I forgot to mention in the prologue that I might use some elements of Kung Fu Panda, but I don't think I will be using the movie as canon in this story.
I made some changes to the character's personality as well. In my story, ten years have gone by and a lot of people's personalities will change. I made Po more mature, but still, have some of his childish wonder. For Tigress, she will not be emotionally closed off. She is still respectful, quiet and not a very peppy person, but she is more emotionally open. The rest of the five are also more mature and have grown closer to Po as well.
Also, in Chinese/Korean language, Z isn't really an alphabet (so I've been told and research) so they pronounce any Z name with a J. For example, Zen would be said pronounced Jen.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.
It was five days before the celebration of The Dragon Warrior defeating Lord Shen ten years ago. The Valley of Peace had begun decorating their little village of bright colorful streamers, balloons, confetti, merchandise, and more. The Valley of Peace was extremely colorful. One particular noodle shop had been completely decked out from the roof to the floor, if a citizen wasn't originally from the village, it would have to be thought of a gift shop than a place of eating. Red and gold streamers were hung all over, posters of The Dragon Warrior were plastered all over the walls and tables, red and gold lamps hung on the some of the streamers. The owner of the store was particularly very proud of his decorating skills, however, one customer disagreed.
"Daaadd, you don't think you went just a wee bit overboard with the decorations? I hardly even recognize the place," Po whined to his father. He was completely embarrassed when he walked into the shop. He was getting his friends some dinner to go and was completely shocked when he came down to the valley. It'd been a couple of days since he was here last.
"Overboard, pfft no. I think I probably could do more! Ooo what about a giant stone Po in the middle of the shop. Hmm, yes, I think that will be perfect, I need to make some arrangements," his dad said while going back into the kitchen writing down more ideas. Po facepalmed himself.
"Hey dad, is our order ready? Po said looking around, changing the subject.
"Hm? Oh yes, yes," his dad said picking up two large bags and handed it to him, "10 noodle soup, 15 dumpling bowls, and 1 tofu stir fry, the usual workup."
"Looks, good dad! I better go give this before it gets cold, thanks, love ya," Po said giving his dad a hug. "And no stone of me!"
"You'll look awesome in stone though!" he heard his dad call out. Po shook his head but silently agreed. He'll need to mentally prepare himself for the image of a stone version of himself next time he comes into the shop though. He started the long journey of the never-ending stairs that lead to The Jade Palace.
Po finally arrived at The Jade Palace. As time went on, he was actually able to climb them all once without taking a break. Of course, he still needs time to recover when he reaches the top of the stairs. He put the bags down and laid on the floor for a minute. He caught his breath and jumped right back up. He found four out of the five in the kitchen, including Master Shifu.
"Po!" his friends exclaimed happily seeing him.
"Hey, guys!" Po said, placing the bags of food down and began to unbox them. "Where's Tigress?" everyone shrugged, not knowing.
"I am not sure, you told her you'll be bringing dinner from your dad's in the morning, she's usually on time," Viper said digging into her noodles.
"You guys start, I'll go get her," Po said knowing where Tigress would be. He walked out of the kitchen and headed towards The Ironwood Forest outside of The Jade Palace.
The Ironwood Forest was on the backside of The Jade Palace. It was a forest completely filled with tall Ironwood trees, some rock formations, and a lake that flowed in the center of it with a cliff above them that had a waterfall flowing down into the lake. It was a rather large forest, but amazing. Po knew that's where Tigress would be because as of late, she spent most if not all her time here. Po always came and retrieved her if she would miss a meal or it would be close to curfew.
After walking around for about ten minutes, he saw her sitting criss-cross, her paws laying on her thighs overlooking the waterfall in front of her. Po watched her for a second, her back slowly rising and falling to her breathing pattern. He hated disturbing her. She did not like being interrupted.
"Um, Tigress," Po said in a quaint small voice, fearing her response.
He heard Tigress sigh, "What?" her tone annoyed, she looked back at Po.
"Um, nothing, just that dinner is ready, and we were getting worried," Po said.
Tigress sighed, upset that her mediation was interrupted short, "Why can't I get this. It has been three years of practicing," Tigress said frustrated. She laid on the ground, slightly getting wet from the waterfall. She was watching the water drops on top of the cave fall.
