A/N: Hurrah for the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior! And also, Shifu! Also…

[BCY603: Hey, I just noticed this but, if you pronounce Yut in a certain way in Chinese, it means daylight. Coincidence, no? XD]

Lol really? xD The name was actually meant for a concept I thought of that would matter around the second story arc. And it also seems redundant for a wolf (being inclined with moonlight) having a name meaning daylight, in which I find the entire concept endearing.

And I hope you guys don't it's ended yet :P Based on foresight, it is VERY far from the end.

"Let me come with you!"

That statement was the first thing Tai Lung heard from Yut that morning. The wolf stared intently at him, begging as he knelt on the ground.

"No," Tai replied emotionless.

"Awww, come on! Please!" Yut pleaded, still on his knees.

"The deal was that we going to part ways when we reached the village," Tai Lung said. "Once we got there, I'd leave you and we'd never see each other again."

"Oh, don't be like that!" Yut replied. "Think about it, it's a good idea! You get to have your fresh start or whatever, and I get to have mine too!"

"I'd prefer my fresh start, without you," the snow leopard said coldly as he went off to follow the forest path.

"I-I'm not that bothersome am I?" the wolf asked, catching up as his paws hit the grassy terrain. "Am I really that bad an idea to bring along?"

Tai Lung gave out heavy frustrated grunt. "I – just…"

When Tai wouldn't continue his answer, Yut tried poking it out of him. "Just what?" Tai Lung hung his head in silence. He didn't give an answer – no, more like, he didn't want to answer.

"All right, look. You don't have to decide right now. Just take your time." Yut explained. "And, I'll just… tag along 'till you make up your mind!"

"You're really not going to let it slip, are you?" Tai said. The wolf chimed in with a cheerful hum, answering off with his mischievous nature. As the pair walked off to their destination, things were boiling out from afar.

"He's escaped again?" a red panda calmly asked. Had he not achieved inner peace, his soul would be in a maelstrom.

"That's what the reports have said. He seemed to have escaped a few days ago before the report even came in," Zeng, the messenger goose, said with a lighter tone than his usual shuddering. Perhaps the only reason why he would shiver in his answer would be due to being surprised from Shifu's calm reply. "There have also been reports of him being seen, but nothing about his current location."

"Where is he headed?" Shifu asked when he stopped Zeng from answering. "No need. There could only be one place he would go to…"

Atop the Valley of Peace, the large brass bell shook and rang across in a large echo. It was heard even amidst a crowd of people chattering and bustling about. From corner to corner of the village, even to a large noodle shop filled with people almost every single day.

"Whoops, gotta go dad," a panda said as he took off his apron.

"Not right now, Po! We have a lot of customers to serve still!" Mr. Ping called out whilst carrying a stack of porcelain bowls to his kitchen.

"Sorry! I know you need help and all but I still have my own job to do!" Po shouted as he ran off towards the exit. He navigated his large body against the crowd. "See ya' tomorrow!"

Mr. Ping sighed. Building an expansion for the family noodle shop was both the best and worst decisions he's made so far. Income's greatly increased, but so was employee labor. Managing it all by himself seemed nearly impossible. "Well, I'm sure I can handle it…"

"Three warrior-size dumplings please!" said three rabbits in front of the counter. Mr. Ping struggled to carry all three at the same time. His eyes seemed like popping, and he was hardly able to breathe. As soon as he could, he let them roll on the counter and had the rabbits carry it themselves. Ping quickly drew in a heavy breath.

The goose scratched his head troublingly. "Oh dear… I certainly need more help with this…"

Although he's been the Dragon Warrior for a year now, climbing up the stairs to the Jade Palace was never an easy task. Nonetheless when he reached the top, he made it seem as if it was an effortless feat. Opening the door, he finds out that he was the last one there.

The bells were always rung at certain periods of time, but when it's rung out of its certain intervals, it was meant as a signal to alert the Furious Five, and the Dragon Warrior. Only reason to alert them would be for the reason of utmost importance, and needless to say, when they heard it, the rest of the villagers would hear it as well.

But they rest their worries onto the protectors of the village. Regardless that the bell is used to signal danger, the warriors have sworn their lives to protect them all, and in that they could live in peace.

