HI GUYS! I'm finally back with the official sequel to 'Finding the Path to Clemency'!
First off, thank you for all of your patience. Sorry it took me this long, I've been doing so many things on my year off. I've been doing research on Chinese folklore, took a trip to Italy last year, done some fan art on Tumblr and working my own original works, and watching great cartoons. Plus I've been trying to get myself back into KFP which didn't take too long, it feels really good to write KFP stuff again. I also went back and edit my first story with a Grammarly app I download on my computer so I now have a program that helps me write better.
Another note is that I'm still going to part-time classes but luckily this next class doesn't demand too much HW from me. Although I don't have all the chapters type out, I did create a script for the project. Everything in this fanfic is planned out with 20 or up to 21 chapters. So yeah, this gonna be another long fanfic. So get to it!
Kung Fu Panda belongs to Dreamworks animation and its writers and directors.
OC characters who appear in this fic do belong to me.
Finding the Hope to Save Two Realms
Chapter 1: A New Threat Arrives
Long ago, in a world above the skies, the Heaven Realm was the home to the majestic and powerful Gods.
For our story begins with the legendary Yellow Dragon Nuwa and the Dragon Brothers. There was Ao Guang, King of Spring. Ao Qin, King of Summer. Ao Run, King of Autumn. Ao Shun, King of Winter. And their friend Nuwa, who is the Goddess of Chi and Creativity.
One day, the Dragons found a new realm and descend from their home to explore it. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the world was full of life and made by the same elements of their powers. Nuwa immediately fell in love with the realm's beauty and wanted to share their new discovery to the rest of the Gods. The Dragon Brothers, however, did not, they split apart to claim some of the lands and oceans as their own, leaving their friend behind. Poor Nuwa was sad and wondered alone with no one to talk to or to play with. But then an idea came to her, she could bring more beauty to this world by creating new friends.
Taking pieces of the earth and combining her chi, Nuwa created a new form of life. With her mind full of possibilities she created all kinds of creatures, big and small, she dubs them as animal beings. The new beings laughed and played with the Goddess, which made her feel overjoyed. Soon, Nuwa witnesses how intelligent the beings were as they demonstrate their own creativity. They grew their own plants, build their own homes, and form families together.
For the first time in her immortal life, Nuwa felt she accomplished a new fond of happiness. She had decided to spend the rest of her days in the new realm alongside of her creations.
The begins went on to explore more of the land, building more homes for themselves. But then Ao Guang, growled in fury as he saw the begins exploring on his territory. Feeling disrespected, Ao Guang flew to the skies and use his powers, using lighting to strike the trees and wind to blow the begins away. The rest of the brothers came to calm down Ao Guang but it only made things worse. Their argument shook the earth until their powers crashed causing the sky to crack into pieces. Nuwa heard the screams of her creations, rushing over to them she saw the events with utter distraught. The plants were dying, the mountains crumble, the sea levels were high. Without a barrier, the Heaven Realm will soon collide with the world and Nuwa had to stop it.
She demanded her friends to stop fighting and to look at the mess they have created. Seeing their friend so upset, the Dragon Brothers apologized for their careless act and offered to help her. With their power and with all of her chi, the dragons flew to the skies and patched up the barrier. The realm was saved.
Using all of their powers send them back to the Heaven Realm where the rest of the Gods were waiting for them. They were displeased that their home was almost destroyed until Nuwa made a proposal. To make up for what they did, the dragons would protect the barriers in order to keep the two realms in balance. And the Gods agreed. As for some of the beings who died from the chaos, the Gods welcomed their lost souls and rename their home as the Spirit Realm.
Nuwa and the Dragon Brothers now watch over the world they call the Mortal Realm, where Nuwa's creation lives as centuries go by. Their only influence was changing the seasons. They could never go back to that world, for if they did, the balance of the two realms will be broken.
Nuwa now spends the rest of her days watching her creations evolved, but she longing wished to be with them.
"Oh this is would be a nice folklore to read," said the rabbit.
He was going over all of his scrolls in his library. Looking for fork tales to share with the children who are coming over to visit him. He placed the scroll on the table as a reminder for the next day.
"I better go to bed early," he said as he grabs his lantern and cane. The old hare closed his library and made his down the hall to his bedroom. He paused in mid-walking as he hears a rumbling noise coming from outside.
