It's my first time writing fanfics in this site, so I hope I'm doing it right.

So, I'm writing this story because I'm mad about Kung Fu Panda 4 even though I haven't even seen it yet. I'm just mad that they're trying to get rid of the Furious Five, so I wanted to write about them. This story is about how Po pondered with the five when he first moved into the palace.

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As soon as the awakening sun painted the peaceful valley with its soft colors of yellow and pink, the gong rang. It was this loud sound that the new Dragon Warrior had begun to fear every morning, like it was the greatest enemy of his life, like it was the rudest customer at his father's noodle shop, like it was the angry voice of the grandmaster himself. ..

"Wake up, Panda!" yelled the annoyed voice outside of his bedroom door, this voice was so startlingly sharp that it woke Po from his sleep world in less than a millisecond.

"I'm up!" he replied, his body still half dazed, but his mind fully awake from the alarm.

As fast as his clumsy limbs would allow, he dashed to his door, hastily pushing it open, and standing guard in front of it. His eyes immediately met the person whose room was across from his, Master Tigress, and Po was not surprised at all when he saw his idol roll her amber eyes, clearly not amused that Po hadn't gotten out of bed fast enough.

"Morning, Master Shifu," the panda said looking at the smaller red panda who was looking at him with an expression that was hard to read," Morning, guys," he then greeted his fellow students, giving them all a small smile that seemed to have a little apologetic hint in it.

He received a small smile from Master Viper, a small wave from Master Monkey, a tiny nod from Master Crane, and a small but friendly gaze from master Mantis, and again he wasn't surprised to see Master Tigress completely ignoring him, instead the Tiger Master's gaze was fixed on her master as if she was waiting for his morning instructions.

And as the panda shifted his own gaze towards his master, the old master finally began, "Since the valley has been rebuilt and there is nothing the residents need our help with, starting today, your training will start again. So, after breakfast, you will all go to the training area. The Five, your training will be conducted by Master Tigress," the look of slight fear was summoned on the faces of four members of the five, but only for a brief second before they hid it again back behind their warrior masks," The Dragon Warrior with train with me..."

"Wha...I am not training with them?" Po asked," But...why? Master, I mean...that would be so cool and..."

"And dangerous, you are not at their level yet and training with them can be dangerous for all of you. You still have a lot to learn and you won't train with them until you reach a certain level. Is it clear?"

"Yes master, but..." the words the panda wanted to say were choked in his throat when he saw that sharp look on Master Shifu's face," nothing," he said quickly," but nothing...I-It's all good," he gave the master a sheepish smile, clearly nervous of what the old red panda would do if he didn't shut his mouth.

The master sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose," Just go have breakfast, I'll wait for you all in the training areas," Shifu turned around and walked away, his heavy sigh could be heard even when he had reached the end of the corridor.

"Funny, we would have died already if we had talked back at him, he has a soft spot for you, buddy," Monkey joked as the Five and Po started to head towards the kitchen.

The kitchen table was already filled with breakfast, it was one of the many things that Po found strange about living in the palace, apparently, there were servants who cooked and cleaned daily, they were everywhere as the only places they were not allowed to enter were the Masters' quarters and the training grounds. Every morning, lunch, and evening the servants had laid the table by the time the Masters got there. Po had tried to cook one night, wanting to give the servants free time and offer his fellow students his infamous noodle soup, the servants had given him a strange look as if Po was speaking a language they didn't understand, and had continued cooking without saying anything to him. Mantis had said that this was just the way of the Jade Palace and that before too long Po would get used to it.

Maybe he can get used to the servants, but he definitely won't get used to the same food every single day.

He sighed as he looked at his bare rice porridge that he had been eating every morning for the past four days, and without having to look at the crystal ball, he knew that lunch would be steamed vegetables and rice, and dinner would be tofu with vegetables. It was the same every day, the same tastes and textures, everything the same, and even though it was only Po's fourth day as an official resident of the jade palace, he already felt like he was going crazy. "You can add berries in there," said Mantis, who had noticed the blank look of the panda, his eyes were glued to his bowl of porridge.

