Everyone was gathered, waiting for Po to come back.
Among then was Wandering Blade, who was looking down with a troubled expression.
"Luti?"
The voice made her look. Collin was looking at her with a worried expression of his own.
"Are you okay?" The deer asked, and the bear looked at him, before saying it was all okay.
"You don't look okay." Collin said to her as he looked at the expression on her face. "You have been there ever since you came back from talking with the Dragon Master. Alone. And then he came back with the female tiger."
"What happened?" He asked, to what Luthera, after a moment of silence, simply said:
"It is nothing. Is just... my talk with Po... did not went exactly as I had expected..."
"I see..." Collin said, "How bad was it?"
"It was... not bad. Just... not what I imagined." Luthera said, looking down once more.
"And, you told him about...?" Collin asked to the bear, who then shook her head.
"It was not the right time."
Collin looked at her, and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened while those three were away, for his friend to have come back with an expression like that.
"How long do we have to wait?" Goat asked. "Seriously, how long does a panda takes to put a shirt?"
"That depends on the shirt..." Fan Tong said. By his side, Jing was going through the items of a wooden box.
"So, the gong, the statues, the ball and the bracelet, all of them are going back to the Imperial City, right?" The female panda asked.
"Yes, that's correct." Shifu said, "Those are treasures that, by right, belong to China's Emperor. He has been wanting those back for a while now."
"Do we have to return them right away, though?" Jing asked. "I mean, since we kind of lost our chi powers for the time being then maybe we could borrow those, just until they come back. I am sure that the Emperor would borrow them to us if we ask nicely."
"The Emperor?" Luthera said, "Sorry to say this, but from what I remember about him, I doubt he would be willing to borrow anything if asked. That hamster really gave me a bad impression."
"Hamster?" Antelope asked, sounding confused. Then, comprehension settled in.
"Ohhhh, you are talking about the old Emperor? The one who ruled five years ago when you came here last time?" He asked, "That little jerk was forced to abdicate around three years ago. The new Emperor is much friendlier."
"Not to mention more competent." Goat said with crossed arms. "Honestly, how they let that imbecile get on the throne?"
Luthera, however, was still processing the information.
"Wait, the hamster abdicated the throne?"
"Yes, he did." Tigress said, "As it turns out, he was nowhere near as competent as he himself thought. As if removing Po's title was not enough, the little jerk did a lot more mistakes on the two years he had been on the throne. Everyone was so mad that they were threatening to storm the Imperial Palace if he didn't renounce before the New Year, and he ended up accepting."
Tigress spoke it in a way that made it sound that se approved of the decision. This was enough for her friends all know she was still not happy with the hamster Emperor for having Po be treated like a criminal.
"Wait, two years?" Luthera asked. "And he was made to renounce three years ago? But that means... he had literally just taken to the throne back when I came here last?"
"Yeah, because the previous Emperor was aged and had suddenly became ill." Mantis said, "The guy was on his mid-eighties, anyways. He only took over again because the Empress before him was forced to resign in order to save her adoptive sister."
"Yeah, I know..." Fan Tong said, as he remembered Xiao and how, because of political matters, she had to move away from the country in order to prevent Shi Long from being executed, abdicating her position as the Empress in the process. He missed her.
"I can't believe she only remained Empress for a year..."
"And she became Empress to replace the previous Emperor, who was forced to abdicate due to a coup plotted by some of the members of his cohort, just four years after his coronation." Pig said, "He was the Dragon Master's student, wasn't he?"
"Oh, yeah. Lu Kang." Viper said, "We passed by the farm he lives in now, and he seemed very happy."
The knights both heard all of that, and they shared a look in bafflement.
"Wait... let me get this straight." Collin said, looking at everyone. "China has had five different rulers, all unrelated to each other, in the span of a single decade?"
"Yeah, that's right." Zing said, "Talk about a hectic dynasty, no? I bet historians will be talking about this in a few centuries and wondering how we even managed to keep everything running."
The younger mountain goat seemed to be quite blasé about all of it, even a little amused. Before Luthera or Collin could form a proper answer for this, Po came back, now wearing a blue and golden shirt.
"Okay, I'm back!" The panda said, "We can start now!"
"Why did you even had to leave?" Goat asked. "Just to put a shirt? I heard you never used them five years ago."
"Oh, that's because I didn't have a scar back then." Po said, "It makes people uncomfortable."
"That's a good thing!" Goat said, "Scars are badges of honor and strength. They let people know you survived and that you are not one to be messed with. You should proudly display your scar for all to look at. Or at least to let your enemies see them, so they will know that, if they try to end you, they better not fail, because then you will rise again and come back for vengeance against your offenders!"
Po looked at him for a moment.
"Well, that's a nice advice, but I kind of prefer not making the people uncomfortable." Po said honestly. "Now, back to business! So, what's the plan?"
