"Journey to Gongmen City (I)"
Barely five minutes after leaving the Valley behind, Alf had woken up.
His first impression was confusion and paranoia - Po wondered if he thought that someone had actually kidnapped him, or that it brought back memories of Alf's childhood where getting shoved into a bag unconscious was the least of the Seeker's problems.
In any case, the boy woke up with a startle and ran at Po, yelling at him for a solid five minutes. No matter in which angle Po would explain the situation - that he wanted his best friend with him, that Shifu wouldn't figure it out, and that Yu was "coming along" too - Alf had only grown more infuriated. The yelling continued before a highly annoyed Monkey stepped in, knocking Alf out quickly.
So that put an end to the Seeker's quibbling for a while.
Po grimaced, gingerly carrying Alf on his shoulder. It had taken the Five, Yu, and Po just a few hours to leave the Valley behind, traversing beyond the Wu Dan mountains and scale upwards to follow Alf's path. By doing this, they had avoided a lot of neighboring provinces - but now found themselves traversing through the Wing Shunsen Desert, which compounded heat with searing sunlight to significantly exhaust all members of the Five, slowing down everyone's movement to a brisk walk. Po - endurance never that good to begin with, especially when hungry - found it especially arduous considering that he had been tasked with carrying the unconscious boy until he woke up. It didn't help that for as far as Po could see - there were gigantic stretches of scalding hot sand, overset by a relentless sun that seemed to never go away. The only true savior was the map - now firmly resting in Tigress' backpocket.
"Po," Alf sounded off, voice groggy as he bobbed up and down on Po's shoulder. "I'm awake now. You can put me d - OOF!"
Po had already dropped the boy, sweating profusely as he struggled to keep pace with the Five and Yu as they barreled ahead of him.
"Good," Po let out, breathing heavily. "You're - you're on your own now."
Alf sat up, coughing out fresh sand. He picked up some of the particles in his hands, letting the yellow grains run through his fingers with a mild joy.
So this is what sand feels like, Alf thought.
He had heard about sand. He had read about it in books. But Alf had never left the Valley far enough to get the true feeling - the scent of the fine granules as they washed over the giant sand dunes, the coarse texture they had, the mildly reflective -
"Keep up!" Tigress interrupted his thoughts, calling out loudly at least fifty feet away. "We don't have time to build pretty little sand castles!"
Alf stood up, scowling at her. Tigress continued the trek forward, perhaps the only one completely unbeaten by the heat. The rest of the Five dragged their bodies through the sweltering temperature, Yu dragging Po's massive frame along.
Alf sighed. For the millionth time in his life, he just had to play along.
. . .
"Lord Shen?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm - I'm scared."
"Hmm."
The Boss Wolf was right.
The area that they were currently in was never revealed to the rest of the public. None of the wolves knew about this specific area, hidden well underneath prying eyes.
The area they were in was actually not an area at all. Shen had wrapped the Boss Wolf's eyes and knocked him out, only bringing him to attention when they had arrived at the destination. The wolf did not understand where he was, as massive stone walls surrounded him at every direction - it almost looked like a cave.
It felt untouched. Slivers of rock jutted out from the ceiling, while the stony ground held wet pools of water. There was no smell, no noise and nothing in sight.
Except it.
"I, I don't want to be here," the boss wolf demanded, grazing Shen's shoulder slightly. "This - this is too much."
"Quiet fool," Shen emphasized.
There was something at the center of the cave.
The thing the peacock and the wolf were staring at.
A box.
"This scares me…" the wolf whimpered.
"Shut. Up." Shen forced.
They couldn't really call it a box. It was a metal container, or rather a geometric shape nearly filling the entire cave itself, standing nearly hundreds of feet above Shen. It stuck out at odd angles, had angular edges, and a sleek finish. The metal was rusted from disuse, and there was rough ridges lining every edge of the container. In retrospect - it didn't feel like a box at all.
It looked like a ship.
But made out of metal.
In front of Shen and the boss wolf - two closed doors that lead into the "ship". It was many times taller than both spectators, almost as if it was built for giants.
"This is where you found the plans?" the boss wolf queried, shaking. "This - this is a Seeker vessel, isn't it?"
"You're a quick study," Shen observed sarcastically. "Yes - I found the cannon plans just outside this - this thing. I can't let anyone know about - my secret."
"Whaddya need me for?" the wolf asked, teeth snarling. "How did you - find this?"
"I don't trust you with knowing this location," Shen emphasized. "But - there is something that I need you for."
The wolf merely raised his eyebrows. The ship didn't resemble anything he had ever read, imagined, dreamt about, or could even fathom.
It looked foreign, out of place.
Out of this time.
"Plans to a weapon that can shoot flaming metal…" Shen noted, smiling. "... a weapon that brought Gongmen City to its knees. That can bring China to its knees."
The wolf nodded slowly. Shen smiled like a lunatic.
"Imagine…" the peacock elucidated slowly. "... what power lies inside."
The wolf shivered, the massive metal ship giving off a numb feeling to him.
"Because for months, I had a problem with this thing," Shen noted, walking closer to brush a feather against the cold metallic surface of the doors. "A problem…"
"Don't touch it!" the wolf insisted, standing well away to take cover behind a boulder.
