Chapter 7

An Incredible/Painful Encounter

Song slowly made her way back to her house, as she washed her hands in the warm lake, after her long, stressful day working as a blacksmith. She was a great weapons master, and was an incredible master in the art of the panther, in the Khanda: an Indian weapon she earned from her friend, Thailaan.

Many years ago Thailaan got transported to India from North America: her home town. Meeting many friends, she made her way to China, where she fell in love with the country. A wise merchant by the name of Miraji offered her the Khanda, a massive, 6 foot sword. Agreeing to take it, she took it. It was so heavy with power though, making it impossible for her to handle it.

Thailaan couldn't hold onto the sword, for it didn't tie into her style of martial arts. As she met Song in this very town, she gave her the sword. The power of the sword bound Song, as she fell in love with it. And now, she has trained to use it perfectly, just as she started up a blacksmith business. Thailaan left the village without saying a goodbye, due to her 'friends' taking her out. She was never seen again. She put these engravements on the Khanda before she left: 'Always remember to never forget.'

Song blinked, as she could remember every single small memory she and Thai had. But... she was gone now, and Song knew she couldn't hold onto her past. Shaking her hands off from the dripping water, she looked up at the Sky. Black clouds started to move in.

"Man... another sleepless night, soon to come..." She jogged over to her house, as she felt a little dissapointed.

Not recognizing something laying on the ground, she tripped over it, as she rolled, and got up, staggering. "What the..." She looked over at the spotted creature. She saw it was Tai Lung. She sighed. "Tai Lung..." Shaking her head, she picked him up grunting, and painfully carried him inside. He was heavy, as he was... maybe about a whole 130 pounds of muscle!

Po stood outside Tigress' door, as his legs were shivering. His hands were behind his back, as they held something he knew she would like. Smiling greatly, he brought his right hand out, and softly knocked on Tigress door.

Tap tap tap...

Tigress jumped from the noice, as she slowly opened her eyes. It woke her up from her meditation, as she sighed. No one usually came to her room, so this must be pretty important.

Walking up to her door, she slid it open, to see a grinning panda, staring happily at her. "Y.. Yes, what is it, panda?"

Po blinked. "I have something for you."

Tigress' eyes lit up. She has never gotten a present before... "Really?" She seemed to stare at him in wonder, as a smile took her face. "Okay, show me, then." She tried to hold back her excitement.

The panda looked at her, as he began to speak again. "Tell me your favorite color."

Tigress turned her head slightly to the side. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just tell me, don't worry!" Po smiled.

"It's... red. My favorite color is red."

"Oh... really..." He withdrew his other hand from behind his back. It was a clear, and somewhat fancy-looking jar of something... was it ink? The ink was black, of course. His eyes brightened. "Look at it!"

"I'm.. I'm looking at it alright." All Tigress could see was black ink.

"Now, what is your favorite color again?"

Tigress began to grow impatient. "It's red!" She looked up at him, and saw he was laughing. Was this a joke? She looked back down at the ink, and saw it was red. She looked at it in wonder. "Woah..."

"I know! Isn't it awesome?" Po grew over-exited.

"How does this happen?" Tigress questioned.

"It's a passion plant. It reacts to your emotions, feelings, and thoughts. See, I'm going to think of the color..." He thought. "Blue!" He looked at it, as he squinted. "Watch the magic!"

The red ink slowly turned purple, then blue.

Tigress was impressed. "Very, nice! You..." She took the ink bottle that the panda offered to her. "...made this? Just for me?" She began to soften up on her emotions.

Po smiled kindly. "Just for you." He put his hands behind his back. "And the best part, you can write with it!"

Tigress gave him an anxious stare. "Well, I have to tell you, you're a great friend for giving me such a thing. Thank you."

"Wanna try it out?"

"Oh, uhh..."

"Cool!" Po rushed into her room.

...

Tigress seemed a bit shy at first, before she opened the bottle. "Po... wasn't this a lot of work? I'm basically wasting it when I write with it!"

"Well, why do you think I made it?" Po laughed, as rain slowly started to fall onto the Jade Palace, making a pounding sensation all over the place, just like last night, and just as that pigeon predicted.

"Well..." She looked at Po innocently. "Okay." She smiled, as she anxiously took her writing utensil, dipped it in the now light-green ink, and began to write something on the blank scroll. Po looked over at her writing. Thinking, he smiled.

The ink turned pink: Tigress' most disliked color. She gasped. "I didn't imagine that!"

"I did! It reacts to me, too, ya know." Po laughed greatly.

Tigress just looked back down at the scroll, a little embarrassed. She turned the ink red; her favorite color. Po changed it to orange. Tigress turned it to yellow. And green, and blue, and purple, and pink, and-

BOOOOM!!! A massive thunder roll shook Tigress, as she messed up her writing. In Chinese writing, if you mess up your writing just by a little bit, it can change your speech much.

On the scroll, it now said in a colorful tone, Po is my best lover, instead of Po is my best friend. "Aah!" Tigress crossed out the writing, as she looked up at the panda, who was holding back his his laughter. Tigress' face turned nice, as she burst out in great laughter, along with Po. They both laughed for a long, long time, until tears started to sap Tigress' eyes. The ink turned light green. Oh, how she hadn't felt like this... in years now!

BOOOM!! Thunder clashed near the Jade Palace, as Tigress yelped, and fell onto Po. She was now right on top of him, as her paw was on his shoulder. They were face to face on the ground, while Tigress was looking at the panda, stunned. She stayed there for a second, instead of getting up and off. Po didn't do a thing, as he stared into her eyes. The ink slowly turned red.

Tigress' door slowly opened, as an afraid-looking snake peeked in, finding Tigress and Po together. She looked extremely shocked.

"Oh, umm..." Tigress quickly got up, and brushed herself off.

"We were just ah..." Po twitched his eyes over to Tigress, as he also got up. Not thinking... he quickly walked out of the room, embarrassed.

Song looked at Tai Lung with concerned eyes. "Tai Lung! I told you to stay in bed all day!" She shook the snow leopard, as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Song...."

"Why did you run, Tai?"

"I... It wasn't me... I didn't run!" He looked at her blue, glimmering eyes, as he shook his head. "It was... a wolf..."

"A wolf? Who?"

"Why would you think he would tell me his name?" He sighed, as he brought his head back onto the soft, wool pillow.

"What did this wolf do to you...?" She asked desperately.

"He..." Tai Lung was in deep thought. "He threw me out of the bed, and started punching me... I was blocking him, but one blow made everything go black... I guess when you came, he ran away... He mentioned something about the Furious Five... the Dragon Warrior... and... Master Shifu. Who is Master Shifu? And... who are the Furious Five? What what is the Dragon Warrior??" He looked at Song with his desperate, questioning eyes.

Song didn't know what to say. She didn't want him to re-gain his memory back! She wanted him to stay like this... how could she come to an explanation without sounding too eccentric? AAH!