Aden woke from his slumber a few hours later. He yawned and attempted to stretch his arms but immediately retracted them when he felt the achyness return. His body still hurt, but the pain had subsided greatly. A frustrated sigh flew from his mouth as he lay back down. He was much calmer than before, but that's not saying much.

"I would still take it easy for a little while."

He quickly turned his head to see where the voice came from before looking down at his feet. The snake, which he now knew as Viper, was looking at him with a concerned gaze.

"Uh, hey," he returned without making eye contact.

Viper could sense how uncomfortable he was and spoke up again.

"Listen, we know you've been through a lot, and we're extremely sorry about bombarding you with questions. We're just as confused as you, but I can see how you're in a much worse predicament."

Aden's facial expression drooped.

"I'm sorry!" She chimed in with a worried look plastered on her face. "I didn't mean for it to sound like that!"

Aden actually felt his body somewhat relax after hearing that. A snake just consoled him. He was listening to the genuine emotion of concern resonate from a serpent's mouth. This isn't like a snake from his own world. Viper is fully capable of complex thought and just trying help him. He exhaled some of the nervousness he held before speaking again.

"It's ok," he replied, his eyes still not meeting hers. "You are only trying to help."

Viper allowed a soft smile to creep its way onto her face.

"Feeling any better?"

"Um… The pain has lessened, but I can't move very fast."

"That's good news! Do you have the strength to walk?"

Without responding Aden shifted and put his feet on the ground. He applied small amounts of pressure and hoisted himself up slowly. When he was standing completely upright and stable he gave her an answering nod. She gave a gleaming smile and flicked her tail in a gesture for him to follow.

"Come on, you're probably starving."

He slowly made his way out of the room and followed her down hall, admiring all of the cultural architecture and decor as he passed it. He had always fantasized about travelling the world, but he'd hoped it'd be his own world. The hallway eventually led to a door, which small talk emanated from. He noticed the lack of a doorknob, which he guessed would be a common thing around here. Viper slid the door open and stood in the doorway with Aden close behind. The conversations grinded to a halt as five sets of eyes gazed at him.

"Hey, look who's up!" Mantis let out in an attempt to relieve some tension.

Aden stood in the doorway with a uncomfortable half-smile on his face. The group could see Aden's features much more clearly now that he was standing up and in much brighter light. He was almost six feet tall, maybe a few inches shy. Jet black and slightly short hair rested on his head in a plain style. His contrasting caucasian skin had a very smooth complexion that was unfamiliar to the human-like animals. One thing that caught Po's eye was how skinny he was. His lanky figure was much more visible as he slowly made his way to the table and took off the baggy sweatshirt he had been found in.

He placed the sweatshirt on the chair and sat down. Everybody had a curious look on their face, except Tigress who just sat with annoyed scowl.

"Wow," Po spoke up. "I didn't think somebody as tiny as you would be able to block an attack from Tigress."

Aden was used to the comments about how skinny he was, so it didn't bother him in the slightest. However, it was a little weird coming form anthropomorphic beings, and he did begin to feel uncomfortable when everybody would not avert their gaze from him.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Um… Could I get something to eat? I'm pretty hungry."

Po immediately snapped out of his gaze and shook his head slightly, as if he had blanked out for a minute.

Po stood up from his seat and gestured for Aden to sit down. "Sorry! Let me get you some noodle soup!"

"Sorry for staring," Monkey added softly. "We just aren't used to anything like you."

"I know what you mean…" Aden replied quietly with a small twinge of sarcasm.

By now Po had returned to the table with a steaming bowl of food for Aden. The aroma was absolutely intoxicating, and Aden took a huge whiff right away. He picked up the spoon, slowly dipped it into the bowl, and brought a spoonful up to his mouth, gently letting the fluid glide down his throat. A satisfied moan was released as he sat back in his chair and admired the flavor.

"This is really good," Aden let Po know in a tone that almost masked his uneasy feeling about his entire situation upon arriving. "Thank you."

He smiled warmly. "You're welcome, I used to work in a noodle shop before I became the Dragon Warrior."

