5 chapters to go... (look at A/N for context after reading)
It was too quiet in the infirmary for any kind of comfort. Tigress hasn't said a word since Crane flew her up here. She simply hung her head low and rose her injured arm just enough for Mantis to perform acupuncture on her shoulder blade before wrapping up the wound. He nervously looked towards the avian friend who was pacing around the green-coded room while shaking his head.
"I just... I can't believe it. A random panda, the Dragon Warrior!? We don't know anything about this guy and yet he's just thrusted in one of the most prestigious roles in the history of kung fu just like that!?" Crane exclaimed, looking helplessly at the feline. "Did you have any idea this would happen!?"
"Do I look like I know the secrets to the universe, Crane?" Tigress stated bitterly. "I know just as much as you. But I don't think we should take this news as harshly as we should."
Mantis perked his head up curiously at her. "Says the one who dedicated almost her entire life just to get the title of the Dragon Warrior? What's happened to you since we last saw you?"
"Nothing," Tigress growled. "I'm just not as distraught over this as you all are. You're all thinking irrationally. Sure this is quite a shock to us all, including to Lotus, but it's simply..." She hesitated. She would be lying if she didn't feel at a complete loss of thought as her peers felt. "It's... it's..."
"It's completely preposterous is what it is."
At the sound of the familiar voice, the three warriors stood stiff at attention and bowed their head, simultaneously saying "Master" towards the red panda.
"I don't wish to speak ill of Master Oogway, but I know for absolute certain that the panda—this 'Lotus' that you speak of—is a blatant mistake!"
"You don't know that, Master..." Tigress muttered coldly, with the insect and bird jerking their heads towards her in fear, believing she's lost her mind.
Master Shifu's ear twitched as he glared at his most trusted pupil, "Masters Crane and Mantis, you both are dismissed. Join Masters Monkey and Viper in the training hall."
"Y-yes, Master." They both whimpered as they scattered out of the room. The red panda walked up to Tigress as she still stood with her hands behind her back, firm but still as respectful as she could be.
"I don't know what that blubbering excuse of a creature has put into your head, Master Tigress, but this is not how one speaks to one's superior mentor."
"Well as a mentor myself, I have to say I do not appreciate the way you speak about my student." Tigress didn't move a muscle, only glancing down at her stone-walled master and parent who simply laughed at her face.
"HA! Your student, hmm? And who in the Mortal Realm gave you permission to be someone else's master?"
"Master Oogway, when he sent me away on the mission to the Panda Village in the first place."
Shifu huffed. His bitter grin turned into a furious frown. She was talking smart to him. For what reason, he would never know, but what he did know was that he would not give his student the upperhand in this situation... not again.
He turned away from the tiger. "Well then, let's see how well your 'student' can last before I break him. I could not care less if you were his master or if the Emperor himself was his master, that panda is not the Dragon Warrior!" He took a deep breath. "You are dismissed, Master Tigress. Go back to training at once."
It took all of Tigress' power to not break composure and tear apart anything in her path. She simply balled up her fists and stormed out of the room in a stiffened stride. She felt so furious at the constant rejections from her master, but felt even more fury at herself. For she knew that no matter what Shifu would plan to do to Lotus, she would not have the power to protect him. Not from her own parent, anyhow.
"DRAGON WARRIOR! DRAGON WARRIOR! DRAGON WARRIOR!" The villagers chanted as clueless Lotus was carried up to the Hall of Heroes.
He looked around him in both awe and intimidation. There were so many... non-pandas. There were bunnies, geese, pigs and sheep, all aligned around him. Cheering him on. He couldn't help but feel smaller than all of them, despite being the biggest animal among them. He nervously clutched his mini carriage, though his sweaty paws weren't helpful in keeping him in as, as soon as the Jade Palace doors opened, he was thrown inside on his front.
"Ooh.. n-now wait a second...!" He grunted in slight pain and before he knew it, the doors started to close on him. "WAIT!" He stumbled up, but it was too late. He was trapped inside. "I THINK THERE'S BEEN SOME MISTAKE HERE!" He chuckled nervously through the door. "EVERYONE HERE SEEMS TO THINK THAT I'M THE... uh..." The panda stopped. He glanced behind him and felt his jaw drop. He slowly turned, worried if he turned too fast he would miss it.
But no. He didn't miss it. He was truly here.
