Through the Looking Glass: Penance: Chapter 2-B
Shifu: Chapter 2
Shifu sat under the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom that morning, blowing into a bamboo flute as the day began. The soft music of the flute was carried by the light breeze that rustled the leaves of the peach tree ever so gently. The red panda's eyes were closed softly, his fingers covering and uncovering the fingerholes deftly as he moved through a rather slow piece of music. Shifu played each note with a strange sense of lingering, letting the beauty of it settle into the air before moving on slowly.
When he finally finished, he smiled lightly, setting the flute in his lap as he breathed in contentedly.
He was not expecting the sound of hands clapping together coming from just behind him.
Jumping up into a fighting stance and turning around with a hardened expression on his face, he simply saw Cream standing by the tree as she smiled.
"That was beautiful, Master Shifu!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know you played music!"
Shifu's expression softened as he looked at the rabbit. He smiled softly as he looked down to his flute. "Yes..." he said. "The flute is one of those things that helps me find inner peace."
"Huh," she said, blinking slightly. "I guess we all have things that help us find 'inner peace', as you call it?"
"Yes," said Shifu softly as he walked over to Cream. "No matter how we look at things, we all have ways of attaining inner peace."
Cream nodded, thoughts of Sonic beginning to seep into her mind. "I guess we do..." she said a little morosely. "Do you know when the Furious Five will be out to search for Tails?"
"They should leave this morning unless something comes up," Shifu replied as he moved so that he was next to the rabbit. "This land has been in peace long enough, however, so I have confidence that nothing will get in the way of the search."
"That's always good," said Cream. "Should I come along, or...?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not," replied the red panda as they began walking down the path to the Jade Palace proper. "It may help to see, it may not. The illusion of control is quite crafty like that. Follow your heart, and good things may come."
The rabbit blinked, unsure of what Shifu was trying to say before she simply walked on next to the kung fu master. "Right..." she said. "And about this fighting style of yours... kung fu, was it?"
"You will be taught it by the Dragon Warrior while the Five are away," replied Shifu. "You seemed so interested in it last night; I figured you would want to learn some basics."
Cream's eyebrow rose at this. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. "I just hope it's not too hard..."
"Set your mind to it and it will not be overly difficult," replied the red panda. "You should have seen Po when he first came under my tutelage. The poor fellow could do absolutely nothing! And yet, with proper motivation, I crafted him into the finest warrior in kung fu history! I am sure with your own proper motivation it should not be too difficult."
The rabbit nodded as they moved along. "I'll try, then," she said.
A loud sound suddenly came from the Jade Palace itself, however. Cream noted that it was a very similar sound to what had occurred the day before when she had rang the gong. Shifu's expression turned into a slight frown as he heard this.
However, when the gong rang two extra times, Shifu's eyes widened, and he looked to Cream with a look of horror on his face. Confused, Cream looked to the kung fu master.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The gong has been rung three times..." he said. "That means something urgent has happened!"
Shifu raced to the Jade Palace quickly, Cream being a little bewildered as the meaning of the words sank in. However, she heard footsteps, and then Po and the Furious Five were seen behind her, racing to the Jade Palace. Eyes wide in surprise, Cream fell into step with Po.
"You're not going to be able to find my friend soon, are you?" asked the rabbit.
"I'm afraid not..." replied Po as they ran. "You should stay out of this meeting, Cream. It might not have anything to do with you."
Cream shook her head. "I wanna find out what happens next!" she said. "I'm not gonna be left out here for an hour or two before hearing back from you!"
The panda simply shrugged as everybody ran towards the Jade Palace, realizing that at that point there would be no convincing Cream otherwise.
Shifu stood at the head of the small group, Po on his right side and Tigress on his left. The remaining Furious Five were behind both of them, with Mantis atop Cream's head as she stood by innocently.
In front of them stood the mighty Emperor of China himself. The bull was dressed in very regal garb as a group of four servants carried a chair on which he sat. Behind this person was a rather staunch looking indochinese tiger, yellow eyes looking at the group kindly as they walked in the Jade Palace. The four guards let down the chair suddenly, and then the emperor of China stepped off, looking down at the kung fu warriors and the rabbit girl.
