Chapter 5
"Po, did you hear?" Mr. Ping cried, glancing towards the stairs as he waddled into the kitchen. He held a full crate in his wings; failing to notice the kitchen's... cleanliness. "Some idiot cook poisoned Shifu..."
"What?" Po tumbled down the stairs on his back, crying out in pain at every turn. Mr. Ping placed the basket on the counter while waiting for his son to come to the bottom of the stairs; he pushed the basket inwards as Po made it to the bottom of the steps, sitting upright in seconds. "Is he dead?"
"Not yet," Mr. Ping's wings swiped the space in front of him in dismissal. "But he will be when they catch him-" he walked back outside to grab the next crate, hopeful that Po would help as he scrambled to his feet.
"No! I meant Shifu!"
Po just made it to the door as his father came back in. "Oh, no, he's alive; barely." The boy held his head and gulped nervously. As the box hit the counter, and was pushed towards the wall, he asked; "So, how did you do?"
Po leaned against the order counter for support. "Oh, I've made a mess." Mr. Ping then decided to observe and notice the mess; but that wasn't on Po's mind. He was too busy thinking about his error while staring at the floor; the tiles, a lot like the ones outside, were littered with bits of noodle here, a vegetable there... the pieces that could easily kill Shifu... he was such an-
"Oh, that you did." His father then smiled, waving his wings joyfully about. "Ah, my son the chef. I'm so proud..." He walked back towards the stairs, and Po followed him.
"Yeah, about the whole chef thing." His head rotated around the room again. "Uh, maybe there's something else I'd be good at..." Mr. Ping plucked a broom away from the wall, and handed it to his son.
"Well, let's see how good you are at cleaning up this mess." He emphasized, walking away once it was slipping out of his hold.
"Good thinking, Dad." Letting the broom hit the ground, he rushed over to the counter, swiping up a pen and an empty scroll. Scribbling cleaner on the page, he continued the conversation. "Clean things! I'd be a great cleaner."
The laugh of his father echoed through the kitchen. "You, a cleaner?" They crossed paths as Mr. Ping made a start on cleaning his kitchen as Po was writing, moving back towards the stairs. Hopping on a bench, he started sweeping a handle brush across the counter. "I can't even get you to take a bath. You're funny. You should be a comedian-"
"A comedian!" Comedian. "Uh huh, uh huh..."
Mr. Ping looked up at the back of his sons head, with an amused face as he said; "Or a dancer..."
"Got it! Dancer." He looked back at his father with a dash of confidence, pausing mid scribble. "I can do graceful..." He stuck his tongue out as he continued writing.
"You, graceful?" The goose moved back toward his son, waving the brush towards him as his laughed in disbelief. "I feel sick." He pulled a face, his own tongue poking from his beak.
"Then you need a doctor! I could be a doctor." He wrote that down too. "Cleaner, comedian, dancer, doctor- Great! What else?"
Mr. Ping didn't look amused anymore. "An emperor."
Po gasped in excitement. "Can I?"
"No! I was just kidding!" He grabbed the scroll out of his paws and rolled it up as the boy's face fell to a gloomy facade. "Po, your destiny is to become a chef… like me." He tried to enlighten the statement with a smile.
"I can't be a chef. I'm the one who poi…" his eyes widened at his words, but changed them before he could rat himself out, "...nted out- that I can't be a chef." Nice save... His eyes hit the ground. "Dad... I'm never gonna be like you." Mr. Ping gulped nervously. "I just… I don't know what I want to do."
"Hm..." Po looked back up to him for guidance. "I know what you can do." The scroll was shoved into his chest. "Take out the trash."
Tigress was just running out the gates of the Jade Palace. Must get the Wang Fu...
Suddenly, she hit the ground, paralyzed. The scroll flew down the stairs. No!
"Uh, pardon me." Her eyes edged to the side, to see a prey mantis picking up... acupressure needles! "I'm here to see Shifu. I'm the, uh, doctor." He noticed one poking into her foot. "Oh, sorry." He plucked it out.