"To find those criminals and bring them to justice." Blade said without missing a beat, now putting aside all the things not directly related to the mission for a while. This capacity to focus and direct her attention to what was at hand was one of the things that made her an excellent knight, as well as he compassion to never forget to be kind to others, which she learned from the very same panda with whom she would be working again.
And who was in love with someone else...
Over the next twenty minutes, they went over all the information they had on the criminals they were after. Information on Temutai, Hundun, Tong Fo and Junjie was shared by the natives of the country, while information about Klaus and Veruca was shared by the knights and Po.
"So, from what I understand, the greatest threats among the criminals are the white weasel and Junjie." Master Pig concluded as they all repassed the information.
"Temutai is no joke as well." Zing said.
"I fought him before, and so have other of the presents." Master Gazelle said, "He is a formidable warrior, but not invincible. He no longer has the support of his army after being deposed, and this was a great strength he had as a king. With that gone, he only has his own strength and that of his few allies."
"Hundun is no joke either. He has all those tricks up his sleeves." Po said.
"The fire gems are not that hard to overcome, if you know how to." Goat said, "He should be easy to deal with, and so should Tong Fo. I am not too worried about the male weasel either."
"Indeed, the one called Veruca proved the be the more dangerous of the two, with her ability to use her chi to control plants." Shifu said.
"Think she can teach us to do that?" Jing asked, but she was ignored, as Shifu continued:
"And, with that new mystical object that allows her to overcome the limitation of only being able to use this skill under the full moon, she is a very real danger to all of us. As much as Junjie, with his extensive knowledge on kung fu and mystical matters. Not to mention, there are still a few items from the treasury that are still missing, and we should assume that Junjie has them and plans to use them against us as part of his revenge."
"So, in case of combat, we should focus on them first." Goat concluded. "So, I already know whose skulls I'll be smashing first." He slammed his fist into his open palm as he said that, as if to emphasize his point.
"I need to capture Veruka and her brother alive, if possible." Blade said, "They need to go to trial. But I am not opposed to taking them in very, very beaten up."
The bear said that in a tone that made Tigress look at her with a raised eyebrow. Luthera clearly had still not forgiven the two weasels for the hand they had in her brother's death. This was not the kind of thing that could just be forgiven, even after so many years.
"Okay, so, we all know who our targets are. Now what?" Po asked.
"Now we look for them." Shifu said firmly.
"We will need a big search area." Tigress said, "They probably covered a lot of ground by now, and they could be hiding anywhere within a couple miles from the Valley."
"If they are still around and not trying to run out of the country." Zing said.
"They are not leaving." His father said with sureness. "Not until they get the panda."
Po looked at him.
"They are your old enemies, after all. They are after revenge... and of whatever it was the weasels said you have that they want."
Po reflected on it, and he knew Slamming Goat was right.
"Po, are you sure you don't know what the weasels were talking about?" Shifu asked to the panda. "Are you sure that, when you came back from England, you didn't bring anything that could be what the weasels are searching for?"
"I have no idea." Po said honestly. "I mean, I brought a few souvenirs back from the travel, and a few gifts people give me. But I don't think a porcelain English teapot, or a collection of silver pilgrim badges could be something those two would break out of jail and come all the way to China for."
Shifu looked at the panda for a moment, and then he nodded.
"Either way, the fact they are all so focused on you makes it clear that they will not be leaving before getting what they want." Shifu said, "And that means they must not have gone too far. However, like Tigress said, they might have run quite far to find a place to make their hideout. What means that, in order to find them, we will need to cover a lot of ground."
"So, we split in teams." Monkey concluded.
"Fine by me." Tigress said, "I'm going with Po."
"No, you are not!"
The way Shifu said it, in such a sudden and incisive way, caused everyone to stare at him in surprise.
The small master, realizing he had snapped, recomposed himself, and then he said:
"As much as you two make a good team..." Shifu said to Tigress and to the panda whom he had, just minutes ago, found out had been dating his daughter behind his back for years.
"I think that, in this case, it would be more appropriate for Po to go along with the knight Wandering Blade."
Po, Tigress, and Blade were all surprised for Shifu saying this. Tigress, on her end, seemed rather shocked.
"Excuse me!?"
"They have greater experience dealing with the weasels." Shifu reasoned. "They worked together to defeat them years ago when they had the Tianshang weapons, so there is no reason to think they would have trouble with them. They will make a good team if they cross paths with them."
"I make a much better team with Po than her!" Tigress said before she could stop herself, and this caused everyone on the room to stare at her with varying expressions.
"Po and I have known each other for longer, and we have fought more battles together." Tigress said, "We should make for a more efficient combination I case of crossing paths with anyone."
