The Passion of Life
"Commander Quan, we are approaching the village now," reported Captain Bolin. Quan acknowledged his second-in-command's account with a "That is good to hear. Anything else that is worthy to note before we proceed?"
"They don't have any defenses, nor any sentinels placed out on watch duty."
"Thank you Captain. You are dismissed," said Quan, waving off his subordinate. The Wolf Commander was left to his own scornful thoughts on his views of said village's defenses.
"What kind of boneheads would leave themselves unguarded? Even if they think they're pacifists, that kind of lifestyle will only get them condemned and conquered by others. Doesn't matter if they're hospitable. We have only come to place them and their assets under our power."
He looked down upon the humble town that lay far below him.
"Pitiful, those with power should exercise it fully."
Quan gave the signal to the battalion that was formed behind him.
"It is time we show the power and might of China's True Saviour to these lowlifes!"
With that, the archers fired their ropes and arrows, and the wolfpack went forth to war.
"Inner Peace."
The sagely red panda smiled to himself as he let the universe's energy flow through him like a sparkling blue river. He repeated his mantra, of the one thing he had finally managed to achieve only just last year, after many decades of striving and sacrificing so much for it.
"Inner Peace."
A splash followed by a tenor yelp abruptly pulled him from his drifting cogitations.
"Ah, Inner Peace," he sighed in slight frustration. His best student could still cock up embarrassingly every now and then.
"Master Shifu, what have we got?" inquired Po as he sprinted into the grotto, "Pirates? Vandals of Volcano Mountain? Whatever it is, I will take them down – 'cause I am in a mood. I need to get something done, you know what I mean? Uh, what are you doing?"
Po had asked that question, for he was now witnessing his mentor lower his stance ever so slowly, with timely and accumulated grace and wisdom.
"One of Master Oogway's final teachings," responded Shifu, voice barely above a whisper, for all of his concentration and energy was focused on a small wet speck that dropped from a stalactite above him. His foot traced over the droplet that had spattered amongst the floor, and he slowly positioned his arms to catch the next one. Po noticed that the elderly red panda moved with just enough pace that not a single mote of energy was wasted.
Time slowed as his master caught the next droplet that fell. Shifu's arms gyrated smoothly, and his legs pirouetted with complete efficiency as the droplet slid from one arm to the other, and back again. Finally, the red panda let it slide off onto a young sapling, which tipped over and reunited the lone speck of water with its clan mates in the grotto's pond.
"Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh! Awesome!" Po's stunned voice rang throughout the cavern, "How did you do that?!"
"Inner Peace," replied Shifu with a sagely smile.
"Inner Piece… that's cool," replied the student to his master, "Inner Piece of what?"
"It is the next phase of your training," said Shifu, temporarily passing behind a boulder to get to his student.
However, Po was stumped to see that his teacher had apparently roamed nonchalantly to the cliffside, all without being seen passing by.
"Every master must find his path to Inner Peace," continued Shifu, stepping again behind another rock that towered over him. Having just absorbed his master's new power, Po was still left half-stunned when the red panda again somehow materialized behind him, calmly perched on his staff, which stood perfectly balanced in the middle of the pond.
"Some choose to meditate in a cave just like this, without the slightest taste of food, or water."
Po's gut audibly grimaced at the new metaphysical assignment.
"Or…?" queried the giant panda, trying to find an alternative way which didn't involve severe hunger pains.
"Some find it through pain and suffering," his teacher answered, "Po, the day you were chosen as Dragon Warrior, was the worst day of my life."
The monochromatic hulk scowled, and was about to open his muzzle to protest, when his teacher continued on.
"By far. It was the worst, most painful, horrifying, mind-destroying moment–"
"Okay, I get it…" sighed Po in mild irritation. His master wasn't finished yet though.
"That I have ever experienced," Shifu finished, topping off his trollful recollection with hammed up shudders. "But once I realized that the problem was not you–"
"Good…" inserted Po.
"But within me, I found Inner Peace, and was able to harness the Flow of the Universe."
"So that's it?" prompted the black and white being, "I just need Inner Peace? My innards are already super-super peaceful, so all I need to do is just get this thing going! Inner Peace, you're going down!"
Shifu both inwardly sighed and chuckled. Only Po would approach a challenge which took a lifetime of mastery with an abundance of energy that only a cub could have. These kinds of life goals took eons to achieve with flying colours, and only few could master and wield these elements of vitality to the highest and most proficient level. In the undertaking of this moral quest, the fledging Dragon Warrior would be facing a task insurmountable to the unworldly.