Gasping in fear as she leapt to her feet, her eyes were focused on something else. "The list!" Completely ignoring the bug, she ran after the scroll as he watched her go.
"Okay, nice meeting you!" He called after her, waving a pincer that held the needle.
The scroll bounced along the rooftops; and landed in a gutter of a house beside the Noodle Restaurant. Po kicked open the door to the back of the restaurant, holding the trash basket against his chest, his scroll, which was fairly similar to the one she lost, perched at the top of the pile.
"You have to know what you want to do in life." Mr. Ping yelled from the kitchen. "Otherwise, you gonna be the loser like that chef who poisoned Shifu. Right, Po?"
"Yeah, rub it in." He said to himself with gritted teeth, kicking the basket in frustration. "Ow! Ooh. Ooh." Clutching his leg to his chest as the scroll hit the ground, he hopped back to the restaurant, just as Tigress appeared out of an alleyway and looked to her right, seeing a scroll on the ground.
"Oh!" She picked it up, and continued to run.
Shifu was lying flat on his stomach on a table as Sying placed a barf bucket in front of him.
"Make it quick." Bubbles formulated and left his mouth. Floating through the air, they moved towards the doctor; his name was Mantis, who was stand on top of him with his needles. "I have a valley to defend."
"Acupuncture is a very precise art." His pricked a bubble, bursting it as Shifu groaned in pain. Oogway, Azure and Jian were a safe distance away. Sying didn't want to risk them falling ill too, and tried to get them to leave, but Oogway insisted they could stay and watch.
"They can learn about medicine," that was his excuse, so there was no argument, not even from Shifu... even if he had the strength to.
Azure was staring off into space before she blinked quickly, and focused on the scene. "Uh... Doctor Mantis?"
"Yes?" Mantis turned to her with a smile.
"Have you ever done this before?" she asked uneasily, tilting her head to the side in question.
"Silly... question." Shifu rasped out. "He's a professional."
Mantis laughed in joy. "Flattered! I'm... fresh out of med school. To answer the kids question-" he turned his head towards both children, who blinked with uncertainty. "Master Shifu's my first patient." As he stabbed Shifu in the back with the needle in his hold, Shifu's entire body turned red and puffed up. "Whoa." He seemed unfazed, but curious; Oogway didn't react at all, but Azure and Jian stared with wide eyes and Sying jumped back in fright. "That is weird..."
Mantis pulled it out again, only for Shifu to deflate and fly around the room like a balloon. Mantis landed on the table, and Oogway laughed softly as the red panda crashed. "Hm... maybe the needle is a bit greasy." Mantis defended his actions as Shifu, almost flat as a pancake, tried to hoist himself up. "Lemme just clean them up and I'll be back to you..." he scooped them up in his hold, and scuttled across the floor. "Fancy lending me a paw kid?" Jian watched him move ahead, before looking back at Sying.
"Can I Mama?" He asked. Sying... reluctantly nodded, and as he bounded off, Azure was quick to move towards Shifu.
He was barely getting to his knees, when she placed her two paws in front of him. He glared up at her for a brief moment, before dragging himself away, trying to pull himself up onto the table, his muscles aching at every move. When that didn't work out, and he ended up on the floor again, Azure was close by again. Bitterly grumbling to himself, he grabbed hold of her paws, and she leaned back far enough so he could uplift him up the rest of the way. He hasn't been in such close proximity with her since... maybe when she was a baby, nestling in his arms, when she was practically half his size. Now she was just about his height; some elegance in her form as she guided him back to the table. She was small still, but she had... strength, holding both of them up.
As he heaved onto the table, back on his belly, Sying just squeezed a rag, rinsing it free from any excess water. Azure moved away, watching closely as Sying placed the rag on Shifu's forehead. His heavy eyes were shut for a moment, but as Jian and Mantis came back, they found his eyes opening slowly.
