Chapter 5: Peaches and Peace

It was a good climb to get to where they had to go. They eventually made it to what Po introduced as "The Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom." He offered her a peach before taking one for himself. They both sat down and looked out to the horizon. They saw the sky changing color. It was nearly sunrise.

Dai didn't eat her peach at first and when she looked over to Po, she saw he had a few in his hands. She shook her head and smiled. It reminded her of times when her family was closer, back… back when she and her brother had been close.

"What's wrong?" asked Po. She turned to see him looking at her with a question in his face.

"I just got lost in thought for a moment, that's all," she replied.

"Yeah, sometimes I think about other things too, especially when Master Shifu's giving a boring lecture. I'll think about my dad at the noodle shop, I'll think about noodles, I'll think about bean buns…" he left off there.

She smiled again. Po was sweet and funny. She only wished she could be with him more without everyone looking at them like the plague had infected them.

"It seems like you have more on your mind than food right now," said Po.

"It is difficult to get over a lot of things from the past when they keep haunting your present," said Dai.

"I think Master Shifu would tell you that you need inner peace."

"Yeah… good luck getting me there."

"I'm serious, Dai. After I found out the truth about my past and came to terms with it, I became a lot better as a whole. Finding inner peace is not forgetting what happened or avenging what had happened, but it is through coming to terms with who you are, past, present, and future."

"Shouldn't you have more gray hairs to be that wise?"

"Oh, so we're making jokes now, are we?"

"Perhaps we are. What are we going to do about it?" Her eyes challenged him. Sadly, their conversation ended here with the sound of the morning gong.

"Sorry, I have to go. See you later!" Po ran off toward the Jade Palace and Dai's smile faded.

"There goes the only person in this world, outside of my pack, to see a piece of who I really am."

Meanwhile, at the Training Hall, the Furious Five had already begun their training for the day. Master Shifu watched on and it wasn't long before Po came in with Dai trailing quietly behind him. Po was out of breath, but Dai didn't seem the worse for the run.

"Po, Daiyu, we've been waiting for you," said Master Shifu. The Five stopped training and came over. There was a deadly silence that was broken by Po.

"Well, no need to stop on our account. We were just coming back from a mission," said Po. The silence continued for a moment. "The Qidan were missing something and we got it back, right, Dai?"

"Yeah, it wasn't that big of a deal," said Dai.

"Daiyu, since you show some talent in kung fu, perhaps you could show us how well you are at sparring," said Master Shifu.

"I have no objection," said Dai.

"Perhaps I can be your sparring partner," said Tigress. The look in her eyes looked like murder instead of friendly sparring though.

"Sure, why not?" said Dai. Tigress's technique was more towards the offensive while Dai's technique tended more toward the defensive. After a few good blocks though, Dai found an opening and struck back. Tigress was shocked for a moment too long and Dai took the advantage by trying to end the match then and there. All she needed was a particular hold that could hold Tigress to the ground. However, this was not allowed. Dai was thrown back and hit the wall. Tigress came at her and Dai did her best, but was unable to block all of the blows. Dai submitted to defeat.

The match ended when Shifu snapped his fingers. Tigress was about ready to leave when Dai called out, "I suppose I should be glad that wasn't a real fight." Tigress turned around. "Or was it?"

"You would do no better either way," said Tigress.

"Didn't you ever think that maybe it was too easy? Master Shifu was right yesterday. I was holding back. I learned long ago the consequences of kung fu were too much for me. I usually only use those skills if I have to fight. Now, do you want to see what I can really do or can we forget about all of this?"

"Tigress, don't," said Viper.

"I respect you all as masters, I really do, but I cannot respect you as people. If you cannot accept me, how can you accept anyone else for who they are? I accept the fact that I'm a wolf and people have a prejudice against me automatically for something others of my kind have done. Do me a favor: if nothing else, learn to judge me by my wrongs and keep my people out of it. I'm not the one that needs to change their mind here, it's you," said Dai. She walked past them out the door. Po followed her.

"We'll continue training after lunch," said Shifu.

"The nerve of her, telling us we need to change," said Mantis.

"Yeah, who does she think she is?" asked Crane.

"She's the one who needs the attitude adjustment," said Monkey.

"And I'd be just the one to give it," said Tigress.