"The Sacred Hall of Heroes..." He whispered, feeling his excitement bubble to the surface. "NO WAY! OH MY GOODNESS! I'M ACTUALLY HERE!" His voice echoed through out the hall. He clamped his mouth shut and blushed in embarrassment.
It felt super wrong for him to be here.
His worries were quickly washed away when, while he was taking all the sights ahead of him in, he spotted a very familiar artifact.
He gasped and ran to it. "Master Flying Rhino's armour! WITH AUTHENTIC BATTLE DAMAGE!" He flapped his arms happily.
Yep, Worry Mode was long gone now.
It was now Fanboy Mode.
"Man, if only I could wear it, I would TOTALLY fit in it!" He beamed, carefully inspecting it, before turning and gasping again. "WHOOOAAA!"
He ran towards the other artifact. "The Sword of Heroes! Said to be so sharp you could cut yourself just by looking at—OW!" He put his cut finger in his mouth, though he wasn't so fixated on the pain as he was still fixated on the weapon's awesomeness.
"Oh my Gods they were right..."
Lotus went all over the room to gasp and fanboy over the rest of the items. The Invisible Trident of Destiny, the legendary painting of Master Ox, the Weapons of the Notorious Sneaky Lynx, the Gauntlet of Master Lion... from the Battle Helmets of Master Rat's Army to the Waterproof Armour of Master Dolphin.
This was everything Lotus had dreamed of and more.
But then, finally, he saw something that made him mentally implode...
"Noooo! Oh-ho-ho-ho!" He excitedly laughed and ran up to it. It was a gold and red urn, stood on a pedestal with beautiful paintings of mountains engraved on it. His paws simply hovered around this artifact, as he was careful not to touch it. "The Legendary Urn of Whispering Warriors..." He grinned. "Said to contain the souls of the entire Tenshu army!"
He hesitated for a moment, desiring to give this legend a test. Was it really true? ".. Hello?"
"Have you finished sightseeing?" A voice replied.
Lotus inwardly gasped and clamped his paw over his mouth again. 'Holy crap it really is true!'
"S-sorry! Should I have come to see you first?"
"My patience is wearing thin."
The panda quirked up his eyebrow. "Oh? Well, I mean, it's not like you were going anywhere."
"Would you turn around?"
"Sure!" Lotus turned, but didn't really care to notice who was there at first. "Hey, how you doing? Now how in the Mortal Realm do you get five-thousand souls to—OH SHIII—MASTER SHIFU!" Lotus fumbled, accidentally knocking over the urn and making it break on the floor. He cringed at himself as he heard the wallowing cries of the souls that filled the urn.
"...Someone... broke that. B-but I'm going to fix it!" he nervously grinned at the deep frown Master Shifu gave him in return. The big panda got on his knees and tried collecting the pieces, "Y-you guys got some glue around here or.. OW!" In his unlucky fashion, as he was collecting the pieces, the pedestal in which the urn sat on decided to fall against his head and plop on the ground.
Shifu rolled his eyes. "So you're Master Tigress' student, hmm?"
Lotus jolted. His eyes grew wide and his cheeks started to heat up again. "Ahem... yeah?"
"And I suppose the... 'Dragon Warrior' as well?" The red panda walked slowly towards Lotus.
"I... I guess so—"
"WRONG!"
"EEEP!" The meek panda jumped back, falling on his behind as the smaller master still seemed to tower over him.
"You are not the Dragon Warrior! You will never be the Dragon Warrior, until..." Shifu pointed his flute up towards a statue on the ceiling that resembled a golden dragon, "You have learned the secrets of the Dragon Scroll."
"Whoa..." Lotus looked up at the statue, a longing glow of gold in his own eyes. "So um... how does this work? I-I mean how do we get it down? Do you have like, a ladder or... a trampoline maybe?" He cheesily grinned. But Shifu simply chuckled maliciously and fiddled with his flute, his back towards the big bear.
"Do you really think it's that easy? That I'm just going to hand you the secret to limitless power?"
"O-oh no, of course not!" Lotus stood up, panicked. "I was just—"
"One must first master the highest level of kung fu!"
"A-actually, Master Tigress taught me some cool stuff over the past few—"
"And that is clearly impossible if that one is someone like you." Shifu interjected, not at all willing to take the panda's words into account.
Lotus paused his initial statement. "Someone like... me?"
That was a strange comment to him. His entire life he was surrounded by those who were 'like him'... well, as much as physicality shows for. What could Master Shifu have against what was like him?
