Thankfully, I could hear the gong sounding off as morning approached. Though instead of moving at lightning speed towards the door, I stayed on the ground. I was still in the training hall underneath the spinning logs. With Viper still coiled around me. Why... Oh right. The whole making out thing. Yeah.

That was as far as it went so there was no need to worry too much. What surprised me was that Viper was still asleep, or at least seemed like it. Maybe it was because the bells didn't sound as loud inside the training hall? Which meant that I would have to wake her up myself. Just great...

"Vipes"? I whispered as I gently nudged her head, having no effect.

"Viper"? Still nothing.

I carefully nudged her a little bit harder. Her eyes began to open.

"Morning". I spoke cheerfully, raising my head a little into the air. Viper turned to look at me and smiled.

"Morning Mike".

"Ready to get something to eat"?

"Actually... I was hoping we could just lie down for a little longer"?

I gave a small laugh.

"Alright, sure. Why not"?

I put my head back down and cuddled up against the lovely snake. It was worth skipping breakfast. I only hope that our relationship doesn't get in the way of our training. Then again, we're both masters so I didn't find that possibility very likely. As I've been told many times by both Shifu and Tigress, the mission comes first. But for now, we had at least another twenty minutes.

I have to admit, when I first started this relationship I felt uneasy. I believed that I was still a human being within my scaly body, still do, and so having a creature of another species like me didn't feel right to me. But as time went on, it became clear that she understood me better than anyone else and even helped me out multiple times, including last night when I needed it most. And perhaps more importantly, she accepted me for who I was. Something that everybody would not allow I'm sure. I don't know where I'd have been or what I'd have done without her.

Carefully, I wrapped myself over her back and to the other side of her head. She seemed to take notice as I saw a small smile. From there, I gave her another long kiss. I could feel her fangs touching my own until we broke apart. I certainly seemed to have gotten bolder, going from little pecks on the cheek and lips to much longer kisses. Maybe that was how it was supposed to work depending on how long you're in a relationship for? I wasn't sure.

Not that I had long to think about it as I was quickly distracted by Vipes who snuggled her head just below my chin which tickled a bit. At the ten minute mark, we both decided that enough was enough and got ready to train. We slid off of each other and I put on my tail blade which I had taken with me into the training hall yesterday. From there, we just did what we could until we would notice the presence of everyone else.

"Morning". Greeted Po and the rest as they joined in. Given the time, I detached the tail blade and slithered over to Crane.

"Hey Crane, talk to you for a second"?

"Sure. You okay"?

"Yeah, just wanted to make sure that Yinshen managed to... you know... get up no problem"?

"Well she managed to get up well enough"...

"That's good". I smiled.

"However... when it came to greeting Shifu. Instead of saying, "Good morning Master Shifu" and bowing like the rest of us, she just waved and said. "Morning Shifu". before heading into the kitchen".

"Oh. Well... at least she didn't call him big ears again". I spoke in an effort to make the situation seem better.

"Actually she did. She just waited until he left before muttering it to the rest of us".

"...Damn it. Did she at least remain in sight at all times"?

"Tigress made sure of it. But... for the future, you might want to keep them separated. Just in case".

"Right. Will do. Thanks buddy".

I sighed and decided to move onto the pit of fire. I don't know if I felt better or worse now after hearing that report. Perhaps I should consider sleeping on one of the support beams above the barracks next time.

After training, Shifu had asked me to talk to Yinshen and get her to find him over some important matters. If I were to guess, he was going to question her about the Galadriel gates and see if they could identify anything that could give them an advantage. God knows how that's going to work out. Nevertheless, I did as I was asked and took the panther up to Shifu's room. As we walked up, she kept on talking to me about how Mantis was the least favorite of all the warriors she had met so far. Normal I would have disagreed due to the fact that he's a good friend but after hearing about how he kept messing around with her, I let her get away with it.

Shifu was waiting at the front of his hut and took Yinshen in without uttering a single word to me. Assuming my job was done I left back down the stairway and saw the small bug himself, holding his head outside of the hall of heroes.

"Are you ok mantis"? I asked as I slithered over to the insect.

"No I am not okay. Your panther friend just went and punched me for no reason five minutes ago"!

I then noticed that several feet above him, there was a small crack in the woodwork.

"WHAT? Tell me exactly what happened".

