It was early morning in the Valley of Peace as the sun shone brightly over the horizon. In the Jade Palace Master Shifu's students and his guest sat in the dinning hall of the student barrack eating a breakfast of baozi stuffed with bean paste. The table was quiet as everyone ate. Everyone but Yuè, who sat at the end of the table close to the exit.

During the meal he'd look up every so often to catch either Po or one of the Furious Five casting him a worried look. At one point he even saw Tigress looking his way. "Do you think he's okay?" Viper whispered to Po, who was sitting at the head of the table to her left. "I don't know. Ever since the festival he's become distant again." he answered looking at the wolf out the corner of his eye. "It's because of what Jong said, right? About his daughter." Mantis chimed in, standing on the table to the right of Viper. Po nodded, "I tried to tell him that it's a lie, but it's like he just...shutdown." Crane, sitting across from Po on the right side of the table, looked over at Yuè briefly before joining in the discussion, "Yeah, last night I heard some noises and went to investigate. It was him in the training room punching on one the wooden training posts. This morning I checked on the post and it was covered with blood and scratches." The others winced at the news.

"Hey! These aren't for decoration you know." Yuè shouted, wiggling his ears to get the point across that he heard them, "If you wanna talk s*** about someone maybe you should at least make sure they can't hear you." Po and the others gave him worried looks, "We're just worried about you." Viper said in a soft voice. Yuè stood up and slammed his hands on the table, "I didn't ask you to give a s*** about me! All I'm here for is the panda so he can help me. I don't need the rest of you!" he shouted. The table became quiet, Yuè cast agitated looks at everyone. He scoffed, "Screw this. I'll be in the training room. Don't screw with me." he said leaving the room.

In A Corridor In the Palace...

Master Shifu was making his rounds in the Jade Palace. Making sure everything was in its place and that Po hadn't broken anything important or ancient. The hall was quiet as he walked past the archives, not a sound to be heard. This type of silence was both a comfort of his and a worry. On one hand, it was a sign that everything was fine and peaceful in the palace, on the other, it could mean that something was amiss. As he reveled in the calm silence his ears twitched at a scream coming from a hall to his immediate right. He rushed into a room designated to hold ancient scrolls detailing the history of the valley. In the center he saw the source of the scream, the Jade Palace's messenger, Zeng, was being pinned to the ground by Yuè, his eyes filled with rage. "Sit still and this'll all be over soon." he snarled raising his left hand, claws unsheathed, into the air.

"Yuè stop!" commanded Master Shifu, running forward towards the goose's aid. Yuè cast him a look of uncertainty and bloodlust, "Why? This guy just comes into the palace and you want him spared? For all I know he's a thief, I'm just helping you out." he said snarling at his captive. "He's not a thief he's a messenger." Shifu reasoned. Yuè lifted his hold on Zeng and walked off, upset he missed his chance to let off some steam. Master Shifu walked over to help Zeng up, brushing dirt off his robes. "Are you okay Zeng?" he asked, the goose trembling from his brush with death. "I-I'm fine. New student of yours?" he asked with a nervous chuckle. Shifu shook his head, "No. Just a guest for now. I assume you came here because you have something to report." Zeng nodded and pulled a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Shifu.

Meanwhile In The Training Room...

"Why'd that damn Shifu have to butt in?" Yuè asked himself out loud as he furiously punched at a wooden training post, the scent of his blood on it strengthening his rage, "I haven't had any meat in days and this was my chance. B*** had to get involved." he grumbled. He struck the post with enough force that the sound of his punches rang throughout the empty room. As he struck it his knuckles became bruised and purple, several of his knuckles bleeding from the sheer force of his hits. The scent of blood once again entered his nose as he invisioned the post being Jong, blinding him with rage. His dual colored eyes tinted red and he began to punch the post with even more force. He struck the post to the point where it began to crack and splinter, pieces of wood flying from it and landing in his fur and on the ground.

With one final punch he destroyed the entire upper half of the post, splinters entering the wounds on his bleeding hands. The post landed with a loud thud that rang throughout the training room. Yuè's vision returned to normal, his eyes returning to their normal colors of gold and jade green. He panted as he stared at the shattered wood in front of him then to his hands, dripping blood and covered in splinter. "S***." he swore to himself as he started out of the room.

