The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were all comfortably seated around the dining table of the student barracks' kitchen for their final meal of the day.

Except, it was actually only Tigress, Crane, Viper, and Mantis...for their other two team members were missing in action...again. The four who had actually shown up on time for dinner sat in somewhat of an awkward silence, as they looked around at each other, and down at the six lovely plates of food that had been so kindly prepared for them by the palace servant, Zeng. One of the the four, however, was rather nervous compared to the others; for she had only just learned the full truth behind why exactly they had been seeing so little of Master Monkey and Master Panda.

Now normally, Viper was quite good at keeping secrets to herself! It was only natural, being the intuitively soft-spoken and respectful serpent she was. But this secret, tonight, she couldn't even begin to push such intriguing information to the back of her mind while she sat around her own...and Monkey's and Po's...closest companions. So she sat nervously, and scarcely breathed, lest her next breath be the one that brought upon her undoing.

Lucky for her, another would break the smothering silence first, for in contrast to Viper's bashful hesitance, he was thoroughly annoyed, and quite sick of holding his tiny tongue.

"I can't believe this," Mantis huffed. "Of course they're not here! Again! This is the third night in a row! ...Isn't anyone else getting sick of this?" When he was met with silence, he then continued to vent his frustrations. "We barely see them anymore outside of the training hall! And now they don't even have the courtesy to show up for dinner? I mean, what gives!?"

After a moment, Crane shrugged his wings. "I...guess they're just busy with the extra training thing they do now. They'll show up eventually."

Mantis groaned, "Ugh, that's not the point! They could at least let us know if they're gonna miss dinner! Or y'know, maybe talk to us at all once in awhile? I don't care if they're training, it's ridiculous. Even I'm more polite!"

Tigress and Crane exchanged glances from across the table before looking back to the disgruntled insect. Sulking now, Mantis only slouched on one of his claw-thingies as he picked at his plate of tofu. His striped comrade then, after a short moment of hesitance, opened her mouth to speak.

"And you're sure you might not be taking it a little personally?" she carefully asked.

Instantly, his irate gaze shifted up to meet Tigress' own cool composure. She, of course, didn't budge. Mantis held the eye contact for a good few seconds, before he rolled his eyes and continued his sulking. "Whatever. I'm just tired of them ignoring us constantly." He muttered, "Jerks."

"Mantis, it's really not that simple!"

Viper finally chimed in rather passionately, but it wasn't until she saw the look of pure befuddlement her bug friend held in return that she realized just how defensive her statement had sounded. She blinked as a dark shade of pink tinged her cheeks, and clamped her mouth shut again. Slowly, the snake looked up to her two other comrades, who were both frozen in the middle of the bites of food they'd been taking, staring right back at her with wide, curious gazes. Viper blinked again; then she forced a bright smile, and quickly turned her attention back to her own food.

"Okay," Tigress began with a knowing little smile of her own. She placed her chopsticks down before she bluntly continued. "What do you know, then?"

"Yeah!" Mantis encouraged the interrogation. "What does that even mean?"

Viper kept her face down, blushing furiously both from the questions she was being asked, and the answers she so very well knew. Still, no matter what she knew, she would not bring herself to disclose a friend's secrets without permission. "N-Nothing!" she tried desperately to sound innocent...even if she also knew the attempt was indeed a hopeless endeavor if there ever was one. "I-I was just, saying...they're not...jerks! I'm sure they have perfectly legitimate reasons for being out tonight!"

"But you didn't say that. Until just now," Crane joined in.

"And why are you like, beet red?" asked Mantis. "You've gotta know something! You only act this weird when you know something!"

Ugh, that's so not true! Viper's cheeks grew even darker in frustration at the comment. I know stuff all the time! ...I know more than you, that's for sure. She closed her eyes and took a few silent, deep breaths to calm herself. If only this one wasn't so...ergh.

Viper huffed out her last exhale and finally raised her head back up earnestly. "Look, it's really not my place to be having this discussion."

"So you DO know something!" Crane's eyes lit up.

"Aghh!" the serpent exclaimed in exasperated defeat, throwing her head back before she fell against the back of her chair. Crane and Mantis went quiet alongside Tigress now, patiently awaiting the coming revelation. But Viper only shook her head with a soft groan, eyes shut. "Fine! Yes, okay. I know something... But I'm still not sharing it, so you can stop badgering me."

Mantis loudly replied, "Awh, what, are you kidding!?"

"No," she answered sternly.

Crane sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. Tigress, on the other hand, only averted her gaze thoughtfully. While she couldn't be perfectly certain, she did certainly have the upper hand from relevant knowledge that had already been revealed to her, and an inkling based upon it. Frankly, it wasn't that difficult to put the pieces together. The feline's lips curled into a rather satisfied smile.

She then said plainly, "I think I know."

Viper blinked in surprise, lifting herself up again.

"What!? How!?" Crane exclaimed.

Swiftly, the cat pushed her chair back as she stood up from the dining table; and summoning her utmost aloof disposition, headed for the doorway that led back to their rooms. Crane and Mantis exchanged glances of shock once she'd left them. The avian master then looked back to the doorway, and stood from his own seat to follow after her.

Mantis barked, "Hey! Wait for me!"

Once he'd hopped off as well, Viper shortly released a very much needed sigh of relief, and sank back down against her chair with a grateful smile. She made a mental note to thank Tigress for the little diversion later. Even if...little she knew...it technically hadn't been just that.

Notes:

Pre-KFP2.

And finally, we continue the events of chapter 1! Many of these chapters will probably be expanded upon eventually, as they're all from the same story I've got in my head. I really had fun with this one, even if it's rather short. Hope y'all like it too!

Enjoy!