Chapter 12 - The Masked Warrior

(Sorry it took so long, but I JUST got the internet. Trust me, I have WAAAY more chapters to put up!)

Shifu just sort of stood there, mouth gapping. “Ho-ho-how?! How?! How on earth could she be..”
Oogway sighed. “The gemstone is jade, that means she is the legendary Bakeneko.”
Shifu sighed. “As if the world wasn't complicated enough..”
“I've seen bigger complications.”
Shifu sighed and closed his eyes. “The world doesn't get much more complicated then this master.”
Oogway chuckled. “I've seen worse.”
The red panda smoothed the beautiful gemstone. “So, should we tell her?”
“No.”
“No?! What do you mean? We have to tell her, master!”
“When the time is right, Shifu.”
Shifu shook his head. “I think it's a bad idea master...”
Oogway ignored him. “In the meantime, look after Kurisu. When the owner finds the yari, then he or she will be drawn to it's power, she may try to use it in our absence, and that is a legendary weapon. It is very dangerous unless handled with care.”
“Oh...great.”
Oogway chuckled and scratched Shifu between the ears. “Ah, do not fret my dear student, as long as we keep a close eye on her.”
Shifu frowned. “Won't she suspect something if we always have our eyeballs glued to the poor child?”
Oogway poked Shifu on the forehead. “We must do it secretly.”
“........Okay.” Although he didn't sound so sure. “How will we keep her from the yari?”
The old tortoise sighed. “Unfortunately, we can't. If the yari draws her, it's out of her control..the yari takes over her mind for as long as it keeps her with it.”
Shifu didn't like the sound of that at all. “And you told me not to fret?! Master! She could get seriously injured, she has no idea how to use that! If she tries to wield it in our absence...”
“Ahhh, but one can never discover their own true reason of being unless they even know they're destined to have one.”
“........In english, please.”
Oogway chuckled. “The child doesn't know that she's destined to be the legendary Bakaneko. For that matter, she probably doesn't even have a clue what the Bakaneko is. So, she shouldn't try to discover her own destiny, if no one's told her she even possesses one.”
“...I'm still worried.”
The old tortoise smiled. “That's your problem, young one, you are far too paranoid. If you think about the worse, and every possible fate that young Kurisu can succomb too, then it most likely will occur.”
“First of all, “young one?” I'm in my late sixties!” Shifu said, giving an annoyed growl.
“I appologize Shifu, I suppose old habbits are hard to break. Besides, compared to my old age, you are only a cub. Like the young baby who's diapers I once changed in the palace.” Oogway said, giving a small smirk.
Shifu cleared his throat and fought off a blush. “Second of all, I am not paranoid! Just because I happen to worry over the safety of my students, isn't that what all good masters are supposed to do?! I can't watch her all the time, anything can happen to her in my absence, and I don't want that to happen!”
“Shifu, relax.” Oogway said, settling a hand on the red panda's head. “Why don't you come and meditate with me under the peach tree?”
The red panda's fur stood up from stress. He shook Oogway's hand off. “I don't need to “calm” my mind! What I need is for someone to give me a straight answer, and good advice! Not some...philosophical nonsense half of which hardly ever makes sense to me!!” Shifu was so stressed and frantic that he didn't even seem to realize that his outburst had hurt his master.
Oogway's eyes went wide, he gave an injured look and turned away. “Well excuse me, I try my best.” The old tortoise grimly shook his head. “Fine, I'll go meditate on my own then.” Oogway slowly shuffled towards the door, and closed it silently.
Shifu stood there pacing. He slowed down immediately when he realized what he had just said. The red panda gave a groan and collapsed onto the ground. “Not only disrespectful, but hurtful too. I [never intended to hurt him, it just came out.” He sighed. “Oh, I'll apologize later, I have way bigger things to think about right now..”