"Thank you..." He said softly, his eyes rolling a little as they closed once more. Jian felt his heart sink a little, frowning at the floor. Azure, blinking in surprise, bowed into her subtraction from him. Mantis watched all of this, unsure what to say, while Sying stared Shifu down with a heavy beating in her chest, despite him not seeing her.
Tigress did indeed make it before dawn. As a matter of fact, she made it home later that night.
Jian and Azure were eager to see her succeed... but Shifu was speechless. Oogway and Doctor Mantis stood by them in front of the open doors to the Hall of Heroes. In an attempt to ignore the silence, Azure eyed the glow coming from inside. It was welcoming and inviting... her Mother was beside her, paw cradling her face, waiting for Shifu to speak.
"Uh..." that wasn't what she was expecting from him.
Tigress stood before them with three other creatures beside her; a snake, a monkey, and a bird. All were similar in age. The snake Shifu did recognize; she was the Grand Viper's Daughter... but she wasn't in any training as far as he knew.
"...and with the Doctor, you have the four you requested." She was clearly out of breath.
"Wait, what?" The bug said aloud, but Tigress interrupted him with a bow, speaking something along the lines of an honor to serve him...
"Why, Tigress, what is this?" Shifu coughed, quite vexed. He had a black eye from one of Mantis' treatments... luckily the children weren't in the room to see it.
Tigress looked confused. "The—the warriors on your list," the scroll was in Shifu's hold in seconds flat.
"Uh…" The bird, Crane, was almost playing copy cat. The snake, Viper, had her face scrunched up, trying to make sense of it all... and the monkey... well, Monkey was looking behind them trying to figure it out too.
"Warriors? Where?" The serpent asked.
"But you're Master Viper's daughter..." Jian said, leaning to the side so Viper could get a view of him. Her body twisted a little to see him too. "Surely you're one?"
"Well... I suppose-"
Shifu opened the scroll very briefly, before closing it again; his grip tightening around it. "This is not my list! Where are the warriors that I sent for?" He threw the scroll to the ground, his voice drying up a little at the end of his words; so he coughed again, before his stone cold look returned.
Azure and Jian watched as Tigress' ears fell back. Sying could feel the girl's heart dropping from her chest, and her stomach churn sickly. "I—I don't understand. It must be an accident."
"Ah, there are no acci—" Oogway was silenced by extending his palm to him, angrily. Sying and the children had never seen Shifu like that before... even Master Oogway was taken aback.
"Master, forgive me..." Tigress nearly hit the ground as she knelt into a bow. Azure had a sense of fear dwelling upon her, and clung to her mother's skirt for security, but Sying didn't let down her paws from her face. The other three behind Tigress looked at another in confusion.
"You disappoint me." His throat echoed in the space between them. "Who will defend the valley now?" His words shot out of his mouth like steel stars, and she didn't dare to look up at him... until the bird, flapped his wings.
"Wait, we can help Tigress." He said. Only then she was up on her feet. "We can… fight… a little… bit." He didn't sound too confident.
"Yes," Viper slithered into view, causing Tigress to step back. "You can count me in too." A smile started growing on Tigress' muzzle.
"Let's do this!" A comment came from Monkey.
"I'm not actually even a doctor, so, I'm in." Mantis made sure to include himself, and scuttled along.
"You can help by leaving."
"Okay, bye." Monkey turned on his heel, and Crane stretched his wing to stop him from going, but all their attention turned when the tiger started to plead with her Master as he walked towards the Hall, a hand on his stomach.
"No. No, master, please listen. I have seen them. They have skills!"
Shifu turned back around sharply. "But they are not the warriors I sent for!" He barked. "They're all just children! Like yourself!" Tigress' eyes shrunk as he gestured behind him during his rant, whether it was to prove a point unconsciously or not. "I can't count on them to fight."
Children... Azure and Jian were behind him, who looked back at her fearfully. Her growling stopped Shifu in his tracks. "Exactly," she shot back. "You can't count on them; you can't ever count on them; because you won't ever let them fight... because of something that wasn't their doing!?"
"Tigress-" Sying began warningly.
