Trust
Night in the dungeon was different from the cave. The wind brought new clean air, but with a chill that the thin blanket Po gave Wolf wouldn't protect him from it. He was used to it, though. As the night fully took its reign, he suddenly heard footsteps that he didn't expect. His curiosity was confirmed when the servant duck came into the dark dungeon with a torch in hand. "H-H-Hello," Zeng said. Wolf made an awkward wave. "I'm just... gonna sweep. Did you need the...broom?" Wolf shrugged and took the broom, sweeping up his cell again as the chains around his waist jingled. "Soooo, I was wondering. You clean very well. You wouldn't... happened to write well... would you?"
Wolf tilted his head. Why was he asking? The dog nodded his head. "Great! Wait right here! I mean... you know what I mean." The duck rushed out of the dungeon and returned with wings full of scrolls. Wolf rose his eyebrow. "Look, Shifu's been giving me a lot of scribe work and I can't do it alone. I'm his head servant, but I need help. The other warriors... I don't want to bother them, but... maybe... I mean, since you're here... could you... uh... help?"
Wolf blinked emotionlessly. Zeng nervously shivered. He was taking a big risk here. He didn't know what the wolf was capable of but... he seemed nice and writing didn't hurt anyone, right? Especially if he's just copying them down.
Finally, Wolf nodded. Zeng beamed. "Great! We can get started on the articles of official board meetings that he wants me to copy and then the imperial battles." Wolf smiled and sat down as Zeng passed the small writing plank he'd use. With an inkwell and a pen, the wolf started scribbling words alongside Zeng.
Meanwhile, the Furious Five and Shifu sat in the kitchen, eating some of the food Po had prepared. The red panda rubbed his temples and groaned. Today had been difficult, and they were all swamped. "From now on," Shifu muttered, "We'll teach children down in the village. I'll make plans to create a training faculty there. And we'll be closer to the villagers if any bandits arrive as an added bonus. Master Tigress, Master Viper, tell me again what Haizi saw?"
"She... met Wolf, but... she didn't seem scared of him," Viper said. "Maybe we're wrong about this person, Master Shifu. He could have hurt her, but... he didn't. Maybe if we-"
"Viper, focus on the situation here," Tigress coldly said. "This wolf is a criminal, plain and simple. We were instructed to protect the villagers from him. If Mr. Three and Mr. Four AND Councilman Platon think he's dangerous, then he must be. Don't be soft." Viper sank her head.
"Tigress, she has a point," Crane argued. "We've been watching this guy for a while and all he does is look outside and clean his cell when Zeng's down there."
"Looks are deceiving," Tigress answered quite harshly. "Don't let your thoughts or your... personal feelings blind you to that, especially yours, Crane." Crane narrowed his eyes but simply huffed and crossed his wings. "For all we know, this little stunt with the children was a way for him to win us over without the panda's help, right Master Shifu?" Everyone stared at her. Whenever she said panda, they knew something was off. Shifu's frown hardened as he sighed.
"Right," He said more to himself. "In the end, we must keep the wolf from the villagers. Councilman Platon wouldn't have chosen us to escort him if he thought the wolf was harmless."
"Yeah, or he wanted to make a show out of it," Mantis mumbled as he finished his soup. Tigress's amber eyes bore daggers into his exoskeleton. "What?"
"Why would you think he'd make a show of it?"
"I don't know. It was a joke!" Mantis exclaimed. "It's not like Platon set us up so we can keep the dog!"
"Maybe it wasn't Platon," Shifu murmured to himself. As he stroked his beard, Po walked in. The room fell silent. Without a word, Po left them and walked sadly away. It was hard bearing this secret. He couldn't talk to his friends, his best friend was angry at him because of it, and it felt like everything had been reversed to the time he first came here.
Actually, that was a perfect description of it. The only difference was that everyone except Tigress didn't hate him anymore.
His feet dragged along the wooden floor as he reached his bedroom. He glanced at it and walked on. He didn't feel like sleeping. Not right now. Everything was boiling in Po's brain. He had no idea who this wolf was, but his identity was starting to weigh on Po. And he had to bear it alone.
"I... I just wanted to be a part of something and not be treated like a clumsy oaf, but I guess that's all I am. Just a blabbermouth panda that no one wants." His own words cut to his bones as he traveled up the hill to the Heavenly Peach Tree.
He didn't know that Shifu's sensitive ears had picked up part of the sad conversation. "Master Tigress, could you please make sure that Po is alright?"
The tiger grimaced. "Master Shifu, I'm sure that the panda is alright." Shifu's furry eyebrows netted. There it was again. That persistent sting in the word "panda".