Aden raised an eyebrow at this. "Dragon Warrior?"

"Oh, I was chosen by Master Oogway-basically the wisest and coolest guy to have ever lived-to fight evil, basically."

Aden's brow rose even higher at this. "A panda?"

"Looks can be deceiving. I've kicked every bad guy's butt in the Valley!" Po showed off a few kicks and punches while shouting every variation of 'Hi-yah,' at noone in particular..

"Way to stay modest Po," Mantis laughed.

Aden couldn't help but give a small chuckle at Po too. The chubby panda reminded him of a friend growing up. His reminiscing curved the corners of his lips into a smirk, which caught the eye of Viper.

"That's the first smile I've seen from you," she pointed out.

Aden looked over at her and held his smile for a few more seconds before allowing it to fall back to a somber one.

"Don't worry, dude," Po added in an uplifting tone. "We're going to help you get through this."

"Help with what exactly?"

Every pair of eyes turned to see an old-looking, red panda standing in the doorway. Before anybody could provide an answer, the aged panda spoke again.

"So, you are the strange creature that fell from the sky my students told me about."

Aden nervously rubbed his arm and gave a quick nod.

"You're no a threat to us. That much I can tell," The red panda added.

Aden gave an uncomfortable chuckle before uneasily speaking. "I'm Aden, and I need help getting home."

"My name is Master Shifu, and you can refer to me as such," he returned, which Aden gave a firm nod to. "Now, where is your home?"

"Uh… Madison? It's a city in Wisconsin." An anxious crack in his voice made itself present as Aden spoke.

"I've never heard of such a place," Shifu bluntly responded. "And, given that your appearance is nothing like any of us have ever seen, I'm unsure if a place like that exists in our world."

Aden's face grew a forlorn expression as he looked down at the bowl of soup in front of him. "Ok…" was all he could muster as a reply.

"However," Master Shifu started again. "Even though we may not be able to guide you home, I'm going to ask that you stay at the Jade Palace for the time being."

"Master Shifu!" Tigress blurted out as she quickly rose from her seat. "We shouldn't gallow an intruder to access to the Jade Palace!"

"He's not an intruder," Viper defended Aden. "And besides, what's he supposed to do? Fend for himself in a world he knows nothing about?"

"Viper is right, Tigress," Shifu continued. "I fear his foreign appearance would attract too much unwanted attention right now."

Aden turned his attention briefly towards Tigress, who scowled at him while lowering herself back in her chair. His eyes danced amongst the crowd of characters in front of him before landing back on Shifu.

He spoke simply and quietly. "Thank you, Master Shifu."

Shifu gave a quick nod before orienting himself out of the room. "Be at the training hall in 15 minutes."

All but Aden spoke at once. "Yes, Master."

They all listened to the slow pats of Shifu's feet walk away. Aden looked around the room in silence, waiting for somebody to start.

"You can relax in your room while we train," Viper took the lead with. "You remember which room is yours?"

"Mhmm.." Aden replied with tired eyes.

They all quickly finished up their meals and went on their way. Aden found himself dragging his feet all the way to his room. He opened the door and quickly made his way to the bed, his head slapping against the pillow as dove face down into it. The room remained still for a moment, but the muffled sobs quickly overtook the silence.

Nothing could've prepared him for this. Everything is gone. Not just his family. Not just his friends. Not just his home. His entire world. His stomach began to grow queasy, so he dashed from the bed to go find the nearest trash can. When he saw none in his room, he moved to the door to hopefully find something close by. He quickly decided that going outside would be a safer bet and ran towards the nearest exit. He flung the door open, darted to the grass, and dropped to his hands and knees. A couple quick dry heaves left his mouth before Aden finally gave in.

Time seemed to drag after letting his recently filled stomach empty. He moved a few feet away from the mess before laying down in the grass. His eyes remained wide open and looked up at nothing in particular. The clouds lazily flew by, as Aden remained motionless. Minutes passed, which eventually turned into hours. Aden simply laid there unmoving. He kept thinking about what his next move would be. Should he start a new life here, or should he focus on getting home? Where is home, though? On a different planet? During a different time? In an entirely different universe? He didn't have a clue where to begin. So, he just laid there.