Meanwhile, Kurisu was struggling to practice out in the training yard, but she couldn't get her mind off that beautiful yari in the Sacred Hall Of Warriors. “It's so beautiful...” The kitten looked around, she looked to the left, she looked to the right, then headed to the Sacred Hall Of Warriors in secret. Kurisu creaked the door open and slipped inside. She headed towards the secret room and quickly hurried up to the yari. “Ohhhh....it's as pretty as I remember it to be a few minutes ago.” The kitten smoothed her paw over the beautiful jade, all of a sudden her vision clouded with green. Kurisu whipped the yari around. “Hiyaa!” She threw it up in the air and caught it. She threw it up again...and it came spiraling down towards her face. The kitten's eyes immediately faded back to turquoise. “Kyaaaaaa!!!”
“Kurisu, no!” Came a shout from behind her.
The kitten felt someone grab her and shove her out of the way just in time, as the yari clanked to the floor. Frightened, the kitten crept up to Oogway and clutched onto the cloth on his back tightly. Her face was stained with tears of fright. The kitten bawled into Oogway's shoulder. “Waaaaaaaaaa! I was so scared!”
The old tortoise patted her back gently. “It's alright, young one.” Oogway took her hand and smiled gently. “Come, let's go get something warm to drink in the kitchen.”
Kurisu sniffled and wiped her eyes. “O-okay.”
Later that night, Shifu had the pleasure of getting a near heart attack when he found Kurisu spinning her yari in a circle, and nearly knocking a bunch of ceiling pannels on herself. Shifu groaned and trudged up towards the peach tree. “Argh...that kitten is going to kill me.” The red panda peered up to see Oogway standing underneath the tree. Shifu hesitated then walked up to Oogway and hugged him from behind.
Oogway broke out of his meditation state and opened one eye. “What's that for?”
“...As an apology.”
“What are you apologizing for?”
Shifu sighed and looked down. “For saying those hurtful and very disrespectful things to you..”
The old tortoise smiled and scratched Shifu between the ears. “Ahh, do not fret my student, I know you were only stressed. Perhaps I should have simply answered you...it wouldn't have started such a foolish argument.”
“I still feel bad though, really bad. Your advice isn't philosophical nonsense...it's sometimes quite helpful too.”
Oogway chuckled and poked the red panda in the side. “Sometimes, eh?” He asked playfully.
Shifu gave a nervous giggle. “Did I say sometimes? I meant all the time! Seriously you have the greatest advice...please don't kill me.”
The old tortoise chuckled. “Fortunately for you, I'm busy at the moment..I'll get you later.”
“Gr-great! I look forward to it...” Shifu said with a sigh. “Now, I have to go make sure Kurisu isn't destroying anything...”
Oogway laughed. “Is it really that serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes....she almost killed herself! She caused an avalanche of ceiling tiles to collapse!”
Oogway sighed. “I know what you mean, I caught her just in time..the yari almost went through her head.”
Shifu shuddered. “That wouldn't be a pretty sight.” The red panda said, scratching his head.
Oogway smiled at his student. “Why don't you stay up here with me for a bit?'
The red panda nodded happily. “I'd like that, thanks.” He inched closer to his master, got out his flute and began to play.
Later that night, Shifu awoke to the sound of scratching at his door. “Huh? Who is it?” He asked groggily. The red panda opened his door, he couldn't believe what he saw. “Kaeru? Kurisu? What's going on?”
Kaeru sat there, with a certain young kitten hanging from her mouth, her eyes were a bright jade. Kaeru dropped Kurisu at Shifu's feet, her eyes went back to normal. “Wh-what?” She glanced up at Shifu. “What's going on?”
The red panda sighed. “Come young one, you'll sleep in my bed tonight.”
“Huh? Why?”
“We can't risk any more “close calls” tonight.”
The kitten sighed. “My head hurts...”
“I know dear, let's just go to sleep..”
Shifu brought the kitten back into his room. “I'll let you sleep in tomorrow.”
Kurisu's eyes went wide. “What?! Are you really my master..? You never let me sleep in!”
Shifu sighed. “I know Kurisu, but it's three in the morning, how long were you in the hall for?”
“I-I don't know, I don't remember anything!” She sniffled. “Master, I'm worried! What's going on? Everyone's been acting really weird! I keep finding myself in the hall, and I don't know why!”
Shifu wiped her eyes. “I'll tell you when it's time.”
“What do you mean? What's going on? I want to know, why won't you tell me?!”
“It's way to complicated right now, I don't even know half of what's going on...”
“I'm scared..”
Shifu gave her a small reassuring hug. “Don't be, it's fine...just go to sleep.”
