Northern Mountains

BANG!

The hit threw the wolf back among the fire. The great defender took another swing and smashed his large hammer right across another wolf's face. "Take our son! Go now!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Dang it! Lin Lin! Don't ACK!" Something hard smacked against his head. He fell, spun his head, and saw a sword's glint reflecting his village in flames.

But another bear picked up his hammer. Lin Lin smashed the wolf right in the gut with the blunt object. She helped the bear up, holding the hammer in one arm while she held their son in the other. "Come on Li Shan!"

The pandas tumbled up and fled into the forest. Their village's flaming glow gave way to the chilling white blizzard blinding their way. The howls of wolves fast on their feet rang in their ear. One jumped at Lin Lin. She ducked, and Li Shan grabbed and chucked him into his friends. The two pandas were gaining distance, but another distressing sound rang out.

"WAAAAAAHHH!"

"No, no, don't cry Lotus! Not now," Lin Lin gently hushed. They sprinted again, hearing the wolves right behind them.

"We can't stay here. Come on," Li Shan pulled his wife's hand, running through the thick curtain of snow. He snapped his head back. The red glint of the wolves' arm brace caught his eye.

Along with something else.

Someone else.

The albino peacock was hot on their trail. "Come on!"

"Li Shan! There!" She pointed to a small radish cart. Their eyes darted to the baby. He would be safe there if they made a distraction. Then Li Shan got an idea. There was a small hill a little further up.

"Lin Lin. Stay with Lotus. I'll be there in a moment."

"Li!"

"Just do as I say!" Li Shan shouted. Stung though heard, the female panda ran to the radish cart and ducked behind it. Li Shan struggled through the deep snow, watching as the torches started to draw near them. He fought his way up the hill, slipping and sliding. He got onto the top and looked down. Just as the army was near the cart's location. "HEY! OVER HERE!" The torches and wolves came towards him. Li Shan turned but tripped. "WAHHHH!"

The poor panda tumbled down the hill like a ball and hit a tree of snow with a great thud.

The wolves and the albino peacock quickly approached the spot. "Search the area." Said the peacock. The wolves with their torches scanned the area, but the blinding blizzard covered up everything. If there were tracks, they couldn't find them. Nothing but large piles of snow in the small clearing.

"He's not here, sir."

"Very well. Let the snow freeze him to death. I'm sure the nearby villages won't accept a panda in their midst. Come. We must do away with the rest." The peacock spun on his feet with a princely gale. He glanced over his shoulder one last time. All he could see was the mixture of white snow and black soot from the fires he created. He went away with a haunting hush from his feathers.

The howl of snow blanketed the area. Soon, another set of feet struggled through the snow, looking left and right for her husband. She stepped carefully, scared to even call his name. She followed an invisible path to the same area that the wolves searched. Wolf pawprints lay around.

But no panda tracks.

"Li? Li Shan?"

"BWAAAHH!"

"AHHH!" Lin Lin jumped and clutched baby Lotus closer to her chest as something popped out of a large snow mound right beside a tree. "Li Shan! There you are. What happened?"

"I'll tell you later. We need to get out of this blizzard!" Li Shan scanned the white barren land. He found a small hole in the mound he stood on and poked through, finding a cave underneath the snow. "In here." The two pandas huddled into the cavern, hugging each other tightly as their child cried out.

"Shh, shhh. It's okay, Lotus. We'll be okay." Lin Lin gently soothed. As if by magic, the child's calm led to the snow finally calming down. The pandas watched the white sheet of silence stop before journeying outside.

"Come on, we have to go."

"Where?"

"We have to go back to the village."

"What?! Li Shan. What if they're-"

"I have to see who all survived," Li Shan said, determined. Lin Lin sighed, clutching the baby tightly to her chest. Lighting a torch, the two trudged through the fresh packs of snow that muffled their feet. Li Shan scanned the barren forest. No enemies in sight.

They came to the village and Li Shan dropped his torch into the snow.

Charred houses and smoldering homes lay around the river village. With each step, the haunting spirit hung in the air. Something more than destruction haunted this place. But then they saw it. Piles stood among the wreckage, haphazardly stacked like sticks for a fire. Li Shan fell to his knees in front of the tallest one.

The black and white bodies of his people stood in these piles. Some of their charred remains were unrecognizable. Their dead eyes were frozen in horror and pain. Blood dripped out and down their large guts. Li Shan's hand hovered over one of them. A small girl panda he had known. She often played with baby Lotus.

Now Lotus would never know the kind of person she was. Li Shan gently closed her eyes out of some remnant shred of respect. "Why?" Li Shan croaked out. Lin Lin saw her husband stand up above the pile of his brethren.

