A Beautiful Flower
Monkey jumped over alleyway boxes, just to hide near the edge of the village. He pulled a piece of paper from his pants and grinned widely. "Is this your special picture?"
"AHHH!" Monkey's eyes spun up. Crane and Tai Lung stared down at him from the rooftops. The snow leopard's arms netted hard together while Crane lifted his curious eyebrow. Monkey hid the scroll as they jumped to the ground. "N-N-Nothing. What are you two doing here?"
"Shifu wants to know where you were. The bird and I were sent," Tai Lung answered curtly.
"So you're Shifu's pet student again."
"Watch it, Monkey."
"What Tai Lung is trying to say is that Master Shifu wants to know what you're doing," Crane said.
"And there are better ways to hide your... forbidden pleasure than acting like Po throwing a surprise party," Tai Lung added. "So. What's on the paper?"
"N-Nothing."
"I don't get it," Crane said, "If you needed privacy, why not go to your room?"
"Because... I..." Monkey dropped his head and sighed. He gave the paper to the snow leopard. Expecting to see something crude, Crane averted his gaze. Tai Lung rolled his eyes and opened it.
"Oh! Uhh... I wasn't expecting this." The bird looked over the snow leopard's shoulder. It was a beautifully CLOTHED painting of a female red panda, around Monkey's age. She had a flower pendant in her ear while a pinkish-red dress with a golden lining covered her body. "Ummm, is this supposed to be a female Shifu?"
"NO!" Monkey shouted, snatching the scroll. "I... A while ago, Shifu sent us near the southwest mountains, okay? It was just me, Mantis, and Viper. We stayed with this red panda woman called Meiyang."
"Well she does look like a pretty flower," Tai Lung teased. The monkey simmered; Meiyang means flower.
"Anyways, she and I hit it off and... I just wondered how she's doing."
"Have you gone to see her?" Crane asked.
"And say what?"
"That you like her?"
"It's not enough to just say you like someone," Monkey said, "You have to tell them why! I can't just tell her that I like her because she looks pretty."
"Well, what else do you like about her?" Tai Lung asked.
"I... don't know," Monkey plopped his butt to the ground. "I didn't show this painting around the barracks because I don't want Master Shifu getting the wrong idea."
"And you don't want his lecture about distracted warriors," Tai Lung guessed. Monkey nodded. The snow leopard rested his back against the wall, huffing in thought much like Tigress. The two felines acted like siblings more than they'd like to admit. "What do you want to do?"
"With Meiyang? Honestly, I just want to talk to her. I haven't seen her in a while. But I can't lie to Shifu about where I'm going."
"Why not?" Tai Lung and Monkey looked at Crame with raised eyebrows. "What?"
"Nothing, just... didn't think you would encourage such behavior," Tai Lung smirked.
The bird rubbed the back of his long neck. "That's not what I... the goal is to get to know more about Meiyang. You want to keep this private, right? That's why you haven't sent letters?" Monkey nodded. "Right, so let's just tell Master Shifu that we're on an information mission."
"But what kind?" The feline muttered. Crane shrugged. Tai Lung shut his eyes as they all thought about it. Suddenly, the snow leopard's eyes popped open. "Wow, I've been around Po for too long."
"What?"
"I think I have an idea. But we have to go to Mr. Ping for this to work," Tai Lung explained. Crane and Monkey stared at each other with confusion.
After the three stopped by Mr. Ping, they went to the Jade Palace and told Master Shifu their plight. The older red panda stroked his goatee. "You... have to help Mr. Ping with a delivery as a sign of gratitude for feeding you when you were all starving from the Steppes mission?"
"Yes Master Shifu," Monkey replied. Shifu watched each of his students' faces carefully. "It shouldn't be long, just a day or two."
"And where would this journey be?"
"To the Southwest mountains," Monkey said innocently.
"Ahh, well. I hope you have safe travels," Shifu smiled in a way that made the bird and feline side-glanced each other. Something wasn't right, but they weren't caught yet, so they maintained the ruse. The three of them bowed and headed for the door. "This wouldn't happen to involve a red panda named Meiyang, would it?"
Monkey shrunk and sighed while Tai Lung and Crane burst into laughter. "How long?"
"By accident, actually. While you were all away, Zeng cleaned your rooms and found the young girl's painting. It was Mantis that told me the name."
"Thank you, now I have the name of my next prank victim," Monkey grumbled.
The snow leopard smirked at Shifu, "This reminds me of my first crush."
"Ah yes. Try not to repeat that endeavor."
"What happened wasn't my fault."
"It was entirely your fault. The poor lady still sees gray where there's supposed to be blue," Shifu groaned. Monkey and Crane worriedly looked at Tai Lung.
"I... tried to use one of the ancient Kung Fu moves to impress someone."