"You just don't want to make another mistake!" Her tone sliced through Sying's words, and her heart was coming to her throat. "Their existence alone is a haunting reminder isn't it?"
Crane, Monkey and Mantis just blinked dumbfoundedly, but knowing Viper's shocked expression, and Sying's paling complexion, it was enough for them to know that Tigress had crossed a line. Not like she cared; her eyes were sharpened into slits as her paws curled up into fist so tight, the skin covering her knuckles was close to bursting.
Shifu was ready to boil over in anger... yet, although they couldn't tell if the cracking of his voice was due to him being so ill... or if he was pained. "Do not speak to me like that... ever." Azure and Jian looked up at Sying, who was wide eyed and staring at Tigress as she connect a fist to palm in defeat, using everything in her power trying not to say anymore... to save her own skin, and looked at the Four. Oogway just watched on in silence, before glancing at the twins, who in turn kept their distance from Shifu.
"It's been an honor to know you," was all she said, before she started ascending down the stairs.
"But, Tigress-"
"I'm sorry."
A goat came trampling up the stairs, right past Tigress, and towards Shifu. "Master Shifu! Master! The boar! The boar has been spotted by the Great Forest!" Tigress stopped briefly, but her fists formed tightly by her sides, and kept walking.
"Evacuate the city to higher ground." Shifu ordered, and the goat bowed to him in a respectful haste. "Sying-" he rasped as he turned his head. "Take the children and go with him." He gained a nod in response, before moving the children along.
"What about Tigress mama?"Jian asked, searching the darkness beyond the boundaries of the Palace Doors; she was a fast mover, as she was out of their sight in the few seconds she left their vision.
"Leave her. She'll follow us..." They followed the goat as he ushered them to hurry.
"You." Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis stood to attention. "You should leave now."
Crane's head lowered to the ground as he backed away, the others not far behind him. "Let's go."
At the dead of night, at the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, Tigress had planted herself miserably on the cliff edge and Oogway was moving towards her. It was raining lightly, and admist the pitch black, the warm orange glow of the Valley could be seen in the distance.
"A cleaner, a comedian..." Tigress' ears lay flat against her head; Oogway had the damned scroll in his hands. "A dancer, and even a little doctor." He was soon down beside her, his stick set behind him. "It was no accident that you found them." He looked straight ahead, waiting for her to speak...
"I failed Shifu."
"Worse." Only then her eyes were on him. "You are failing yourself." He glanced up at the peach tree; one blossom lay along one of the furthest branches, lonesome. It moved in the gentle breeze as he continued. Her eyes went back to the ground. "You spoke above him." He didn't sound stern... should she worry? "You weren't wrong... they will learn the truth."
"But when?" Her tail flickered behind her. "They've been kept in the shadows. They don't understand why he's the way he is."
"Just like how they see him with you perhaps, hm? They're more concerned about you." Tigress straightened her posture, shifting one foot so both dangled off the the edge with the other. The drop below her was concealed by the mist. "They see you devote yourself everyday to this art; every morning," one of his arm rose slowly over his head, while the other sat on her shoulder. "You wake before the sun. You train, you eat, you train, you eat, you train... and sleep late into the night. Day in... day out." His arm lowered at each pause in his words. "They can't understand how you stay in the same routine, with no breakage... and yet Shifu has no constrictive criticism. He picks at the faults, and they sense your frustration... children can be powerful too."
"The Jade Palace is no place for them." Her arms crossed over one another. "Sying knows that."
"Yet, there is no where else for them to go. So they remain." Where was this conversation even going? "They look to you for what to do; their mother, and Shifu, cannot control them... they can try, like Shifu tries to make you be like him, hmm?" They finally made eye contact. "He wants you to follow his form. But no matter how much you try, you will never be Shifu... can you be Tigress?"
The flower he had his eye on fell from the branch and fluttered past Tigress, to which her eyes moved to its rhythm... when she looked back, he was walking away from her, as slow as he had appeared.
