Chapter 13: Happy Bunny Tavern, Part 2

Why is it that every time Zhen and I walk into a tavern it always leads to some crazy antics? Turns out that today is no different.

The three of us were surrounded by a crowd that was both astounded and furious over what happened. After a few seconds of silence, fear and panic swept the tavern (with groups of people running for the exit: including the boat captain that is supposed to take us to Juniper City.)

Some people (actually a lot) stayed and started approaching us…namely me.

"Mei!" The fox shouted in surprise (her tone suggested she was also scolding me.) If I were an animal like Zhen, my ears would be drooped right about now from shame. It was my fault after all…

Unfortunately, there wasn't time to dwell on it…

The female boar in the red dress stepped forward and brandished her fan to us, "I don't know what you three are, but you will pay for that!"

"I-I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding here" Po tried to de-escalate the situation, yet suddenly the animals that surrounded us took out swords and pointed them at us. So much for that.

"Misunderstanding?" The boar laughed in response as Zhen, Po and I stepped backward more, "we can reimburse you. Please allow us to pay for the damages and we'll be on our way!"

One wolf in the background exclaimed, "and how do you expect to do that, panda!? The building's barely standing as it is!"

Zhen just rolled her eyes; she knew this wouldn't go anywhere. Still, what got her ready for combat was the fact everyone was fixated on me.

"That beast next to you is probably worth ten times what you both could offer me" the manager said with a grin on her face.

Zhen growled, stepping in front of me, swiping away a blade pointed at me, "you're going to regret saying that…pig!"

"The first one to bring me that thing gets a lifetime free stay at the inn!"

That was the final straw, the vixen next to me got into her battle pose…claws out as she said confidently, "bring it on…"

Po tried to diffuse the already tense situation, but it was futile.

"Destroy the other two and bring that thing to me!"

The animals rushed for the three of us. Zhen is first to act…she jumped on several foes: managing to kick them away in quick succession. I dodged a swipe by a bystander, quickly disarming them before having to jump away to safety. Po just stood there, but soon he is forced to fight back…redirecting some foes toward the same wall.

It had an unintended side effect: the building started tilting…oh, that's right…it's on a dang rock! W-who had the brains to build a place like this…ON A ROCK!?

I, unfortunately, ended up sliding toward the wall…soon to become part of the people stuck, but I managed to land on one of the animals…using their belly to jump toward the support beam above.

The building was already unstable because of the mess I caused, so everyone had to be careful because this whole place could collapse at any moment!

As I'm hanging above, and the tavern moves back into place, I have to deal with two enemies rushing toward me. I used my legs to block and parry…eventually kicking them away once they got close enough.

Zhen was faring better than me. Being naturally small and nimble, she moved through the creatures around her…fighting them off flawlessly. A sword that is thrown at her gave the vulpine the opportunity to use it to fend off a group chasing her. They are thrown back and it causes the building to shift again.

I'm beginning to sense a pattern here…

I jumped down, briefly joining the vixen as we took down several of our opponents. Po, meanwhile, tried to keep the lagomorphs out of trouble but it was easier said than done since he also had to fend off hordes of enemies.

One enemy charged at me with a spear, but Zhen managed to drop them easily enough…just as she grabbed a lamp above. I caught the weapon the foe dropped and began spinning it…just as two wolves decided to advance on me.

This is going to suck…I'm sorry I have to do this to you guys…

They both swung their swords at me, and I blocked one after another, soon parrying some thrusts too. One, growing impatient, ran at me as I ducked, sweep-kicking them as they fell to the ground. The second one followed as I stood up and threw my spear downward to disarm them…kicking them away afterward.

Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, Zhen jumped off the lamp to kick an approaching foe away before landing on a table. One boar tried jumping on her but she was quick…using a foot to redirect him away. Finally, one wolf tried to slash at her with its claws, but she evaded the swipe…soon falling on her back. In front of her, on the table, was a bowl of spice. Sure enough, the gray vixen kicked the food toward the wolf…causing their eyes to get bloodshot before they screamed from the pain.

I managed to catch this happening and Zhen looked toward me…giving a sheepish grin before I rolled my eyes to her.

Just as I did, we heard a yell behind us to see a boar had jumped toward her. I managed to get in her way quickly: punching our opponent away hard.

Ow…ow…ow!

I quickly shake off the pain, for we are soon surrounded by a group. The vulpine offers a paw to me and once I extend it, I start spinning around: she starts kicking away everyone! Not a second later, she lets go and climbs to get on the second floor to fend off enemies there.

Across from me in the center, Po is met with an armed combatant who displayed nunchucks at the panda. In response, as if it was all he needed to do, he jumped to the side and caused the entire structure to tilt once again.

I REALLY wish he would STOP doing that!

Sure enough, both he and Zhen are on the second floor. The panda tried subduing an animal that tried to take him down just as the fox came rushing in to take their belongings. Before she could scurry away, Po managed to pick her up by the belt with the staff…shaking her violently until she dropped the bag and he gave it back to the owner, "I believe this is yours." He said before setting her down.

I was below them…grabbing whatever food I could eat between skirmishes…might as well, right? I had to stop, however, once I saw the flood of patrons rushing toward me. I yelped, jumping on the table to get to the second floor. I managed to hand a brown bag of coins to Zhen as she winked at me; however, the panda managed to catch this and smacked it away from us, "no…give it back!"

Zhen growled at him in response, "oh yeah, 'cause it's so easy to find who it belonged to in this mess!"

Sure enough, the mob came running up the stairs but next to Zhen and I were several red barrels. It was a no-brainer: she kicked them and sent the objects tumbling down. The result is several people became incapacitated and it became fertile ground for thievery. Zhen just couldn't resist! She ended up pickpocketing countless animals before running off. Po caught her in the act (as always…man, he'd be a great sentry at Juniper City…I won't lie) and he jumped down to grab rope that was close to him. Sure enough, he spun it and captured the vulpine…forcing her to give back what she took.

I wasn't too far away, eating some food that was still around. Zhen just had to put her paws on her hips to the Dragon Warrior and grunt, "really? Don't you think it's a little too late for that?"

"It's never too late to do the right thing!" Po retaliated.

Zhen just grumbled at that, but before she could come up with a quippy remark, what remained of the crowd that tried to fight us had begun making their way to the duo. Po moved the vixen out of the way before displaying the Staff of Wisdom, "watch out!"

As I stole a treat from an unconscious patron, I looked up to see the weapon begin to glow. It turned yellow…as if it suddenly turned to gold…and he started spinning it. It was a pretty elaborate execution as he sent a powerful beam of light (the shape of a dragon) toward the group, "Skadoosh!"

Needless to say, Zhen and I were impressed. I walked up to them…I was in disbelief while the fox next to me played it cool, "you've got to teach me that."

Before the ursidae could reply, the manager lady walked up and started brandishing her weapons, "you two, die!"

One thing led to another and Zhen and Po are launched toward a wall that breaks: sending them outside! Both came close to falling, but Zhen managed to grab the staff with her paws and used her tail as an anchor. The combined weight caused the building to tilt again.

As everyone began clinging for dear life, I made my way outside to help the two.

How many times is this going to happen!?

"Who designs a tavern on a cliff!?" Zhen exclaimed in frustration, my thoughts exactly girl…

Po looks up nervously, "I shouldn't have eaten those dumplings!"

I make my way toward them, whistling to get their attention. Zhen could see me trying to reach her tail but she grimaced, "n-n-no, Mei…wait!"

But it's too late, my combined weight causes the rest of the ledge to collapse…and we all fall into the watery depths below!

Once I hit the water, I am overcome with both pain from the impact and the realization of one important thing:

I can't swim

Yeah, didn't really need to learn since we lived in a big city most of the time, you know?

I panicked, I was going to drown! W-why did this have to happen!? Why did it have to end this way…I'm going to die knowing I failed the Chameleon…knowing I have failed Zhen…

As water began entering my lungs and it would be mere moments before I would sink to my death, I felt something grab me from behind. I felt them yank me toward shore…to safety…sparing my life.

As I coughed out water from my lungs, I looked up to see who had saved my life: it was Po.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a hint of worry in his voice…actually, it was a lot…as if I were a close friend of his. B-but he BARELY knows me…not even Chameleon would risk her life to save another. She always taught us, save yourself…no one else will save you. Life is unforgiving for those who are weak.

These thoughts passed me like a quick jet of wind, and I simply nodded to the panda…trying to dispel the disbelief I had from his act of heroism. He made a sigh of relief back before standing up.

Zhen managed to make it to us, seeing me on the sand lying down. Something in the fox made her verbally lash out at me in frustration, "what were you thinking, Mei!? We had everything we needed back there to get to Juniper City, you really couldn't just wait outside for a minute!?"

Po, for some reason, stepped in, in my defense, "hey, she just wanted to be with us. We should have let her come in with us, Zhen."

"Are you really that naïve, Panda?" She looked up toward him…narrowing her eyes at him, not the least bit worried how he would react, "look at her! You saw how they reacted as soon as she showed up!"

Po sighed, looking down toward me. I forced myself to look away in return, "I know what it's like to be like her."

Suddenly, I looked up at him as he said this. I was reminded of the conversation we had in the forest…

"Oh, come on!?" She scoffed back in retaliation, "you barely know us!"

"I know enough, Zhen." He nodded with a confident wink, "for the longest time I thought I was the only one of my kind…I felt like everyone just saw me as this oddball and nothing else. I mean, when was the last time you saw a panda in your life before you met me?"

"H-how is this relevant?" She crossed her arms, speaking in such a monotone voice, suggesting that she was getting irritated with him.

"She just wants to belong."

"People will never let her belong!" Zhen snapped back as I looked away, wincing in response, "we've tried to have people accept her…but very few wanted anything to do with her! People didn't want to think of a way to like her…they just wanted the easy way out…to toss her aside like garbage. It's easy for you to say all this, people know what a panda is, but they don't know what Mei is…they FEAR her for that reason alone!"

I stand up, walking between them…silently moving away to find another way off this beach…since the boat captain made off during the skirmish to who knows where…

Po and Zhen looked on before their argument resumed without me, "people can change, Zhen. We can help them see Mei in a better way" he replied.

Zhen scoffed, shaking her head, "I've been with her for two decades…we had all the time in the world to do that."

"Maybe someday they will see, we just have to guide them" Po decided to finish it at that with a soft smile, walking away to join me as Zhen looked on with a thoughtful expression. As the vixen ran to join us, the flower that Zhen had given me while on the trail was floating in the water…left behind.

…

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this recent installment. Let me know what you thought of it. I'll see you in the next one, cheers!