A/N

Woohoo! Here with another chapter already! I'm not going to ramble too much other than put the disclaimer that yes, there's a lot of dialogue inside of this one and I will shamelessly admit that this is a bit of a filler chapter; mainly to set the pace of what's going to happen moving forward as these chapters are most likely going to ramp up in length as well as action moving forward!

Thank you to all of you who left kind and supportive reviews! To the guest named "lov KFP", I appreciate your enthusiasm but unfortunately stuff like this does take time, I'm only one person writing all of this stuff and I unfortunately don't have all of the time in the world to dedicate to writing fanfiction; I'd rather not end up like that one guy with the longest Loud House fic where it's just random words strung together to give off the illusion of quality. The full Furious Five will not be making a return in this, trying to keep track of all of these characters is cumbersome as is and I don't really see much of a role for the rest of them thus far, yet plans may change!

As for Akari16, thank you so much for your criticism! I'm still getting the hang of dialogue and pacing, this is a very dialogue focused story as you can tell by the immense amount written, but this should be the final chapter in which it's overwhelmingly dialogue as Chapter 6 will feature more of an opportunity for our cast to breathe amidst the action!

Anyways, that's enough rambling! I now proudly welcome you back to...

Kung Fu Panda: The Spirit Rift - Chapter 5 - Scores & Schemes

"Kai?!" The Spiritual Leader alongside his peers looked back to witness a bullish figure emerge from the shadow, his aura glowing a wisdom-evoking green; yet that glow couldn't overpower the determined jade glimmer filling his eyes.

"Who else would it be?" Kai quipped back with a determined smirk filling his face.

"I mean- how did you get here? I thought I sent you back to the Spirit Realm! I've done that twice now, how do you keep escaping?" Po briefly readied himself for battle, preparing for the worst as he assumed Qianzhi had summoned Kai to confront him. "Qianzhi sent you, didn't she?"

"Hah, as if I'd work with that amateur. Ugh, the thirty years she spent outrunning me before I turned her into an amulet were the worst. Constantly stubborn, using her army as a meatshield, I don't understand how they could remain so loyal to her when she treated them so awfully!" Kai let off a soft chuckle, even demonstrating he was there on united business by putting away his glowing jade blades. "To answer your question, no, Qianzhi hasn't sent me here. The reason I'm here is a long, arduous and boring story that not everyone wishes for me to repeat, but in short… I am the ruler of the Spirit Realm. It is my duty to protect the bridge between the Mortal Realm and the Spirit Realm. Qianzhi stands in the way of my objective, therefore, she must be sentenced to oblivion. I knew you needed help from when I caught a glimpse of her when re-entering the Spirit Realm, just know I'm not the only one here," Kai then stepped to the side, revealing a revitalised Lord Shen with his glowing jade aura alongside Tai Lung, who promptly cracked every joint in his body.

"Li Shan-" Shen couldn't even get a word in before the panda warrior was attempting to jump over the table with his warhammer in hand.

"YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GENOCIDED MY RACE! KILLED MY WIFE! LED MY SON ON A PERILOUS JOURNEY! YOU WERE THE CAUSE OF MY MISERY! MY HATRED FOR WAR, SOMETHING I TOOK SO MUCH PRIDE IN! YOU LEFT US WITH NOTHING BUT SCRAPS AND YET WE STILL BUILT UP AND PO WAS SENT TWENTY YEARS LATER TO END YOU!" Po and Zhen were forced to hold back the infuriated panda as Po attempted to talk him out of his anger.

"Dad! What did I tell you about forgiveness? I forgave Shen despite what he did to our kind, despite what he did to mother…"

"MY ANGER IS BIGGER THAN THAT!" Li Shan attempted to wrestle Po off him yet was going nowhere, all the while Lord Shen watched on whilst checking his talons to see where this situation would lead. "HE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

"He didn't take me," Po managed to spin his father's vision from a daze into a straight line as their jade eyes met. "He didn't take me away from you, he didn't take Ping away from you; and you two are happily wed husbands! He may have taken things from you in the past, from me in the past! But you have so much to enjoy now, why be mad at something that happened twenty years ago? What would mother think?"

