Master Shifu.
Su was having trouble sleeping, so I have taken her to the library in the hopes that she will tire out. If you need us, we'll be on the bottom floor in the fairy tales section.
Di Tan.
P.S. Don't forget to say I love you to Tigress.
Shifu quickly crumpled up the note before anyone could see it.
"It's alright." Shifu said to the others. "They've gone to the library."
"Should we go get them?" Viper asked. She had sustained no painful injuries from the explosive incident earlier that evening, but had insisted on joining Shifu, Po and Tigress so she could check up on Su. Monkey, Crane and Mantis, meanwhile, had returned to their rooms to brood and everything they had learned, while General Tujiu had returned to his study.
"Perhaps we should." Xian said, having entered the room at that moment. "Tigress needs Di Tan's tonic and it's far too late for a child to be up."
"What are you doing here, your highness?" Tigress asked. "Pardon me, but I thought you returning to your room?"
"I was." Xian replied. "But it has been a long and stressful day and I desperately need some sweet tea."
"Your highness…" Po said worriedly. "You're not really going to arrest Monkey for treason, are you?"
The emperor smiled slightly and shook his head.
"No, Dragon Warrior. I won't. Now that I know what he had been through, I'm finding it easier to forgive him. Besides, I'm more worried about what you will do to him." He looked down at Shifu, who scowled at him. "Have you considered piercing his ear with a seven talon ring?"
"Emperor, if you are referring to what happened during my demonstration in the training hall, we are going to spar like we did when you hid a stink bomb under my meditation mat!"
Xian's smirk fell and he gripped his tail protectively.
"Oh, I forgot to ask…" Po turned back to Shifu. "Master Shifu, what did General Tujiu say when you asked him about the weird happenings in this fortress?"
"He told me that neither he nor his soldiers had experienced anything strange prior to our arrival at the fortress. He was telling the truth for sure. Speaking of truths, why did you and Tigress tense up earlier? And why did you keep whatever was troubling you to yourself?"
"Forgive us, Master." Tigress said. "We were afraid that if we told you while everyone was present, it would cause a scene. And you're right, the last thing we need is to be fighting amongst ourselves."
Shifu nodded in understanding, but kept silent, indicating that he wanted her to keep talking.
"The thing is, we caught Colonel Sao spying on Su at the camp."
"What?" Shifu's ears pricked. "Are you sure of this?"
"Yeah." Po butted in. "Su told us that he had been persistently asking her personal questions earlier that day. He was scaring her so we told him to back off."
"And what did he say?" Shifu asked, anger rising within him.
"He said that if we wanted to know why he was interested in Su, we would have to take it up with the general. At that point the storage building blew up."
"I'm going to kill Tujiu." Xian snarled, fists clenching and unclenching. "I am going to kill him."
"What did he want with her?" Viper hissed furiously. Her head was turned slightly towards the door, as if she was preparing to go and confront him herself.
"I don't know, but I think it was something to do with that day when Su pointed out that he seemed to know more about the Yeti than he was letting on. He looked pretty shocked." Po said. "Maybe he thought that she had something to hide, like Monkey."
"As I thought." Shifu said. "These attacks are making him paranoid. Once Tigress has been given her tonic and Su is safely back in this room, I am going to have a word with-"
"No, Shifu." Said Xian.
"What?"
"Master Shifu, it's late enough as it is, and if that creature attacks tomorrow we will need all the strength we can get." Xian said. "Besides, he resents you. I highly doubt he will listen. However, he would be a fool to disobey me. I will confront him myself, tomorrow."
"Very, well, if you're sure…" Shifu said.
At that moment, the door opened, and in walked Di Tan and Su.
"There you are." Viper sighed in relief. "How was the library?"
"Very informative, as all libraries are." Di Tan said. "And I think Su has taken an interest in the Nepali language. She's been reading the scrolls and books none-stop!"
Su let out a silent yawn and rubbed her eyes.
"Time for bed, young lady." Shifu chuckled as Su staggered over and climbed under the covers. "Why don't we leave and give her some peace?"
They all bade Su goodnight and crept out the room.
"What's that big grin on your face, Viper?" Tigress asked slyly.
"I'm sorry." Viper sighed. "I just love Su so much. I love kids, and she reminds me so much of my youngest sister, Suki. I'm just so glad that she's okay."