Curious, he walked over to the front door, pulling on the metal ring. The door opens just enough for him to peek outside. It was dark so he couldn't really see much but then he noticed the clouds. It almost looked like it was going to storm but he saw something odd. The clouds started to swirl with a strange glow. The old hare squinted his eyes, he watches the clouds glow green. The sky suddenly grew bight for a second and the clouds form into an explosion, hitting the ground.
The old hare holds on the door as the winds pushed him into the building. As the wind stilled and the storms disappear, he sees a large cavity not too far from his home. In the center of the crater, he could see people lying in a circle. After a moment, the group stood up, rolling their joints and gave small groans. One of them wore a long cloak and a long straw hat that covered their head. The hare sense something about them didn't feel right. He was about to close the door when it gave a loud creak.
Even if they were far away he saw the group heard it and stood still like statues, the one in the cloak listen. He too stood still not wanting for them to see him. The one in the cloak swiftly turned and the hare could see the person's eyes, wide and eerie.
Startled, the hare closed the door and quickly ran back down the hallway. He stretches his arm for his lantern to light the way. The hare trips, falling to the floor and his lantern rolled away. He uses his cane to stand back up but he stops when heard another noise, his eyes darted down to the floorboards which were cracking. He took a step back as the floor gave out and giant tree roots sprouted out, blocking his way. The poor hare let out a yelp of fear and darted back to the library, closing the door quickly and hiding under the table. He could hear the roots breaking down the doors with no problem and allow the people from outside in.
They moved the table and stared down at him. The hare could see they were a hippo, twin foxes, and a black crow. The fifth person slowly made their way in, their glowing hand on the tree roots causing them to grow more in the room. Once they walked in, they let go of the roots and crouched down to be eye to eye with the hare. The old hare could not see their face, due to the shadows of the hat and cloak hood. But their violet eyes were visible, staring at him, they shine so beautiful but so ghostly.
"Please," begged the old hare, "I don't have anything, I-"
He was silenced when they pulled out a heavy weapon under their cloak and bashed it right next to him. He cowered in fear while the person didn't break eye contact. Finally, they spoke in a sweet but monotoned voice.
"I want nothing from you," she said "Just answer my question. Where are we?"
The hare gulped down his fear.
"T-t-this my library-y" he shuddered, "I-I'm a teacher, I teach kids how to read and share stories."
The person only gave a hum in response.
"Then that means you have all kinds of scrolls like, maps?"
The hare nodded.
"Yes, they're stored on the shelves behind you."
The person waved her hand for the hippo, he walked off to look through the shelves.
"Do you also carry ones on kung fu masters?" she asked.
"Y-yes," said the hare and pointed at the corner, "On your right."
The person let the foxes and the crow find them while she grabs the old hare to stand up. She noticed a scroll on the table, she picked it up and rolled it out. The hare couldn't see her face, but he could sense she was skimming through it. She gave a light chuckle.
"Nuwa and the Dragon Brothers…" she whispered before turning to the hare, "I remember reading this when I use to be little."
She got closer to the hare's face, making him step back a little.
"Can I show you something?"
The hare was afraid of what would happen if said no, so he nodded yes. He watched as the person moved her cloak to show her chest. Around her neck was a necklace with five jade stones craved as dragons.
"The Gods are real," she said to him.
"Tiān Cháo," the hippo called out, "I've found them."
He and the other three came back laying the scrolls on the table. The person, Tiān Cháo, smiled and turned back to the hare.
"Thank you for your help," she said, "You may leave here."
"What? But I live here-"
She took her stone craved sword and bashed it on the floor to scare the old hare. He gave a small yelp before he took his cane and took off. The crow watched him and turned back to his leader.
"Was it wise to just let him go?" he asked.
Tiān Cháo didn't mind as she puts her weapon away and rolls out the scrolls.
"Don't worry Gang," she assured, "Even if he finds help it will be too late, besides we need to keep the focus on what's most important."
Tiān Cháo reads the information on kung fu masters, searching through countless names. She found what she was looking for and goes to the map. She felt Gang settle himself on her shoulder, looking at the map with her. The twin foxes stand on their toes wanting to see the map too.
"What is our next step my lady?" asked the hippo.
"Well, now that we're home we need a place to stay Hema," said Tiān Cháo, "And I know just the place."