The corner of the rabbit girl's eyes were intent on the warriors, such that when they bent down, she was able to bend down in perfect syncronicity, her eyes lingering on them as they stood back up.
"Master Xang Li Shifu..." began the emperor of China in a great, hulking baritone that commanded a great presence within the halls. "I come to you with very dire news.
"My lord," replied the red panda. "What news do you come with us?"
"Tai Lung has escaped from Chohr Gom," said the emperor. "Again," he added, with a tinge of bitterness in his tone.
All eyes widened in shock at the pronunciation of this sentence. Cream, of course, was a little confused, but then Mantis leant into her ear and began explaining away so that she would be up to speed on who the criminal was.
"He... He has escaped again, my lord?" asked Shifu, quite concerned by this development.
"We recieved word of this from Commander Vachir yesterday," replied the emperor stoically as he looked down at the master, pacing in front of them. "I should probably let my advisor tell you more."
At this, the gracious figure of the tiger came forward and bowed to Shifu. "Good morning, Master Shifu," he said.
Cream eyed the figure oddly, finding something amiss about the way he spoke. Shifu paid it no mind, however, bowing down politely. "Same to you, Wang Dun," he replied graciously. "So, what do you know about this situation?"
"I sent scouts out to the area around Chohr Gom shortly after I heard," replied the tiger graciously. "According to the guards at Chohr Gom, he would have died of dehydration, as the lowered rations of water would have made him weak to barely get to the nearest body of water. But, two things happened that we did not expect. First, was Tai Lung's resillience; he would have reached the body of water if he had just the slightest inkling more of stamina. The second..."
"What is the second thing?" asked Shifu, hoping to spur the advisor into speaking more.
"The second was that someone decided to help him, even though he is a criminal," said Wang Dun, eyes looking down. "My scouts described him as a fox with two tails. Quite unusual if you ask me..."
Shifu felt a slight disturbance behind him, and glancing back he noticed that the rabbit that had come in the day before visibly stiffened, hands clenched into fists as she stood completely tense. Looking back, the red panda nodded. "I see..." he said. "Did this, fox, as you call him, seem to be a threat?"
"He wouldn't be a threat, no," blurted out Cream suddenly.
Just after the rabbit had realized her mistake, all eyes were set on the rabbit's small frame. Cream began shaking in fright as she saw this display of eyes looking at her.
"And what, may I ask, gives you the right to say that?" asked the advisor.
"I..." replied the rabbit when she suddenly noticed that not all of the gazes in her direction were glares. "I'd know those two tails anywhere. That person who's with Tai Lung is... he's a friend of mine."
The room's full attention was then exherted on the little rabbit girl, and then the emperor looked upon her with kind eyes. "Ah," he said as he moved towards the rabbit. "That would in fact be useful information. Tell me; what do you know about him?"
"He ran away from home two years ago," replied the rabbit nervously. "I... I went out to find him." Before anybody could interject, the rabbit continued. "He isn't really a fighter, I know that much. He's a great inventor, though. Also, he can run faster than your best warriors, I think."
"That would be a very prideful statement, yes?" asked Tigress from where she stood, crossing her arms in front of her.
Cream shook her head. "He was able to keep up with a friend who could run faster than the speed of sound!" she replied. "It's not a prideful statement!"
Perturbed glances were sent her way. "Sound has a speed that could be measured?" asked Shifu suddenly.
The only non-Chinese person in the room shrugged. "Apparently," she said. "But he wouldn't outrun the person he's with if it meant his life would be safe."
Wang Dun nodded in appreciation as he took these details in. "An inventor?" he said. "So he could invent a weapon?"
"I'd think he'd be more used to more recent technology, though," replied Cream.
The advisor nodded to this statement. "Where he is, he would have no access to anything with which to build," he said. "Which leaves the only reason why Tai Lung would want to use him; as a bargaining chip."
