This fanfic is just about to get weird...

I know that this may feel a bit rushed and stuff, but just bear with me.

Shifu and Po trailed out of the undergrowth from behind and around the rock, walking closer towards the Great Rock, where a soft-sloped ledge led up to the top of the master's spot on the rock. The figure's shape was beginning to take a clearer form, as Shifu could make out the colors on the figure's robe, and the sharp shape of the figure's horns, as Shifu recognized that this was a sheep.

Shifu narrowed his eyes, and extended his arm to the side of him, warning his student to stop in his tracks. Shifu then, continuing on the path, performed a motion by turning back to him and beconing him forward. Po stayed beside Shifu's side as they walked up, and up. Further, and further, until they reached the top of the rock.

The sheep hardly moved. There was hardly a sound, except for the whistle of the wind Po had heard earlier in the silence. Shifu stepped onto the main ledge of the rock and cleared his throat.

"Pardon me, sir?"

There was silence for a time, as if the sheep never heard him. Shifu almost thought to ask again, but he considered it the best of him if he stayed quiet for now and let his polite manners take over.

The sheep, eventually, moved one of his oddly shaped ears and turned his odd head towards the master and the student. As Shifu observed him, he could see that this sheep was dressed in a lavish brown robe, with a rather abnormally fancy belt. A necklace was drawn around his neck, and held in the front was an outline of a golden dragon. The sheep's eyes were amber, and it seemed to Shifu as if they were staring into his mind.
Shifu stared back, wanting to keep all of the sheep's attention on him and not on his student.

NEVER on his student.

"Greetings."

Shifu inwardly cringed on how odd this sheep was sounding. He was so CALM, and for that, Shifu admired him, but he still didn't understand who this was and why he was so complacent on the palace's grounds without authorization. Any other part of the mountain was allowed, but this part…..was a sacred place for the palace.

"You are Grandmaster Shifu, correct?" The sheep blinked, still keeping his piercing amber gaze onto Shifu.

Shifu nodded, impressed but not impressed at the very same time. Ah, so he DOES know who I am.

Shifu scoffed at himself fairly immediately after he spoke those words.

I mean, why shouldn't he?

"I am."
The sheep frowned, and put his head to one side, as if he was thinking. The sheep then glanced around and extended his arms in an "open world" gesture.

"You have a very nice clearing here, grandmaster."

Shifu's left ear flicked, as this sheep was eerily calm and pretentious. He does know where he is, and he does know who Shifu is.

Still, why is he here? Shifu never saw any guards bringing him forth for permission to enter here.

"Thank you, sir, but," Shifu took a step forward, and at the same time the sheep took a step back. "You do realize that you are on the private property of the Jade Palace, correct? Did you get correct authorization and permission from the palace guards to be here?"

The sheep's gaze faltered, as if he wasn't expecting Shifu's question. Shifu flinched. Perhaps he really didn't get authorization.

The sheep let out a faulty sigh. "Oh, forgive me, I must have forgotten." The sheep let out a complacent shrug. "I never saw any guards."
There was a spark in the sheep's gaze that Shifu caught that he particularly didn't like. I have a feeling he is not telling the truth.

A very BOLD feeling, indeed.

"What is your name, sir?"
"Lianzhong."

"Lianzhong, then." Shifu took another step forward, but this time, the sheep never stepped back. "Since you do not have correct authorization, I ask if you will kindly leave the premises."
The sheep blinked, as if searching for answers, then spoke back to Shifu.

"But I just got here!"

"You've been here long enough." Shifu spoke, every word close to crossing the angry borderline, but trying to keep his voice calm enough, sounding like a true grandmaster who had control of his emotions. "Please get off the palace's land, Lianzhong."

The sheep took a few steps closer to Shifu, staring at him like he was staring normally down at the ground.

"You ask, and I say I will not leave." Lianzhong shrugged. "Make me, Grandmaster."

