After buying the necessary supplies from the grocery, the both of us headed back along the street. Seeing how there was no way to haul the food up to the Jade palace properly, the grocer offered to deliver them later in the evening at no extra charge, luckily enough as we barely had any money left.
"Any idea what other training methods Shifu has for the rest of the day"? I asked Viper. After being introduced to the balancing posts from earlier, I had the feeling that there would be more planned before the end of today.
"Sorry, I'm afraid not. At least we have a half hour extra before we find out though".
"I suppose. Anything you have in mind to kill the time"?
"We could just sit down and relax for a few minutes". Viper suggested.
"Sure. I could use a few minutes to regain my strength".
Soon enough, we found a nearby bench to relax on for a little bit of time. As we did, Viper begun to lean her head onto where I'd imagine my shoulder would be, so just below my neck. Given the moment, I leaned my head onto hers. I wasn't really one for all the sappy one moment deals but it was quite sweet. Heck, I was even tempted to kiss her head, not bothering with the fact that there were several villagers around
Eventually the both of us were able to leave the bench after an appropriate amount of time and headed back up the stairs. Still, I felt like I needed to say something.
"Hey, Viper".
"Yes Mike"?
"I just realized, I never got the chance to thank you".
"For what"?
"Accepting me for who I am and what I was. I don't think I would have made it so far if you hadn't been there for me".
Viper gave me a smile.
"There's no need to thank me for anything Mike. I only did what anyone else would have done".
"Maybe, but you have done much more than anyone else has. You managed to prove that to me several times, even today during training. You've no idea how much easier things have been since".
I returned my own smile as I spoke. The next thing I did, almost out of instinct, I held Viper's tail with my own and gave her another kiss on the lips for only a few seconds.
"I'm very lucky to have you". I finished. My only hope right now was for everything to stay this way forever. Little did I know, it wouldn't. Not for me.
So all lovey dovey sappiness aside, we made it back up to the barracks and into the kitchen. Apparently Crane and Monkey had gotten into an argument over Crane molting his feathers over the floor not too long ago. I didn't know birds could do that, but according from Monkeys perspective, it turns out they can. The result was the both of them eating their food in silence, not sharing a word to each other but would happily acknowledge me and Viper. I just smiled back awkwardly and waved back.
It was kind of funny when you think about it. Despite being such great Kung Fu masters, they do occasionally act like young children. In fact, the only one who seemed to keep her composure was Tigress who just sat down beside Monkey and eating her tofu cubes, trying her best to ignore the scene between the bird and the ape.
"Sooo"... I started off with a brave stab at conversation. "Did we miss anything while we were down at the village"?
"Oh no. Of course not". Monkey began in a calm tone but quickly, his expression turned sour as he eyed Crane, who was pretty much doing the same thing. "Unless you count Crane dropping his feathers along the barracks".
Crane just did something of a mumble back but I doubt he said anything he wanted to say, at least nothing pleasant towards Monkey.
"I see"... I said, having all confidence drained. "Well, I guess I'd better go and find Po". I lied as I slithered out of the room, not wanting to be around. However before I got the chance, I realized that Po was no longer around.
"Hey, where is he anyway"?
Monkey shrugged.
"He took a wok and a stick earlier and said he was going to play Ba Quo". Mantis spoke simply whilst I wondered what the heck Ba quo was.
"And you just let him go? Mantis, this is Po we're talking about"! Tigress argued as she dropped her chopsticks upon hearing what Mantis had said. The bug actually took a few seconds to think about the consequences before coming up with an answer.
"...Oops". He said realizing his mistake.
"Come on, we better find him before he wrecks something".
Everyone rushed out of the kitchen and quickly ran into Master Shifu, almost flattening him into the ground if we hadn't stopped in time to see him.
"Is there a problem"? Shifu asked, raising an eyebrow as to why we were all scrambling to get out of the barracks.
"Uhhh"... Mantis began.
"Yes, there is". I interrupted as I slapped Mantis forward in front of Shifu. Before Mantis could retaliate, I glared down at him. This was his fault for letting Po wander off, so he's going to explain the story. Needless to say he got the message.
So Mantis told Shifu the whole story and filled the rest of us in on what we didn't already know. Such as how he simply watched the panda try a practice shot in the kitchen and sent the ball though the walls of three rooms, including his own while practicing in the barracks hallway. I really hope that one of those rooms wasn't my own.
Once the story was told, I heard something which sounded along the lines of something shattering. Seems that everyone else heard the same thing as I noticed that we were all looking in the same direction at one building. The Hall of Heroes. As quickly as we could we all rushed up the stairs, as we did I could hear Po's voice getting louder and louder as though he was talking to himself.
"...three, two, ONE"!
Before reaching the top of the stairs, I heard a yell, followed by another shatter, along with multiple groans and an apology from Po. Shifu's ear twitched. I could imagine that he had just broken something valuable.
"DO OVER"!
Okay, perhaps we should go in now.
