The Panda and the Turtle (Book 1)

Chapter 11: First Day

Back in the Valley of Peace, the morning gong was rung in the bell tower. The second it rung, Shifu walked in the hallway of the bunkhouse. The Five bursted out of their rooms and stood outside their doors, ready for inspection. Vee stood outside her room as well.

"Good morning, Master!" The Five said in unison.

"Morning, Shifu." Vee said.

Shifu looked over at one door that remained closed.

"Panda!" Shifu called out. "Panda! Wake up!"

Shifu walked over and slid open Po's door. Then he chuckled as the room was revealed to be empty.

"He's quit." Shifu said in satisfaction.

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Shifu walked with a bit more energy as he, Vee, and the Five approached the training hall courtyard. Tigress looked equally pleased.

"What do we do now, Master?" Viper asked. "With the panda gone, who will be the Dragon Warrior?"

"All we can do is resume our training and trust that in time, the true Dragon Warrior will be revealed." Shifu replied.

Shifu opened the courtyard doors, only to find himself face-to- face with Po's butt. Shifu and the Five are taken aback. Vee looked confused.

"Po?" Vee questioned.

"What are you doing here?!" Shifu demanded.

Po was in the middle of the courtyard, his legs were spread wide apart on two training horses. Po looked back over his shoulder to see Shifu, Vee, and the Five staring at him.

"Hey! Huh... Good morning, Master! I just thought I'd warm up a little." Po explained as he tried to lift one leg, but failed.

"Are you stuck?" Vee asked.

"Stuck?! Whaa? Pfft... stuck... does this look stuck to you... Yeah, I'm stuck." Po admitted.

"Help him." Shifu said to Crane.

"Oh, dear." Crane muttered.

Crane approached, before he gingerly grabbed Po's waistband and attempted to pull him up by flapping his wings.

"Maybe on three. One, two..." Po said.

Crane pulled him up and Po flopped onto his back.

"Thank you." Po said as he stood up.

"Don't mention it." Crane said.

"No, really, I appreciate..." Po continued.

"Ever." Crane added.

Po fell silent as Crane returned to stand by the group.

"You were trying to do a split?" Vee said as she observed the area. "Well, you did the hard version."

"You actually thought you could learn to do a full split in one night? It takes years to develop one's flexibility..." Shifu explained as he flung two boards into the air and Tigress stepped forward. "...and years longer to apply it in combat."

Shifu snapped his fingers. Instantly, Tigress leapt up and executed a perfect split kick. Po was awestruck. Tigress landed, glared at Po and returned to Shifu's side. The broken chunks of board land all around Vee, that caused her to use her magic to create a force field shield above her head to protect herself, but Po didn't have anything to cover himself as the chunks fell all around him. A large one knocked Po on the head, he picked up the piece of splintered board and hid it behind his back.