Okay...Chapter 7 was a doozy not gonna deny it. We take a break from Po and his issues for a moment as we take a look back in the Valley of Peace. Enjoy the read.

Chapter 8

The Mission

Once Po and Brycen made it back to the House on the Mountain top, Brycen had Hua make Po an early dinner of some dumplings which Po, for the first time since Brycen had known him, barely even touched. However, once Po had finished his meal Oogway had walked into the house and handed Brycen the pouch of Seeds. Brycen then led Po to the panda's room and instructed the boy to meditate, to clear his mind…after about an hour Brycen handed Po one of the Jujube seeds and placed the pouch into one of the drawers the panda was using. After bidding his student good night Brycen left the room to return to the living room where Hua was serving Oogway some tea as she also poured a cup for her husband.

For a long time no one said anything. The day certainly did not go the way they had hoped it would, but regardless Brycen was praying that the seeds would allow Po to get the much needed sleep he needed. After a few minutes Brycen looked up at Oogway and asked. "So what will you do now Master?" as Oogway stared ahead for a moment in silence. He then said as he looked at the Black Bear, "I believe I will remain in the Village for a few days, to make sure the boy will be fine…And then I believe I will return to the Jade Palace…And what of you Master Brycen?" as the turtle took another sip of his tea. "What is the next step of the Boy's training?" Brycen looked down at his tea as he pondered the question for a moment. Just when he was about to answer though, a sound caught his ear. It was snoring… Brycen and the others turned towards the hall the sounds were coming from and a smile crept across Brycen's face. Oogway saw this as he too smiled, the boy was finally sleeping peacefully it seemed.

Brycen then turned to Oogway and said in a bit more cheerful tone. "Well…assuming we can make it through the night without Po waking to those nightmares and the boy is properly rested…I believe I will begin to teach him my grandfather's technique…" Oogway looked ahead as he muttered "Ah…You refer to the Razor Rebound…yes that will be rather useful to the boy…But why have you not shown him it yet?" Brycen then answered "Because Master, if the boy is to learn it, it will require all of the boy's focus and concentration…something the lack of sleep has been depriving him lately." Oogway smiled as he nodded his head "Of course…well…I believe I have taken up enough of your time. Give my best to the boy, and thank you for the tea my dear." As Oogway stood and began to leave. Brycen then asked. "Do you have a place to stay the night Master Oogway?" Oogway smiled as he said "Of course I do Brycen…the village has an inn of course." Brycen wanted to offer Oogway a place to stay, but they just simply didn't have the room and Brycen wasn't about to offer Master Oogway the couch or to sleep in the Dojo…not when he could sleep in a nice bed.

Brycen walked Oogway to the edge of the property and once they said their goodbyes Brycen began to head back to the house. Once he was about to head inside Jing had appeared from around the corner and said "Hey Dad! Where's Po?" Brycen then turned to his son saying "He's in your boy's room sleeping, I don't want you to disturb him for the rest of the day Jing, Po needs his sleep, you understand?" Jing looked up at his dad his eyes showing worry "Is Po gonna be alright dad? Is he gonna…you know…" Jing hinted towards what happened the night before as Brycen merely smiled placing his paw on the cubs shoulder. "No son, I think tonight is going to be a good night for us all. Now go wash up for dinner." As Brycen opened the door for his son and the two entered the house. As Brycen entered the kitchen he said to Hua as he leaned forward wraping his arms around her waist, "Tomorrow I want the boy to wake up on his own, so no one is to wake him until he's ready." Hua nodded her head saying as she turned to look at her husband "I think that's a good idea dear." As the bears then sat down to dinner, all the while Brycen kept glancing down the hallway, every once in a while making out the sounds of Po's snoring.

The Next Morning at the Jade Palace…

Master Shifu was meditating at the base of the Sacred Peach tree. It was a beautiful day in the Valley as the gentle breeze blew all around the Master as he continued to breathe in the summer air when something caught his attention. As the Master focused, his ear twitched as he noticed the sound of flapping wings. Opening his eyes, Shifu stood up and turned to face the approaching visitor. It was the Palace Messenger Zhang, in his yellow servant's uniform as he made his way over to Master Shifu, his messenger's bag slung over his shoulder.

As the goose landed he bowed before the great Master as he greeted him saying "Good morning Master Shifu, I bring you urgent news!" Shifu became serious as he asked "What is it Zhang?" As the goose reached into his messenger bag and withdrew a scroll handing it to the Master saying "It's a message from the Masters of the Iron Temple in the Northern Mountains sir, here." Shifu took the scroll and sure enough, he saw the crest of the Iron Temple inscribed on the outside. Without delay Shifu unrolled the scroll and began to read.

Dear Master Shifu,

Greetings Master, I am Master Ming of the Iron Temple and it is with great regret that I must ask for your help. The Village that I have sworn to protect has been invaded by a large group of bandits lately. And although up until now I have managed to keep things under control on my own, with regrettably, help from an untrustworthy source on one occasion, I find that I am slowly losing this battle for control of my village. Normally my Master would be able to assist me in this matter, but Master Kai is away at this time, and will not return to the mountains for several weeks. I have sent messages to the closer Kung Fu temples but have not heard back from some of them and the ones I have heard from are unable to send help.

Please Master Shifu, I require assistance. Until now, the Bandits have remained away from the village during the day, but I fear it is only a matter of time before this too changes. Please send help, for my village and the people I have sworn to protect, are in danger.