"Nevertheless, I want you to check on him. That's an order," He gently added.
Her eyes widened a bit, but Tigress sighed, "Yes, Master Shifu." Stinging venom still lingered in her mouth as she got up to find the panda. Shifu hoped that he hadn't just sent Po worse comfort.
*************GGG***********
In the basins of southern China stood a small crowd of houses with a loud tavern in the center. Here, bandits, warriors, heroes, and villains all alike came to have a drink, forget their cares, fight a little, and drink again. Along the wall of the tavern were a group of boars, laughing and howling together.
But at the corner sat a huge bear at a lonely table. His long hammer rested against the table's edge while he grimly played with his mug of water. His soldiers were drinking baiji, the liquor of China, but he never drank. He never felt the need to wash away his past or his fear, even though he had the biggest excuse to do so. He looked at his long hammer. The decorative handle was made of wood and metal, crossing up and down in a ribbon pattern. The metal head formed a large flat square that funneled off into a spike on the other end. On its side, the head had a magnificent bear etched into its iron. It was fascinating, yet haunting to the Sho. One of the boar bandits walked up to their leader. "Boss, what's up? You haven't said a word all day, what's the matter?"
Sho shook his head violently and burst into a fit of rancorous laughter. "HAHAHAHAH! Just waiting for you guys to get on my level!" The bear stomped over to his soldiers' table and went back to being himself. Whatever that was. "Tell me, ya slobs. Who's the strongest bandit of all the bandits?"
"SHO IS!" They shouted.
"HAHAHAHA! There's my crew," Sho laughed as he drank his mug down.
"Excuse me," said a small slithering voice. Sho looked at a band of gray wolves standing at the bandits' table. "We couldn't help but hear you say that you were Sho."
"Yeah, what of it?" The bear bellowed. The wolves bowed in unison.
"It is an honor to finally meet you," said the lead wolf in a tone that resembled something more than just a snake. "I am Wei, leader of the Fang-An banditsss."
"And you're looking for a fight?" Sho smirked, grabbing his long hammer.
"We wouldn't dare think of doing such a thing," Wei humbly bowed. Sho rose his eyebrow. The wolves had dusty wrappings around their necks, heads, and feet. "We were wondering," The leader said, "If you could tell us the source of your success?"
"Hah! You want a story, huh?" Sho grinned. "Fine, gather 'round." The wolves and the boars did, though they loured quietly at each other. "And no fights, lest I break ya heads in for interrupting my story." The brown bear reclined into his seat with the hammer's handle resting by his knee. He took his mug and looked into its clear reflection. "I had a village, a small one. One high up in the mountains. Things were pretty good back then until..." The mug shook in his hand. He slammed it to the table and grumbled loudly. "Bah, anyway we got ransacked by this guy and his army, and I... couldn't beat him."
"What?!" His soldiers exclaimed. "How old were you?"
Sho waved the question off. "Old enough. Maybe 12 or 13 at the time. But I wasn't strong enough to fight 'em off... no one was." He looked into the mug, mentally tracing all the hairs and scratches along his face. Something between sadness and anger quietly grew within until he shook himself up and laughed heartily, "But from then on, I never wanted to be wimpy again. So I picked a fight or two with a bunch of mountain bandits and kept getting stronger. I did odd jobs for a while to test my strength, but I needed some kind of training," He smiled mischievously at his audience. "So I joined the Emperor's army when I was 17."
"What?!" The Fang-An bandits and his own soldiers looked for the nearest exit. Had they been working with a double agent all the time? The big bear laughed, slapping his mug down again. Water split flew everywhere, but Sho's huge laughter quieted to a small chuckle.
"Calm down ya wimps. I ain't some spy. But I dropped the bandit thing for a while. Got to train with some of the best there was until I figured out my wretched leader was a traitor," Sho growled. "The same one that raided my village. After that, I picked up my stuff, left the army, and started raising heck for them left, right, and center. I had enough of seeing our political leaders being so 'holy and dutiful'," He mocked in a high-pitch tone, "only to do the same backstabbing, underhanded work with the same bandits we swore to fight." Sho gave a small chortle as he glanced at his watery reflection. "Guess they were just as corrupt as me. But at least people know I'm straightforward! What you see is what you get! Better to have an honest crook than a lying leader." Sho picked up his mug, drank, and slammed it down with enough weight to end the story. He glanced at Wei. "And now you know the story. I hope you're satisfied."
"Yesss we are, we are," Wei hissed. Sho rose a thin eyebrow before shaking his head. The wolf sounded more like a snake the more he talks. "And we would love to hear your more recent exploits."