Po did just that, adding at least a little taste to his food," How can you guys do this every day?" he asked, pouring berries over his breakfast so that it was more berries than porridge.

"You'll get used to it after a while," Crane replied curtly, sipping his tea.

The breakfast was quiet, something that was unusual for Po, back at home, he and his father always talked and joked while eating, while the five...they sat quietly, busy with their own thoughts and activities. Mantis was reading a scroll, probably one of the thousand scrolls of Kung Fu, Monkey was playing with his spoon, moving his porridge around as if he had no appetite, Crane was lost in his thoughts, Viper was humming to herself, the sound so quiet it didn't bother anyone, but loud enough that the kitchen wasn't drowned in complete silence, and Master Tigress...had already left the kitchen as she always did.

"So...umm...what are you guys doing for training today, something cool?" Po tried to kill the silence.

"Who knows what Tigress might come up with, if we're not back for dinner then you know who was behind our deaths," Monkey said with a half smile, half seriousness.

"Is it that bad?" Po asked, suddenly very interested to hear the answer, as the idea of hearing and learning more about his greatest heroes, any information was priceless to his Kung Fu loving fanboy mind.

"She tends to overdo it when it comes to training," Crane replied simply, choosing his words carefully.

Po nodded his head slightly, he had noticed, the Tiger Master was the only one who every night when the five and Po arrived back at the palace after a long day of helping the villagers and cleaning and repairing damaged houses, didn't escape to her room to rest or did not relax by meditating, but immediately headed to the training hall and did not come out until most of the village had already fallen asleep.

When the four masters and Po had finished eating, they got up from their seats and made their way to the training grounds. The whole way the four were discussing what kind of madness would wait for them when they step inside the training grounds. They were starting to regret letting Tigress get a half hour head start. Who knows what excruciating training method the tiger had come up with during this time. Their question became answered as they approached the training area and pushed open its large wooden doors. There she was, their leader, balancing on a thin rope that was stretched taut between a pillar of the training hall and a tree.

"Oh, thank all the gods and goddesses," Mantis sighed in relief," There is no fire or thousands of arrows,"

"I don't know she can still be hiding them somewhere," said Monkey suspiciously looking around, but the only thing he noticed was Master Shifu sitting under a tree, his gaze following Tigress who seemed to be fighting an invisible opponent on that narrow rope.

When the Master noticed that the rest of his students had arrived, he stood up and headed towards them, his hands folded behind his back, his face wearing a neutral look," As you can see, Tigress has chosen fighting with the need for balancing for today's training," the looks that the four warriors wore told Po about something that he hoped he knew of, it was like a look of understanding, like a look of knowing why the tiger had chosen that kind of activity for her team for today.

Without a single objection, they bowed to their Master and then headed over to their teammate to join her on that thin rope. Po would have loved to follow them, as training with the five was something he had dreamed about since the day he learned of the existence of Kung Fu, and Po didn't care how many bones he broke in pursuit of that dream, or how many bruises his Dragon Warrior body had to bear afterward. He wanted to be part of the team, right now they were THE Furious Five and he was the Dragon Warrior still in training, they were not one big team, they didn't train together, they didn't fight together, heck they didn't even eat together because Tigress always somehow managed to escape from any social situation without being noticed. Po was willing to sell his soul to be a part of this team and the fact that he was so close to it was more of a burden on his soul than a relief as one look in their direction told him that he had no place on this team. How could he? They were the Furious Five and he was just...

"Dragon Warrior, are you even listening to me?"

The panda shook his head to bring his thoughts back to the present, a part of him wished he hadn't as Shifu glared at him so sharply it seemed to cut as sharp as The Sword of Heroes," Yes, master, I...I heard every word!"

