Zeng panted as he raced through the bitter snow and winds to deliver his message. Collapsing at he doors, he yelped as two large guard wolves showed their teeth at him. "Hey. Wait wait wait wait. I bring a message from Master Shifu," he stammered. They let him in, but their glares held a clear message-they didn't want him there.
"What? Double the guards? Extra precaution? Your prison may not be adequate?" Commander Vouchir, a huge dark gray wolf with black eyes snarled. "You doubt my prison's security?" he growled.
"Absolutely not. Shifu does. I'm just the messenger," Zeng whimpered.
"I'll give you a message for your Master Shifu. Escape from Chor Gohm Prison is impossible," he proclaimed confidently, leading Zeng across the stone paths.
He yelped as Commander Vouchir nearly knocked him over the edge while laughing. The brush in his pocket which he used to write the messages he delivered fell down into the darkness.
"Impressive, isn't it?" he laughed.
"Yes, very impressive. It's-it's very impressive," Zeng stammered appeasingly.
"One way in, one way out, one thousand guards, and one prisoner," Commander Vouchir growled.
"Yes, except that prisoner is Tai Lung," Zeng muttered.
"Take us down," Commander Vouchir ordered. Lowering them down on a wooden platform by a chain, large wolves snarled at Zeng, clearly telling him he was not welcome. As their descent brought them down to the level of which Tai Lung occupied, Zeng shuddered with fright. He was indeed a very small wolf and Tai Lung was very big and had a very scary reputation. Commander Vouchir as he laughed and swung the platform. Zen couldn't help yelping in fear that the chains would break and he would plummet to his death.
"Oh my," Zeng gasped as they landed and he saw Tai Lung for the first time. The huge wolf was kneeling and secured, but he was bigger than the guards and had a swirling pattern on his coat of silver, black, tan, and white. His eyes were closed, but Zeng knew from legend that his eyes changed color and were sometimes purple and sometimes amber.
"Behold Tai Lung," Commander Vouchir presented the monstrous wolf.
"I'll, um, I'm just going to wait right here," Zeng nervously stammered. He didn't want to be anywhere near Tai Lung.
"It's nothing to worry about. It's perfectly safe," Commander Vouchir laughed, headbutting Zeng closer to Tai Lung as he tried to back away. "Crossbows at the ready," he called.
"Crossbows?" Zeng yelped.
"Hey. Tough guy. Did you hear? Oogway's finally going to give someone the Dragon Scroll and it's not going to be you?" Commander Vouchir mocked Tai Lung, circling him with his teeth bared.
"What are you doing? Don't get him mad," Zeng whimpered.
"What's he going to do about it? I've got him completely immobilized," Commander Vouchir chuckled. Stepping down harshly with a hind foot on Tai Lung's bushy tail, he cooed mockingly, "Oh, did I step on the widdle puppy's tail? Aw."
"I'm gonna. I've seen enough. I'm going to tell Shifu he's got nothing to worry about," Zeng appeasingly woofed.
"No he doesn't," Commander Vouchir agreed.
"Okay I'll tell him that. Can we please go know?" Zeng pleaded, but in his worry for his own safety, he failed to notice his brush fall to the ground in front of Tai Lung with a soft click. Opening his glowing amber eyes, he glared as he used his dexterous tail to pick up the brush and hide it carefully.
At the Jade Palace, Po was feeling far less confident, named the Dragon Warrior and finally at the top of the stairs, courtesy of the wolves who helped carry him.
"Wait a second," he protested as the wolves dumped him and left, closing the doors behind them. "Ha ha. I think there's been a slight mistake. Uh, everyone seems to think that I'm, uh. Whao. The Sacred Hall of Warriors. No way. Look at this place," he gasped as he finally took in his surroundings. Checking it out, he sighed, "Whao. Master Flying Wolf's armor with authentic battle damage! Whao. The Sword of Heroes-said to be so sharp you can cut yourself just by looking at-" he broke off with a yelp as it cut his forepaw. "The Invisible Trident of Destiny," he gaped, "I've only seen paintings of that painting." Laughing with puppy-like pleasure, he stopped short when he saw what he never thought he would see. "No. Oh, the legendary Urn of Whispering Warriors-said to contain the souls of the entire Tehn-Xiu army. Hello," he called into it.
"Have you finished sight-seeing?" Master Shifu asked, but Po had very terrible senses sometimes and his mind believed the souls were talking to him.
"Sorry, I should have come to see you first," Po admitted.
"My patience is wearing thin," Master Shifu growled.
"Oh, well, I mean, it's not like you were going anywhere," Po replied, slightly irked.
"Do turn around," Master Shifu sighed.
"Sure," he did, but it didn't quite hit him yet that Master Shifu was speaking, not the urn. "Hey. How's it going. How do you get five thou- Master Shifu! Oh!" he yelped in surprise, knocking the urn over with his tail as he turned. "Someone broke that, but I'm going to fix it. I'll-I'll, do you have some glue? Ow!" he yelped as he bumped the pedestal with his forepaw and knocked it into his temple, "Ow. Ooh. Splinter."
"So you're the legendary Dragon Warrior, hm?" Master Shifu asked, bared his teeth in a fake smile.
"Uh, I guess so," Po muttered nervously.
"Wrong!" snarled Master Shifu, making him jump. "You are not the Dragon Warrior. You will never be the Dragon Warrior until you have learned the secret of the Dragon Scroll," he snappishly told him.
"Whoa. So, um, how does this work? Do you have a ladder or a trampoline or…?" he asked, only for Master Shifu to chuckle.
"You think it's that easy? That I'm just going to hand you the secret to limitless power?" he snarled.
"No, I," Po gulped.
"First you must master the highest level of kung fu and that is clearly impossible if that one is someone like you," Master Shifu growled, circling him.
"Someone like me?" Po growled back.
"Yes, look at you. This fat butt, flabby arms, and this ridiculous belly," Master Shifu relentlessly mocked.
"Hey," Po protested.
"And utter disregard for personal hygiene," Master Shifu added.
"Hey, now wait a minute. That's a little uncalled for," Po barked.
"Don't stand that close. I can smell your breath," Master Shifu contemptuously curled his lip.
"Listen, Master Oogway said that I was the-" he broke off as Master Shifu grabbed his paw, "The Wuxi Finger Hold. Not the Wuxi Finger Hold!"
"Oh, you know this hold?" he chuckled.
"Developed by Master Wuxi in the third dynasty. Yes," Po admitted.
"Oh, then you must know what happens when I twitch my ear," Master Shifu teased.
"No, no, no," Po whimpered.
"You know the hardest part of this? The hardest part is cleaning up afterwards," the little white wolf snickered.
"Okay, okay, take it easy," the larger black and white wolf wailed.
"Now listen closely, wolf. Oogway may have picked you, but when I'm through with you, I promise you, you're going to wish he hadn't. Are we clear," Master Shifu menacingly asked.
"Oh yeah. We're clear. We're clear. We are so clear," Po appeasingly replied.
"Good. I can't wait to get started," Master Shifu laughed. If Po had any idea what Master Shifu had in mind, he probably would have wet himself right then and there.