Sure enough, Shifu opened the door and we all walked in to see Po with his back to us. He had a large hand held stick in both his hands and the wok resting on his head. He also seemed to have a wooden ball on the floor. I also saw a fancy white and yellow pot now in a million pieces resting on the floor, there seemed to be some sort of green mist floating around it as well. I don't know what it was but it seemed harmless enough. Po began to swing the stick again.
"Three, two one"...
"Panda"! Shifu snapped, causing Po to fall off balance.
As he did, he managed to still swing the stick and hit the ball with a lot more force than he meant to. The ball bounced aggressively off of a pillar and heading straight for Shifu's face. However, Shifu caught the ball as it was but inches to his face, not even flinching or blinking as he grasped it. I had to admit, that was kind of awesome despite it nearly putting a hole through his head.
"Are you playing Ba quo in the Jade Palace"? Shifu began, as Po somewhat twiddled his thumbs, acting like a child who had been caught by his mother stealing cookies. "You know we have rules against such things"!
"But, Master Shifu, I uh"... Po began, taking the wok off of his head.
"Yes"?
However instead of getting an answer, the only response Shifu got was a whistle. All of us exchanged glances at each other, unsure what the panda was trying to do. Shifu somewhat got the message a little clearer than the rest of us as he pointed at himself, causing Po to whistle slightly louder and was signalling for him to come over with his hand.
Slowly but surely, Shifu walked over to Po. Once close enough, Po began speaking a little quieter as though making sure the rest of us couldn't hear him. Little did he know that we could still make out what he was saying.
"look I...I didn't want to say anything in front of them or the newbie"...
Newbie? First he calls me honor guard at the winter festival, now all of a sudden it's newbie? He's gonna regret that later.
"But the dragon warrior, chosen by the universe"...
"Yes"? Shifu asked, keeping his voice at the same tone as earlier. Po then began to swing round with his back to us as he leant one of his pudgy arms on Shifu.
"Well it's just that, considering my position, not all of the rules should apply to me".
His response, Shifu whistled for Po to lean in closer to him. Po seemed calm about it as he followed the instruction, at least until pulled on one of his ears causing him to whine in pain. Shifu then spoke up, making sure that all of us could hear what he was about to say.
"The rules are for everybody panda. Even someone as special as you". Shifu then let go, causing Po to stumble back. Everyone seemed to laugh softly at the scene but none harder than me and Monkey, in which the both of us were rewarded with either a pull on the ear or fang, which was enough to shut me up. With all that was said and done, we all left the Hall of Heroes to let Po clean up.
"Uh, okay then. We'll agree to disagree! You say tomato"...
"And so does everyone else! Clean up this mess and meet us in the training hall"!
The doors closed behind us, leaving Po on his own to clean. All of us made our way down to the training hall, apart from Shifu who travelled at his own pace, giving us the chance to talk.
"You know, that all could have been avoided if you'd have just stopped Po from messing around Mantis". I explained, ignoring the small pain now coming from my right fang.
"Aw come on, how was I supposed to know he was going to try it in the Hall of Heroes"? Mantis argued back.
"Mantis, this is Po we're talking about"! Crane continued.
"...Fair enough".
"I'm just surprised Shifu didn't give him a worse punishment for wrecking that yellow and white pot". I wondered, remembering its fate.
"Oh please, there's not a month that goes by without Po smashing it to pieces". Monkey laughed. I just shook my head, not wanting to go in any further with the explanation.
After a few minutes had passed, everyone was back inside the training hall. Luckily I had forgotten to take my shiruken stars back from earlier so after receiving a small scolding from Master Shifu, I got back to work on practicing with the dummy. Zhen had entered with us as he had been instructed to clean the front doors. His voice quickly filled the air as he begun singing an unknown love song. Unfortunately for him. His song had ended as quickly as it had begun as Po burst through the door, knocking the goose off of his ladder.
"MASTER SHIFU"! Po yelled, catching Zhen by accident as he fell. Everyone stopped what they were doing as we all turned to hear what he had to say. Was it me, or had he cleaned up the Hall of Heroes a little quickly? There was no way he had done it already.
"Yes"?
"Uhhh"... Po began but seemed unable to finish his sentence. Almost like he had forgotten what it was he wanted to say. "Nothing. Just... just wanted to say you're... all doing... a bang up job. Really good stuff. Keep it up". And with that, he left.
"Umm... What was that all about"? I asked, hoping I wasn't the only one who was lost.
"I have no idea". Crane answered.
...
So it seems we've now reached the "Stitch in time episode". However, there's a twist. I will not be writing though it like I did with"Hunger Game" for a reason. I've had this set up for a while and I'm planning to do an extra small story which takes place during this episode which breaks away from the main plot. So while I apologize for those who may have wanted to read about the episode, I can say there's more to it than meets the eye. The next chapter will take place a day after the end of the episode but there will be a few clues as to what happened. Also, I probably won't get to writing it until I've finished this story. Cheerio!