"Maybe." Shifu said, "But I do believe that it would be better if Po went with Wandering Blade. Because, like I already said, they have experience fighting the weasels together and, considering it seems to be that those two are the ones commanding Junjie's group, they would make for the best combination in this scenario."
Everyone traded looks at Shifu's words. They... made sense. Kinda?
"It seems like a good idea to me." Luthera said as she looked at Po with a smile.
Tigress wanted to claw that smile off her face. Meanwhile, Po only looked at her, before saying:
"Well, if Shifu is saying, then I guess it must be the best, right?" Po said, "So, guess we are together again! Like old times!"
Po was oblivious to the effect his words had on the two females close to him, as they caused Blade to blush and caused Tigress to involuntarily unsheathe her claws.
With the decision of Po and Blade going together, the other groups were also decided for the purposes of chasing after the criminals.
"So, looks like we are together, huh?" Monkey said to Master Gazelle. "Great working with you, buddy."
"Likewise." Gazelle said with a smile, and they were soon going their way, alongside with the other groups. Among them, Tigress and Crane. The feline was glaring at Luthera as she walked by Po's side, and she would remain for as long as she had them on her sight.
"What do we do?" Fan Tong asked as he stood on top of the stairs with the rest of the Constellations and Shifu.
"Now we start your meditation exercises." The small master did not hesitate to give the answer. "If you could come with me, please."
And they did. As they did, however, Jing said:
"Did you guys saw the look on Tigress' face? She was totally jealous. Bet she and Po are a thing."
"Oh, for crying out loud, Jing!" Nu Hai said, "Now everyone has had a fling with Po?"
"Well, I'm willing to bet Tigress has. Same wages as the Blade gal. That tiger is also feeling some nice panda loving. ~" Jing said that in a way that made the others uncomfortable.
Most of all Shifu, who now was going to spend all time of their meditation trying to keep his thoughts from wandering in that direction, which he had never even considered as a possibility until now...
"I think we should try and blow up the Jade Palace!" Hundun said. "I can do it if I have enough fire gems. I just need enough money to pay my friend for all of those."
"Didn't we all already tried to blow up the Jade Palace a few times?" Temutai asked, "I mean, I am sure you and me both tried at least once."
"Yes, but this time it would work!" Hundun said. "This time we would surely blow up the panda and all his friends!"
"You are not blowing up the panda!" Veruca said again. "I told you already!"
"Maybe we could lure the panda to a trap." Klaus offered.
"How?" Hundun asked. "Kidnapping some random villagers? Or maybe one of his dads?"
"Sounds like a plan." Tong Fo said, "That panda is too easy to lure, with how much he cares about everyone."
"Even so, he would still be on guard." Junjie said, "We need something bigger. Something more personal. Something that would shake him enough to make him drop his guard so he would be an easy target. We need to find a weakness that we can exploit."
"Well, he has a lot of them, but he always overcomes them somehow." Temutai said. "It is annoying, honestly."
"Maybe it is time for me to bring up the ace on my sleeve." Junjie said, more to himself than to the others. "But if I did, then all eyes would be on me... but right now it seems I have no choice."
"Excuse me?" Tong Fo said, "Junjie, my dear friend, would you like to share something with the table? Maybe something that a boss such as yourself would like to share with the others?"
Tong Fo was clearly being sarcastic, but that was apparently not obvious enough for some of the presents.
"Wait, I thought Tong Fo was the boss." Hundun said. Just as the loris was about to say something, then the weasels manifested.
"My sister and I are the bosses." Klaus said, in away that was so incisive that it was nearly as if he was daring anyone on the table to say otherwise. "What means you all will do exactly as you are told. Now, all of you, quit goofing around and come up with a real plan!"
The ones present on the table seemed pissed at the male weasel, and they were all getting up as if getting ready to do something, when they all noticed the few flowers on the vase as a decoration to the table starting to twitch as they were enveloped with a green glow.
"Try." Veruca said, "Find out what happens."
They did not want. Not after they saw how that weasel could turn even blades of grass into something dangerous with her chi magic. They'd rather not find out whatever she was planning to turn those flowers into.
As the four of them stood down, Klaus relaxed as he sat back. By his side, his sister looked nearly disappointed.
Bunch of wusses. She thought as she looked at the four of them and how easily they gave up. She was starting to think there was a reason none of them was ever able to beat Po.
"We need reinforcements." Veruca said out of the blue. "I don't really like working on a team, but it would be easier for us if we had more manpower on our side."
"So, we hire mercenaries?" Tong Fo asked, "Do you have enough gold for that?"
"I used to have an army, but they obey my oldest son now." Temutai said bitterly.
"Maybe we steal some gold and use it to pay for some hired soldiers?"
"I can get us reinforcements."
All eyes turned to Junjie, who was looking back at them.
"I have students, and they will be willing to help us. Actually, they will be eager."