All eyes turned to Wang Dun as they realized the implications of the statement. Frowning, Shifu shook his head. "That would be horrible..." he said. "And it sounds like exactly the kind of thing Tai Lung would do."
"Then I say we get to Tai Lung as fast as we can and kick his butt before he can use the poor guy as a bargaining chip!" exclaimed Po, slamming his fist into his hand.
"But do we even know where he is?" asked Tigress suddenly.
The emperor nodded. "We believe he is headed straight for the Jade Palace, as in the last time he escaped from Chohr Gom. I would like it if he were intercepted before he got to this point, however; if you intercept him before he gets to this point, I would like to accost him at Beijing for his crimes."
A dead silence fell upon the room, the meaning of this sinking in as even Cream understood that this would most likely result in a death sentence for Tai Lung. "I see..." said Shifu, his tone of voice laced with some combination of spite and regret. "I will deliberate further amongst the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. Once we come to a decision, I will send the relevant party out and I shall return to you with the people that decide to stay here at the Jade Palace."
The bull bowed to Master Shifu respectfully. "I thank you for your efforts," he said stoically. "I shall be waiting here for your deliberations to end."
Shifu nodded silently. Turning around, he exited the Jade Palace to the dorms, Po, Cream and the Furious Five following him closely behind as they moved up the mountain.
When they arrived at the dorm, the entire group shuffled into Tigress' room. As soon as everybody was settled into the small room, all eyes went straight to the red panda. Shifu was the first to ask questions.
"So, what should we do?" he asked.
"I say we go for it," said Po, cracking his knuckles. "That fox might be in trouble, and the sooner we can get him out and take Tai Lung down the better... Tails was his name, right?"
"Yeah," replied Cream. "Please do be careful with him!"
"When we find him, we will try our best to be careful," replied Viper.
Tigress frowned at something she realized. "Although, wait a second..." she said, eyes glancing about. "Am I the only one who noticed that something didn't seem quite right about the ambassador's story?"
Shifu cast a glance to the tiger, Po and the rest of the Five doing the same thing. Suddenly, all of the heads around her nodded, much to her surprise. Cream was the only one who was a little confused by this.
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.
"He said a scout had gone over there after Tai Lung had escaped," replied Shifu as he looked at the rabbit girl. "And that he was able to see Tails save Tai Lung's life."
The rabbit shrugged, still unsure of Shifu's meaning. "What might be the problem with that?" asked Cream.
"It would take two weeks to get from Chohr Gom to here," replied Tigress as she looked at Cream. "It would take about an extra half a week to get to Beijing if you stopped here first. So it takes a while to get to Chohr Gom."
Cream raised her eyebrows as she realized what this might imply. "So you're saying that either it was a lucky coincidence, or that Mr. Wang Dun knows more than he is telling us?" asked the rabbit, crossing her arms in front of her.
Crane nodded. "Wang Dun's scouts are birds, so it would take them less time to get from Chohr Gom to Beijing. But even then, it would take two or three days of non-stop flight to get to Beijing from Chohr Gom. It would be impossible to send a scout to Chohr Gom from Beijing and head back within the span of a single day."
"Which means that the scout was already there," said Cream. As she thought of this, she shrugged. "Maybe the scout just got lucky. Maybe he was already there checking on Tai Lung's status when he escaped..."
Shifu nodded. "That may very well be the case," said the red panda thoughtfully. "Still, I do think it is wise to keep a measure of safety just in case something happens."
With this having been said, he turned to the more obese panda in the room. "Po." said Shifu matter-of-factly. "I want you to take the Furious Five with you. I will stay here and watch over the palace and Cream."
The rabbit's eyes widened at this. "B-but what do you mean I have to stay behind?" asked Cream. "If he's in the state I think he is, I don't think he would want to face me!"
"But at the same time, you would just get in the way," replied Tigress coldly. As Cream glared at her, she continued. "I understand that you might be able to get him to come with us, but you have no kung fu skill. That said, if Tai Lung attempted to kidnap you too, then that would be your life in danger as well as your friend's, and then we would have to be extra careful. Your presence would do very little to help..."
