"I am so sorry for staying up so late." Di Tan said as he walked alongside the Dragon Warrior down the corridor leading to the guestrooms.
"Ah, don't worry about it." Po said reassuringly. "Anyone would take forever if they made that kind of mess in the kitchen."
"I honestly have no idea how that bag of flour managed to topple over." Di Tan sighed. They stopped for a moment outside the guestroom. "It was like a self-raising blizzard indoors!"
Po laughed at the joke. He grabbed the handle and stepped first into the bedroom.
"Crane, are ya nearly done with your..." He faltered when he saw Crane collapsed in a heap at the opposite side of the room, staring down at the paper in front of him. The ink pot had been knocked over, its contents splattered across the floor like black demon blood. The avian was breathing heavily, seemingly unaware that the panda had just returned.
"Crane, are you alright?"
When Crane didn't answer, a worried Po walked over to him, while a confused Di Tan remained in the doorway. Po knelt down in front of Crane, opposite the page, and waited for his friend to register his presence.
"Crane, what's wrong?"
Growing impatient despite his concern, Po reached out and placed a paw on Crane's feathered shoulder. Crane jumped, startled at the touch, and looked up for the first time. His eyes continued to stare at nothing in particular.
"Crane…" Po tried again. "What happened?"
Crane said nothing. He looked like he was in shock. Po turned his attention to the paper between them. It was covered edge to edge in thick streaks of ink.
"Woah, I don't think I've ever seen that sort of symbol before." Po scowled as he tried to make out what the image on the paper represented. Then he remembered that from his perspective it was upside down, so he carefully removed the stones that kept the paper spread out on the floor. Crane made no move to stop him as he lifted the paper and turned it the right way.
Po's blood froze and the fur on the back of his neck stood on end.
"Master Shifu!"
By the time Master Shifu, Po, Crane, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper and Emperor Xian had gathered in the main bedroom, Crane had gotten over the shock. He had insisted he was fine, but Viper still insisted on making him a cup of sweet tea. And so Crane sipped from the biggest cup Viper could find while Shifu and Xian peered intensely at the paper. Di Tan had been sent away to make sure Su wasn't left alone. Aside from Po and Crane, no-one else in the room had seen what was on the paper.
"Crane, are you sure you're alright?" Viper asked for the twenty sixth time (Crane had counted).
"I'm fine." Crane said, secretly enjoying the attention. He was about to thank her for the tea when Shifu spoke up.
"Crane, tell me again exactly what happened."
Crane sighed. He had already told his story to Po, then to the rest of his friends, then to Shifu, then to the emperor, and then to Shifu again.
"A little while after Po left to find Di Tan, I started on my calligraphy." He began. "At first, everything was normal, but then out of nowhere something started controlling my leg... and did that." Crane pointed to the paper and shivered as he remembered the terrifying incident. "When it was over, the creature from mine and Po's dream appeared and told me to look down at the paper. I did, and when I looked up again it was gone."
"At least you didn't get killed again!" Mantis tried to lighten the mood, only to receive a hiss from Viper and an uncharacteristic glare from Po.
"Master, with the utmost respect, may we please see the paper now?" Tigress requested, as curious as anyone as to what Crane had done under the influence of the strange force that had affected them for the second time since they came to the fortress.
Shifu looked at Xian, the one with the highest authority in the room. Xian nodded in consent, and Shifu turned the paper on the table so everyone could see it.
At first glance, the paper appeared to consist of a mess of black streaks, but as they gazed upon it they could make out a massive figure that could only be the creature that had attacked them earlier in the day, spearing a smaller figure through the torso with a long, narrow, cone shaped object. The smaller figure had a long tail and appeared to be wielding a pair of blades. Small streaks of black spread out from behind the smaller figure like blood spatter.
"What the hell is this?" Tigress whispered, looking thoroughly freaked out.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Crane said. "Just because I drew it doesn't mean I know what it is."
"Well, whatever made you do this must be flat out sick in the head." Tigress growled. "Bat-crap insane."
Mantis gulped as he felt a flicker of recognition at the smaller figure.
"Guys… you don't think this paper is showing the… future, do you?"
"What makes you say that?" Xian asked.
"It's just that…" Mantis gulped again. "That smaller guy looks a lot like… M-Monkey."
"That's not me." Monkey said at once. He had turned pale and grim since he had set eyes on the paper.
Shifu turned his head sharply in Monkey's direction.
"Oh really?" He asked. "If that isn't you, then who is he?"
Monkey seemed to sense Shifu's agitation, and shut up at once.
"What should we do?" Tigress asked.
"For now, we should rest for the night." Shifu said after a pause for thought. "Tomorrow, I will ask General Tujiu and Colonel Sao if anything like this has happened before. As for you all, go down to the army camp and talk to the soldiers. They might also have had strange experiences. Now go back to bad. Tomorrow may be a long day."