She pointed to big land on the map, a land surround by mountains and a small river circling it.
"This is where she lives, Huang Shui Village."
It was another morning in the Valley of Peace, Po wakes up a little early to get himself ready. After quickly putting on his robe and pants, he quickly rushes out to start the day. He was ready to face the everyday challenge he had mastered for the past two years.
Once he made it to the bottom of the palace arena, he goes to open the doors and finds young children and older teenagers waiting to be let in.
"Master Po!" they cheered.
Po smiled.
"G' morning class," he said, "Ready to learn another awesome lesson?"
The kids nodded, excited to learn from their teacher.
It has been two years since Po defeated the chi collector Kai. With the pandas safe once again, they came to the decision to move to the Valley of Peace. Master Shifu was now fully retired and Po, along with his friends the Furious Five, had taken responsibility for the Jade Palace. Since he came back, so many children in the village wanted to learn kung fu from him, especially the little pandas. Po and the Five discussed and decided to have open classes for the kids and even inviting some outside the village to be their students.
Po led his students to the Training Hall's field. As soon they sat down on the ground, Po started his class with a dramatic kung fu pose, getting their attention.
"Alright class," he began, "Who here remembers our last lesson?"
The kids shot their arms in the air, hoping for their teacher to pick one of them. Po chuckled as he glanced around the big group.
"How about you Bao?" Po pointed.
"We were learning about blocking attacks like this," said the young panda, showing off his move.
"Good," said Po, "Now what do you do, after blocking?"
A little bunny raised her hand.
"You have to attack first while the bad guy is off guard," she said.
Po nodded, "Good. Now I'm gonna teach you what moves to use after you block."
"Oh is it going to be a high split kick?" asked a duckling.
"No it gonna be the lighting punch!" cried another panda.
Po clams down the class.
"Okay guys settle down," he said, "I'm gonna be teaching you today, the double punch and kick technique."
Po showed them how to performed the technique and allow the class to practice. He watched and some of them were struggling, he helps them out and encouraged them to keep trying. As he kept watching, he couldn't hide the bright smile on his face. It really melts his heart that these kids really wanted to learn from him. He thought the whole teacher thing wasn't right for him, but after everything with Kai, he was glad he was wrong.
While the students kept practicing, Po noticed a quick shadow approaching him and instantly lands in front of him.
"Hey Tigress," Po greeted his friend. The panda and the female tiger bow to each other.
"Good morning Po," said Tigress turning to class, "How're our students?"
"They're doing great, they're learning so fast we may run out of lessons for them."
"I doubt that," Tigress comment.
"So any updates on the morning scouting?" asked Po.
"The others spotted a few bandits coming to the valley, we may need your help."
"Got it," Po turns back to class, "All right kids keep at it we'll be right."
"You're going to a battle?" asked Bao exactly, "Can we watch?"
"No, it's too dangerous."
The students stop and turned to see Master Shifu approaching his students.
"I'll watch the children while you help the others," he said.
"Thanks, Master Shifu," Po thanked as he takes off with Tigress.
Bao watched them go, sulking that he couldn't go with them. He turned to see Master Shifu instructing the kids to continue, and Bao took this chance to slowly sneak away. He quickly opens the wooden doors, only to see the old teacher standing right in front of him. He yelped, jumping back.
"Whoa how did-" the young panda looked behind him and back to the teacher.
"Bao, go back and practice with the group," Master Shifu ordered.
"Yes master," Bao pouted and goes back to training.
Meanwhile, Po and Tigress dash out with great speed, jumping from building to tree. They see the other masters fighting a group of rams by the entrance of the valley. Po jumps ahead letting himself fall from the sky. He then lands between the groups, catching one ram off guard and punched him square in the face.
"Get ready to feel the thunder!" cried out the Dragon Warrior as he and the Furious Five fight off the ram bandits.
Crane flew around close to the ground, knocking a few rams down with a spin attack. He grabs one of them by the horns and threw them in the air. Monkey jumped high and kicked the ram's face, knocking them out. Back on the ground, Monkey blocks an attack and whips around to kick the ram to another. He does a cartwheel to avoid another attack and throw a few monkey fists at the bandits.
Mantis confused his opponent with his great speed and jab the ram with his pincers. He knocks them out and quickly turns to his friend.