As if Shifu heard Lotus' question, he continued, using his flute to probe and whack at the panda's form. "Look at you! This FAT fur, these FLABBY arms!... And this ridiculous belly."
Lotus winced as his belly started to jiggle. "Hey, these flabby and fat parts are sensitive..." He muttered. Lotus had never been criticised for his weight or form before. He was insecure about a lot of things towards himself but... never his weight. Or his fur or his arms. Or his belly... Was he supposed to be ashamed of these things?
No, no, that's ridiculous. How could he feel bad for these things? He can't control them! And Shifu for sure can't change the way his species was! Lotus may have a lot to criticise about his valley, but he would never force them to change who they were. That was his kind that Shifu was making fun of. Forget making Lotus insecure. Shifu was talking badly about his entire culture and home.
Lotus' eyes hardened as Shifu went on. "...And utter disregard to personal hygiene."
"That's enough, Master Shifu, now you're just being mean..." The panda warned.
"Don't stand too close, I can smell your breath. Honestly, did your mother never teach you how to brush your teeth? Disgraceful."
And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Lotus growled and stomped forward, unexpectedly pushing Shifu back. "I said enough! You don't get to talk about my family that way! Now you can say whatever you want about me, but if you think I'm going to let you—"
Shifu, quickly regaining his composure, grabbed Lotus' finger to cause him to shut up. In fear, the panda stiffened as he inspected the move the red panda master made on him.
"The Wuxi Finger Hold..."
"Oh, you know this hold?" Shifu smirked. He would never let his students or opponents have the upperhand...
"..D-developed by Master Wuxi in the Third Dynasty, yes..." Lotus whimpered out.
"Ah, so you must know what happens when I flex my pinkie..?"
The panda's eyes widened. "... You're sick. You're sadistic and sick. You know that, right?"
"You want to know the hardest part of this? The hardest part is cleaning up afterwards. Hmm hmm hmm," He chuckled maliciously.
Lotus swallowed hard. "So you do know that. Great. Y-you don't scare me, you know." His paw trembled in Shifu's hold.
"I'm not asking you to be afraid of me, I'm asking you to listen closely, panda," The small master muttered. "Oogway may have picked you as our so-called 'Dragon Warrior', but when I'm through with you, I promise you're going to wish. He. Hadn't. Are we clear?"
The ursine took in a deep breath. "C-crystal."
"Good," Shifu hummed to himself in satisfaction. "I can't wait to get started..."
Tigress entered the Training Hall, the smells of animal musk, wood and hardcore skill rang through her nose, giving her a small sense of nostalgia. As she walked in, however, she saw that the usually battling four warriors she grew up and fought with were huddled together and muttering amongst each other rather then training.
The tiger suspected what they could be talking about. She rolled her eyes and approached them. "And here I was being the one getting lectured by Master Shifu about slacking off."
They all jumped a bit and broke out of their huddle, the four other masters looking at her in shyness.
"I know what you all are thinking. We are all surprised from the events of today. But no amount of gossip or drama should steer us away from training."
"We know that, sweetie," Viper replied in her usual kind tone. "But you can't blame us for talking about it. I mean, this isn't just some Valley of Peace drama, this is something that's going to impact us for goodness knows how long."
"And what we're also wondering is how you're not blowing steam from out of your ears from all of this, Tigress." Mantis hopped onto Monkey's shoulder, who nodded in agreement. "Yeah! It was no secret you wanted this more than any of us! What changed? Did the pandas somehow brainwash you or something?" The primate scratched his head curiously.
"Brainwash!? Of course not!" Tigress exclaimed. "No one brainwashed me into thinking anything. I just... changed priorities. My concern at the moment is looking after Lotus, our new Dragon Warrior, and—"
"Wait!" Viper raised up her tail as her eyes grew wide. "T-that panda that somehow appeared in our lives through a ball of fire—"
"There was no ball of fire, Lotus just shot a cart of fireworks..." Tigress muttered.
"—was the Lotus fellow you mentioned in your letters?"
"...Yes? So?" Tigress narrowed her eyes at the four warriors, who darted their heads between each other. She could see Monkey and Mantis smirking at each other as well, but for what reason, she could not say. "What?"
"NOTHING! BACK TO TRAINING, GUYS!" The lanky bird interjected between the two mischievous masters before they all headed into the rink to start up their training.
Viper smiled with a shake of her head before glancing at Tigress while heading to the pit of spitting fire. "So, you think you still got it after spending a few months away from the training hall?"
