Good Enough Food

theIt was supposed to be simple. A small village reported an unknown people off the coast of China. Po was assigned to go investigate and as the panda's feet tapped the floorboards of the ship, he impatiently waited for some sign of land other than the one he was familiar with. "I can't wait for this! Exploring! This is awesome!"

"I would calm yourself, Po," Master Shifu reminded him. "Reports about this village were... unsettling."

"What do you mean?"

"They mentioned something about a bizarre culture that is on this island. I just hope we're not dealing with cannibals," Shifu murmured.

"Wait! Like they eat people!"

"These might be rumors," Shifu calmed. "Either way, the Emperor seemed very urgent about making contact with these people." The red panda rubbed his beard, staring into the wooden hull. They stood along the railing of the ship's side. Shifu pressed his back against the wood while he pensively thought. As the ship's speed sailed through the waters, Po sat next to his former master. The slap of the waters against the ship and the quiet wind gust helped Shifu notice the relative silence.

He looked up at Po. The giant panda held a raised crest for his eyebrows. He was worried.

Why?

"Is something wrong, Po?"

"Nothing it's just... whenever we have stuff like this happen, I get nervous."

"About?"

"If I'm ready," Po sighed, "We've had so much happen in the past few years. And most of the time, I have no idea what I'm doing."

Shifu smiled softly. "You're not the only one. When I trained you, I had a very faint idea of how I was going to do it."

"You... you were winging it?"

"Not... entirely."

"But a huge part of it?" Po asked.

"That's beside the point," Shifu quickly said. "Incompetence doesn't mean you can't learn. Your ability and skill at learning is what made you the most adaptable person I know. You never give up," Shifu smiled. "And that has made all the difference in the world."

"Wow, thanks Shifu," Po smiled bashfully, though it soon disappeared. "I'm still nervous about this place. I mean, do they even know how we talk?"

"The reports suggested so. We'll just have to-"

"LAND HO!"

The shout came from the crow's nest. Po and Shifu stood at the edge and saw the misty island coming in view. Two large gentle hills governed by grass and trees broke the horizon on the island's sides. Smoke slowly rose from the heart of the small isle. There was something on the landmass. They just didn't know what. "The beach looks shallow enough to land," Shifu commented, "We should be able to dock there."

Po gave a large sigh. "Here we go."

"Don't worry, Po. You're not alone."

"Yeah, yeah," Po smiled, though he didn't feel much better.

The crew docked the ship on the shallow beach. Po and Shifu jumped onto the fine sand, surveying the land. One of the crew members, a stork, softly landed a feet next to them. "The weather seems to be changing a bit, but we should be able to leave tomorrow."

"Thank you, Captain Fei-Xing," Shifu replied anxiously. He looked over to the large panda. Po nodded and the two walked into the forest.

The forest was only dense on the outskirts of the island. Inside the forest formed a spacious canopy for Po and Shifu to see a couple of yards ahead. The forest was vast but seemed odd. "Does it feel like this forest was... planted?"

"What makes you say that?" Shifu asked.

"I don't know... Just feel like the trees are too... orderly," Po replied. Shifu silently thought about the panda's words. At least he tried, but each step made another crunch that made the hairs on Shifu's ears twitch. "Master Shifu, what's wrong?"

"If these people are hostile to outsiders, we don't want them to hear us," Shifu muttered. "But the leaves are everywhere."

"What if we use the trees?" Po suggested, climbing up one of the jungle logs.

"Po, I don't think-"

Snap!

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!"

POOOOFFF!

"Ow."

"Who's there!" Called a voice.

"There goes surprise," Shifu muttered. Po rose up from the ground, finding a pointy rock tied to a stick facing him. Before the panda stood a small well-dressed ferret in a deep red robe with a light tan undergarment. Po couldn't tell. He could tell that the ferret looked on the skinny side, much skinnier than a ferret should be.

"Uhhh hello."

"Who are you?" The ferret asked cautiously.

"We're uh... visitors?" Po grinned nervously. Shifu groaned, facepalming himself.

But the ferret dropped his spear and immediately helped Po up. "Ah! Visitors from the mainland, yes?" Po slowly nodded. "That's great! Wonderful!" The ferret smiled grandly. "My name is Shang Xin. You're just in time for lunch."

"We're... not lunch, right?" Po point-blank asked.

"What?! No, no, of course not. We're not cannibals," Shang Xin laughed.

"Is something a liar would say," Shifu muttered to himself. "I am Master Shifu and this is Po. We're actually... ambassadors."

"We are?" Po asked. Shifu forcefully nudged his elbow into the panda's side. "OWW! I mean, yeah we are!"

The ferret's eyes dazzled as he picked up his spear. "From the Emperor himself?!"