"Monkey behind you!"
Monkey heard his friend Mantis and turned around in time to see one ram wielding an ax and ready to attack. Mantis hops to Monkey's shoulder to mid-air and kicks the weapon out of the ram's hand while Monkey takes him down. His tail grabs the ax swings it to Viper who catches it.
Viper slithers around with the ax, dodging the rams, she uses the ax to chop down alone wooden poll in one swift. The poll falls on top of three rams, their horns got stuck in the wood and they went down with the poll. She then slithers her way to Tigress who was fighting off four rams as once. Viper whips at three of them with speed and grace. She then uses her body to wrap around one ram and Tigress punched them out.
As for Po, he was taking down a few rams who were trying to jump on him. One ram uses a long metal chain to try to take the panda down, but Po saw it coming and grabs it. He pulls it forward and uses his belly gong to knock out the ram.
"Guys, let's round them up!" Po called to his friends. He throws the end of the chain to Tigress and she Viper, Monkey, and Mantis runs to the fallen rams and chains them. Tigress then throws more chain to Crane as he catches it with his beak and flies around the bandits, piling them up in a circle. The rams tried to break free but it was no use, they were captured.
Po tied up the bandits making sure it was tight enough.
"Nice work," said Po as he hi-five Crane and Monkey.
"Grr, you may have won this round but we'll break free and have our revenge," hissed the leader of the rams.
Po and the masters simply rolled his eyes.
"Like we never heard that before," Po said unamused.
"The next place you guys are going in jail," said Crane pulling on the chain.
Mantis hopped to Monkey's shoulder. "Let's do this quickly so we can grab some breakfast," he said, "I haven't eaten anything all morning."
Viper blinked when she noticed something.
"Wait a minute, weren't there sixteen of them?"
The group paused. They counted the rams and looked up to the wooden poll where they noticed the three rams that got suck underneath the poll were gone.
"Uh, where are the other three?" asked Monkey.
They suddenly heard a scream from the village, the masters turn to the village and turn to look back at the leader who was smirking at them.
"We better hurry," Tigress ordered as they rush back to the village.
"Well we should be going," said the leader trying to move with his group. But Crane came back, grabbing the chain and dragged them, causing them to bleep in alarm.
Back in the village, one of the rams was harassing a pig who was holding her bag for dear life. Po and the Furious Five spotted him and spotted the two who were going ahead to steal things.
"You get those two, I'll deal with him," Po said as the Five ran ahead and Crane was still dragging the screaming bleeping rams.
Po rushed over to the helpless pig and kicked the ram away, causing the bag to fly in the air. The panda caught the bag and return it to the pig.
"Thank you Dragon Warrior" she thanked.
"No problem," Po said as blocked all of the bandit's attack. He turns his attention back the ram and threw a kick but the ram blocked it. They threw more attackers at each other with the Villers watching and cheering their hero. Po managed to land an attack and hit the ram hard enough to be pushed back. The ram glared at the panda and picked a food stand to throw at him.
This caused the villagers to flee in panic, but Po was able to catch it before it can hurt someone. The ram uses this as an advantage and kicks the panda in the stomach. Po fell backward, letting the food stand fall to the ground. The ram goes over the broken stand ready to punch the warrior only to be stopped by something grabbing his fist. The bandit turns to see a fabric ribbon and was pulled away from Po. The bandit was then punched by a flying nunchuck.
Po smiled seeing who help him. "Mei-Mei!"
"Hey Po," Mei-Mei waved to him, "I bet you didn't expect that."
The panda chuckled while getting up, "You're getting good with those nunchucks."
"Why thank you I have a good teacher," said Mei-Mei, twirling her ribbon and batting her eyes at Po.
Po slumps his shoulders as he stares at her awkwardly. It was oblivious that the female panda was still crushing on him, and Po half of the time wasn't sure had a response to this. They both turned back to the ram when they hear him groaning in pain, just in time to see the other two bandits being chased by the Five.
"Po they're coming your way!" cried Viper.
Po glanced back to Mei-Mei with a determined grin. "Wanna show these goons our dance of destruction?"
Mei-Mei gasped happily, whipping out her nunchuck and ribbon.
"Let's do this!" she said dramatically.