"Please, stop calling her mother- her name is Jade… And Jade would be disappointed if I kept acting like this," Li Shan then awkwardly looked up, joining both of his paws together whilst locking eyes with Lord Shen. "Apologies for that, Commander Shen. Pleasure meeting you, once again."

"Pleasure indeed, Chief Shan," Lord Shen extended his wing to shake the paw of the previously infuriated panda. "A lot has changed since our last encounter, I have evolved… I am very sorry for taking Jade from you and before you say it… Yes, I know I cannot simply use words to apologise, but I'm going to run out of Guan Dao's to give away as tokens of forgiveness alongside peace at this rate," A tense silence soon fell upon the cavernous chambers all six warriors were sitting within as both Shen and Li couldn't keep their eyes off one another.

"A handshake instead of bloodshed is a good way to start, Commander Shen. I forgive you and your actions, however, I do not forgive the brutality of your army; I hope you can understand that and remain professional during our relations on this eve," Never before had Li Shan used such formal terminology in front of his own son.

"Please, refer to me as Lord Shen. My commander role is simply reserved for when I am leading an army, something I do not have at my side as of this moment. I appreciate your forgiveness, Chief Shan," Both Lord Shen and Li Shan bowed in front of each other in a mutual showing of respect, allowing Tai Lung to finally step out from the darkness and into the spotlight.

"I see you two have quite the history behind you, history that our great Spiritual Leader knew nothing about prior to today," Tai Lung peered over to Po, whose mouth was completely agape thanks to his father's past unravelling before his eyes. "I'm guessing Po is unaware of how bravely his father fought against your army?"

"No, nor does he know the reason I was truthfully paranoid of that Soothsayer's prophecy coming true… Believe it or not, Po, your father was much more formidable than any opponent I had ever battled before…" Lord Shen suddenly found himself trapped in a flashback filled with narration revolving around his experience with fighting Li Shan.

"Man the cannons! No panda escapes here alive! They're defenceless, look at them all! I can't believe the Soothsayer thinks these fools are a formidable opponent! Just look at them-" And that's when it happened. That's when I encountered the great Chief Shan for the first time. The commands to my army were as detailed as ever, yet, we hadn't compensated for the seemingly inevitable offensive this mad panda would conduct.

"Commander Shen! These lands aren't yours to intrude upon, withdraw your army or face the might of China's last panda settlement!" Chief Shan, he was so bold in the way he addressed me. Po, your father stood right before myself and the might of one of my prototype cannons. I was tempted to light it up, but the man's bravery warranted a worthy battle at the very least."Hah! And what do you think you're going to do about my invasion, fatty? Throw some dumplings at me? Disable my cannons with noodles? Poor noodle soup over my head! Your kind has become too complacent and their time within this world longs for an end at long last!" Little did I know, I was foreshadowing the rather unique ways Chief Shan would combat against my army. To my hundreds of wolves, there were roughly around thirty pandas on the defence; yet their fighting style was something I had never seen before.

It's quite reminiscent of the way Po fought against Tai Lung for the first time, later confronting myself and Kai later on. It was complete freestyle, using their grandiose weight as well as their inventions to great use. Little did I know at the time, the pandas were the inventors of some of the first Cloudhammers, of which Master Thundering Rhino was a wielder of. It was a dirty little secret, if I must confess myself; but the moment one of my wolves was swung at, I knew this battle would become more than a massacre.

"What? They're armed? They know how to fight?! This wasn't expected!" Ah, General Lu, one of my finest canine companions. It's a shame that in this battle, he would lose sight of what was at hand and Li would briefly gain the upper hand. One thing I remember other than the screams and cries was the distinct sound of a Cloudhammer smashing a skull, that skull being his own by the hands of none other than Li Shan himself."Throw your weight at them! Fight back and abandon the cannons! We shall use our blades to finish the job!" Following General Lu's death, I was righteously outraged; what had become a previously easy battle to direct was now one of immense difficulty. I no longer had someone to rely on to direct the canine frontier of my war force, instead having to rely on my own commands for a legion I had never had direct command over before.

