I don't own any setting, objects, or characters from the Kung Fu Panda® Franchise or Jo. He belongs to Jo "Po" Navark.

I only own my original characters and original settings.

Chapter XII: Numb

Esau got up from the floor of his dorm when he heard the morning gong. It wasn't as if he had gotten any sleep… again. It had been a week and Justice was still AWOL, and it was all his fault. That stupid prank made him too guilt-ridden to even sit on his cot, let alone sleep in it. How could he when his sister could be in danger, or a danger to others? He didn't even want to think about what their uncle might do to her if he finds them. He stretched and went to meet Jo. They had agreed to continue their daily training with his brother and Zoran supervising and teaching them in stealth and sword combat. However, as he left, Esau failed to notice a strange breeze blow a paper from his cot into the hallway. The wind pushed and propelled the sheet down the hall, around the corner, and in front of Po's room, who was just getting ready to head out to the archives.

Justice, back from her journey, winced as she heard her knuckles crack against the bark. Tigress had said there was no way to speed up the numbing process, but she was determined to make her wrong. She punched the ironwood tree harder, dislocating two of her fingers as she did, but this didn't faze her. She just reset them and continued pounding. Her mind was occupied in something else other than pain: a frozen lake, slowly thawing out. She slowed in her assault as she wondered why that image stuck in her mind. A cold wind blew over her as she remembered her warrior training with Trey.

She was cold, no, beyond that. Her feet were blistered and cracked from hopping across the floes of broken ice that stood between her and the bank where her brother and friend stood. It was her endurance lesson in the second stage of preparation, to see how long she would stand the freezing weather in order to reach shore. To make it more challenging, Trey made the ice splinter, revealing the deathly cold water below. Justice was growing more and more exhausted, but she didn't want to yell out and fail. Besides, she was almost there.

"Just a few more jumps. I can hold out for a few more jumps," she told herself repeatedly.

She gathered what little bit remained of her strength and leapt to one of the larger shards of ice. Her stiff arms reached out into the frigid air and slammed into the solid ice block, jarring all the bones in her body. Justice heard a splash behind her and found that she could not feel the lower half of her body. She had fallen short and was slowly losing her grip on the ice. She tried to pull herself up, but her muscles were too weak and tired. She lost what little hold she had and fell below the water, but as weary as she was, Justice knew she couldn't stay. Willing herself to move, she swam underneath where the ice was gathering. She saw a large gap in between the ice near the shore.

'If I could just get there, I could get out of this coffin,' thought Justice as she powered through the water.

It was at that moment that she noticed that the chunk of ice she had fallen off of was now threatening to keep her in forever, causing her to swim faster in order to reach the hole before it did. Going against the current the ice was making drained what energy she found she had left and Justice stopped, just an arm's length away from her escape. Her body just refused to move anymore; she was too cold and too tired. She could feel herself sinking deeper under the ice, her heartbeat slowing with each passing second. Everything else was just… numb. As she closed her eyes, Justice barely made out the figure of someone diving in from the gap in the ice before welcoming the quiet darkness.

While she walked on the path towards the Jade Palace, Justice smiled as she remembered the feeling she felt when she closed her eyes under the ice. It was the only time since her father's murder that she didn't feel… afraid. The only time when she didn't worry about Damian following her or dishonoring Aminu's legacy. The only time she felt… at peace. Sure, that peace was caused by her body temperature dropping dangerously low, but it was a wonderful feeling nevertheless. That's why she meditated; she hoped to reach that level of peace again, without having to stare death right in the eye. That's why she came to the Valley of Peace, to see if it can truly live up to its name.

Jo stood patiently as he listened to the blind fox's orders. He trained his ears to the movements of the grass around him; the slight changes of the breeze tickled his muzzle. Beats of his heart pounded in time with his breaths, each one calculated and precise. The blindfold tied over his eyes began to make his head itch, but he didn't have much time to do anything about it because a rustle behind him caught his attention. The young badger turned around sharply, unsheathing his dagger as he prepared to face his unseen enemy. He could smell their scent in the western wind, growing stronger with each gust. Jo pawed the earth with his feet, focusing his energy on the vibrations. Suddenly, the wind changed, the scent moved, and the vibrations dissolved. Jo raised his dagger in a defensive position and braced himself. The impact of Esau's high sword cut caused his knees to nearly buckle from the shockwave of force coming off of his dagger. He pushed the sword back and spun to his left to dodge the wolf's follow-up. Esau caught on to his actions and reversed his direction, causing Jo to feel the blunt side of the sword smack into his left arm.

'Ow! That's another bruise to add to the collection' thought Jo as he countered with a slice.

They both were blindfolded, so as they parried and dodged each other's blows, neither of them can see that they were getting closer to the Pool of Sacred Tears. Jo, having felt the dip in the ground's slope, jumped onto the same rock that Master Shifu announced he was Po's teacher. Jo had a plan brewing; all Esau needed to do was take the bait. Esau followed him onto the cliff, his back facing the edge. Jo smirked as they circled each other, exchanging positions. Jo attacked the wolf with a slice to the legs, hoping to throw the wolf off guard. Esau jumped over the top of Jo's sword and countered with a thrust of his own. The badger dodged it and jumped over Esau into the tree. He hit the nearest branch with his paws and used his momentum to flex it back and send him flying back towards Esau with the flat side of his dagger aimed for the wolf's stomach. The result of the attack caused Esau to lose his balance and both of them fell into the water. As they both came up for air, they yanked their blindfolds off and sheathed their weapons. They heard clapping coming from the bamboo forest and saw Zoran and Trey emerging from where they were witnessing the battle.

