head. Once I pulled back, I saw her look at me with surprise. I could tell she wasn't expecting that which made me laugh.
"Very sneaky". Viper smirked.
"Yeah well, you know me".
...
Another day, another chapter. A few things I'd like to bring to mind. First off, I mentioned that I would be off to the navy last time. Well, that's all changed thanks to an email a few days ago stating that I now have a place at an animation university which is delightful so even if I don't finish my story in September, which I hopefully should, then I'll still be able to continue it at Uni. The second matter is that the mistletoe scene between Mike and Viper? That was mostly just filler for this chapter. I've been wondering on whether or not to make the two a couple or not in the last few chapters but I don't know whether I should in case it ruins part of the story. If anyone would be kind enough to leave a comment on your thoughts about it, I'll be sure to take it into consideration. With that all said and done, Cheerio.