Chapter 8: The Scroll's Secret
Po and Shifu looked up to see Crane flying towards them and dropping the Five to the ground.
"Guys?! Guys?! They're dead! Lana!" Po shouted frantically as he ran over to the Five.
"No. They're breathing." Shifu said.
"They're asleep?" Po questioned.
"No, their eyes are open," Shifu said. Shifu ran to wake us all up from the temporary paralysis Tai Lung had placed on us. Crane gasped for breath.
"We were no match for his nerve attack," Crane said.
"He's gotten stronger," Shifu said. Shfiu brought Mantis back to life.
"Who? Tai Lung? Stronger?" Po said. Shifu brought Monkey back to life too. Monkey punched Po in the chin when his body was working again. Po cried out in pain.
"He's too fast!" Monkey cried. "Sorry, Po," Monkey said when he realized he hurt Po. Shifu brought Tigress back to life, then me. Tigress gasped for breath. I took a few moments to catch my breath.
"Dad?" I said when I saw Po standing next to me.
"Lana, are you okay?" Po said with concern.
"Yeah, I think so," I said, rubbing my head.
"What were you thinking? You can't just go running into danger like that. You could have been killed." Po said.
"I know, I'm sorry. But when I learned he was after me, I had to do something. I couldn't just let him get to me." I said.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Po said, giving me a hug. I hugged him back.
"I thought we could stop him," Tigress said.
"He could have killed you," Shifu said.
"Why didn't he?" Shifu said as he brought Viper back to life. "So you could come back and strike fear into our hearts. But it won't work."
"It might. I mean, a little. I'm pretty scared." Po said sarcastically. I just rolled my eyes. I wouldn't let Tai Lung push me around like I was nothing. I wasn't going to let him scare me easily like he wanted me to be.
"You can defeat him, Panda! You can defeat him too, Lana!" Shifu shouted.
"I can?" I said, skeptically. I still don't exactly trust Shifu right now. Not after all the secrets he has kept from me the whole time I have been here.
"Are you kidding me? If they can't?! They're five masters. I'm just one me." Po said.
"He has a point," I said. Po nodded in agreement.
"But you two will have the one thing that no one else does," Shifu said. My curiosity grew now. What was he talking about? Shifu took us to a room where the Dragon Scroll was in the mouth of a Dragon hanging from the ceiling.
"You really believe that we are ready?" Po asked.
"How can I trust you?" I asked, crossing my arms. Shifu looked at us.
"You both are. Po. Lana." Shifu said. Shifu turns to me. "I'm... sorry I kept a big secret from you. I was just scared of losing you when I learned that Tai Lung has escaped."
My eyes widened. Shifu was apologizing. That was unexpected coming from him. I guess I can understand. He was trying to protect me, his daughter from being hurt.
"I... it's okay. I guess I can understand now. You were just trying to protect me." I said. Shifu smiled. Tigress put a hand on my shoulder. Shifu walks over to the wall of candles where a staff laid next to them. Shifu grabs the staff and walks over to the scroll. Shifu twirls the staff several times around before some pink petals came close together. Po and I watched as the petals reached the scroll in mouth of the Dragon above.
With the touch of a single petal, the scroll gently fell down. Shifu caught the scroll with the staff. The staff touched the pool of water, making the water ripple. Shifu held the scroll in front of us.
"Behold the Dragon Scroll," Shifu said. Shifu handed us the Dragon Scroll. "It is both of yours."
"Wait. What happens when I read it?" Po asked.
"No one knows. But legend says you will be able to hear a butterfly's wingbeat." Shifu said.
"Woah," I said.
"Really? That's cool." Po said.
"Yes. And see lights in the deepest caves. You will feel the universe in motion around you." Shifu said. Po was getting more and more excited. I had to admit, so was I. I would have access to limitless power. Po and I would be the most powerful warriors in China. Po started to make karate moves with his paws.
"Can I punch through walls? Can I do a quadruple backflip?" Po asked excitedly.
"What about turning invisible?" I chimed in. Shifu did not seem amused with all of the questions we were asking.
"Focus. Focus." Shifu said. Po and I were able to get back on track with our task in front of us.
"Oh. Yeah, yeah." Po said.
