The masters and the girls soon settled on a different topic of conversation and began discussing it in length for the rest of the meal. Once dinner had finally ended, Madame Zhou remarked that she was off to bed and headed out and over to the barracks. Tigress did the same as she wanted to do some meditation, considering that the training hall would soon become occupied. Po asked how Neikan was from their talk yesterday, curious to know if Tigress would mention the bet she and Neikan underwent. However, Tigress simply said that it was nice and that she and Neikan planned to keep talking once Neikan's briefing sessions finished up at the end of the week. Viper got up to do the dishes with Crane quickly offering to help while Monkey decided to tell one of his funny stories. Po waited for a little bit to hear a story or two before getting up from the table and heading over to the training hall with the girls who wanted to learn kung fu. There was definitely an excitable line behind him as they made their way over, but thankfully Master Leopard was pretty good at keeping control of things and helped the girls to keep themselves from screeching as they made their way over to the training hall. When they finally got there, Po stopped and turned to them.

"So....Ordai mentioned wanting to go first...." he offered. "And Destiny second....does anyone else have a particular order they want to go in?"

"Can I go next?" Lu-Shi and Song asked at the same time, glancing at each other as they did so.

"I've never done kung fu, so maybe I should go last," Jai-Rong suggested. 

"Well...that depends," Tai Lin admitted. "What are we doing?"

"I say the Hearts of Yin and Yang," Master Leopard piped up with a smile. "It can let Po practice more at his speed and let the rest of us have a turn trying them out." 

"Um...I'd have to ask Shifu," Po protested quickly. "I hardly know how those things work!" 

"I remember how to pull them apart and put them back together. I can go last and help to put everything away. And if Shifu asks, I put you up to it." 

"Oh....um, sure okay," Po agreed. Secretly he was very excited to keep practicing with the weapons, but he also knew that Shifu was very picky about people touching things without permission, and he was nervous about the grandmaster discovering amateurs using his weapons and punishing Po severely. 

"Alright then," Master Leopard said, interrupting the panda out of his thoughts. "So Ordai can go first, and then Destiny. How about then Lu-Shi goes and then Song? And then Tai Lin and Jai-Rong? And I'll go last." 

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Lu-Shi exclaimed. "I get to warm up!" She then proceeded to head over to the far side of the outdoor arena and began to practice some of her stances, calling out loudly to ask if anyone wanted to practice with her. Song obliged her with an amused smirk on her face and Po and Ordai headed into the training hall. Master Leopard followed after them to remove the extensions from the weapons in order to give the two much needed practice with the bases, after which she left them alone. 

"Okay," Po said, holding the weapons carefully in his paws. "So...which one do you want to practice with?" 

"I like the fan," Ordai said immediately, taking the dark blue fan from him. She stumbled a little, not aware of additional weight it had, but she soon had it steady in her paws. "I don't know any kung fu stances I'm afraid," she admitted. 

"I'll show you." 

Po got into a basic fighting stance and watched as Ordai tried to copy him. She was a little unsteady on her feet, but she was also very new to kung fu, so that made sense. 

"You have to bend your knees a little," Po told her, noticing that she was a bit stiff. "If you're too stiff, you'll be easier to knock over." 

"But I thought kung fu was about being sturdy," Ordai said with a confused frown. "I saw the way you and your friends kick each other."

"Yeah, sort of," Po explained. "You do need to be firm if you want to have a strong execution of your technique. But you need a balance between being too loose and too stiff. If you're too stiff, you leave yourself open to attacks. If you're too loose, your kicks and punches won't be as strong as they could. It takes time to work up to that stuff though. Some people take a really long time to get the hang of it while others catch onto the rhythm pretty quick. It just depends on the person."

"Well then I hope I can really catch up to you, Po. Then I can be as impressive as you."

Po blushed a little, but simply said, "For now, why don't we just work on the stance? Then maybe we can try a little weapon work?"

Ordai smiled excitedly and began to resume her attempts at practicing stances. Po stood next to her and got into a few basic stances himself as a way of trying to help her. Ordai would occasionally stop and look at him in an effort to correct herself, though she often found herself falling forward or nearly dropping the fan in her paws. After a few minutes, they took a little break and Ordai decided to look the fan over and admire the design. 

"This is super pretty," she admitted. "I think I'm going to make a hanfu like this when I go home...." She glanced up at Po and smiled. "Maybe I'll make us matching ones if we get married," she offered. "I think you'd look really good in black. Maybe with a little blue or gray around the edges." 

"Oh. Um...." Po stammered, unsure of how to respond to that. "It...sounds pretty.....I'm not sure if I'm really a black person though." 

