"Meetings and Reintroductions"
"We've been standing here for over an hour…"
"Shut up Po."
"I'm just saying - the guy couldn't even notify anyone he had to leave for a bit?"
"Ergh…"
Alf groaned. Apparently, the lion in question - the supposedly "grand visitor" to the Jade Palace - had taken a little detour once he realized it would be a while since the occupants would come back… and had apparently taken off without notifying everyone, although promising to return. Zeng, who had been previously stalling for time while holding off any undue stress - had earned a fierce scolding from Shifu for allowing their esteemed guest to leave without proper etiquette. And as such, proper etiquette in return forced Alf, the Five, Po and Shifu to stand in the Main Courtyard - patiently waiting for the lion and his entourage to return. In the sweltering sun of noontime, with heat waves freshly passing over the Valley - everyone seemed upset.
Everyone except Zhong and Yu, whom both weren't invited to this. Alf had presumed that both were busy planning for Zhong's private birthday.
Alf sighed. He had to talk to him later tonight.
"Wait!" Viper called out, excited. "Is that them?"
Alf, the rest of the Five, Po, and Shifu suddenly became attentive, focusing at the head of the wooden entrance.
Heavy footsteps.
Heavier than anything anyone had heard.
The swish of passing gusts of wind.
"By the Scrolls…" Shifu let out, mild amazement getting to him.
The individuals that entered - were clearly not normal.
A male lion stood at the front of the group, flanked by two significantly smaller wolves - although that didn't say much, as the wolves themselves were about Po's size. The lion himself was enormous - well above Po's height, and even wider - but much more muscularly built. His head was squared and fierce - with a brilliant, long, dark mane extending from all sides. His clothing was simple but bold - a long, golden robe trimmed with a faint mountain logo. The lion's paws were huge and thick, with striations and veins running from the thick knuckles almost immediately.
He was, for all intents and purposes - the most physically intimidating individual Alf had ever seen.
"Sheesh," Mantis chirped up, jaw hanging while standing atop Po's right shoulder. "This guy makes Tai Lung look like a pipsqueak."
"I bet he eats other masters for food," Alf silently whispered.
"I bet we'd break our own limbs attacking him," Crane noted.
"He's quite a specimen, huh Tigress?" Monkey addressed.
Tigress merely kept an aggressive stare at the newcomer, face visibly hardening - puzzling the rest of the Five and Alf. Po chuckled for a brief moment, the intensity of her face completely feeling-in-character.
The lion and his two wolf companions stopped in the center of the courtyard.
The lion's voice was deep, and powerful.
Commanding.
Yet restrained and gentle.
"Grandmaster Shifu," the lion smoothly stated. "It is an honor."
Shifu struggled for words, clearly feeling at least a bit intimidated. The lion turned to address the rest of the waiting masters.
"As it as an equal honor to meet - Masters Crane, Viper, Mantis - the Dragon Warrior - the Seeker of the Valley and - "
He paused at Tigress' name. He obviously knew it, but he settled himself with a smile. Tigress stared coldly back.
"Well - it is a true honor to meet all of you," the giant lion finished.
"Yes! Greetings - erm - " Shifu attempted, trying to hide that he didn't recognize the newcomers.
"Wang," the lion offered simply. "These two are my companion travelers."
The wolves beside him simply nodded in their black robes, clearly not intent on revealing their names. Alf felt a bit reminiscent, as if he had remembered the name Wang somewhere before…
"My apologies for leaving you and your people to wait," Wang insisted, flashing a brilliant smile. "When we arrived here before - and had not seen anyone, at home - we left to explore the Valley for a bit."
"That's quite alright," Shifu attenuated. "I trust you found the Valley - hospitable?"
"It has changed, has it not?" Wang questioned, staring at the Five with a distant curiosity. "It is enormous and - modern, now."
"Factories, banks, and a lot more, Master Wang," Crane interrupted. "It has its positives and negatives…"
"I am not a master," Wang clarified. "The organization I am a part of - requires us to relinquish all worldly titles."
This was the point where the Five exchanged awkward glances with Po and Alf - all standing in line in regal poise despite knowing exactly zero information on the new arrivals - and they sincerely doubted Shifu knew anything either. The only one seemingly resistant to any interpretation was Tigress - who merely stared coldly, perhaps even harshly - at Wang. Another point of awkwardness was how relaxed he was around Alf - he hadn't even bothered to have been "shocked" or "awed" at seeing a Seeker for the first time - which as the Jade Palace could attest, was the normal reaction by literally anyone who walked into the Courtyard and saw Alf.