"What inner peace?" Po asked, lying down next to her looking up at the cave. "Pfft, you'll get it. It takes some masters fifty years, so I have been told," Po mentioned, trying to be optimistic. "Look at Master Shifu. He had to try for over twenty years."
"I know, but you learned it so fast, like everything else," Tigress grumbled the last part. Po picked it up though. Over the years, Po's hearing has gotten significantly better due to Master Shifu making him learn his surroundings better.
Po shrugged, "I guess it's me having to learn things faster due to life or death situations and before you suggest, no I will not put you in a life or death scenario."
Tigress looked disappointed, "I know you've told me a thousand times, I still can't believe you were able to let go of learning about what happened to your parents, to your kind."
Po smiled gently, "It was hard, possibly the hardest thing in my life. I kept having the memories of what happened, but they were painful. When I learned to let go though, I looked at what I have gained, who I am now, not what could have been. The pandas are gone, my parents are gone. I can't change that. I have my friends though, Master Shifu, my dad, and well, you," Po said bravely, ignoring his heart beating slightly faster.
Tigress gave him a small smile, "You do."
"Well, I think that's enough of inner peacing for today," Po said, getting up and offering Tigress a helping paw which she took. "Let's get going, foods gonna get cold."
"Hmm, yes. Tofu stir fry is much better warm than cold," Tigress said. Po and Tigress proceeded to walk out of the forest. They were almost at the entrance of the forest and heard an unwelcoming sound, the village gong three times, danger was here.
Tigress's eyes widened, "Po, the valley!"
"Aw man, the food," Po whined, he'd been starving, looking forward to dinner.
Tigress chuckled, "I guess the food will be really cold when we get back."
"Not if we hurry, come on!" Po said running out of the forest with Tigress running alongside him down the stairs of The Jade Palace. The rest of the five soon joined them.
"You found Tigress, that's good," Viper noticed as she slithered down the stairs at a rapid pace. She was the first to be down at the scene and used her tail to whip a few wolfs one in a row. Crane came flying down next with Mantis sitting on his hat who jumped off as soon as the reached the valley and mantis used his claw thingys on a wolves head to make him fall on the ground.
They finally reached the bottom of the stairs. What Po saw; it was like going back in a time machine ten years ago. Wolves rampaging the valley. Their valley in particular rarely saw wolves. They were all if not most in Gongmen Jail for siding and aiding with Lord Shen.
"Grab all the metal you can get!" One of the wolves announced. The wolves swarmed shops and home alike.
"Déjà vu," Monkey and Po said together. "Jinx!" Monkey jumped up as one of the wolves tried to make him loose balance by side sweeping his legs. Monkey used his height to his advantage and side-kicked the wolf in the face. Po used the wolfs tail and swung him into several other wolves.
Tigress shook her head at the guys antics, while blocking one of the punches from the wolves with her arm. She used the same arm to grab the arm he tried to punch her with and twisted it. She held the guy's arm under hers and used it as support as she used both her feet to kick another wolf, "Guys focus."
Po was surrounded by a group of seven wolves, they were easy enough to take down, "It's been a while guys, what's up?" He asked casually as they snarled at him advancing on him slowly.
"Up? What's up? We've been rotting in jail for ten years because of you!" A wolf yelled lunging at Po who stepped aside casually. The wolf hit his body against the building behind Po. Po cringed, knowing the feeling of that pain.
"Uh bud, not cause of me. You guys helped Lord Shen, not a very smart choice," Po pointed out. "What you don't remember how much it sucked to lose the first time, you gotta lose again?" Po asked as he ducked from one of the wolves threw a kick towards him. He stepped aside quickly and while the wolf's leg was still out, he grabbed it and used it to throw the other five wolves against the building, making the first wolf who was hit with the building fall back down as he was toppled with six wolves.
"We had a temporary setback. We have learned from our first attempts, but be reassured panda, our new lord, and leader is ready to face you, will you be ready?" He asked, smiling viciously. Then the fighting for some reason suddenly stopped. The noises from battle seized. The wolf took Po's confusion and punched him in the face. Po shook his head and punched the guy back into the building.
