I'm back with a new chapter where after Musaki beat the crap out of the rhinos, they make their way to Kumango Valley. This will be interesting.

Chapter 11: Making Headway

A few hours had passed and the rain stopped pouring and all it's left is just gray cand white clouds in the sky. Everyone else removed their ponchos and put them all in Po's bag. It seems as though they look like they're almost to Kumango Valley, even if it's just further away in such sort notice. Soon enough, they looked at a sign that says, 'Kumango Valley, 18 miles.'

Musaki looked at the sign and turns to the others and said, "I'm guessing we're only 18 miles from there."

"18 miles?" Po asked.

He went over to look at the sign and notices that they're 18 miles to the valley. Shifu had a feeling that they're getting nearer and nearer to where they're heading. He turned to his students and said, "We're only halfway through this mountain. So, as long as we keep moving, we might be already there."

"Yes, master." they said, in unison.

And with that, they're moving forward and walking towards the mountains for another hour and a half. Musaki was breathing heavily and starting to sweat a little. He wiped the sweat away from his brow and looks at the clouds starting to disperse from white clouds to blue clouds.

As the sun starts to shine, everyone else feels tired, but confident that they'll make it. Po looks at Musaki, looking tired and sweaty and asked, "You want to ride on my back, Lil' Saki?"

"You sure I won't break you?" he asked.

"No, I-I don't think so."

Musaki climbed onto Po's shoulders and walked him on. He grunts softly as he picked him up on his shoulders, sighed and said, "I think we're making good progress here."

Shifu looked at Po and saw him carrying Musaki on his back. He asked, "Why are you on Po's back?"

"My legs are kinda tired, just from walking."

"Are you sure your weight isn't affecting Po's back?"

"Not really, With me, I don't think it's that heavy."

"How much do you weigh?"

"Is that a personal question?"

"Only if you want a personal answer."

"I weigh over 198."

Shifu looked puzzled as to see Musaki's body change into a little smaller size. He asked, "How did you weigh over 188?"

"With all the training and the walking, I lost weight for some reason. I went from 208 to 188. Meaning, I lost 20 pounds in over a course of a few months or a year. It's weird, isn't it?"

"Well, I wouldn't say weird, but I can call it kinda, unusual for me." Po said.

"Really, cause I could see your belly go down a little and then go up a little. You lost weight, then gained it back up and lost weight again and gain it back again. What's up with that?"

"I don't know. I'm a big guy myself and that's how I kinda went by when I was growing up. I mean, I am a big panda after all, you know."

"That's not the way I see it." Mantis whispered.

"I can kinda hear you from there."

"Why ask about your size? You look the same every day from day one."

"Okay, let's not poke fun at Po's size, please. Just because I'm 188 don't mean I could be heavy and Po can fall down and drop me on the ground at the same time." Musaki said.

"Thanks, Lil' Saki."

"So, how much you weigh, anyway?"

Po was nervous about telling everyone about his weight, but Musaki was the only one that didn't know how much he weighed, so he took a deep breath and told him, "I'm 479 pounds."

Musaki's jaw dropped in shock and asked, "479?!"

"You mean you weigh over 400 pounds?" Tigress asked.

"Pretty much." he answered.

"Well, with all the training you did and walking, you must lost some weight or something." Viper said.

"I actually did. I lost over 25 pounds."

Everyone froze and began to feel shocked and surprised about Po's weight loss and Shifu couldn't believe what he just said. He asked, "You... lost 25 pounds?"

"Yep."

"25 pounds?! Are you serious?" asked Musaki.

"I never actually thought you could lose that much weight." Tigress said.

"I-I-I-I-I-I don't--- How did-- When did--? Okay, I'm speechless. Someone help me out here." Mantis said.

"How many days did you lose weight?" asked Crane.

"I guess over 42 days."

"42 DAYS?!" Monkey asked.

"Yeah, 42 days."

"That's incredible." Shifu said.

"I know, I'm shocked about this as you are."

"We're more than shocked, we're actually amazed." said Viper.

"I mean, what gave you the option to lose 25 pounds in 42 days?" Musaki asked.

"Kung-fu is like exercise, so in order to do some kung-fu training and fighting going on, I guess I must've made up my mistakes and lost some weight, but don't think I'm going over a diet, cause I'm not. Once I did my exercise and training, it's back to eating."

"Okay, obviously, that didn't make any kind of sense at all, but it was impressive that you really lost some weight." said Mantis.

"Yeah, but there's no need to impress us. We're okay with you losing weight, but just stay who you are." Viper said.

"You really think so?" asked Po.