"I think so. It matches your personality. It's elegant and mysterious and epic." 

Po turned red in embarrassment. "Um...thanks," he said. "I...I don't really think I deserve all the praise though. I mean...I wouldn't exactly call myself mysterious or epic. I'm just......me." 

Ordai smiled at him. "You're too modest, Po," she assured him. "I think you're an absolutely wonderful person. And the more we hang out, the more I truly believe that." 

Before Po could even respond to that, Ordai had reached the fan over to him, catching Po's chin and bringing him close to her, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. She then handed him the fan back and added, "Thanks for the lesson. It was really fun." 

She then turned to leave the training hall with Po standing glued to the floor reeling in surprise. As Ordai reached the door, he finally snapped out of his trance and started to follow after her. He reached the door and saw Ordai wave at Destiny who was in the middle of running away from Lu-Shi and Song. (Apparently they had convinced her to join in their kung fu session while Po had been inside, something Destiny immediately regretted). Po asked the rhino to come into the training hall which Destiny was more than happy to do. Once they went inside and shut the door, Destiny took several deep breaths.

"These people are crazy!" she cried. 

"Song and Lu-Shi?" Po asked knowingly. 

"Um...yeah," Destiny admitted. "Sort of. Kinda'. Song I guess learned her kung fu being an assassin or something....and I don't know where Lu-Shi learned her stuff, but I am sleeping with the door locked! She threatened to bend me in half!" 

Po smirked. "Lu-Shi doesn't mean that," he promised. "That's how she jokes." He waited for Destiny to catch her breath before adding with a look of confusion, "Did you say Song was an assassin?"

"That's what she said," Destiny wheezed. "She talked about breaking the backs of the toughest of men, so that's what I assume she meant by that." 

"Oh." Po frowned in thought, not really convinced that was what Song had meant by that statement. But he could always ask her later. For now, it was Destiny's turn to learn awesome kung fu. "Why don't we get started on some kung fu bases?" he suggested.

Destiny grinned in excitement and ran over to grab the weapons before Po could even blink. "I wanted to hold these so bad!!!" she exclaimed, picking up the fan. "They look so epic! I drew pictures to remember them by but this is even better!" 

She waved the fan for a bit before putting it in front of her face. "Do I look elegant?" she asked. 

Po smirked at the playfulness. "Yeah, you're actually doing a pretty good job of holding it," he admitted. "Have you ever used a fan before?"

"Yep," Destiny sighed. "Mom always made me take these stupid dance classes since I was little when all I wanted to do was go to Kung Fu Conventions or Festivals. I didn't like them, but mom said it was good for me." Destiny fanned herself with a grin. "I mean, she wasn't wrong," she added. "But I'm still not that interested in dancing. I only kept doing it because I learned about the legend of Lady Wind Song, and I thought it was so cool that I wanted to learn to use the fan right so I could copy all her moves." 

"I know what you mean! Dad used to buy me these mini kung fu weapons from the store so I could pretend to be a kung fu master like all my heroes! I wasn't good at it, but I tried." 

Destiny giggled erratically. "I'd love to be a kung fu master," she gushed. "Then I can hang out with all the legends in person!!! Forever!!!!!"

"I know! It's so awesome! But you know, it's definitely nice too because you realize that all your heroes have flaws. But that's okay. That's what makes them epic! Look at the Furious Five!"

Destiny snorted, covering her mouth with the fan to hide her embarrassed face. "The Five have flaws?" she questioned. "But they work so nice together!"

"No one's perfect. I mean, even I'm not perfect! Do you know how many times I did something really dumb and almost messed everything up? I'd like to think I've gotten much better now, but I do sometimes get a little distracted unfortunately....." 

"I always thought professional kung fu masters never messed up," Destiny admitted. "They're really good at what they do."

"They are. But everyone has something different they need to overcome in order to be really good at it. Like, controlling your temper, or having more confidence, or being more focused. I think you'll understand better the more you get to know everybody." 

Destiny thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Well, I guess I better start working on my own kung fu stuff," she said. 

She was about to put the fan down when she took a glance at the staff Po had laid off on the side and quickly grabbed that out of excitement. "So these two can stick together?" she asked, getting the fan magnetized onto the top of the staff. "That is so cool!" She glanced up at Po and added, "You know, I've been thinking about what Kay said about these two weapons....I don't really get it, but maybe she was saying that they can predict the future!"

"Actually, Destiny, I think she was referring to someone's skills or something," Po countered. "Each weapon represents someone's specific fighting style, so I think she was saying that you could tell who was better at what weapon based off their personality."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Destiny exclaimed. She looked a little disappointed but smiled anyway. "I guess that makes more sense. Though I have to say that's not the easiest thing to tell. I thought maybe Monkey or Tigress would have used the fan or something."