Cream would have been riled, but her mind mulled over the facts that Tigress had stated. Realizing that the kung fu mistress was right, she nodded.
"Okay," she said. "I'll stay here, then."
"All right," said Shifu, regret seeming to flash in his eyes. "I hereby send you out to do your duty. Please, try not to fail."
"Of course, Master," said Po.
He and the Furious Five cupped their hands in front of their bodies and bowed down to Shifu respectfully. After the panda bowed, the group of six filed out of the room as quickly as they could. This left Shifu and Cream alone in the room, the rabbit a little bewildered about what had just happened.
"I hope they'll be okay..." she said as she suddenly noticed their forms prancing down the mountain quickly.
Shifu smiled at Cream. "They will be all right," he reassurred the rabbit. "Tai Lung was unable to defeat Po by himself; if he is pitted against Po and he Furious Five, I am sure the threat will be quelled quickly."
The rabbit nodded uncertainly. Shifu nodded to her as he began to leave the room. "Come," he said. "We still have to address the emperor one final time before he leaves us to our business."
Cream followed the older kung fu master out of the room, her gait uncertain as she expected something awful to happen to somebody.
When Cream and Shifu had walked back down to the Jade Palace proper, they found the emperor still standing staunchly in the palace as Wang Dun stood off to the side. When the two smaller creatures entered, they both bowed down to the emperor in respect. In reply, the grand bull simply bowed his head down in respect.
"What have you decided to do?" asked the emperor.
"I have sent the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five after Tai Lung," replied Shifu. "With any luck, we should be able to intercept him and save the boy soon."
"Excellent," replied the emperor, a small smile gracing his lips. "And I take it they shall go to Beijing once he has been accosted?"
"Of course," replied Shifu.
The emperor nodded, closing his dark crimson eyes as he heard this. "I apologize in advance for what must be done," he said. "I understand Tai Lung was very special to you when he was a cub. I also understand you loved him like he was your own son."
Cream glanced uncertainly at the red panda she was accompanying as he sighed. The rabbit's eyes lit up in concern as the smaller person began pacing around in a small area.
"I used to love him," replied Shifu with a strange kind of sadness emanating from his voice as he looked at the ground. "Now, all my love for him has gone. He has disappointed me greatly, but as a father I have disappointed him more. He does not deserve my love, and as well I do not deserve his respect."
The bull nodded gravely as he turned to Cream. "And I do hope your own parents are not fretting," he said.
"I'm sure they are," she said, bowing down to the emperor. "But I write back to my mom whenever I can."
"It is good that you do," replied the bull as a small smile crept on his face. "I would think that any parent would be concerned for their child after journeying after a friend for two years. You should keep writing to your parents as often as you can..."
Cream simply nodded in reply as the emperor turned to his chair. The four guards, who had stood by the chair in silence the entire time, nodded as Wang Dun nodded graciously.
"Then I shall be leaving, then," said the emperor as he sat on his chair. "May luck and fortune be with the Dragon Warrior on his mission!"
And with this, the small procession turned to exit the Jade Palace. As the elder panda watched the procession leave, Cream turned to him, a little bit of shock on her face as she looked at Shifu.
"'Used' to love him?" she asked a little incredulously. "Why?"
Shifu shook his head as he looked at Cream. "Tai Lung was left here as a baby," he said. "I brought him up, raising him to be kung fu's finest warrior. It broke my heart to see him become so heartless when he was not proclaimed the Dragon Warrior..."
The rabbit nodded, realizing what the elder kung fu master meant by this comment. When the procession of the emperor left the Jade Palace, Shifu turned to Cream with a soft smile on his face.
"So," he said. "Would you like to begin your kung fu training?"
Cream turned to Shifu and nodded at this. "Of course!" she said.
The red panda nodded at this, moving along slowly. "Then follow me," he said.
The two people then walked out of the Jade Palace proper, leaving the large room in silence as the pool under the dragon scroll rippled uncertainly.