"Wait, you mean those snow leopards?" Tong Fo asked. "Weren't they all arrested for being accomplices on stealing the Emperor's treasures?"
"I have new students. All of them talented and unquestionably loyal to me." Junjie spoke proudly. "I can have them join us in our cause."
"Wait, seriously?" Temutai asked. "Then why didn't you do it sooner!?"
"Will you quit screaming all the time!?" Veruca said, "You are hurting my ears!"
"I was waiting for the most opportune moment." Junjie said, "After all, you don't reveal your trump card until the right moment of a game."
"Oh, are those students of yours that good?" Hundun asked, to what Junjie, with a smirk, said:
"You would surely be surprised."
"So, what are you waiting for?" Veruca said, "Go get those losers! And don't makes us wait! Go, foxy, go!"
Junjie clenched his fists, wanting to do something to that weasel for daring to speak to him in such a manner. But he managed to keep himself calm and simply get up from the table and walk to the exit.
Keep cool. Keep your cool and don't lose it. Junjie thought to himself. It won't be taking long now. Just proceed with the plan. Use those idiots to capture the panda, and then you can have your revenge. It will all be worthy it in the end. You will finally vanquish your enemy and achieve all you always desired. You waited so long and had to keep up with so much, keeping up with imbeciles like that for a couple days will be nothing.
Junjie was still repeating this to himself as he made it past the door, passing by some big and burly guys on his way out, who looked at the departing fox before turning their eyes back and scanning the bar for the ones they were looking.
"They are there." Said the ibex with stylized, ritualistic-looking scars running down and up his arms, and the rest of the animals, all of them as intimidating-looking as him, turned their heads to look and see the two weasels sitting with a bunch of other guys.
"We should still get some more people to help our case." Tong Fo said, "In case the Junjie's 'talented students' turn out not to be as good as he sold them as."
Just as Tong Fo said that, a big group of burly, dangerous-looking animals approached them.
"Hey."
The gruffy voice made the ones on the table to look at their way.
The entire group of newcomers was looking at them. From the ibex with scarred arms to the porcupine with an eyepatch on the horribly-scarred side of his face. And, of course, the one right on the front, a saltwater crocodile as tall and muscular as Temutai himself.
"We heard you were after revenge." Said the crocodile, speaking and revealing that over half of his teeth were prosthetics made of pure gold. "We thought we'd offer our services. It'd be an honor to work with you."
They looked at them for a moment, and then, the loris opened a smile.
"Ahhh, finally! Someone who recognizes my greatness and evil genius!" He said, "You are more than welcome to join, my friend. You and all your pals. Just be sure to let me deliver the finishing blow on the panda."
The croc looked at the loris, while the rest of his group traded looks.
"Who the heck are you?"
This caused Tong Fo's smile to disappear immediately. That was when Klaus said:
"Hey there, Goldtooth. Been a long time, no?"
"It certainly has, Dumont." The massive crocodilian said, "When we heard you had escaped from Raven's Nest and were on your way to China, we knew we needed to come and meet up with you guys."
"So, you want to work with us again?" Veruca asked. "You know there's a chance we might betray you again like we did last time we worked together, no?"
"That's all good business." Goldtooth said. "I was planning to betray you as well, anyways. But, let's forget about this. You after that panda, right? I will help you get him."
"And, what payment you want?" Klaus asked. "We can't pay you in advance, but we can guarantee you a nice reward in the near future."
"No need for gold this time." Goldtooth spoke to the two of them. "My only request is that, while you get the panda, you let me have Soul Ripper."
"Ahhh, I see." Klaus said. "So, you have forgiven us for betraying you, but are still holding a grudge against your former captain?"
"That feathered bastard's betrayal was far worse than yours." The croc growled bitterly. "He betrayed not only us, but the very code of piracy, and he deserves to pay for it. He escaped when we found him again five years ago, but he won't escape this time. We will make sure he gets what's coming for him."
As the croc said that, the rest of his group agreed, all of them expressing their discontentment very vividly, much to the weasels' amusement.
"Alright, then." Klaus said, "You got yourself a deal. Get the panda for us, and you can have Soul Ripper."
The croc smirked at this, his fists clenching as he was already imagining what he would to that feathered traitor once he had him on his hands.
"So, basically you will get the panda and then go hunting some guy named 'Soul Ripper'?" Temutai asked. "That's it?"
"Oh, we won't need to hunt him." Veruca said, "He is already on the Valley of Peace with Po. In fact, you even held him on your hand earlier."
"Wait, I did?" Temutai was confused.
"The goose." Veruca clarified. And Temutai blinked.
"Wait, you're talking about Ping?"