Not Wang however. Just that alone made everyone feel they were dealing with someone much, much beyond their league.
"Well, we were busy erm - attending a criminal trial," Shifu silently let out, glancing at Alf. "For - one of our own."
"Yes," Wang acknowledged, staring at Alf. "The Seeker. I am well aware with this country's - political attitudes towards these - topics."
"What - erm - forgive me - organization do you hail from?" Shifu tried.
Wang stared at Shifu pleasantly, but with focus. "The Yongshi."
Alf's heart skipped a beat.
Now?
After all this time?
Two years of absolutely no communication - nothing - since Shen had been defeated - now suddenly these three show up?
Alf almost snickered. He wasn't sure why Wang hadn't revealed that he had Hafthor communicate with Yu before, and in all likeliness had been the one to send the ancient, magic scroll so long ago - but he wasn't complaining. If Shifu ever got word that Alf was still searching for answers on his past - he might shock him into unconsciousness.
To Alf's relief, the rest of the Five and Shifu, along with Po of course - looked even more confused by Wang's statement. Mostly, they exchanged nervous glances with each other, clearly having never before heard of the name.
But now, Alf wished he could speak to Wang privately - and was amazed that the lion hadn't even acknowledged him properly - given that they had conversed nearly two years ago via letters.
If only Yu were here.
"Forgive me again," Shifu began. "I am still not familiar with the organization you uh - named."
"Neither should anyone be, if we do our jobs correctly," Wang offered with a small smile. "Master Shifu - to put matters short - we are a highly covert, international organization. For reference - we have corresponded with your late Grandmaster - Oogway."
"Oogway lead the uh - Yongshi?" Po blurted out, not able to control himself. "He was a part of it?"
"Yes," Wang confirmed. "He trained under Brother Hafthor, one of my former students."
So that's what they called themselves, Alf thought. Brothers and sisters… definitely sounds like a creepy cult.
Seeing Oogway's name coming up however - was a genuine surprise to Alf. In fact, the statement shocked nearly everyone in the Courtyard. Shifu was still struggling with the fact that Oogway had kept a clandestine organization secret from him, wrestling with newfound assumptions about the late Grandmaster that he had never questioned before.
The Five, Po, and Alf were basically thinking something different, however.
"Oogway was - just a student under one of your students?" Crane blubbered out, jaw dropping. "He - but this is Grandmaster Oogway we're talking about! He - he invented kung fu!"
"You all think kung fu is the only way of life - is the only way of combat in this world?" Wang asked sarcastically, although gently. "Your Oogway was far from a leader - in fact, he was one of our lowest-ranking members."
Shifu began shaking his head. "I - I don't understand…"
Wang seemed to acknowledge the amount of confusion everyone was going through, so he extended an olive branch.
"Grandmaster Shifu, it is not our intention to come all the distance here and inform you of many things you do not know - " Wang started. "We all have enough time for explanations later. But for now - I would like to ask that you provide lodging for us - for the next few weeks."
This caught Shifu off-guard, who was half-way too intimidated to say no but also deeply curious as to why - a random, secretive group whom no one had ever heard of before - had come to the Jade Palace, and asked to stay there for a while.
"I understand completely if you refuse," Wang immediately added, sensing Shifu's hesitation. "If not given lodging here, we will just rent a motel in the Valley - one of the great advances of commercialization, indeed…"
"No!" Shifu immediately recalled. "It's just that - well, this is most unexpected…"
"As it should be, sadly," Wang observed with a frown. "If our enemies got word of our move to the Jade Palace - horrible consequences might arise."
The vagueness in his statements was beginning to annoy Alf - who had plenty of experience dealing with people who were not effective at communicating what exactly the insert phenomenon or threat was. It was almost like a running joke, in his eyes.
"Forgive me um - Wang," Shifu admitted, leaving out the "Master" as Wang was pleased. "But you must understand my confusion: three strangers show up at our Palace, with no previous communication or knowledge on either side by either party - now ask to stay in our well - home."
The enormous lion gave out a hearty laugh, ruffling his mane. "I can assure you we are your allies, Shifu - we have only come as a courtesy, to warn you of a great threat about to change China - perhaps your world."
"I see," Shifu continued, having heard this dialogue multiple times before. "And I assume that this threat will take - time to discuss, and plan?"
Wang nodded. "The Yongshi have been gathering information about this - threat - for ages. We believe it is a force - an entity from a realm different from ours - who might be too powerful to defeat alone… even for us."