Wishing you good fortune,

Master Ming of the Iron Temple…

As Shifu finished reading he began to ponder for a moment. "I have already sent Masters Viper, Mantis, and Crane to the south to help with a similar problem. The only ones left in the palace would be Monkey and Tigress…hmmm" as Shifu continued to think he came to a decision "Perhaps this new Mission is exactly what Tigress needs. Certainly it will help distract her if nothing else. Plus both she and Monkey have been around Master Ming before, so working together with her shouldn't be that difficult…very well then…"

As Shifu looked up from the scroll he said to Zhang. "Zhang, I want you to bring Masters Monkey and Tigress to me at once, Monkey should be in the training hall by now and as for Tigress, I believe she has left already to go into the village." Zhang bowed to the master as he said "Right away Master Shifu." as the Goose flew off towards the training hall, While Shifu turned to gaze down upon the Valley.

Down in the Village center…

Tigress was waving farewell to Mr. Ping as she began to walk up the Village streets towards the Palace. It was late morning and many people were bustling about the streets. Children were out playing, while the older kids around Tigress's own age were merely walking around enjoying the final month of the summer break. In a few weeks the new school term would begin and Tigress along with the Five would be beginning their final year of schooling. But it also meant that in just a few more weeks, Po would be returning to them and the thought of seeing the panda's happy face once again after all this time brought a smile to her face. "As much as I love being able to spend my days training away…I can't wait to see that panda once again."

Tigress stopped dead in her tracks…did she really just put Po above her love for training? As she pondered this, the sound of some flapping wings caught her attention, as she looked up to see Zhang, the palace messenger, flying towards her. As the goose neared her she called out. "Zhang!? Is everything alright?" Once the goose landed he looked up at the tiger and said "Master Tigress, Master Shifu just received an urgent message from another village and is requesting yours and Master Monkey's presence at once!" Tigress nodded as she dropped onto all fours and began to sprint down the street, carefully avoiding any pedestrians as she made her way up the Palace steps with Zhang flying close behind her.

Once Tigress reached the palace gates she was met by Master Shifu and Monkey as they turned to watch her approach them "What seems to be the problem Master Shifu?" Tigress asked as she bowed to her Master. Monkey then took his place next to Tigress as Shifu explained. "I have just received word from a Master of the Iron Temple explaining that a rather large Bandit problem has occurred in the Northern Mountains." Both Tigress and Monkey listened intently as Shifu continued. "You are both familiar with one of the Masters of the Iron Temple, Master Ming…" At this Monkey smiled as he remembered the day of the tournament, where he may have lost to Ming, but he won himself a date in the end. Tigress however merely remembered her as an obstacle to get past in order to fight with the Dragon Warrior…who still had not shown himself once this entire summer. "Surely his shoulder wound would be fine by now…unless it just ended up killing him in the end…" As Tigress returned her focus to her Master.

"The two of you are to take a patrol of guards and travel to the Northern Mountains and arrive in the Village. There you will meet up with Master Ming and together you will bring these bandits to justice before the situation gets any worse. You will be leaving the Docks at sunset where a ship will be taking you straight to the Mountains, until then you are to pack and rest for the journey. Tigress and Monkey both bowed saying "Yes Master Shifu." as the two Masters headed off to the barracks. Shifu then turned to Zhang. "Zhang, I want you to report to the Captain of the village guard and have him provide us with a patrol of guards for Tigress and Monkey to take with them to the Mountains at once." Zhang bowed his head saying "Right away Master Shifu." as the goose once again flew off in the direction of the village.

In the Student Barracks…

Tigress was in her room packing her travel pack for the trip, as she packed three of her vests and three pairs of pants, along with a few smaller amenities. Her eyes then went to her nightstand, as she looked at her action figure of Po. She immediately picked it up and smiled at it for a moment as she looked at the toy panda's face. She then decided to place the figure in her bag. Normally she wouldn't bring something that wouldn't be useful on a mission like this…but she couldn't just put it back. as Tigress stared at the action figure, a thought occurred to her.

"I'm already going to be up north…maybe…maybe once Monkey and I take care of this mission…we can send the guards home and Monkey and I can just go a ways west and visit Po! It shouldn't be that far from the mountains. According to Mr. Ping…I'd imagine maybe a two…possibly three day journey?" As Tigress thought about the possibility of seeing her friend again more and more she grew a smile. She could pull this off. All she really had to do was convince Monkey. After all, if he returned to the Palace without her, then not only would she probably get scolded by Master Shifu…but she might also not ever be allowed to leave on another mission for quite some time…"Still…how hard could it be to convince Monkey? He's Po's friend too right? I'm sure he'd like to visit him too." As the Tiger tied her bag shut coming to a decision, as she left her room and headed for the kitchen to have the chef prepare them some lunch and a meal for them to take on the boat with them that night. But not before stopping in Vipers room quickly to leave a note, asking Viper that once she got back, to check in on Mr. Ping from time to time while Tigress was away. After all, even if she was going on a mission, she still had a promise to keep to Po.

Meanwhile…in the Hall of Heroes

Shifu was standing before the reflecting Pool as Zhang reported in saying "Master, the Captain of the village guard has agreed to send a group of five guards along with the other Masters to the village to assist with these Bandits." Shifu nodded his head in approval saying "Very good. Thank you Zhang, you are dismissed." The young goose bowed before the Master and left the Hall. Once alone Shifu released a sigh saying to himself "I hope that Tigress will be able to focus on this mission…perhaps a change of scenery will do her some good…after all, she goes down to that Noodle shop nearly every day, it's no wonder she misses that Panda so much, being in that restaurant all the time…No this will be good for her, I am certain of it." And with that, Shifu sat down and began to meditate. "Inner peace…Inner peace…Inner peace…"

So Tigress and Monkey are gonna be making their way to the Northern Mountains. Master Kai is away? So...he wasn't around when Ming met up with the Dragon Warrior? interesting. We next return to the Mountains to see just if Po was able to sleep well or not, and whether or not Brycen will begin to train him in the art of the Razor Rebound...

Thanks for reading...Remember,

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