A/N: Long time no update, huh? Sorry about that. Anyway, finally I have a new chapter!
Kelev: I'm really going to make an effort to flesh out the Furious Five. That's one place that the movie fell short, imo. Yeah, Viper's 'zany' line seems a bit overly-anachronistic, but it was written mostly for comedic effect. Tai Lung will be back, maybe next chapter.
jla2snoopy: Yay! I'm glad you liked the tale of Shifu's flute! And thank you for catching a potentially disasterous mistake!
RenkonNairu: You're on to me, more or less. XD Hopefully I can tap back into the coolness of chappie 15 in the future. Even if I have to bring Mr. Ping back in to do it!
This chapter is dedicated to jla2snoopy, who definitely put a plot bunny in my head for this chapter!
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Chapter 17: What Clothes Make of the Man
Shifu paced through the busy, broken streets of the village, lost in his thoughts. His head was slightly bowed in concentration while his eyes held steadily to the stone path, looking neither to the left nor the right. His large sensitive ears flicked constantly back and forth between the abundant sounds of construction, conversation and general maylay that the partially-rebuilt town was filled with. Though his conscious mind was fully occupied, his subconscious deftly moved him around obstacles as he made his way through the bustling roads.
His conscious mind noticed, and wondered at the phenomenon briefly as he sidestepped an overloaded cart of stones, hopped lightly over a few loose rocks that tumbled off of the vehicle, and deftly but gently pushed a distracted child out of the path of the rolling rubble.
It was all thanks to Oogway's training, of course. His insistance that Shifu attune himself to the world around him had brought the red panda an acute hyper-awareness of the spiritual flow around him. While he could not quite hear the wingbeats of a butterfly in flight, he could detect its' presence without even looking up. He dodged the insect before it could alight on one of his ears, and chose not to recall at this moment that the enthusiastic assistance of a certain tanuki child had been instrumental in honing this skill to a razor's edge.
The kung fu master paused in the shade cast by a rolling foodcart. The afternoon sun was still mercilessly hot, but the lengthening shadows in the streets promised the respite of a cool evening was coming. Eventually.
Shifu sighed inwardly and allowed himself a moment's rest, wondering idly if his class was still waiting for him to return. Surely they'd all have given up by now, he thought. He felt certain that when he returned, he'd find them all clustered around the dining table, engrossed in watching the panda trying on hats.
His mind backtracked abruptly as the disjointed thought fully registered in his mind. Panda? Hats? He looked anxiously about, trying to figure out exactly where that odd little mental digression had come from. A black and white shape moved past the open doorway of a shop. A glance to the nameplate beside the door confirmed it to be Miss Bik's seamstress shop, which set the diminuitive kung fu master's whiskers twitching anxiously anew. He hadn't been in that shop since he'd followed Lady Tao-hua in to inform her at length about how he would not be joining her, or the panda, in the establishment.
She'd stood there smirking at him for several minutes as he'd lividly and with great, sweeping gestures to underscore his annoyance, had outlined everything wrong with the notion of her sudden interest in his wardrobe, his plans for the city, and everything else that came to mind. It was only when the young assistant seamstress thanked him for his cooperation and exited the room with a respectful bow to them all that he realized he'd been standing there gesturing long enough for his measurements to be taken by the industrious little rabbit.
Shifu's recalled that his response to Tao-hua's understated giggle at his expense had been to storm out of the business without another word. Looking back on the performance, he felt shame creeping up on him. Had one of his students behaved so disrespectfully, even to the ever-annoying tanuki, he'd have had them scrubbing each and every stone in the floor of the training hall as penance.
Cautiously, he crossed the busy thoroughfare and peered in the open doorway to Miss Bik's shop. Just as his subconscious had noted, the panda was inside, apparently trying on every hat in the shop and cackling gleefully at his reflection.
It was a childish and yet mature thing, Shifu reflected, to be so easily able to laugh at oneself. He found himself entering the store, much to his own surprise. He was relatively sure that he'd certainly had no intention of doing so moments before. But that was admittedly before he'd caught sight of the panda in the mirror.