The death of General Lu would deal a great blow to my army, as the pandas locked up with the main canine frontier of my invasion force, they would knock them back and disarm them before locking them inside of cages. Other than Chief Shan's brutality, all other pandas that fought for him remained fully complacent as well as fought purely on the defensive. Yet, one harrowing memory that still comes to mind was the one time we pushed too far.

Surrounded by brimstone and the burning ashes of the few houses we had managed to encroach upon and burn, a singular voice called out from within the smoke requesting for obedience and discipline.

"Trap that peacock! He doesn't leave here until the Chinese Emperor himself deals with him! We're not losing this fight this easily, if we're going down, we're making this our resting grounds!" Those were the words he used to motivate his army, and those words would end up being costly ones for both of us. You see, this battle was unlike any other I had fought… It was a pyrrhic victory as five panda divisions would soon smash through the small guard force protecting me, forcing me to the back of the lines.

What would commence next was the complete elimination of the first army that I was initially hoping would clear the grounds and put Li Shan's chiefdom to rest. Although his pandas wished to keep them in cages, the sheer blunt force of their Cloudhammers instantly sent their spirits to a better place, one more forgiving than the battle they had passed within.

In a panic and without my command, my second army began letting loose my cannons which promptly ripped through dwellings. Amidst all of this, my men began acting inappropriately, razing the buildings, endangering the children… But when it came to a young boy, a boy I would later learn would lead to my demise, Li Shan leapt forth and slammed the eye of my third in command, blinding him as he gave a different command.

"Take our son and run far away!" At long last, we had gained the edge, with whom I assume to be Jade stepping forth, leading part of my army into the forest as Po would find his way to the Valley of Peace. Yet, for one final blow, and at the cost of all thirty five of his soldiers, that army that was trapped inside of that snow-coated forest would never make it out…

As Shen's flashback began coming to an end, both Po and Zhen began realising the gravity of Li Shan's bravery, the dedication and effort he put into protecting his people as well as the sacrifices he made to secure the future of his own race; including Po's own future as the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.

"If there was one thing I learned from recalling such an event, it's the fact that I underestimated Chief Shan's bravery. His name meant mountain for a reason and he was a formidable one at that. He was willing to put his family above anyone else and when it came to protecting you, panda? He had the most value in protecting you. Now, I am not here to turn this into a tribute to the dead, but your father's advances against my army locked destiny in for good; that you would stop me sooner or later thanks to the blow it dealt to my credibility as well as my ability to mount an invasion," Lord Shen eventually turned to face Tai Lung and Kai, who had been pressing him about his paranoia about Po alongside Li Shan ever since Kai had pieced himself back together in the Spirit Realm some time ago. "Now you understand why I came to terms with my death quicker compared to you two."

"Woah! Dad! You did all of that for our kind? For me? You were that brave for me and our panda family up in the mountains?" Po was quite honestly inspired by his father's way of fighting against Shen, feeling tingles of confidence wash over him as he felt pride in the fact that his father wasn't completely helpless. "How come you never told me any of this?"

"Well, son… Mentioning my time as a chief brings along lots of emotional memories and I wouldn't know how you'd feel about the fact that as opposed to running; I fought well against Shen but I also fought with brutality that you would probably frown upon. A lot of people lost their lives that night, Jade included. I didn't know how you'd feel about knowing that I was responsible for taking some of those lives," Li Shan looked down at the floor, feeling slightly disgraced with his past as Po soon embraced his past, present alongside future.

"You're not the only one that has taken lives, dad… It's kind of part of defending the people you love, admire, care for and respect. Why do you think the Spirit Realm exists and why did you see a lot of my opponents return to the Spirit Realm after we all confronted the Chameleon? It's one of those things that left me feeling twisted on the inside, yet it's one of those things you have to accept. I would be ashamed of myself forever if I knew I made someone ascend to the Spirit Realm! Yet, Tai Lung has taught me that it's a place of reflection, it's not all bad!" Li Shan soaked in the wise yet reassuring words of his own panda son as Po then patted his father on the back.

"You're right… But why do I still feel so ashamed?" Li pondered wearily.

