Hey-yo, still alive. Sorry, I've been super busy lately...and, umm...sorry? So, next chapter. These are kinda short, but they're adapted to be kinda like the movies, as a reviewer pointed out. Which reminds me...thank you to all who reviewed! :D Make sure to keep doing so. Hope you guys like, and leave a comment, helpful, nice, or simple. Please?
Two: Revelations
Grey or blue. Maybe silver.
Po couldn't tell if what color her eyes were, which was mainly what his first question was when he saw the person sitting in front of him.
"Po, this is Cunzai and Skylea." Shifu gestured to first the male black panther and then to the female panda.
Yes, you read that correctly, though Po couldn't believe he was seeing things right.
For a moment, everyone except Shifu froze and gawked. According to what Po had told them, he was the only surviving bear of his kind; so why was there another panda sitting there calmly and sipping tea like she could of been some kind of ordinary bunny or pig?
Ordinary definitely wasn't the right way to describe her. For one, she was, well, skinny, not as slim as Tigress but not round enough to be pudgy. A curly tuft of black fur covered her right eye, and small pair of silver hoop earrings adorned her ears, ears that were rounder and bigger than Po's. In fact, the only similarity between her and the Dragon Warrior was their fur color and pattern. Even her nose was more delicate.
Strapped to her back were two criss-crossing katanas, and her clothing consisted of a layered silver-and-blue patterned, loose-fitting kimono, and she also had on a pair of black pants on because of the weather. When she stood, she seemed taller than Po at first glance, but in reality she was around two inches shorter.
"Pleasure to meet you all," She said, bowing in due respect though her voice was authoritative and yet amiable. "As your Master has already announced, I am Skylea and this is Master Cunzai."
Tigress narrowed her eyes as Master Cunzai stood, then she blinked in surprise. He couldn't be a panther-he was an absolute giant of a big cat, a full head and shoulders taller than Po, with an intimidatingly fit build and strange tattoos on his uncovered arms and back; red fire-breathing dragons on both forearms and some kind of silver bird etched in flames from his shoulders to the middle of his spine. His eyes were a strange mix of apple-green and golden, a rim of brown around his pupils. The white pants and crimson sash he had on were wrinkled and torn and muddied, as if he'd been on a long journey, or maybe a recent fight, though none of the faint scars he had were new.
Tigress suddenly wondered why on earth she was able to notice those tiny kind of details, so instead she concentrated on keeping her expression stoic.
"It's an honor," He said softly, but his voice was strong and unreadable.
"No, he's not a panther, in case any of you judged beforehand, just some kind of freak tiger mutation," Skylea smirked jokingly. Strangely, Cunzai wasn't offended...maybe he was used to her teasing. All he did was exhale out of his nose in hidden frustration.
The South Chinese tigress snapped out of her musings and glanced at Po, who's mouth was in a straight line, green eyes about to pop out in shock.
"Oh-okay, umm," He began, closing his eyes slowly and wringing his paws. "Can...can I have an explanation, uh, please?"
Skylea and Cunzai both shared a sympathetic look. "Of course, though...you might want to sit down." said Cunzai. "It's a...long story."
"You must be Po Ping, the Dragon Warrior," Skylea asked gently. Po shrugged.
"Um, yeah, and as far as I know, err, knew, I was the only...only panda left." He tried to sound nonchalant, but the emotion behind his voice was easy to pick out. He swallowed and looked up from the floorboards. "H-how...?"
"Has the idea ever crossed your mind that maybe others had escaped Lord Shen as well, Master Po?" Skylea implored.
"Uh, well, I tried not to think about that," he answered faintly, "I didn't want to get my hopes up, you know?"
"I understand," she shook her head sadly and then pushed her bangs out of her face. "But you can hope now. A few of our species did survive...we fled to the barren northern part of China, close to Mongolia. Trust me, it was hard. A few friends, allies," at this she stole a glance at Cunzai, "helped us through the difficulties, and we've got a new home, a small little village, unknown and hidden in a paradise among the mountains."
The Dragon Warrior's eyes zoned out into a different world of imaginings, of dreams that he'd thought couldn't of been true.
"At least, it was a paradise," Skylea's mood turned dark, tone sour. "But the pandas are being persecuted again. Our town's leader had a vision recently...that our village would be destroyed once more, and that our only hope was a warrior of black and white...a lone survivor cut off from his people. And that this survivor, this warrior, was...was his son."
They watched Po's face go through a series of different moods until finally he could breathe again. "So...he..he sent you after me?"
"His best fighters," Cunzai affirmed. "The only two in the village who can fight, if you want the truth."
"Well, actually, he just sent me," Skylea butted in, "But Cunzai decided to offer his assistance, which meant I had to drag his sorry hide over half of China behind me. I mean, I can't believe he's even allowed to live in the town-"
Cunzai rolled his eyes, obviously having been through this argument before. "It took us quite a while. We didn't even know if Leader Ares's vision was true, or that Shen had been defeated-we only found that out after having gone through very dangerous, secretive routes to avoid him and then somehow we saw a poster announcing your victory over that evil peacock."