"I'm here… master…" Po said, trying to keep his heavy panting from being too obvious. If only he had learned it before, he would've known that trying to keep it from them was a meaningless act. "S-sup?"

"Master, we're all here," Tigress reported in. "Is there something you wish to tell us?"

Shifu took a deep breath. This also troubled him to an extent, his face being exact proof. "Tai Lung… is free once again."

In an instant, everyone reacted. "What! But how could he this time? Were the guards slacking off or something?" Crane blurted.

"Those rhinos are probably doing it on purpose," Monkey added.

Mantis jumped in atop Monkey. "Come on, let's be serious guys."

"Any ideas what he's going to do?" Viper asked.

After a ruminating expression on her face faded, she came to a conclusion. "No doubt he's coming here, isn't he Master?" Tigress spoke out. Shifu nodded, confident with it as well.

"Well, we can stop him again like we did before!" Po said confidently. "Plus, we're all stronger than we used to be! There's no way he can stop us!"

"I have no doubt that you would be successful," Shifu replied. "But we must still consider the safety of the villagers. News of Tai Lung's freedom has been kept a secret to keep the villagers from rising in a panic. But if he still reaches the village, their safety may not be guaranteed entirely."

"If he's already on his way here, then how long do we have until then?" asked Tigress.

Shifu gathered his thoughts for a moment. "I don't know. For now, we should set out for patrols. Spread out and guard the entire village. We must not let him through."

"Yes, master," they said before they fanned out in different directions. Expectedly, Po was left behind the rest when talking in terms of speed.

"Po," Shifu called out. The panda quickly turned to face him.

"Yes Master Shifu?" Po asked.

"I'd like it if you handle this all by yourselves," Master Shifu answered. "It is time you must act upon your own decisions."

Po raises his eyebrows in surprise. "W-wait, you sure about that? I mean – he's Tai Lung. Don't you, well, won't you have anything you might wanna say or do?"

"Anything I say will only be in vain. And it is time I stopped clinging to the past…" Shifu looks at his old master's staff, losing himself for a moment but quickly regaining his stern self. "How is Mr. Ping? I heard your family's enlarged noodle shop was just recently re-opened." Shifu inquired. "He must be working hard."

"Oh, yeah, but my dad is pretty stubborn. I've told him to just take a few days off if he felt like it, but he said our ancestors would get angry or something." Po said, "'A thousand noodle curses upon us' he says. Plus, I help out every now and then to make things easier."

"…I see." Shifu said. "Send him my regards."

"Uh… sure thing!" Po said as continued to run off. "Well then, gotta go!"

"Adopted son… hmm?" Shifu thought. He was oblivious to the fact that his father was a goose until Po told them all that he was adopted. For a moment, he chuckled, thinking how foolish and silly he was to believe that a goose could even have a panda for a child. What a tragedy that would be, he thought.

"And yet, he truly loves his father, and his father loves him." He utters to himself. His thoughts dwelled to certain feelings that were akin to his own. "Perhaps… I wonder…"

"Have you made up your mind now?"

"When will you stop asking…?" Tai Lung grunted as he held his temper.

The wolf pouted behind him. "Until you give me an answer," he said.

"Or maybe until I put a gag in your mouth," he muttered softly to himself.

"Now?" Yut asked again and Tai Lung could only rub his palm down his face. When all of this was over, he planned on kicking the wolf's butt as hard as possible.

Yut finally stopped asking a loud growl came from his stomach. He patted down his abdomen realizing that he hadn't anything to eat in a while.

"How far until we get there…" Yut moaned.

"Not far, now keep quiet!" Tai Lung hissed in anger.

When Yut's growled once again, he opened his mouth to speak until he was cut short as Tai Lung suddenly spoke ahead.

"No no, no need to tell me," Tai Lung said in a distinct tone, "you're hungry aren't you? And you want to have something to eat. Something to fill your stomach cause you don't remember how to feed yourself."

Right before Yut opened his muzzle one more time, Tai immediately cut him off. "Oh, no need to worry. I know the perfect place to go to!"

Boiling up in frustration, Tai grabbed Yut and carried him on his arms. Yut cried in astonishment as the snow leopard dashed forward.

