The Ticking Contingent: The Countdown vo.2

Off-balance

Eventually Master Croc and Sheep, having gotten everything sorted out and having gotten the chance to talk to Tigress, left to inform the other visiting masters of the final decision. Tigress opted to go and meditate in the training hall since it was a short time before dinner. Monkey had gone down to the village with Zhen and Viper while Crane did some reading in the Sacred Hall of Warriors and Mantis decided to hang out with Po in the kitchen. Mantis helped Po with dressing his face wound again so that it kept healing properly and then sat down with Po to chat. Po had an apple while they sat there until finally his stomach told him it was time to make dinner, and he got up to make some soup. Mantis asked how he was holding up with the idea of them leaving, and Po admitted that he felt a little better about the idea, but that it would still be a massive adjustment for him.

"At least Zhen and I are finally getting on good footing," he said with a relieved look on his face. "I feel better about that."

"Glad to hear it," Mantis told him.

They kept chatting as Po got the soup ready, and soon his friends had come into the kitchen to get some.

"We could smell that all the way from the stairs," Monkey admitted as he and Zhen sat down next to each other. Viper sat next to Mantis and Crane walked over to the counter to get bowls out for Po. "Makes me glad it was you and not Tigress who got picked to be Dragon Warrior."

Zhen did a double take. "Tigress was almost Dragon Warrior?" she asked in surprise. "I mean...not that I would blame your master. She seems like a more likely candidate than Po."

"I may be fluffy, but I'm not deaf," Po reminded her sternly.

"When Master Oogway was announcing the Dragon Warrior," Mantis explained. "Right before he said it was Po, he was walking in Tigress' direction. And then BAM! This giant guy who looked like he caught himself on fire lands right in the middle of the arena. He woke up and started babbling about just wanting to see who was going to be picked and...well, that's how Po wound up training here for six years. "

Zhen whistled. "That's crazy," she admitted. "But kinda' cool. Who knew you'd get a free kung fu chef?"

Po laughed. "Hey, I'll take the compliment," he said.

He served everyone their food, before noticing that Tigress wasn't at the table.

"That's odd," he admitted. "I know she still does rigid training, but she's been getting better with not overdoing it."

"Well, maybe with the meetings she decided to get in some extra practice," Viper suggested.

"True. Well, if she doesn't show up later, I'll go look for her."

This wound up being the case since Tigress made zero appearance at dinner, and thus Po opted to go look for her after cleaning his bowl and putting it away. He made his way to the training hall, but to his surprise, found no trace of Tigress anywhere. Confused, he decided to try the peach tree, but still there was no Tigress. Finally, Po decided to sneak around to the barracks and see if she was in there. Still no Tigress. Puzzled, Po made his way to the Sacred Hall of Warriors, hoping to catch her on the way over. If she wasn't there, then maybe he'd look for her in the morning.

As he reached the Hall stairs, he spotted Mrs. Jun making her way down the stairs with a small yawn. When she spotted him, she waved him hello and asked him how his day was.

"Good," Po said. "How was your lunch?"

"Wonderful! Sometimes I wonder if I should have stayed in retirement since it's so nice to just be able to sit and relax for hours with a good friend. But then we parted ways and I got instantly bored, so that idea immediately went out of my head. Plus, what would you do without me?"