"Well uh-"

"I'lll be talk of the town! Ha! Now, I can die in peace!" The ferret grinned excitedly, rubbing his hands together. He would've looked like Po hatching a plan if he grinned a bit wider. Po and Shifu stared at each other but said nothing. "Come, come, please. Let me show you to our village before I retire."

"Re... retire?" Po asked.

"Oh don't worry about that," Smiled the ferret. Shang Xin took them deeper into the heart of the island. As the tree branches cleared before them, Po and Shifu saw a massive village in a depression right in the middle of the island. Huts, brick houses, and paved lanes were everywhere as a busy village bustled about. Ducks, geese, pigs, and lambs worked around the happy village while children played in the streets. But the children, upon seeing Shang Xin, bowed and parted ways.

"Are you a noble here, Shang Xin?" Shifu asked.

"Oh no, no. Much more important than that. I am a chef!"

"Oh, you cook?" Po asked.

"Of course!" The ferret answered excitedly, grinning with hungry teeth. "It is the very nature of my bones." Looking around, Po noticed something strange about some of the people, but he didn't say much. As they approached his earthen hut, a delectable smell reached the two warriors' noses. "Ah, smell that? That is my new concoction."

"It... it smells like Lo Main, but... stronger."

"Exactly!" Shang Xin grinned wider. Then his grin turned south when he saw someone near the window of his hut. He hissed loudly, "Hey! Get away from my house, you cheater!" A little black goose scurried away for cover before Shang Xin could say anymore. "That little wretch is going to pay for that."

"I'm... guessing the cooking competitions are fierce here," Po lightly joked, but the ferret wasn't laughing.

"My friend, cooking is life here. Chefs are treated with high respect here. We are the very life of this village's vitality."

"Okay, okay, geez," Po muttered. "I didn't think I would see a place where my dad's attitude to food was law," He whispered to Shifu.

The red panda slightly glared, though not at Po. "I'm not sure it's quite that simple." He scanned the ferret's form, but said nothing else until they were inside the earthen hut. A few windows and large racks of pots, pans, and food lined the hut's interior, and a cauldron boiled in the back. The ferret pulled its contents out with a wooden ladle and sampled it.

"Mmm. It's almost perfect."

"It smells perfect already," Po said.

"Ah, ah, but it isn't. The sourness hasn't completely gone out yet. Just one more second and..." He tasted the soup again. "AH! There it is!" He quickly took the spear he had and pulled the flaming firewood out from underneath the pot.

"What are you doing!" Po exclaimed as he and Shifu stomped out the fire. "Aren't you worried about your house catching fire?!"

"Ah, I can build a new hut, but I can't make the exact same food twice," Shang Xin tasted the food. "Mmm, there we go. It is ready." He placed a lid over the top and sighed into a seat. "Sorry about my... dramatic behavior. We're very serious about our cooking here."

"I see," Shifu said.

"I feel," Po muttered, rubbing the ash off of his foot. "Soooo, can we have some food?"

"Po."

"Of course!" Shang Xin smiled. The two were offered bowls and scooped up their food. They tasted it.

Shifu's eyes lit up. "This... this is the best food I've ever eaten."

"Yeah! This is almost better than the Lo main my dad makes," Po smiled.

Meanwhile, in the Valley of Peace, Mr. Ping was stirring the pot when he suddenly started sniffling and crying. "What's wrong?" Li Shan asked, who was working with Mr. Ping.

"For some reason, my heart feels broken," Mr. Ping teared up. The big panda was quietly confused.

Po and Shifu finished their food rather quickly, but Po looked into the pot and saw very little was left. "Uhhh, you... wouldn't happen to have more, would you?"

"Ah no, I'm sorry," Shang Xin sighed, "We here focus on smaller portions. That way, we can perfect our craft."

"Is... that why you're... uhh... so skinny?" Po asked timidly.

The ferret smiled warmly. "I don't eat very much. It's a small price to pay for trying to perfect a skill such as cooking. I don't eat until my food is perfect."

"And if it's ruined?" Shifu asked.

"Then I start again. Sometimes I don't eat until two days."

"Two days!" Po exclaimed. "But that... that's 48 hours without food!"

"It's a small price to pay for perfecting my skill," The ferret replied.

Shifu looked towards the window, finding the light starting to fade. "It's getting late. We should get back to the boat."

"Please, sleep here. I have another room to the side for guests such as yourself," Shang Xin said. The ferret took the two out of the hut house and into a big brick house with two stories.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Po commented.

"Ah, it's the minor luxury," Shang Xin smiled. "One that I fear I won't have for long."

"You... don't look that old, Shang Xin. Yet you keep speaking of retiring and... I can't help but wonder if this is more than just...a figure of speech," Shifu said. He wasn't wrong. At most Shang Xin looked about the same age as Mr. Ping.