"You did?" Shifu looked at him with a raised brow.

"Sure did!

"Oh, so you heard my thorough and very detailed story about the origin of the five?"

"WHAT?" the panda turned his full attention to the master, his eyes shining brighter than the sun's reflection from the dragon scroll," I'M NOT REALLY SO SURE I HEARD EVERYTHING...umm...you know, the...the wind can be really loud up here, so can you maybe tell it...one more time?"

"Just tell me you weren't listening to me, Po,"

"Okay, yeah, I...I wasn't...so...The backstory? Pretty please?"

The Master studied his pleading look before he smirked a bit and started walking past the panda, muttering, "I explained to you before what your training plan was going to be today, but since you didn't listen to me, I believe it would only be fair if this will stay as a surprise for you. Now, come along, the sooner you get your skills up, the sooner you can join the others,"

Shifu didn't have to tell him twice, as fast as his short panda legs would allow, he ran after him, excitement building in him again, "Ooo...what are we doing today? Some sparring? Maybe using swords? Will you teach me some old, hidden, secret technique?"

But the older warrior didn't answer, just continued walking at his steady pace. Po, sensing some kind of unspoken rule from his master's silence that it was time for him to shut up, so he locked his mouth with a figurative key, and walked silently after his Master, imitating his slow pace, hands tucked behind his back. However, his head was still screaming with wild enthusiasm, hundreds of different ideas of what awesome things he was going to do today invaded his mind like bandits looking for valuable items. To his surprise, Shifu walked past the training hall, and every other training equipment that was scattered around the training areas. The panda was ready to open his mouth to ask his master about it but before he could Shifu stopped and sat down under a tree, taking a perfect meditation pose. Po looked around, nowhere did he see any sharp swords for Kung Fu awesomeness, no murderous training equipment with sharp metal spikes sticking out of them, no opponents to spar with, NOTHING! NO AWESOME KUNG FU STUFF BUT A BUNCH OF...scrolls?

"Umm...Master Shifu, shouldn't we be training?"

Shifu briefly opened one of his eyes looking at the giant panda in front of him before he closed his eye again and replied, "Your training opponent for today is right here."

"Where?" Po walked around looking for the opponent Master Shifu had talked about, but still all he saw were the scrolls lying under the tree and the old master himself, "So...umm...are you my opponent?"

The sigh that came out of Shifu was loud and tired, as if he was regretting his decision to start teaching Kung Fu, "The scrolls, Po," he said.

"I have to fight the scrolls?"

And for the second time this morning, Po managed to get Shifu to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Read, Po, your task today is to read these scrolls,"

"Wait, read? Like reading? But...but where is all the Kung Fu awesomeness? You said I had to reach the five's level, don't I have to train for that?"

Shifu's eyes opened, and he looked at the panda with a raised eyebrow, "Kung fu is much more than physical skills. I thought you knew that," he stood up, walking over to a box that held several scrolls inside, "Monkey has read six hundred seventy four scrolls, Viper is at her six hundred eighty two, Mantis has processed seven hundred twelve, Crane seven hundred thirty, and Tigress has read all thousand scrolls, some more than once. If you want to reach their level, you don't have to to be on the same level with them only physically but also mentally, you have to know the truth of Kung Fu, you have to know what is behind all this physical fighting, you have to know the theory of what you do, the meaning of what you do. If you want to earn the title of master, you need to know these things,"

Po stared between Shifu and the box full of scrolls, "I have to read this whole box?"

"Of course not," a big sigh of relief escaped the panda, but it got stuck halfway in his throat as Shifu added, "This box only has the first seventy scrolls,"

Any hope that he would ever train with the five disappeared from him at that moment, because by the time he reads all thousand scrolls, the five will probably have already retired...

