Hey everyone! Guess what, new chapter!

…

Chapter 14: Orphans

The sky started to brighten as sunrise began approaching. Our task now was to find a replacement charter that would get us to Juniper City, since the boat captain that Po had recruited had fled during the skirmish.

Turns out, there wasn't anyone left in the docks that could take us…which became a bit of a problem.

What now? Do we just…sit here and wait for a boat to eventually come? I mean, how anti-climatic must this be: to just…not be able to get back home because of the inconvenience I caused back in that tavern?

I certainly felt guilt and shame about it, and I didn't dare look at Zhen to see how frustrated she must have been because of me.

Still, we were both on a mission and had to do everything in our power to accomplish our momentous task of bringing the staff to the Chameleon.

Sure enough, after searching for a bit the three of us found a small wooden vessel we can commandeer. No one was around: it seemed perfect despite the fact we'd have to get there by rowing the boat.

It was just big enough to carry the three of us (if just barely) but it required someone to paddle at the stern.

"Seems like we found the solution to our problem" Zhen stated before the panda walked up with an adamant look, "we're not stealing a boat, Zhen…"

She groaned, putting a claw between her forehead in response, "you want to stop the Chameleon or not?"

Po was seriously against it, but it seemed like there was no other choice. It's not like the three of us could go back to the tavern and ask who it belonged to either…not after what happened. And, swimming to Juniper City was certainly out of the question too.

"We can bring it back after we're done, okay?" The gray fox suggested.

Po just sighed, "okay, but remember…we'll bring it back here AND in one piece!" He laid out his terms before Zhen nodded to dismiss this, "yeah, yeah" she hopped on. I soon followed before Po finally got on the vessel. I decided to be the one to row the boat for now.

First, there was silence as everyone got over what just happened in the Happy Bunny Tavern; however, it wasn't long before that silence was broken by none other than me.

For you see, I was still very much wet…and the cold night wind was already taking its toll on me. With my gray/brown clothes damp and with no fur I started feeling the effects of hypothermia. As my shaking got intense, I was forced to stop rowing before Po decided to take over for me.

I sat down…still shivering from the cold. Zhen sat across from me…seeing how absolutely miserable I was. Something in the vixen made her feel regret for what she said about me to Po. Her thoughts took her back to the time when we were kids…when we just met. I was in a similar, vulnerable, position…as Zhen did all she could to help keep me warm.

"I'm sorry, Mei…" I suddenly felt her fur against me…she was sharing her warmth with me. The panda watched on. I nodded, accepting her apology (long before we got on this boat.) I never held it against her, after all. I hugged her back…rubbing the top of my head against the underside of her muzzle as she gave a light smile back.

Zhen managed to look toward Po, understanding that he was thinking about the predicament back at the tavern. So, she sighed softly to him, "she was always picked on when we were kids...just because she didn't have fur…or claws…or even teeth like we do."

"You two had it rough as kids…didn't you?"

The fox couldn't help but nod at that, "pretty much."

Her fur was helping a lot in combating the cold I felt and I found myself in this state of peace and belonging with the corsac fox…reminding me of our days before meeting the Chameleon, "it was just the two of us for a while. We were both orphans, after all."

Po's eyes widened as he kept rowing the boat, "r-really?"

Zhen nodded, "it wasn't easy trying to survive in a big city. We both had to do everything we could to survive and on some nights that wasn't enough. Thankfully one day, a local took us in…gave us a new life…roof over our heads…gave us clothes to wear…more food than we knew what to do with."

I looked up slowly to see his reaction…he shared our melancholy, "I'm an orphan too…I mean, I was…I lost my family when I was a cub too."

We looked at him with slight surprise, but it dawned on us both that it made sense given the context he had given us.

B-but wait a minute, I thought Po's biological father was with him and he even said this himself. Sure enough, the gray fox next to me raised a furry brow at him, but before she could even make a retort Po answered.

He began telling us how Lord Shen sent his forces to massacre pandas due to a prophecy that Po would one day defeat him. It led to him being misplaced by his mother to survive the onslaught. He was eventually found by Mr. Ping who adopted him. It wouldn't be years until Po would finally be reunited with his relatives.

It finally came together like woven fabric, and Zhen and I looked at each other in response. In some strange way, that changed my perspective on everything now more than ever. Po could have been one of us…

It made me think about how Zhen and I should go about all this: is there a chance we could recruit Po? Maybe I'm overthinking things…I mean, how on earth could he possibly be one of us?

The more I thought about it the more I slowly drifted to sleep…laying against Zhen. I rested my head against her lap as she ran her fingers against my tied-up hair. The fox looked up toward Po and said, "I sometimes wonder how different things would be if we didn't grow up like this…but it ends up scaring me. I can't imagine any other life than the one I grew up in…" she said softly.

Po nodded as if he didn't need to say anything…he just wanted Zhen to understand that he cared. It didn't matter if we just met him a few hours ago…he cared. Po was unlike anyone we had ever met.

