After splitting up from Jian, Yuè tracked several leads to a small restaurant called 'Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu'. The wolf stood outside the open courtyard and seating area of the establishment in bewilderment, "This 'Dragon Warrior' is a chef? *sigh* This guy better be one hell of a warrior." he said walking into the nearly full restaurant.
Yuè was approached by a small goose with a nervous, forced smile on his face. Yuè could tell he was afraid of him, most likely because he was a wolf. "H-hello and w-welcome to 'Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu'. My na-name is Ping *gulp* and I'll be showing y-you to your-your table." the goose stuttered. Yuè gave him a toothy grin, showing his fangs, "Lead the way." he said following the goose to his seat.
Once he was seated Ping handed him a menu with a shaky hand. Yuè turned it away, "No thanks. I got some recommendations for this place when I got here and they said to try some 'Secret Ingrediant Soup'. Must really be somethin', huh?" he said ordering his meal. "G-great choice sir. I'll be right back with your order." Ping said as he almost ran back to the kitchen. Yuè chuckled at this and began to look down in thought. 'I wonder who this 'Dragon Warrior' guy is. I heard of him from the incident in Gong Men and all I've heard since were rumors. Who is this guy? What kind of animal is he? Is he really that strong?'
Yuè's thought were interrupted by the clink of a bowl landing on the table. He looked up to see his soup and a terrified Mr. Ping staring at him. "Umm...not to pry, b-but you seem to have a lot on your mind." the goose said carefully. Yuè looked up at him and played it off with another toothy smile, "Yeah. Actually I'm thinking about this guy I'm looking for. Suppose to be in this valley matter of fact." he said as he took his chopsticks and dug into the soup.
The moment the food touched his tongue it took all his willpower to restrain himself from howling as loud as he could. He then began to ravenously devour the soup right in front of Mr. Ping, who looked on in bewilderment and pride. Putting down the bowl of the halfway finished soup, Yuè spoke with his mouth full, "Mhmm. For a grascher you really know how to make schomethin' outta nothin'. *gulp* The one thing that could make this better is if was served with a roasted duck or goose." Mr. Ping looked at the lupine trembling with fear at the comment. Yuè began to laugh and slammed his hand jokingly on the gooses back, nearly knocking him over, "Kidding! I'm kidding! But seriously, this is some amazing soup."
A wave of relief washed over Ping. As he began making his way back to his kitchen he was stopped by Yuè, "Hey! Before you go I need to ask you a question." he said flagging down the bird. Mr. Ping walked back to the table, "What do you need to know?" he asked. "You know where this 'Dragon Warrior' guy is? He's who I'm lookin' for." Yuè inquired. A wave of apprehension washed over Mr. Ping, "Are you a friend of his?" he countered, asking a question to get more out of the mysterious wolf. "Yeah. We met during his excursion in Gong Men city."
Mr. Ping was taken aback by this. "Are you that 'Wolf Boss' person I've heard about!? No way am I letting you anywhere near my son after what you did!" Yuè was surprised by the small goose's reaction, 'Son?' he thought, "No way! That guy had one eye. I've obviously got two." he pointed out as he pointed at his eyes.
Mr. Ping observed the wolf's eyes. One was a shiny gold and the other was a Jade green. "How do I know you didn't just steal someone else's eye?" Mr. Ping countered. Yuè scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed, "I'm sure that's impossible. Look sir, I'm not here to cause your son any harm. I just need to talk to him about something. Do you know where I could find him?"
Mr. Ping looked the wolf over once again. Observing the scars on his body and weapons on his belt and back. Yuè noticed this and smiled, "This stuff? I'm a traveler. Gotta have somethin' to protect me on those dangerous roads." Ping gave in, "Well, I guess I could trust you. He's usually at the Jade Palace. The building overlooking the valley." Yuè stood from his seat and bowed respectfully, "Thank you." he said as he dropped some gold on the table and made his way to the palace.
After several minutes of walking and going up a large set of stairs he made it to his destination. He entered through the two large red, wooden doors into what looked like a training yard. In the yard he saw several warriors sparring, a monkey with golden brown fur, a crane with white feathers wearing a large paddy hat, a yellow-green scaled snake with lotus flowers on her head, a female tiger whom he lingered his eyes on, a small red panda with a walking staff, and a large panda.
They all stopped to see the intruder that interrupted their training, "Who are you and what are you doing here?!" demanded the red panda. Yuè reached to his belt and brandished his Tekko-Kagi in each hand. With a toothy grin on his face he spoke, "Which of you is the 'Dragon Warrior'? I gotta talk to you about somethin'." They all stared at him in silence, testing his patience. "So, who's the 'Dragon Warrior,?" Yuè asked once again as his patience started to wear thin. The six warriors all stood in silence at the intruder. A silence began to fill the air of the training yard as the old red panda stepped forward, "Who are you and what do you want with the Dragon Warrior?" he demanded. Yuè looked down at the man and began to grin, "I'm just lookin' for him so I can have a little chat with 'em. Why? Are you the Dragon Warrior?" he asked innocently.