The kitten sighed and clutched onto her master's hand for security. What's going on with me? I wish somebody would tell me.. Sighing, Kurisu drifted off into a dreamless, restless sleep.
“Brekfast tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!” Kurisu squealed, joyously.
Shifu smiled at the kiten as she skipped around the kitchen. Thank goodness she's back to her old self...
The kitten turned towards the fruit basket. “..! Oh no!”
Po frowned. “What is it?”
“There is only one apple left!”
“Oh nooooooo! It's the end of the wooooorrlldd!!!”
Oogway chuckled. “You know, it never did come to mind that the end of the world would occur because of a shortage of apples.”
Shifu laughed. “Relax Kurisu, Master Oogway and I will make a sidedish while the two of you fetch some aples from The Tree of Tranquility.”
“Oh, okay, then!” The kitten chirped. “Make something good!”
“We'll try.” Oogway promised with a grin.
The morning air was crisp and breezy as the panda and kitten made their way to the apple tree.
Kurisu rolled her eyes and glared at Po. “I can't believe you said: “It's the end of the wooooorrlldd!!!” Simply because we had a shortage of apples..”
“It was just a joke..” Po muttered, embarassed.
“Boost me up, I need to get to that tree.”
“You're a cat! Climb!”
The kitten rolled her eyes. “Oh, fine!” She took out her claws and dug them into the sturdy bark of the tree. “Ha! What do you know? I'm doing it!” She exclaimed, making her way up the apple tree. “This is so-.....huh?”
A pair of bright green eyes leered down at her.
The kiten uttered a frightened scream and tumbled down the tree. “Augh!!”
“What's wrong?” Po demaned, running to his friend's side. “Th-there's someone in the tree!”
The figure leaped out of the tree and smirked at her. “Right you are.” She rasped. “And you're going to pay for going near my apple tree!” She snarled and drew a sword from her leather belt. In a swift motion she sliced the sword through the air, the tip of it tore across Kurisu's wrist.
“Augh-!!” Kurisu held her wrist to stop the bleeding. She swiftly kicked the creature right in the face. “Po! Get Shifu! Hurry!”
“My pleasure!” Po cried and quickly bounded from the forest. “Master Shifu!! Master Shifu!!”
The red panda scampered to the enterance of the palace. “Po, what is it? What's wrong? Are you alright?”
“Master Shifu! There's a masked warrior in the forest and it injured Kurisu! It slashed her wrist and she's really hurt!”
Shifu was horrified. “A masked warrior?”
Oogway looked just as alarmed. “Come, we must go!”
Meanwhile, Kurisu was batling the masked creature, but she only had one free arm. “I'm sorry! I didn't know that the apple tree was yours! I'm sorry!!”
“Yeah, well you know now!” The creature rasped as sheraised her sword above her head.
“STOP!”
The warrior glowered at the sudden interupption. Her eyes widened.
Shifu bounded forward, growling. “Let her go!”
The creature narrowed her eyes. “Make me!”
Shifu glared at the dark creature. “Get off this property this instant!”
The masked warrior narrowed her eyes. “I don't think so!” She rasped. She swung her sword around, the handle smacked Po in the face. “Oh! I'm sorry, so sorry!!”
Shifu's eyes went wide. Gasp. “Wait a minute!” He strode towards the creature and pulled off her mask. “.................Oh my gosh..”

(BAHAHA! Another cliffie! Those of you who have been reading my other story, you should know who the “masked warrior” is.)

Preview of the next chapiiee!

Kurisu just sort of sat there on a log crying about her worthlessness. “Why does everyone bother keeping me here?! I just cause nothing but misery-waaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Argh! Could you please stop that?!” A gruff voice demanded from the trees. “You're giving me a headache!”
The kitten's eyes went wide with terror. “Wh-what? Wh-who's there?”
A sigh was heard from the tall tree. “Look kid, why don't you tell me what's the matter, so you can shut up?!”
Kurisu gasped. “H-hey! That isn't very nice! You don't want to mess with me! I'm a Kung Fu warrior, buddy!”
“That comes as the greatest of surprises. Kid! You're looking at one of the former student's of the Jade Palace. THE greatest warrior that ever lived!”
“Looking? I can't see you!”
The figure emerged from the tree. “Can you see me now?”
Kurisu just stood there staring in open mouthed shock. “I-I don't believe it! You're-you're-”

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