Maybe not for the better

Chapter 9

The group of four traveled slowly. The sun was far up in the sky now and it was warm. The scenery was more or less the same. The lush green, deep forest the had to make their way through had been slowing them down for the past few hours of travel.

"Are we there yet?" Po asked yet again in a whiny tone that annoyed tigress to no end. Yet she didn't mind listening to him.

"No Po. We're not there yet." Po whined at her calm voice but refrained from asking again when Jin spoke up for the first time since they left on their journey.

"It seems we have to make a stop at the next village. At this pace we will be there by sundown. Then it's only a few hours to Hua Ru." The rest nodded at his judgement.

"At least I can get suppliesfor my soup" Po said already giddy from the thought of someone new tasting his soup.

Viper was coiled around Jin for about 2 hours now. She looked up at him with a worried expression.

"Jin I think we're being followed." Worry was now evident in her voice too.

"I know. They've been following us since…. PO WATCH OUT!" Jin lunged at Po and knocked him off balance. Po fell to the ground with a loud thud and a yelp of pain echoed through the forest.

"JIN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Viper was panicking. But with all the right reasons. A dark crimson liquid was trickling down Jin's right arm. It was steadily coming out from beneath the arrow that had lodged itself in the side of his shoulder.

He took a deep breath and stood up with a little effort to ignore the pain.

"Viper don't worry i'm fine. Let's go, i'll see a healer in the village later. As for the wolves that attacked us just now…" Two cries of pain accompanied by loud howling were heard not far off behind them.

Jin grined widely and spoke a bit louder "Thanks Tigress!". Viper and Po both looked at where Tigress should have been standing, only to see an empty spot. A moment later the tiger landed with a soft thud next to them.

"You're welcome. Next time, when you save someone, try not to get hurt in the process." Tigress stepped to Po and hugged him close, being glad that he was okay. Mentally she was gratefull as hell to Jin for saving Po, but if she told him that it would mean that she had officially gone soft.

Jin just grined wider, making Viper giggle at how no matter what his smile made her heart skip a few beats. The four warriors then continued walking towards the village, Jin hlodin onto his injured arm but showing no sign of pain whatsoever.

The rest of the travel went on peacefully, the two couples walked towards the village in eachothers embraces.

When they reached the little village it was just as Jin had said. The sun had already set and stars were lighting up the sky. But surprisingly, the village was blooming with life, lights were everywhere lighting up the streets and shops. The four parted for a while, going around the town. Po went to get supplies, Jin went to see a healer and Viper went to look for ribbons. Tigress just walked around town looking at diferent shops but none of them spiked her interest.

As Viper came out of a shop with a long green ribbon, with golden lining and a golden lotus flower in the middle, a familiar voice called her name. A voice that brought unbelivable sorrows to her. It was the lioness that reminded Jin of his death at the Sacred Peach tree of Heavenly Wisdom.

"Master Viper may i have a word with you." She said calmly and walked to a nearby alley where there was no one around.

Viper hissed at her the moment she saw her but she couldn't ignore the fact that something important was being kept a secret by the lioness. So she followed when her quriosity got the better of her.

The alley that she was lead to was old and seemed abandoned for a long time. The walls were dry and cracked at several places, giving the impression they were about to collapse. The ground was no better either. It looked like it had not rained there for millenia. But that swiftly changed when the lioness walked on the ground. Wherever she stepped, grass and flowers started blooming, when she traced her claws on the wall, the cracks vanished and life sprouted from the walls. Different types of vines and mosses now inhabbited it.

"What do you want?" Viper hissed with as much venom as she could muster in her tone.

The lioness sighed and spoke calmly " Viper, why didn't you stay behind at the valley, when you heard that he was going to die?"

Viper flinched at this "How did you…." But was cut off abruptly by the lioness' still calm voice.

"Know? Viper I'm a god i know all i want to know. Even that you bought that ribbon as a gift for Jin."

This time the snake was speechless. Even she did not truly know why she had bought exactly that ribbon. Sure it reminded her of Jin but she… of course she intended to give it to him. Why else would she buy it?

"Viper it pains me to say this but, if you go with Jin, your death will cause him to brake down and fail his destiny. Po and Tigress will all die if you do not turn back now…. Can you still live with yourself knowing that because of you your friends will die?" before Viper could answer her the lioness was gone in a flash of bright light. Again she brought nothing but hurt and sadness to the snake.

"Viper! Viper where are you?" Viper could hear Jin and the others calling for her. She slowly made her way out of the alley, seeing the group of three searching for her through the city.

"I'm over here!" Viper yelled while waving her green ribbon. When they saw her, they made their way to Viper.

"Hey Viper we saw this new inn has an openning. Wanna go?" Jin asked a little alcohol already showing itself on his blush and earsplitting grin.

"Turns out he had never had any alcohol so the fumes from the healers made him drunk." Po said as Tigress facepawed.

"I just wanna go cuz there's supposed to be a stage in 'ere." Jin said smiling at Viper like a little cub.

Viper sighed quietly "I guess as long as you don't drink a drop of wine!" She looked at him like a mother would at her cub the first time he asked to go out with his friends.

"PROMISE!" Jin was already a good distance in front of them and wasn't showing any signs of slowing down.

"This should be interesting." Tigress said with a smirk while leaning on Po yet again. And then it clicked in Po's head. SHE – the one tiger that had stolen his heart so long ago – was leaning on him. He blushed extra hard this time. When Tigress saw Viper giggling at Po she simply sighed and pulled him by his paw.

"Come on before you get drunk off of this too." No reply. Po was still on cloud 9 and wasn't planning on coming down anytime soon.

With a heavy heart Viper made her way after them too.

At the new Inn

When the two couples walked inside, the place was already packing. But little did they know, that they were really REALLY famous in this part of town. When all the people inside saw them, they all cheered and greeted them in the most welcoming way they could.

After about 20 minutes of this and about 2 dozen autographs, the people settled down and everything was just like before. As hours passed the guests in the inn got drunker and drukner. All the alcohol breath made even the three warriors a bit woozy. But nobody could have guessed what it had done to Jin. The once calm dragon, was now pumped up like never before. Even Tigress and Viper couldn't keep him grounded for long. But hey it was all just fun and games right? When Jin got up on stage the crowd started cheering as loud as they could. On the half drunk half asleep dragon this left a huge ego boost.

"YEAH! LET'S LIGHT THIS NIGHT UP!" A few drunk rhinos yelled up at him. And well Jin lit the night up alright.

My life is brilliant.

All the drunks looked in confusion as they expected something diferent. Viper however looked with tears in her eyes as she knew this song all to well.

My life is brilliant.

My love is pure.

I saw an angel.

Of that I'm sure.

She smiled at me on the subway.

She was with another man.

But I won't lose no sleep on that,

'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

I saw your face in a crowded place,

And I don't know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,

As we walked on by.

She could see from my face that I was,

Fucking high,

And I don't think that I'll see her again,

But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

I saw your face in a crowded place,

And I don't know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you.

Viper looked to the ground in tears. Though she was glad that Po and Tigress didn't notice this.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

There must be an angel with a smile on her face,

When she thought up that I should be with you.

But it's time to face the truth,

I will never be with you.

Po was gaping with amazement at how good Jin could sing even when he was on cloud 99. Tigress was facepawing again and murmured under her breath "This is going to be a long night.".

Viper on the other hand was silent, with tears gliding down her face, leaving small stains on the wooden floor. She was thinking on how she should tell them all, about what happened in the alley a few hours ago. Something that would definetly change their fates. But maybe not for the better.