Viper couldn't help it, after hearing all of this, but to think on how they got here. They had each come from pasts where they had been laughed at, where they had been outcasts, where they had been hated, mocked, and ridiculed. How could they now turn the tables on Dai? It is true that Dai was the first of her kind who seemed to have good intentions, but if it was true for her, couldn't it also be true for others?

After they had all gotten back from Gongmen City, it was rumored that one of the wolves was killed because he stood up for what was right. Then again, it had been for the defense of his brothers, other wolves. Was it so strange for a wolf to do something like that when any other animal would do the same?

The Five, Shifu, Po, and Dai went down to the Valley to have lunch at Mr. Ping's. It was easier for customers to stick around with so many other masters to keep Dai in line, but she still felt their eyes on her. It still hurt, but she was coming to the sad realization that it probably wouldn't change unless something big happened.

There was a sudden sound of screaming that pierced the silence. Someone ran by and everyone stayed still. Dai looked onto the street and saw why no one had said anything: it was a wolf running from danger. There was an even bigger wolf not long on her tail.

"Aren't any of you going to do anything?" asked Dai to the masters.

"Po, stay here," said Shifu.

"But, Shifu-" protested Po.

"You're staying here," said Tigress. Po was angry, but before he could react further, Dai had already left.

Dai ran into the path of the big wolf. Everyone stepped out to watch. The wolf that had been the one being pursued stopped where she was… and everyone gasped at what she was holding in her arms: three bunny babies.

"Into the shadows, little ones," she said. "Yao, this has gone on far enough."

"Mei, for your protection, step back," said Dai.

"I'm not leaving you to fight this alone," said Mei. Yao swatted at them and while Dai was able to dodge it, Mei was struck and collided with a wall. She was out cold.

"Really, Yao? Do we have to go through this again?" asked Dai.

"Your threats mean less to me than the breeze on my back," Yao snorted.

"If you saw them for what they are, you would not speak so."

Yao laughed. "What are they then?"

"Warnings… and this is the last one I'm giving you."

Yao towered over her, just as Temutai did. "I am not afraid."

"You should be." Yao laughed as he picked her up and threw her into a chimney nearby. She fell back to the ground and the chimney was dangerously close to falling on top of her.

Then, in moves like lightning, Dai charged Yao and delivered blow after blow. The movements were quick, firm, and precise. Her opponent was on the ground in moments and was quickly tossed aside. The chimney collapsed on top of him and, even though it wasn't immediate, he came out of the rubble.

"How… how did you do that?" he asked, in a daze.

"I do what I have to do to protect my family," replied Dai. She looked back and saw Mei had gotten up and was embracing the bunnies lovingly. "Now, get out and don't let me see you near here again."

Once he had left, Mei gave Dai a hug and the little bunnies did likewise. "You did very well, Dai," she said.

"Thank you," said Dai, feeling the pain slowly overcome her as the adrenaline wore off.

"Easy, Dai…" Mei said. She caught Dai as she passed out.

Po was finally allowed to go toward them and rushed quickly to Dai's side. He picked her up and Mei smiled. "There is goodness in you. Don't let others stop you from showing it. You might just save our people," said Mei. The little bunnies followed her as they left town.

Po carried Dai all the way up the steps, even though she woke up halfway there. He took her to his room and laid her on his bed. "I'm fine, Po, really," said Dai.

"No, you're not. You've taken a lot of hitting today. You need time to recover," said Po. He stood up to leave when Viper came in with the acupuncture kit.

"I thought you were going to let me recover, not inflict more pain," said Dai in a panic.

"You've never had acupuncture before?" asked Po.

"One traumatizing experience is enough," said Dai with a painful laugh.

"It's not that bad. You don't even feel most of them," said Po.

"Maybe I can sing for you to distract you from the pain?" asked Viper.

"Okay," said Dai. She was scared of the first few needles, but slowly felt her pain melt away. She drifted off to sleep and she felt like she was on the road to more peace.

The needles were eventually removed and Po silently thanked Viper for helping. He knew that she often sang for the rest of the team whenever they got injured, so it was nice to see that Viper had accepted Dai as one of the team… or, at least, as a friend. It was getting better, no matter how slow the progress, it would keep heading that way. It had to.

Another little chapter. More to come, so please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :)