I am very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY sorry for this delay, courtesy of a hectic first week back at college coupled with severe writer's block.
Anyway, here's my latest chapter. Read and Review. I hope it was worth the wait.
Po frowned and turned his head to look at the food cart. However, before he could become suspicious, Shifu suddenly called from up ahead.
"The clearing is secure. We will rest here for the night."
"Awesome." Po turned away from the cart and quickened his pace. Not only was he exhausted, he was starving.
"You know, Dragon Warrior, I'm a little curious." Master Eagle Junior said as Po made to pass him, forcing the panda to slow down again. "How did you know so much about the incident we discussed just now?"
"I'm a big fan of nearly every Kung Fu master that ever existed." Po replied. "You probably remember that your dad was one of the masters involved in the battle against the attempted usurpers."
"I do."
"Well, being a big fan like I said, I decided to look up all I knew about Master Eagle. I eventually came across a tad bit involving the fire, and being curious I decided to ask my dad. It was weeks before I could persuade him to tell me."
"How come your father knew so much?" Eagle Jr. said.
"His dad had been trading noodles in the Imperial City when the fire happened. Luckily he was one of the survivors."
"Ah, I see." Eagle Jr. said, then looked up ahead and noticed that Crane and Monkey had passed them with the food cart.. "I think we're lagging behind. Shall we catch up?"
"Yeah."
Po and Eagle Jr. quickened their pace and rejoined the others who had already gathered in the clearing.
"Po, glad you could join us." Shifu said sourly, evidently still in a bad mood from his earlier argument with Emperor Xian. "You may get the bean buns out while we set up camp. And do not eat anything until we've all got a plate."
"Yes, Master Shifu." Po said and headed over to the cart while Eagle Jr. headed over to Emperor Xian.
"Your highness, shall I scout ahead?"
"You may."
Eagle Jr. bowed and then took off.
Meanwhile, Po was leaning over the food cart, pushing crates and bags aside as he searched for the elusive bean buns. After two seconds, he realized that he had eaten the last of them two days ago. After Shifu had explicitly told him not to on pain of death.
"Oh heck." He muttered.
"Is something wrong, Po?" A voice asked to his left.
Po jumped and turned his head to face Tigress, who had suddenly appeared right in front of him.
"Tigress! Oh-er... nothing! Nothing!" He exclaimed.
"Is this what you're looking for?"
Po blinked as the feline held up a small basket full of fresh buns.
"How did you..." He began.
"I figured you wouldn't be able to resist them, so I got an extra batch from Di Tan." She said with a smirk.
Darn. How come Po couldn't be that cunning?
"Thanks, Tigress." Po muttered sheepishly, and took the basket. He was stopped from turning round by a striped paw suddenly grabbing his arm.
"Did you hear something?" Tigress's eyes were narrowed into slits.
Po didn't answer at first, his eyes focused on the warm paw still gripping his wrist.
"Po!"
"Huh? No, I didn't hear anything. Did you?"
"I thought I heard someone sneeze."
"Probably Monkey. He's got hayfever."
"It came from the cart."
"It might be Mantis. You know he can't resist the sesame cookies."
"Hey!"
Po suddenly felt a light pressure on his shoulder, and turned his head to see the mentioned bug glaring at him.
"Okay, so it's not Mantis." Po said. "Are you sure it was a sneeze?"
"Pretty sure." Tigress peered at the cart.
"Yeah, I heard it too." Said Mantis.
"You don't think there's someone in there, do you?" Po asked.
"I don't see how..."
"Okay, then let's check it out. Better to be safe than sorry." Po leaned back over the cart and lifted one of the smalls sacks that contained the apples...
"Hey!" A sudden impatient shout from Shifu made him freeze. "Hurry up with those bean buns!"
"Shifu, we think there may be-"
"I don't want your excuses, panda! Get over here!"
Shifu hadn't called Po 'panda' in a while, so he quickly dropped the sack, retrieved the basket of bean buns and rushed back to the campfire that had already been lit. Tigress gave the food cart a look before following him.
"Master..." She did not sit down with the others along with Po and Mantis. "I have a feeling that we're not alone out here."
"What do you mean?" Shifu asked.
Tigress opened her mouth to reply... and that was when Master Eagle Jr. suddenly flew in out of nowhere, landing in the middle of the clearing in an explosion of dry dirt.
"Master Eagle Jr!" Emperor Xian let out a cry out surprise upon the eagle's startling reappearance. "What..."
He stopped when he saw the aged goose in one of Eagle Jr.'s large talons (Eagle Jr. like the other men in his family, was larger than the average eagle.), panting and gasping and looking like he had flown a thousand miles.
"Di Tan?!" Shifu leapt up from his lotus position. The others looked equally startled. "What in god's name..."
"I found him flying in the direction of our camp like his life depended on it." Eagle Jr. said. "He was very out of breath, but he was able to tell me what he was doing out here."
"Well, what is he doing here?" Shifu demanded irritably. "This is a serious inconvenience!"
"Something hasn't happened to the Jade Palace, has there?" Tigress asked anxiously.
"I think it would make more sense if he told you himself." Eagle Jr. said. "And trust me when I say that you are not going to believe this."
Xian knelt down beside Di Tan, who was lying face down on the ground gasping for breath.
"He looks like he's going to pass out." Xian said worriedly, gently placing a large paw on Di Tan's heaving back. "Is he alright?"
"He's alright, your highness. Like I said, he just needs to get his breath back."
"All the same, I'd like to have him taken care of." He turned to the seven Jade Palace warriors observing the scene. "Do any of you have medical experience?"
"I do." Viper slithered forward, but then Di Tan held out a wing, stopping her in her tracks.
"No need... for that..." He wheezed. "Hang on a mo'..." Very slowly, he got to his feet, with a little assistance from Xian and Shifu. After another few minutes of huffing and puffing, he adjusted his rice hat and started speaking.
"Sorry about that." He said.
"Di Tan, what the heck are you doing here?" Xian demanded, his concern now replaced with worried anger. "Do you know how close we are to the Himalayas?"
"Yes, I do, which is why I wish that I had gotten to you sooner."
"Why? Has something happened at the Jade Palace?" Shifu asked. "Or has something happened in Jinzhou?"
"No and no." Di Tan said. "Pipe down and I'll explain..."
With a deep scowl, Xian and Shifu fell silent.
"You see, I was relaxing with my family as already planned when a messenger goose from the Valley of Peace going by the name of Zeng suddenly turned up at our doorstep."
"And why did this messenger goose named Zeng turn up at your doorstep?" Xian asked.
"Because he was hoping to catch you in Jinzhou, before you began your journey to the Himalayas. Unfortunately he arrived a few days too late."
"You mean he was trying to reach us?" Shifu asked in mild surprise. "But why are you here and not him?"
"By the time he reached Jinzhou he was twice as exhausted as I had been just now. Besides, when I learned from him what the emergency was, I took it upon myself to get the message to you myself. By the time Zeng managed to regain his strength you would have been halfway into the mountains."
"What is this emergency?" Xian asked, beginning to get a little impatient.
"I'm getting to that." Di Tan said. "The reason why Zeng was looking for you was because Mr. Ping sent him."
"My dad sent him?" Po asked in surprise. "Why?"
"Because a little while after you left, he discovered a note in his noodle shop."
"And?" Xian asked with a frown.
"And what?"
"Who wrote the note?!"
"Don't you want to know what was written in the note first?"
"Oh for crying out, will you just tell us what is going on?!" Shifu snapped.
"You: don't talk to my chef like that." Xian moved his finger from Shifu to Mantis and then Di Tan. "You: wipe that smirk off your face. You: get to the bloody point!"
"Oh yes, I'm sorry." Di Tan said. "The note said that someone is very upset at the way she was being treated concerning the situation, and has decided to take matters into her own hands."
Shifu raised his eyebrows.
"And who wrote this note."
"You know her. The little girl named Su."
The clearing suddenly became deathly silent. Only the crackle of the fire could be heard.
Out of everyone present, Shifu's reaction was the strongest. His eyes widened and his mouth fell half open.
No, she wouldn't... he thought. She didn't, did she?
"Su!" He barked, making everyone else jump. "Come out here!"
For a few seconds, nothing happened, and Shifu felt a twinge of relief... Mr. Ping had been mistaken... Su had surely been out playing for longer than he had expected... but then he heard a rustle coming from the food cart. Everyone turned and stared at the little panda girl who looked very sheepish as she poked her head out of the pile of sacks.
"Su!" Tigress exclaimed in utter shock before striding over and lifting the child from the pile. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I ought to ask you the same thing!" Su retorted, looking uncharacteristically defiant as the striped feline set her down on the ground. Shifu stepped forward, alarm giving way to anger.
"Su, what is this?!" He demanded. "Why did you disobey me?!"
"Shifu, calm down." Po spoke up. "She's just a kid."
"That is exactly why I am angry, panda, so stay out of this!" Shifu shot him a look. "Su, what in god's name are you thinking?"
"And just what were you thinking, claiming that this was none of my concern?" Su shot back, not intimidated in the slightest.
"This is none of your concern!" Shifu replied angrily. "This is an extremely dangerous mission and you are just a little girl!"
"I may be a little girl, but I still have every right to know what is going on here!" Su said. "And you had no right to keep this from me!"
"That doesn't excuse the fact that this was a foolish, reckless, and downright stupid thing to do, and-" Shifu stopped. "Were you seriously hiding in that cart all this time?"
"Yeah, I was!" Su replied, as Po walked over to the food cart and indeed found that two of the food crates that had been buried deep in the pile were completely empty. He also noticed a small pile of bottles that looked very full, and picked one up curiously. "I didn't even get out to pee! Don't drink that."
Po quickly flung away the bottle.
"But that is beside the point!" Su turned back to Shifu, her small paws on her hips.
Shifu opened his mouth to retort, but hesitated for a millisecond; despite his outrage he was inwardly shocked that such a young girl could keep up an argument with him without the slightest fear, a feat very few children and even fewer adults were capable of.