"Really?"

"Sure! Or Mantis. I thought they would get the fan and you and everyone else would choose the staff. But I guess I was way off on that one."

"Crane I'm actually not surprised by. He uses wind techniques with his kung fu, so that makes sense."

"Oh yeah. That's true."

Destiny picked up the staff-fan and started swinging it around, only for the doors to open and Ordai to poke her head in. "15 minutes are up," she announced.

"Okay! Coming!" Po called back. He looked at Destiny and apologized for such a short session. Destiny once again looked very disappointed, but she handed Po the weapons back and asked if they could look at them again another time. Po said he'd have to wait and see. They then left the training hall with Po calling Lu-Shi inside so that she could have a turn. Not that she needed much help as far as training was concerned.

"This is so exciting!!!" Lu-Shi exclaimed giddily as she looked around the training hall and towards the weapons. "I haven't been in here in years!"

"I know! You'll have to show me some of the new techniques you picked up. Then I can show you mine!"

Lu-Shi cracked her hooves and smirked. "With pleasure," she said, immediately moving to grab Po's arm and twist him around her shoulders and back. Po tried to defend himself, but Lu-Shi had already pinched a nerve on the back of his paw, freezing his shoulders and causing him to yelp in pain.

"Do you like it?" Lu-Shi asked proudly. "It's called the Icicle Pinch."

Po winced and gritted his teeth in pain. "Very...appropriate!" he squeaked. "Where'd...you...learn it?"

"My brother taught me. Well, dad taught him and then he taught it to me. But same thing."

Lu-Shi let go of Po's arm and let him run out the pain. "Sorry," she added sheepishly.

"Hey, no biggie," Po promised. "That was pretty cool!" He glanced up at the open roof and then looked back at Lu-Shi and grinned. "Want me to show you something I finally mastered?"

"Um...yeeeeeeeeesssss!!!!"

Po proceeded to crack his knuckles and walked to the center of training hall. He closed his eyes to concentrate and then began to run at full speed towards the swinging clubs of oblivion. As he got close, he lifted his leg at the last second and used it to propel himself high into the air, flipping about until he got himself upright and straightened his leg, immediately diving onto the ground with a hard BAM!!!! The crash upset the Jade Tortoise which wobbled and bounced over to the spinning alligator limbs before coming to a stop.

"Whoooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!" Lu-Shi screeched. "What was that that was so awesome?!"

"A flying Phoenix dip kick," Po explained proudly. "It took me almost five years to figure out, but I've got the hang of it now. Which is good because the kids in the Tsung Village love watching me do it."

"I wanna' try!" Lu-Shi exclaimed, hopping down to the middle of the training hall and steeling herself for the jump.

"Um...you might want to try doing it on The Adversary first," Po advised. "It's all about precise timing and control, so it's better to try it on something soft- oh, and maybe we should go outside? You might need somewhere more spacious?"

But Lu-Shi wasn't listening. Before Po could even finish speaking, she had already started to run at lightning speed towards the spiral beams. Her eyes were focused and she was ready to jump, but as she went to leap off of the beams, her knee banged into the hard surface and caused her to jump back with a loud yelp of pain.

"Are you okay?" Po asked, running over to inspect the damage with a look of concern.

"Yeah, I just...owwwww!!!!!!" Lu-Shi yelled, gently massaging her injury.

"Yeah, Shifu always has us practice on the Adversary so that we don't needlessly make our knees all purple the first hundred thousand times we practice. Although, I will say, it's a good motivator. Our training dummy broke and it was taking forever to order a new one, so I decided to practice on one of the trees outside."

Lu-Shi gave him a look of sympathy. "You probably looked as bad as my knee then," she observed with a little chuckle.

"Yeah, and probably my face. Sometimes I slipped......"

Lu-Shi tried to keep up with doing some king fu stances after that, but her knee hurt too much from the collision with the spiral beams, so they wound up just talking about the weapons and the training exercise that day until Ordai popped in again to announce that Song was coming in for her turn. Lu-Shi said goodnight to Po and limped out of the training hall, explaining to Ordai what had happened as Song came in and closed the door with a wince.

"Was that why she was screaming so loud?" she asked Po.

"Yeah, I was showing her a new move and she decided to try it on the spinning beams.... Not a good move if you're a first timer."

"Well I hope she'll be okay. It sounded painful."

Song walked over to Po and eyed the weapons with an interested expression. "I've been very keen on testing these out since your master showed them off to everybody," she admitted, picking up the fire staff and twirling it around a bit. "I love a set of weapons that compliment each other. It kind of reminds me of romance in a way. You know, looking for your other half?"

