Hi everyone, here is a new chapter. Take care!
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Chapter 11: Three's a Crowd
We reached the outskirts of the Valley of Peace again, but this time the Panda (or the so-called "Dragon Warrior") was with us.
The landscape was still idyllic, especially after the storm Zhen and I had passed through to get here a day and a half prior. Now, we could see beautiful flowers blooming all around us (something rare in Juniper City), slight green skies with sparse clouds, and among other things.
Zhen was pretty much hyper (as she sometimes was…especially when she got something her way.) Po could only look on with curiosity and restraint…but he tried to make the best out of the trip funny enough. The fox saw his addition to the group to be an entertaining one…keep things interesting for the trip back to the chateau.
I just walked quietly ahead of the two…making sure the coast was clear. I also was kind of lost in thought about everything. Although, with Zhen jumping around like a bouncing ball, it was hard to keep to myself. She soon landed on a moss-covered boulder.
"I really liked your little resort town. I should bring my friends to vacation here someday!"
The panda playfully rolled his eyes back to her, "the Valley of Peace isn't a resort."
"Yeah, but if it was…think about how much money you could make!" The vixen chuckled.
"We don't care about money!" Po snapped back.
"You know what they say, money buys happiness!" She retorted, winking at him.
"No, it can't!"
"Whoever says that obviously never had any money to spend" she grinned mischievously.
A short silence followed before he shot back amusingly, "you're a thief!"
"And you're so adorable!" She leaned toward him.
She was having way too much fun with him. Soon, Zhen scurried over to the panda and jumped on his back, "that's a good backscratcher!"
"H-hey!"
I giggled at that.
She yanked it out and jumped away with it…walking beside me whilst brandishing it to him, "so, does this really unlock the door to the Spirit Realm?"
The panda soon snatched it back and said with a retort, "it doesn't work like that!" Zhen crosses her arms as I stood beside her…listening to how exactly one uses the weapon, "it has to be given in order to gain its power!"
Without any warning, Po and I hear Zhen above us: she's using her tail to hang from a tree. Yeah, that's a thing she can do by the way…I never really mentioned that before and I should have…heh.
"Gotcha…given to gain!" She thought about it and so did I. If we can somehow get him to give us the staff, we can unlock its potential! What a strange concept for a mythical weapon…but heh, people must be bored in the Spirit Realm or something.
The shifty fox soon jumped off to meet with him again, "so, uh…can I have it?" She extended her paw as I put my hands on my hips…laughing quietly to myself: maybe he'll do it.
"No!" He responded, I guess he won't.
Suddenly, as if by magic, I found myself crouched with Zhen pushing her furry face against my face…squishing our cheeks together, "what about my friend here?" She then ran her clawed fingers on my face…trying to make a frown on me as I groaned at her in retaliation, "look at that face…she's so sad you won't let her hold it!" The fox said in her usual raspy voice.
"What do you take me for!?"
Zhen stepped away from me, letting me go as I rubbed my cheeks. She put another mischievous grin on her face. Her eyes were half-lidded…she couldn't contain herself, "well, I can't speak for my best friend, Mei, here" she said, patting my side before continuing, "but you're an easy mark."
I just had to cover my mouth at that. It's clear he doesn't know what it means, "what's an easy mark?"
We continued walking and she continued tormenting him incessantly, "someone who's easy to steal from, usually because they're too generous and too trusting…like you!"
She's just too savage with her remarks toward him, it kind of made me feel bad for Po.
"Ah, thank you!" It flew over his head again…now I definitely feel bad for him!
…
It wasn't long before we passed by the cave both Zhen and I took shelter in not too long ago. I looked toward the vixen. A thousand thoughts ran through my head at that moment. She didn't even notice! The fox's attention was squarely on the panda.
Usually, it's just the two of us (and occasionally the Chameleon and her guards) but it's always been Zhen and me. I would have thought maybe she would look at me momentarily and relive the memory in her head as I did…think about the moment she and I had in there. Or maybe she DID think about it just now, but found it more exciting to make me think she didn't see it?
I blushed…blushed so much that anyone could see it. I just groaned loudly in frustration...walking ahead to outrun my embarrassment.
The Dragon Warrior eyed me quietly before whispering to the gray vulpine next to him, "so, where's her tail?"
"She doesn't have one" Zhen replied, "you barely have one yourself, Panda."
He nodded in agreement. A short silence followed before he continued, "so, what animal is she?"
I heard that. I guess that was enough to get rid of my humiliating look because I got irritated soon after. I sighed loudly…here we go again. He's going to ask what kind of species I am; Zhen is going to respond by saying she has no idea and no one else knows. Then, he will call me a freak! It's the same thing, every dang time!
Zhen smirked, jumping in front of Po and walking backward. She was about to make a big show out of it…oh boy…
"Nobody knows…some say she's a descendant of an ancient race…others say she's a marine mammal that came onto dry land…some even say Mei…is the missing link!"
I shake my head. Zhen…do you really need to do this? What's the point? He probably already thinks I'm a literal demon like everyone else does…
"Awesome!" Po said, eyes bright with excitement.
Huh?
I looked toward him with a raised eyebrow. I was taken aback by this. He doesn't think I'm a freak, was that really the reaction I got from him? Pfft, he's probably just saying that to try and get on our good side. But…strangely enough…no one other than Zhen has ever said anything nice about me…about my appearance…
"That mask she wore in the Hall of Heroes was pretty cool" the panda complimented.