"So, you have already met him, hm?" Goldtooth said. "That confirms that he is in the Valley... 'Ping', I cannot believe that he chose that as his new name, and to become a noodle maker. But it doesn't matter how he name himself or what occupation he chooses. To us, he will always be Soul Ripper, the vilest, cruelest, most blood-thirsty scoundrel who ever crossed the seas. The one and only pirate king."
To that, Temutai, Hundun and Tong Fo could only stare at the croc with blank expressions, before the rhino said:
"Say what now?"
"We are already half-way there." Peng said as he jumped between branches of the trees, using his sharp physical skills as a snow leopard, honed over years of practice of kung fu, to close the distance much faster than normal.
"Oh, that's great!" Fung said. "I can actually see my mom's house from here! Think we can go back to the ground, please? I don't really feel comfortable this high..."
And with that, Peng made his way down from the trees, landing safely on his feet, and placing Fung, who he had been carrying on his back all the way there, into the ground by his side.
"Told you that doing this would allow us to get there faster." Peng said with a smirk, and Fung nodded. He was still a bit shaken from the experience, but he was also thrilled. I mean, seeing the world pass below you at high speed does a number to almost anyone. And the experience itself, in modern terms, would be compared to a roller coaster. Especially with how Peng kept jumping from the trees to the ground and then to the rocks and back to the bamboo stalks and then back to the trees.
It was enough to send a croc's heart pumping quite fast, and to make him smile even though he was not finding anything funny.
Fung thought he was going to take a long time to smile again after what he just heard a couple hours ago...
"Fung?" Peng asked, and the croc looked at him, before looking down. The snow leopard placed a hand on his shoulder, patting it. "Wanna keep going? To get there before sundown?"
Fung looked at him, and then he nodded.
They continued walking, this time normally on the ground. They covered quite a good distance there, and now they were just walking.
And, as they did, Fung told Peng some stories about his mother, as per the snow leopard's request.
"Seriously, my mum was quite something." Fung said. "She hated my dad. Can't really blame her. But she kept married to him until I was ten because she thought I needed a father figure in my life. But, honestly, I would prefer if she had kicked him out of the house sooner. And I would also prefer if she arrange so I would not have to spend every other week with him."
"So, you were closer to your mother than your father?"
"Way closer." Fung said, "At least until I moved out for good..."
He was sad once more as he said that, what Peng noticed, and was quick to act about it.
"And, you say there was this lullaby she used to sing for you to sleep, even as an adult?"
"Oh, yeah! That song!" Fung said, "She always sang it to me at night when I was a child. When I got older, she would sing to me whenever I was sick, or when I've had a bad day. She would just sing it and I would feel better. It was nearly as if the song was magical or something. I still remember it."
And, with that said, Fung started to sing.
It was a beautiful song, with a nice cadence and rhythm.
And Peng could not understand a single word that was coming out of Fung's mouth as he sang it for nearly three minutes.
"It is beautiful." Peng admitted, as the song sounded quite nice. "What does it mean?"
"No idea." Fung shrugged. "I'm not sure if mom did either. But she sung it to me so many times that I memorized every word. Said it was a song she learned from her mother, who learned from her grandfather. Guess you could say the song is kind of like a family heirloom."
"Like the one your mother left for you on her house?" Peng asked, and he regretted it, as it made Fung sad.
"And I don't even know what it is..." The croc said. "Makes me wish I had not moved out. Maybe mom and I would still be close, and I would be there for her when..."
Once more, Peng placed a hand on Fung's shoulder, a silent gesture of comfort, which was gladly received by the croc.
"Anyways, this song reminds me a lot of my mom. I guess that's why I still sing it to myself when I am feeling sad, or nervous, or when I'm scared... or when I'm sleeping without candles."
Peng blinked as he looked at the croc at this final confession. Fung, however, soon was moving on about it.
"We better get going! That thing mom left for me is still on the house!" Fung said quickly before rushing his step, and Peng was soon following him close behind.
Both failed to notice that, as they were getting closer to where Fung used to live with his mother, there was someone with a close eye on the two of them...
A lot of someones.
I really missed everything about Po. Luthera thought. Even his chatty mouth.
Yes, for Po had always been the talkative type. He just loved to talk to other people. As Luthera found out as she knew him better, this was part of Po's need for connection with others. How that panda who, as she heard from his own mouth during their adventure across the world, didn't had friends growing up, and so came to value all the friendships and connections he made as an adult.
To the point where it just seemed he was trying way too hard.
Like now, that he was speaking non-stop, even though they were supposed to be focusing on the mission of finding the bad guys. He would keep telling Blade of the things he had been up to since returning to China and the things he went through on his days back on his home on the Valley of Peace.
And Po was truly happy for sharing it with a friend who he had not seen in a long time. As well as to ask all her stories about how she had been living her best life as a knight. They were all amazing, from chasing criminals who tried to steal sacred treasures from a church to stopping an evil warlock who was trying to summon a demon from the underworld to take over the country.
