Hope you're ready for this
There's a surprise in this chapter

I hope it's good

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Making the Cut
Chapter 6
The Letter

Around 10-o-clock the next morning I had left Lucas's house. The three of us ended with the usual promise of "doing it again sometime" and hopefully it would be soon. I thanked Mr. and Mrs. Zhangi and soon left. Last night had gone without a hitch and it seemed to set me off on a good mood for the rest of the day. The problem with Shifu seemed so distant now. I didn't feel like there was a reason to worry about it any more. Of course, I still had to talk to him, though. There was no escaping that.

I climbed the exhaustingly high flight of steps reaching the gates to the Palace arena. As I pushed open the gate I realized the crossbar was broken again. I sighed. "They're gonna have to replace it again. They had to replace it last year when I had broken it coming back from the evacuation.

I headed to the training hall where I had expected Master Shifu and the rest of them to be at the time but the place was deserted. I figured they might still be at the bunkhouse devising new strategies for training. As I walked the familiar path there, I rehearsed what I would say to Shifu in my mind. Hopefully his demeanor had changed some since yesterday like mine had.

When I got to bunkhouse the door was wide open. It seemed completely uncharacteristic of any of them. Not that I'd ever seen Shifu reprimand someone for not locking a door but imagining it wasn't too hard. Then I walked inside and saw more. No less than three holes it appeared had been torn in the paper walls. Pillows, sheets, books, and a few brass candlesticks littered the hall as well.

"Master Shifu?" I called. "Po? Viper? Anyone?"

There was no answer.

The crossbar broken, the open door, now all of this.

This wasn't lack of orderliness. This was a struggle. What happened in this struggle and who was involved was still unanswered.

On top of all this, where were the masters?

I doubted the idea of this being a fight amongst the masters themselves. It didn't explain the crossbar. If the cross bar was broken then some one had broken into the Jade Palace from the outside. Broke in when? Sometime in between the time when I left and my return this morning.

I walked down the hallway amongst all the clutter on the floor. I tried not disturb anything, but I'm not exactly sure why. I looked in every room as I went, but as I passed Shifu's room something caught my eye.

A note was on his bed, neatly folded, completely out of place from the unleveled room. I approached the bed and carefully picked up the note.

The note had been handwritten in a long tilted writing that seemed to boast with every lean. It wasn't any other Master's handwriting, I knew that.

To- Master Oogway

If you're reading this, it seems we came at a time of your absence. We were rather disappointed. It had been a long time since I'd seen the Jade Palace. I dearsay I, nor anyone of the city of Pearljing, has heard from the Valley of Peace since the bloodbath caused by yours and Shifu's student, Tai Lung. As I seem to remember you referred to him as your "star pupil." Bet that hurt. Not as much as it did when you discharged us from your teachings at this the Palace.

By know I'm sure you're wondering where Shifu and the rest of your students are. They are now in our hold and well on their way to being imprisoned by us.

Of course our plan was to take you in as well, but because of your lack of presence we are at a bit of a snag.

Tell you what we'll do though. We'll give you the chance to see them alive again, but for that you'd have to see us face to face on our turf, but I'm aware you know full-well where that is. You could see it as seeing what skills you still retain after all these years. If you don't plan to make it by the 16th of June then don't bother trying. We'll have disposed of your students by then, a probably more appealing choice for us than your attempt.

We'd wish you luck but why bother

In-sincerely

Keen Lee &
The Wolf of the Black Mountains

Sometime during reading the letter I had sat down on the floor. Even that didn't give me enough stability.

Was this some kind of joke?

I looked over the letter again.

It was to Master Oogway. Could the writer not know that he was dead?

...I, nor anyone of the city of Pearljing, has heard from the Valley of Peace since the bloodbath caused by yours and Shifu's student, Tai Lung...

The Last time they heard news from the Valley was back when Oogway was still alive. It could be quite possible. I had never heard of the city of Pearljing. It could very well be in another country.

I glanced back out in the hallway. They apparently had put up a fight. I wouldn't have expected them not to. But even if they were caught of guard in the dead of night I couldn't understand how any one could remotely have a chance at abducting all of them. Unless they were trained in kung fu as well.

...Not as much as it did when you discharged us from your teachings at this the Palace...

I started to recall Po telling me of Shifu's early training with two other students of Oogway. I hadn't known that Oogway had kicked them out though. It was plain to see that they were still hostile.

I slowly began to piece everything together. So they had broken into the palace grounds at night and during that time they made off with the masters. And now their captor was expecting Master Oogway to retrieve them as some weird ransom.