Po rested a gentle hand on his master's shoulder, as if to calm him. Shifu was inwardly *this* close from yelling straight out at Lianzhong, but he kept his calm for the moment.
"You are on private property of the Jade Palace, sir," Shifu spoke again, "I will ask again, there will not be a third."

Po softly smiled as he listened to his master laying down the law against Lianzhong.

My master's so cool. Po thought, grinning.

Lianzhong narrowed his eyes, and squared his shoulders, as if he were preparing for a battle. Shifu didn't get into a stance, but was prepared to if needed. Shifu himself didn't necessarily want to fight, but he was furious already that this sheep wouldn't just leave, without having to go through all this unnecessary drama.

Lianzhong growled. "Stand down, Grandmaster Shifu." Lianzhong took another step forward. "I will not back down."

"I prefer you go about this peacefully, Lianzhong."

"I prefer you get out of my face," Lianzhong spat, "before this becomes…. unpeaceful."

Shifu tensed. I have dealt with things like this before.

Lianzhong and Shifu stared at each other, eye-to-eye, as if they were trying to have a conversation through their gazes. Po just watched, blinking every now-and-then and trying to act calm. Shifu could see Lianzhong's gaze begin to sharpen, and he heard his breath becoming rougher. It was just a wait-out to see who could last the longest before someone would snap. The air felt more tense than it had ever been, and even Po himself felt it.

It's just a matter of time before-

"Master, wait!"

Shifu's ear flicked, and both Lianzhong and Shifu averted their "stare-down" gazes with each other to turn their attention to a young student who had spoken. Shifu didn't recognize the voice, so he guessed that the "master" was referring to Lianzhong.

He has a student? Shifu thought, rather amused, as the young but timid student stepped out of the part of the ledge to reach the rock to confront his master.

"Mian?"
"Don't fight with the grandmaster," Mian spoke, his gaze downcast but bravely raised to meet his master's. Shifu observed the student closer, and saw that he had scars and bruises down the side of his face and neck. "Please."

Lianzhong let out a soft sigh and shook his head, but it was very clear that the sheep was trying his best to keep his composure.

"This doesn't concern you," Lianzhong snapped. "Get back."

Mian's gaze faltered for a moment, but he didn't speak back against his master's command. Po was now eying the student and noticed the bruises on him too.
"But-"

"GET BACK!" Lianzhong raised his voice and growled to the student, who flinched back in apparent pain. His gaze sparked with fear, and even Po and Shifu themselves could feel the tension in the air between the master and the student. Mian mildly shook with fear as he backed away down the ledge.

Lianzhong turned and snapped his head back to Shifu, who stared back with a look of similar indignation.

Shifu guessed that by the way the student was acting in regard to his master's command, he figured that the bruises and the scars on the young student's face had something to do with Lianzhong himself.

"He's not wrong," Shifu suggested, hoping that siding with his student may turn him around. "You won't want to fight with me."

Lianzhong rolled his eyes. "If you pressure me enough, Grandmaster, then I may just have to."

As Shifu and Lianzhong were still in the conflict of arguing before their possible battle which Shifu wanted to avoid, Po caught Mian's blue gaze staring straight at him, seemingly checking him over while peacefully blinking. Po glanced back towards his master for a moment before decidingly walking over to Mian and lowering his voice. The small goat student shook in fear as Po walked closer, but he never took his gaze off Po. He stood complacently on the ledge as he listened to Shifu and his master's conversation.

"Are you okay?" Po put his head to one side, watching as the student would softly shake, as if he was filled with some kind of condition.

"W-who are you?"

Po blinked, glancing back into Mian's gaze. "I'm Po. I'm…Grandmaster Shifu's student."
Mian's gaze flickered again, but he stopped shaking as much and relaxed. Apparently this student knew who Shifu was.

"He and I won't hurt you, if you go freely, you know," Po suggested, trying to lure this student onto their side so nothing would happen between Shifu and Lianzhong so they could just leave. "It would be better if your master left in peace."
Mian shook his head, depressed. "H-he won't…Po."