His conscious mind didn't register the thing that had drawn the attention of his scrutinizing subconscious until he was standing next to Po. Then, as he stood there patiently waiting for his student to recognize him, he looked directly ahead, meeting his own eyes. What a contradictory pair they were, he thought, glancing back and forth between the carefree delight of the come-what-may Po and his own vigorously controlled, and sharply judgemental gaze.
He adjusted his stance a little, finding himself uncomfortable under the piercing stare that he was giving himself. He'd never noticed before how much he resembled his own father until now. At once he was the scrutinizer and the scrutinized, noting the frayed cuffs and threadbare collar of his robe as easily as he shied away from the glaring, almost-angry eyes and the intimidating, heavy brow.
"Oh! Master Shifu!"
The red panda's inner analysis was shattered when his companion finally addressed him. Shifu looked up to see the sheepish-looking panda grinning nervously at him. "Uh... so... Hey! I uh... found you!" Po's almost-victorious grin faded quickly in the presence of his master's confused stare. "Okay," the dragon warrior sighed, allowing his tense posture to slouch and pulling the latest silly head adornment from between his ears. "So you found me, but still.."
"Here you are, Master Po," the elderly sow who owned the establishment abruptly surfaced from the back room, adjusting her large glasses as she bustled across the shop with a paper-wrapped package. She barely gave the panda time to accept the object before she was shooing him towards the privacy screen in the adjoining room. "Go! Go try them on!"
The panda rushed haphazardly out of their way, leaving Shifu to the overly-motherly attentions of the seamstress. "Oh, and Master Shifu," she bowed, and he echoed the movement. "I believe we have something here for you, as well." His face apparently betrayed his shock all too well, because the lady giggled softly and wiped a few tears of mirth from her pale grey eyes. "Just a moment, I want to see how we've done for Master Po."
Right on cue, the large panda stumbled back into their presence, fumbling desperately with his sash. Shifu noted approvingly that Lady Tao had done better than simply commission a new pants for their dragon warrior. A new tunic and robe of a gentle, blue-brushed green. A faint pattern of a few serpentine golden dragons played along the collar, glinting in and out of existance with the play of the light. It was quite the handsome ensemble. And yet despite it, Po looked perturbed.
"It's really nice and all," he finally admitted, looking ashamed of himself for what must certainly seem like ungratefulness to them all. "But.. why is there a big honking flower on the back? I mean, I'm the dragon warrior and all!"
Miss Bik turned the panda around, examining the neatly-stitched embroidery of the bold, dark green blossom on the back of the robe.
"My dear, that is Lady Tao's special request! You will have to take it up with her why it is on your back."
Shifu stepped forward, admiring the finely-done detail work of the bloom. "I think it's quite appropriate. A lotus flower symbolizes rising through the darkness and muck and still emerging from it remaining pure. Very appropriate for the warrior who faced darkness and yet was untainted by it." He caught the panda's eye, and was gratified to see that his student appeared much less displeased with the image adorning his back now.
In fact, judging by the brilliant grin that now lit up his chubby, childlike features, the panda was downright pleased to have a large flower emblazoned across his shoulders.
"And this," Miss Bik interrupted, pressing another package into Shifu's hands, "Is for you." Shifu carefully unwrapped the paper, and found himself taken aback by the handsome set of robes within. Much nicer than anything he currently owned, they were embroidered with the symbol for the mystic dragon, or endless knot.
The sow nodded to him, clearly pleased that he was so taken by the workmanship. "Black for new beginnings, red for happiness, and also," she pointed to the symbol, "longevity and good fortune. Her Ladyship was quite precise about what she wanted with this set, even though she gave us more leeway with Master Panda's clothing. I'm quite proud of the dragons on those."
Shifu nodded numbly, thanking the seamstress and half-dragging the panda from the shop to get him away from the mirror. As he led the dragon warrior back towards the Jade Palace, he found himself bemused by the exact nature of the clothing Tao-hua had commissioned for him. Longevity, happiness and new beginnings? She hadn't ordered him clothing, it was a custom-created apology.