A cold voice. It thundered through the enormous cave.
Heartless.
Blunt.
Seeker.
[LIFE DETECTED. PROCEED WITH THERMAL SCAN.]
"THEY'RE INSIDE!" the wolf screamed. "THE SEEKERS! THEY'RE ALI - "
"They're not alive you fool!" Shen signaled calmly. "I've done this hundreds of times. Watch and learn…"
Shen pressed his feathers against an open section of glass-like paneling that appeared, frightening the wolf even more.
The cold voice came again.
[THERMAL SCAN COMPLETED. ACCESS DENIED.]
The wolf stopped shaking, moving out from behind the boulder. He watched Shen with confusion.
"Who's saying that?" the wolf queried. "What does it mean?"
"The Seekers obviously built some machine that can make talking noises," Shen deduced. "As for your second question - it's obvious isn't it?"
The wolf shrugged his shoulders.
Shen scowled. "You said it yourself - this is a Seeker ship. It can't let anyone but a Seeker in…"
The wolf began to understand. "Oh. Yeah! But I mean - the Seekers are all dead…"
"Yes," Shen firmly agreed. "But there is something that we can do - that I didn't think of before."
The wolf gulped, feeling anxiety shoot through him.
"Come here," Shen commanded.
"No," the wolf firmly denied. "Shen, I can't…"
"Just come here fool!" the peacock forced with annoyance. "Nothing will happen, trust me…"
Shen dragged the wolf over, forcefully extending out his paw and pressing the furless underside to the glass panelling.
The wolf's body was shaking uncontrollably.
[THERMAL SCAN COMPLETED. ACCESS DENIED.]
The wolf at once tore his paw away from Shen, seeing it from all angles to make sure it was still intact.
Shen seemed disappointed. "Intriguing… I thought that would work…"
"What would work?" the boss wolf asked in fear.
Shen sighed. "I thought the underside of your paw - the place with no fur on it - would seem like a Seeker hand… but obviously it must need something more…"
The wolf groaned. "Can we please just get outta here? This place makes me uneasy."
Shen took a step back, looking at the mysterious metal ship once more. It stood resiliently against the entire cave, laying in the center as if it had been there since the beginning of time.
. . .
"All in favor of killing Alf, say yay!"
"Yay."
"Yay!"
"Yay…"
"YAY!"
"Ya - well - yeah I guess yay!"
"Yay!"
"Nay?"
"Shut up Alf."
The path that the Seeker had sketched on the map proved to be more exhausting than usual. Only a few days into the journey, but sure, they were beating the time that it would have taken the group if they had followed Crane's path - but Alf's route also involved a plethora of mossy, humid jungles - one of which, seemed particularly punishing.
The grass was thick and pungent, soaking in everyone's feet as moist water came rising to the surface. A diversity of streams and cool river creeks surrounded the group, sharply contrasting against the impenetrable humidity and moisture in the air. No one had ever seen tree trunks like this - large, ovular, and sturdy brown. Even the leaves felt different - they were simply bunches of green and reds, splashed together on a never-ending root system.
So everyone had to move along - with no noise but the sound of their mushy, muddy footsteps.
Alf hopped over a narrow creek, ignoring the horde of insects that relished on seeing a creature with no fur.
"Alf," Yu asked, catching up to him. "Um - about that night by the rock…"
"I'm still mad at Po," Alf interrupted. "But - can't beat this view I guess. So we'll call it even."
"Yeah, but I mean before that," Yu slowly admitted. "You know. When I leaned in… and…"
Yu paused, cheeks flushing slightly.
Alf raised an eyebrow. "YOU HELPED PO KNOCK ME OUT!?"
Yu nearly tripped on a large stone. "What? No! I'm talking about when I leaned in and… and…"
Alf kept a casual stare at her, confused. Yu's mouth was open, shocked at how difficult he was making this.
"You don't remember?" Yu asked.
Alf shrugged his shoulders. "I remember sitting down next to you, and you fiddling with my collar - and then I looked down for a freakin' second - and WHAM! I get knocked out."
Yu face-palmed.
So that had been the reason. Alf hadn't even realized what she was trying to do that night, with her lips and eye movements - no, he had been too busy looking at the stupid ground before stupid Po and stupid Mantis came in and screwed it all up.
"I leaned in and just - " Yu continued, at a loss for words. " - wanted to headbutt you. You know - keep your kung fu skills on - um - point."
Alf snorted. "Don't need your help for that. Monkey does that to me every time he sees me sleeping. Did I tell you about the time when…"
Yet Yu didn't care, mind fading.
She was shocked that such an idiotic reason had prevented him from seeing how open she was that night, and now she had the confusing position of either trying to re-engage with him, or just leave it alone. Yu wasn't even sure why she was acting so nervous - perhaps it was the public area, with the Five and Po - or perhaps - this stupid jungle was robbing her of all critical thinking skills.
Either case, she wanted to ask him again - recreate the kiss somehow - just in a better scenario.
And not have anyone interfere.