The wolves stopped fighting. They were bowing. The citizens of the valley were backing away. Even the five were confused and in shock. When Po looked up, he knew why he was frozen in place, it was like going back ten years.
"Shen?" Po asked out loud, confused.
"No, good guess though," the peacock said with a smirked. "I can see why you would confuse me with my father. My name is Lord Zhong."
Po agreed. He looked just liked Shen. He was a white and silver peacock. He wore a similar silvery white robe like his father did. The main difference was his eyes which were black instead of red. He looked like the younger version of Shen. "So um, Zhong was it? What, trying to repeat your dad's history? It won't end well for you buddy," Po warned. This only made Lord Zhong smirk more.
"My father, while a brilliant, I have learned many ways to improve his plan of destroying China."
Po looked at him, studied him, he was too familiar, "I swear I have seen you before."
Lord Zhong looked surprised for a minute then smiled wildly, "I'm surprised you remember panda. You got a good memory. I was in your first every Kung Fu class before my mother banned me from it."
"Well Zhong, let's see what you have learned," Po said. He didn't make the first move, he often didn't. He has learned over the years to let the opponent fight and he uses it to learn their style. Zhong threw a few of the feather blades rapidly. Po was able to block most of them. He realized some of the citizens were scared and were frozen in the way of the oncoming blades. "Tigress!" He yelled and Tigress was already ready and leapt behind him. She blocked and deflected the weapons to make them hit the buildings walls. She was keeping up with Zhong's constant firing of the blades. Po was trying to get some jabs and kicks in when he could. He managed to get him a couple of time, but the peacock was flighty. Po was about to grab Zhong by the neck as he had an opening, but Zhong flew straight up, out of Po's grasp, and flew behind him and held a blade feather across Tigress' neck. Tigress' eyes widened. She'd been paying attention to the blades but failed to notice the direction in Zhong's flight as she was saving a bunny citizen. Zhong also decided for extra persuasion to point a blade at the bunny citizen who Tigress tried to protect. Tigress snarled at Zhong.
"Tigress!" Mantis, Viper, Crane and Monkey cried out, coming to her side. Zhong pulled out more blades.
Po's heart stopped for a minute, his eyes widened, "Let her go," Po demanded slowly, his voice threatening. The valley was silent.
Zhong smirked, "Only if you do as I ask."
"Which is?"
"Come with me to the forest without a fight. Then I'll let them go," Lord Zhong said.
"Po don't listen to him" Tigress said, trying to come up with a plan to get herself out of this.
Po ignored Tigress's plea, "Okay Zhong, I won't fight you to the forest. Just don't hurt Tigress or anyone here. Call off your wolves."
"Very well, retreat my friends, we shall be returning here soon, stay close," Lord Zhong announced. The wolves nodded.
"Yes, Lord Zhong."
The wolves all at once ran back to where their way of escaping was. Po ignored the cries of his friends and he swore he heard his dad too. He ignored the pleas of stopping. He needed to get the wolves and Lord Zhong away from the citizens. He could deflect the cannon. He was at peace; he knows inner peace. It had stopped Shen's cannons why not Zhong's?
The peacock and panda walked a good bit into the forest just outside The Valley of Peace. In the middle of the forest, Po saws Lord Zhong's cannon. It was very similar to Shen's. He noticed a gold yin yang symbol on either side, but other than that, the cannon was similar.
Po shrugged, "Looks the same to me as your dad's cannon. You sure you want to go down his path? It didn't end well for him, I told him it wasn't worth the pain."
"I won't be going down the same path Dragon Warrior. I'll succeed. I have researched into why my father's invention failed. It was full proof until you came along. I learned though whatever can stop something, can also be stopped."
Po looked at him confused, "Okay you lost me."
"It won't matter, let's just say I found a solution to stopping your inner peace. Let me show you!" Lord Zhong said flying up and revealing the cannon. Po for a second froze. He remembered the same scenario when Shen revealed the cannon in the factory. He remembered though he has inner peace. He took a deep breath and prepared for the cannon to strike. "Goodbye Dragon Warrior, say hello to my father for me, will you?" Zhong cackled as he swiped the ignition source. The sparks ignited and the cannon blasted.