The students bowed and returned to their respective rooms, while Shifu and Xian remained, staring down at the paper.
"Xian, is something wrong?" Shifu asked. "You didn't look very happy when I was giving orders to my students."
"Master…" Xian said. Shifu was taken aback. Xian hadn't addressed him like that since he was a student. "Are you sure we should let Tujiu in on this?"
"Why are you reluctant? He may know something useful."
"I don't trust him."
Shifu sighed.
"I don't like him very much either, but he is the commander in chief. We have to co-operate with him if we want him to co-operate with us."
Xian leaned down, folding his arms on the table as he continued to gaze down at the paper.
"Master… do you know how Tujiu became promoted to general?"
"I have never cared much for military history. How did he get promoted?"
Xian sat down on one of the comfortable chairs.
"A long time ago, when he was still known as Colonel Heng, he was one of those in command during the War of the Southern Clans. Near the end of the war, he planned a surprise attack on the most powerful and last remaining clan. It was a complete success, and for his smart thinking he was promoted to general. Around that time, he changed his name to Tujiu because to him it was a much better name than Heng."
"What really happened?" Shifu asked.
"In order for the surprise attack to be successful, they needed someone as bait. Under the utmost secrecy, he had a small group of soldiers venture alone into enemy territory. While the enemy was busy slaughtering those men, a larger contingent ambushed them, and the enemy was defeated. But by then, only one of the men had survived. I believe you had met him. His name was Mu Zhanshi."
Mu Zhanshi. Yes, Shifu knew him alright.
"My point is, when we were interrogating him earlier he made it sound as if he actually cared about the soldiers. I don't buy a word of it."
"Do you believe what he said about the creature."
"Oh, he was telling the truth about that." Xian grunted. "Besides, once it became clear he was lying to us, he had no choice. But I have my doubts as to whether the safety of his men is one of his higher priorities. Or the safety of us, for that matter."
"Emperor Xian, he has nothing to gain from betraying us." Shifu said. "You know this."
"I do, I do!" Xian snapped in a moment of frustration. "I'm sorry, Master, I just don't know who to trust anymore… This place… is cursed. I can feel it."
"Xian…" Shifu was again taken aback, this time by himself. He hadn't addressed Xian like this for decades. "It's going to be alright. If it's any consolation, you can certainly trust me and my students. And Di Tan."
"What about Su?" Xian cracked a smile for the first time.
"Yes, you can certainly trust her. And if it helps, we will keep an eye on Tujiu. See if he is indeed not to be trusted."
"Thank you, Master Shifu."
"It's our duty to serve you. Now why don't you get some sleep? It has been a long day."
The next morning, there had been momentary panic in the guestrooms when everyone woke up and discovered that Su was not in her bed. At least until Mantis found a note on the bed explaining that she had gone to the kitchen to help Di Tan with breakfast. Shifu had also left with Emperor Xian to ask Tujiu about the strange happenings in the fortress.
"Oh thank goodness!" Viper gasped in relief after Mantis had read the note out loud. Out of everyone in the Jade Palace, she was the most fond of the young girl. No surprise there. "It's a good thing she had the sense to let us know where she was!"
"Man, I'm hungry." Po rubbed his large white belly. "What do you say we try out Su's cooking before we head down to the army camp?"
"Po, we have orders from Shifu." Tigress replied firmly, though she herself thought she could do with a plate of tofu. Or noodles.
"Come on, Tigress? What harm can a few minutes do?" Mantis asked. "Let's get some breakfast before we go, I'm starving!"
Tigress was about to protest when she heard Monkey's stomach rumble. She sighed.
"Alright, fine. We'll have five minutes. Whether we finish or not, we're gone."
That was what she said, but when they all travelled down to the kitchen and had a taste of Di Tan's famous noodles, every single one of them asked for seconds before they had even finished their first.
"Hey, where's Su?" Po asked as he lowered his spoon into the soup. "I thought she was with you?"
"Oh, she's just gone to take some soup to Master Eagle Jr. She's such a lovely young girl. You're lucky to have her in your palace."
"Yeah, we've started playing a lot more games since she came." Po grinned. "Did you know that during our first game of hide and seek, she did what none of us had ever achieved before and found Mantis in thirty seconds?"
"I never knew." Di Tan chuckled as Mantis scowled. "How did she do it?"
"Well, after the game she explained that she simply used what we call 'logic'." Po said. "You see, if Mantis didn't expect to be found for a long time, then he would be somewhere where he would be relatively comfortable. Also, the game was being playing during lunch time, so he would be somewhere where there was food. Finally, since he was a good jumper and hiders are often caught out by the tiny sounds they make, he would be somewhere where it would be difficult for the seeker to hear him."
"So where did she find him?"