Alf felt a cold shiver run through him. A realm different from their own sounded enormously powerful - and it was confirmed as the Five and Po exchanged more nervous looks.
Wang seemed as serious as serious could be.
"Whether or not you let us stay here," Wang noted. "You will find that we will eventually have to unite our forces to combat this threat - in time."
Shifu tightened his face, holding the gravity of the lion's words. The two wolves to either side merely stared back at Shifu, offering no comfort nor reassurance.
"It is your decision, and frankly," Wang emphasized, smiling again. "I can completely understand a hesitation towards giving us refuge."
"You and your - people can stay here," Shifu let out, weakly smiling in return. "Are they the only ones coming?"
The two wolves shook their heads, but Wang spoke for them.
"We are merely the scouts," Wang emphasized. "The rest of our group - at least a hundred strong - will come later. But by then we would have set up camp somewhere away from the Valley - perhaps closer to the Wu Dan mountains. I assure you - this arrangement is temporary."
"Cool," Po blurted out, as Shifu mildly scowled at him. "So - are you guys - do you guys like - have a leader?"
"The Yongshi have no leader," Wang admitted, although to slight eyerolls from his two wolves. "But - if you are seeking a point of - reference, perhaps the oldest, most experienced member - that would be me."
Again the gasps came from everyone. Shifu if possible, felt even more intimidated - while the Five, Po and Alf merely stood in line and kept their stare softly at the huge lion. Even though Alf knew a bit more about the Yongshi given that he had communicated with them two years ago - or Yu had, at least - he couldn't imagine hearing all of this stuff for the first time, as it had likely been for Shifu, the Five, and Po.
"Very well…" Shifu admitted. "...please, make yourself at home. We can discuss more - as you said - in time."
"Thank you, Grandmaster," Wang admitted sincerely with a grin, using his gargantuan paw to dwarf Shifu's extended fingers. "This generosity is truly remarkable."
The two wolves had already begun removing something from their waistbands, pulling out canteens of water - drinking most of it one gulp. Alf wondered where exactly they were coming from, and how the journey had been.
"But if I may so selfishly ask for a bit more generosity," Wang asked Shifu. "May I speak with Master Tigress?"
This was even more odd. Every pair of eyes in the Courtyard swiveled onto the completely silent master, who stared at Wang with a cold, detached gaze. The lion smiled genuinely at her, clearly trying to communicate something that everyone else couldn't be privy to.
"You haven't changed one bit, you dumbass," Tigress brushed aside.
Everyone watched Tigress' sudden expression change and Wang's immediate return laugh with high suspicion and even greater confusion.
"Ironically, seems like you've gotten ever more beautiful," Wang cooly replied. "I'm still hurt you know - you never took me up on that second date."
"Once bitten, twice shy," Tigress slyly responded. "And not to mention - we were just six."
The confusion was so intense that Alf now wondered if Po would suddenly reveal himself as the Crane's father, or some other equally random, crazy declaration. While everyone - especially Shifu - took turns staring slack-jawed at Tigress and Wang - Alf took note of Po. The panda, after deducing Tigress and Wang's likely previous relationship - now let a mildly jealous scowl shine through.
. . .
"ARGHHHH!"
Kai was screaming all the way down.
THUD.
"Agh!"
It took him a while to recover his bearings. After laying on the ground for a while, shaking the dust off his head and just beginning to understand his surroundings - the massive bull took it all in. It had been 500 years since he had stepped foot in the Mortal Realm, so he was greatly disappointed to see that his surroundings had not changed that much - the Chinese grassland was very much a part of its landscape, with large stretches of green flora intercut by massive trees and thick bushes. Very little buildings were around him, which made Kai question whether the teleportation back down to the Mortal Realm had really worked.
His first instinct was to try and communicate with Omega again, but some reason - despite the power imbued in his blades by the Seeker, along with several other more "malicious" physiological and spiritual weapons - the Seeker himself had made no attempt to contact Kai. Worse still, Kai was unsure of how to get back in touch with the Seeker - he was, after all - intending to kill him at some point.
Kai was genuinely surprised. Omega usually was very keen on talking to him, and had been relentlessly talking to the bull as long as he was in the Spirit Realm - but as soon as Kai had begun the transition back to the Mortal Realm, Omega had ceased all contact - no mysterious voices, no aching pains in Kai's head, not even a whisper of a feeling that someone was watching.
Omega, as the bull was guessing - was busy doing something else.
"Excuse me, are you lost?" came a new voice.