"We know so? We like you a lot because you're funny, sweet and fun to be around."

"All right, enough. I think I'm gonna puke from hearing this." Musaki said, in disgust.

Po set Musaki down on the ground and got all the energy and strength to walk again. He looks down on the mountain and sees that they're getting higher and higher. Shifu looked at Musaki and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"We must be getting higher from here."

"How high?" asked Po.

"High high and extremely higher."

Po and Shifu looked at the ground and there's nothing but air and the view. He asked, "How much feet is it?"

Musaki picked up a pebble, set it on the ground, drops it, watches it go all the way down and then they heard a distant drop, meaning that they're extremely higher than they thought. He turned to them and said, "About 400 something feet from the ground."

"400 feet? We must be getting nearer." Tigress said.

"Exactly how near?" asked Crane.

Monkey looked at the sign that says 'Kumango Valley, 12 miles' and that they're almost there. Then, he turned to the others and said, "We're only 12 miles from here."

"So that means, we're almost there to find this Pyro." said Viper.

"Most definitely."

"All right, students, we're almost there and we might as well keep walking until it gets dark. Let's head out." said Shifu.

With that, everyone started walking for several hours, which kinda took its toll on everyone, including Po, who's feeling a little tired and anxious about the endurance. As the sun goes down, nightfall comes across behind them and they put some lights on the lanterns to help them see at night. Musaki felt a little tired and feels a little insomnia coming in and needs some sleep, just from walking all day.

Shifu looked at the sky and sees that they might head over to Kumango Valley in the morning and he feels pretty tired as well. He turns to everyone and asked, "You all tired?"

"Let's put it in words, we need some sleep!" Po exclaimed.

"I think I saw a cave not too far from here. I think we might get some sleep there." Musaki said.

Everyone looked at the cave and saw that it seemed like a good place to rest up for tomorrow. Shifu agreed and told them that they entered the cave and while they were in there, they got themselves situated and ready for a long night's sleep.

"Students, tomorrow, we continue on with the journey to Kumango Valley and I saw the sign that says, 'Kumgano Valley, 6 miles.'" Shifu saud.

"6 miles? You mean, we're almost there?" asked Monkey.

"We're getting closer though."

"You could've told us before we came in this cave. By then, we'd still keep walking." Mantis said.

"If we continued on all night, we'd be too tired to go after Pyro."

"Good point."

Shifu looked at Po, feeling a little nervous about sleeping at night, because of the haunting childhood nightmare he's been having and know that it would strike again. He asked, "You okay, panda?"

Po turned around and sees Shifu, looking kinda concerned and answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're kinda shaking a little. Something wrong?" asked Po.

Po sighed sadly and said, "I'm gonna have those nightmares again and I can't seem to get this out of my mind."

"The best thing you can do is not think about them. Each time you think about them, it'll make you crash harder."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. We've come this far to follow your quest and I can assure you, once Pyro is finished, you won't have these nightmares anymore."

Po smiled at him and said, "You always know just what to say, don't you?"

"Trust me, I do."

"Thanks, master."

"Dude, I'm getting kinda sleepy." Musaki said.

"We're all sleepy, little man. I'm hoping that we'll have enough energy tomorrow." Mantis said.

"Yeah, I hope so."

Musaki turned his attention to Po, thinking about his parents and wonders what were they like. He asked, "Hey, Po. What were your parents like?"

He looked at Musaki and said, "Honestly, I don't really know much. It's been so long when I was just a baby panda cub. I never actually remembered much about and it's been a long time ago. But, every night, I fall asleep and I see my mom and dad not there and I'm always alone, I get really scared about it. Like, I really wouldn't fall asleep every night because of that. It really haunts me everytime."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you remember anything about them, what they look like or something?"

"I remember my mom's blue eyes, her smile and her sweet, gentle voice and the way she kissed me in the forehead and her hugs. She just.... she made me feel safe, you know? And my bio dad, he's got the biggest laugh, really funny and very protective. And he's really nice and friendly. I miss them a lot."

"I bet it was hard to forget about them growing up." said Viper.

"Yeah, I don't remember what they look like, but I'll never forget the way they risked their lives to give me away to my adopted dad."

"I'm sure they're really proud of you right now." said Crane.

"I hope so, too."

"Let's get to bed, students." Shifu said.

They said 'good night' to each other and then, Po blew out the paper lanterns as they all went to sleep. For Po, he's gonna get some extreme confrontation with Pyro and probably give him the final showdown of a lifetime. One way or another, the Five, Musaki and Shifu got his back.

It's a sweet moment. Well, the war is gonna get started, so prepare to be dazzled!