Po goes first, he moved his arms and body in a quick motion and throws both his arms, punching the rams. Mei-Mei dances with her ribbon and uses to tangle them, she had over the end of her nunchuck to Po as they spin around. The fallen ram got back up only to be grabbed by Po and both pandas throw all three bandits in air.
"Your turn Tigress," Po exclaimed.
Tigress jumps up, with the help of Po and Mei-Mei grabbing her paws and swing her in the air, she delivered the final blow and kicked all three bandits to the ground.
The villagers cheered as all the rams were defeated and captured. Po and the Five tied up the last rams with the chain and spent the rest of the day transferring them to the prisons. When they returned they head over to Mr. Ping's restaurant to grab food. Mei-Mei was there too waiting for them.
"Phew, that fight really tried me out," she said fanning herself with her hand.
"Hey we did most of the work," Mantis pointed out, hopping to the table.
"Yes but dancing is a lot of work too," the female panda smiled.
"At least we got all of the bandits. We appreciate the help Mei-Mei," Tigress thanked their friend.
"No worries."
Po gazed to the side and smiled seeing his two fathers coming over with their bowls.
"The usual?" the oldest panda, Li Shan greeted his son and his friends.
"Thanks, dads."
Po and the team dig in their food, rice, veggie noodles, fruits, tea, and surprisingly mooncakes.
"You guys are making mooncakes now?" Po asked picking one up to examine it.
Li Shan rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, we're sort of practicing," he said, "You and your friend are our taste testers."
Po took a bite of the pastry and so did the rest, it tasted really sweet.
"Mmm, delicious!" said Monkey.
"These are good. Are you gonna sell them with purchases?" the panda asked while stuffing the rest in his mouth. To his shock, Mr. Ping shook his head no.
"Of course not, we're only practicing for next year's fall festivals," Mr. Ping.
Po chuckled, "Dad, it's not even the summer yet."
"Well I think it's sweet," said Mei-Mei, "After all mooncakes represent togetherness and we're all together like a family."
The masters and Po agreed to that statement, they are like a family. They come so far and accomplish the many challenges in their lives. Po now knows who he is, he's surrounded by friends and family, and he's doing the one thing he loves doing kung fu. It was like the perfect future for Po.
"We're not all together," Po's mind reminded him. The panda suddenly found himself staring at the second mooncake he was eating.
"After we eat, we should check up on the children," said Viper," I hope they're not giving Master Shifu a hard time."
"When have they not?" Crane joked causing everyone to laugh.
But Po wasn't paying attention as his mind wonders on a certain someone. He wonders if he was okay out there, wondering if that peacock is ever going to come back.
Far away and deep in the forest lies a small land called Huang Shui Village.
It was a village protected by surrounding tall mountains and a river. The only way in was a long bridge that goes over the river. In the center of the village stands a temple madison were the Siamese cats' lives. It was also the home of a kung fu master.
Master Míng Na was walking down the hall looking through her scrolls she was carrying. She was preparing herself for a meeting today, she hoped it wouldn't take most of her time. She enters her private studies and put away most of the scrolls until she glanced at a shelf which was filled with family history. She paused for a moment, her long thin tail swayed gently.
The old cat sighed and decided to allow herself to do go down to memory lane. She took her scroll out and sat on her bamboo chair to read. She mostly scans through her time of being a student, to surviving a war, to all of the missions she achieved, to finally her time when she wed and started a family. By the end of the paper, it was an ink painting that was slowly fading due to time. Míng Na stared the drawing of her younger self, her husband, and their son.
She smiled warmly, she hasn't seen her husband's picture since he passed many years ago. And her son was now a grown adult, he was away with his wife to deal with a business with other lords. Her son didn't want to leave his mother at first but Míng Na assured him she would be fine.
She suddenly started coughing, another reminder of her age, she rubbed her neck after the erupt cough. She laid back on her chair, quietly rolling the scroll but placing it on her lap.
Despite being retired, she was one of the many masters that were captured by Kai but instead of fighting back, she surrendered herself in hopes he would spare her village. She didn't remember what happened after, only remembering waking up back at the village with her family. She has gotten word that Shifu's student defeated Kai and everything went back to normal. Well almost normal, but she didn't want to think about it any further.
"Grandma?"
The old cat's ears perked up at the sound of her granddaughter's voice. She leans forward to see a small cat with blue and green eyes standing outside.