Kai swiveled up from his crouched position. To his surprise, a large, bulbous yet aged panda peered down at him curiously - and to Kai's further confusion, a small but sprawling village was perhaps five hundred paces behind the panda, complete with mud and clay homes and rudimentary roads stitched together. It was clearly made in a rush, almost as if the inhabitants were trying purposefully to keep their village out of prying eyes.
And instantly Kai remembered Omega's words. He acted on them, more out of gratitude than agreement.
"I'm Li Shan," the panda gently offered, bending down with a smile. "We don't get many visitors. I - AGH!"
Kai shoved his blades into the smaller panda, cutting through the thick body effortlessly. Li squeaked in horrified surprise, holding onto the blades as Kai growled at him.
"I know who you are," the bull spat, smiling. "But I want to know who you can be."
Green energy radiated from the blades, enveloping the panda as every bit of Li Shan was completely smothered in a green coating. The last traces of the actual panda underneath wept miserably, body forcibly succumbing to the wrapping coat of green energy.
. . .
The Rock.
What a relief.
After a long and strenuous day, crippled with a criminal trial that lasted multiple hours, then a visiting, mysterious lion who called himself Wang and was a part of the Yongshi, and of course hours of brutalizing training that could have only been devised by Tigress - Alf was looking forward to meeting Zhong and Yu. He was also keen to not mention anything about what happened today except Zhong's birthday - he could bring up details like the Yongshi, Wang, and everything later - and privately - to Yu.
He was most pleased with the location that the fox had elected to celebrate the wolf's birthday - the same rock where she and Alf had met, and had innumerable dates since - which was ideal, as it shielded both the Seeker and the wolf from prying eyes, which were a lot more than perhaps two years ago.
While traversing the rocky path leading to the Rock, Alf turned around.
Even the skyline of the Valley was different at this distance - it more looked like Gongmen, with factories and rising towers shoved into the sky, with bustling activity even close to midnight, or the time now - thousands of citizens hurriedly belted from one building to another, illustrating the busy life at the Valley.
Alf turned back, feeling the ever-present grass blades tug at his wrapped feet as he moved closer to the center of the large space. Yu and Zhong leaned against the boulder, immediately noticing as Alf approached - and like a silent, foggy bodyguard - the immense Wu Dan mountains framed the back of the boulder.
"So tiny problem," Yu started, as Alf reached the Rock. "I might have - sort've - miscalculated his birthday."
Zhong merely shook his head with a tiny chuckle.
Alf groaned, shaking Zhong's paw immediately. "It's not today?"
"It'll be tonight," Zhong corrected, usual gruff tones coming through. "Midnight, actually."
"Even better then," Alf smiled back, leaning against the rock as he sat down - the fox and the wolf followed suit. "Yanno - I've been meaning to meet you. It's just - these past coupla days.."
"Yeah it's been rough," Yu admitted. "These shitty courts and these freakin' trials…"
"Not to mention Tigress' torture-levels of training," Alf let out, feeling his leg cramp up in memory bizarrely. "Five thousand push ups, fifty rounds sparring - just with her - ergh…"
"Two years training under Tigress," Yu sighed, rubbing her face. "I think I'd kill myself."
"She'd probably side kick ya back to life," Zhong noted, smiling. "She feedin' you alright kid?"
Alf merely chuckled. "Shifu still makes her underfeed me - but it's just agony knowing I gotta get up and get my ass beat by her every day…"
"I'm sure it'll pay off in the long run," Zhong remarked, smirking.
Alf sighed, leaning back against the Rock some more. Yu, Zhong, and him collectively turned above to see the bright, perfectly circular moon shining down - they all guessed it would be just a few minutes before midnight would cross, and tomorrow would begin… then they switched their attention to the Jade Palace looming off on a tall cliff in the distance - then at the Valley, aura completely unrecognizable to the three of them now.
"Man, this place has changed so damn much since I got here," Zhong remarked, eyeing the smoke and lights practically being ejected from the Valley's rooftops. "Hey kid - you remember the night I got here?"
Alf snickered, as Yu shot them both quizzical looks.
"You were asleep, remember?" Alf addressed to the fox, who recalled this and groaned. "Dude - remember when Shifu walked out?"
Zhong keeled over in laughter. "Bro - when - when this random wolf shows up at midnight - and - and just says…"
"...hey Master Shifu, Alf said I could stay here forever?" Alf mimicked, using his gruff voice. "Is that cool?"
The Seeker fell over laughing at his own joke. Yu stared in wide-eyed shock at Zhong, who was snickering himself.
"You really said that?" Yu questioned.