"Because that shows you regret something and wish to better yourself," Shen reassured his former adversary. "It goes to show that, in spite of what history will write about you or what you try to bury… Each and every single one of us has feelings, feelings we can learn from and lessons that we can learn from the past. The past is a valuable tool, the present is a never-ending challenge and the future is our way of preparing for the unpredictable."

"And the sooner you embrace that, the better. I learned eventually that to be the 'secret ingredient' as Po worded it, I would need to believe in myself instead of expecting this 'Dragon Scroll' to have all of the answers I sought after. It's why he became the Dragon Warrior and the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, I was looking for something within a scroll that he saw within himself and it made a difference," Tai Lung added on, displaying that he had accepted the circumstances that led to his destined defeat whilst reassuring Li Shan.

"And if you don't accept that, you disguise it in a veil of guilt that can blind you for over five-hundred years. Feelings and mistakes are to be accepted, not hidden in the hopes you can better yourself without revising the past. I am an example of everything you shouldn't do, yet I'm here. At last, after five hundred years of ruling the Spirit Realm the wrong way, I'm finally doing it the right way after studying the lessons of my past and what led me here to begin with. Feelings, death and discovery, it guides us all; and it's allowed to guide you too, Li," Li Shan was on the verge of tearing up thanks to the fact that the wisdom of three Kung Fu masters, one of which was his rival, was something he could relate to and understand.

"Thank you, thank you all for your reassurance!" Li Shan inevitably broke down as Po began holding him tight, patting his shoulder with a gentle and accepting smile beaming across his face. "Thank you for comforting your old man, son," Li Shan beamed a tearful smile of his own as Zhen was drawn to one detail amidst Kai's explanation of things.

"Wait, General Kai? You rule the Spirit Realm? I always saw it as some spooky punishment for people, it's why everyone wanted to live so long and feared ascending early! You're the one leading it?" Zhen inquired, even tilting her head alongside her foxy ears.

"Hah, turns out I've been the ruler of it for the past five hundred years and Master Oogway created the realm as a place for me to find much peace. After lots, and I mean lots of war alongside bowing to my own egotistical thoughts, Po's dose of Chi allowed me to step down to reality and realise that there's a lot more to life than power and conquest," Kai whipped out his chained up jade blades, which were now glowing with his essence, an essence Po could sense. "I'm still getting the hang of this Spirit Warrior thing and I doubt I can open up portals to the Spirit Realm, though; it's probably some power reserved for the staff of Oogway's successor… A staff that we need to retrieve."

"And that staff is in the hands of one of China's most deadly threats! Maybe the most deadly threat China has ever faced!" Zhen exclaimed, finally drawing everyone's attention to the map situated in front of them.

"Ah, right. Touching reunion and all, but I knew Kai was dragging us here for a reason," Shen finally locked eyes with the map before him as his strategic mind began examining it for clues, meanwhile Tai Lung was scheming as to how he could overpower Qianzhi and Kai was thinking about how he could mount an invasion into the city with the extremely limited amount of manpower he had at his disposal.

Yet, instead of throwing together ideas articulated by simple instincts guided by the way they engaged in combat, all three Spirit Warriors blankly stared at the map as they realised how truly foreboding this opposing force would be. Not only was Qianzhi a formidable threat situated within one of China's largest cities, Juniper City itself was a breathing obstacle in of itself thanks to how crowded yet fortified it was thanks to the Chameleon ruling her empire from the city's largest cliffside.

"So, has anyone got any bright ideas? Gongmen City pales in comparison to the size of this!" Shen finally broke the awkward silence filling his soul. Even though a mere minute had passed by, it felt like an eternity as his mind was still blank regarding how he would handle any defensive force Qianzhi could mount on the walls of the city.

"Other than selling this expensive wok to someone in the hope of getting our hands on enough gold to raise an army, we've got nothing," Li Shan finally confessed, the sheer size of the city illustrated on the map frying his mind alongside his capacity to truly think of any solid plans.

"And where exactly did you plan on selling this wok?" Kai raised his head from staring at the map with one of his brows furled.

"Inside of Juniper City!" Po joyously replied back as Tai Lung let off a cackle.