The crack of a stick alerted them. Silently, they waited. Li Shan grabbed his long hammer when he saw something white.

But then something black also came out. "Li Shan! You're alive. Where's... oh my... is... is that-"

"Where are your kids, Bao," Li Shan quickly asked the female panda.

"They're hidden further north. There are some mountains that way, far away."

"We'll go there. It'll be risky," Li Shan said.

"We'll go with you," said another voice.

"Shi Yi! You're alive! Come on, find more survivors, and let's head north. There's nothing we can do here." Li Shan and Lin Lin found more and more pandas in the forests. They moved as one under the cover of the snowy night. As they rounded one mountain, they saw a village in the nearby valley, but Li Shan halted them for fear the person who attacked them would brand them as enemies. Shi Yi offered to spy out the village.

"Wait!" Li Shan moved the snow out of the way and grabbed some dirt. He smeared it on the white parts of the male panda. "That way, people think you're a kind of black bear."

"Makes sense. I'll try to be careful."

"Run at the first sign of trouble," Li Shan said, "We'll head further north." He pointed towards a foggy set of mountains ahead of the village. "Find us there." Shi Yi nodded, grabbed a cloak and disappeared into the village. Li Shan and the rest of the pandas rounded the village, avoiding the main roads. The pandas crossed rivers, valleys, gorges, and arid plains for two days. They finally made it to the foot of an icy snowy mountain, barren with blankets of blizzards and clouds, chilled by the winds. They marched up the mountain, panting and slipping among the howling snow. Some of them nearly fell to their deaths along the rocky cliffs. "Come, we have to get to the top."

"Li Shan. It's dangerous," Lin Lin said, carrying a crying Lotus.

"It'll be dangerous anywhere we go," Li Shan grunted, stomping his foot down on the rock as if to show the mountain who was boss. They climbed higher, battling the cold and their asthma until they finally reached the top. A green open plateau stood before them, perfect for their new way of life. The peak held several rolling mounds and emerald lawns for their children with fresh streams of water flowing through. "Alright everyone, we'll camp here until Shi Yi gets back."

"Do you think he'll know the way?" Lin Lin asked.

Li Shan paused but hugged his wife. "I trust Shi Yi. He's smart enough. In the meantime, we have to stay hidden. We're gonna have to hide who we are just to be who we are."

Lin Lin gently held the babe in her arms, staring worriedly at her husband's stern face. She rested her hand on his arm. "We'll make it through, Li," She said. "We will make it through. One day, we won't have to worry about who we are." She held her baby up, looking at Lotus's bright cooing smile. "One day, our son will be able to be himself."

"Until then, we hide," Li Shan sighed, "Urgh! I should've been able to stop them, but-"

"There were too many of them, dear. There was no way for you to fight for all of us."

"Maybe not," Li Shan paused. "But we can learn how to fight. All of us." Lin Lin's eyes only blinked as Li Shan saw the pandas starting to pitch their tents. "I don't want to go through another massacre like that. We'll live and train in secret. We'll stay in the shadows."

"So what? We're spies now?" Lin Lin lightly jested. But her chuckle died when she saw Li Shan's lips turn into a smile. "No, no, no, that's a bad idea. Li, we're pandas. Everyone will know what we look like."

"Not if we know how to hide, to fight. We can use the dirt I used on Shi Yi. Or charcoal! We can't let this happen again."

"We're farmers. Not fighters," Lin Lin said.

"Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener at war," Li Shan replied. His eyes glanced down to the baby in her arm. "I would never put our son in danger's way, but we have to do this to make the world a better place for him."

Lin Lin's glare held for a moment. She sighed, gently rocking the little panda. "Then we'll do what we have to." Li Shan nodded, gently playing with Lotus's stubby little hands.

"Po."

"Hm?"

"Po. It's a suitable cover name for our son."

Lin Lin rose her eyebrow. "Po just means... hillside."*

"It's a common surname. Besides, it's usually used to mean common or relatable."

"Po," Lin Lin stared at Li Shan before looking down at the bubbly panda in her arms. She smiled. "Xiao Po. It suits him. I like it."

The pandas slowly settled into their new home, learning as much as they could about their area. When the pandas would go and scout, they would cover themselves in charcoal and soot, looking like Asian black bears without the white patch. This was easily explained away as a mutation of some kind. And so the charcoaling tradition began. But weeks passed, and a new worry rose.

Shi Yi hadn't come back, and Li Shan wondered about sending a rescue party. It wasn't until ten days later that the large panda showed up in the footsteps of their village.

With a friend in tow.

"Shi Yi!" Li Shan cried out, latching onto the bear. "Who is this?"