"He-hey!" the wolf blurted loudly as he quickly grasped onto the snow leopards fur in fear of being thrown into the air.

Yut saw Tai wear a cynical smile, clearly trying to guise over an angered stare. His temper was something he clearly knew he had to get used to. The wolf felt the heavy blow of the wind swimming through his fur. Distance immediately blurred away in his vision, and he could audibly hear the breeze circling through his ears. He could only react by yelling from the speed of transportation.

Swiftly after five minutes, Tai Lung put Yut's feet back on the ground. The wolf quivered, nearly stumbling as he tried to regain his balance.

"Awawawawa…." Yut bantered, staggering and spinning around trying not to trip.

Almost expectedly so, his foot gets caught on a rock and he starts heading towards the ground.

Closing his eyes as he tentatively waited to plummet to the earth, he instead met a soft warm embrace. The panic his body was sent in gradually faded away. Slowly opening his eyes, he sees a snow leopard that had caught him from falling.

"A-ah-" Yut muttered as his body went to tense once again. "Th-tha-" Tai Lung brought him back up as he coldly turned away without Yut having to finish his sentence.

The wolf then finally noticed the object in front of them; a small wooden hut. They could hear a few voices coming from inside. The wolf wondered who they were.

"Tai?" Yut said before the kung fu warrior opened the door and headed in. Immediately, the men inside threw their attention at him.

"Hey, what are you–"

Before the man inside could finish his sentence, the door was slammed shut. In an instant, Yut could hear heavy clattering and yelling from inside. As the wolf started to walk up to see what was going on, a cougar broke through the window and landed on the ground, beaten and unconscious. The wolf almost yelped when the body landed right next to him.

Yut inspected the unconscious victim, finding him to be wearing leather garments, and a sheath for a sword nowhere to be seen.

He quickly ran inside to find another person thud right next to the door. He turned his head to see Tai Lung in the center of the room clapping the dust off his hands. "Tai, what's going-"

"-on?" The wolf didn't finish his sentence. He caught sight of a faint smile on the leopard's face. Beating up a total of five people, taking into account the person outside, had relieved a bit of the angry leopard's temper. Yut deemed it was best not to say anything unnecessary for the moment.

Tai Lung let out a sigh with a distinct tone of relief. "Look, there's food on the table," he said with a hollow voice.

"But what about these-"

Tai Lung made a distinct slam with his palm unto the table. "Just shut it and eat."

The wolf carefully inched towards a seat. If his stomach were to growl again, it probably won't be the only one growling soon enough. Yut plumped down onto the chair as Tai Lung calmly sat on the opposite side. Shooting a glance towards an alligator's hysterical unconscious face didn't seem to put his appetite in a good position.

Yut inspected the food on the table. It was a mixed set of different various kinds of food. There were pieces of tender meat, and there was a pie or two on a plate. These weren't the kinds of food people like bandits would have. It was more like it came from a restaurant. Perhaps knowing that these were stolen could put some rest into his conscience.

But deducing whether it was stolen goods or not would have to wait. Yut thought it best to just enjoy the meal – as strange the situation was. He immediately grabbed a piece of chicken and bit down. It was cold, but food was still food. He chewed and swallowed each bite hungrily. At the plate next to him were loaves of bread. He quickly reached out for one, but before he could drive it in home to his mouth, he caught sight of the snow leopard sitting across the table. Tai Lung was leaning his elbow on the table and his fist on his cheek, looking away as he waited as patiently as he could. With the bread still in his hand, Yut instead brought it in front of him.

"Here," the wolf said as he offered the piece of bread. "It's cold, but I'm sure it still tastes good."

Tai Lung glanced at the bread. Beyond it was the wolf smiling, being his usual optimistic self. For some reason, that smile stirred something inside of him.

"Come on, you don't want me to hold it for you to eat, do you?" Yut chuckled.

Annoyed, and slightly embarrassed, the leopard swiped it away from his hand as cold as possible could without any emotion. Yut beamed and continued eating, glad enough to manage getting the grumpy feline to eat. While Tai was eating, Yut sensed the atmosphere to get slightly less heavy.