The ferret smiled wider. "Oh, don't worry about my words, friends. I assure you I'm fine."

"So wait, what was that house you had with the food?"

"The cookhouse, of course."

"Right, of course," Po muttered. He gave Shifu a confused look. How were they supposed to know that?

After that, Shang Xin showed them to their room.

The sun sunk quickly over the horizon. Po looked up at the wooden ceiling, tossing and turning in bed. "You're awake?" Shifu said from his coffin-like position.

"Oh, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright. I was awake too," Shifu replied. He rose up and walked over to the window. He saw a small light flickering from Shang Xin's cookhouse. "Looks like our host is up late working."

"This... doesn't feel right," Po mentioned. "I mean, I know that it's important to do your best with stuff, but doesn't this feel a little-"

"Overkill?" Shifu finished, stroking his beard. "Yes, I was thinking the same. Even when I overtrained the Furious Five, I regretted my decision," He paused. "This doesn't seem like a simple obsession though."

The silence stuck to Po's bones. The darkness of the room didn't help ease his anxiety. It forced Po to speak. "You know, I couldn't help but notice that some of the villagers here were really really skinny."

"Those might be the cooks."

"But the rest of the village look fine. And... they don't look... fat."

Shifu rose an eyebrow. "Why would they be-"

"You don't think it's weird that a place of cooks trying to compete to be the best cook on the island doesn't have more rotund people?"

Though a bit blunt, Shifu had to agree with the panda. "Then why are the people normal and the cooks starving?"

"Maybe all of them are just as 'out there' as Shang Xin."

Shifu smiled a bit. "That's probably the reason for the reports." He frowned a bit. "But that's only half the story."

"I know, I know," Po yawned.

"Let's get some rest. Maybe the answer will come to us later," Shifu replied.

The next day, the sun shone brightly through the window, waking Po up from his fitful sleep. "You're up?" Shifu asked.

"Yeah," Po grumbled, "How long have you been up?"

"About ten minutes."

Po scratched the back of his head with a yawn. "Why?"

"Because I don't think Shang Xin has slept all night," Shifu pointed to the window where Po saw the ferret busily cooking up another batch of food.

"Geez, these guys are serious about their cooking. Maybe I should send my dad here for a vacation," Po said.

Shifu rose his eyebrow, folding his hands together, "How is a competition relaxing?"

"What does Tigress do to relax? Train," Po bluntly said.

Shifu made a purposeful cough. "Fair point."

Po saw a mass of people heading towards what looked like the village center. Shang Xin carefully took his pot with him and followed the crowd. "Looks like there's a cooking competition going on. Come on!" Po and Shifu followed the crowd to a large outdoor arena where several people stood on the platform with large pots. The steam and scent coming from each told the two warriors that this was a competition of some kind. The crowd was packed into the arena. Ten judges stood on the stage to sample the food. The younger cooks nervously bit their lips, clacked their knees together, or darted their eyes around the place. "Shang Xin doesn't look nervous," Po noticed.

"I figured."

"I mean, the younger guys are sweating bullets," Po clarified. Sure enough, Shifu could see the younger chefs gripping their pots like their lives depended on it. The judges went through each dish and convened.

Po bounced on his feet, waiting for the vote. "I hope Shang Xin wins."

"Excuse me," Shifu asked a small goat nearby, "What is this competition about?"

"Oh, the chefs come together and make their best dish. The top five of the chefs are deemed the winners." There were twenty chefs in all.

"Huh, that's a weird way of doing a cook-off," Po said. "What do they win?"

"Nothing other than having the title of being one of the greatest chefs of the island," Replied the villager.

Po and Shifu glanced at each other. This didn't seem like the ordinary competition.

Just then, the judges came back and declared the winners. "Mrs. Mao! Mr. Ju Xin! Mrs. Ling! Mr. Roshen! And... Mr. Bao!"

"Aww man, Shang Xin didn't win," Po sighed. But the panda quickly saw the other contestants fly off the stage in a rage and sobbing fit. Shang Xin took a deep breath and calmly stepped off the stage. "Whoa, some people can't bear to lose."

"I... I'm not sure if that's the reason here," Shifu muttered.

The crowd slowly dispersed, though some of them managed to grab bits and pieces of the winners' dishes. Of course, Po ate all of them. "Mmm, this is good."

"Come on, Po. We should get back to Shang Xin to make sure he's okay."

"You're Shang Xin's guests?" Asked one of the winners; Mrs. Mao. Shifu nodded. The young female bunny frowned. "I'm so sorry for your loss. If you need to stay at my house, you're invited to come."

"Wait, what do you mean loss?" Shifu asked.

