Chapter 13
Three years later...
Azure's eyes opened to see a vacant street in front of her. Back home in the Valley, but long had gone the souls of everyday life, the echoes of voices shouting, laughing, and short lived discussions. There was no sun; she stood in front of the Palace steps, thunder roamed the sky above, as the clouds grew dark with the weight of the unknown. Were they going to rain? Maybe, there was no silver lining along them.
A roar sounded off somewhere, and it ignited her to run on all fours. At the top, she met-
"Jian?" He sat balanced on his knees, sobbing at the door, the heel of his paws almost crushing his eyes into the back of his skull, in an attempt to stop the tears from escaping, but his wailing became louder, concealing all facial features, until he heard her closing in, and only then he reeled his face out of his paws, and looked up at her.
"Help." He was inhaling heavily, and when she fell beside him, she nearly doubled back in fear when she discovered his state; blood spattered his face, his chest and arms; a scar sketched itself across the back of his shoulders, and a few claw marks had long kissed his right cheek. Trying not to wear her frightful gaze heavily, she cradled his face, and turning it towards her. "What happened to you?"
"I... couldn't stop him." Jian was weeping now, but each tears that came out, left a thin black trail down his cheeks. Azure felt her heart racing, and looked inside the Hall of Heroes; the door had been destroyed, and she forced herself inside, away from Jian, who yelled at her to stay away, his voice gaining a higher pitch as he begged her to not go in, to get out of there as fast as she could. But she ignored him- years of being bossed around as kids was enough.
The artifacts lay in ruins all over the room. A fire cackled by her side as she pressed on, hearing someone- something, whispering to her to leave, when Jian's voice had vanished, along with his adult self when she turned back to look at him, and a child version of her brother sat there, sniffling.
A laugh bounced sent itself into the middle of the room behind her. Azure closed her eyes, before turning around calmly. "What did you do?" Her voice whispered.
...
"I came home."
Azure grew used to dreams like this, so it wasn't alien to her when she sat up calmly in bed, or opened her eyes mid meditation, to observe her surroundings, yet hear her own heartbeat pulsing in her ears.
This time it was during an exercise given by her teacher.
"You okay Azure?" Twisting her head to the left, she saw Master Rhino at a table, writing letters; both were in the throne room at the top of the palace. The sun was gleaming through the open balcony doors, and heating up her back. The feeling was welcoming, more grounded, but she shook it off as she stood up.
"I need to go back to the Valley- I need to speak to Master Oogway."
Few days later, at the Valley Of Peace...
"Po! Get up!"
Po opened his eyes slowly, and scanned the room. From the floor that he gracefully landed butt first, he could see all the usual Kung Fu memorabilia; posters, souvenirs, and the Sword of Heroes (that he managed to craft himself with a log of wood he got from the firewood pile). Po sighed, before making a poor attempt to kick himself to his feet, but finds his belly too worthy a foe, and he slammed back onto the floor, making everything in his room bounce.
"Po! What are you doing up there?"
"Uh, nothing!" He shouted quickly, before rolling over, and getting up quickly, facing the window where his action figures of the Furious Five sat. He had just woken up from stellar dreaming alongside his heroes, the usual action packed story. "Hi-ya! Monkey! Mantis! Crane! Viper! Tigress! Grrraahh-" His neighbor across the way was watering flowers, staring at him like he had four heads.
Po tried to play it cool, and waved timidly, before ducking out of sight. "Coming dad."
Swooping a ninja star off the floor, chucking it at the wall on his way out- It bounces off. "Darn." He throws the star again, but it bounces off again. "Darn it!" He quickly picks it up and heads downstairs where he trips and falls the rest of the way, shouting out in pain at every impact, until he finally hit the kitchen floor face first, where a panda-shaped shadow loomed over him. "Sorry, Dad." He said, his head bobbing with every word that came out of his mouth.
"'Sorry' doesn't make the noodles!" His father corrected. The shadow is actually caused by a basket and bags all being carried by Mr. Ping alone. Po was up on his feet and got to work quickly. "What were you doing up there, all that noise?"
"Oh, nothing. Just had a crazy dream..."