"Su, understand that-"
"No, you understand!" Su snapped. Po and Shifu's other students stifled gasps of shock that Su would dare to interrupt their master like that. "I know I disobeyed you, and I know that I'm probably gonna get in big trouble later, but I wouldn't have done this if you and the other grown-ups were just honest with me from the start!"
"Su, what in the devil's name are you talking about?!" Shifu demanded.
"You should know, you came all this way to-"
Su suddenly stopped when she saw the distant mountains over Shifu's shoulder. She stifled a gasp and her angry expression faded.
"W-wait!" She stammered. "Th-this isn't Shidao!"
"Of course it's not, you silly girl!" Shifu retorted. "This is the Himalayas! We're not even in China anymore!"
He was about to scold her some more when Su suddenly burst into tears.
'S-Su?" Viper quickly slithered up next to the small girl.
"I-I'm sorry!" Su cried, her paws raised to cover her leaking eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
"So you should be." Shifu said coldly.
Viper shot him a glare as she wrapped her tail around Su's shoulders.
"Su, calm down." Viper's words did nothing to soothe the child. "What's wrong?"
"I-I made a mistake!" Su whimpered. "I never should have come! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you meant these mountains!"
"What on earth made you think I was talking about-" Shifu stopped as he was hit by a sudden suspicion. "Su... exactly how much of our conversation in the kitchen did you hear?"
"A-a bit about something h-happening in some m-mountains half way across China." Su sniffled, unable to look Shifu in the eye. "Then I heard someone m-mention the Temple of Heroes, and... and..." Su hiccuped.
"You thought we were talking about your village." Shifu stated, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"I thought something had happened to my mommy and daddy and you weren't telling me!" Su wailed and sank to her knees, slipping out of Viper's tail in the process, and continued to cry her eyes out.
Shifu stared down at her with a variety of mixed emotions, ranging from pity at seeing the child so miserable, to mild displeasure that he still felt from her insubordination, to shock at her reason for doing so. He eventually settled on an emotion: shame. He should never have been so quick to scold her, and here she was, weeping over a misunderstanding that could have been so easily cleared.
Shifu took a deep breath, knelt down next to Su, and put a hand on her quivering shoulder. She looked up, her gorgeous dark blue eyes narrowed in shame.
"Su, stop your tears. " He said, the anger in his voice now gone, replaced with a gentleness rare even to himself. "It's alright."
"B-but I disobeyed you!" Su sniffled.
"And you had a good reason for doing so..." Shifu replied. "Even if it did turn out to be a misunderstanding."
Su wiped away her tears with the bottom of her vest, though she still continued to look miserable.
"Master Shifu... I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Shifu said. "If it's anyone's fault, it's ours."
This made Su look up.
"W-what?"
"If we had paid more attention to you back in the Valley of Peace, we would have found out sooner that you had misunderstood, and this never would have happened." Shifu said. "For that, we apologize."
Su stared at the elderly master.
"But..." She hesitated. "But I'm the one who stowed away."
"Su, it's okay." To the surprise of everyone, it was Monkey who stepped forward and put a hand on Su's other shoulder. "You... you were just worried for your family."
Xian bit his lip.
"But now I'm gonna get in the way of your mission!" Su cried. "I mean, I can't just walk all the back to the Valley of Peace."
"I could carry her back myself." Eagle Jr. said.
"Absolutely not!" Viper replied. "Su is scared to death of heights. The journey would terrify her."
"In that case, our only option is to allow her to accompany us for the rest of the journey." Xian said with a sigh. "I'm not happy about it either, but it's our only option."
"But what if I get in the way?" Su asked.
"As long as you do as you are told from now on, I don't think that will be a problem." Shifu said. "Besides, once we reach the fortress we can arrange a small traveling party to take you back home. That is, if the Emperor will allow it."
"Permission granted." Xian said. "The sooner she is placed out of danger, the better."
At that moment, Po let out a huge yawn. Everyone gave him a look, and Su let out a small giggle as the panda chuckled back sheepishly.
"As Po so clearly pointed out, it's getting late." Shifu stated. "Once dinner is finished, we will retreat to our tents for the night."
Everyone nodded in agreement and minutes later, everyone was circled around the campfire digging in to their beanbuns.
In the midst of the late night meal, Su, who was sitting in between Shifu and Tigress and still looking slightly upset, hesitated before gently tugging on Shifu's sleeve.
"What is it, child?"
"Um... I'm a little scared." Su said quietly. "From what I overheard in the kitchen, it sounds like something really bad is happened out there."
Shifu decided not to contradict her. She was far too intelligent for that.
"Yes, there is a serious problem. Nothing my students and I can't handle and nothing for you to worry about."
"But..."
"Don't worry." Shifu put a finger on her lips, shushing her. "We have trained for decades to combat threats like this. We are more than prepared for whatever is behind the situation in the Himalayas."
But were they really?
Here you are. Again, sorry for the delay. To make up for it, I'll start the next one as soon as possible. Just so you know, the next chapter will find our heroes finally in the 'Abode of Snow'. Finally.