(TWENTY-FIVE!!! Shu is now torn between loyalty to the Furious Five and Ping and his Allegiance and Honor to Tai Lung. The next chapter... might be the short battle at the bridge. I will alter this as well. I will include Shu in the fight; fighting for either Honor to Tai Lung or Loyalty to the Five. And what is going on between Tigress and Shu?! I'm not telling!)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Shu Ai is Bound to Honor; Tai Lung is Finally Coming

It was a practice among the Furious Five or possibly the masters in the Jade Palace to wake up before Master Shifu did and stand attention outside the room as he arrived.

Shu Ai was still learning this as each morning he was always late but not later than Po in waking up and being at attention.

"Ugh, it's time to wake up already…?" Shu sleepily thought. He was slightly awake but wanted to continue to sleep. He heard muffled sounds, preventing him from sleep. These muffled sounds were the footsteps of Master Shifu.

What really woke him up though were the unified voices of the Furious Five.

"Good morning, Master!" The Five stood outside their respective rooms, standing at attention as Shifu arrived.

"Hm? We are short two," Shifu noticed Shu and Po were not present. Shifu did not worry about Po as he thought he was sleeping… or had given up.

Shifu first checked Shu's room. Shu had become a valued member of the Jade Palace and Shifu usually wondered what happened to Shu. Normally he would be sleepily standing in front of his room but he was late this time. However Shu's room was empty when Shifu checked. Only Dragon Revival lay on Shu's bed.
"Where is Master Shu?" Shifu asked his students. Shifu obviously was not used to calling Shu 'master' as he slightly stuttered at calling him 'master'. However Shu earned that title and Shifu was glad to call him that.

The Furious Five except for Tigress did not know where Shu was. They assumed that Shu went to sleep in his own room; ignoring the teasing they gave him the previous night. Viper glanced at Tigress who did not seem as tense as the rest of them.

"I'm here, sorry…" Shu Ai yawned as he replied. He indeed woke up later than usual. He surprised everyone except Tigress. Viper was wide-eyed and smiling. Monkey was wide-eyed as well while Mantis and Crane were grinning.
Shu was rubbing his left blind eye as he was walking out sleepily of Tigress' room.
"I apologize, old man," Shu said as he held back another yawn. He bowed sleepily as he walked to the front of his own room. He then stood up straight and at attention.
"Why is… everyone staring at me?" Shu noticed that even Shifu was looking at him strangely.
"Oh… Don't worry, nothing happened…" Shu simply said.

"How did you end up in Tigress' room for the night? She hates it when someone else is in there!" Monkey asked Shu as they were sparring with weapons; Monkey with a staff and Shu with Dragon Revival.
"Remember last night? Whoa! I believe you guys… aah… wanted me to go in when she asked me to!" Shu said, dodging Monkey's strikes as he spoke.

"None of us thought you were going to spend the night! We thought you would go back to your room!" Monkey replied.

"Huh. Anyways, have you seen Ping?" Shu changed the subject as they continued to spar.

Viper, Mantis, and Crane also wondered what had happened that caused Shu to spend the night in Tigress' room. Shu merely replied that he dozed off as soon as Master Tigress did. Viper never believed him and teased him the most. Shu was simply defensive.

"Hey, I have a favor to ask of you, Ping," Shu had finally met Ping and they had time for idle chat.
"What is it, Shu?" Ping asked. Ping was sitting beside his brother in the gardens where they usually talked or sparred. Ping had his bow on his lap while Shu ha Dragon Revival beside him.

"I'm going to the Valley. I want to see if Meng Lao and Hei Li made it back safely," Shu was concerned about his friends that fought Tai Lung after he himself defeated them.

"Ah, I see," Ping replied with little enthusiasm.

"You're sharp as always, Ping," Shu sensed his troubles.

"If Tai Lung shows up… You'll be bound by your allegiance, aren't you? And we'll have to… fight for real…" Ping asked him, saddened at this thought.

"Yes, I will be bound to honor and the allegiance. Yet… There is a loophole," Shu replied.

"There is?" Ping asked.

"I believe that all Tai Lung needs to do to keep our allegiance is to never be defeated. If he is defeated, the allegiance is finished," Shu thought of this loophole and told it to Ping.
"I see… Interesting," Ping said as he thought about it.
"I should go. The earlier I go, the earlier I can come back," Shu said as he stood up, using Dragon Revival as support.
"Come back soon, brother," Ping looked up at Shu who nodded.

Shu Ai would return but not under friendly conditions. He indeed checked the Valley to see if Meng and Li came back. They never came back. Shu then decided to go back to where he had defeated them. As he checked the Valley, many individuals were surprised by Shu's survival but were glad to see him alive.

"I'm sorry everyone. If Tai Lung and I meet, I will be bound to my allegiance to him," Shu thought.

He then departed from the Valley with Dragon Revival at paw. He began to run towards the Don't-Look-Down Bridge. He soon reached one end of the bridge with no trouble at all; though it took him a while.

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The Furious Five wondered where Shu had disappeared to. Ping was lucky that he was training and focused upon it. He did not have to tell them.

"I wonder where brother Shu went off to," Viper honestly said as she slithered with Crane and Monkey.

"Yes, he's been gone for quite a while now. Perhaps something happened to him?" Crane wondered as well.

"Nah. There's no way that something bad will happen!" Monkey replied; his confidence in Shu great.

"Perhaps Tigress knows?" Crane asked.

"Or Mantis. He usually stays with one of them if he's not with one of us," Viper agreed.

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Shu Ai was now crossing the bridge to the other side.

"I hate this bridge…" Shu admitted.

"Master Zhang Liao… or should I say Master Shu Ai…" A familiar voice on the other side of the bridge put a shock in Shu's face. He did not raise Dragon Revival in battle.

"Wait right there, I am coming. I've got news for you, you show-off…"