I almost started to feel a sense of accomplishment as though I had expertly unraveled the evidence, but the feeling was short-lived, if it even lived at all.

One big problem
Oogway is not alive to bail them out.

I needed to tell someone.
But who?

The Masters were the only enforcers in the Valley.
The closest authorities that I knew of were the guards of Chor Gom prison. Zeng could make a trip there in two days, but that was with non-stop flying. Either way he wouldn't be back from his leave until the end of the month, past the date the masters would be "Disposed of." What good could anyone else in the Village do? If I told any of the civilians it would just lead to a mass panic. That was all we needed. But there was no one else to tell.

No one.

The more I thought about a solution the more obvious it seemed that there wasn't one.
I felt like I was on a ship that was sinking but I was being forced to stay onboard. What choice did that leave me with?

Swim to shore

A thought slowly crept into my mind that truthfully had been there since the beginning but had been pushed aside until now.

What if I went?
What if I traveled to this place and found the masters?
It was a crazy idea.
Why not? What was stopping me?
A lot! I just couldn't take off on some journey to find them.
Why not?
I've been thirteen for 2 days. I'm not exactly trained to do this.
No one else around is more trained than you

Today was the 8th.
8 days.
I had 8 days to do something.

If I didn't do anything they would all be killed.
If I went there was at least a possibility. A very small possibility.
A small chance is better than nothing.
I needed to save them.
It was crazy
But what choice did I have

Once I had made the decision, Everything changed. The rest of the day was spent preparing for a trip I didn't even know how long would last.

I wasn't sure where to start until I remembered that their captor, this Keen Lee and some wolf, had already told me what city they were in.

The first thing I did was get the map Po had showed me before. I studied it with the greatest attention to detail.

Pearljing, I spotted the city not far from the Valley of Peace. Far by foot I have no doubt. Maybe a day's journey. Maybe more.

In the vicinity of the city was a small dot on the map. In small letters next to it said Keen Lee Academy.

Academy? A school?
He has his own school. It would have to be an important place if they had put it on a map.
Is that where the phrase "putting something on the map" came from?
It made sense that this would be their base of operation. My best bet was that the Masters were held prisoner there.

My mind turned to another matter; defense. If this meeting was with hostiles I needed protection.

I briefly considered the Hall of Warriors. The invisible trident of Destiny, the golden spear. The sword of heroes would have definitely been an asset to have around, but I knew it wasn't a good idea. If anything were to happen to it, or any of the fallen warrior's relics, I don't think I'd forgive myself.

And neither would Shifu

I chuckled at the idea if I had brought it along and miraculously found the masters how Shifu would react. "Jo, you found us! Thank you so- Wait, you brought the Sword of Heroes with you? Never mind then."
I must be crazy if my mind can joke in a time like this.
If I didn't take any of the relics, I needed all I could bring on my back.

I gathered every throwing star I owned. I found all of Po's and packed them as well. The obsidian knife still lay in its original packaging on my nightstand.

"Too precious to use." Isn't that what I said? Right now it was probably my best piece of defense.
I laid it next to my bag.

I packed the map, the letter, a bedroll, at least one change of clothing, as much dry food as I could pack, a bag of money I found in Shifu's room. I didn't really feel right taking the money, but I knew it would be worth it.

I had dinner by myself that night. Months of watching Po cook had taught me a few things. I was in the mood for some of his Secret Ingredient Soup, but he never told me what the ingredient was so I had to settle for the regular noodle soup. Just as good, but not like Po made it. I looked at the empty seats at the table, reminding me of only two days ago when I assumed they'd all left on my birthday.

About 10-o-clock I decided to turn in. I wanted to start early tomorrow.

I walked through the bunkhouse, easily now that I had cleared away most traces of the fight. But I paused in front of Po's empty room. It sat there so innocent to all the turmoil being experienced. Unaware of the fact that its occupant was taken against his will, and that it was up to me to reunite the two. I stared at the room for a moment more somehow absorbed by it.

Without thinking, I walked in and laid down on Po's bed. It smelled like him. I'm not sure if it was any specific smell but it was him. It was a kind of sense that triggered something in the back of my mind.

I didn't want to get up. The tiredness of my mind had started to affect my body. This was too much stress to handle in a day.

And it's not about to get any easier

I got cozy in the blanket for once not wondering if my feet were going to dangle over the edge as the bed was several sizes bigger than what I was used to. I let the fatigue glide over me as I slowly drifted to sleep.

"Goodnight, Po."

Hows that for a twist in tale?

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