Po in his mind slowed down the cannonball coming at him. It was different than Shen's. It was more golden like. He could feel life in it as it came, it was stronger. Even before it came closer to him, he could feel the sheer strength. He ignored the differences though. He focused his mind on inner peace. He felt the energy in his body. He grabbed his hands out ready to deflect it. What happened next though, Po still struggled to comprehend.
The cannon came, for a moment, it reacted like how it used to. It wasn't fighting him. Then, not even a second, the cannonball hit him, and it sent him flying back to the valley.
Po landed in middle of the valley grounds and the force of the cannon sent him through the valley, making him hit the bottom of the stairs that led to The Jade Palace. His whole body hurt. The pain was similar to the first time he had gotten hit with the cannon. Pain seethed throughout the body. He tried to get up, but even thinking about it hurt. "Ugggh," he groaned. He could only squint, he couldn't open his eyes fully it hurt.
"PO!" He heard multiple people calling out his names. To distinguish any was painful. He glanced up slightly as the light from the sun was being covered by the people surrounding him.
"Get the healers, NOW!" He heard a female voice call out and a paw on his shoulder. He thinks it's a paw it feels like one. 'Ow,' he thought, even though the paw barely put pressure on his shoulder. The female voice sounded like Tigress. He looked up and it was. He suddenly felt himself being lifted somewhat and being carried up the stairs.
"Tigress," he whispered before he passed out.
Tigress was very worried about Po after he left with the peacock. Not that he can't handle his own, he certainly can. It was just that Lord Zhong rubbed her the wrong way. He learned to correct his father's mistakes, making him more deadly. She was beating herself over the fact that if she had been more focused, less careless, she wouldn't have put him in the situation of being in danger. She was pacing back in forth.
"Tigress don't worry. Everything will be fine with Po," Viper assured her. It did nothing to calm her until she saw the panda alive.
"I know," Tigress said.
"Besides, he's got inner peace, what can stop that?" Mantis commented.
"Exactly, it stopped a peacock before, it'll stop this one too," Crane reminded her. She nodded and continued to pace. Something wasn't right, she could feel it in her gut.
It'd been about ten minutes; the citizens mostly were back in their shops cleaning up debris from the fights with the wolves. Tigress was helping one of the goat keeper's shop when all of the sudden, her ears picked up something. It sounded like a cannon. Her heart raced. She hadn't heard that sound in ten years. She gripped on the table that she had just placed back, trying to calm her heart. Like Mantis said, he has inner peace. Tigress though went out and looked at the sky from the direction of the forest and her heart began to race even more. It was a black and white object soaring back to the valley.
"PO!" She yelled out. The citizens and the five came back to see what she had screamed. She watched as her friend came flying from the sky and fell towards the ground and rolled to the bottom of The Jade Palace stairs. She ran as fast as she could towards him and put her paw on his shoulder. He was injured badly. He had soot all over his chest, stomach, and some on his face, some bruising and cuts as well throughout his body. "PO!" She screamed again and the five yelling out his name too. She watched as his eyes tried to open. "Get the healers Now!" She yelled. Pigs and sheeps came to put Po on a stretcher and quickly carried Po up to The Jade Palace.
Tigress swore she distinctly heard Po calling out her name, but she wasn't sure with all the commotion. Her heart was still racing, but it was telling her to follow Po to make sure he was okay. Her mind though was telling her to go back to the forest and rip Lord Zhong to pieces and destroy what hurt her friend. She always went with her mind over her heart. She'll see Po later.
She started to run throughout the valley, ignoring her friend's request to slow down. However, a few seconds went by and she stopped hearing her name. She outran them she thought, but then she saw them next to her. "I'm going after him, nothing will stop me," Tigress said.
"We know," Crane said as he flew next to her.
"We are coming with you. No one does that to Po and gets away with it," Monkey commented.
Tigress silently nodded. Lord Zhong will pay.
It'd been a few minutes of running, but they reached the forest and a few miles in before the saw Lord Zhong looking at his cannon. Tigress growled, still seething with rage.
"Ah, come to avenge your friend I see?" Lord Zhong said without turning around.
"Yes, and to defeat you and your weapon," Viper said.
"Then you shall join the panda in his death," Lord Zhong said.