Tigress walked towards the twisting pillars and swinging spikes, stretching her arms and cracking her back muscles. "Please... it's humorous how you doubt me." She turned to a stray duck awaiting her command at the lever. She tilted her head at him in confusion. "Dao? Where's Zeng?"
"On another diplomatic mission, Master Tigress." The duck bowed. "Should I put the setting at your usual twenty loads?"
Tigress looked down in thought. 'Strange... I wonder what mission he's on.'
She turned back towards Dao. "Put the setting at fifteen. I want to start light before falling back into the swing of things."
"As you wish, Master Tigress."
She put her paw pads in some chalk powder and then wrapped up her knuckles. She flexed her numb paws and took a deep breath. Once she heard the machine start to activate, a light switched in her head. Her eyes shrank to sharp slits, her tail swished and her tail flicked. She knelt down low, winding herself up as she looked through the swinging spikes to find an opening. Once she did, she roared and ran towards the machine and flipped through the opening, twisting her body and landing gracefully on the ever moving pillars. She dodged through all of them with her usual swift and organised movements. She felt just the same as she did before she even left. She even knocked out some spikes to get some of her pent up anger out. She was thriving.
After sometime of losing herself in her workout, she quickly turned and used her open-palmed strike to break apart another swinging spike, only to realise a little too late that a chunk of the flying debris whacked a certain bear in the face when he and Shifu just walked in.
Tigress snapped out of her determined daze and shouted from the sidelines, "Cut it!"
As the machine stopped, she worriedly watched as poor Lotus winced and grasped his head. Shifu, unfortunately, seemed to be the most content about this. "Well done, Master Tigress." He murmured, making the feline glare before softening her gaze at the panda and mouthing a sincere 'sorry'.
Lotus smiled, simply glad to see his companion again.
"Come, my students." Master Shifu called out, making the rest of the Furious Five stop mid training and travel over to the front of the hall, standing straight at attention as Tigress meekly joins them.
"Whoa, the Furious Five! Hi..." Lotus shyly smiled. "I'm uh, kinda a big fan! T-Tigress told me a lot about you guys! I have to say you're all a lot bigger than my..."
He glanced at his feline mentor, who discreetly gestured to not mention the 'action figures' Lotus brought with him. He awkwardly cleared his throat and kicked his feet as the red panda next to him scoffed in annoyance.
"As you know, this... peculiar creature is what we have to work with being our new Dragon Warrior. That is, until, I have something to say about it.. Master Tigress, you said that you were 'teaching' him at the Panda Village?"
"We spent all our time training via meditation, sparring, honouring the exercises of the Jade Palace, and helping Lotus expand his physical, mental, and spiritual abilities as much as we could while there. He actually has a lot of potential for someone who only started training with me a few months ago, I feel with a bit of nurture he might even live up to the title given to him, Master Shifu." Tigress threw a rare and sincere smile towards the panda, which gave Lotus a small sense of pride and security.
Monkey grinned deviously at the bug on his shoulder when he caught this smile, and Mantis stuck his tongue out at him back, before the two boys got nudged by the serpent master who was trying to achieve a sense of normalcy amongst them.
Shifu's ears pinned back in irritation. "Hmm, well if that's the case, that simply solidifies why I'm the master and you're the student here, Master Tigress." He bit back, making Tigress form a deep frown.
"To truly prove the panda's potential, he shall go through the training course all in one go, to see which style of kung fu he can handle the most." Shifu walked over to Dao and the lever, with his students all silently falling suit.
Lotus nervously looked out at the course, and squeaked in fear to himself when he saw the fire shoot up from the pipes at the end of the course. "W-wait! A-are you sure t-this is the only way to prove it? I-I mean... what about that thing? Right there!" The panda pointed to the adversary that was, funnily enough, painted like a bear. Monkey snickered from in front of him. "That uh, that's basically our punching bag. We literally use that to train children, Rookie."
"And for propping the door open when it gets hot." Crane added under his breath, causing Monkey and Mantis to chuckle.
Lotus, once again, despite being bigger than everyone around him, felt infinitely smaller. Suddenly, he felt a comforting paw placed on his shoulder, and looked up towards the only master that gave him mercy. Tigress smiled, with a twinge of worry on her face. "Don't worry, We will make sure the setting is easier for you. You have potential but you're still a beginner. I know you'll be able to handle this, though."
