Death of Shin-Go and the Ill

Raise your hand if you started singing the VeggieTales theme song when the radish spoke.

"Look, Mr. Dragon Warrior, the ice is on the ground," said the little lamb girl. Po was not at all surprised seeing the frozen land all over the residents of Shin-Go. Nor was he surprised to see some of the residents of Shin-Go staying in with the slaves. What he didn't expect was a nice looking couple coming to their house.

"Excuse me, Dragon Warrior," The male pig said, "May we please stay with you?"

"I'm not the one who lives here," Po said, stepping aside to present the small lamb girl. The female pig was shocked.

"You're the owner of this house? How?"

"Her parents were taken away from her by the ruler of this place," Tigress explained. The little lamb, trained to always look down when citizens were around, stared at the ground. The female pig wrapped her arms around her, greatly surprising the little lamb.

"You poor thing," She sympathized. Po smiled.

"You two have always been kind to the slaves you were around. That's why you were sent here," Po said.

"How did you know?" the male pig asked.

"I have a way of knowing," Po replied. "Stay with the girl. When the slaves are freed, take her as your daughter." The male pig agreed as Po and Tigress left.

"The Master wanted the girl to have a family?" Tigress asked.

"The Master doesn't favor one people. He made all people so he loves all people. Just like you like kicking all parts of me when we're sparring so you love all of me," Po smirked. Tigress pushed him away, playfully. "WAHH!" Po slipped on the frozen ice. The town looked like a frozen tundra and it was devoid of all life. The region of Shin-Go is near the sea, so getting snow here is unheard of. "Ow," Po muttered as Tigress helped him up. "Thanks, Tigress," Po replied. As they walked up the steps, Po decided to talk to Tigress. "This is some crazy stuff going on, isn't it?"

"It is certainly... unusual," Tigress answered.

"Tigress, why did you come with me? Why didn't you stay with the others? And why did you believe me?" Po asked. Tigress thought about the questions.

"Because I believe in you," Tigress simply said.

"Okay, which question does that answer?" Po asked.

"All of them," Tigress replied. Po smiled.

"Thank you for believing in me," Po said.

"Anytime," Tigress replied, resting her hand on his shoulder. They approached the palace and the doors swung open. The ruler was practically all alone. He was stubbornly shivering on his throne. Po had brought a blanket to give to him, but the ruler refused it.

"This can all end if you just let the slaves free," Po replied. The ruler just sat there thinking. How could a simple panda cause the destruction of his region? Po sighed. "When will you see that the Master is in control of all of this? You can't compete with the true ruler of all. All he asks is that you set the slaves free."

"NO!" the ruler shouted in arrogant rage.

"Please, don't do something you will regret. Think about your subjects. Their safety is at stake," Po pleaded with him.

"The slaves are mine, their lives are mine, everything they own is mine. I will not recant my decision. I do NOT change my mind. Now, if you don't want to see all the slaves killed in front of you, leave this place and never come back. The next time I see your face, I'll have it cut off from you and sewn on to one of my own slaves," the ruler grimly replied. Po's face was horrified. Both Tigress and the ruler thought he was scared, but Po replied with a more grim warning.

"So be it. You shall never see my face again. This is what the Master has said, 'Since you have refused to free the people and have let your pride settle your issue, I will destroy your palace. The palace shall burn with fire and you will be slain by the hands you oppressed. If after fifty days you have not freed the slaves, I will cause all of these things to happen to you, and both the residents and the slaves shall trample on the ashes of your remains. The Master has spoken.' Don't fool around with the Master, your majesty. Please! Think about what you are doing" Po begged.

"GET OUT!" The ruler shouted. Po sighed and walked away, uttering one final warning.

"You've brought this upon yourself," Po ominously said. When the doors of the palace closed, Po trembled.

"Po, what's wrong?"

"The Master showed me the horror that would happen to him. We really did try hard to change his mind," Po sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. Tigress was a little confused.

"Po, if the Master wanted to change his mind, why didn't he just force him," Tigress asked.