"That's all so awesome!" Po said to her. "Blade, you totally rock! I told you that you would be the best of all knights!"
"Yeah... you did, didn't you?" The knight said back to Po, smiling. However, Po noticed there was something off about her smile.
It seemed... forced.
As if she was trying to smile but found it hard to.
She had been like that during nearly all the time.
Wait... she is not mad with me, is she? What? Am I being too blabby? She wants me to stop talking? No, that doesn't seem like it. I don't know why, but it feels like something else. Something... more important.
"Blade?" Po asked, "You okay?"
"Huh?" The female bear looked at the panda, seeing the concern on his face. "Oh! I... Yes, I'm fine. Is just that..." She looked down. "I guess I'm still surprised for finding out you are dating someone..."
Oh... Ohhhhhhh...
Yeah, that... made sense.
"Yeah, I... Uhhhh, I started with Tigress a little after I came back. Around, six months or so." Po admitted, and he looked at the bear, taking a moment to choose the right words to speak.
"Blade, I'm sorry." Po said honestly. "I mean. I am not sorry for dating Tigress, but I am sorry for... well, dating her? I mean..." He sighed. "You... you were thinking that we were going to take from where we left, weren't you?"
Blade said nothing in return, but her expression said it all.
"I'm sorry, Blade." Po said, "I'm sorry that, back then, I didn't realize how you were feeling about me until the day before I left. I'm sorry I could not stay so we could be a couple. I really wish we could have been in a proper relationship but... things just worked against us. And, when I was back, and I came back home and everyone was so happy for seeing me, I was so happy for knowing that everyone here was on my side all the time. Especially the Five... and Tigress. She was a lot nicer to me, and we started spending more time together outside of missions and training. And then one day it just... kinda happened. And..."
"And, unlike me, she was not thousands of miles away in another country." Luthera said. "Yeah, I can see why a relationship with her would help and not with me."
She didn't seem angry as she spoke that. However, hearing the subtle hurt on her voice, Po preferred if she was...
"I'm so sorry, Blade." Po said honestly. "I'm sorry that you had to find out like that. Honestly, Tigress always had this jealousy problem, long before we were even an item. I wish I had been able to break it to you some other way."
"Po, it's okay." Blade said. "I'm happy that you are with someone, really. I mean, I am surprised... and a little upset. But, more than anything, I am happy for you. You deserve to be loved, especially after all you went through." She then looked away.
"I just wish I could have been the one to love you."
The way she said that succeeded in making Po feel worse about the whole thing.
Po hated feeling like he let people down. Just like he did back on the whole Tianshang fiasco. Feeling like he failed and made someone unhappy was one of the worst feelings.
Maybe even worse than being alone.
"Well... you did love me." Po said, not being able to think of anything else. "And you are still one of the best friends I ever had in my life." She looked at him.
"We... we are still friends, right?"
Blade looked at him, and then she nodded.
"Of course, we are!" She said to him. "The best friends in the whole wide world."
She spoke those same words that they said to each other back on the day, five years ago, with a smile on her face.
However, this smile, like the other ones, seemed forced. That was how Po knew that she was still upset about finding out about him and Tigress. Of how Po went and found a new love shortly after their mutual confession.
"Well... we will always have that time on the forest, won't we?" Po said, attempting to lighten the mood. As he did, he and Blade looked at each other, and they both looked away blushing as those specific memories came to their minds.
The time on the forest.
An empty forest only for the two of them, where no one could see or hear them, on the day before Po left.
The night when they...
"Po?"
"Hmm?"
"There's..." Blade hesitated, but continued:
"There is something else I need to tell you about. Something that happened right after you left England."
"Oh, really?" Po said, "What, was it your first adventure as a knight? Did you fight a bunch of criminals? Did you go to rescue an entire village?"
It was a different kind of adventure. Luthera thought, before saying:
"Po, just a few weeks after you left, I started feeling-"
What she was saying was cut by a cry on the distance.
"Someone's in danger!" Po said, and soon he and Blade were both rushing forward. The bear had already drawn her sword, what she was about to tell Po had been momentarily put on the back of her mind as she focused on the task at hand.
Way ahead of them, someone was still crying for help.
"Please!" The rabbit said as he was held upside down. "Please, someone save me! Please!"
"Quiet!" Said the wolf as he shook the bunny, causing more golden coins to fall from his body.
"Oh-ho-ho! This one has a lot!" Said another wolf as he and the rest of the pack looked at the scene developing. "Man, this is great!"
"Please! I was taking this money to my family! It is a gift for my nephew who passed his exams and was accepted on the Emperor's cohort as an apprentice scriber! It is supposed to help him with his travel!"
"Well, now it's ours!" Said another wolf, as he scooped the money all over the ground.
