AN: Finally, time for the family to come home! Things are finally picking up!
Chapter Three: What Has Arrived
On the sixth day, even before the sun had risen over the village, Shifu knew. Today was the day. The lord and his family were coming home.
Now, from his vantage point overlooking the training hall, Shifu prepared mentally. Soon it would be time to put an end to the practice below. He allowed himself a brief moment of pride as he watched his students practicing. They had broken into groups of three, with two attacking the third in each. It was truly a sight to behold as they moved in concert.
Beside the enormous turtle shell, Crane appeared to evade Viper and Mantis almost effortlessly. No motion of his broad wings was wasted, the slightest movement was a calculated deflection. Mantis and Viper moved in tandem, leaping and diving around each other with the ease of two koi circling each other in a pond. They often struck out at Crane simultaneously, attempting to catch him off guard, but the large bird danced away from each attempt with practiced ease.
The Dragon Warrior, meanwhile, faced off much more clumsily against Monkey and Tigress. Tigress and Monkey leapt past each other with lightening speed, attempting to confuse Po before they attacked. Well, for all the good it did them. The panda seemed to know their every movement before they made it, and countered each blow with a counterstrike that looked so lazily offhand that the fierce female warrior was becoming enraged that neither of her practice partners were taking things seriously enough.
Shifu hummed thoughtfully, barely catching the mischievous glance that passed between the two males. There was only the smallest of indications that something was about to change. And then, the dynamics of the whole bout warped. Tigress was the one on the defensive as Po and Monkey changed tactics and attacked her instead. Their trainer fought to keep from laughing aloud at the stunned look on Tigress' face as she was suddenly assailed.
The Master of the Tiger style caught Monkey by the wrist and sent him tumbling back with a powerful throw, but Po intervened, jumping into the line of fire. With a positively diabolical laugh, Monkey used his partner like a springboard, leaping back at the startled Tigress. The large cat gave an undignified yelp and dove clumsily to the side, knocking a startled Crane over, not at all like her perfectly poised typical self.
Po and Monkey's victorious dancing was interrupted as Crane and Tigress teamed up now, launching a new offensive against the pair of pranksters. "Time to go! Nice knowning you, panda!" Monkey cried, vaulting over the startled panda's head and leaping towards the rings hanging from the ceiling. Mantis and Viper looked at each other and shrugged, unsure of what they were meant to be doing now.
Tigress sprang from the right, only to be deflected by Po's large stomach swinging up to meet her. Crane had slightly better luck, knocking the panda off-balance with a sweep of his powerful wings. Po stumbled, falling over on his back.
"Uh oh.." the panda gasped, and began frantically attempting to right himself.
Seeing their chance, Tigress and Crane leapt atop the Dragon Warrior, attempting to restrain him. Po began to howl with laughter and thrash as Tigress grabbed at his arms, prompting her to cackle and shout "He's ticklish! GET HIM!"
At her shout, all of her fellow warriors gave battle cries and pounced. Within moments, Po was reduced to a helpless black and white ball of laughter as the entire Furious Five attacked.
Shifu facepalmed. As much as he hated to interrupt this facinating bout before it took on a new, bizarre twist, the kung fu grandmaster reached for his flute, and blew a harsh, loud note on it. Immediately all action below froze.. except for the hiccups that Po had developed from an overdose of uncontrolled laughter.
He gave a quick nod to his students, and pointed out the open doors, towards the gates. "Today." he said simply, and turned to stalk back into the Palace proper. Crane surged into the air, heading towards the village. Tigress, Mantis, Viper and Monkey scrambled to begin cleaning up the training room. Po laid in the floor, weakly hiccuping.
His students knew, of course, exactly what he meant. Anticipation and anxiety about this event had been thick in the air since the night he had first told them of what was to come.
The red panda took quick stock of the condition of the palace as he entered the large doors. Most of their time had been spent on the Thread of Hope, and thus the palace itself was still in quite a piteous state. The village below.. well it was still a complete shambles. But there was no more time.
Down in the village, excitement as almost as high as it had been during the Dragon Warrior ceremony. At last, after two decades, the great lord of the Valley of Peace was returning. The broken streets were swept, the rubble and shattered stone were cleared, and at the sight of Master Crane gliding down from the Jade Palace to stand watch by the gate, many cheered in anticipation. And so they settled into vantage points to watch.
And they waited.
And they waited some more.
And finally, just as most were beginning to lose their conviction, Crane gave a yelp of surprise. "They're here!" A fresh bout of applause echoed through the streets, and the citizens abandoned the few last-minute tasks that they'd taken up in order to join the crowd.
An enormous caravan was coming, strung out over the road from where they'd been forced to cross the Thread of Hope single file.
It was quite an impressive number of guard that surrounded the dog lord's only son, Guiren. The large sun bear ignored the enthusiastic crowd as he and his company marched through the streets on foot, and he seemed distinctly put off by the difficult journey. His gaze was set straight ahead, and he barely seemed to take note of the crowd or the condition of the city.
His dark fur was shot through with gray, and he wore heavy armor that was adorned only by the scratches and scars of past battles. This alone set the crowd murmuring, and they moved back from him. Armor-making, like most artisanal crafts, was supposed to be a labor that produced not only a functional piece, but a work of art as well. This was no work of artistry. This was something that felt downright alien.
Hoping for a more charasmatic personality, next the crowd watched the approach of the elaborate palanquin that was coming through the gates. Instead of the anticipated person, however, the carriage contained the dog lord's oldest child.
Child no more, the tan and grey vixen Ruiling was now obviously in her her fifties. The flashing jewelry, gobs of perfume, and gleaming silks did nothing but enhance the impression that the oldest girl was definitely past her prime. The palanquin itself, covered unevenly in gold paint, proved on closer inspection to be at best shoddily made. A few villagers exchanged whispers about how brave or foolhardy one would have to be to ride in the cracked, creaking thing.
"Ruiling used to be such a looker, too!" one of Mr. Ping's neighbors lamented softly. Po's father eased away from the other man, in case the fox was the petty sort who had good hearing.
Either Ruiling didn't notice or didn't care about what was thought of her appearance, as she seemed mostly concerned with lambasting the condition of the roads. "That ridiculous rope bridge," she cried, "and now THIS!?" The gray-brown fox harrumphed and stuck her nose in the air. Mr. Ping couldn't help but wonder if she was doing so purely out of spite, or if she was also displeased by the almost-visible cloud of perfume that was surrounding her.
"This dreadful little town has become an awful little dive. I hope father does NOT expect me to put up with this level of... of filth!" She continued to complain until her voice was lost to the crowd, but her vast army of luggage-bearers seemed to go on forever. The smell, thankfully, began to dissipate as she grew further and further away.
From his perch above the city's gate, Crane groaned aloud. "Oh dear." He, and several of the townsfolk, watched for several more minutes for any sign of another guest. Nothing. Nothing but bearer after bearer bringing in more of Ruiling's elaborately-carved luggage.
Perhaps their guests would not all arrive together after all?
He knew that he would want to keep as much distance between himself and that brooding, dangerous-seeming bear and his overdressed, overly-perfumed sister as possible. Giving the disappointed crowd a shrug of his wings, Crane took flight once more. Perhaps Master Shifu would have some insight about this new wrinkle.