"Easy Li. He's a friend. Everyone, this is Shao. He helped me figure out who destroyed our people." Before everyone stood a tall lanky crane with a leather vest. His eyes nervously darted around as he gave a small smile with his beak.

"Hi-Hi," He stuttered.

Lin Lin stepped up to him, giving a large welcoming smile, "It's good to meet you, Shao. How exactly did you help Shi Yi."

"We-Well, he kinda... crashed into my life... literally, he tripped and broke right through my house's wall. Scared my wife silly. He told me everything that happened, and I offered to get more information."

"I'm sorry for putting you in danger like that," Shi Yi apologized.

"No, no, it's fine. My wife always said I have a weak heart that needed strengthening," Shao smiled, "I think a little bit of espionage did the trick."

"Who is the person who attacked us?" Li Shan asked.

"Lord Shen," The bird replied heavily, "He was the prince of Gongmen City. His parents banished him after learning of his... actions. Now no one knows where he is."

Li Shan balled his hand into a fist. "We'll figure out where he is," He grunted.

"Li?"

"As long as this monster is around, there will always be danger. We have to find him and end him for what he's done."

Lin Lin grabbed Li Shan's arm. "Dear, if we do this, we'll be going into danger, not away from it."

"And if we stay here, we'll just be in the same situation. At the very least, we have to prepare for another attack of any kind."

"I agree," Shi Yi sighed, "We can't afford to live so peacefully. We have to be able to fight almost any kind of danger."

"Then be unknown," Shao said. The three bears turned their eyes to him. "Well... it's just... the best enemy is an unknown one. It-it's just a thought."

Lin Lin gave a warm smile. "Would you be willing to get information so we can protect ourselves, Mr. Shao?"

The bird bristled up his feathers with a shakily proud smile. "It would be my honor, ma'am."

"Good, "Li Shan firmly said. "Then we'll do everything we can to learn how to defend ourselves. Starting with weaponry."

"Or Kung Fu?" Shao asked. Again the bears looked at him. "Maybe I can fly and get one of the Kung Fu masters to help you. A-a-a-at the very least."

"It would give away our location, but..." Li Shan hummed thoughtfully, "We'll see about that."

And so it started. The secret panda village was only known to Shao at first, and the pandas paid him in supplies. From their mountain, the pandas operated in stealth and information gathering. A large library of techniques, skills, and reports, started to be collected. While some pandas farmed, the others trained to fight, spy, and defend. Over the years, Li Shan organized the espionage into four branches, North, South, East, and West, with their primary focus being on searching for Lord Shen and gathering self-defense information. To protect the panda mountain, Li Shan only had a handful of pandas over these branches while the rest were animals operating with the panda spymasters.

Years went by when Li Shan decided to make a trip to the nearest village by their secret mountain. Covered in soot and ash, the bear covered his head with a cloak while he moved through the crowded village. Wooden and stone slab houses stood in clustered lanes, but the great panda kept looking down at his left. "Keep up, Po."

"Yes, Dad."

Little Lotus had grown up quickly over the years. He learned fast, with food being an exceptional motivator. As the pandas walked into town, Li Shan had told his son to respond to Po, not Lotus. Po scanned the area, seeing animals of all kinds, shapes and sizes. The preteen panda smiled widely as he and his father stepped into a tavern and sat down at the bar. "Do you know what we're looking for?"

"Yeah, some info about Sh... I mean... you know who?"

Li Shan shook his head with a small smile. "You need to work on your stealth, Po."

"I'm trying, but I can't help it. This is the first time I've been in town."

"I've brought you down here before."

Po's eyes narrowed. "You brought me down, told me to set up camp outside the town so you can see what was going on. You totally ditched me!"

"Po, calm down," Li Shan hushed as a waiter goat passed them by. "Either way, we're trying to find information about a new Kung Fu Master. People say it's someone big."

Po's eyes lit up. "Are you gonna let me spy on them?"

"What? No. I just wanted to know if the rumors were true," Li Shan's eyes narrowed. "You know that I wouldn't put you in danger like that, Po."

The younger panda sighed, "I know."

"Excuse me, gentlemen. May we sit with you," said a voice. Both bears turned to the creatures sitting by them at the long bar. An old tortoise smiled at them while a short old-looking red panda steadily stared at his drink. Li Shan's stare stayed on them, but he smiled.

"Of course, nothing's wrong with that."

He felt Po pull on his cloak. "Uhh Dad. Call me crazy, but I think-"

"Shhh, Po."

"Hmmm, I don't seem to remember black bears being this far north," the tortoise murmured.

"It's a family thing."

"Not this far north."

"What do you want?" Li Shan quickly said. Po could see his father grab something in his pocket. He knew this tactic. The smokebomb. He just really hoped he wouldn't bump into someone like last time.