In the face of it, he felt doubly bad about how he'd been throwing her gesture back at her at the time. Perhaps he could accept her apology. And wearing this clothing could be the first step to doing it.
"Panda."
"Master?"
"Make certain we have something special for dinner tonight. I want everyone dressed their best. We are long overdue to properly welcome Lady Tao-hua to her home."
"Uh... sure.." Po replied, scratching his head at the suddenness of it. Well, no matter, he'd get to show off his new, styling look. He grinned as he began planning a menu. The others wouldn't recognise him now!
--
"I really do apologise," Lady Tao insisted again. "I'm afraid I didn't recognise you at first."
Viper shook her head, declining the placement of blame.
"Oh no, no.. that's okay. I shouldn't have been snooping around, and I definitely shouldn't have startled you. I was looking for Tigress or Po, but so far I haven't found either of them."
Tao-hua straightened the arm full of brown and red robes that she held in her hands, carefully placing them back in her heavy travelling trunk. "I haven't seen Tigress or the Dragon Warrior in my luggage yet, but if I do you'll definitely hear about it." Viper giggled delicately at the notion from her perch on the edge of the trunk.
"If they are, they'll be sorry!" She glanced quickly around the small room, taking in the richly-hued sienna walls and the bright red decorations, accented in white with a few touches of gold. The room was lightly decorated with a theme of nature and flowers. They crept across the ceiling, climbed the two tapestries flanking the small bed, and even wove through the wooden structure of the bed itself.
Honestly, take the elaborate carving of the bedposts down a few notches and get rid of the gilding on the walls, and she wouldn't have found it odd to picture herself or Tigress owning a room like this. Finally she confided "This really isn't what I was expecting. I thought you'd have a much bigger room, and that it would be.. you know..?"
"Fancier?"
"Exactly!"
Tao nodded at the idea, pausing in her labors to point to the walls. "You must remember that I was barely ten when we left. This room was hardly more than a glorified nursery."
Viper nodded. It felt warm here, in a way that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with the color harmony and few childhood tokens scattered throughout. In one corner, she could see a long-forgotten doll waiting patiently to be picked up and dusted off. She wondered for a moment at the fact that it was a lovingly painted figure of a princess.
Lady Tao seemed more the type who would have rather played with the wooden warriors that she recalled seeing young boys in town with. Still, she had been a young girl then, and growing up in a place like the Jade Palace, the fantasy of being a princess would be a tempting one to indulge in. Lady Tao's voice broke Lian from her thoughts softly.
"Look here," she called, pacing over to the small bed, which Viper suddenly noted was decorated with songbirds and fanciful clouds among the many five-petalled flowers, and pulled a pair of small wooden arrowheads tied with ribbons from the bedpost.
"Master Oogway carved these from the branches of his peach tree when I was born, one for me, and one for my mother. According to him, they were supposed to drive away evil spirits that might try and steal me in the night." She chuckled and laid the charms on the bed.
"Shifu used to say that the demons settled on possessing me when they couldn't steal me! I always made a point of finding a new way to get on his nerves when he'd say that! And then of course, he'd just feel compelled to say it more often. It was quite a vicious cycle!" The two women giggled at the notion, and settled into a companionable silence.
"So.. why are you packing? Or.. are you unpacking in some way I've never seen before?" It was clearly none of her business, but Lian couldn't help the need to ask.
Tao's spirits visibly deflated, and she settled onto the short stool next to her bed. "I've decided that Shifu can take care of things well enough without me here. I'm not doing anything except being a burden here, and that's not a lifestyle that I think I can go back to."
Viper edged closer, slithering off of the trunk and reaching her tail delicately towards the older woman. "But.. doesn't this mean anything to you? You've told me how close you were to your father, don't it mean anything that he wanted you to have all this?"
Tao-hua sighed, clutching at the sleeves of her reddish-brown robe. "It's not that it means so little to me. It's that it means more to me for everyone to be happy. While I'm here, it seems I've done nothing but upset everyone. And plus there's.."