"Wow, I keep forgetting Po isn't the only reckless person," Crane smiled. The snow leopard growled as they finally left the Jade Palace. On their way out of the village, a grassy dirt path guided their way to the Southwest mountains. After a three-hour journey, the three found themselves in a village wedged into two mountain peaks that were partially covered by mist. Houses were built or carved into the towering rocks, and clothing lines ran from house to house across the gap. Small ziplines for easy travel connected smaller animals between the mountains while smoothed-out slides helped lift the larger ones. Zig-zagging ramps were filled with carts and carriages next to stone carved stairwells. "You forgot to tell us she lived in the Flying Village, Monkey," Crane retorted.
"I know, I know. Come on, I think she still lives around here."
"Have you figured out what you're going to say?" The bird asked.
"No, why?"
Tai Lung rubbed his nose while Crane sighed. "Maybe you should think about that before randomly telling someone you want to date them," The feline griped.
"Hey, I don't even know if she got married!" Monkey exclaimed.
"Alright, let's find this red panda girl and... oh, that was easy," Crane said. Monkey turned his head up and saw one of the zip lines carrying a red panda. The slight brightness of her red fur gleamed as much as her bright smile. It didn't help that the sun was slightly behind her. She carried a parasol with her on a sunny day. It also slowed her speed on the zip line. Her lovely brown eyes found Monkey on the ground. The simian's heart thumped loudly, and he anxiously grinned and waved at her. She waved back, smiling shyly.
Suddenly, the cord snapped. The red panda clutched to her parasol and screamed. Monkey moved without thinking while Crane zipped to the other end of the cord. The simian leapt and caught the red panda in his arms, sliding to a stop across the ground. Fortunately, she was the only one on the zipline; only one person per trip was allowed at a time for weight reasons.
"Are you okay?" Monkey asked.
"Oh yes. Thank you! Thank you so much," The red panda said, kissing the monkey's cheek. The simian blushed as he placed her down.
"Uhhh an-an-anytime," Monkey stuttered. Tai Lung and Crane came to them.
"It's an old cord but durable. Looks like it would've lasted a long time," Crane mentioned.
"The zip lines are usually well-maintained," Meiyang explained. "And there's usually a lock feature on the mechanism." She pointed to a complex wheel with gears to prevent movement.
"Why is that?" Tai Lung asked.
"The lines are way above the ground. When there's slack or the person zips too fast, the mechanism locks. That way, if one side of the rope is damaged, the person can swing into the mountain rather than fall to the ground. You're less likely to die that way."
"Makes sense," Crane said. "That's what we did with you on the bridge."
"You didn't know if I would fall to my death!" Tai Lung argued.
"But you didn't, did you?" Crane grinned. The snow leopard rolled his eyes.
"You must be Master Monkey. I remember you. I'm Meiyang. I'm sure you don't remember me," The red panda shyly said.
"Oh I remember," Monkey smiled widely. "In fact, I was... wondering if I could talk with you some more."
"Oh! Uhh. Of course," Meiyang stammered.
Monkey took a deep breath and offered his arm. "Shall we, ma'am."
"Oh such a gentleman," Meiyang giggled as she wrapped her arm around Monkey's. The two walked off to places unknown while the bird and feline stood there watching the lovebirds.
"We should help with the zipline. Other people might need it." Crane glanced at Tai Lung and found the big snow leopard smiling. "You seem happy."
"Is that a crime?"
"No, no. Just... didn't think you cared about us," Crane said bluntly.
A frown creased Tai Lung's face. "I'm not particularly entertained with everything you do, but what makes you think I don't care completely?"
"I don't know. You and Tigress were fighting all the time before... whatever happened. Why would you care?" Crane said. The feline stared at the bird without malice. He looked puzzled and the bird wasn't giving him the pieces. Crossing his arms, the snow leopard silently waited for the bird to continue. Crane sighed, "Until Po came around, I didn't think Master Shifu really cared about us. And since you complain that Shifu made you a copy of him..." the bird shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't really talk about this."
"About your doubts?" Tai Lung asked. The bird nodded. "Why?"
"I'm supposed to be a bird of confidence. I can't show that weakness." The bird held a forlorn frown, staring at the ground with another sigh exiting his beak. They said nothing for a moment while workers and townsfolk busily toiled to restore the airborne highway.
"If I've learned anything from Po," Tai Lung finally spoke. "Showing weakness is the fast way to regain your strength."
Crane lightly chuckled, "That sounds like something Po would say."
"He has that effect on people. I won't lie. I didn't care much about... Shifu's students." The snow leopard took a deep breath. "But I was also his student. I can't ignore that. Come on, we should help with repairs... and find those supplies for Mr. Ping," He groaned.
"We probably should've just told Master Shifu from the beginning," Crane sighed with a smile.
Continued...