The fox gave a slightly annoyed look, "she wears it for a reason. She's probably not happy you guys took it from her…" she said.
He felt regret…something that really made me slightly shocked again. I look back to see just how interested he was in my story…I couldn't believe it. I felt like I needed to clean my ears or something!
"As far as anyone knows, she's the only one of her kind…no one has ever seen another. We don't even know what her species is called."
The Dragon Warrior thought solemnly. It briefly reminded him of when he was much younger…when he was a child found by one of his fathers, Mr. Ping. There was no other panda like him around for many years…they were believed to have gone extinct: killed by Lord Shen's ruthlessness. That is, until his biological father found him…and took him to a hidden panda village.
Po stopped walking as both Zhen and I looked behind and raised our brows at him.
"I…I know that feeling…" he looked down toward me, straight at me! For a fleeting moment, I felt a connection…like he knew the same feelings I've felt all my life. The desire to know, the desire to unravel the past, hoping that maybe someday I'd meet a person who shares my pain! T-this has to be a fluke!
I shook my head and decided to look away finally as we pressed on.
…
As morning turned to afternoon, we made our way through a lush bamboo forest. Before long, the long journey began to encumber us. Zhen groaned loudly before she said, "so…any idea when we'll stop for lunch?"
The panda soon shook his head back, "justice doesn't take breaks, but it does take the occasional time-out for snackage."
I chuckled, walking opposite Zhen, with Po in the center. The latter now wore a simple straw hat…pretty similar to one I wore back in Juniper City funny enough. He pulled out something and I noticed it, "want to split my almond cookie?"
He offered me but I declined, deciding instead to walk ahead. He simply shrugged and offered to Zhen, who climbed on his back to inspect, "you're just…going to give away half of your cookie out of the goodness of your heart?"
He nodded…mouth full. The vixen looked surprised by this gesture from him. She was hungry after all, and she could have taken it by force or by stealth any time she wanted; however, this simple gesture from Po intrigued her. Zhen wasn't used to strangers willingly giving their food away to people who had proven to be problematic. It just didn't make sense to her.
"What's the catch, the rub, the bamboozle?" She started crawling from one side of his shoulder to the other…her descriptions left him trying to make sense of her words.
"Uh..the bam-what-le?"
"You know…the fleece…the rook, the flimflam!"
Sure enough, he got fed up and brandished the half-eaten food, "do you want the cookie or not?" The grayish fox stared at it as her desire to grab it grew with each passing second.
Sure enough, she takes it and devours it like some rabid beast. After she was done, she gave a scrutinizing glare to the panda and said, with her mouth full, "I got my eye on you!"
I ran back to them. I lightly yanked Zhen's blue sleeve while pointing toward what was just ahead.
Soon, the two saw it upon exiting the forest: in front of us was a large expanse of land with a wide range of biomes. There were rolling plains, rocky hillsides, and snowy peaks as far as the eye could see. We were now about halfway to Juniper City.
We were, all of us, amazed by the view, but soon I turned to face the vulpine next to me and noticed she had a few cookie crumbs on her muzzle. I used a finger to brush them off before she scoffed slightly at me. I pulled away and she smirked back…thinking to herself before quickly reaching into her bushy tail. She pulls out what appears to be a flower from the trail and gestures for me to kneel toward her. The fox placed it firmly on my hair as she winked at me.
Po managed to see what we were doing, and he mused quietly, ah…she's a fast learner!
He wasn't quite right. I guess Po just assumed Zhen and I never knew anything about giving and stuff. I mean, maybe that would be the case if Zhen had never met me…who knows? Zhen just assumed intentionally giving something would require so much trust on a level she only knew from me and Chameleon. Having a stranger just WILLINGLY give her something threw her off completely. She and I usually got stuff to survive after all (there were exceptions of course, but most of the time…it wasn't the case.)
Either way, we were on our way down the mountain to get to our ultimate destination. Zhen hopped on Po's back and rested against his bag…putting her arms behind her back. I laughed at that, rubbing her head as I decided to walk alongside the panda for a moment.
"So…you really can't talk?"
I shake my head and sure enough, the vixen exclaimed behind us in a casual voice while still resting on the bag, "I'm basically her interpreter…come on, ask me anything!"
"How did you guys meet?"
I displayed my hands to him…trying to somehow explain with them as he just stared at me awkwardly.
"We met in Juniper City as kids" Zhen answered. I nodded, pointing to her in response: what she said.
"What's her favorite meal?"
"Fish…steamed!"
I recoiled at that…narrowing my eyes at the vulpine, no it's not…you know that Zhen! That's disgusting! Noodles are my favorite!
I could tell she was giving off a smirk and a wink while Po was completely unaware of this.
"Okay…uh…what's her favorite color?" Po asked.
"Blue"
RED…it's RED! R-E-D. Why do you have to torture me like this, you crazy fox!?
I sighed softly. I knew she was doing this for the heck of it, to elicit a response from me…amusingly enough it was working. I just had to scoff at this.
Po just looked at me with a confused frown and I dismissed it with a hand, "she doesn't seem to agree with those answers…"
"Well, it's my word against hers" Zhen grinned mischievously.
I groaned loudly, we still got halfway to go.
Hopefully I don't lose my mind before we get to the lagoon.