Tigress leapt from the ground and had her claws out aimed at him. Lord Zhong sensed her though and threw a feather blade towards her way. She had to spin and aim left midair to avoid it. She used her paw to hold his talons down on the ground, turned and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying backward into trees. Mantis and Monkey were working on destroying the weapon. Viper slithered her way towards Lord Zhong but had to avoid the blades thrown her direction. She couldn't get a good jab at him at all though. While throwing blades, Lord Zhong flew to where four out of the five couldn't reach him. Crane was able to though. He flew up to reach where the peacock was midair. He flew out of the way as Lord Zhong tried to cut him with his sharp feather wings. Crane had to duck but gave him the opportunity to spin the peacock using his talons and flipping him in air, as he spun, he gave him a good kick down to the ground, making him make a small dent. Lord Zhong watched as his cannon break from the force of Monkey and Mantis.
Lord Zhong had just gotten up, ready to fight. Tigress though, while Crane was fighting Lord Zhong in the air managed to help Monkey and Mantis destroy the weapon with Viper and grabbed a few spare blades that he had left from throwing them at her and Viper. She grabbed one from her pocket and held it against his neck. "Feels familiar?" Tigress snarled at him, putting a bit more pressure on the blade. She saw blood trickling down his white neck. She wanted him to beg, but that wasn't his style.
"Oh, very clever kitten, but do you think you can defeat me so easily? I have trained for years. China will fall, in my and in my father's names," Lord Zhong threatened. He used one of his wings to jab Tigress under her arm, making it go numb and it let the blade fall that she was holding. He used the advantage to fly high. "Your precious panda has already fallen before me, you and the rest of China will follow," he said before flying out of the forest, too fast for the five to bother following.
"Tigress are you okay?" Viper asked slithering towards her.
Tigress nodded, "Yeah. My arm- it feels weird. Like you know when Tai Lung used the nerve block on us? It's like that but different," Tigress was worried, but she knew Master Shifu could fix it. She had to get back to him and to make sure Po lived.
"Master Shifu will fix it, let's go," Monkey told her. The five left the forest. Tigress couldn't run as she used her arms and legs to run. She was able to run using one arm though. She was determined to make sure Po lived.
The five made it back to The Jade Palace. It was more crowded than usual, all sorts of people were moving around, getting supplies or running errands. Tigress managed to find Master Shifu outside of Po's room. Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper followed.
"Master Shifu, how is Po?" Tigress asked.
"I am not sure, Healer Fa is working on him as we speak, she won't let me in," Master Shifu said annoyed, crossing his arms.
"Well I am going," Tigress said.
"No, Tigress let her do her work, then we shall see Po," Master Shifu insisted. "What is wrong with your arm?" Master Shifu asked.
"Lord Zhong jabbed me with his wing, but I have been unable to use it since," Tigress told him.
Master Shifu observed her arm and put his hand on it. "He has blocked your chi flow," he told Tigress. The rest of the five were telling Master Shifu what happened in the forest while he worked on fixing Tigress' arms. He hit her with a few quick jabs opposite of where Lord Zhong had and the feeling in her arm came back.
"Thank you, Master," Tigress bowed to him.
"You are welcome Tigress," Master Shifu said. "Now this Lord Zhong, he is redoing his father's work?"
Viper nodded, "Yes sir, he wants to avenge him. Make Po and rest of China suffer."
"We destroyed one of his cannon's but like with Lord Shen, we are sure he has more," Mantis told Shifu.
Master Shifu nodded, "Very well. We will go to Gongmen City, after confirming if that is his current location and then destroy his weapons. Before we go though, I will teach Po a couple of new techniques he must learn before facing Lord Zhong again."
"Yes, Master Shifu," the five said.
It had been an hour since the five, Po's dad and Master Shifu had been camping outside his room. They were currently sitting on the floor in silence until they heard Po's door open and a tall white-spotted owl came out looking very exhausted. Everyone stood up quickly.
"How's Po?" Everyone asked.
"He is resting. He will live. He was badly injured, but I have put medicine on his wounds to heal and he is covered in bandages around the chest, his right arm, and leg. He will need to rest, so one or two visitors, make minimum noise to not wake him," she instructed.
"Yes ma'am," they agreed. Po's dad and Master Shifu went in first for a few minutes, Master Shifu stepped out to let his dad have some privacy. After his dad left Monkey and Crane went in.