He sighed in relief after gazing into the tiger's comforting and passionate ember eyes. He placed his paw over her own and smiled in return, "With you here, I feel like I can handle anything."
"Set it to ten loads, Dao." Shifu ordered, before leaning in to whisper in the duck's ear, "Any sign of Zeng yet?"
"Not yet, Master Shifu." The red panda grumbled in reply, with the tall tiger being the only one to notice it.
Her and the rest of the Five all stood at the sidelines as Shifu then guided the panda to the front of the hall, right before the machine. "The process of the training hall is simple. Everyone has done it on their first day of being here. First, you are meant to travel along the twisting pillars while dodging the swinging clubs of spikes, swing up through the ninja-star hoops before plopping down and balancing on the jade tortoise bowl before smoothly maneuvering through the wooden warriors and then whisking through the pits of spitting fire without burning yourself before safely ending up on the other side. Understand?"
"Uhh..."
"Good," Shifu grinned, before walking off to the sidelines himself. "Let's begin. Start it up, Dao!"
The panda bear tapped his open belly in nervousness as all the mechanisms started to work. He looked off to where Tigress was standing, to which he saw her nod her head and smile at him in determination.
And it was that smile alone that has proven to whisk away his worries. He unwrapped his sash and dropped his robe on the floor, taking deep breathes and hopping a bit to hype himself up.
And with that, he jumped in the pit with only one thing to drive him...
Prove Master Shifu wrong.
He stumbled when first hopping in, trying hard to find his footing whilst evading the swinging clubs. "W-whoa!"
Tigress clenched her paws close to her, watching the panda intently while biting her lip. 'Come on, Lotus. Remember your stance.' She thought.
It was as if the bear could read her thoughts, because as he took a deep breath and watched the spinning pillars beneath him while he moved with haste, he was able to learn to balance himself fairly quickly. "Whoohoo!" He cheered in excitement.
The feline smiled, feeling a sense of pride wash over herself as well as her student and friend.
Shifu, unfortunately, noticed this. He watched as his star pupil smiled at her replacement while the others simply watched on in awe, his ears pinning down. He was not happy with this result.
He quietly moved to Dao running the lever and whispered to him sharply. "Turn it up."
Dao looked at him in confusion. "But he's a beginner. And you said—"
"I don't care what I said before!" The red panda angrily grabbed the lever, "I'm telling you now to TURN IT UP!"
That was all the panda was able to hear in the distance before seeing Shifu crank the lever all the way to thirty loads.
Tigress' eyes widened. He turned it all the way up! "Lotus—" She reached forward to try and help him, before she was stopped with a simple gesture from the smirking Shifu.
The panda could instantly feel the speed increase on the twisting pillars, it moved so fast that it flicked off his footing and knocked him into a forced splits, a sight that made everyone crease for him as he winced. "Ooh, that hurts."
"Lotus look out!"
Hearing the call of his companion, he tried looking around for his impending danger, failing to notice another spiked club swinging right into his face and knocking him out of the pit.
Everyone on the sidelines seemed to watched the whole show of humiliation in slow-mo.
First he fell right into the Jade Tortoise, making him spin out of it and dizzily walk right into the field of wooden warriors, getting whacked and smacked in every direction, even down at his... tenders. The Furious Five cringed again.
Shifu smiled. "This will be easier than I thought."
Tigress growled at him under her breath before looking back in sympathy at the poor panda.
After getting whacked and smacked by even more wooden warriors, the battered and bruised Lotus finally tumbled out into the pits of spitting fire. The oblivious bear didn't even bother to realise it until it was too late.
"Oh no."
Fire spat up and caught him in the face, making him scream and fall back on his butt, quickly crawling away from the scene.
He hates fire. He never wanted to look at fire again.
Suddenly his mind started racing. Traces of that night started littering his mind. His chest heaved and his eyes watered. He felt so pathetic. Like he was back as a 4 year old who couldn't handle the sight of candle light without running into the other room. All he wanted to do was get out. He wanted to get out of here. But he couldn't move. He just helplessly sat there, like a fool.
Suddenly, he heard murmuring from beside him, on the sidelines. Slowly getting louder, and louder, and louder. Until suddenly—
"Lotus!"
His head snaps to where the voice was coming from, only to see an orange and black blur grab him and pull him up.
His vision shook and focused as his face, still ashy from the flames, looked up at a worried Tigress helping him out of the pit.
Master Shifu's eyebrows furrowed. "That is insubordination, Master Tigress! He was supposed to finish the hall!"
