Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait guy's and gal's but I've finally managed to get this story moving again. Thanks for your countiued interest and patience. Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

The Journey Begins

"Panda wake up!" The bantam weight master struggled to rouse the mound of black and white fur emitting a pungent odor. Great Master Oogway's insightful teachings had never prepared Shifu for the insurmountable task of training a Giant Panda, let alone waking one. "Panda?" CRRRRUNNNNNGGGG "Panda we need to leave, it's a 2 day journey to the Scared Cave of Sorrows." Snnnn "Fi-five more minutes dad…I'll get the noodle cart." Despite his best efforts to remain Zen, the pandas inherent lack of discipline stretched Shifu's patience to the breaking point. "That is enough! I will not stand for another second of your careless attitude!" The red panda drove his staff into the gelatinous mound of snoring fur. SNORT A large paw gripped the extended staff ripping it away from Shifu's paws. "Panda what is the meaning of this?! How…how dare you use Oogway's staff as a backscratcher!" The panda proved agile for a deep sleeper, thwarting all attempts to regain Oogway's staff. Shifu, exhausted, disgruntled, and on the verge of performing The Wushi Finger Hold, saw an opening. "Ah ha! Not so skilled now are we Dragon Warri-" Before the victorious master could enjoy his triumph over the narcoleptic Dragon Warrior, Po took back the staff and Shifu along with it.

Several minutes later….

"I suppose it's a fitting end…being suffocated by a 400lb sleeping Panda." Master Shifu tried his best to come to terms with his precarious situation as Po's new cuddly toy. SNORE "Ah…dumplings…it's raining dumplings…awesome." "It figures he'd be fantasying about food…Wait, that's it!" Seizing the opportunity Shifu wiggled his way up to the Dragon Warriors ears unfortunately, the Panda turned his muzzle directly toward his unsuspecting master. BBBBBUUUUUUUURRRRRPPPP! "Uhhhhgggg…." The unholy stench tore through the masters olfactory gland like the sword of heroes. "It's….it's worse than the sulfur pits of Shendao….how can a living creature eminent such a sinister stench!" Shifu struggled to maintain consciences amidst the onslaught of noxious fumes. "P-…Po?" "SNRK" whisper- "There's a fresh plate of steamed dumplings and bean bun's in the kitchen….all you can eat."

Master Tigress began her daily morning ritual of deep meditation, trying her best to block out all outward distractions. The tiger couldn't help but notice Po's strange affect after their conversation the previous night. "Why would he react so strangely to my comments? It's of no concern, he's a close friend and comrade surely he'd be back to his normal rambunctious self today. Why am my worried about how he feels, Kung Fu Masters shouldn't be concerned with petty personal matters…" CRRRAAAASSSSSSH! "ALL YOU CAN EAT DUMPLINGS AND BEAN BUNS?!" The tiger was snapped out of her self reflection by the explosion of sound coming from across the hall. "Are we under attack?! That sounded like it came from…. Po's room!" Without hesitation the tiger leapt across the hall to the Dragon Warriors quarters. The trail of unspeakable carnage caused Tigress's heart to sink. "No! Who could've done this?!" She pushed her way past the rubble, Po's door frame was completely destroyed resembling the aftermath of a deadly explosion.

"Tigress! What happened?!" Master Monkey made his way into the room. "I-I don't know…it looks like bomb went off in here." "Guy's what was that sound!?….Holy…" Mantis nearly fainted at the sight of the calamity. Po's bed was flipped upside-down opposite it's normal area, his belongings were scattered every which way, throwing stars in the ceiling, posters and fan-boy items torn and tattered. "Groan…" 'Po?! Po is that you!?" A ray of hope shimmered in the grief stricken tigers mind. The three masters located the source of the groans beneath a pile of rubble in the corner and began digging. "Oh man this doesn't look good." "I'm sure Po's fine Monkey…he's made it through a lot worse than this." "I hope your right Tigress, seriously this is too messy for even the big guy." Mantis chimed, assisting the others as best he could, lifting planks nearly 3 times his size. "I see something!" Tigress pushed her way past the others to lift the final boards covering the stricken Dragon Warrior. "Po?…Is that you under there? Speak to me Po! P-….Master ?!"