"Sorry," I said, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Read it Po, Lana, and fulfill your destiny. Read it and become the Dragon Warriors." Shifu said. Po let out an excited gasp when he grabbed the scroll from Shifu's hands. Po looked at me.
"Do you want to do the honors?" Po asked me. I nodded excitedly. I grabbed the Scroll from Po. I attempted to open the scroll, but it was almost impossible to open. I tried biting at it with my teeth, but that didn't work. I didn't want to break my teeth. I attempted to use my shirt but that didn't work either. I banged it on the pool's edge a few times but that still didn't work.
"Come on, stupid..." I muttered under my breath.
I handed the scroll to Po to see if he could get it open, but he was struggling to get it open too.
"It's impossible to open," Po said. Po bit the cap with his teeth like I did.
"Okay. Come on baby, come on now." Po said. After some more attempts, we gave up. Shifu grabbed the scroll from us and opened it up for us. How was he able to do that?
"Thank you. I probably loosened it up for you a bit." Po said. Po handed me the scroll back. I pulled the scroll out of the tube.
"Okay. Here goes nothing." I said. When I opened up the scroll, a bright light was showing. Po screamed when the light reflected in his eyes. The Five panicked while Shifu looked confused. I had to shield my eyes a bit, but when I looked down at the scroll, it was blank.
"What the hell?" I said. I looked at the scroll with more confusion.
"What? What is it?" Po asked me.
"It's blank. Look." I said, handing the scroll to Po. Po looked at the scroll with confusion.
"What?" Shifu said, who was also confused.
"Here, look," Po said, shoving the scroll into Shifu's face. Shifu shielded himself and backed away.
"No, I am forbidden to look upon..." Shifu said. Shifu pauses for a moment before snatching the scroll from Po's paws. Shifu opened the scroll and closed it multiple times before realizing it was blank too.
"Blank. I don't... I don't understand." Shifu said.
"What does this mean?" I asked.
"Okay, so, like, Oogway was just a crazy old turtle after all," Po said.
"No. Oogway was wiser than us all." Shifu said. Po wasn't buying what Shifu was saying. Neither was I.
"Oh, come on! Face it, he picked me and Lana by accident. Of course we aren't the Dragon Warriors! Who was I kidding?" Po said with disappointment. Po slumped on the ground.
"You're just trying to get rid of us again, aren't you?!" I shouted.
"No Lana! I promise I'm not!" Shifu shouted back.
"But who will stop Tai Lung?" Tigress asked.
"He'll destroy everything and everyone," Crane said worriedly.
"No," Shifu said firmly. Shifu handed the scroll to Po. "Evacuate the Vally. You must protect the villagers from Tai Lung's rage. And most importantly, protect Lana and get her to safety."
"What about you, Master?" Tigress asked.
"I will fight him," Shifu said. Po and I looked at Shifu worriedly. He is really going to fight Tai Lung?
"What?" Po said.
"I can hold him off long enough for everyone to escape," Shifu said.
"But Shifu, he'll kill you," Po said. From the look in Shifu's eyes, I can tell how much he cared about the Vally, the villagers, and me. Now I understand. He was doing all of this to keep me safe.
"Then I will finally have paid for my mistake," Shifu said.
"Please, don't go through with this. I can fight him instead. I can hold him off. I fought Tai Lung before. I'll do it again if I have to." I said.
"No, Lana. I will not allow you to fight him again." Shifu said.
"But I was!-" I shouted, but Po cut me off.
"He's right. It's for your own good. I can't let you get hurt again." Po said. I sighed in defeat. Po wrapped his arm around me, giving me a comforting hug which I returned.
"Listen to me, all of you," Shifu said. We turned our attention to Shifu. "It is time for you to continue your journey without me. I am very proud to have been your master."
We all bowed down to Shifu. Shifu bowed back to us. Shifu then stepped closer to me.
"Lana. Whatever happens within these next hours I wanted to tell you that I... I love you." Shifu said.
I was in for a loss of words. I felt tears forming in my eyes. Then without thinking, I said, "I love you too... Daddy."
Po and I watched with sadness as Shifu walked away from us. I felt more tears in my eyes. Crane put his wing around us and led us gently out of the Jade Palace. I was nervous of what was going to happen next.