"She found me in Monkey's almond cookie jar." Mantis grumbled.
Di Tan burst out laughing, but then suddenly stopped. "She figured all that out by herself?"
"How did we not know that kid was a genius?" Tigress muttered. "Po, you've dropped a bean bun on the floor."
"Oh, sorry." Po reached down and picked it up. He opened his mouth to consume it, but then spotted Tigress still looking at him. He quickly shut his mouth and set the bun down on a napkin.
"You're not going to eat it?" Tigress asked in surprise.
"Five second rule, remember?" Po said simply, and spent the rest of breakfast eating with his mouth closed. He waited until his mouth was no longer full before speaking again. "Hey, shouldn't Su be back by now?"
"You're right." Tigress looked up from her near-empty bowl. "Do you think one of us should look for her?"
"No need, here she comes." Di Tan had just spotted the young panda entering the room. "Hey, Su!" Po waved cheerfully as she approached the table. "Here, have my fourth helping, I haven't started on it yet!"
"Thank you." Su said quietly as she took her seat.
"How's the knee?" Viper asked.
"It's okay."
"What took you so long?" Tigress asked. "We were starting to get worried." When Su didn't answer, she frowned. "Su, are you okay?"
"Oh, it's nothing!" Su said quickly, her mood changing from dark to bright in milliseconds, and grabbed her spoon to start eating.
Silently agreeing that they would never understand children, Po and the others went back to finishing their bowls.
Po satisfyingly patted his stomach.
"So, shall we head down to the army camp?"
"Oh can I come with you?" Su cried excitedly. "I've never been to an army camp before!"
The others were a little taken aback by her sudden eagerness, but Po replied; "Sure, why not? Remember to wrap up warm, it's cold out!"
"Po, hang on a sec!" Crane said. "Have you forgotten what happened yesterday?"
"Crane, she'll be fine." Po said, suppressing a little shiver as he remembered how close he had come to getting his head crushed like a grape. "As long as she stays with us and inside the camp, what harm can come to her?"
Crane grumbled.
"He's been moody since he lost his hat." Mantis whispered in Monkey's eyes, and both of them chuckled to themselves.
Once Viper had slithered in the protective coat Princess Haoxin had made for her and procured a warm coat for Su, the warriors made their way down the gentle slope that led down from the fortress to the army camp. The army camp consisted of a half mile of tents with a capacity of three hundred and sixty six soldiers, ten medics and two cooks. At the far west side of the camp was a large wooden building that had been built on the same week as the army's arrival, where weapons and other supplies were stored.
Po grimaced as he saw the full size of the camp. Interrogating the soldiers would take all day.
He was right. By sunset they were down to the last five men. The three hundred and sixty three soldiers, nine medics and one cook they had already asked had not experienced any supernatural activity during their stay in the Himalayas.
As Viper and Crane questioned the remaining men, Tigress suddenly felt Su gripping her pants leg tightly.
"Su?" Tigress looked down and saw Su's frightened expression.
"He's still there."
"Who?" Tigress knelt down so she was more Su's level.
"Mr. Sao."
Tigress looked up sharply. She saw a familiar fox standing by a tent. He spotted her looking at him and walked away.
"Su, is he the reason why you took so long coming back?" Tigress whispered furiously. Su nodded.
"He was following me all the way to Mr. Eagle's room." She said. "On my way back, he stopped me and asked me how I was doing. I said I was fine, and then he started asking me some questions."
"What sort of questions?" Po demanded. He had been listening in.
"He was asking me about what I saw when I fell through that secret passage, and about what I was reading in the library, and what parts of the fortress I saw." Su said. "I didn't think anything of it, but then he started asking me about my family, and how life at the palace was like. He even asked me where my parents live. In the end I started getting uncomfortable and left. He's been following some more ever since."
"Su, wait here with the others." Tigress stood up and along with Po strode through the camp. On both sides soldiers were wandering about, gripping their weapons tightly, obviously tense. And what with dozens of soldiers dead, who wouldn't be.
They caught Sao at the edge of the camp debriefing a pair of patrolmen.
"Masters Po and Tigress." Sao exclaimed pleasantly after dismissing the two men. "What a lovely-"
"Cut the crap, why are you following Su?" Tigress growled.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Su told us about your little interrogation this morning, so I think you do." Po said angrily.
"General Tujiu put you up to this, didn't he?" Tigress said. "What does he want with Su?"
"I don't know." Sao snapped, giving up all pretense. "He just asked me to find out what the girl had found out during her stay here!"
"Well cut it out!" Po snapped back. "You're scaring her!"
"Well I had no intention of scaring her. And if you want to know what the general wants with the girl, then you'll have to take it up with-"
BOOM!
Another cliffhanger. Aren't I cruel?
Also, have you read the latest update on kung fu panda 3?