After all, it took him all until the ripe old age of 65 to master the harmony of his own soul. The betrayal of his first son and his failure to raise his other surrogate children properly had weighed heavily on his heart. Until the day that the Giant Panda came into their lives. They had not been welcoming or hospitable to him at first, all of them thinking that Po had reaped the gifts of the crops that they had sown. But when he had become a saving light in the darkness that had threatened to overwhelm them, they had all finally seen him as being worthy of the title, and the responsibility.
And the burden.
But Shifu was torn away from his contemplative musings by the voice of his beloved daughter ringing out with urgent news for the Dragon Warrior.
"Po! Bandits! Approaching the Musicians' Village!"
"Danger," growled Po in eager anticipation for the daring heroics that were soon to follow, "Tell those musicians to start playing some action music 'cause it is on!"
The panda had always wanted to say that line. It was like living out one of those stage plays that many playwrights and the actors that they hired would perform in villages from time to time. For some, it was even a lucrative way of life, and they travelled from province to province, performing and entertaining and teaching multitudes of masses in many subtle, many different ways.
Po's favourite out of all the plays that he had watched throughout his three decades of life was one he saw only once when he was a cub of around 6 years of age. It was called The Four Dragons, and aside from its compelling tale with multifaceted characters, Po also remembered the play fondly for its great action choreography and music.
This battle that was about to transpire was yet another thing he could cross off his "To Do Kung Fu Bucket List". It was gonna be complete, with bold real-life rescues, high-stake close-quarters combat, now with the chance to have action music to top it off. Talk about having a cake and eating it too.
Looks like the task of Inner Peace would have to wait until later to be attended to.
"Don't worry Master," he called to Shifu as he sprinted out of the grotto, "I'll master Inner Peace as soon as I get back."
"No snack stops this time!" Tigress called to the martial hulk as she sped past him on their run down the mountain path. At a cliff ledge further down, Crane was waiting to pick them up. Well, to be honest, he only needed to pick Po up, for Tigress was light enough on her feet to make jumps of great height and distance with the utmost of ease.
"Haha! Snack stops," Po laughed dismissively. They weren't that late last time… were they?
"Wait, you serious?"
The village of Artisan was home to many gifted and talented people. They used their inherent aptitude and abilities to produce so much benefits for others. The geese and the pigs trained their forefront appendages to make the best metal and clay handicrafts in the Valley of Peace. The bunnies had a special knack for music, their folk tunes bringing animals from all around China in special visits just to hear their culturally unique musical aesthetics. That was why the cliffside town had also been given the honorary title of "The Musicians' Village".
Said exceptional settlement was also being currently bombarded by grey-furred demons from above.
Roped arrows provided ziplines for the hungry canines to slide down on. Some projectiles landed safely on uninhabited rocky plains, whilst others crashed down through the open hatches and roofs of houses, some even spearing through unlucky townspeople.
The wolves cared not for the bloodshed or the devastation of civilization. Their empire would bring true order and peace. These losses were all but a small price to pay. That, and the metal handiworks that the Artisan Village was well known for.
"Get all the metal you can find!" snarled Quan as he landed.
Padded feet beat the hard earth like drums. Doors were ripped off their hinges. Village monuments came toppling down like dominoes when commanders gave signal to their subordinates.
Metallic instruments, metallic pots, even treasured jewellery that was passed down from generation to generation amongst the families of the village was not spared from the hunger of the warmongers.
Those citizens who protested were hammered aside, stabbed through, flattened completely, set alight, and chewed down upon.
Even so, despite the demonic creatures' joy in such warranted destruction, their mission was that of a plundering raid, not a purging eradication.
So it was with great reluctance that Boss Wolf Commander Quan decided to call back his troops to complete their objective.
"That's everything! Let's get out of here!"
As his troops started to fall back one by one, Quan took a look at the metallic loot that they had acquired. That would be more than enough. And the more metal that came home, the happier his master would be. And with his master happy, he was sure his men would get their well-deserved reward by being permitted to dump the cooking pot with an unfortunate pork chop still trapped inside into the pit of the fire of creation. They would enjoy listening to the swine's screams of agony as his body was incinerated into countless burning pieces, and the ashes of what remained were distributed into the crucibles of the cannons.
Before Quan could get comfortable with his thoughts, a glorious battle cry from the heavens above blasted him back to reality. He snarled a curse as he realized that security had finally arrived.
The accursed villagers cheered as their saviours landed in the main square.
A fearsome tiger. An elegant viper. A juggernaut of a monkey. A swift-like-the-wind mantis. A frigidly stoic crane. And…
And…
"Yeah!"
"It's the Dragon Warrior!"
"They've come to save us all!"
No.
No, it was impossible.
Improbable!
Unthinkable!
It couldn't be!
And yet, standing before his men, it was all too disturbingly true…
I'm betting that only a few of you will be able to spot the sole WITCH reference I made in this chapter.
Tell me in a review whether you can find it or not!
Transformers 0 over the moon and out!