Tigress, surprisingly, glared back. "You sabotaged him! He was doing well until you messed with the twisting pillars! Thirty loads!? He's clearly not ready for that!"
"The Dragon Warrior is supposed to handle anything that comes his way! You were able to hold up on thirty loads when you were barely an adolescent."
"I could barely handle thirty loads today!"
"Watch your tone! If your beloved student can't handle a little bit of pressure and a smidge of fire, then he clearly isn't ready to be the Dragon Warrior." He turned his back on his students and walked out of the training hall. "You're all dismissed for the day."
Crane and Mantis glared back at the ursine and feline duo before walking out as well, with Monkey following while awkwardly rubbing his neck. Viper looked at the duo last with a sad smile before following the boys out the hall.
Lotus felt his eyes glaze with tears again. "..Tigress, I'm—"
"Don't worry about it," She finished. She had her ears pinned down in clear sadness, yet she still smiled at the panda wrapped around her, "Let's just... get you fixed up."
The tiger rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. She led Lotus to the Hot Springs to have him clean himself up as she walked into the kitchen with an already sat Furious Five awaiting her presence. She said nothing but narrowed her eyes at their mixed faces before silently walking to the counter to make her tofu slices.
Suddenly, she heard a stomp from the always-bold Mantis. "I'm sorry, but are we just going to ignore what happened back there!?"
"There are... truly no words." Crane muttered.
"No kidding." Monkey winced.
Tigress turned to the others, her fiery embers burning into their cores. "What are you talking about?"
"Tigress! The panda froze up! In the middle of the hall! And you just dragged him out of there like he was a child!" Mantis hopped in exasperation.
"That was not what happened."
"Oh?" He deadpanned at the tiger. "Then tell us what happened, hmm? Because we're all so curious to know why the panda just sat there and looked at fire like an idiot!"
Tigress simply growled, the plate in her hands threatening to shatter. Suddenly, the sweet voice of Viper spoke up.
"We know you care about him, Tigress, quite... deeply, as well. But you have to realise that he was not prepared the entire time! Aren't you wondering what Master Oogway was thinking when he chose the panda—I mean, Lotus?"
"'Not prepared the entire time'!? Master Shifu clearly sabotaged him! You all saw it!" Tigress argued.
"It doesn't matter what Shifu did," She continued. "Shifu has always been hard on all of us, pushing us to our limits. You can't just protect Lotus forever. If he can't handle a bit of pressure or a smidge of fire like Master Shifu said, then he's going to get himself killed."
"Oh but don't you see?" Crane announced sarcastically. "He is just too mighty for the likes of the Training Hall! He's the Dragon Warrior; the one who fell out of the sky in a 'ball of fire'!"
"When he walks, the very ground shakes!" Monkey joked, waddling around and puffing his cheeks to imitate the panda, making everyone at the table laugh.
Mantis chimed in after he ceased his laughter "And one would think that Master Oogway would choose someone who actually knew kung fu."
"Yeah, or could at least touch his toes!" Crane replied.
"Or even see his toes." Monkey mumbled, making everyone laugh again.
Tigress was fuming in anger at this point, before her ear twitched at the sound of a floor board creaking. Her heart dropped to her stomach when amidst the laughter, her head turned to see a clearly hurt panda, standing in the hallway as he helplessly watched the others torment him.
"Speaking of which, where is your beloved Dragon Warrior, hmm? Didn't you go with him to help clean his diapers after he soiled himself in the hall?" Monkey smirked at Tigress, before his face dropped and he followed the tiger's gaze to the entrance. "Oh..."
The rest of the group followed their gazes and felt immense regret wash over all of them.
Lotus bitterly stared at all of them. "Does everyone here make fun of how pandas are?"
After he was met with silence, he simply shut his eyes and walked out of the kitchen.
Finally, Tigress slammed down her food on the table, causing the wood to crack on impact, thus making the others jolt.
"You want to know why Lotus froze up when he was facing the fire!? His old village burned to the ground."
All their eyes widened.
"He lost so many of his kind, including his mother. His mother and village. Burned to the ground. Let that sink in. Yes, he gets a little skiddish around fire. But you know what else there is to Lotus? He's the most determined warrior I ever met. When I met him, he knew nothing on how to do kung fu. The boy was broken when I found him. Yet he still found the strength to train every single day, dawn to dusk, learning and growing his skill, which is more dedication than I have seen from any of you before me!"