Wanting to get his conscience clear, he took the initiative to start a conversation. "So… is it really okay to be doing this?" the wolf asked. Tai Lung immediately stopped chewing. Yut held his breath for a moment, thinking he might flare up in anger once again. Thankfully, he only stopped to swallow, allowing Yut to breathe out calmly.

"Its fine," Tai answered. "This place is a bandit hangout. Wasn't sure anyone would be here, but people keep coming back here." Tai paused for a moment, scoffing at a thought. "Not sure why people would come back home to a grungy place like this."

With his conscience clear, Yut felt relieved. Taking from bandits didn't seem so bad if they really were stolen goods just the same. However, ending the conversation there wasn't enough. With the bandits completely unconscious, he was sure they weren't being heard. "Hey, Tai?" he called out. "Just… just where do you plan on heading?"

Tai Lung sat in silence.

"I know you probably have a million places you'd want to go, but is there anywhere in parti-"

"I don't really have…" Tai's voice stopped Yut in mid-sentence. "anywhere else to go other than…" The leopard paused, as he did not know how to finish his sentence. He picked between words in his head, but ending up with the only sure word he could call it. "…there."

Yut folded one of his ears while the other stood up. "Okay… where exactly is 'there'?"

Tai got up from the table, turned his back and faced towards an open window. "The Valley of Peace."

Yut also stood up in alert. "The Valley of Peace?" he blurted. "The Valley of Peace? The place where those kung fu warriors are? The place where you went all crazy and tore the whole place down?"

Tai let out a heavy grunt.

"Why would you want to go back there?" the wolf pestered.

The snow leopard clenched his fist as he took a deep breath. But in letting his breath out, he calmly did so as he unclenched his fist just the same. "It's the first place that came to mind." Tai Lung answered. "Anyways, it's a good place for you to start. I'll figure things out on my own."

Tai noticed the worried look on his wolf companion's face. Knowing him enough, that had only meant trouble. Noticing the half-eaten loaf on his plate, Tai quickly tried to draw away Yut from his thoughts. "If you're done eating, we can leave."

But the wolf had already began to contemplate and derive a solution. Since the incident at the village, he's found that he's incapable of taking care of himself just yet. Tai Lung was so far the only person he could trust.

"There has to be a way…" Yut repeated in his mind as he searched with his eyes around the room as the answer was decorated neatly within the walls. But all he could see were pieces of food, crates, and different kinds of expensive-looking items.

Tai Lung sighed. The sight of a silently pondering wolf would mean something completely unexpected would come out any time soon. And he didn't want any of that anymore. In a harsh change of tone, he called him out with his usual tempered self. "Look, let's not waste any time-"

Yut immediately turned towards him. He responded not to his words, but to the sound of his voice. His full attention however was still locked in to thinking. But upon looking at him, the answer simply popped right in his sights. It was standing right there by the door, right behind Tai Lung.

When Yut began to lift a smile, the snow leopard gave him confused look before he turned to where his eyes were locked at.

"Don't tell me…"

A round adolescent panda strolled through the plains, seeking a match for his quickly moving arms. His arms danced around him as he leaped and hopped, punching and chopping in the air as he navigated as "silently" as he could.

"Haaahh!" he yelled fiercely in a high-pitched tone as bounced behind a flat stone rooted in the ground. "My enemy draws close. I can feel my kung-fu awesomeness welling inside me," he narrates to himself in a cool secretive tone.

Po places his elbows onto the stone. He forms a ring with his hands and places them both around his eyes like binoculars. He focuses his sights into the distance. He twists his head as he scours the landscape. He twists around his hands as if zooming in as he sees a group of children playing by the brook.

"Pff, kids these days. Running off without adult supervi- wait a minute, who am I kidding?" He brushes his sights off them as he goes back scanning different locations. As soon as he moves around his binoculars, a giant eyeball meets in front of his sights. "Po!" it called out. In a sudden state of shock, the panda yelps and jumps back.

"Po, what are you doing, man?" said Mantis, as his signature size and cricketty sounds gave him off. "Come on, stop goofing around! We've got a patrol to do!"