As I slept next to the fox, Po stepped forward and offered her a cookie: they split it three ways and saved the third for me later. She looked at him with curious eyes as he continued rowing the boat, "tell me something…back in the Valley of Geese…"

"Peace" he corrected her before she continued.

"What did that angry little squirrel mean…"

"Red panda."

"…when he said you had to find your successor?"

Po sighed a bit, looking away toward the water for a moment in response, "now that I'm supposed to become Spiritual Leader, I have to find a worthy successor to take over as the Dragon Warrior."

She put her paws behind her head and crossed her legs, "once you're on top, that's where you want to stay, right?"

"No…it's just that…what do I know about being a Spiritual Leader? I can't even come up with one of those cool-sounding proverbs!" He swung his arm around as if describing a story to the vixen, "life's greatest enemy is…" he stopped, he couldn't make up the right phrase and he soon sighed in defeat, "…I don't know…stairs?"

Zhen giggled at that, "okay." She soon looked down at me, seeing the subconscious smile I had from being close to her, "I guess it's just easier to hold on to the life you know than to move on to the one you don't."

Po smiled at that, "hey, that was pretty good!"

She winked at him in return, "maybe I should be the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Geese."

"Peace."

…

Time passed, and I was still resting on the small boat. Sure enough, I heard Zhen's voice in my ear, "we're almost home, Mei…"

I stirred, slowly rising to see us steadily approaching the city walls. It's daytime, about early in the afternoon: Zhen had swapped places with Po and was rowing the boat halfway through the journey. She probably set me down from her lap so carefully that I didn't notice in my slumber. Across from me, the panda had fallen asleep…and he was snoring…loudly.

She and I walked up to him…standing over his sleeping form. I had a sheepish grin while Zhen had a bit of an annoyed grimace on her face, "wake up Po, we're here. Po…wake up." She tried moving him but he remained still. Sure enough, the vulpine got frustrated. "Wake up!" She smacked his cheek hard and that finally got him to come round. His eyes widened as if it was from seeing something horrible…like a revelation of some sort. He brought himself up to meet us, "Zhen…Mei! I had a vision…I saw The Chameleon…and I saw you guys!"

Zhen's eyes widened as I raised an eyebrow to that, "she's gonna take over cities and towns and the Valley of Peace!"

"A vision?" The vixen stepped closer, visibly shaken by this, but soon she crossed her arms and gave a scrutinizing glare, "while you were asleep?"

I had to put my hands on my hips, also wondering if it really was a vision.

"I'm pretty sure that was just a dream, Po."

Ditto.

He looked away, thinking about it…then he looked at us as if he was thinking about something else, but then he shook his head not a moment too soon, "no, not a dream…it was a vision!" He rubbed his belly shortly after and grumbled, "it's a Dragon Warrior thing…or maybe it was a bad dumpling I had back in the Tavern…"

"…have you considered the alternative?" Zhen smirked before I covered my mouth…hiding my giggles.

"I have to get to the Chameleon and take her down!" He said with a serious tone.

"Well, then, you're in luck" she and I stepped away…throwing our arms out to introduce our home, "welcome to Juniper City!" She stated proudly.

The current began taking our vessel through the front gate and into the large lagoon that surrounded the big Chinese metropolis.

Po looked on with amazement, as we expected him to, "whoa!"

Zhen soon stood on top of the bow and threw her arms outward to us, "this is the place where you can be whatever you want to be, do whatever you want to do, and steal whatever you want to steal…" she had rubbed her paws together before realizing what she said…looking back to the panda and me. I was making a throat-slicing gesture to get her to stop, "uh, if that's your thing…" she corrected herself as I rolled my eyes playfully back.

As we got closer, I realized that NO ONE was driving this boat and we were about to hit the docks at full speed!

"Uh, who's steering the boat right now?" Po muttered nervously. I gave an awkward smile, and shrugged to them before Zhen's eyes widened a bit, "oh boy…"

Sure enough, we crashed into the pier and we were thrown off…landing in soft dirt not too far away. After the three of us recovered, we looked toward the large expanse of urban jungle that was now on our path. Zhen took the initiative and stepped forward, "welp, I hope you are ready for this, panda" she said. Po gave a confident look, looking at her and then to me, "you bet I am!"

"Come on then, try to keep up!" She gestured for us to follow.

We're finally home again…it seems like this is the final chapter of our mission; however, unlike all the other times before…I hesitated. I thought about what we were exactly going to do to Po to achieve our objective.

I-I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I'm starting to like having him around. Zhen and I know what we're bringing him into…

Maybe he won't have to fight the Chameleon if he simply hands over the Staff of Wisdom when we take him to the palace? Yet, we both know that isn't going to happen…our master has foreseen this. A fight between the two is inevitable…

For the first time, I felt sick inside…I didn't feel good sending Po off into a trap even though it was our plan from the start.

Then I thought about what Lady Chameleon promised me, and I silenced my thoughts.

Remember the mission, remember all those years of pain and torment. Perhaps once all of this is done, I can finally find peace knowing who I am and where I come from. Perhaps, an even greater reward awaited me once our journey ended.

This can't have all been for nothing, right?