"You and me both, Vi." Tigress said. When she had learned that Su had made it out of the building, her reaction had been so out of character that half the soldiers in the vicinity had stared at her like she had grown eight tails. "All the same, she had inhaled more than a little smoke. We should keep an eye on her tomorrow."
Shifu suddenly remembered why they were here.
"Di Tan, I almost forgot. Tigress's injury will not stop bleeding. Could you procure a tonic?"
"Of course." Di Tan said. "If you will just come with me to the kitchen…"
Po had known he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
However, he had not expected his bruises to throb so distractedly, making him toss and turn in his bed as Crane and Di Tan slept peacefully opposite the room. The covers twisted around him as he fidgeted.
Creak.
Po opened his eyes.
Someone was walking down the corridor. Who would still be up at this late hour?
He was about to climb out of bed when the door opened silently, and a striped feline poked her head into the room.
"Po?" She whispered in surprise. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
"Nah." Po replied, unconsciously rubbing his aching throat. "Is something wrong?"
"I can't sleep." Tigress said. "My shoulder won't stop throbbing."
"Me either." Po sighed. "My bruises, I mean. Do you want to talk outside?"
Tigress nodded, and moved away from the door as Po crept across the guest room and joined her in the corridor. Before he did so, he grabbed his winter jacket. It was a cold night.
"So what?" He said. "Are you checking up on me?"
Tigress frowned, but nodded.
"I figured with your bruises, you wouldn't be able to sleep either." She said.
"You know, my dad taught me how to brew a painkilling tea." Po said. "I think the ingredients are in the kitchen. Do you want to…"
"Have another tea party?" Tigress smirked. Po turned bright red. "Sure, why not?"
Taking care not to wake the others, Po and Tigress left the corridor and made their way down to the kitchen.
The kitchen was twice as large as that in the Jade Palace, and it took both warriors five minutes to find the right cupboard. Eventually they did, and Tigress sat down at a table with two cups while Po began brewing.
"So…" Po said after a couple of minutes of whistling. "How are you liking the Himalayas? Pretty awesome scenery, huh?"
"Too much snow for my liking." Tigress replied. "Still, you get a pretty good view from the guestroom window."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Po grinned.
"Po, I don't think this is the appropriate time for idle chit chat." Tigress said, even though she was smiling herself. "We have a monstrous killer on the loose."
"I know, I know…" Po shook his head. "But right now, we're both relaxing in the kitchen in the middle of the night, having a cup of tea together. Who knows if this will be the last time we ever have a normal conversation?"
"Good point." Tigress said, considering how she was enjoying his company a lot more in the past one and a half years. "Is that tea ready?"
"Just about. How many teaspoons of sugar do you want?" He asked.
"Just one." Tigress replied. "Any more and I'll be up all night."
"True." Po put three teaspoons into his own cup. "Tigress… have you ever killed someone before?"
Tigress stared at him, not expecting this question in the slightest.
"Excuse me?"
Po didn't reply at first. Instead he filled both cups and sat down on the table opposite the tiger.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He said.
"Every master will be forced to take the life of their enemy at least once in their life." Tigress replied grimly. She was surprised that Po of all people would ask that. "I have not been forced into that position so far. Why would you ask such a thing, Po?"
Po sipped his tea.
"You know how Shifu and the others keep talking about stopping that Yeti?' Po spoke. "Well, lately they're not just talking about defeating it. They're talking about actually killing it."
Tigress felt a pang in her chest as she realized where this was headed.
"Tigress, I know that thing is a monster and it probably deserves to die… but I'm not sure I can actually do it when the time comes." She could clearly see the troubled look in his eyes now as he stared at her, silently pleading for her to say something helpful.
"Po…"
Before she could react, Po suddenly reached out and grabbed her paw. Her eyes widened at the touch.
"Tigress, I really don't want to hear any 'I know you don't want to but you have to' speeches right now. I don't know what will happen to me if I actually kill someone, and to be honest I really don't want to!" He squeezed her paw. "All I want to know is if it would actually change anything!"
"No, it won't." Tigress looked directly into his eyes.
"How do you know?"
Tigress squeezed Po's paw in turn and placed her other paw on top of it.
"When if it comes to it, I'll do it myself."
Now it was Po's turn to widen his eyes.