"... and then Monkey just hit me with a pan!" Alf continued, not cognizant of the fact that Yu hadn't been listening. "Mind you I didn't even know the room had a pan…"
"Gimme a sec, Alf," Yu noted, rushing ahead of the slightly confused Seeker.
Yu eyed the rest of the group. Talking to Po and Mantis about this was absolutely not her intent, considering their involuntary involvement in breaking the kiss - but would Monkey suffice?
Yu shook her head, watching the master swing from branch to branch and poorly mimic bird sounds in immaturity. Monkey was great when it came to pulling pranks, or joking around - but more importantly, consulting Monkey about approaching Alf would probably lead to a leak of some sort, which would be the worst thing that could happen.
Yu ducked underneath a low bundle of leaves, watching Viper slither through a thick bush ahead of her.
Viper would certainly be open to discussing this - sensitive topic - she might even help plan a special event! But there was always the risk - as with Monkey - that she might end up "spilling the beans" to Alf, which would again, be catastrophic for Yu.
And then there was Tigress, standing well ahead of the group with a confident walk forward.
Yu internally fidgeted. Talking to Tigress about romantic matters was much like talking to a brick wall about complex mathematics - expecting a response was plain stupidity.
Yet there was also the allure of total honesty, the sense that Tigress would merely offer quick advice and shoo her away…
...Or get very mad, and punch Yu into the ground for wasting her time.
The fox gulped, deciding against her better instincts. It took her thirty seconds to match Tigress' speed, already feeling out of breath. It was worth it however, as keeping up this insane pace allowed her to distance herself from the rest of the group.
"Wow Master Tigress! - Augh - " Yu let out, breathing heavily. "You sure do walk fast!"
"I am not walking fast," Tigress countered, keeping her gaze fully ahead at the infinite jungle in front. "This is my normal speed."
Yu sighed. "Of course it is - must be all that kung fu, eh?"
Tigress turned her head towards Yu for a fraction of a second, raising an eyebrow in annoyance.
"Kicking and punching and running…" the fox squeaked out, gulping.
"I don't do small talk," Tigress noted, returning her stare forwards.
"Yeah, of course of course…" Yu agreed in fear. "It's just that - well I have this - um - well Master Monkey has this problem…"
"Sounds like Monkey's problem then," Tigress cut across, completely impassive.
Yu sighed, trying to think about the best way to broach this. She had to somehow anonymize the scenario, but also refrain from stating it directly.
"Monkey - um - tried to do a - Triple Dragon Spinkick in front of uh - Shifu," the fox slowly elucidated, shocked at how stupid yet convincing this sounded.
Yet Tigress grew a bit more interested, actually flashing a glance or two at Yu. "Triple Dragon Spinkick? Never heard of it."
"Yeah yeah it's a super elite move," Yu continued the lie. "Anyways - when Monkey did this kick in front of Shifu - um - he didn't really notice."
Tigress scoffed. "It's pretty hard to not notice a kick."
"You'd think so, right?" Yu agreed, rolling her eyes. "But um - Shifu didn't. And now Monkey wants to demonstrate the uh - kick again. How would he um - bring that conversation up?"
Tigress pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes in deep thought. "Was the kick done via traditional stance, or Western style?"
"What?" Yu asked, confused.
"Did the kick obey the twenty-fifth scroll of kung fu? Was it aerial?" Tigress continued.
Yu slapped her forehead. The metaphor was getting away from her.
"I - uh - think so?" Yu attempted, frustrated.
Tigress stopped suddenly, shaking her head in anger. "That's the problem! You know how many times I've told Monkey to never try Western style? Or try to keep his attacks ground-based instead of that fancy flipping nonsense he usually does?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll tell him that - thanks Master Tigress…" Yu proceeded to move away, accepting defeat.
Tigress watched the fox walk away. She turned her stare upwards, seeing Monkey swing casually through the jungle by clambering on branches.
"Monkey," Tigress called out, voice stern. "You're on thin ice."
The yellow master merely raised his eyebrows, dangling himself from a branch in amusement.
"Why?" Monkey asked curiously.
"Don't try to backtrack your way out of this, I just heard about your little kick," Tigress noted harshly. "You pull some sloppy kung fu like that again - in front of our master - you'll have me as a sparring partner for the next few weeks."
And Tigress continued forward, leaving a perplexed Monkey in her departure.
A/N
Alright I know I said new chapters every Friday but... I sort of write quick? And I have lots of downtime so... let's just change that Friday thing to more of a minimum. (Updates come at least every Friday...)
The traveling part could have had SOOOO much screentime in KFP2 - yet they elected to do it in a 1 minute montage. However, considering screentime constraints and the need to get the plot going - I understand.
But us FF net writers - we have no such restrictions. ;) Still, I don't wanna waste too much time with it so I'll just put in some key scenes and sort of "vignette" them!
Plus for my specific fic, it's a great chance to really start expanding the "universe" I'm trying to create - as well as expound on plot and characterization. :D
Sapport is misspelled - butt still grate! (srry I had to vary my thanking part somehow…)
As usual, new chapters every Friday at midnight GMT! (Or 5pm PST, if American...) Probably faster...
~TW
