Finding the Path
Chapter 2 Kung Fu Girl
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. This is just a story for fun.
Peng arrived at the mountain and found a small village at it's base. The young snow leopard decided to explore the village and sell some of his pots at the market. Peng made his way to the market and set up shop. A few local villagers came to take a look at Peng's pots. As this was going on there was a loud commotion from a nearby cabbage stand.
Peng looked over to see a couple of warthogs hassling a rabbit. One of the warthogs grabbed a cabbage and began to munch on it.
"Please don't eat those! It took me months to grow them for the market! I promise I'll have the money I owe to Master Dante soon!" Pleaded the rabbit.
"Not our problem if you have a debt. We're here to make sure you don't try to runaway. The boss said we could help ourselves to your food." Said the first warthog as he continued to munch on the cabbage.
The rabbit sighed in defeat. Peng watched the scene with disgust and he felt his blood boil. Peng wanted to go in and teach the warthogs a listen, but he swore he would never do kung fu. Peng was afraid he would fall into that darkness that almost consumed him before.
It was then that someone else stepped in to confront the warthogs.
"Leave him alone!" Commanded a powerful female voice.
Everybody turned to see a young female snow leopard dressed in a purple sleeved vest, brown sweat pants, and sandals. Peng looked at the newcomer with interest. The warthogs just glared at the snow leopard with annoyance. The second warthog marched up towards the newcomer, while his companion continued to munch on a cabbage.
"You have a not of never girlie. We are members of Dante's Gang, we run this village and several others, so I suggest you run along or things are about to get real nasty." Sneered the warthog as he leaned in close.
"As nasty as your breath?" Asked the snow leopard.
A look of annoyance appeared on the warthog's face as his companion and the crowd laughed. The warthog shot a murderous glare at them shutting them up. The warthog turned around to face the snow leopard.
"What's your name?"
"The name is Lian and I'm going to be chasing you and your boss out of this village." Replied the snow leopard.
The warthog laughed nastily.
"Oh I'm going to enjoy this!" He said as he threw a punch at Lian.
Lian dodged the blow with ease and delivered a punch of her own into the warthog's gut doubling him over. The warthog staggered back clutching his gut in pain as he coughed. The warthog quickly recovered and charged at Lian swinging his fist at her. Lian blocked all the punches with ease and then she leaped into the air delivering a powerful spin kick to the side of the warthog's head knocking him to the ground in a dazed heap.
The crowd cheered and Lian took a small bow. Peng was incredibly impressed with Lian's skills. Peng then saw movement from the corner of his eye and turned to see the other warthog sneaking through the crowd with a club in his hands. He was going to try to attack Lian from behind and he was going to run by Peng to get to her. Peng thought quickly and stuck his foot out, as the warthog ran forward, he tripped over Peng's foot and slammed face first into the ground.
The crowd looked over at the down warthog and Peng, who simply shrugged.
"Whoops!" He said.
The warthogs were dragged away from the market and the crowd walked off. Lian walked over to Peng, who was back at his cart.
"Hey thanks for the save back there." Said Lian.
"Oh...it was nothing. It was more of an accident then anything." Said Peng with a smile.
Lian studied Peng.
"Your new here aren't you? I've never seen you around here before." Said Lian.
"This is my first time here. My name is Peng and I'm a simple pot maker." Said Peng.
Lian looked over at the pots on the cart and her tail casually knocked one of them off the cart.
"Hey!" Cried Peng as he shot his hand out with quick reflexes and caught the pot.
Peng put the pot back on the cart and gave Lian a glare. Lian had a tiny smirk on her face.
"You have incredible good reflexes for a pot maker. The only people I've seen with those kind of fast reflexes are people who know kung fu." Said Lian.
Peng was slightly shocked at how Lian was able to figure him out. He let out a sigh and smiled a little.
"You got me I know kung fu."
"That great! Hey I know we just met, but can I ask you to help me?" Said Lian.
"What do you need help with?" Asked Peng somewhat fearing the worst.
"I need help to chase Dante and his gang out of the village. For several years Dante and his minions have terrorized the village and have forced this village and several others to pay them for protection. The villagers have tried to get help from the Imperial Army, but ever attempt to get word to them has been thwarted. I want to put a stop to Dante and his gang, but I can't do it on my own. I need someone who is skilled at kung fu to help me." Said Lian.
Peng's heart went out to the girl, but then he thought about the darkness in him that would come out as soon as he got into a serious fight. That would make him incredibly dangerous to Lian and the villagers. Peng could not fight, he looked at Lian apologetically.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot help you. Not in my current state anyway." Said Peng.
"Why not? You don't look sick or injured." Said Lian looking at Peng in confusion.
"My...condition is not as simple as a physical problem. Let's just say that I have a family member with bad blood in him and that same blood runs through me and it becomes active when I do kung fu." Explained Peng.
"Ok...so your afraid that you might turn evil if you do Kung fu?" Asked Lian.
"Exactly. I came here to go to that monastery on the mountain to seek professional help and guidance." Said Peng.
"I see. Well I hope you find what your looking for. I can tell your a good hearted person and it's hard for me to believe that doing kung fu would turn you evil." Said Lian.
"It's hard for me to believe to, but last time I did kung fu I nearly killed one of my best friends. I swore off of kung fu after that." Said Peng.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I don't think it was kung fu that made you turn bad." Said Lian.
"What do you mean?" Asked Peng in confusion.
"You have a bunch of emotions in your eyes. I see anger, fear, and uncertainty in your eyes. Your at odds with yourself and you don't know what to do." Said Lian.
"Yeah...I have a lot going on." Admitted Peng.
"Well I wish you the best of luck on your journey and just don't give up on kung fu just yet. Your incredibly good at it and I think you can use it to help a lot of people." Said Lian.
"Thanks." Said Peng.
"It was nice meeting you Peng. Maybe I'll see you around." Said Lian as she walked away.
Peng watched Lian leave as he thought about what she said. The snow leopard sighed and packed up his cart to go up the mountain.
To be continued.