"Master Shifu's just.."
"I know, I know. He remembers me as an annoying child. I remember him as a rather full-of-himself teenager. We last interacted as such, and it seems we are at an impasse on how to relate to each other any other way now." She smiled ruefully at the admission.
"I can't imagine that he'd like the idea of you wandering like a homeless vagrant, Lady Tao-hua," Viper ventured.
"Please, no more of this Lady business. Call me by my name or don't address me at all." Tao-hua arose, firmly pacing back to her trunk and re-arranging a few items in it. "You're more of a proper lady than I've ever been."
Viper startled, then smiled. "Then you must call me Lian, but not in front of Master Shifu."
Tao turned, holding a dainty small black parasol. "You reminded me of this. It's one of the few articles of ladylike posessions that I had as a child. I was always much more interested in climbing trees and spying on everyone than dressing up. But you, I think, are much better suited to it than I ever was." She held out the parasol.
"I.. I couldn't just.."
"If you don't, I'm throwing it out," Tao warned, the tone in her voice betraying that she had every intention of doing just that. With barely a hesitation this time, Viper accepted the gift. "Thank you, but why?"
The tanuki shrugged easily. "I doubt I'll have much need for it if I'm staying." She began pulling items back out of her neatly-packed trunk as Lian gaped.
"What changed your mind, La- er.. Tao?"
Tao-hua smiled. "You did. I wasn't certain if I wanted to try and leave or not, but you've convinced me. I have much more to do here, and much to finally live up to. I cannot run away from everything. Not at this stage in life."
Lian grinned. "I'm glad. Things are pretty interesting with you around. But.. could I ask you why you were so jumpy when I came to the door?"
Tao's smile evaporated into a thoughtful frown. "You'll think I'm a bit off for saying this, but ever since I've returned, I've had the feeling that things aren't quite right. It's only gotten worse. Ever since my brother left, I find myself jumping at shadows and while it's not usually like me, I can't help the feeling that something is going to happen. That's partly why I was so keen to leave. I'm afraid that I may be putting you all in danger if I stay."
The raccoon dog shivered, and began to pace the cozy, sienna room.
"I've never been one to believe in intuition, far from it in fact, but I feel as though this place could be a trap in the right hands. Every day an invisible noose is pulled tighter around my neck. I fear my brother Guiren may be the one pulling the metaphorical rope."
"Us? In danger?" Lian struck her best 'ready for action' pose, sweeping the black parasol around her head and weilding it like a weapon. "That'll be the day. Now that Tai Lung is gone, there's nothing in this world that we can't take down! Lord Guiren is an amatuer at best!"
The two women yelped in surprise at the rap on the door.
"W-who is it?" Lian squeaked, holding the parasol before her now like a shield. Beside her, Tao had grabbed up another scroll. From outside, Monkey's confused voice called out to them.
"It's just Chen! Why are you so jumpy? And.. hey! For that matter, why are you in there?"
"N-no reason! None of your business! Why are you out there scaring us, anyway?" Viper squeaked. There was a confused pause before Monkey finally replied, sounding as though he were wishing he'd never taken on the task of being palace errand boy this evening.
"Riiight. Well, Master Shifu and Po are back. They want everyone to dress up for dinner tonight. It's supposed to be Lady Tao-hua's formal welcoming dinner."
The viper-style master frowned, sliding the door open. "About a month late with this, aren't we?"
Chen shrugged his long arms. "I'm just the messenger! Say, have you seen Wei and An? I'm supposed to tell them, too."
"Why would they be in Ta- er.. Lady Tao-hua's private room? Of course they're not in here! Try their rooms!" Beside her, Tao sighed and shook her head, discarding her makeshift weapon to a convenient table once more.
The golden yunnan rolled his eyes and struck back off down the hallway. "Alright, alright, sheesh! Just make sure you're ready in time for the dinner gong this evening! I'm not covering for you this time, Lian!"