"What do you mean?"
"He wants Shifu's-"

"WAIT!"

Mian and Po suddenly stopped in their conversation, which was mildly infuriating because he wanted to know what Mian was going to say about his master. Of course, the situation at hand was worse, for Shifu held Lianzhong on the ground with a sharp knife pointed right at his throat. Shifu's Shaolin skill had aided in his swift victory when Lianzhong had pounced upon him. Shifu's quick skill took him down, and he slid his knife out to make even a more drastic aura. Shifu growled up to Lianzhong's face, where he was struggling against the ground.

"I told you three times to leave, yet you did not heed the warning." Shifu's ears were flattened against his head in anger. "You thought it would be wise to attack me."
"Shifu, I didn't mean-"

"It's Grandmaster Shifu," Shifu spat back, "and I do NOT want to hear your excuses, do you understand?"

Po and Mian ran up the ledge and stood behind Shifu, watching upon the happenings with shocked glances.

"Master?" Po put his head to one side, surprised at the ferocity upon which Shifu had spoken. He knew that Shifu was a fierce Shaolin master, despite his patience, but seeing him like this made Po unnerved.

Master Shifu must be really furious.

Po then started to think about how much this place meant to Shifu, with all the memories with his master and this place being nearby his master and his son's gravesite.

Shifu, after a period of time, released the knife from Lianzhong's throat and stood up completely, placing his knife back into its hold around his belt and letting out a soft sigh.

"This is your last chance to leave."

Lianzhong stood up and brushed whatever dust he had off his beautiful and lavish robe, turning his gaze on Shifu and moving his ear once.

"Grandmaster Shifu, I didn't come here to fight-"

Shifu flicked an ear, as if not swayed by his words.

Yet he attacked me.

"I came here to ask a proposition."

"A proposition?"
What is in this sheep's mind?
"Forgive me that I didn't mention this earlier," Lianzhong placed his hands in front of him despite his earlier attack and outburst. "But the reason why I have come is to ask you for help….."
"What help?" Shifu asked, obviously irritated but wanting to know his ultimate goal, even if he was lying. If he truly is lying, that is. I mean, why would a visitor come unauthorized, fight against me, and then just plainly act as if nothing had happened?

Shifu flicked his ear again, still not being easily swayed.

This is all very odd.

"My student and I have been traveling for weeks, trying to find a proper place to rest. When we noticed that there were others here…."
Shifu gave a soft nod, although he still was suspicious and didn't know their motives.

"...we decided to ask you for a place to rest for a while."

Through Shifu's narrow gaze, he did catch the student's desperate gaze gleaming into his, despite the arrogant master's tricky words that could not really be entirely true.

I don't entirely trust him….but I suppose rest could do them good, and perhaps it would be nice to keep an eye on both of them.

Shifu blinked, and flicked his ear.

But even so, I am intensely skeptical.

"Grandmaster?" Lianzhong interrupted Shifu's thoughts and brought him back to reality.

All right, Lianzhong.

I don't trust you, but let's keep an eye on you for now and see what you do.

…I just hope I can keep my mind straight until I can figure this out.

…what you REALLY plan to do, if this isn't it.

Shifu trusted his skill and his Shaolin power enough to keep them both on track, hopefully. Lianzhong's fighting skill was not the least bit high, and the student, Mian, was so awkward and frightened that he was hardly a match for even Po himself.

"All right, Lianzhong." Shifu dipped his head. "I will offer you shelter, for tonight."

Lianzhong smirked as Mian shot a grateful and excited glance at Po and Shifu and his master, in turn.

"...but if you are not gone by morning, then I will personally see to it that you are ushered out of the palace grounds until you are properly welcome."

Lianzhong's smile faded away with those words from Shifu, but instead of growling and fighting and resisting Shifu's neat threat, Lianzhong let out a soft sigh and dipped his head.

"I appreciate your gratitude."

Isn't Lianzhong weird?

Seriously, I think so too.

Please review!