She meant it. Tigress meant what she said. Or did she? All she knew was that if she could help it, she would keep Po from losing that small part of him that made him both annoying and endearing. But then again, as she had just admitted, she had never deliberately killed someone before.
"Tigress, are you sure you want to do that?"
"Yes." She said. "I don't know how I going to do it yet, but I will."
"Well, maybe with a little luck you won't have to." He said. "If the emperor decides that we should leave, then the day after tomorrow we'll be on our way out of the Himalayas."
"That's if the Yeti isn't tricking us into walking into an ambush."
There was a heavy pause.
"Tigress… how's your shoulder?" Po asked.
"Much better." Tigress patted her bandage. "That tea has done wonders."
Po yawned.
"It's getting late. What do you say we head back to bed?" he said.
"Sure. We should clean up first."
"I'll do it."
Po grabbed his cup and the teapot and headed towards the sink.
"Tigress…" Po said, his back to her. "Can I ask you something?"
"You already did, but go ahead."
"Have you noticed Shifu acting a little weird, lately?"
"You mean like Monkey?"
"No, I mean towards you."
Tigress tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
Po walked back to the table and sat down.
"Every time he looks at you, it looks like he's trying to figure something out." Po said. "And earlier today, he wouldn't stop asking if you were okay." Po peered at her thoughtfully. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trying to be more fatherly."
"Excuse me?!" Tigress said suddenly. Po blinked.
"Er…"
"Why would he try to be more fatherly?" Tigress demanded. "Especially at a time like this and when he has been nothing but my master for the last twenty years?"
"Tigress, I-"
"Next time get your facts straight before coming out with crap like that!"
Tigress decided that it was time to leave, and shot up from her seat. In the process, her hip knocked the edge of the table, sending her cup of steaming hot tea toppling onto Po's pants.
"GA-HA-HA-HA!" Po yelped and sprung to his feet, dripping from the legs down.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Tigress went from angry to mortified in zero-point-three seconds and she grabbed a towel. "Po, are you-"
"I'm fine!" Po said through clenched teeth. A huge dark stain was growing on the spot between his legs.
"Po, I'm so…"
"I gotta go before someone sees me like this!" Tigress did not miss the anger in Po's tone as he rushed from the room, leaving a trail of droplets behind him.
Tigress watched him go, her face grimacing in anguish as her paws twisted the towel between them.
Why? She thought. Why is it always me?
"What?" Tujiu said in outrage. "Master Po and Tigress caught you?"
"Actually, the girl spotted me." Said Sao. "It was my fault. I underestimated her."
"It is alright. So did I." Tujiu said. "Did you manage to get anything out of her?"
"Nothing important. Unfortunately she was one of those kids who knew not to talk to strangers."
"Damn."
"It is alright, sir. She is just a child. I doubt she knows anything she shouldn't." Sao said. "And that medallion she possessed… if it weren't for the fact that the indentation in the sarcophagus is square shaped, I'd think it may be significant somehow."
"All the same, I need to know as much about her as possible. Whether she knows too much or not, she has a brilliant mind. With training, she may even surpass Master Yao."
"Training, sir?"
"Think about it. A girl with a mind so advanced and at an impressionable age, she would be a great asset to the order if they decide to use her."
"Sir, she is a student at the Jade Palace, and very well protected against kidnapping. It may be years before the order finds an opportunity to capture her."
Tujiu chuckled icily.
"We can wait. You are dismissed."
Sao saluted him and headed for the door. Just as he opened the door, he stopped, hesitated, then turned round.
"Uh, sir…"
"Yes?" Tujiu asked irritably. He needed sleep.
"Have you seen anyone strange these past few days?"
"What do you mean strange?"
"While I was on my way to brief you, I saw this figure pass through the fork in in the corridor I was approaching. I didn't recognize him or her, so I investigated. Only the path they had gone down led to a dead end."
Tujiu's eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure you were not hallucinating?"
"Sir, you know I don't drink." Sao replied indignantly.
"That's not what I asked."
"General Tujiu, I know what I saw was real. There were even scorched footprints on the floor."
"Scorched?"
"Yes."
Tujiu rubbed his chin with a talon. He thought about Shifu's odd inquiries about supernatural happenings earlier that day. Maybe the red panda hadn't been trying to pull his leg after all.