"About what?"
"Huh?"
"What were you dreaming about?" The goose was chopping vegetables, ready to intently listen to what his son was going to say.
"Uh... I was dreaming about..." He looked over to see his dad glancing at him expectantly. He wanted to tell him the truth... but didn't have the heart. Maybe because it would possibly hurt his feelings... or that he would laugh and call it silly- or both. Instead, looking for a way out, glanced down at the bowl he was holding. "Uh... noodles?"
Mr. Ping stopped chopping vegetables. "Noodles? You were dreaming of... noodles?"
"Yeah..."
"Fighting noodle monsters I bet." Po and Ping turned to see a familiar face lurking in the order window.
"Jian my boy!" The goose said cheerfully. "Come in!" He ducked out for a moment, before the leopard appeared in the door, crouching down as best he could, shutting the door behind him; the years of growing had long stopped, and now he was in Po's position; crouching- nearly sitting. The blue robe had really become part of his outfit, alone with blue training pants and black sandels. "What will you have?"
"I'm alright Mr. Ping, just here for quick visit," Jian corrected, before he grinned at Po as he prepped noodles for the customer at the window. "So tell me; were you really dreaming about noodles?" He teased, having a decent idea of the dreams Po would have, but wouldn't breathe a word in the goose's presence.
"Uh, yeah. What else would I be dreaming about?" Po chuckled, but was distracted talking to him, and only realized as the customer walked away, he had placed the ninja star sitting in her noodles. "Oh, careful, that soup is... sharp!"
But she didn't notice; neither did Jian and Mr. Ping; the little goose jumped about with delight, his wings waving dangerously close to Jian's face, that he had to move his head back. "Oh, happy days! My son, finally having the noodle dream!" He started rummaging through a box close by, and pulls out an apron and noodle hat. Tying it around Po's waist, and sitting the hat in his son's head, he continued to celebrate. "You don't know how long I have been waiting for this moment. This is a sign, Po!"
Po glanced at Jian,whose paw curled around his mouth in an attempt to hide his laughter, which the panda glared at warningly. "Uh... a sign of what?" He turned his focus back to his dad.
"You are almost ready to be entrusted with the secret ingredient of my "Secret Ingredient Soup"." Po's eyes widened, and Jian smiled. "And then you will fulfill your destiny and take over the restaurant!" He went into account about the legacy of the restaurant, while Jian watched from the door. He found Po's puzzled look amusing, while Mr. Ping pointed at different photos accordingly.
"Dad, Dad, Dad, it was just a dream..." Jian's ears picked up as he peeked out the door, before blinking in realization. The gong had been sounded off. It was only signifying noon, but it was time for him to scoot, and turned back to Po and his dad swiftly.
"I better get going." They stopped talking and looked at him. "I did say it would be a quick visit. I'll drop by later on your lunch Po. Goodbye Mr. Ping." He bowed respectively.
"Okay dude, see you then!" Po held out a closed fist towards him, and the two quickly fist bumped before Jian went to open the door.
"Bye Jian!" The goose waved, and with that, they watched the cat dip out the door. He sauntered past the sitting patrons, who greeted him on his way out, while children called for him excitedly.
"Are you going to fight the bad guys Master Jian?" A bunny girl asked him excitedly.
"You didn't see any trouble, did you?" Jian looked serious as he turned his head. When the girl answered no, he pretended to take a major sigh of relief. "That's good to hear! You let me know if you see any trouble," he then proceeded to point his finger at the siblings that surrounded the table, while the mother watched on with a smile. "That goes for all of you, promise?"
"Yes Master Jian!" They all replied, before chatting among each other happily.
Po waited until he was out the restaurant entirely, before sighing a little as he made a turn for home. "What's wrong Po?" His father asked, passing out more bowls to customers.
"Nothing really..." He paused, twiddling a spoon in his paws, before elevating his eyes back up to his father. "Uh, actually dad?"
"Yes son?"
"What if I wanted to do something else? Something... besides noodles?" Po grimaced slightly in preparation of his father losing the plot-
"Son..." The goose patted his son's forearm with his wing gently. "What more could you possibly want? You are my son. Broth runs in our veins! We'll always be noodle folk. I was young once too, remember? I thought the same when I was your age; heck, I was close to having a crisis!"