"I just walked over to her, wrapped my pointy dealies around her neck and said "Hey babe, you want to get a drink tonight? Cause you're hot". And then she just ripped me off and punched me into the wall. What's up with that"?!

Oh for petes sake...

"Yeah... it's a mystery". I said quickly with a smile at how blind Mantis was.

"You know what? Her loss". Mantis hopped away in a foul mood which was kind of adorable in a comical sort of way. When something small or cute gets mad at something and they throw a mini tantrum or something. I gave a laugh and continued my walk. I had no doubt that he would try his luck again before he knew it.

Okay, I guess I needed that. Anyway, what's the time now? I wondered as I checked the nearest sundial at the bottom of the stairs which showed that it was almost twelve. Give or take ten minutes. Enough time to get to the barracks and cook up something to eat.

I seemed to be early as nobody else was in. Oh well, more for me I suppose. So quickly cooked some noodles and poured them into a bowl. Afterwards, I sat down and ate. The way I cooked was nowhere near as good as Po's. Though he usually takes his time to cook, even if he scarfed down his food seconds afterwards. I managed to finish my bowl just as Yinshen walked in. Tigress close behind her, probably to make sure that she didn't try anything she might regret.

The two sat down on either side of me. I could feel the tension between them. The pair of them looked so dangerous that I didn't dare to say high in worry that I'd be torn to pieces. Instead, Yinshen rolled the dice and spoke.

"So Mike, got any food around here"?

I noticed Tigress narrow her eyes out of the corner of mine as though Yinshen had just thrown her an insult.

"Yeah, in the cupboards. Feel free to help yourself". I replied as cheerful as I could. As she did, I decided to tackle the biggest obstacle that threatened to harm her and took Tigress into the hall, closing the door as I did. I had to make sure that we were at the far end of the hallway, as far from the kitchen as I could get due to the paper thin walls. In the end, we found ourselves inside of the pantry.

"How was she"? I asked as though my enthusiasm had just been sucked out of me.

"She started acting suspicious so I decided to follow her around".

"And"?

"She seemed tolerable".

"Well that's something".

I took a second, unsure what to say next until something popped into my head.

"You know what Yinshen told me once"?

"What"?

"That the pair of us were very alike. More so than I thought at first. But thinking about it for myself, I'd say the same could be said about you two".

"I find that hard to believe".

"Well, from what I've learnt, Yinshen finds relief in training, much like yourself. She trains to let go of any aggression she may feel towards others. She knows what it's like to try and try to make her master proud. But... she no longer has that chance".

"Why's that"?

"He died some time ago".

"I'm... sorry to hear that". She said truthfully. Tigress may have been harsh most of the time but I knew she would show respect towards the misfortune of others. Provided they aren't lying about it.

"Who was her master"? She asked.

"I can't say. What I will say though is that you were lucky to still have your master after, let's say, Tai Lung. Yinshen can't say the same however. Maybe she's not the one that's in the wrong".

I didn't know whether what I said had much of an affect. But we quickly headed back in and saw Yinshen making a sandwich for herself.

"Is everything okay"? She asked calmly. I smiled and nodded and Tigress sat down without saying a word. Well, not right away.

"Mike, would you mind leaving for a moment? There's some things I should go over with your friend".

I didn't like the sound of what she said and how she said it. I felt a knot in my stomach.

"You sure"?

"I am".

Yinshen took this as a challenge and sat back down across from Tigress with her sandwich in hand. I slithered out slowly, almost certain that this was going to quickly turn into a savage cat fight.

"Okay then... play nice"...

I left the barracks fearfully. As I slithered away, I heard no sound. Seems like things were steady. Either that or one of them has quickly killed the other. I doubted that any of them were capable of such a thing and thought better. After about five minutes just waited for the two to finish "talking", I assumed that everything was going well. Seems like Tigress really did want to just talk. I wish I knew what it was about.

Instead I just looked over the valley. The sun still remained high in the sky, the clouds slowly shifting in front of it and that big balloon thing heading this way. ...Wait, what was that last thing?

I took a closer look at the "big balloon thing". It didn't take long until I realized what it was and what danger it held.

"Oh no... Why's it got to be one of those damned things? Why now"?

I panicked and slithered back into the barracks to alert the others!

...

Back into the action already? Poor Mike is unable to catch a break isn't he?