Chapter Three- A New Journey, a New Hope

"He's going to what?!" Crane yelled.

"Shh!" Viper hissed. "Tigress might already be asleep."

"Yeah right." Mantis retorted.

"Just come on!" Viper exclaimed. "We have to find Po!" They ran off.

"Where could he be?" Monkey asked. "The palace is huge!"

"I think I know where." Viper said. "It would have to be someplace memorable to him." She led the others to the Training Hall. They burst thru the door and were horrified to see Po raising his knife. Viper rushed forward, knocked the knife out of his hand, and promptly slapped Po across the cheek.

"Ouch!" Po yelped. "What the heck?" Viper slapped him again. "Ow!"

"I hope it hurts!" Viper exclaimed. The guys came over.

"Are you mad?" Monkey asked.

"Yeah!" Mantis agreed.

"Look, if Shifu's not going to talk to me in this world, I'll bet you anything he'll talk to me in Heaven." Po said.

"If you commit suicide, how do you know you'll go to Heaven?" Crane asked. Po paused. He didn't really think of that.

"Well, when I tried talking to him, there was only wind." Po argued.

"That was Shifu." Viper said. "You just weren't listening." Po sighed. "Look, I know you're upset, but nothing can make Shifu come back. All we can do is keep up our training and protect the palace."

"Who will be Grandmaster?" Po asked.

"I vote Tigress." Crane said. "She's the strongest and she's closest to Shifu."

"Same here." Mantis said.

"Absolutely." Monkey agreed.

"Why not?" Viper said. They all turned to Po. The panda smiled.

"Yeah, she'd be perfect." He said. "But are you sure-"

"Po, there's not a force in the world that can resurrect the dead." Viper said sadly.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Everyone turned and saw Tigress at the doors. They ventured over to her.

"What do you mean?" Crane asked.

"Shifu came to me in a vision." Tigress said. "He told me two things: One, I shouldn't blame Po for his death. He told me he just wasn't strong enough." Tigress turned to Po. "So, I guess I should say sorry."

"You probably should've said that before I tried to kill myself." Po said jokingly.

"That was the other thing: Shifu told me about your depression." Tigress said.

"Anything else?" Monkey asked.

"Yes." Tigress said. "Shifu said that there's a way we can bring him back."

*****

"So, we have to go to a castle of black stone?" Po asked.

Tigress nodded.

"And it's been abandoned for hundreds of years?"

"Yep."

"And we have to convince the two people that live there to bring Shifu back?"

"That's it."

"Great." Po said. "But who are these people?"

"Shifu said that one of them is Destiny, who controls the fate of all." Tigress said. "The other is her evil twin, Narrisa, a witch."

"Well, where's the castle?" Crane asked.

"A few miles away." Tigress said. "In the center of a large lake."

"Perfect, let's go." Viper said. They all agreed and walked off. Tigress told Zeng to keep an eye out for danger.

"There's something I'm forgetting." She said.

"What?" Mantis asked.

"Shifu said something about keeping the balance of life and death intact." Tigress said. She shook her head and continued on.

"So, how powerful are Destiny and Narrisa?" Po asked.

"Very." Crane said. "Destiny can control everything. We fight battles and she decides the outcome, no matter what happens. Narrisa is a witch who can make anything happen with the snap of her fingers."

"So, she can snap her fingers and Po will drop dead?" Monkey asked.

"Yep."

"Can I go home?" Po squeaked.

"No way." Tigress said. "I'm not risking you killing yourself."

"Fine." Po grumbled. They continued walking.

"I still don't see how this is going to bring Shifu back." Monkey said.

"Well, Destiny could go back in time and change the outcome of Shifu and Tai Lung's battle." Mantis said.

"Or Narrisa could simply say a spell to raise him from the dead." Viper suggested.

"How could she do that if we never buried Shifu?" Po asked. Everyone went silent, thinking.

"I guess she'd give us his soul to put back into his body." Crane said.

"Eww." Po said.

"Oh relax." Tigress said. They kept walking until they reached a large lake. The waters were gray. A small dock was off to the side and a boat big enough for all six of the warriors was tied to it. It was more like a rowboat. A thick fog was on the lake so no one could see a thing.

"Charming place." Po said sarcastically.

"Come on." Tigress ordered. She and the others filed into the boat, which rocked and swayed, threatening to tip over.

"How does it move?" Viper asked. There were no oars and no mast or sail. Suddenly, the boat lurched forward, and everyone was forced to sit down.

"I guess we're expected." Crane said. Everyone looked ahead as they disappeared into the fog. After a while, Po sighed.

"Are we there yet?" Po asked.

"Does it look like we are?" Tigress asked. Suddenly, the boat lurched again, and everyone toppled over.

"We're here." Crane groaned. Everyone got out of the boat and stared at the palace. It was really made of black stones, but it was falling apart after centuries of abandonment. The Five and Po ventured into the castle and wandered around. The place freaked everyone out, even Tigress.

"Are you sure Shifu said this place?" Crane asked.

"Positive." Tigress said. She ran ahead towards a clear area and froze. Everyone caught up to her.

"What's wrong?" Viper asked. Tigress said nothing; she just pointed. Everyone followed her point and was horrified.

It was a large clearing, probably a courtyard. Grass was covering about half the stone. A stone table was in the center. Ten stone columns surrounded the table. An eleventh column was right beside the table.

Tied to the column was Shifu, his entire body and clothes ghostly white.

A/N: I got this idea from a TV show I saw. Read and Review! I told you it'd get better!