"You did?"
"Yes- I thought about running away and learning how to make tofu!"
"Well... why didn't you?"
The goose laughed. "Can you imagine me making tofu?" He laughed at the mere thought. "No, no. We all have our place in this world. Mine is here. And yours is-"
"I know..."
"At tables two, five, seven, and twelve!" Po's arms were loaded with bowls of soup in a flash before he could finish his sentence, his focus went to making sure the food didn't up on the floor. "Service with a smile!" Pushing the corners of his mouth to form a fixed grin he was happy with, the goose patted him gently on the cheeks, before he waddled off to continue vegetable prepping for the next order, while a gong finished its song in the distance.
Po glanced out the window before heading out with his order; the Jade Palace.
Jian is so lucky, Po thought.
Shifu took shelter and company by the trees and bushes that nestled by Training Hall, playing the flute. The song carried through the air as Jian reached the gate, and just as he pressed his paw against the door, he paused to let the melody sink into him. Despite the rocky road between them, whenever music was played, it had always brought some serenity to his mind, of whatever was going on. His closed his eyes, and smiled softly.
Unbeknownst to him, and seemingly Master Shifu, stealthy dark shapes moved about the bushes. Shifu continued to play...
Suddenly, those shapes- five to be exact, explode from their hiding spots, running, flying, slithering, jumping... all diving on him. But he knew- his eyes shot open, and he was moving like lightening- and Jian's eyes reopened, almost ready to question why the music stopped abruptly, but then heard fighting. He pushed the gates open with a single punch, seeing Shifu wield the flute like a staff; deflecting, blocking, dodging, and the attackers jump back. Jian's fight mode immediately shut down, grinning at the realization there was no real danger. Tigress, and the rest of the Furious Five, had turned to Master Shifu, in their battle stances. Master Shifu stood straight and poised.
"Well done, students..." They all straightened up and bowed to him respectfully, while Jian shut the gate, leaning against it coolly in the shade. Shifu noticed his presence, but didn't address it; not like Jian cared. They've somewhat learned to live alongside each other, and not with each other. "If you were trying to disappoint me-" off he went with the critiques of their approach, and Jian watched on with a neutral face, not really taking what he was saying into account. Instead, he fixed the sleeves of his robe.
"Tigress, you need more ferocity. Monkey, greater speed. Crane—height. Viper—subtlety. Mantis—"
"Master Shifu."
Shifu pointed the flute at the palace goose named Zeng. "What?!" He barked impatiently, startling him.
"Aah!" Shifu didn't budge from his form. "It's Master Oogway. He wants to see you and Master Jian immediately." Jian's ears picked up, and as Shifu straightened himself up, he peeled his back off of the door. Tigress around to see him moving in towards them, motioning him to come forth with the tilt of her head, and Shifu was quick to notice her movement, and followed. He nodded at Jian hesitantly. Jian said nothing, and bowed.
The door burst open, and Shifu raced ahead. Jian wasn't far behind him, not looking back to see other the other palace geese pushing the door shut. Both grind to a halt, out of breath.
Shifu took a step forward, and took in a deep breath. Jian stared straight ahead, kneeling into a bow as Shifu spoke into one himself;
"Master Oogway?" The panda glanced at Jian to see him with his head bowed down, "is something wrong?"
In front of them, a tortoise shell was perfectly balanced on a thin wooden staff. Oogway slowly emerged from his meditative position, climbing down effortlessly. "Why must something be wrong for me to want to see my old friends?"
"So..." Shifu was a little stumped. Jian glanced up at the turtle with an equally puzzled look, raising his head out of the dip. "Nothing is wrong?"
"Well, I didn't say that." Oogway turned to Jian. "Someone has come to visit." He moved slowly, and both Jian and Shifu saw Azure standing on the opposite side of the reflection pool. Shifu narrowed his eyes questionly, while Jian watched with a surprised expression as she smiled weakly at them, and bowed to Master Shifu respectfully; she wore a dark purple floor length cloak that slung over both shoulders.