"Not just that, but he has managed to give me more happiness and peace than I have experienced my entire life! So you all do not get the right to talk about MY student, and MY dearest friend. Matter of fact, you all, nor I, shouldn't have the right to talk about ANYONE like that. How can you all be so prideful of yourselves to make such degrading jokes!? We have no place to question Oogway or make someone else feel bad just because we feel bad for ourselves. You should be ashamed to call yourselves 'protectors' if this is how you speak about those you're meant to protect." Tigress at last took a deep breath and started walking out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Viper finally asked.
"Going to clear my head."
Meanwhile, the panda found himself trying to blink the tears away as he walked through the dark and quiet Valley. With the blankets of night covering the skies, all the villagers have bid their goodnights and retreated into their own homes.
Well, all except for one.
Lotus sniffed the air and was hit with a heavy aroma of broth. He softly smiled at the smell, following it's trail up to the newly repaired Noodle Shop run by Mr. Ping. The panda curiously peeked his head inside and saw the lonesome goose stirring away in the kitchen.
Lotus politely walked in and knocked on the first table in front of him.
"Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop is closed today thanks to the fairly recent destruction and repairs—oh, it's you!"
Lotus nervously smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah... um, about the recent destruction thing, sorry about that..."
Mr. Ping quickly left his soup and walked out of his kitchen while wiping his wings. "Oh no, no, no, my dear boy, it wasn't your fault! In fact, you and Master Tigress helped plenty! If it weren't for you and your quick thinking I would have been those ruffians' dinner!"
The panda lightly chuckled. "Well it's nice to know I did something right, heh..."
Mr. Ping smiled at Lotus' chuckling. "Would you um... like something to eat? I just finished up on my famous Secret Ingredient Soup!"
"I'd like that..." Maybe this could help him in his stump. He has a habit of binge-eating whenever he's upset. Lotus tried to shimmy through the tight, enclosed spaces between the tables, only achieving in pushing them away with his robust bottom. "Aww man... sorry.."
"Oh don't be, son! The seating is a little claustrophobic, perhaps I should renovate on the seating plan." He mumbled to himself while pouring the soup into a few bowls.
"Uh, y-you don't have to accommodate for me, j-just because I'm.. well..." Lotus took his belly and flopped it in shame.
"Nonsense! What kind of famous noodle chef would I be if I didn't accommodate for my customers!"
"I don't have any money, though..." The panda pointed out as he finally took a seat at a table closest to the kitchen.
"Ah, consider it on the house!"
"Really?"
Mr. Ping stopped, shocked with what he just said. "Yes... oh my goodness I can't believe I just said that—and MEANT it!"
"Not much of a skimper with money, are you, Mr. Ping?" Lotus grinned.
"Never! I'm an opportunist, if I can grab yuan from anyone who walks into my shop, I will take the chance!" Mr. Ping exasperated, gently tossing the bowls onto the table and sitting in front of the panda.
"Well, for what it's worth, you could say I paid in my services! Me and Tigress protected you and your shop after all, so you're giving me your gratitude via food!" He pointed out, slurping up the first bite of noodles. His eyes brightened at the sudden flavour. "And MAN is that gratitude appreciated!"
The goose smiled back. "That does put my 'give and take' mind at ease, my dear boy! How do you like the noodles?"
"This is the best noodles I have ever tasted! I mean I make a pretty decent bowl of noodles myself but nothing THIS good! Your reputation proceeds you, Mr. Ping!"
"But of course it does! I make sure it does! That's what Mr. Ping's famous Secret Ingredient Soup does to you!"
"Mmm, I bet I can tell what it is~, the secret ingredient, I mean. I have a pretty solid sense of taste! Mmm, more please!" Lotus beamed, taking the bird aback. "You want more of my noodles?"
"I can see why you're well known here! Your stuff is addicting!"
Mr. Ping grinned back, giving Lotus his own bowl. "Go ahead, my boy! Have as much as you want!" He giggled when Lotus didn't hesitate to devour the second dish and silently ask for more. "I do warn you though, the only people able to get the secret family recipe are those descended from past noodle folk! Just as I learned the recipe from my father, who learned it from his father... well, at least after his father got this place from winning a Majong game with a pig."
"Wow! I wish I had some awesome family tradition like that! Your kid must be lucky to learn the 'great secret ingredient'!" Lotus mentioned as he started slurping up more noodles given to him.
Mr. Ping finally looked down with a sad smile. "Oh I uh, heh, don't have a child of my own..."