The old panda spoke up once again, "I am Master Shifu, and I am the Dragon Warrior. What is it that you have to say?" he declared earning a quizzical look from the wolf. "Wait, you?" Yuè asked pointing a finger at the Grandmaster, "Nuh Uhn, you can't be him. I just spoke with his dad and you're way too old to be the guy I'm lookin' for." he said as he looked around at the other warriors. His gaze fixed on the tiger in the yard standing beside the monkey. "Honestly, I'm kinda hoping it's the hot tiger chick. Unless you're just the pretty one. I mean, that works for me." he said with a flirtatious voice, earning a scowl and a loud growl from the tiger.
"So again I ask. Who's the Dragon Warrior?!" he asked, this time shouting and clenching his fists around his bladed claws. This time the crane stepped forward, "My name is Crane, and I'm the Dragon Warrior." he said proudly with a serious look on his face. Yuè chuckled, "Now that, I believe." he said as he began to step closer to the group of warriors across from him. As he stopped several feet in front of the warriors and bowed to them. Yuè looked up to see them looking at him in confusion, he spoke up, "What? You guys don't bow before fights?" At the mention of fighting all the warriors got into their fighting stances. Before they could move Yuè stopped them, "No. Just me and the Dragon Warrior. I'm sure you've got enough honor to respect my decision, right?" In outrage the tiger yelled, "Respect your decision?! You came to our temple to fight us!" Yuè laughed at this, "No I came for him." he said gesturing towards Crane, "But if you want I could 'come' for you." he said in a more flirty tone. Before the tiger could lung at him she was stopped by a staff blocking her path, "Let them fight Tigress." Shifu commanded as she moved back to his side. "Tigress huh? Cute name. Don't worry, shouldn't take too long." Yuè said as he winked at Tigress.
The wolf and the crane both took their place in the center of the sparring yard. A toothy grin stretched across Yuè's muzzle as he bounced with anticipation. "Crane. Are you sure you want to go through with this? That guy looks tough." called the panda from behind. "There's no backing out now Po. Besides, I can take this guy." Crane said, eager to get rid of the intruder.
"Alright! Let's do this!" Yuè shouted as he got into an improvised stance. Crane looked down at the wolf in confusion. Before he could move the wolf lunged at him at full speed, bladed claws pointed at the bird. Crane took off in the air just as Yuè reached where he was last standing. The confused wolf looked toward the air to see his target hovering ten feet above him, "Using your flight to your advantage, huh? Clever. But not clever enough." he said just before he jumped in the air matching Crane's altitude.
Before Crane could dodge Yuè grabbed his leg with his jaws and pulled him back to the ground. He let go of Crane and backed up to let his opponent get up. Crane stood up and examined the wolf standing before him. Yuè was standing straight up in the more traditional wolf style stance, his hood down allowing Crane to see his grizzled fur and scar.
'He's tougher than I thought. I shouldn't have let that weird stance throw me off.' he thought as he glared at his opponent. Without warning Crane once again took flight but this time lower to the ground. Yuè still wielding his Tekko-Kagi slashed towards his wing in a diagonal arc, hoping to clip his feathers and disable his flight. Crane saw this and turned sideways to avoid it and moved behind him. Before Yuè could turn around he was knocked to his chest with a heavy gust of wind, his weapons falling from his hands and out of his current reach.
Rolling onto his back Yuè looked up at the bird and smiled, "That's the Dragon Warrior I heard about! Finally gettin' serious!" he shout in excitement as he stood up and got back into his stance. "Let's do this right." he growled as he took off toward Crane. As he closed in Yuè jumped forward in a flying kick toward Crane. Crane dodged to the side and led up with his own kick aimed at the side of Yuè's face. The wolf was struck and fell to the side, recovering with a sideways roll to face the Dragon Warrior.
When he got back to his feet he jumped forward and punched Crane in the side of his head, sending him to the ground. Feeling hindered he took off his cloak, being left with only his leather padded vest for protection.
Before Crane could get back up he was grabbed by the top of his head and slammed back into the ground. "That's it? One punch and you're out? Some Dragon Warrior. Guess you're just good for your bounty." Yuè said as he reached for a small blade on his belt. "Relax birdie. You'll be in dreamtown before you know it." he said as the blade came closer to Crane's neck.
"STOP!" yelled a voice from behind. Yuè turned to see the panda called Po glaring at him with clenched fists. "Got somethin' to say grazer?" he taunted. "I'm the Dragon Warrior!" Po said sternly.
And that's the end of another chapter. Yuè is really seeming bad. Will he believe Po, or take Crane? See in the next chapter :)