"I'm not goofing around. This is how I do patrol." Po said as he lifted himself up from the ground and shakes the dirt off his fur. "Patrol for an incredibly dangerous person whose main goal is likely to make the Valley of Peace… not the Valley of Peace. He'll make it the Valley of… non-Peace."

"But he could be coming in from anywhere, and at any time," replied Mantis. "That's why we have to be vigilant."

"I get that, but come on!" Po laid his arm on a low-lying branch at a nearby tree. "It's not like he's gonna waltz right in undetected. 'Big white muscular leopard with looks that could kill'. That's like one huge banner for alert."

"I have to agree." Crane flaps his wings down and perches himself onto the branch. "I've been flying everywhere, aaand there hasn't been any sight of him so far."

"See, Crane agrees with me," Po mentioned.

Something suddenly slithers around Po from the tree trunk. The panda quickly lifts his arms up to see what it was – only to see who it was. It was Viper, who slithered further towards his feet and across towards the grass. "I've asked around the outlying villages, and none of them has reported any suspicious activity," she reported. "I couldn't really ask them directly if they saw Tai Lung. We still need to be as discreet as possible."

Monkey soon swings in to the discussion – literally. He hangs one arm around the low-lying branch. The so called master of balance was flapping his wings to maintain it as the playful chimp makes much of a disturbance. "I don't think he could just walk in quietly either," he chuckles.

Mantis cuts in. "But we can't just lie back waiting for him. After all, Master Shifu wants us to handle this quietly."

Tigress was walking along her patrol route until she sees the entire gang up the hill. Immediately, she made her way up while keying in to their discussion.

"We can't just take them one of the biggest meanest kung fu warriors quietly," Crane added.

"Yah, not like he'll quietly surrender either," Monkey jested.

"I know we've got this huge responsibility we have to do ourselves," Po said. "But we seriously need to think this through."

"Po's right," Tigress called out, catching their attention. "Master Shifu left us to decide for ourselves because he trusts us. But we won't achieve anything without any clues."

"The only thing we do know is the he'll come here, one way or another," Viper said.

"That's it then!" Po yelled. "We just have to wait for him here and catch him in our mighty awesome trap!"

"That's still not an option," Tigress immediately cut in.

"We have to minimize collateral damage," Crane said. "So let's try to keep him away from the village as much as possible.

"Then what can we do? Moving around in patrols won't finish anything but neither would be waiting." Po sat down on the grass with a soft thud.

"Either way accomplishes nothing," Tigress added.

The entire team waited and thought. In the end, none of them could hatch a plan. "I guess the only thing we can do is keep an eye out," said Mantis while scratching his head with the tip of his scythe-like arm.

"A least two of us should take patrols so let's take turns." Tigress said. "Is everyone okay with that?"

Everyone nodded back.

"Good. Po, we'll take patrols for now. The rest of us can head back."

"Ah gee, I was really looking forward to helping my dad out today at the shop," the panda replied. "Well, I got it. Bye guys, see you tomorrow,"

Everyone said their goodbyes as they headed off. "Let's go!" Po yelled as he and Tigress ran off in the opposite direction.

"Still no snack stops," Tigress said humorously.

Po frowned. "Oh come on."

"I can't believe we're still doing this," said a muffled deep voice in a heavy suit of armor. From head to toe the person was covered in metal. His feet thudded heavily with each step whilst leaving distinct marks on the dirt road. With a doubtful attitude, he started to walk slower as he neared the village entrance.

The wolf beside him pepped up as he noticed his companion lagging behind without enthusiasm. He walked in front of him and pulled on his metal-covered arm. "Come on, this idea is perfect!" he said. "No one's going to think twice on who you are!"

Yut looked around the peaceful looking village. The different colors and buildings left him excited. "Wow, this village is big. I can't believe it's just part of the Valley of Peace. Hey, is that the Jade Palace?" Yut began to blabber excitedly .

A snow leopard inhabiting the suit of iron grumbled to himself. While the wolf pulled him by his arm, he thought back to how all this mischief began.

It started back at the bandit hangout, where Yut started talking Tai Lung into wearing the suit of armor that was displayed by the wall.

"No, I am not wearing that," Tai retorted, "I'll simply make myself look foolish!"