"Yeah, it does in a way, when you look at it like that," Po agreed. He picked up the fan and added, "So, um...obviously you know really good kung fu, so I don't really need to teach you anything. Or at least anything that would be new....."

"You'd be surprised," Song corrected with a little smile. "There's always room to learn something new." She picked up the staff and quickly swiped it over in Po's direction. Po blocked her, only for Song to effortlessly swipe the iron middle (which was placed off to the side for the time being) and knock the fan free. She then swiped at it with the fire staff, disappointed when the fan didn't stick. "When you learn how to effortlessly get these two to stick together, you'll have to let me know," she told the master. "Then we can both be experts at this."

"It might take me a while," Po admitted sheepishly. "Especially since I haven't really been here that long. And I have to go back to the Tsung Village at some point...."

"That's okay," Song assured him, nudging his elbow with a big smile. "We can learn together. Maybe I'll even teach you some parasol tricks I learned from Warlord Guyin."

Po picked the fan up from the floor and asked, "Oh, is that what Destiny was talking about when she talked about you being an assassin?"

Song laughed. "I have NO idea how she got that idea from me working under a warlord, but yeah, that's what I meant. He was strict, but he gave me the skills I needed to survive. And you know, he wasn't so bad at the end of the day....."

She put the iron bar over to the side and got into a stance with the staff to start sparring.

"How exactly did you wind up with the Ladies of the Shade?"

"We had a stand-off when I was serving under Guyin. He didn't make it through the fight, but Su was impressed with my fighting and let me join them. It didn't help that I had no where else to really go anyway. My family died a long time ago."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say I have the weird luck of being spared by someone every time my home is attacked. Which has happened on a few occasions."

"Oh....sorry about that."

"It's alright. I'm here now. And with you of all people. I couldn't imagine a better place to be," Song assured him with a warm smile.

Po turned a little red but managed to keep himself composed at the flattery and continued to spar with her. They did a little battle towards the Jade Tortoise (where Song decided to get some literal high ground on Po and nearly slam him across the floor), through the alligator limbs, the fiery field of death, and then back towards safer ground. After a few minutes, Song asked to switch weapons with Po so she could try out the fan.

"I figure if it's anything like my parasol, it should be a cinch," she said, trading with the panda.

"It takes a second," Po admitted. "The metal makes it heavy."

Song took a second to weigh the fan in her paw before opening it with ease. "Nothing I can't handle," she promised, giving Po a kiss on the cheek. Po turned bright red as Song leaped over towards the Swinging Clubs and began to practice with her new weapon. She opened and closed it a few times just to get the hang of it before attempting to use it as a shield against the clubs, (which turned out to be not much of a shield) and tossing it up in the air to catch it. Every so often she'd blow a kiss to Po from atop the beams before resuming her practice, though after a few minutes she decided to hop down and swap the fan back out for the staff.

"Okay, that's a lot harder than it looks," she admitted. "What do you even do with this thing?"

"Use it as a boomerang?" Po suggested.

Song laughed. "As I saw you do," she said. She took the fire staff from Po, lighting the flames and added with a little smirk, "Besides, I think I look rather hot with this one, don't you think?"

"Yea-oh! Uh....um...right!" Po stammered, not really sure how to respond to that. "Heh...I get it. Flame joke."

Song chuckled in amusement. "You're adorable," she told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go practice. Come and cool me down if you feel like sparring, opposite heart."

She then ran back over to the swinging clubs and began to practice with the staff, using it much better than she did with the fan. Po watched her for a bit as she twirled, leaped, and ducked her way through the course. She looked very natural with the staff, and Po stood there for a moment imagining how good she could be with both halves of the weapon, if she ever got the hang of them. After all, the woman could use an umbrella as a good combat weapon. Who was to say she couldn't get the hang of both halves of the Hearts of Yin and Ya-

CRASH!!!!

Po jerked back to the present as the spinning beams began to roar and creak and jolt about suddenly. Song was struggling to stay atop the beams, using the staff to balance herself.

"Song, just jump off!!!" Po yelled over. "I don't know what's wrong with the machine!"

Song tried to follow directions, but the machine jolted again and let out a deafening sound and squeal that made Song cover her ears, and in a split second she was tossed to the floor with the staff in hand. She tried to catch herself, but on the way down, the tip of the staff made contact with the edge of one of the spiral beams, and Song's weight soon crashed down on it, bringing both of them down hard on the training hall floor with a loud SNAP!

Po rushed over to help Song to her feet, only for Song to stop and stare at the staff in horror.

"Oh no...."