"Shang Xin was a great chef. He's probably the longest running chef we got. Well... before now."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go. I must find another dish to perfect." The bunny left the warriors with no other help.

"We need to get to Shang Xin," Shifu said. Po nodded.

They walked into the house Shang Xin owned. As they opened the door, there before them stood a horror neither of them were prepared for.

"Shang Xin!" Po rushed to the ferret's side. The ferret had blood all over his body from the knife embedded into his stomach. The same one used for his cooking. Po gently held the ferret's head up. "Shang Xin! Wha-"

"I'm... I'm sorry friends," He said weakly. "I couldn't win this one. But... it's okay."

"Who did this to you?" Shifu asked.

The ferret laughed and coughed up the blood, "Myself. I forgot to tell you. If the chefs do not win this annual tournament of ours, our dishes die with us. None but the finest food shall survive."

"So... all the chefs that lost-" Po trailed off.

"Some won't die. Some will go into exile," Shang Xin coughed. Blood spilled from his mouth to his fur, "Others will do worse than I did. It is tradition."

"But... but,"

"That reminds me. Please, throw out my food," Shang Xin weakly pointed to the pot that had a few scraps left. "Might... as well... throw away... the trash."

"But, your food is great!"

"Not... good enough," The ferret said softly. "Thank you, friends. I hope you... liked... the food."

"Shang Xin? Shang Xin!" The ferret's head dropped in Po's grasp.

The quiet raged in the house. Po watched Shang Xin's blood drip onto his hands. The ferret's heart stopped. Shifu gently closed the ferret's eyes. He looked at Po. The large panda couldn't form words. Shock, pain, disbelief. Shifu took a large sigh. It would be hard for the young warrior to recover from this.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A rhino in a black outfit came in, sighing, "I'm guessing he took his own life."

"Who... who are you?"

"I'm the person who has to bury the dead," replied the rhino. Two other rhinos came in and gingerly carried Shang Xin out on a gurney. "You are the two guests that Shang Xin took in?" They nodded. "I apologize for the... gruesomeness you had to witness. These chefs are very extreme... perfectionists. I can find you lodging if-"

"That won't be necessary," Shifu replied. "We'll be leaving today. Exactly how long has this competition been going on?"

"Many... many years," The rhino sighed.

"What will happen to Shang Xin's house and his belongings?"

"It will probably go to the next person who wants to be a chef. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You're welcomed to come to the burial."

"Where will he and the others be buried?" Shifu asked.

"We simply bury them on the outskirts of the village and plant a tree there."

Shifu's eyes widened as he looked at Po who held the same horror. "So... those trees... the forest-"

"Are all chefs who didn't make their food good enough," The rhino closed the door behind him. Shifu looked at the panda.

Po stared at his bloodied hands as if he were still carrying Shang Xin. Po's body froze. Shang Xin's dying smile was etched into his skull. He stood up and walked to the water. He tried to wash his hands. Gritting his teeth, he washed them again and again, rougher and rougher.

The blood stains wouldn't come out.

A hand stopped his frantic washing. Po looked at the red panda. His master slowly nodded, frowning as he pulled Po's hands away from the water.

Po looked at the pot that still had some of the ferret's food. He scooped up the food and ate it. "Shang Xin said-"

"The food... is good enough," Po firmly said. Shifu nodded and said nothing else.

They went back to the ship, sailing back to the mainland. Shifu mentioned that he'll take care of giving the Emperor the report of the island. He wanted Po to rest.

The large panda had said nothing the entirety of the trip. As they made their way back to the Jade Palace, his silence weighed heavily on Shifu's mind. Each step up the Jade Palace was a burden for Po. He walked slowly. Wearily.

When they finally got to the top of the mountain, the two pandas found their way to the kitchen. Tigress was there at the pot. Crane was sitting at the table. "Master Tigress?" Shifu called out.

"Ah, Master Shifu. Po. You're here."

"You're... cooking," Shifu stated as they sat down.

The tiger grumbled a bit. "The Furious Five have been taking turns on cooking duty. They don't seem to like my food much."

"Because you always cook very small portions," Crane explained. Tigress rolled her eyes and scooped up two bowls for Po and Shifu.

"I will admit," Tigress sighed, "It doesn't compare to Po's food. It's a little bland and-" Before she could say anything, Po and Shifu devoured each and every drop of her food to the dregs. Po slammed the bowl down, glaring at Tigress.

"It's good enough, Tigress." His face broke. He gasped and cried, shivering with each hiccup of tears streaming down his face. His head fell to the table as he wept loudly. "It's good enough." Tigress and Crane were stunned into silence while Shifu gently rubbed the weeping panda's back.

The End.

Happy Halloween

(Fei-Xing's name casually translated means flying and Shangxin's name means sad or grieved.)