"The Master is against making people do his will. When he came to me, I had a choice. It wouldn't be enjoyable if I had to do it. The Master is very merciful," Po replied.

"If he is merciful, why is he going to destroy the ruler?" Tigress asked. Po stopped and looked at her

"Tigress, I don't necessarily have all the answers. I'm as new to this as you are, but I know that the Master doesn't intend to hurt people. Because the ruler has refused to free the slaves, he is refusing the Master's protection. It was because of the Master that the slaves didn't rise up in the first place. The Master doesn't bring destruction. He just removes his protection and destruction comes. Like all I would have to do to make a room dark is remove the light and darkness comes," Po explained. Po frowned a bit. "But the Master does not like seeing any people suffer. Even though the ruler oppressed them, the Master is sorry that he has to remove his protection. The Master will not be where he's not wanted."

"Why? He's getting what he deserves," Tigress said.

"All of us should be getting what we deserve. I should be dead for thinking I was the Dragon Warrior. And you should be killed by Tai-Lung for thinking you could take him alone. Our own hearts can't just be beating out of chance. We live by mercy and grace," Po said. "I'll explain it later. Right now, I want you to go to Master Shifu and the others. Tell them to get the Master's Council of Kung Fu to come. When the ruler dies, there will be chaos without someone giving the orders." Tigress nodded and ran off to tell Shifu. Po sighed as he looked up. "I really did try to convince him, Master."

"I know, Po. We both tried," Said the Master. During the fifty days, the Master told Po to write letters to the ruler to try and change his mind. All that did was make the ruler angrier. As a result, he started taxing and oppressing the slaves as well as the subjects to pay for his personal army. Though he was stubborn, he was paranoid. He decided to protect himself with thousands of guards. One day, on the 40th day, the subjects refused to pay. As a result, even with some brutality, the guards were underpaid. And they couldn't get their money straight from the subjects because Po was protecting them. So the guards eventually quit. So the only person in the whole palace was the ruler.

The message came ringing through the night. Po was awaked by the little girl and the couple to watch the palace on top of the mountain burning. "He's getting what he deserves," said the female pig. Po sighed.

"Don't hate him. Though his pride led to his downfall, the Master is still sad that it had to come to this," Po said, depressingly. Just then, Tigress came back to the house.

"The Council is here to take rule," she explained.

"What about Shifu and the others?" Po asked.

"They've gone home," Tigress said. Po came out of the house to meet a rushing horde of people coming towards him. They were shouting and cheering.

"The Master is the ruler of all and the Dragon Warrior is the speaker of his will," they shouted. But Po stopped them.

"I don't deserve the credit. Anyone can be a servant of the Master. I am nothing special. Give the Master the credit," Po said humbly. So the town cheered as Tigress and Po went out of the providence of Shin-Go. Po yawned. "Finally, time to go home."

"Did you not like being there?" Tigress asked.

"No, I just didn't like sleeping on the hard floor," Po replied. "And thank you, Tigress, for coming with me," Tigress smiled.

"You're welcome Po," Tigress replied.

Po and Tigress returned to the Jade Palace safely. After conversing with Master Shifu, Po went to Mr. Ping's shop for some food. "Hey dad," Po greeted.

"Po! It's great to see you. We heard what happened in Shin-Go. You really had the people on the edge there," Mr. Ping said.

"It wasn't me, Dad. It was the Master," Po replied.

"Well, all I know is that you must be hungry. Here, have something to eat," Mr. Ping said placing a big plate of food in front of him. Po sat down and ate the food.

"Po?" Tigress said, "What is the Master like?" Po's head snapped up. He almost forgot that Tigress was with him. Po cleared his throat and started speaking.

"I'm... not entirely sure. I'm still learning new things about the Master myself," Po replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I got the full report about what happen to the ruler of Shin-Go. The description was very... brutal. I didn't know that it was so horrible to not be under the Master's protection," Tigress answered. Po breathed in deeply as he thought about his reply.