Aden couldn't pinpoint the exact amount of time that had passed, but he finally felt ready to move again. Where he was going to go, he wasn't sure. He picked himself up off the ground and made his way along a nearby path that directed him away from the living quarters. As he walked, he started to appreciate the peacefulness that surrounded him. He hadn't truly noticed how calm the environment was while laying down and lost in his thoughts. Madison wasn't a huge city by any means, but there were enough people to allow the commotion of city-life to resonate from every corner of it. Here, all that could be heard was the wind.

After a few minutes of walking, he came to a set of stone steps that seemed to lead to a cliff. He paused for a second before slowly ascending the flight of stairs. Each step he took let the sound of shoes scraping against stone ring out into the air. As he reached the top, he noticed a beautiful, fruit-bearing tree perched near the edge of the cliff. He approached the tree and looked it up and down before plucking one of its fruits, which he now recognized as a peach. He tossed it up in the air a few times before finally taking a bite and sitting down at the base of the tree.

He had to admit, the view was nothing like he'd ever seen before. The sun kissed the rolling hills, as the wind sang a wistful tune through the leaves of the peach tree. His eyes shut for a brief moment to take in sounds and smells alone.

"I see you've found the sacred peach tree of heavenly wisdom."

Upon hearing the unknown voice, Aden jerked his head towards the stone steps that led up here. When he saw nothing, he shrugged his shoulders, took another bite out of the peach, and turned back to his original position, where he saw a turtle floating 5 feet out past the edge of the cliff. The small chunk of fruit Aden was chewing on was quickly sucked down the wrong pipe when he saw the hovering reptile. He let out a few strained coughs and pounded on his chest in an attempt to dislodge the recently inhaled peach flesh.

"I see you are confused," the turtle replied. "In more ways than one."

"What gave it away?" Aden sarcastically replied, clearing his throat a few more times.

The apparition gave a short chuckle. "I am Master Oogway."

"You're the guy that chose the panda as the dragon warrior," Aden pointed out, which the turtle responded with a slow nod.

There was a brief pause before Aden spoke again. "Uh… So, are you like..."

"Dead? Oh, yes," Oogway interrupted, twirling around in the air like a ballet dancer. "But, that's not the type question you seek answers for, is it?"

"Why am I here?" Aden asked, an urgent look plastered on his face.

"Ahh, there we go." Master Oogway floated towards the edge and gently touched his feet down a couple feet from where Aden stood. "Now, why do you want to know the answer to that question?"

Aden simply returned an incredulous look that could pierce the turtle's shell.

"Life isn't much fun when you have all the answers," Oogway giggled.

"I don't need all the answers," Aden's frustration seeped through his words as he gripped his forehead between his thumb and index finger. "How did I get here?"

"The universe brought you here. Your destiny didn't exist in your world."

"My destiny?..."

"All will be revealed in due time, young warrior."

Aden raised an eyebrow at this. "I think the universe picked the wrong guy. I'm a musician, not a fighter"

"The universe has a wonderful sense of humor, doesn't it?"

There was a brief pause in the conversation before Aden spoke again. "What about my life back on earth? Will I ever be able to see my family or friends again?"

Master Oogway's smile faltered. "Following your destiny comes at a price, unfortunately."

Aden remained silent upon hearing this. His eyes started to well up with tears, but he quickly rubbed them before any could trickle down his cheek.

"I hope they're alright…" Aden trailed off as Oogway regained his smile.

"That's the heart you were chosen for. Take care, Master Lyric."

"Master Lyric?" Aden questioned, but he received no answer as Master Oogway floated back up into the air surrounded by a vortex of pink, peach tree blossoms and vanished.

The petals fluttered to the ground, while Aden stared off into space where the turtle just disappeared. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but the petals remained scattered across the grass.

"Master Lyric…" He repeated to himself, as the corners of his mouth raised. "Not too bad."

Here's more garbo

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- Jerry