The three had located the source of the groans , much to their surprise it was not Po but rather Master Shifu, alive and visibly shaken. "Ti-gresss?" "Master save your breath you need to rest…" "W-h-e-r-e is he?" "Who master? Who did this to you ?!" "That idiotic Panda who else!" "Po did this? But-but why?" "All you can eat dumplings and bean buns….I made the mistake of rousing him from a deep sleep with the promise of food. A mistake I shall never make again." "Whoa what happened here?" Master Viper poked her head through what used to be the door frame. All replied in unison with "Po…" "Well you guy's better come quick…Po's barricaded himself in the kitchen with Crane…I-I think he's sleep walking again."

"Come on Po it's me your pal Crane…." The master of crane style had managed to perch above his insane comrade, atop the cupboards. "Release the villagers now or face the might of the awesome Dragon Warrior!" Po was dressed in a Wok and dish towel cape cornering the terrified avian. "You have to snap out of it Po! Your just dreaming." "Ha, your foolish mind tricks won't work on me Fengquan!" Tigress burst through the kitchen door followed by Shifu. Mantis, Monkey and Viper wisely deemed it best to sit back and let Tigress and Shifu handle the rowdy sleep walking Panda. "Hi guy's I wouldn't mind a little help right about now." Cranes voice quivered as he narrowly avoided being sliced in two by kitchen cutlery. "Tigress you distract him, I'll get around his blind spot and perform a temporary paralysis strike." "Yes master!" Tigress threw a nearby pot directly at The Dragon Warriors head. Boooooiiiinnnnggggggg. The concussion only slightly effected Po's heroic kitchen rampage.

"You! I knew Fengquan would never face me alone. Alas a lowly Croc bandit like you Fung is no match for my sheer awesomeness!" "Fung, Fung the Croc bandit!? Are you implying I look like an idiotic Croc?!" Tigress' anger began to swell as her sight narrowed to a crimson tunnel. "I'll show you a Croc bandit!" The livid tiger inched her way closer toward the gloating panda. "Your looking extra hideous today Fung, but I know just the cure, my fists of justice!" Tigress by now had become entirely consumed by her rage, balling her paws into fists and biting down on her lower lip to the point of almost breaking the skin. "THAT'S IT!" The incensed tiger decked the delusional Panda directly in the face sending him flying through the adjacent wall, where Master Shifu was preparing to unleash his attack. The tiny Red Pandas eye's widened in terror at the approaching 400lb mound of fur. Luckily Master Crane managed to swoop down from the cupboard and grab his master before he was crushed under Po's girth.

The panda woke to extreme pain in his nose as if it had been broken. As his eye's adjusted he caught sight of Master Tigress kneeling by his side with a look of worry in her eye's and Shifu looming over him in his usual irritated manner as the rest of the Five looked on. "Wha…What happened?" "You were sleep walking again. Luckily the damage is repairable…" Shifu coldly explained as Po rubbed the sleep from his eye's and nursed his injured muzzle. "Ow! What happened to my nose?!" "Uh that's kinda my fault Po." Tigress tried her best to conceal her concern as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Your fault, what did you do to me?" "Well…I might have gotten a little carried away and well…knocked you out." The tiger tried her best to conceal the fact she'd enabled her rage to get the better of her. "Pssh, a little carried away, the poor guy was out for 2 hours!" Mantis quipped in his usual sarcastic tone. "Mantis watch your mouth!" Viper tried her best to shut up the insensitive insect. "2 hours…well that explains why I feel like someone threw a brick at my face. But why did you knock me out?" "You were sleep walking and thought Crane was Master Fengquan and when I confronted you…you thought I was Fung the Croc bandit and then you called me hideous." "Oh I'm sorry Tigress I didn't!…" The tiger placed her paw up to stop Po from continuing his apology. "It's alright Po, after all you were sleep walking right?" "Of course Tigress, I'd never think of you that way, your beautiful-I mean a great looking…I mean you know." The tiger looked perplexed by Po's statement. "You think I'm beautiful?" The flushed panda tried his best to cover up his feelings for her. "Well I mean in a tough as nails, hardcore kung fu master kinda way, yea." The tiger tried to grapple with Po's statement. Beautiful, no one's ever said that to me before…does he? "Now if we are all done apologizing to each other, Po and I must get ready to leave. All: "Yes master!"

Later….