"Oh?"
"I guess I was just—always too focused on work, I didn't find a reason to settle down and have a family..."
Lotus frowned. "Doesn't that get... lonely?"
"Better than getting disowned by my father for running off to make tofu!"
"So you... gave up your dreams and wants to have a family... to make your father happy?"
"Oh they're just stupid dreams! Nothing worth pursuing in my eyes." The goose nervously chuckled.
Lotus looked down into his soup as well, slowly stirring it in sadness. "Is that all dreams are? Just stupid dreams not worth pursuing..?"
Mr. Ping bit his tongue, instantly regretting what he stated. Before he could say anything else, a voice piped up from behind both of them.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."
The two of them turned and were shocked to see the prestigious tortoise in the entrance of the shop.
"Master Oogway!" They both whispered before bowing.
"W-would you like a bowl of my Secret Ingredient Soup, Master Oogway?"
"That would be ever most appreciated, Mr. Ping." The tortoise nodded before sitting next to the flustered panda.
"...H-how come you knew I'd be here?"
Oogway smiled, glancing at the dozen empty bowls next to the panda. "I know... you eat when you are upset."
Lotus looked at him in shock, "How did you know I—"
"You truly are your mother's son." He chuckled. But the panda simply frowned in reply, looking back into his bowl.
"She would be so disappointed in me."
"Oh? And why would she, pray tell?"
The young panda sighed. "I probably sucked more today in the history of Kung Fu... in the history of China... heck, in the history of 'Sucking'!"
"Probably."
"And the Five! Man, you should have seen them, they totally hate me!"
"Totally." Oogway replied.
"I mean, how is Shifu ever going to turn me into the Dragon Warrior! I'm nothing like the Five! I got no claws, no wings, no venom! Even Mantis has those..." Lotus made a imitated gesture, "Claw-thingies... maybe I should just... quit and go back to the Panda Village where I belong." He buried his head in his arms as he folded them on the table. Mr. Ping came back and silently gave the tortoise his food, his beak stretched in a sad frown as he felt a little guilty for how Lotus currently felt.
Oogway stirred the noodle soup and smiled. "Quit... don't quit... Panda Village, don't Panda Village..."
Lotus arched a confused eyebrow at the old master as he slurped up from his plate.
"You are too concerned with what was, and what will be. There's a saying..." He sipped from the bowl the last of the broth from the food. He finished the noodles quite quickly, leaving Lotus silently impressed.
After he gently put the bowl down, the tortoise continued, "Yesterday is history... tomorrow is a mystery, and today... is a gift," He smiled at the panda. "That is why it is called the present."
He then finally slipped something small next to Lotus' paw before ominously leaving the shop.
Mr. Ping put a wing up to his beak curiously. "My, what a mystery he is. Now, it is quite late, my dear boy, would you like to sleep in the spare room for the night?... Lotus?"
The goose was met with silence as Lotus seemed to have lost his train of thought, his eyes never breaking away from the little special thing Oogway left behind.
A peach.
~~A/N; PHEW- I HAVEN'T BEEN ACTIVE IN SO MANY MONTHS I'M QUITE SCARED OF MYSELF- I PROMISE I'M NOT DEAD! a lot happened and with school on top of everything and me graduating I just couldn't find the time to do any writing, which breaks my heart bc as I was finishing this chapter I remember why I love writing in the first place!
so yeah! so sorry for taking so long!
that being said... I feel like I know exactly where this book is going to go and... where it's going to end.
yeah, I've realised after... a very close discussion... that I'm beating a dead horse with this story LOL- and that I should finally close the chapter to this book and to this chapter of my life. don't get me wrong, I love this story and AU with all my heart, and I was originally planning to make this a 3 book series following the first 3 (and now recently added 4) KFP movies, but with my current work ethic, I would probably die before I get to probably finish this story- LMAO- at least either me or this fandom.
but fret not, to those who have followed me and this story since the beginning, you guys don't deserve an abandoned book! I'm going to complete this story for all of you! this book will finish at 20 chapters and I'll be counting the chapters down every time I post like I did at the top of this chapter! you guys deserve a proper ending
and who knows? maybe in the near or distant future I could pick up this au again and maybe even complete this story the way I originally intended! but that's for a future me to decide!
anyways, thank you all for your patience, I hope yall are having a good day/night wherever you are, remember to live, laugh, love, and until next time... Yarart out! ;D~~