Yuè walked through the Jade Palace until he found the infirmary. He went into a cabinet and grabbed a roll of bandages and a bottle of antiseptic and sat down on one of the cots. Yuè unsheathed his claws again and began to pick the splinters out of his hands with them, swearing at the occasional splinter that was lodged too deeply in his hand. After removing the splinters he stared at his bloodied hands, the fur and skin torn on some of his knuckles. "Maybe I overdid it this time." he said to himself as he poured the antiseptic on the bandages and began to wrap his hands, the right one first. He hissed as the solution burned his wounds but got over it quickly, knowing he'd experienced pain worse than this in his life.

He finished wrapping his hands and looked at them, his fingers wrapped individually above the knuckle so he could still flex them or use items. He stood up and made his way to the door of the infirmary. He slid the door open to see the Five and Po rushing toward the palace exit, 'What's goin' on?' he thought to himself as he followed them.

He stopped inside the Hall of Heroes just as its large door leading to the village closed, Shifu standing in front of it. "What's happening?" he asked the elder as he walked closer. Shifu looked at Yuè's hands, seeing them bandaged before looking back at the wolf, "Some bandits are causing trouble in the valley and they're going to stop it." he answered giving Yuè a quizzical look, "What happened to your hands?" Yuè's eyes went wide and he looked to his hands before hiding them behind his legs, "Nothing. Just training too hard." he answered dismissively. Shifu gave him an unconvinced look before turning around, "Come with me. We need to talk." he said beckoning Yuè to join him.

Shifu and Yuè walked down a long corridor near the palace archives and into small room with a table in the middle of it. Yuè looked down at the table to see Mahjong tiles placed on it. He scowled at the tiles, "The tiles are in the shape of a wolf head. Is that supposed to be funny?" he asked. Shifu sat down across from him, not answering the question, "Sit. We can talk while we play." Yuè sighed before taking his seat in front of Master Shifu. "Would you like the first move?" Shifu asked, Yuè gesturing for him to go first. Shifu picked up a tile with the picture of an orchid on it and gestured for Yuè to take his turn. "I understand what you're going through." Shifu said causing Yuè to stop aburptly, "What?" he asked with hate stinging his voice. "I know what it's like to lose someone you're close to." Shifu continued. Yuè sat back in his seat, scowling at the old master, "So this is about you being worried about me?" Shifu didn't answer, he only picked up another tile, this one with the image of bamboo stalks. "So what? You lose a student or some s*** like that? Doesn't look like you suffered much of a loss." Yuè said spitefully. Shifu looked over a the wolf with a deep scowl on his face. Yuè leaned back on his chair, propping his foot on the edge of the table and draping an arm over the back of the chair, "Silent huh? That's what I thought. You have no idea what it's like to lose your kin. To lose a child." Yuè said looking off. Outraged Shifu stood up, "Yes I do!" he shouted causing Yuè to turn back, "The only reason I'm talking about this to you is because no one spoke to me about this. I know all too well what it's like to lose a child. I lost mine twice." he said looking away with his head low. Yuè looked at the old master, ears pressed against his skull,

"What was their name?" he asked. Shifu closed his eyes and breathed deeply, "His name was Tai Lung...I'm sure you've heard the story by now." Yuè looked a the red panda, mouth agape, "Damn." Yuè said, "Must've been hard for you." Shifu looked up at the wolf, now sharing common ground with him. "It was. I raised him since he was a cub. Taught him Kung Fu...only to see him use it to kill and destroy. My heart was shattered when I saw him go down that path of darkness." Shifu took his seat his eyes focused on the ground. Yuè looked at him with shameful eyes, "Isn't this s***?" Shifu looked up at the wolf, "What do you mean?" he asked, prompting Yuè to chuckle lightly, "I know all about your story of loss and you know nothing of mine." Shifu looked at him with curiosity, "You don't have to tell it if it's too painful. I'll understand." Yuè shook his head, "It's okay." he said, a painful memory flashing in his mind, "Eight years ago, I had a wife. Her name was Lilu and she was beautiful and clever and just...amazing. Sometime after we married we decided to start a family. I felt I should get out of the bounty hunting business and settle down. My daughter, Zhang Li, was born nine months later."

