Sibling Rivalry
Chapter 16 REWRITE
Po and the Five had gone for a walk to the north to meditate in a quiet place for the perimeter and practice their forms. Even though Tigress had been the one to confront Po about his secrets, there was an undeniable tension throughout the group. Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper decided not to talk about it, knowing it had been already discussed between him and the feline. Though the four couldn't help but ask the questions amongst themselves and in their minds. They knew about Po's secret outings at night, though, why hide it? Why hide his learning about qi with Jiānhùrén from his friends? Did Po talk with the spirit about anything else? What was Jiānhùrén like? They didn't understand the why or the motivations behind it, but decided to trust him regardless.
The tension between the boar and the feline was not lost on the rest of the team. They knew better than to try and interfere. They trusted them to figure it out between themselves..for now. If things didn't get better soon though, they might have to intervene.
Tigress trusted him too. She did. However..he wasn't giving her much to go on right now. During their meditations, Tigress couldn't help but sneak a peek at the boar. She was surprised to find him totally immersed into his meditation. While they did meditate at the Jade Palace, Po didn't necessarily get really into it. He was known to bring a snack or sometimes fall asleep during it. Being completely immersed in it was completely different than what she was used to. What had Jiānhùrén taught him? Was the spirit the reason why he was more focused during his meditations? She attempted to shake it off and focus on herself. Keyword: attempt.
After their meditations, they decided to do some light sparring. Viper sparred Crane with Monkey and Mantis following.
Finally, the feline and boar faced each other getting into a ready stance. He attacked first with a jab, quickly blocking him before landing a strike on him. A flurry of strikes, kicks, and blocks flew between the two in a matter of seconds. The trained masters' blows and blocks blurred, flowing from one into another. The feline growled, the boar grunted as they fought harder and faster. She had managed to land a blow on him that sent him backwards, with him rolling onto his feet to recover. She saw him pivot his feet and hand into a motion unfamiliar to her, she moved forward to run on all fours after him, but had somehow managed to trip over a small chunk of rock on the ground. How had she missed that? She recovered quickly though, getting on all fours. She got ready to pounce - then the ground started to shake.
The warriors moved to the middle of the patch of land, away from the trees in case they fell. The ground continued to shake as the warriors looked at each other in concern before it stopped.
"That earthquake lasted longer than most earthquakes normally do," Mantis said, putting a pincer to the ground. "It's fading away now but the length of the earthquake is uncommon. At its strongest, it lasted for almost an entire minute."
"That can't be safe to have such long earthquakes in the mountains," Viper noted. They noticed Po's face get serious and very concerned.
"We have to get back," he said seriously. He took the lead back to the village, stopping when they got back to his family's home. "Mom! Dad! Are you guys okay?" His parents nodded.
"Yes, we're okay! Earthquakes aren't common up here. I can't remember ever having an earthquake up here," Klu said nervously. That made the warriors worry and Po's stomach sank.
"Where is Lily?" Po asked, a little fear sneaking into his voice.
"She's upstairs in her room," Cari said. He barged upstairs and without knocking went inside her room. He ran down the stairs, making eye contact with his parents.
"No, she's not. She's not here," he said, his worry unmistakably in his voice.
"She should be around here somewhere," his mother tried to calm him.
"She came back with you after the meeting right?" Klu asked.
"Of course she did," Cari answered. "I saw her go upstairs after we got back."
"What meeting?" Po asked.
"Our meeting with the Matchmaker. We've found Lily a lovely young man who will make a great husband," Cari said. Po's stomach dropped.
"You met with the Matchmaker? This morning?" Po asked.
"Yes. The Matchmaker is going to set up a meeting with the young man's family next," Cari clarified.
Shit, Po thought. He went through the doors ready to run off.
"Where are you going?" his mother called.
"I need to find Lily!" he called back, running away. He ran to the south where they normally trained together. The Five followed behind him at a distance, careful to give him space when he would see Lily. Eventually, Po saw a panda lying on the ground in the distance as he ran, almost at the edge of the perimeter. "Lily! Lily!" The panda didn't move. He came up beside her, moving her form to face him. "Lily, are you okay?"
She was hyperventilating, gasping for air, her paws clutching her tunic tightly. There was a small patch of vomit on the ground near her, starting to reek. Her fur was wet with tears, her eyes red. She couldn't answer.
"Lily, breathe. Please, just breathe."
"I can't do this Po. I can't. I can't," she cried, more tears streaming down her fur.
"I'll talk to them. You don't have to go through with this. It's going to be okay," he tried to calm her.
"No, it won't be. It won't be okay-"
"Yes, it will. I promise. Take a deep breath."
"I - can't. I - can't!" she gasped for air in between her words. She put her paw on the ground to steady herself and he felt it instantly. The earth began to quake, much more harshly this time, he heard a roar of rocks falling in the distance somewhere. His panic started to rise. If Lily didn't calm down, she was going to cause a rockslide in the village! Lily's eyes began to glow a deep orange.