"I think the Master is kind of like you and me," Po said. Tigress's eyebrow perked up. "I am usually the most merciful one. I can forgive a lot of people. You are more law-abiding and protective. The Master's like that. Merciful yet doesn't change or go back on his laws. In a way, the Master is... perfect." Tigress nodded in thought as Po continued eating. "Well, I'm hungry!" Po exclaimed, digging into his food. Tigress shook her head as the panda tore through his food.

About a day passed when Po sat down in his room after training the Furious Five. "Po?"

"I'm here," Po answered.

"I want you to go to a house I'll show you. There I will tell you what to do," the Master said. Po grabbed his jade staff and started out the door when Tigress stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going on another mission the Master gave me."

"May I go with you?" Tigress asked. Po shrugged with a smile.

"Sure, I don't see why not." So the two traveled down the mountain and walked to the house. The house belonged to a friend of Mr. Ping's named Bull. Ironically, he was a duck. Anyways, upon entering, Po and Tigress saw Mr. Ping.

"Oh Po, thank goodness you're here," Mr. Ping said frantically. "Quickly, I need you to get-"

"Don't worry, dad. The Master told me what's wrong," Po interrupted. The sick duck looked at Po with soul-gripping eyes.

"Master Po," He wheezed, "Can you make me well?"

"I can't," Po sadly said, "But I know one who can." He placed his hand on the duck's head. "Master, I know you can do the impossible, please heal this man from his sickness." That same minute, Bull was made whole.

"What was he sick with?" Tigress asked. She saw vegetables talk a couple of months ago so seeing a perfectly healed man wasn't big news to her now. A shocked Mr. Ping gasped and gawked at the sight as Bull gently got out of his bed.

"He... he was sick with Bur-flu," Mr. Ping stuttered. Bur-flu is a disease that is known to affect birds, especially ducks. It makes them feel very heavy and drain, and if it is not taken care of, the person often dies out of weakness. "I can't believe it. Only the doctor has the medicine for the flu. How did you do that, Po?"

"It wasn't me, Dad. It was the Master," Po replied. "Tigress, have Zeng come by here and tell me how he's doing. I want to make sure he has his strength." Tigress seemed disappointed.

"You don't trust the Master wholly healed him?" Tigress asked. Po was about to reply, but he stopped. She was right. Why did he think the Master wouldn't completely heal him? Po smiled at Tigress.

"You're right. I shouldn't be so doubtful," Po said. Bull gripped Po's hand and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Dragon Warrior. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm just the servant of the Master," Po said. With that, Po and Tigress left and started back to the palace. "Go without me, I have a feeling that I need to talk with the Master," Po said. It wasn't really a feeling. Po just had some questions. Tigress nodded and went away while Po went to the woods to be alone. "Master?"

"Yes, Po?"

"Why did you allow Bull to get sick with the flu? Why do you allow bad things to happen to good people?" Po asked. The Master was silent for a while. "I don't mean to doubt you but-"

"Po, do you trust me?"

"Yes," Po replied. Then the Master answered.

"I respond to evil differently. For some I allow evil to happen to make an even greater good. What evil forces intend for evil, I will make for good. For others, I myself discipline them."

"Why?" Po asked.

"Without discipline, a person can not become great. Just as you couldn't become the Dragon Warrior without Shifu teaching you. If you didn't go through the tragedy and hardship of learning your origin and your talents, you would never grow. Most people only grow the hard way, learning through experience," the Master answered. "Then some are purposed for spreading the knowledge of me."

"What do you mean?" Po asked.

"The man I healed is going around the village and the valley spreading the word of his healing even as we speak. Sometimes it's not because the evil of others or themselves that people are afflicted. It's to spread the knowledge of me. And even when there is something that I've chosen not to take from a person, like the ability to walk for a lame man, it's because they have the spirit and personality to work around their obstacles." Po nodded, finally understanding. "Po?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Tigress shall be your assistant on these tasks. She will be your helper. Only on journeys that I leave for you will she not go on." Po's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Continued...