"Don't get distracted, fellas." Said a wolf among them which stood out because he only had a single eye. "Don't forget about our main goal. We have to get to the Valley of Peace and find..."
"Hey there!"
"Oh?" The wolf turned, and as he says two figures approaching, one of them big and black and white, he smirked.
"Speak of the devil..."
"Hey you!" Po said, as he and Blade both stepped forward. "Drop the rabbit!"
"Dragon Master!" The said rabbit said. "Oh, thanks heavens! I'm saved!"
"They are not the ones we look for." Blade said.
"No, but they are hurting an innocent!" Po said back. "And that's enough for us to... wait, I know those guys."
Po looked intently t the wolves, taking in how familiar they looked with the clothes they were using, complete with facial masks made of leather (creepy, if you consider that this is a world inhabited exclusively by animals). And then, he caught sight of the one-eyed wolf.
"Heilang!?" The panda said in surprise, to what the wolf smirked back at him.
"Dragon Master. It's been a long time." Heilang said with a smirk.
"Po?" Blade said, "Explanations? Please?"
"That is Heilang, he is a criminal I fought twice in the past. On the second, he attacked the Jade Palace. In both times he wanted to steal some ancient artifact that he was going to use to become the greatest thief of all or something like that." Po said, "Those wolves are his gang, the Lin Kuei. I kind of thought they had disbanded, like the original croc bandits."
"Disband!? Us!?" Heilang said, before laughing. "As if! The Lin Kuei are the most powerful group of assassins and thieves of Asia! We were trained to never give up on our goals since the day we were born! You really think the defeats we suffered on your hands would have make us give up? They only made us want revenge on you and all your allies!"
"Well, that was a little over ten years ago. A decade with no news is a long time you know? Honestly, I'm kind of glad for knowing you guys are even alive." Po admitted. "But, if you guys were really wanting to have revenge on me, what was holding you guys back?"
"The fact we were looking for this!" Heilang said as he pulled something out of his backpack. It was a gauntlet made of bronze and gold and with a big diamond on the back of the hand. The wolf wasted no time placing it on his own hand, and then twisting the diamond, causing it to glow, and this glow spread to the whole gauntlet as he pointed it to the two as it hummed.
Po's eyes widened.
"DUCK!"
He and Blade jumped out of the way right on time as a beam of radiant light erupted from the palm of the gauntlet, moving forward in an uninterrupted line and scorching everything on its path, from the trees to the rocks, burning through them as if they were made of thin rice paper burned away by a flame.
Heilang laughed, and so did all other wolves.
"This is the power of the Solar Gauntlet of Zhong!"
Po got up, rubbing his head as he processed what he heard.
"The Solar Gauntlet... wait, that's one of the imperial treasures Junjie stole and were never recovered!" Po said, turning to the wolves. "Did Tong Fo recruited you guys as well!? Are you with him and the weasels!?"
"Tong Fo?" Heilang said, "Weasels? What are you talking about?"
"He is talking about the group of criminals who tried to attack Po's home earlier!" Luthera said, "One of them was the same fox who stole this gauntlet you have! Are you associated with them? That's how you managed to get this thing? Did you pledge loyalty to their cause?"
"Hah! We, the Lin Kuei, are only loyal to ourselves!" Heilang said, "We heard how Junjie stole the imperial treasures five years ago, and we heard from a reliable source he left one of them hidden on the Swamp of Dreams, where the gasses released by the water cause anyone who breathes them to lose touch with reality."
"Oh. That's a good place to hide something." Po admitted.
"It took us years of search, but we finally managed to find this powerful artifact that grants the power of the sun to whoever holds it! With this, we will be invincible!" Heilang declared, and the wolves of the Lin Kuei howled in cheer for their leader's words.
Po, on the other hand, didn't seemed all that impressed.
"Yeah, you said the same thing when you got the Phantom Crystal and about the Shadow Crowns." The panda said in a dead-pan tone. "And my friends and I still stopped you."
"Yeah, you did." Heilang said to the panda. "That's why, this time, we decided that the first thing we would do was getting rid of all of you, so you cannot get in the way of our plans! We were just on our way to the Jade Palace to eliminate you all, when you came out of nowhere and saved us the trouble of looking for you."
He then pointed the gauntlet at Po again, it started to glow and hum once more.
"We'll eliminate you first. Then it will be easy to get all the others."
As soon as Heilang said those words, Luthera lifted her sword.
"In your dreams!" She said as she charged at the wolf, swinging her sword at him before he could fire another beam of weaponized sunlight. The wolf managed to use the gauntlet to block the attack, but that was when the rest of his pack all went on the attack. And that, naturally, made Po go into attack as well, to defend his friend from their onslaught.
