Chapter 15: Qiang

They hadn't made it to the tree line before Dai lost sight of whoever she was chasing. "He's learned much since the last time I saw him," said Dai.

"Dai!" Po caught up to her, hands on his knees and panting for breath. "Who're you looking for?"

Dai reflected, "Qiang was a part of our pack. When we started doing crime, he left to pursue magic. He learned magic that could only be used to stop evil.

"He came back while we were on a night raid. He and I had been friends for a long time, but that night, talking to him, seeing what else there was besides theft, he helped me see a new path. He shaped me into who I am. It was because of his actions that I decided that I was going to stand up against the prejudice put against us and be a good example. You can see how well that turned out," Dai scratched the back of her neck shyly.

"Dai, you're such a good person and you've done so many good things." Po put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

Dai shrugged him off. "I wasn't always that way." She sighed. "Every day, I wish I could erase my past. I want to be able to move on, no strings attached. I thought that if I learned magic like Qiang, I might be able to be somebody good. It's a stupid dream."

"Ah, come on, Dai, everyone in the village likes you!"

"After how much struggling, urging? Besides, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to even walk down the street. And how little of a move would it take to make the villagers turn against me again?"

"Then we can't let that happen." Po took her hands in his. She looked and saw resolution in his eyes. "Dai, I love you. I made the decision to be with you from my heart and I will never abandon you. No matter what happens, I'm with you and you're with me."

"That's… a good place to be." Dai hugged Po. She hid her face in his shoulder and cried. He rubbed her back soothingly.

"It'll be okay. No one's gonna break us apart. Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay."

Little did they know, there were eyes watching from the bushes nearby. These eyes belonged to Qiang. As much as he had learned in magic, he had also learned much of stealth. All the time away from Dai, she was all he could think about. He had hoped that they could be together. She would pick a panda, the most peaceful, lovey-dovey creature in all of China! He had to suppress a growl of distaste. I'll show her. I'll show them all.

Po and Dai returned to the village hand in hand. The Five met them after running out of Mr. Ping's. From the looks of it, there had been a situation.

"What's going on?" asked Po.

"There's been an attack," said Viper, breaking it to them sadly.

"Why're you all looking at me like that?" asked Dai, laughing skittishly.

"It was a wolf attack," said Tigress.

To the point, as always, thought Dai. Po spoke, "What's the big deal? It wasn't Dai. I was with her the whole time!"

"The villager seems convinced that it was her, Po," said Crane.

"Until we figure out who really did this, you might want to lay low for a while," said Tigress.

"Yeah, okay, sure. I mean, it's all I'm good for anyway," said Dai, her ears and tail sagging low.

Qiang watched from an alley. It's rather fortunate that I could implement my plan before they got back. Soon enough, Dai will be mine…

That evening, Dai sat in the Sacred Hall of Warriors, looking down at the Reflection Pool. She seemed as still and lifeless as the artifacts that dotted the hall. She didn't have long to sit that way though. Po came in, the door creaking much louder than it usually would. She turned in surprise at the sound and Po was cringing at how loud the sound was. Moving the door slowly was only intensifying the sound, so he paused, then shut the door quickly. As he stood against the door with both hands on it, a banner fell on his head. He heaved a sigh and Dai snickered, suppressing a laugh.

Po quickly put the banner back in place before sitting down next to Dai. As soon as he did, the banner fell again. Dai broke into laughter and Po laughed with her. "I got it, Po," she said sweetly. She jumped up and went from pillar to pillar, not touching the ground once. The banner was put neatly back in place and she flipped back toward Po, sliding across the floor until her head touched his shoulder.

"I mean, if you wanna show off," said Po. Dai giggled and Po smiled. "I like this look better." He tilted her chin up. They were eye to eye now. Their hearts beat fast and their faces flushed. Time seemed to freeze. "I just realized I've never done this before," said Po awkwardly.

"I could tell," said Dai. She was immediately thankful for fur. They both took a deep breath at the same time, then laughed softly at how ridiculous they were being. Then, Po leaned in, closed his eyes, then fell on her. Dai struggled to get out from under him and when she did, she saw a sleeping dart on his neck. "Really? Again?!"

"This has happened before, then?" came a voice.

Dai scooched out from under Po quickly and stood up. Out from the shadow of one of the pillars stepped Qiang, a reed in his hand. Dai was two steps from seething when she asked, "And why exactly did you dart Po?"

"I hope you don't mind too terribly, but it's been a long time since we've talked, hasn't it?"

"I don't particularly care to give you the pleasure either."

"Ouch, princess," he sniggered.

"What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've come for you, my darling."

"Qiang, you're acting… differently."

"No, my dear, this is how I am. The me you remember? That was acting. Yes, I tried the whole 'get everybody to like me' schtick, but it never worked. No matter what, they only ever saw a monster. So, I decided to become what they already thought I was."

