After Viper had left the room to get the shiftstone, I had to go and calm Crane down after he had walked in on us. Luckily he believed that it was a misunderstanding, although I wasn't sure if he was entirely convinced. I'm just glad I managed to explain it to him before he had the chance to tell anyone else.

Viper returned in five minutes with the shiftstone coiled in her tail. There, she passed me the shiftstone. At least I'll have limbs again so that was something I was happy about. Remembering what Shifu had said about using these things, I concentrated as hard as I could and an image of myself popped into my head. Then-

*DONG*

That God damn bell...

I dropped the shiftstone and slithered to the door.

"Good morning Master Shifu". I spoke before bowing.

I looked up to see Shifu looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Python. Why are you in Master Vipers room"?

"I was helping her clean her room". I spoke, thankful I thought of the excuse so quick.

"... Very well. Now if you would all come with me".

Good God, I'm never going to get a chance to use the bloody shiftstone at this rate!

Shifu lead all six warriors and myself from the barracks and into the Hall of heroes, just in front of the reflecting pool. I guess we're about to hear about this Fennu character from last night.

"As you all know, we were attacked by a group of gorillas. They are known as the Yingying Shizu".

Aaaand cue the dramatic gasps from everyone except Po.

"ummm... who"? Po asked, raising him arm into the air like a school child.

"The Yingying Shizu served under the rule of Lord Shen since his first rise to power. Their leader, Fennu, was to become Warlord of China once Shen had conquered the land".

"So wait, how come we never ran into this guy when we had to go to Gongmen city"? Mantis pointed out.

"There had been rumors of him being sent to gather his forces at Galadriel gate at the time, and"-

"Ooh, oohooh"!

"*sigh* Yes Po"?

"What's the Galadriel gate"?

"It's a white iron gate which stands fifty feet tall and is defended by Fennu's most fierce of warriors. Centuries ago, it came into the emperors possesion until his armies were driven off by some kind of powerful force. Ever since then, it's been owned by thieves and mercenaries, and now Fennu. Some say it is an impassable fortress. No army has ever managed to take it by force and lies within the Mongolian wastes between it's mountains".

"...Awesome"... Po spoke with wide eyes.

"As I was saying. As Fennu had been gathering forces, Shen quickly begun to put his plans in motion to conquer China, betraying him. It would have been likely that Lord Shen would have attacked Fennu's forces to begin with to tie up loose ends. Fortunately he never got the chance to otherwise it would have sparked war throughout all of China. But because of it, Fennu never knew that Shen was planning to get rid of him and has chosen to avenge Shens death".

"Uh, question? Why has this guy just randomly decided to attack us two years later"? Interrupted Mantis again.

"It's most likely that he's been preparing his forces and has been drawing out plans to get to the dragon warrior. I am certain Mike being taken hostage was one of them".

"And because it failed, he now plans to kill me too". I pointed out.

"It seems that way yes".

"So what do we do about it"?

"For now, we train until we know exactly what we are up against. We can't risk going after Fennu without knowing whether he has an army or worse to help him".

I silently cursed under my breath. I could imagine Fennu returning at any point and bringing an army big enough to wipe out the valley of peace. And with his scout, Yinshen around, I doubt we would be able to make a move without Fennu knowing about it. As far as any of us know, she could be watching us right now.

"You are free to take ten minutes to gather yourselves. After that, make your way over to the training hall and prepare".

All of us bowed and we left the hall of heroes. Now that I had some time, I bet Viper still remembered about me using the shift stone. I bet right as I found her slithering beside me.

"So. Shiftstone"?

"Let's just get this over with". I muttered.

Both of us recovered the shiftstone in Viper's room and I was ready to do what I needed to do, what I had to do. I just hope that Viper doesn't think any less of me. But I guess she'll understand why I can't maintain a love type relationship with her, or anyone from this world.

"Are you ready? You're free to take the stone back".

"I'd prefer to see if what you're saying is true or not. After this, I'll know".

I nodded at her answer and concentrated. No interruptions this time. Even with my eyes closed I saw myself glowing brightly until at last, nothing. I opened my eyes and looked down. Nothing had changed. I was still a snake.

"Damn, it didn't work"!

I sighed in defeat and was about to hand the stone back to Viper until I saw her look. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was wide open, as though she had seen a ghost.

"Viper? Are you okay"?

I turned to look behind me to see nothing. I checked left and then right. And that's when I saw my reflection.

"Oh...my... God"...

I stared at my reflection, not seeing a grey python but my human self. My real human self! I couldn't believe it, the shiftstone worked! I had hair, limbs, clothes and so on. I don't know how long I had stared into the mirror for, maybe a few seconds or a few minutes, but my attention soon shifted to Viper.

"I- I can't believe it. You're... a..."...

"Human". I finished for her as I had the feeling she was going to say something along the lines of alien.

I looked back to the mirror, checking to see if I had every single detail I remembered from the moment I died. Unfortunately, that was also the problem.

"What's that"?

I looked back to Viper who was pointing to my stomach. I checked the mirror again, looking at where she had pointed to. I could see a part of the shirt ripped. I lifted part of the shirt up to see what was underneath. It was some kind of hole. It looked much like I had just been stabbed, only no blood or pain. Well, not any physical pain at least. I knew what it was from, and what it had taken away from me. My old life.

"It's in the past is what it is". I spoke before focusing again, transforming back into a python and handing the stone back to Viper. "I hope you feel satisfied now Viper. I don't know if I can say the same though. I'll see you in the training hall".

...

Took him long enough to reveal the secret. And there goes another chapter, nearly at thirty now which is a big thing for myself because I never thought I would have managed to get so far with this story but I have happily :D Next chapter, nothing special just training mainly. I'm still planning it out. Cheerio!