"Haha! So your plan is to sell a wok that you stole inside of the city you stole it from and then raise an army with the gold you gain from it? This plan is worse than the one I had in mind when I was trying to force myself into the Jade Palace twenty years after my exile!" The snow leopard let off a sigh amidst his chuckling, finding it comical how this was their only formulated plan thus far. "Alright, it's been fun watching you stare at a map like your brains ascended to the Spirit Realm, but it's time that I take over."

Tai Lung would grab some small stones that were on the floor and assign different people to them one at a time as he began dragging them across the map, with lengthy explanations offered to each person inside of the room. He was certainly tackling quite the puzzle considering there were six of them, expected to be eight once Tigress and Ping arrived as reinforcements, all the while he was going to confront a city filled with Spirit Warriors.

After offering a lengthy explanation so long that even the author of this story couldn't be bothered to write an accompanying scene for it, Tai Lung started drawing different circles surrounding various locations based off what the map was telling him; all the while he was emphasising how this plan was a little 'rough around the edges' considering he had never stepped foot in the city before.

His first barrage of circles surrounded different barracks as well as munition stations, the ones that weren't hit by Po, Zhen and Li on their massive exodus when escaping Qianzhi's grip. He figured that Spirit Warriors would still need weapons and a supply of them to fight with, which then brought him to his second point about the factories that were necessary to destroy to prevent manufacturing of those weapons.

Next up came a controversial encircling of some of the nearby grain refineries that would later be baked into food, especially those that could be commandeered by Qianzhi's forces. Tai Lung's plan was to persuade the owners of such establishments to continue feeding the people free of charge using the money acquired by the wok as he saw raising an army as a foolish decision, there was too much incompetence as well as too much time that would go into organising such a massive force.

With these grain refineries on their side, all of the food that would later be produced would be thanks to the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, giving them justification regarding being the good guys that were willing to defend the city as outsiders from Qianzhi's rage as well as the inevitable destruction that would come thanks to her boundless reach.

Next up, after disrupting the supplies of Qianzhi's theoretical army as well as securing food for the people of Juniper City alongside themselves would come a devious plan to recruit a small volunteer force made up of local Kung Fu temples that sat within the city. Tai Lung figured that they would be more competent than the Imperial Army or conscripts as they all had predictable fighting styles that could be incorporated into their offensive.

"Finally, and you're not going to enjoy the idea of this… Shen, we need your cannons. We need an advantage, we need some form of edge against our opposition to bring them into our control as well as ensure that they're outmatched. Before anyone protests, bear in mind that Qianzhi's army is growing by the second, we need a way to send these people back to the Spirit Realm and I have a feeling Shen's cannons are the answer as they're easily the most destructive weapon an inventor inside of China has created," A moment of shock echoed across the room, gasps escaping the mouths of everyone except Tai Lung himself as Shen's cannons had a rather messy reputation following his downfall.

"But wouldn't we be breaking that treaty that we signed with the Kung Fu Council?" Po thought out loud, yet no one else was there to reassure him considering nobody knew what he was talking about. "When Shen passed in battle, we had a massive meeting inside of Gongmen City Centre to discuss the law of combat. It was very boring and Tigress could tell you all about it-"

"Yes I could!" Tigress suddenly burst into the room with Mr. Ping on her back, heaving for breath as she nearly collapsed to the floor in breathlessness.

"Tigress!" Po practically jumped over the table to hug his fiance, beaming a massive smile as she wrapped her arms around him. "Wow, you made it here that fast?"

"Anything… For my dumpling! Whew! I'm winded, give me a second!" Tigress placed her paws on her knees practically gagging for breath, all the while Tai Lung smirked with curiosity lining his muzzle.

"You seem a lot happier since getting acquainted and engaged to the Dragon Warrior, at least speaking from past experience," Tai Lung, attempting to look 'cool', thought it would be appropriate to sit backwards in a wooden chair.

"How… In Oogway's legacy… Are you here? How are all three of you here? Shen. SHEN!" Po grabbed Tigress as she attempted to rush the peacock before subduing her with a gentle hug.