Po and Mr. Ping stood outside the noodle shop, watching the villagers flow out of the Valley in a sea of cloaks, carts, and lanterns. It was still pretty dark outside when the alarm was raised. "This is terrible..." Po said loud enough for his father to hear.
"Yes, they are leaving before breakfast!" His father sounded devastated.
"No, dad. If I hadn't poisoned Shifu with my food, then none of this would have ha… ppened." Po felt his soul leave his body as every muscle tensed up. He tried to stroll away stiffly as his father slowly turned to him, his eyes wide.
"Po? You cooked that meal for Shifu?!" He said, as Po repeatedly bumped his head against the wall, his mind play idiot, idiot, idiot on repeat. "So, Shifu ate noodles from my restaurant." His wings held up of his beak by both sides before it could hang in the air.
"Dad, I'm sorry. I was gonna tell you, but—" Po was surprised when his father jumped for him... to hug him?
"No, this is fantastic Po! Now serving the Jade Palace, Ping and Son! You can't buy this kind of publicity!"
"But, dad—" the poor boy wasn't getting a word in edge ways, as the goose continued to gabble.
"If we hurry, we'll be the only ones selling food to all those starving folk." He ran into the kitchen before Po could stop him. "I'll get the pots. Gather some roots and mushrooms from the hilltop and I'll see you up there later!"
The panda just sighed in reluctance. "Okay, I'm on it." He wandered off, Azure, Jian and Sying floated along with the crowd.
"What's gonna happen Mama?" Azure asked, as she held onto one of her mother's paw. Sying was staring straight ahead as both children were stuck to her sides, partially covered by the cloak that draped around her shoulders.
When her eyes moved towards her daughter, Jian took a gander of the area around them, as Crane, Monkey, Viper, and Mantis were just appearing into view as they walked in the same direction as the villagers.
"I wish there was something we could do." he heard Viper say piteously, her head hanging slightly as they moved.
He felt his ears pick up.
"I don't know sweetheart." Sying admitted to defeat, rubbing the back of her paw against Azure's cheek, as she couldn't free her digits out of their clamped grasp. "Shifu will think of something."
Jian let go of his mother's paw, told her that he was going to talk to someone, and bounded straight for the four, and Sying couldn't stop him. Azure offered to catch him, and Sying allowed her. As she ran off, whispers slithered around her ears, making her look around; several villagers were walking a lot faster now they've noticed the children running around, some were whispering to one another while they gathered their bags, and other just glared at them. Motherly instincts kicked in, but she felt anxiety slowly crawling along her skin...
"So," Monkey allowed Mantis to sit on his shoulder as they walked. When he started talking, his head remained to face straight ahead, while his yes bounced between the path and the bug as he spoke. "Any idea how big this boar is? Is it like huge? Is it gigantic? Is it big-ish?"
"Hey!" Crane stopped first, letting a soft 'hm?' as his head turned to see Jian coming for them, with Azure not far behind him. Crane signaled the others to stop, and in turn they moved their attention to them once they closed in.
"Hey... you?" Monkey wasn't sure what to say.
"What is gonna happen with Tigress?" Jian quizzed in a haste. "Are you gonna help her?"
The four animals glanced at one another. "We... can't." Crane seemed ashamed to say that. Jian's face just dropped into a look of annoyance.
"Why-"
"Look kid," Mantis hopped off of Monkey's shoulder, and onto the boy's head. "Whatever Tigress said to Shifu about us having skills..."
"Is correct, surely." Azure stood by Jian, gazing at each of them briefly. "Tigress would never lie."
"How would we know that?" Monkey asked innocently, while Mantis nodded in agreement. "We barely know her."
"But we've known her our whole lives." Azure argued, motioning towards herself and her brother, before her paws twisted into a prayer gesture, "when she says anything, she means it well. You have to believe me..."
Hey all! Chapter 5 came out quicker then I thought! Got a lot of energy back; the week off was great for recharging myself XD
Anyways hope you like this chapter! Chapter 6 is coming soon!
