The Mayor of the Valley of Peace

5. Deleted Scene: At the End of the Stairs

5. Deleted Scene: At the End of the Stairs
(after Shifu had kicked Po out through the gate)

Location: on the edge of the village

Po didn't know what was happening to him as he kept rolling down the stairs, rolling over several times and no longer knowing where up and down was. Then his stomach bounded too hard on the ground and the helpless panda soared through the air. He just felt how he landed on a hard floor, which was actually the bottom of a terrace. He rolled a few meters further through the terrace door and came to a standstill at some point.
"Oh!" Groaning and still rotating eyes, he propped himself up on his arms. When he finally got rid of the double vision and was able to focus his gaze again, he literally started.
"Oh, Master Shen! How did you get here...?"
He looked around hastily. He was in the Master's living room, where the peacock had just made himself comfortable on a mat, sitting cross-legged. And only now the panda noticed that the peacock was holding a vase in his wings, which had flown towards him when the panda broke in and which the white peacock had caught at the last second. The panda gazed contritely at the intact porcelain in the skillful, feathered hands of the master.
"Fragile?" Po asked meekly.
"Fairly fragile," the white peacock replied sternly and put the vase down on the floor next to him.
"Well?" The peacock stood up. "How is your training doing?" He circled the panda with a scrutinizing look, while the panda was getting up again.
"Oh, it's great!" Po lied. "I learned the balancing act today. See?"
With these words, the so-called Dragon Warrior pulled his legs apart and tried to get as deep as possible with the pelvis, but he did not even get halfway there. The peacock flapped his wing on Po's shanks and the panda's legs slipped extremely apart on the smooth tile. There was a crack in the hips.
"AHH!" Contorted with pain on his face, the panda tipped over from the almost splits, accompanied by Master Shen's mocking smile.
Po curled up on the floor and raised his shaking paw. "Don't worry," he gasped. "It's just the training cramps from this morning, and this noon... and this afternoon." He held his legs. "And from tonight."
The white peacock thoughtfully folded his wings under his robe and let his gaze rest on the writhing panda.
"Do you really believe that you are the Dragon Warrior?" the white master asked.
The panda got up again with difficulty. "What do you believe?" He asked.
But Shen just turned away and sat down on the mat again, staring at the panda for another five seconds before continuing.
"Only the true Dragon Warrior can decipher the secret of the Dragon Scroll," was the peacock's only answer. Then he held up a teacup and let Mr. Wugu pour him some tea. Po waved with his hand to the pika with a tortured smile. But after the work was done, Mr. Wugu walked away quickly again.
As soon as he was gone, Po began to think deeper about the words of the white master.
"Mm, the secret of the Dragon Scroll. Master Shifu also said something similar."
The panda looked expectantly at the peacock on the mat, hoping that he might give him a hint. But the peacock calmly finished drinking tea and kept silent. But Po still didn't move and continued to stare at the peacock.
Eventually, the master began to get annoyed by this stare and let out a deep sigh. "The door is there."
The panda slumped his shoulders in disappointment. "Oh, okay. Well then, well, you want your peace of mind, yes, no problem. I know. Understandable."
With bowed head, the panda stepped backwards in the direction where the peacock had pointed to the door.
"Please, don't let me disturb you," Po continued saying. "Absolutely no problem."
He paused for a moment, but the peacock kept his serious look.
The panda smiled mischievously. "Okay, then... good night."
When the panda had finally disappeared around the next corner, the peacock breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes for a little rest.
At the next moment, something shattered in the next room. The peacock's eyes widened.
"Oh, that looked very fragile," the panda muttered. "I'll fix it again. Ouch! Darn it! Shards!"
Sighing, the peacock hid his face in his wings.