Kindness
Monkey quickly tied the ropes together. "Alright! Pull!" Crane, Viper, and Master Shifu slowly pulled the massive wall upright. "Perfect! It's good."
"And not a moment to lose," Crane panted, grabbing a towel from one of the villagers waiting on them.
A village west of the Valley was under attack by some crime ring. Shifu, Crane, Viper, and Monkey went to join in the reconstruction process after defeating the bandits. Viper slithered up to some bunnies waving to her. She greeted them with a warm smile, and they asked her a bunch of questions. Monkey rolled his eyes. "Come on, Viper, we don't have time for fans."
"Just a minute."
"Don't worry too much about her, Monkey," Shifu smiled. "We still have time for villagers."
"Yeah, but aren't you worried about Viper getting a big head?" The red panda's face fell. "Hey pride can happen to anyone," Monkey protested.
"While that is true, you should take into account the kind of person. Pride can blind anyone, yes, but it's not only pride that can hamper a warrior's progress. Such as people-pleasing. Which seems to be Viper's more... pressing issue."
Monkey saw the snake had gathered a larger collection of small bunnies admiring her and refusing to let her go. The poor snake mumbled over words to answer some questions. Monkey glanced at Crane. The bird sighed and walked up to the crowd. "Alright, everyone. Master Viper has to go. We need to do our work. Please uh... leave."
"Awwww," The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving the snake relieved and exhausted.
"Sorry, I just couldn't say no to all of them. They were being so nice," Viper said to the others.
"I know that you're not always subject to peer-pressure, Master Viper, but you can put boundaries for yourself," Shifu advised. "Everyone has limits. Even you and your kindness."
"I... I guess," She sighed as they walked to the next construction site. "My mother always told me that kindness was the greatest thing people can give."
"Yes, but you can't give it all the time. Even a well has dry periods," Shifu replied.
"That sounds like a Oogway saying," Monkey muttered to Crane.
The red panda's ear twitched as he stared at the simian. "The point is that people won't hate you for simply saying no. Even if they do, that doesn't say anything about you."
"I know," Viper lowered her head.
Master Shifu gently lifted her head with his hand, smiling. "It's okay, Master Viper. Even as seasoned warriors, we still have much to learn."
The work wore on until nighttime. Their sore bones wore at them as the four warriors went to sleep at their campsite. They were all in one large tent just outside the village. Master Shifu chose this to not burden the innkeepers who were helping the people who had lost their homes. Suddenly, Shifu woke up. His ears twitched left and right, hearing noise coming from each direction. He roused the others. "What... What's going on?" Monkey mumbled.
"Someone's here. I think we're surrounded." Shifu said. Carefully stepping out of the tent, the red panda scanned the forested area. He ducked from an arrow that zipped by and landed behind him.
"They're on to us! Get them!"
"Viper, Crane, Monkey, attack!"
"Yes Master Shifu!"
Viper wiggled her body at lightning speed and struck one of the rhino bandits with the tip of her tail. Wrapping around his body, she used his arms to attack the other bandits. The large rhino flailed his axe around wildly, smashing into his comrades. Shifu quickly darted onto a boar's face and punched him into a tree while tripping the next one with his small foot. Another boar came up from behind him. Shifu jumped and punted the boar straight into the other bandits.
Crane and Monkey defended each other with their backs together. Crane nimbly blocked an arrow aimed at Monkey while the simian jumped and stomped his foot on three of the bandits at once. Multiple times. "They're too strong, retreat!" The bandits ran back into the nighttime trees.
"That was weird," Monkey muttered, tripping one retreating criminal. "Where do you think you're going, buddy?"
"Ahh! No, wait! I surrender!" The rhino cried.
"Why did you attack us? And how did you know where we were?" Shifu asked.
"The... the bunnies. We paid them to figure out where you guys were," The rhino pointed to the snake. "They asked her and we thought we could ambush you."
Viper's eyes widened. "So... those bunnies I talked to did this? I... caused this?"
"Viper, it's not your fault," Crane protested.
"Yes it is. I'm the one who told them where we were staying. I thought they wanted to know when the village was in danger. I..." The snake sighed and then glared at the squirming rhino. "Let's just send this guy to jail and finish our job."
The others silently agreed. After their reconstruction efforts were done the next day, the four set off to the Jade Palace. A small bunny waved at Master Viper. "We'll miss you!"
But the snake didn't say anything. She simply hissed and slithered away. Shifu, Monkey, and Crane stole glances at each other as Viper slid on ahead of them, not saying a word.
The path back was slow and devastatingly quiet. The serpent held her beaten brow the entire way back. Crane cleared his throat about 90 times in a hope to break the awkward silence but found no words to say.
Finally, Shifu sighed, "Viper, no one's at fault. You couldn't have known that those bunnies were using you."
"But that's just it, Master Shifu. Everyone uses my kindness. My friends, my family, the villagers, Everyone!" Viper shouted. "I'm just... tired. Let's just get back to the Jade Palace." Crane and Monkey uncomfortably looked at each other with grimaces. For the rest of the hour journey, they walked in total silence. It wasn't until they got to the Jade Palace barracks that any noise exited anyone's mouth. Po was cooking while Tigress and Tai Lung played a game of checkers with Mantis on the snow cat's shoulder.
"I think she's got you-"
"Shush," Tai Lung grunted.
"We're back," Crane announced.