"Well done you two! Jo, nice use of your atmosphere. That alone will give you an advantage, with or without sight," praised Trey as he watched the two shake the water off their clothes. Zoran nodded as he took the blindfolds and put them back in his sack.

"Esau, good use of power and speed in that opening attack. I felt that shockwave all the way from there."

Esau beamed as the four warriors began making their path back to the Jade Palace.

They were greeted with a surprising display. Justice and Tigress were sparring, with the other masters looking on with concerned looks on their faces. Zoran and Trey's chins literally dropped to the ground, and Esau started swaying and stammering until he finally fainted. Jo, who was a few feet behind them, asked the question they were all wondering in their heads.

"Is that Justice or am I crazy?"

"I don't know, but I'm guessing both," answered Po as he revived Esau with some sticky dumplings he had in a bowl. Jo turned to him with a glare and a fake smile painted on his face, while Shifu pushed the Laikoan's chins closed.

"Thank you for summing that up."

"You're welcome," replied Po. "Jo, you might want to, you know, walk with him so he can get some air… and make sure he doesn't pass out again."

Jo nodded as they both headed out to the village. Once they were gone for a while, Po turned his attention back to the match. Tigress had just countered one of Justice's roundhouse kicks with a high-energy uppercut that sent her flying upwards. Tigress then pursued her with an upwards punch towards her back. This was just what the wolf was expecting. Justice shifted her weight at the last possible moment, causing her to plummet headfirst straight into the path of the master. It was an aerial game of chicken for Justice, and she was too stubborn to brace herself or pull out. At the speed they were going, Tigress' fist would collide into her skull and continue going. Tigress realized this and spun out of the way just before Justice came sailing past. Smirking, the silver she-wolf flipped her way onto the training grounds and waited for Tigress to come down. However, a flash of black caught her eye behind Po. It looked out of place with a pile of sand on top of it, as if it was trying to be hidden… poorly. She began to walk closer to confirm her suspicions when she felt a wave of familiarity and dread pass over the depths of her mind. Vitani was nervous, which made Justice more eager to find out what the mysterious object was.

"Justice,"said Vitani. "I don't like the looks of this. That might be a trap… "

"…or a message from Father. Either way, I'm gonna check it out… carefully."

Justice bent down over the site where the mark was and brushed the sand away. Underneath, the black mark revealed itself to be an image burnt within the earth. It was a crescent moon enclosed within a circle, multiple water-like squiggles going across it. The she-wolf loomed closer over it, cautiously reaching out her paw towards it. Justice knew she had seen it before, she just couldn't remember where. Her hand hovered just inches over the mark, slowly closing the distance as if she were drawn to it like a magnet. She caught herself just before her fingertips grazed the ash and turned to Zoran and her brother, who were now standing directly behind her.

"Do you guys remember this? It looks familiar."

Both warriors bent down to get a closer look, before Trey pulled up and shook his head no. However, Zoran, who could sense the pattern through the vibrations in the earth, pulled back in fear. His light-blue eyes widened as he nodded his head furiously. Everyone looked at him, worried for what he recalled. The fox looked from the two siblings and the mark repeatedly, before saying:

"It's from a book, a book of dark magic. Damien's magic."

Justice stepped away from the score quickly, cradling her hand as if she had been burnt instead of the ground. No telling what would have happened to her if she touched it, but was it meant for her? A cold chill passed through the she-wolf's spine as reality hit her hard. She looked around the training grounds, noticing everyone was there, except two:

"The boys."

MEANWHILE…

Having calmed down, Esau and Jo decided to stop by the weapons shop that had spotted on their arrival. They bought a couple of throwing stars and daggers to strengthen Jo's arsenal. On their way back, they stopped that the Sacred Peach Tree in order to talk and rest.

"So, what's up with you?" asked Jo.

"Huh?"

"You've been so quiet these past few days. Normally, you would be trash-talking my ear off, but since Justice left, you shut up. Heck, even your stomach stopped growling 24/7."

Esau smirked when he heard this.

"How do you feel now that Justice is back?"

"How does it feel to be the only badger in the Valley of Peace?"

"Ok, fair enough. Just tell me what's bugging you," said Jo as he looked at the wolf face to face. "You can trust me."

Esau just sighed as Jo's eyes bored into his own. He knew the badger was right, even though he didn't want to admit it.

"I'm happy she's back, don't get me wrong, but it's just that… she lied to me."

"Lied to you? How?"

"By not telling me the truth about my family! I mean, I always knew I was different from the other wolves, I'm not stupid. But, she told me that our mother and father died while saving the wolf pack, and that I was taken in as a sub-Alpha in honor of them. She never told me that our father was the leader of a grand kingdom or that we were running from our uncle this entire time. I just wish I could trust her."

Jo didn't know quite what to say after that. He prepared to reassure his friend when he noticed a weird mist around him. He also noticed that he was getting a little tired as well. He looked back at Esau to find him nodding off.

"Hey, man," said Esau as he tried to stand up. "Maybe we should get going back to the Palace."

"Good idea."

Esau managed to get five steps in before he collapsed from exhaustion. Jo, concerned but fighting his own drowsiness, rushed over to his side and tried to wake him up, failing to notice the two figures approaching them from behind. He soon gave up trying to rouse his sleeping friend and decided to join him, managing to catch a glimpse of a hand with a silver and gold ring closing in on him before the curtain fell.

Last one of the promised chapters! Sorry, it's a little late. BTW, I also need names for some of Damien's flunkies and I would like reviewers' help. So please, don't hesitate to pitch in.

And don't forget to check out Jo "Po" Navark's story, The Eyes of the Wolverine.

Hope you liked it! Happy Holidays!

(^w^)

Don't forget to Read and Review.