"Calm down, my sweet jasmine tea, we already dealt with this once with my father being mad at him. We get it, Shen did a lot of bad things for myself, for you and for my father; but he's here to help. Everyone here is here to help, including Zhen, the new Dragon Warrior!" Tigress peered over Po's shoulder before immediately feeling a sense of pride eclipse her.

"Shen and Zhen… Both very similar names. You had a choice to pick anyone as the next Dragon Warrior and you picked a fox who dresses like she's from the dynasty prior with a name that's one letter from matching the very person that tried to kill you? Well, you have helped me experience Inner Peace so I'm not going to question your methods, dumpling," Tai Lung couldn't hold back his childish snicker thanks to what Tigress said, nor the incoming joke.

"Oh, so you have shown her the power of the Dragon Scroll!"

"Oh, be quiet, you! It's always you who comes out with these obscene dirty jokes! Have you never heard of se-" That's when Kai clamped down Shen's beak.

"I know what you're going to say, Shen, so clam it. Both of you. Master Tigress, leader of the Furious Five, it's a pleasure to meet you on more friendly terms," Kai extended his arm, to which Tigress loosely grabbed his hand and softly shook it. "Your paws feel a lot softer since we last met one another."

"Maybe that's because they were slamming into your face," Tigress smoothly quipped before approaching the map before her with Po at her side, both of their Chi-filled rings glowing jade and amber to signify their presence alongside one another. "Whose plan is this?" Tai Lung gently raised his hand. "Not bad for someone who can't resist a dirty joke and before you dare, this temple belongs to the real Dragon Warrior," Tigress was demonstrating a serious level of sass as Po gently corrected her.

"Honey, I'm actually the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace now! Are you proud? Please say you're proud!"

"Of course I'm proud!" Once again, Po and Tigress embraced one another, this time their lips meeting as almost everyone turned their heads away in second hand embarrassment.

"Can you two please keep that out of our extremely special and secret meeting about how we're going to dethrone Qianzhi?" Shen felt like he was about to vomit as both Po and Tigress stopped kissing one another to instead focus on the objective at hand.

"Ah, right. Tai Lung. As much as I consider you a failure, this plan of yours is formidable and can be worked with. I've led a group of four warriors into combat, therefore I can lead again. First, though, we need a scout. We need someone who's small, can ideally fly as well as gain information from the inside. This plan is great, but we can't figure out anything if we don't know how this 'Qianzhi' conducts her business or leads her Spirit Warrior army," From bubbly to serious, Tigress soon began returning to her usual emotionally distanced ways.

"Someone who can fly, hmm? I'll do it!" Mr. Ping raised his wing, virtually stunning everyone. "I know that bird with the long legs isn't here-"

"Crane, his name is Crane," Po gently interjected.

"And Shen needs to put together plans to make cannons, so that leaves me! Li, you've been so brave! It's about time that I showed you how brave I can be!" Although Po and company were questioning whether or not Mr. Ping would be a suitable fit, it was their only shot they had at bringing this ambitious plan of Tai Lung's into reality.

"So, who's in favour of my husband showing the world how brave he can be?" Li Shan's prideful inquiry ended up with everyone raising their hands as Mr. Ping gulped in fear. "Wonderful! I'll debrief you tonight, my brave warrior!"

"Oh, Li," Mr. Ping gently leaned against the massive stature of his wondrous husband.

"Mr. Ping shall leave at dawn to scout for us and gather as much information about Juniper City alongside Qianzhi and her operations as possible. With that, we shall now sleep for the first time in two days!"

To be continued in Chapter 6 - Trapped

A/N

And there we have it! This will be the only chapter that purely takes place inside of one location and I appreciate you all for reading this chapter in spite of the fact it may get a bit boring or repetitive at times! Now with Tigress back and Mr. Ping returning to scout on behalf of this rag-tag group of Spirit Warriors and Mortal Warriors, Tai Lung's grand plan can finally be put to the test as they move to retake Juniper City before the entirety of China is threatened by Qianzhi's wrath. Will they succeed with grace or be bound by failure?

As always, reviews are appreciated so I can learn of your reception regarding these chapters as well as measure your enjoyment of them. Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoy your day/eve and I shall see you in the next entry of The Spirit Rifts!