"You won't know unless you try! Who knows? It might look good on you," Yut encouraged as he continued to try placing the helmet over his head. "This way we can both stay at the village!"

Tai Lung grabs the helmet down below eye level. "People will not be fooled by this poor excuse of a disguise!"

"They're not going to think twice on who you really are," Yut persuaded. "Just leave their wondering part to me. Trust me, it'll work-"

"What's it going to take for you to get my point across?" Tai Lung snapped. Yut immediately tucked his head down at the boom of his voice. "I want to be rid of you as soon as possible. I-" Before continuing, he noticed the grim frown starting to paint over the wolf' usual smile. For a moment, his harsh words started to choose to become softer by itself. In frustration, he turned his head to face away from Yut. "I don't want you involved with someone like me. You're better off being alone."

Yut lifted his frown up. His fingers clenched around the side of the cold helmet still in his hands. "…that's not true." Yut perked his head up, lifting out his voice. "You're not as horrible as you or everyone else thinks. Ever since I could first start remembering… you were the first friend I've made. And through everything, you've taken care of me."

"That's all just because of your damn influence," Tai replied.

"To be honest, I've left like nothing but a kid," Yut said. "I've been latching on because you were the only one around I could depend on. But, I'm not doing this because you've been dependable. I've been doing this not just for me, but for you too."

Tai cut in "I don't need you taking care of me. I can handle things on my own."

"I know that!" Yut's hands trembled. "You can take on even a hundred rhinos and leave without a scratch. You could take on anything the world threw at you. But recently… recently, you look like you've been hurting." Yut forced himself to stop trembling, planted his foot down and looked the leopard straight in the eye. "I want to help you too, like you've helped me. I want to be your friend as much as you've been mine."

A long silence enraptured the room. Tai Lung thought to himself while Yut waited him for an answer. Yut waited silently. He looked for a sign on his face, a glimmer of hope that his friend would still be around. But Tai's face was a complete blank, he wasn't angry, but nor did he have any expression.

As time stretched onwards, Yut began to lose hope. "Just… think of it as a way of saying thanks for everything you've done for me," Yut said as he forced a smile. "If you don't want to… that's all right…"

When Tai didn't give back an answer, Yut decided to place the helmet back on the display. "Why would he agree? I'd be nothing but trouble for him anyways…"

But the moment he was about to put it back, Tai Lung's hands grabbed onto the round cylindrical helmet. "You really are troublesome…" he said as he gave the helmet one last glance. "I just have to wear this, right?"

After what he said, the mood around the room suddenly changed. For a moment, Yut stood only in surprise. But then his smile soon started becoming real.

One moment, Tai Lung was wearing the iron helmet on his head, and the next he was walking in an entire suit of armor. As they walked through the village, he could not help but catch some of the other villagers' glances.

"A tall man clad in armor. Who wouldn't be suspicious of it?" he thought to himself. But soon enough, his thoughts began to be occupied by something more predictably nostalgic. He then began to go back to the years when he was but a proud trainee. The trees that bent to the sway of the wind, the children that played by the creeks, the men who went and built stone houses and bridges, everything came back to him in a flush of memories.

He wondered where they had been all this time. Perhaps they were just there all along, locked in a small chest with the key left right here.

But then, going back to his memories would have to wait. The voice of a particular wolf caught his attention. "Hey, look over here!" Yut said as he ran off. Tai immediately followed. The two looked at a poster on the wall of a nearby shop. "It says, 'Help Needed. Looking for workers, food and lodgings provided.'" The wolf quickly faced Tai Lung. "Hey, it says food and lodgings provided. We're gonna need a place to stay, so why not here?"

Tai Lung finally found an idea that both he and Yut could agree with. But before he could say yes, he reads the sign on the shop with cold despair.

"Err, Yut, wait," Tai muttered in a sudden cold sweat. "I don't think we should…"

"Come on, let's check it out!" the wolf nonchalantly pulls on his arm.

"Wait, stop!"

But the wolf does not listen to him. It seemed like the biggest change of his life was just about to start. In that moment, he had just entered what could be the most dangerous place he shouldn't be.

Above the entrance, the signboard read, "Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu", in honor of the hero that saved the Valley of Peace. Also otherwise known as home of the Dragon Warrior himself.