"Why now?" Po blurted out, "Why did my father send after me this late? Why not when I was still a cub?"
"Because he thought Shen had gotten to you first," Skylea grit her teeth in anger, but not towards the fellow panda. "He had no shred of proof that his son was alive, and now he does, and he needs you."
Silver-blue. Po decided that's what color they were. A perfect blend of both hues. Like ice over an azure lake.
Slowly he pulled himself out of her intense stare and looked at Master Shifu, who was speaking. "So, the pandas are in danger again?"
"Yes," informed Cunzai, "A weapon-master, a wolf by the name of Pard. We don't know if he wants to finish what Shen started, or exploit the land we have, but he is rising against us, and you, Dragon Warrior, are our only hope."
Po's mind had been made up after the first sentence Skylea had spoken. "I'll do it."
"We'll, do it." Tigress corrected, and the rest grinned and nodded in ready agreement.
Skylea tossed Master Tigress a furtive, criticizing glance, as if discerning any kind of ulterior motive for the feline to accompany them. "It is your Master's choice-"
"I'll stay and look after the valley," Shifu answered without missing a beat. "They will go, if you'll have them."
"We need all the help we can get." Cunzai murmured, but Skylea's attention still seemed uneasily fixated on Tigress.
"We move on tomorrow. I have a friend waiting for us with supplies a few miles from here." She scowled slightly, then bowed once more once they'd followed her out the door to the chilly winter afternoon. Her bitterness disappeared when she saw Po's anxious look, and she smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Master Po. We'll get there sooner than you'd think."
"Thanks," He chuckled nervously as the two exited, Cunzai calling out behind his shoulder that they'd be resting in an inn down at the village before following her precariously down the icy steps until they became silhouettes on the glazing red-orange disk of a sun melting below the horizon.
"We better get ready," Viper said excitedly. "I can't wait until tomorrow!"
"Neither can I," Po muttered distantly, turning away from the sunset and to the Student Barracks, and then slowly some of his cheerfulness returned, face breaking out in a grin.
"This better be a short night."
"Oh, wow. Nice house." Mei-Ling said in playful sarcasm, nudging at the side of the unsturdy, small ship with one foot. The boat swayed slightly in the lazy river, lilting to starboard, and one of the already rotting wooden spokes of the helm snapped in half and dove to the grimy deck.
"Hey, this isn't mine," Hulong raised both his paws innocently. "It's my friends', so you can save the disgust for them later."
Mei-Ling giggled even though she didn't want too. "So, how long until they come back?"
"Oh, two days at the most," He grumbled, dumping the sack of food into the water craft beside a few weapons and a barrel of water. "I still don't get why you have to watch me-it's not like I'm going to attack any villages at random."
"Or is it?" Mei-Ling sighed, sitting next to the churning river and dipping one foot in the freezing, numbing liquid. She let the water bite, let her blood ice over and her nerves dull until she couldn't take the pain anymore and she drew her leg out, massaging her calf. "No one can trust you anymore, Spotty, so I'm going to have to babysit you, whether you like it or not."
"Spotty," Hulong mimicked, wrinkling his nose at the name. "Seriously?"
"Just get a fire going already." Mei-Ling sighed, kneading the feeling back into her foot and walking over to the sack of food. "I'll see what we can cook for dinner."
"Why do I have to start the fire?" The fellow cat complained, searching around for wood or scraps of timber.
"Would you rather try and make something good out of some bean paste and rice?"
Hulong found the rest of the firewood without protest.
"You failed again,"
Failed...
Failed him...
"Did you honestly believe you'd prevail against me, kitty?"
She watched him walk around her, watched him circle her as he had three months ago on the wooden bridge, in this exact scene. She could see herself, curled in a defenseless position, arms around her bowed head. From far away, looking over the glow of the furnaces and the haze of the boiling metal, Tigress stared at herself in frozen silence.
She didn't turn to see the gaping, torn hole in the wall across the room where Po had been blasted both three months ago and two minutes ago. All she did was watch as the rest of her friends were finally either knocked out or in a gorilla's grasp. Shen's taunting words reached her ears even though she was hovering too high for her to possibly hear every sneering word so perfectly.
"I was expecting more of a challenge," He sighed at the tragedy. "But now, the greatest Masters in all of China have not been able to prevent the death of their precious panda warrior."
Tigress couldn't turn away when a gorilla marched up and grabbed her other self, the bold, hardcore warrioress crumbling to absolute numbness and not even giving a protestant growl when she was lifted and shackled and pushed once more to her knees in front of the peacock lord.
"And they will not be able to stop the death of Kung Fu, either."
He brought down the shaft of his lance and Tigress woke up panting in fear, skull ringing with a terrible headache.