"AH! Now that's a tale! I've fought the Dragon Warrior and his monkey friend."
"What? Impossible!" Exclaimed one of the Fang-An bandits, "The same guy that defeated Tai-Lung, Lord Shen, and Kai?"
"The same, but the guy doesn't have much when it comes to strength," Sho smirked, flexing his biceps. "Heck, I would have smashed him with my hammer if it weren't for that little brat."
"Who?"
"Ah, don't worry about him. Now, why do you want to know?" Sho asked. The gray wolves looked at each other and nodded to their leader.
"We would be most gracious if you would accompany us in storming the Jade Palace," Wei said. "What we lack in strength, we make up for in numbers. We are a thousand strong and-"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAAH! That's it?" The bear hooted with laughter. "You guys don't need my help. If I can defeat the Dragon Warrior and his friend, you'll be able to take that place over by sheer numbers." Sho laughed darker as he thought about it, "It'll be like a storm taking down straw houses." The bandits laughed loudly into the night.
****************G***********
She finally made it top where the panda sat, munching on peaches. He looked down at the valley, sighing with the weight of the world squarely on his shoulders. And he bore it alone. A moment of pity and sadness gripped Tigress's heart. Just a moment. Within a recomposed breath she stood straight and proud. "Po."
"AHH! Oh, Tigress, it's you," Po sighed. "What does Shifu want?"
"What makes you think I'm here because of Shifu?"
"Because you're upset with me?"
"Why would I be upset with you?" She said it too calmly like she was straining to keep everything back.
Po sighed. "Because you want to know what the guards said to me."
"That would be nice."
"And I told you I can't."
"Why?"
"Tigress," Po groaned, "It's... really, really complicated, okay?"
"This wouldn't be difficult if you just told me."
"If I did, you'd be in danger."
"Oh, I highly doubt that," Tigress lightly laughed. Po stood up, turned, and narrowed his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Po, you're not exactly the most secretive person in the world. If they told you, it's only a matter of time before you tell the whole world," Tigress said frankly. Po's mouth dropped for a second before he gritted his teeth together.
"Oh yeah? Well, excuse me for choosing the one time to keep quiet. It's not like you guys when you're trying to keep me away from the wolf so that he doesn't use me to convince you guys to free him or anything!" Now Tigress's jaw dropped. "Yeah, I know. I knew the moment we brought him here. I'm not as clueless as you guys think. I know you guys don't trust me!"
"You're not trusting us," Tigress fired back.
"Look, I didn't ask this, Tigress. I'm dealing with stuff WWAAAY over my head and I don't need my own friends thinking I'm some blabbermouth panda that, by the way, they know nothing about!"
"Oh? And what don't we know about you, Po? Your favorite color? Your favorite food? Your history with Shen and how you came here?"
"My habits, my life in the village, my romantic life, and my private missions," Po fired back. "There are parts of me you know nothing about." He sighed out his frustration, trying to calm down. "Look, I didn't ask for this, okay? All I wanted was to be a part of you guys. You guys treat me like the child of the group and you don't trust me with anything. You don't even trust me to go downstairs and just see the wolf."
"It's for your own safety," Tigress remarked.
"And what the guards told me is for your own safety too!"
"And you wonder why we don't trust you?" Po's head jerked back. "Po, we can't trust someone who holds secrets, especially like this."
"OOhhohoh! Please! This is coming from you?!"
Tigress narrowed her eyes, extracting her claws. Either the panda failed to notice or he didn't care anymore. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Tigress, no one in all of China knows ANYTHING about you other than you're a female tiger!" Po shouted. "No one knows what you're feeling, your reactions, your dreams outside of the Dragon Warrior title, your thoughts! I have to interview everyone and go through the Official Records Room before I-" The panda froze.
"Panda?" All the anger disappeared from his face as an idea flew into his mind.
"Wait, wait, wait. The Official Records Room has a copy of everything that goes on in China, right?"
"Y-Yes. It's similar to the Emperor's library but-"
"That's it!" Po grinned, grabbing and shaking Tigress in excitement. "That's where it'll be."
"What where will be?"
"I have to go." Po bolted down the mountain in a blur of white and black. Tigress stood alone atop the hill.
The panda is right, she thought. No one knew much about her. They had a rough idea of who she was, but her identity was largely attached to the Jade Palace and the Furious Five. She looked at her hand. What was she planning to do with it? Why did she extend her claws? Tigress shook her head and retracted them. No, she would never do that to Po. "I just..." She quieted herself before saying anything else. For now, she did her job of getting Po out of his depression. For a moment, at least.
Continued...