"Hey! That's great!" Po turned back, carrying bowls of soup. "Hey, Viper, I was wondering when you're done if you-"
"NO!" Viper shouted. Po nearly dropped the soup, and Tigress and Tai Lung jumped from their chairs a bit. The snake hissed. "I'm going to bed. Don't disturb me." She slithered away without another word.
"What... happened?" Tigress asked. Sighing, Shifu sat down and told them everything.
"I believe," Shifu continued, "that she's blaming herself for something she could've prevented."
"But she had no idea of that," Tai Lung argued. "She thought they were fans. It makes sense."
"It... doesn't really make sense to give them your address," Po muttered under his breath. The snow leopard glared. "Hey! I'm with you on this, but I'm just saying. When it comes to kindness, people tend to do the extremes."
"What do you mean?" Shifu asked.
Po shrugged, "You either have people like Tigress who is kind but very slow to trust people, no offense."
"None taken."
"Or you have people like Viper and me who will trust anyone. It's not that she's upset that she's kind. She's upset because her kindness led to something worse. And they broke her trust."
"From the sound of it," Tigress spoke, "This isn't the first time this issue has come up."
Tai Lung gave a big groaning sigh. "So... who's going to talk to her?"
Everyone looked at Po. The panda's face dropped. "Seriously guys? What? Am I just your counselor when you guys are going through stuff?"
"You're a good listener," Tigress said.
"And you give great hugs," Monkey added.
"Oh! Wow! Uhhh thanks," Po smiled bashfully but shook his head. "I don't think I'm the right person for this one. I wasn't there when it happened."
The room looked around for a candidate. Finally, Crane stood up. "I'll go."
"Uhhh are you sure?" Tai Lung asked, "You're not the best with your words."
"And Po is?"
"Po has other attributes that make up for his clumsy word-choice."
"I'm right here, guys," Po muttered.
Crane sighed, "But I was there when it happened." Tai Lung's eyes shifted from the bird to Shifu who hummed thoughtfully.
"Very well, Crane." The bird nodded and bowed before leaving the group. "And Crane... try not to over think it."
"I'll try," The bird grinned shakily. He walked down the wooden hall. Already his mind was trying to come up with every single sort of scenario. He took a breath and tried his best to just be present. As he approached the door, his wing moved to knock.
"I don't want to talk, Po."
"Wow, are we that predictable?"
"Crane?" The snake slithered up to the door and opened it. "What are you doing here?"
"Uhhh well I'm... taking over Po's spot."
"Ahh," Viper sighed, slithering back into her room. "Well, you guys got me to open the door, so you might as well try."
"Sorry."
"It's okay. I... I shouldn't be this mean."
"No, I mean... I'm sorry I didn't say anything before. I should've, but... you know me and confidence heh heh," Crane nervously chuckled. The snake smiled just a hint from her mat. She sat huddled in a rope bundle of her own body, staring at some spot on the wall behind her mat.* Crane sat down next to her. A moment of silence passed between them. "Viper, I... don't really get what's going on here."
"Other than my so-called kindness nearly got everyone killed?"
"But why are you beating yourself up because of it?"
"Crane, if I didn't talk with those bunnies, the bandits wouldn't have found us. And it's not just the bandits! People take advantage of my kindness almost all the time!" Viper hissed loudly. "I just... how can I figure out when to be kind? I mean, sure Po gets taken advantage of too, but he doesn't know any better. I do! Or... I should. I just... where's the line between being too kind and too mean?"
Crane stayed silent for a moment. A moment longer than she anticipated. "I don't think you're supposed to be silent all the time when you're listening to a friend, Crane," Viper lightly teased.
"No, no, I'm just... I mean... you're right. I don't know where the line is. But... if we're using Po as an example, sure he's naive but he learns from his mistakes. He doesn't beat himself over the head with it. He learns and moves on. That's how he took down Tai Lung," Crane sighed, "Viper, I don't know what that line is. You want to give people your kindness, but... not everyone should be given that kindness."
"Because they don't deserve it?"
"Because they don't want it for the sake of... kindness." The bird paused a bit to get his words right. "Kindness is a gift. Not everyone will use that gift the way it's meant to be used. You didn't do anything bad by giving it. You just gave it to people who didn't know how to use it properly," Crane shrugged and sighed, "And... quite honestly, we don't know if those bunnies were forced."
Viper's head rose. "You're right! I completely forgot about that! Oh, do you think they think I hate them?"
Crane smiled, "I'm sure they still admire you."
The snake smiled back, "Thank you, Crane. I really appreciate it." The two got up from the mat and went to the door. "You don't give yourself enough credit, though. You're just as helpful as Po."
"Heh, thanks." When they opened the door, they found the others standing there, trying their best to look inconspicuous.
"What are you all doing here?" Viper asked.
"Uhhhh... just... standing?" Po nervously grinned.
Tigress sighed, "We were just... making sure that you were okay."
"And making sure that Crane didn't mess things up."
"Gee, thanks, Mantis."
Viper smiled, "Thank you all for caring. Actually, I probably should just thank Crane since... you guys didn't do anything."
"Ouch. Fair but ouch," Po smiled. "We're just glad that you're feeling better."
"Me too."
"Now! What was this about me being naive, Crane?!"
"Po, do not start," Crane grumbled, walking away.
"I want to know!" Po shouted, chasing after the bird while the others laughed. Viper saw the joy in her comrades.
And she gave a warm kind smile.
Continued...
*a/N: I had no clue how to describe this, but this is what my feeble brain came up with.