The tortoise gave a long sigh, clutching the staff in his hand. "You do not have to fear me, friend. I'm not the man that destroyed your people."

"What are you-"

"It's okay," The tortoise said. "I want to help."

"We don't need your help," Li Shan answered.

"Yes... we do."

"L-Po, stay out of this," Li Shan grunted, but his son gently lowered his father's arm.

"Are you... Master Oogway and Master Shifu? From the Jade Palace?"

"We are."

"That's... so... AWESOME!" Po bounced up, letting the cloak fly off of his head. "Dad, he's one of the greatest, if not the greatest Kung Fu master/warrior in all of China! And Master Shifu is the greatest teacher."

"I appreciate the flattery," Shifu smirked.

"Your son is right. We are who he says we are. And my friend and I are actually here to search for some suspicious characters sighted here. We did run into a bird that seemed eager to meet us. Your friend Shao mentioned you and your situation," Oogway said privately. Li Shan's eyes widened. "But we can help you."

"How?" Li Shan grunted.

"By teaching you Kung Fu. At least for a year."

"Why a year?" Po asked. "Why not longer?"

"That's not how the universe has directed our steps," Oogway explained. Li Shan and Po glanced at each other, confused. "Either way, you need help if you're going to remain hidden so these reports of you aren't so widely known. So... what do you say?"

"Dad, if we're going to protect ourselves, we need to know all we can. So we don't have to hide."

"I... ugh fine. We'll see," Li Shan sighed.

Against his better judgment, the large panda allowed the tortoise and red panda into the secret panda village. The pandas' fearful stares slowly ebbed away once Li Shan explained the situation.

"You have my promise that we will not tell anyone about your location," Oogway said. "We will not cause any more harm than has been dealt." And the tortoise was good on his word. Oogway began teaching the children first while Shifu taught the older warriors. It was a bit of a learning curve for the red panda, not used to the large bears.

The most noticeable student among them was the panda called Po. At first, Oogway watched the young panda stumble and bumble his way through the motions, but the tortoise smiled. "I don't understand why you're spending so much time on him, Master Oogway," Shifu stated. "He's not warrior material."

"He's young. You weren't much of a warrior when I first met you." The tortoise smiled at the red panda's embarrassed grunt. "Besides, there's more to this panda than meets the eye." The two saw Po put a cookie on a string on a tree. He took a breath and jumped up with ease, clearing the seven-foot set of bricks in front of him. In a perfect split. He landed and munched on the cookie with a happy smile while the red panda gawked at the sight. "Like I said. Anyone can become a warrior with the right motivation." The tortoise walked away leaving Shifu dumbfounded.

A year passed. The tortoise and red panda stood at the edge of the gate saying their goodbyes. Lin Lin bent down and hugged the short master. Shifu nearly lost a lung. "We'll miss you so much. It's been wonderful to have you here."

"I'll have to admit. We couldn't have improved as much without you two," Li Shan smiled and bowed.

The masters bowed as well. "It was our honor to teach you," Shifu said. When he looked around, he saw his master had gone over to a young panda hiding behind the corner of a house. Oogway smiled at the panda's bad hiding. Po hung his head.

"You're leaving." He said.

"Yes, we are."

Po immediately hugged the tortoise, latching onto his shell. Smiling grandly, the great master gently patted Po's head. "One day, when the time is right, you should go outside of your village and journey to the Valley of Peace to see me."

"The Valley of Peace? Where the Jade Palace is?"

Oogway nodded. "We'll get some noodles when you come," the master smiled.

"Noodles?" Po tilted his head. "Are they good?"

"Hehe, the best you'll have," Oogway grinned. He gave Po one last head pat before he went on his way, joining up with Shifu. The two descended the elevator shaft the pandas made and disappeared among the fog. "And now," He said to himself with Shifu, "The story can begin." Confusion blanketed the red panda's face.

Continued...

*SO I'VE BEEN LIED TO! I thought Po's name meant panda. That's what they made it sound like! Xiao meaning little, and Po meaning panda. Panda in Chinese is Xiongmao. My assumption isn't too farfetched. Shifu literally means teacher. So they named this man Master Teacher. Oogway means turtle. Po's name also means like a plethora of different things: Precious, treasure, several verbs depending on how you say it, and the one I used common.

坡 (Pō): Slope or hillside.

破 (Pò): To break, destroy, or defeat.

泊 (Pó): To anchor or berth (often used in the context of boats).

剖 (Pōu): To dissect or cut open.

迫 (Pò): To compel or press.

You'd think I'd pick this up in my fanfiction about the Furious Five and their real names, but NOPE! Slipped right under my non-existent radar! I just... I feel so betrayed.