"Qiang, that's not fair-"

"Nothing is fair," Qiang spat. "When we met again, that night, and I showed you what I had learned of magic, I was so happy. I thought we were going to be together. I really did. How foolish of me, to let myself even feel happiness."

"As I recall, you left first, and just when things were getting interesting, just when I felt like something was there."

He rushed toward her in the blink of an eye and pinned her to the opposite pillar by her collarbone. His one arm was surprisingly strong and Dai's two hands couldn't move it away. She struggled against him. She could barely touch the ground. She suddenly felt afraid of the one creature she never thought she would ever fear. "Qiang, please, you're hurting me," she couldn't hide the panic in her voice. All logical thought of how to get out of this left her. There was only his strength and intimidating eyes.

"You don't know the meaning of the word hurt," he growled lowly and Dai whimpered.

"What are you going to do?"

"Oh, please, do you really think I'd let a big, fat panda get in my way?"

"You know, someone else called me the same thing once and do you know what I said to him?" came a voice.

"Po!" cried out Dai.

"Grah! This is what I get for going cheap on the sleeping darts!" Qiang said, frustrated.

Po yanked Qiang off of Dai, but before he could do anything further, Qiang punched him in the nose, hard. "Ow! Not fair!" said Po, grabbing his nose.

"I am not about to let you interfere, panda!" said Qiang.

"You are the one who is the one who shall not interfere!" said Po.

"What?" asked Qiang. Dai asked the same thing.

Po let out a battle cry and charged Qiang. His attacks, however, were all carefully blocked. "Ah, come on!" screamed Po in frustration.

"I have trained myself to fight off hundreds of assassins at once. They were often twice your size. I am speaking of height, of course, since I have the sneaking suspicion you and a gorilla weigh about the same," Qiang quipped. On Po's next punch, Qiang grabbed Po's wrists and flung him into a column. "Transference of energy: taking your opponent's energy and using it to make them fall."

Dai flung a shield at Qiang's head and, though it drew blood, he barely flinched. Dai paled a moment before finding her courage. "Leave him alone, Qiang. This is between you and me," she said, her voice getting gradually steadier.

"Agreed," said Qiang, flipping the shield with his foot and up into an awaiting hand. He then threw it at her, but she was able to duck in time for it to miss. "Hm. Not bad." Po then punched him in his left ear, sending him to the right a few steps. It rung for a few moments, but not before he turned on Po.

Qiang's fighting style consisted of multiple styles, so Po wasn't able to predict what he was going to do next. Consequentially, he got hit a lot. Meanwhile, Qiang had been trained to fight many people and was able to quickly analyze a person's fighting style and use it against them.

Dai wasn't able to watch anymore. She jumped onto Qiang's back and got him in a headlock. His focus was then on her as he rammed her into the pillars, hard. After the fourth ramming, she let go, wheezing in pain.

"This wouldn't have happened if I had planned this better. I apologize," said Qiang to Dai. Po tried to punch him, but Qiang grabbed him in such a way that Po's punch hit his own face. "Now, why did you hit yourself, hm?" he asked smugly. Po knocked Qiang's legs from under him and tackled him to the floor. Qiang quickly kicked him off and sent him into the wall. He then grabbed the knives from his belt and flung them at Po. Po rolled out of the way and rushed toward Qiang.

Qiang began deflecting the attacks again and hitting at every opening. However, Po was learning the pattern quickly. It wasn't much, but it was enough to help him get hit less. "Impressive. Nothing more I like than a foe who learns on their feet, but if I may interject…" He grabbed Po's wrist by the pressure points. With smooth movements, Po's arm was behind his back and Qiang's knee was on his back. Po was on the floor and couldn't get up.

"Leave him alone!" cried out Dai. She charged at him, but he was able to fling her away with one leg.

"You know, I may be convinced to keep him alive, if…" said Qiang.

Dai approached him and asked, "What do you want, Qiang?"

"You." There was something very unromantic about the way he said it.

Po flailed his other arm and grabbed Qiang by the tail. He flung him off, but Qiang was quick to get up. "Impressive, Dragon Warrior. You've made it this far in a fight and with very little injury too!"

"I'm not gonna say it again," said Po, putting Dai behind him. "Don't touch her."

"You can't very well give me the Wuxi Finger Hold if you can't touch me. Now, we can settle this civilly. Just let her go with me and I won't bring further harm to either of you," said Qiang with faux pleasantness.

"Somehow, I doubt that," said Po.

"Very well, if you're so resolute." Qiang unsheathed his claws. "Then, I think I'm going to enjoy this."

That's all for now (and more than I thought I was going to write). Please keep reading and reviewing and enjoy this little cliffhanger ;)