Yuè sighed heavily before continuing, "Lilu barely got to see her though." Shifu narrowed his eyes, "Why is that?" he asked. Yuè closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "A few minutes after Li was born Lilu became sick and wasn't strong enough...She died." A tear streaked down Yuè's face. "I was left to raise Li by my self but I had no money. So I decided to go back to bounty hunting when Li was old enough to be left by herself." Yuè looked up a Shifu with eyes clouded with grief. "Then one day after I turned in a bounty, I came home and the house was ransacked and Li was gone." Shifu began to put it all together but one thing stuck out to him. "You went to find the Dragon Warrior, to find Po. Why him? I'm sure you're a more than capable tracker." Yuè shook his head slowly, "I couldn't find her scent. The thing that make wolves such great trackers is their sense of smell. Without a scent to go on...I was useless." he said lowering his head. "So I thought since the Dragon Warrior was so good at helping people out, he'd help me out." Shifu raised an eyebrow skeptically, "So you attack him and his friends?" Yuè scratched the back of his head nervously and his ears folded back, "Heh, Yeah, sorry about that. I heard so many false claims and rumors I had to make sure he was the real deal."

Shifu sat across from Yuè with a hand stroking his mustache, thinking. "Where were you headed before you came searching for Po?" he asked. Yuè looked up at him, ears perking up in curiosity, "North to Tan Jin City. Why?" A smile creased across Shifu's face. He pulled out the scroll Zeng gave him and handed it to Yuè. The wolf carefully read through the document and his ears perked up when he finished, "This is a mission to go to Tan Jin!" Shifu nodded, "You have to let me go! I'm fine! All my wounds are fully healed!" he shouted, standing up and gesturing to his body. Shifu looked at his hands, causing Yuè to look at them also. He waved dismissively, "I'll be fine. I've had worse than messed up knuckles." Shifu nodded, "You're free to go. Just...be careful. From what you said your daughter needs you." he said with a smile. Yuè bowed graciously, "Thank you Master Shifu." he said standing up and rushing out of the room.

In The Training Barracks...

Po and the Furious Five had just gotten back from driving the bandits out of the valley an were relaxing in the dining hall. "Did you see the way I hit that one guy?" Po asked as they all discussed their victory. "Yeah. I didn't know crocs could fly." Mantis chimed in, "Into walls at least." Crane interrupted, the table being sent into a fit of laughter. "Really?" asked a voice from behind, ending their laughter. Everyone turned to see Yuè standing with his hands bandaged, a brown hooded shroud around his neck and shoulders, and in full battle attire, an assortment of bombs on his belt, a crossbow hanging from his hip, and in the place of his Tekko-Kagi, a liuyedao sheathed on his back.

They all looked at him in bewilderment, as he took a seat at the end of the table. "Well? Don't let me stop you, I wanna hear the rest too." he said gesturing for Po to continue. "Yuè, what are you doing? Why are you dressed like that?" Po asked referring to Yuè's equipment. The wolf smirked and placed a scroll on the table and slid it to the center, everyone looked at it hesitantly, "Go ahead. Crack it open and see what it says." Po grabbed the scroll and read it out loud,

'Dear Master Shifu,
We are in need if your warrior's help. The Tan Jin City is under attack by an unknown army and our people are in danger. Lord Guiren has fallen and it is a matter of time before the rest of the Province falls to this army. Please help! You're our only hope! The surrounding Provinces has already fallen to this overwhelming forces.'

Po finished reading the scroll he lowered it to see Yuè smiling brightly, "It's a distress call." Po stated. Yuè nodded his head, "Yeah, a distress call from Tan Jin City." he said emphasizing the city name. Everyone looked at him in confusion, "Why are you so happy about this? People are suffering and need our help." Tigress asked. "Because before I came here I was headed toward Tan Jin. I was going there to see of I could find my daughter there. And now I'm goin' with you guys." he said leaning back in his chair and propping his feet on the table.

Shifu entered the room, "I want you all to keep a close eye on Yuè and do everything in your power to help the people and find his daughter. We need to stop whoever this is attacking these people." Everyone nodded, "You leave tomorrow morning." he said walking out of the room. Everyone looked at Yuè, a smile still plastered across his muzzle, "So since this is gonna be a long trip and we're more than likely gonna have to setup campsites, I call bunking with Tigress." Tigress scoffed and left to make preparations to leave, the others following behind and leaving Yuè at the table. "What?! Was it something I said?!" he shouted before getting up and leaving to prepare as well.

The Next Morning...

Yuè made sure to tighten the straps on his gear, securing his belt and making sure his vest fit snugly on his body. He looked around at his virtually empty room, sort of wishing he had a possession to miss other than a bed. He turned and exited the room, stepping into the hall. Po and the Five were standing in the hall and looked at Yuè as he exited his room. "Well, let's go. My little girl needs me." he said walking forward before stopping and looking at the others, "And Tan Jin. They need us too." he amended, Po and the Furious Five leaving the palace with the wolf leading the way.