"Grandma are you okay?" asked the little kitten.
Míng Na simply smiled, "Yes Lán lǜ I'm quite alright. Come in, sweetie."
The little kitten got on to all fours and made her way into the room. She climbs up the chair and softly plops herself on her grandmother's lap, rubbing her head on her chest while her grandma strokes her head.
"What ch'a reading?" asked Lán lǜ.
"Oh not much, just looking at some of our histories," said Míng Na unrolling the scroll to show her.
The curious siamese kitten takes a look at the writing and the ink picture of her family.
"Is that you?"
"Yes and this man right here is your grandfather," Míng Na pointed to the picture.
Lán lǜ smiled, "So that what he looks like."
Lán lǜ never got a chance to meet her grandfather but Míng Na knows if he was still here, he would have spoiled the little girl. She moved her figure to the bottom.
"And who is that?" Míng Na asked lightheartedly.
The kitten blinked when she noticed the boy in the picture. It took her second to realize who it was.
"That's dad!" she gasped.
Míng Na chuckled and watched her granddaughter read more of her history.
"Wow, you've done a lot as a master grandma," Lán lǜ said with amazement, "You even fought in a war."
Míng Na shook her head, "No I survived a war, I was around your age when it happened."
Lán lǜ's ears twitched and she looked up.
"Really?"
Míng Na nodded. "Your great grandparents were warlords long ago. They were summoned by the Emperor to help his army. Me and my sister were sent to a sanctuary to stay safe and away from the chaos, many children were sent there, including orphans."
"Wait you had a sister?" the kitten asked tilting her head.
Míng Na's eyes went wide for a second realizing what she said. She never brings up her sister to anyone, not even her own family. It wasn't because she was keeping secrets, it was just too painful to talk about. But she breathes out and continued, only to give a vague response.
"My sister… was the youngest and I was the oldest. She died around that time. There was an incident at the Sanctuary and only a few of us survived."
"Oh. I'm sorry grandma," Lán lǜ apologized feeling bad that she asked.
The old cat blinked and patted the child's head tenderly.
"No sweetie don't apologize," she said, "I'm fine, it happened so long ago I hardly remember it."
"Like how long ago was it?"
"About, like seven hundred years ago."
Lán lǜ' stared at her grandmother with shocked eyes and a funny expression.
"Seven hundred years!" she cried, "How old are you grandma?!"
The question caught Míng Na off guard she couldn't help but let out a rich laugh. She hugs her granddaughter as she kept laughing. They both started laughing together until Míng Na started coughing again, she cleared her throat and giggled as she smiled to the kitten. They were interrupted when a sheep standing by the entrance.
"Master Míng Na, the soldiers are here to discuss the plans."
"I'm on my way," the old Siamese cat replied standing up with her grandchild in her arms.
"Can I come with?" asked Lán lǜ, "I wanna hear the plans too."
"No Lán lǜ," said Míng Na as she leans over to whisper to her ear, "Trust me, it gets really boring really quickly."
She puts Lán lǜ down by the sheep.
"Go with the servants, I should be back soon."
Lán lǜ nodded and took the sheep's hoof as they walk down the hallway and Míng Na walked the other way.
Míng Na frowned to herself as she kept walking towards the meeting. The thought of her sister did bring back some of her memory from that time, some she wished she could forget. But she told herself her sister was in a better place, that's all that matters. She composure herself and held her head high as she prepares for the meeting.
I have this idea to end my chapters with sharing things I found on my research, so here are some fun facts.
Nuwa's story is still close to the original folklore expect it was the Fire and Water Gods that cracked the sky. Nuwa is described as a half-human and half-snake goddess, so for a story in an anthropomorphic universe, she and the others will be dragons (no humans). The Dragon is based on the Dragon King and the Four Seas which more in the Chinese religion. They actually represent the four seasons. This is combing two folktales since the two stories have always fascinated me.
Now for the new characters' names.
Hema means Hippo
Tiān Cháo means heaven and one of the old names of China.
Lán lǜ means blue and green because she has two different eye colors.
Míng Na means Enlightenment.
The village name Huang Shui means yellow water as a reference to a known river in China, the Yellow River. The war Míng Na was talking about is the one Kai and Oogway fought with their army 500 years ago. Since the story is two years after it is now 700 years.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!