Disclaimer- I do not own Kung Fu Panda. Okay? Got It? Good.
"Where were you?" Shifu questioned angrily when the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior finally arrived at the entrance of the Jade Palace. "I let you skip training during the festival and you skip the evening too?"
"I am very sorry, Shifu," Tigress apologized. "We were at the Red Dragon, conversing with Master Han."
Shifu's expression lightened at the name of his old friend. "Why didn't you tell me? Master Han is a very good friend of mine. I would have come myself."
Their red panda mentor motioned them inside, holding the arched doors open. He closed the door and Tigress approached him.
"Do we still have the scrolls in the archive about central Asia?" she asked politely.
"Eh?" Shifu glanced up. He was steadying a wobbling painted vase that Monkey had almost knocked over. "Oh yes, they're down in floor three and section six. Here, I'll show you." Much to Tigress' protests, he heaved open the locked double doors that protected the secret archive and held a lantern to the swirling darkness. Shifu padded down three flights of stairs to the last floor of scrolls. Tigress helped by lighting some of the torches that hung around the archive.
Most of the work was done by Shifu, the deceased Oogway, and other kung fu masters. Crane had added some of his practiced calligraphy and maps to the library of paper scrolls. Shifu ran his tiny paws across the rolled up paper and pulled some scrolls out of their designated shelves. He handed them to Tigress and soon, she had a mound of scrolls in her arms. Shifu said a quiet "Good night" and left Tigress to her midnight reading.
She threw the scrolls open, clouds of dust dispersing into the air. She found maps of central Asia and carefully put them away. She found an interesting scroll about a rebellion in central Asia, but it wasn't very helpful. Tigress decided to look elsewhere and started scanning information about Master Han and his time guarding the prison. She found some interesting facts about the prison. A scroll described an escape by a very dangerous criminal:
'Master Han is a retired prison guard that learned the skill unique to the Jade Palace: kung fu. While the prison was under Han's watchful eyes, there were no escapes except for one. An assassin had been placed into a third-level cell, declaring that the captive was almost as threatening to the Valley of Peace as the infamous snow leopard, Tai Lung. The dutiful Furious Five and the renowned Dragon Warrior visited the third level, remembering the dreadful day when Tai Lung wrecked havoc upon their valley. A day after they had left, with unknown means, the mysterious assassin broke free, showing that steel bars would not hold him back. Master Han suffered, not only from a broken leg, but from a loss of about two thousand rhino guards that the assassin massacred through to get free. Master Han had to resign due to his injury and later became a friend of Shifu and performer of martial arts.'
Tigress found this boring, for Master Han had already told her that himself. The only new fact was that the assassin was considered a third-level criminal, the highest one could possibly earn. She found that unnerving, a third-degree master assassin loose in the Valley of Peace. Tigress quickly turned around, she though she saw a figure pass by. The single torch flickered uneasily. Her searching golden eyes surveyed her surroundings. Her instinct hadn't left her and Tigress stayed wary. She turned back to the scroll, peeking out of the corner of her eye once and a while. Finding herself going in circles, she sighed and returned the scrolls to their proper places. She extinguished the flame, picked up the lantern, and retired to her room. She pushed open the fragile wooden door and promptly fell asleep.
Tigress yawned and glanced outside. Her room had a back porch that over-viewed the training arena outside. The sun was just shining over the horizon, rays of golden light sparkling. There was a sharp knock on her door. She walked over and let the door open. It was Viper. The green tree snake looked nervous, even scared.
"Shifu wants us. All of us. And it's not training. That's all he told me. Except to get you." Viper looked at the floor. She was always sensitive to others, but Tigress couldn't figure out why Shifu wanted them so early in the morning to do something other than training. She suspected an announcement and followed Viper without any second thoughts.
Shifu paced around the training arena, looking very upset. Tigress looked at her fellow comrades and counted four. Mantis had probably gone to get Po. Soon enough, Mantis arrived with a yawning Po. The panda rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked confused at their solemn faces. Shifu stopped pacing around and stood still.
"What did you do yesterday at the Red Dragon?" He glared at all of them.
"We talked to Master H-" Crane repeated.
"I know," Shifu interrupted. Tigress looked shocked. It wasn't like Shifu to interrupt Crane, maybe Monkey or Po, but never Crane. "What did you talk about?" Crane was about to answer again, but Tigress spoke first.
"That is between us and Master Han. You must respect our privacy." Tigress said boldly.
"Hmm, so you won't tell me. Fine, I'll tell you what I know. Master Han...is dead."