"Hello Jian," he welcomed her into a hug when she walked towards him, and he felt her shiver slightly.
"Azure! What a... surprise?" It's been a while since he last saw her; the last time was at their mother's wedding.
"You didn't send a letter." Shifu found this strange; Azure always planned visits ahead. A letter would be sent a week or so ahead, and they would expect her to be at the door almost immediately.
"Indeed." Shifu and the twins looked up as Oogway opened his mouth... and blew out a single candle. Shifu's paws clasped together in anticipation, while Azure pulled away from Jian, arms folded snugly across her chest, eyes hitting the floor.
Another candle blew out. And another. And another... Oogway turned to speak- and another candle was out. Jian rolled his eyes towards the ceiling briefly, before Shifu, who was on the same page, sends a wave of air to wipe out all of the rest of the candles. The room was suddenly eclipsed in a green glow. "You were saying?" Finally they could get moving.
"I have had a vision: Tai Lung will return."
Shifu looked stricken. All he could remember was his last battle with his former student. Only brief in imagery, but there was roars, and the sickening snap of bones echoing in his ears. Azure's eyes closed, lips pierced together, turning to face her brother and former Master. "I've had a vision too." It didn't show him in it; a voice of what she could only fabricate to be his. "That's why there was no letter."
Jian felt his heart drop so quickly, his knees nearly hit the ground. He felt so sick to the stomach, and couldn't look anywhere else but the floor. "Impossible." He said.
"What?"
"Impossible!" Jian growled, frightening Azure slightly. He glared at her, like she was at fault. "There's no way he can get out."
"Nothing is impossible..." Oogway said softly, which stabbed fear into his heart, while Shifu stared on in horror.
"Zeng!" Shifu turned to run towards the anxious bird. Azure glanced at his brief exit, before Jian crossed her line of vision at he paced back and forth restlessly. "Fly to Chorh-Gom Prison and tell them to double the guards, double their weapons. Double everything! Tai Lung does not leave that prison!"
"Yes, Master Shifu!" He takes flight, only to hit a column on his way out.
Oogway just shook his head slowly as he moved towards the distraught leopard, who had his sister stand by him with a paw on his shoulder. "One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it..." a whisper that barely reached the other occupants escaped his lips.
Jian's arm crossed his chest to set his paw atop of Azure's. "You need to get back to Gongmen City," she didn't have time to question, before his turned and place both paws on her shoulders, and stared down at her worriedly. "Azure, you need to warn mother. He'll come looking for us." A man they had never met before, only ever seen in photographs, his character narrated to him by a small handful of people- his actions never spoken of- a name that has never came up between him, and Master Shifu since the night they were given the box.
"We must warn the Valley first," she replied. "Their safety comes first. Mother will be okay; Gongmen is the last place he would go to."
"Azure's right." Shifu turned back around and rushed back to Oogway. "W-we have to do something! We can't just let him march on the Valley and take his revenge-"
Oogway raised a his hand softly, and Jian immediately stopped talking. "Calm yourself Shifu." He watched the ears flatten across his head, before he motioned the panda to move closer, and once he and Jian were in front of him, side by side, and Azure stood across him, before he turned their attention to the pool. "Your mind is like this water, my friends. When it is agitated, it becomes difficult to see any solutions. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear..." He settled the water with the staff, and Jian saw intricately-carved dragon clutching a red cylinder in its mouth.
All four heads elevated to see the Dragon staring down at them. "The Dragon Scroll..." Shifu said breathlessly.
"It is time." Azure felt a smile edge across her face, and before Jian could question it, he too felt his face light up.
"The Dragon Warrior!" He cried, before Shifu looked back at him briefly.
"But who?" The panda pondered, turning his body towards Oogway. "Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? To become... the Dragon Warrior?"
...
"I don't know." He smiled, while Shifu and Jian just stared at him, and then at each other, in confusion.
Here's chapter 13!
Azure had returned to the Valley, so she and Oogway could warn Shifu and Jian of their Father's break out!
Hope you guys are enjoying the story! Please leave a review!