Back outside in the Vally of Peace when word got out that Tai Lung was on his way, everyone panicked. The villagers were running frantically trying to get out of the village. The village was in chaos.
"We've got to get them out safely," Tigress said.
"Come, little one. Let's find your mama." Monkey said, picking up a lost bunny kid. Tigress begins giving out orders.
"Viper, gather the southern farmers. Mantis, the north. Crane, light the way." Tigress said. Tigress handed Crane a lamp. Everyone parted ways to do their tasks. Tigress took hold of my hand.
"Lana, stay close," Tigress said. I didn't say anything. I put my headphones on to listen to some Taylor Swift to help me calm down a bit. For some reason, while Tigress was holding my hand I felt myself blushing. Why was I blushing at a time like this? I shook my head to get rid of my daydreams.
We began our long walk out of the village. I was sad because I had to leave the home that I grew up in with my dad's, Mr. Ping and Po. Speaking of my dad's, I saw Po up ahead, walking towards Mr. Ping's restaurant.
"I'll be right back," I said to Tigress. I ran over to Po and Mr. Ping. I paused my music and took my headphones off. I met up with Po inside our dad's restaurant.
"Hey, Dad," Po said.
"Dad?" I said. Mr. Ping's eyes lit up when he heard us calling him.
"Po! Lana!" Mr. Ping cried. Mr. Ping ran over to hug us. Po and I returned his hug. Mr. Ping grabbed our aprons and tied them around us.
"Good to have you back, kids." Mr. Ping said. Po had a disappointed look on his face. So did I. Mr. Ping sadly rolled his cart out.
"Let's go, kids." Mr. Ping said. Po sets the scroll on the cart and helps him push the cart outside. Mr. Ping begins talking about his next noodle shop. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not really interested in that kind of stuff right now.
"So for our next shop, it's time to face it. The future of noodles is dice-cut vegetables, no longer slices." Mr. Ping said. "Also, I was thinking, maybe this time we'll have a kitchen you two can actually stand up in. You like that?"
Po and I stopped walking. Po had a saddened expression on his face. I was sad too. Mr Ping turned around when he saw us not walking. Mr. Ping's expression was sympathetic as he walked towards us.
"Po, Lana, I'm sorry things didn't work out. It just wasn't meant to be." Mr. Ping said. Po slumped onto the noodle card while I didn't say anything. I wiped a few tears from my eyes.
"Po, Lana, forget everything else. Your destiny still awaits. We are noodle folk. Broth runs deep through our veins." Mr. Ping said.
"We're not even related by blood," I said.
"I don't know, Dad. Lana's right. Honestly, sometimes I can't believe I'm actually your son." Po said.
"And Dad, I know about how you and Po adopted me," I said. Mr. Ping's eyes widened in shock.
"You do? Who told you?" Mr. Ping asked.
"I learned from Tigress. And Shifu. They told me how you guys took me in after Tai Lung attacked me when I was a little." I said.
"Oh, Lana. I never meant to keep that a secret from you. I just didn't want you to live your life in fear and feeling unwanted." Mr. Ping said.
Mr. Ping took a moment before he started talking again. "Po, Lana. I think it's time I told you guys something I should have told you guys a long time ago."
"Okay," Po said, turning to him.
"The secret ingredient of my Secret Ingredient Soup." Mr. Ping said. Po and I were interested in what he had to say. We leaned in closer. "Come here. The secret ingredient is nothing."
Po and I looked at each other with confusion. How could the secret ingredient be nothing? That doesn't make any sense.
"You heard me! Nothing! There's no secret ingredient!" Mr. Ping said.
"Wait, wait. It's just plain old noodle soup?" Po said.
"Nothing? That's it?" I said with confusion.
"You don't add some kind of special sauce or something?" Po asked.
"Don't have to. To make something special, you just have to believe it's special." Mr. Ping said. My eyes widened when I realized what he was talking about.
"Dad! The scroll!" I said to Po. Po grabbed the scroll from the noodle cart. I helped Po unroll the scroll. We looked at it's blank picture again.
"There is no secret ingredient," Po said.
Now I understand what the scroll has been trying to say all along. There is no secret ingredient. You just have to believe you're special.
I looked at the Jade Palace with a newfound confidence. With this new power, I can have the strength to defeat Tai Lung for good.
END OF CHAPTER 8.