"How is he?" Tigress asked Master Shifu.
"Not good, but he will heal," Master Shifu told her truthfully. She closed her eyes, she couldn't face him right now, even while he slept. It hurt too much. She left the palace and went to the forest.
The Ironwood Forest was for inner peace as of late, but now she doubts she could even attempt meditation. She ran till found some trees and began punching them furiously. She made one tree fall within minutes and moved on to the next. She punched all her fears, frustration and pain into them till her paws bled. She watched as another tree fell. One by one trees and tree bark fell around her. She looked around her, trees fallen. She would've had to walk to punch mores as she had destroyed all the trees she could in her reach. Instead, though, she fell to the ground, she hugged herself and silent tears wracked her body.
It had been a few minutes, Tigress' decided to get up and go back to the palace. She told herself to get over herself and see her friend. It wasn't the time to be selfish and be afraid of him dying. He was alive, she needed to see that. She walked back slowly, prolonging her visit to Po. She doesn't know what is wrong with her. She was more than ready to face the healer to let her see him, now she was nervous. She doesn't do nervous. She was hardcore. At least that's what everyone tells her.
She arrived in front of Po's room. Everyone had gone at that point, so she was completely alone. She took a deep breath and slowly peaked inside the door. He was sleeping. She saw the bandages the healer spoke about, wrapped around his chest and right side. She saw some soot still buried deep in his fur, but not as much as there had been. All the blood was cleaned. Tigress lifted one of her feet to walk closer to him but put it back. He needed sleep.
"Tigress?" Po whispered.
His body hurt. Oh, he was in a world of hurt. From his head to the sole of his feet there was pain, but the owl lady made it less. He was still in pain, but it was more manageable. He had been coming in and out of consciousness while she healed him. At one point, Po remembered her giving him something and he completely passed out after that he assumed. He vaguely remembers thinking he heard his dad and possibly Monkey, but he isn't a hundred percent sure. When Tigress came though, he heard her footsteps outside his room.
"Tigress?" Po whispered thinking it was her in the room with him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, Po," Tigress apologized and tried to leave.
"No, no it's okay. What happened to your paws?" Po asked noticing some slight dried blood on her knuckles.
Tigress shrugged, staring at her paws, "From the fight earlier. How are you feeling?"
"Eh, could be worse right? It's not as bad as it looks," Po said playing off the pain. He didn't need to worry Tigress. "You know I just got hit with a cannon, right? I'm not contagious or anything you can come closer to me," Po commented as he watched Tigress stepping further away. After that comment, she rolled her eyes, pretending she wasn't running away.
"I know that," Tigress said walking to him slowly.
"Come lay next to me, I can't get up just yet," Po told her.
"Why can't you get up?" Tigress asked concerned, even though she knew the answer.
"Too comfy," Po lied and they both knew it.
"Are you sure?" Tigress asked unsure.
Po looked at her and chuckled, "Come on, it's not like we haven't lied down together before. I won't bite."
Tigress decided Po was right. Over the years, their nightmares had become so terrifying and nerve wracking, that sleeping was impossible. One day, they found out though that by sleeping near each other the nightmares went away. In the beginning, it was often to end up lying down next to each other, but over the years, the need was not as needed. However, Tigress and Po both knew tonight would bring nightmares. Tigress laid down next to him, she was pretty close to him already as the bed was small. She could hear his heartbeat as she has many times. She put a paw on his shoulder and silently cried into his chest. He wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. He's done this several time as had she after a bad nightmare.
"I'm sorry Po," she whispered.
"For what?" Po wondered.
"Had I been faster, smarter, I wouldn't have gotten caught in his grip and you wouldn't have had to make the call to go in the forest," Tigress admitted. She closed her eyes tight, not wanting to face Po.
"Tigress, it wasn't your fault. Zhong was going to make me face the cannon anyway he could. At least I was alone and no one else got hurt. I'd make the same choice again," Po reassured her. She wrapped her arms around him. She calmed down shortly and soon the only noise was both of their breathing. Slow and almost in synch. After some time, they both were so emotionally and physically tired that they both fell into a peaceful sleep in each other arms. Neither Po or Tigress had nightmares that night.
I hope yall enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review!