"Ha - ha - n - no…" Zhong breathed out, trying to control his laughter. "How it really went down was more like - I reached the Valley, and Alf was politely waiting for me - and Shifu comes out of nowhere and once he sees me…"
"...he screamed for the Five to give him backup," Alf recalled, lost in thought. "Would have damn near killed Zhong…"
"Alf managed to talk them out of it, and tell them that it was all his idea…" Zhong finished, then broke into a sad glance at Alf. "But boy - Shifu sure made you suffered for that one. He put the thing on max, right?"
Yu watched Alf sadly trace his fingers around the metal collar - the one that had been looped around his neck for five years.
He didn't even notice it anymore. She held his hand in comfort.
"Ten minutes," Alf remembered, face suddenly stony and hard-edged. "Pretty sure I blacked out after a few seconds, but guess that wasn't enough for him…"
All three fell into an awkward silence. Yu tried to start the conversation again, shifting the topic.
"Hey, whatever happened to that old goat?" the fox questioned. "Yanno - the Soothsayer?"
"I dunno, she never came with me when I said I'm going to the Valley…" Zhong clarified, lost in thought himself. "... said some mystical shit about us going two different ways or something…"
Alf nodded his head, having also wondered that occasionally.
"Hey bro," Zhong suddenly interrupted. "Ever think of moving away from the Valley? I mean they're putting you on trials, you've got the collar, everyone just shits on you…"
"Believe me, I've thought about it but…" Alf began, at a loss for what exactly to say. "I guess it's my home… "
He looked back at Yu, who smiled with her cheekbones at him.
"... can't imagine anywhere else," Alf finished, grinning back.
"Well I could," Zhong noted, sighing deeply as he looked up at the stars. "Nothing has changed for me in two years…"
"You're doing alright..." Yu tried to be gentle.
"The hell I am," Zhong spat. "No one's hired me in two years after Shen. Everyone in the Palace treats me like I'm some damn plague - I mean, the only reason I'm even alive is because I get to sleep in the kid's shithole of a room and mooch offa his food."
"My room isn't that bad," Alf tried to correct.
Yu immediately shook her head. "Dude - you literally live under the sewage pipes. Trust me - it's bad. It's like half the reason why I like meeting you here rather than - yanno… near the Palace."
Alf smiled, watching the moon peak above his field of vision. "Well - guess it's time guys."
The wolf and the fox looked up at the moon's position, confirming it. Alf expectantly turned to Yu, who brought out a small, silver cake and laid it to rest atop a platter Zhong had brought - all overset by a small candle, which was really just a wick Alf had stolen from the Palace and ignited against some flint.
The flame crackled gently.
"It ain't much, but it's enough," Zhong noted. "Thanks guys - feels good knowing that - that I have at least two friends at the Valley…"
Alf and Yu smiled, watching the wolf blow out his birthday candle as if it had been the rarest, most prized gift in the world.
A/N
A nice, quiet chapter - but still pushing things forward. I'm going to make an effort to publish 3k word chapters rather than 6k ones - I feel like the 6k ones could easily be broken up, and don't really have much value more than the shorter ones - and I don't wanna bore everyone too much - definitely from feedback I've received in some of the longer chapters in KFP 2. :D
Other than that, it's a pretty lowkey chapter. Keep in mind, I like building/bridging the time gap for the first few chapters - then getting gradually more intense towards the halfway point - then super intense by climax. Still haven't forgotten any of the plot stuff from KFP 2, don't worry. :) In fact, it's already starting to build, hehe...
Zhong has - as people can probably tell - not had the best life since moving to the Valley. More details to come in future chapters, but again the parallelisms between his and Alf's backstories and feelings are SUPER COOL things to think about...
Note: I was (as per usual) perusing reviews and in giddy fashion - then I realized that the transition to "modernized" Valley has been met with a somewhat polarized reception... which is good to know! Rest assured, the "modernization" aspect of the Valley really only changes combat and demographics - it doesn't radically alter the plot or characters as much as some may think... this won't be Borderlands meets Kung Fu Panda, if that's what anybody's dreading. :D Kung Fu, martial arts, and good drama will ALWAYS be the focus of this fic. :D
Here's a better summary:
1. World of talking animals, with basic warfare
2. Cannon warfare dropped into the middle of it all
3. World warfare changes significantly, and the Valley gets more famous as a result of the events of KFP 1 and 2
My version of Kung Fu Panda 3 just has cannons and courts, if that makes sense. :)
Support is simply MARVELOUS.
~TW