The Furious Five were gathered at the Jade Palace gates preparing to say their final goodbyes to Shifu and Po as they set out on their journey to the Sacred Cave of Sorrows. "Tigress." "Yes master." "I'm placing you in charge of the Jade Palace while Po and I are away. See to it that the Valley of Peace remains safe till our return." "Of course master." Despite her apparent obedience and attention to Shifu's orders the tiger was still dwelling on Po's comment from earlier. Beautiful…he really thinks I'm actually beautiful? But that means he likes me…but why I've never treated him any different than the others…right? "No sleep walking now while your away, ok Po? I won't be there to save Master Shifu this time." Crane bowed to Po and his master as the Panda awkwardly struggled to carry a large knapsack twice his size, presumably filled with food and action figures. "Heh, you got it Crane." "You better have not taken' all my almond cookies this time." Master Monkey glared at Po, trying to read if the food thief had struck again. "I…uh…" "I'm just kidding big guy relax, you'll probably need all the energy you can get to make the trip." "Oh ha ha, you got me Monkey, take care dude. You'll be the number one prankster while I'm away." "Number one, I've always been the number one prankster Po!…But it'll be weird not having someone to play tricks on for a while." "Yeah, yeah, sure thing monkey, make sure the other's have some fun will you?" "You got it Po." Cough "Oh right, Mantis how could forget." "Forget… you were just too busy thinkin' about Tigress!" The others all looked at Mantis with disdain, while Master Tigress was clearly daydreaming about something, not catching the remark. "I uh…no of course not…I was." "Save it big guy, I'm gonna miss you. Anyways I got you somthin', figure you'll need some entertainment with Mr. grumpy over there." Mantis motioned to Shifu who was to busy talking to Master Tigress to reprimand the callous insect. He then took out what appeared to be a comic book handing it to the surprised panda. Po's jade eye's gleamed with joy as he thumb through the pages. "Oh man, oh man…this is the 2nd issue deluxe edition of The Midnight Stranger! There are only like 12 of these still in existence…Mantis how did you get this?!" The insect smirked clearly pleased with The Dragon Warriors reaction. "Ah don't worry about it man. I know some people. "Mantis this is just …I don't what to say…" "Awesome?" "Super bodaciously awesome!" "It's yours Po just be sure not to get it messed up, and be careful big guy."

"Awwww Po, I'm gonna miss you so much!" Master Viper embraced the hulking Panda, almost causing him to lose his balance due to his inadequately large knapsack. "I'll miss you to Viper." The snake examined Po's facial injury from early with a look of worry. "Now be sure to put plenty of ice on that wound and get at least eight hours of sleep and…" "Viper, ok, ok, I'll be fine don't worry, besides my nose is already feeling better." Po then turned his attention to Master Tigress who for some reason had a distant stare in her eye's. "Uh ,hey Tigress." "Oh hi Po, I'm terribly sorry about earlier." "It's a no big deal anyways I just wanted to whish you good luck with running the Jade Palace while were gone." As the Panda went to bow the tiger immediately moved forward firmly embracing him. The other masters looked on in total disbelief as Cranes beak dropped to the ground. "Tigress I…." Po could feel the mixed torrent of emotions coming on as the blood began to rush toward his face and his knees started to quiver. Despite all that had occurred in the past 48 hours he still couldn't shake the deep affection he felt for this ferocious feline. "Please come back safe Po." The tiger gently whispered into his ear, her whiskers tickling at his neck. "You uh… know I will Tigress." "Very well, Po let's be on are way." Master Shifu gestured toward the steps with Oogway's staff. Po could notice the look of sorrow in those usually vibrant amber eye's. Did Tigress truly understand how he felt for her? "Po you go on ahead as I'm sure it will take you sometime to navigate the steps. "Uh right, well… see guy's soon!" All: "Bye Po, Good luck, Take care."

"Viper, I'd like to have a word with you in private for a moment." The snake looked up at the red panda in surprise. "Me? Oh of course master." The rest of the Five went their separate way's across the Jade palace courtyard as Shifu and Viper stood beneath shade of a cherry blossom. "Viper, I need you to do something for." "Yes of course master, anything you want." "Lately I've noticed much confusion and anger in Master Tigress, she appears to be losing control over her emotions quite easily now." "I see master." "This could be very dangerous for all of us, especially Po." "But she…" "Tigers are prone to sudden changes in their personality. Given her obvious affection for The Dragon Warrior and her troubled past as an orphan I fear she could be consumed by the dark forces which dwell inside us all. I'm tasking you Viper to ensure she remains calm and controls her emotions, talk to her and offer your ear if she desires to talk about any of the problems she's experiencing." "I understand master." Viper tried her best to grapple with the gravity of the situation. "Please be sure not to mention this to Tigress, but from recent reports via the Imperial palace, I believe she may not be the last of her kind."