What proceeded was quite the battle, with the wolves attacking with their weapons, while Po and Blade fought back at them with a fighting style that was a combination of their own ways of combat. The perfect synchronized dance between a warrior and a knight.
A dance of two dragons.
A style they developed facing all kinds of problems all around the world during their quest half-a-decade prior.
"We still make a good team." Luthera said after repelling two wolves at once with her sword, and Po smiled back at her. However, that was when Heilang once more came forward, with the gauntlet now fully charged and aiming at the two.
The resulting beam hit the ground where they'd just been standing, resulting on the two of them being flung back as the entire area of the ground got completely scorched in an explosion of light.
Once they dropped into the ground, the other wolves used this chance to attack. Chains snared the two warriors, with Po getting both of his wrists snared and pulled apart, rendering him unable to fight back. Meanwhile, Blade had one snaring at her neck and the other at her right wrist, resulting in her being in as much of a predicament as Po.
And, as they both struggled against their chains, Heilang made his way towards Po.
"You know, I am not associated with Tong Fo." The wolf said, the gauntlet charging once more. "But I did hear about how he was looking for people with a score to settle with you to try and get revenge. Really wanted to be the one to get you. So much that I almost feel bad for taking this satisfaction from him... Just almost."
Po tried to struggle, but it as hard with four wolves working together to pull the chains on his wrists, causing him to be unable to punch or fight back.
"Maybe I'll give your charred skull to him as a gift..." Heilang said, as he pointed the glowing gauntlet right at Po's face, with the panda unable to do anything to escape.
"No!" Luthera said, and she then used her free arm.
With a flick of her wrist, she revealed a new feature she had hidden on the armguard of her left arm: a crossbow.
With another, different flick of her wrist, the one bolt loaded on the crossbow fired, sailing through the air and hitting the gauntlet just as it was about to fire, causing the beam to miss Po by several inches, but to incinerate the chains on his left wrist, allowing the panda to finally fight back and free himself.
Once he kicked Heilang away, he rushed to help Blade, knocking off the wolves holding her chains, even though said chains were still firmly stuck to her neck and right wrist. Still, Luthera wasted no time in diving after her sword, which flew from her grip with the explosion, and was right on the edge of a deep ravine.
She felt a tug on her arm and neck as two wolves grabbed her chain and tried to keep her from reaching for her sword, only for the bear to pull one of them and make him crash his face in a rock, dropping both the axe and the shield he was carrying.
Meanwhile, Po was pushed by the group of wolves led by Heilang, until he was on the edge of the same cliff, with nowhere to run.
"Now." Heilang said, lifting the Solar Gauntlet once more. "Let's try this again."
And he tried o fire a beam at Po. However, that was when the gauntlet started going haywire.
"What?" Heilang said as he felt the gauntlet shaking and letting out sparks from the diamond on the back, which had been cracked as the bolt from Luthera's crossbow sank into it. And now, the cracks were growing as the crystal started letting out sparks of light.
"Oh, no..." Heilang said.
"Po!" Luthera said, as she used her free hand to grab the shield dropped by the wolf she knocked out and toss it at Po like a frisbee. The panda grabbed it in the air and used it to protect himself right on the moment the gauntlet exploded, creating a flash followed by a big cloud of smoke.
Po was left unharmed by the blast thanks to the shield, but he was also flung off the cliff and into the ravine.
"Po!" Blade said, reaching for him before being dragged back by tugs on the chains, managing to catch her sword before being pulled out of sight.
"Blaaaaaaade!" Po said as he saw his friend being pulled out of his sight as he fell into the ravine...
Tigress stopped dead on her tracks.
A sudden feeling on her chest made her stop and look back.
"Po?" She said as she looked at the distance. Up above, Crane was quickly coming down to see what was with her, once she stopped out of nowhere.
"Po... something... something happened. I-I gotta go find him!" Tigress said, but Crane stopped her, reminding her that they still had to check on that area, especially after some people back on the road told them that they had seen a pair of weasels, one of them white, passing there with a group. They needed to confirm if it were the bad guys or not.
"Tigress, he will be fine. He's Po! He survived all kinds of crazy things before! Of course he will be okay." Crane tried his best to tranquilize Tigress. "Even because, the Wandering Blade is with him, and Po trusts her fully. She must be both a great warrior and a loyal friend, otherwise Po would not put so much faith in her."
That last part... didn't exactly tranquilized Tigress.
Talking about how Po trusted that bear was not something Tigress felt comfortable being reminded of. Not when you took in consideration the way she seemed to be all chummy with her panda.
Yes, for Po was Tigress' panda. At least he was now, after all the time, an awfully long time, that the feline took to recognize and admit her own feelings for him.
And she was not just going to allow some bear to waltz her way in and try snatching her panda away from her, that's for sure.
She would be fighting for Po if that Blade gal tried to steal him for herself.
She would not give up on the man she loved.