"But since you've proven yourself quite a lot, I'm willing to let you join the others in training once you've read this entire box. Your training for the next few weeks will be reading and after you work through each scroll you will demonstrate to me what you have learned," Shifu sat back under the tree, returning to his meditative pose, his eyes closed, "I suggest you begin,"

And so the Dragon Warrior did, or at least he tried, he took the first scroll, and sat down on the grass, the warm sunlight hitting his form sitting on the ground, a light breeze creating a relaxing and refreshing temperature. His ears picked up distant sounds, he could hear the five training, he wanted so badly to be there to see it, but his motivation held him still, forcing him to read on.

Time flew by, Po wasn't sure how long it had been before Shifu finally opened his eyes again, and came out of his meditation. The Master smiled in satisfaction at the panda's focused state, his gaze focused on the scroll so thoroughly that he didn't seem to notice anything else.

However, his attention jumped when Shifu cleared his voice and asked, "How's it going?"

"You could have told me that these scrolls are about the history of Kung Fu, like really, where have these scrolls been all my life!"

Shifu raised an eyebrow at his student, he wasn't sure if the panda was serious or not, but still he got up and started walking back towards the main training areas, "Come along, tell me what you read,"

Po jumped up, running after the master, "Okay, the first one I read talked about the warrior's code, and justice. It told all the do's and not-do's of being a kung fu worrior. The second one talked about the skills a warrior must learn, the skills of strength and speed, mind and body must be in symbiosis, you must be constantly ready, never let your guard down,"

"Good, you have read the first two scrolls, they are also the easiest of them, so don't expect that everything will be so easy," the master and the student had returned to the place where they had left the five to train earlier, but by now there was only two of them left, Crane and Tigress were currently busy cleaning up all the training equipment that the five had used during their several hours of training, both of them had their backs to Shifu and Po, fully focused on what they were doing," I will show you a masterful demonstration of attention and vigilance, " Shifu said to Po who noticed the redpanda master picking something up from the ground, it was a crossbow usually used in training, "What separates a master from a student is their vigilance, and the ability to anticipate an attack," Po watched as Shifu raised the crossbow to his eye level, balancing it against his shoulder, his hand firmly gripping the neck of the weapon, pointing it towards the target, the sharp end of the bow pointed straight at Tigress's back, the tiger stile master still completely unaware that the killing weapon was aimed at her," This one skill makes whether you live to become a legend or die before you can write your story," and suddenly, the arrow flew, and Po felt the world suddenly stop around him, he wanted to shout a warning message, tell Master Tigress of the coming danger, but he couldn't do it, the shock of what Shifu had just done was too great.

This arrow seemed to fly in slow motion but also at the speed of light at the same time, Po prepared to see blood, but what he saw left him speechless, and made his eyes grow dozens of sizes. As if she had known this, as if she had been warned of this attack days in advance, Tigress spun around, her foot rose, kicking away the attacking arrow, slamming it straight into the ground, her arms moved, and she took a fighting stance, her sharp amber eyes narrowing as she saw her Master holding a crossbow. Po had forgotten to breathe, he fell to his knees, his body shaking, he was clearly many times more panicked than the tiger whose life had been in danger just a second ago.

"You see, Po, this is what full vigilance means," Shifu lowered his crossbow as he turned his gaze to Tigress, who was now just standing there looking at him as if she was waiting for Shifu to say something," You need to be more aware of what's in front of you feet, you were very close to that branch, had you moved slightly wrong, you could have tripped and it could have been fatal, work on it!"

"Yes, Master," she replied, bowing to her master.

"Wait, you're kidding, right," Po, who had collected himself in the meantime, interjected, "That was totally hardcore! That was amazing, she stopped that arrow without seeing it! You can't get more awesome than that!"

"There is still so much for you to learn, Dragon Warrior," was all Shifu said before he started to walk away," Your mandatory training is over for today, but I highly recommend you to continue reading these scrolls, there is a lot you can learn in them,"

Yeah, there was so much to learn. So much to learn about Kung Fu, about the Jade Palace and its inhabitants.