"Lily, you have to take a deep breath! Stay with me! Breathe with me!" He tried to inhale deeply for her to join him but she was too far gone. Her eyes now glowed orange completely, her jade green eyes disappeared. She was becoming lighter, physically, her weight was lifting then he saw the ground around them was turning gold.
"Po!" He heard his name called from several directions. A bright light appeared and engulfed him and everything he once knew.
After the light had subsided, he found himself in an elaborately decorated room with a stone floor, a long table with several chairs and a head chair at the end. At the other side of the room, he saw a circular stone tile on the floor and Lily laying down on top of it. Low ominous whispers filled the room.
"Lily?" He walked towards her but was stopped by..a panda that looked exactly like Lily. This figure was dressed in red with matching glowing crimson eyes.
"No farther," the red-eyed sow said. "This is her choice to make."
"What choice?" Then he saw it, another figure dressed in yellow, with glowing gold eyes. The apparitions of Lily circled around her, as he listened to the apparitions of Lily speak to her, ominous and menacing.
The red-eyed apparition spoke first, "You cannot abandon Pandania. You cannot renounce your place as future chief. You cannot abandon your duty to your people, the elders who helped protect and raise you. You must abandon your own selfish desires to fulfill your duty. There is no one else who can be chief, there is no one else who will take care of the people you love like you do. Your parents expect you to be the perfect daughter. Everyone has expectations of you, you cannot disappoint them. You must stay and take on your birthright. Stop being so self-centered! How dare you even consider abandoning your post! This is your destiny! Fulfill your duty to your people!"
Then the gold-eyed apparition spoke, "You have given all of yourself to Pandania. You have given your nights to protecting Pandania, you have given yourself to learning how to become a great chief. What of your duty to yourself? Your desires? Your dreams? Your own life? You cannot abandon yourself. Turn away from everyone else, you must choose yourself first. If you stay, you will live and die in this village. You will never know the marshes, never see deserts, or the ocean. You will live and die only knowing the mammals in this village. You will never experience anything past these mountains. If you get married now, your life is will become a wife, mother, homemaker, chief. You will do it all. You will no longer be Lily. Lily will be dead and gone. The rest of your life will have started and ended in one day. Abandon Pandania, you have given them too much! Abandon them all! Stop trying to refuse the very thing you yearn for most - your freedom! You cannot deny your duty to yourself and your heart!"
The apparitions argued and fought for control. Lily was curling into herself, paws in her fur. He felt a paw on his shoulder, looking up to see Tigress holding him close by, with the Five right beside her.
"Po, do something!" Tigress directed. He nodded and looked up and walked closer to Lily. The apparitions stopped in front of him.
"Lily, you don't have to do this alone. You don't have to get married. You don't have to become chief. Your life isn't over at eighteen years old. You can choose you!" Po cried out to her. "We can do this together. We'll do this together. I promise."
"He cannot help you. He is destined to be the Dragon Warrior. Here today, gone tomorrow. He will not be here to face the consequences of your actions. Only you will. He is not destined to be chief. You are," the red-eyed apparition spoke harshly.
"No one can take on the duties of chief, wife, mother, and homemaker. Not even your own brother can be Dragon Warrior and take a wife. It's too much. You must leave here and never return. You want to see the world - go see it! Don't deny yourself your dreams and desires!" the gold-eyed apparition coaxed.
"Lily, please. Come back to us. You won't be alone. You got Mom and Dad. You got Zulan. You got me," Po said. Lily looked up, her tears streaming down her fur and muzzle.
"No, I'm alone. I've always been alone. I will always be alone. I-I-I can't do this! I can't choose!" She wailed. Suddenly, the entire room began to shake and Lily fell to the ground in a heap before releasing a gut splintering scream. "NO! NO! NO!" She shrieked and lifted her gaze, looking around frantically, her paws coming to her face. Her face was contorted in a look of horror. Po saw it immediately. Her bright jade green eyes faded into shades of gray. She was blind.
"Lily!" Po cried, trying to get closer to her, but was suddenly lifted away, the vision of the room disappearing into the darkness.
Upon awakening, he found himself in the clearing out by the southern point of the perimeter of the village. The Five were there, he was there. Lily, however, was gone. The only trace of what happened was a mystical orange ring that flowed and circled on the ground in front of them. She was imprisoned in her own mind, stuck in the Spirit Realm. How was he going to get her back? What was he going to say to their parents? Why hadn't he just come clean to them to begin with? He could've prevented all of this if he had just been honest with everyone from the start.
The ground shook another time, this time harsher than the past two. The Five held onto each other and the ground trembled severely, hearing the screams of the pandas in the nearby distance, before hearing an even worse sound: the roar of much bigger rocks and boulders falling and sliding down the mountain, straight towards the village.