Madness in our midst

The next day when Po woke up was pretty typical. Or at least that's how it started out. He got some breakfast just as the Five started finishing up and headed over to train, he had a very nice and pretty relaxed conversation with some of his guests, and he even got the chance to have seconds since the girls had mixed plans for the day. Nobody had planned anything, so most of them were on their own. Po asked as a fruitless attempt if anyone had seen his action figures, but to not avail. Lu-Shi was horrified at this idea and vowed to search high and low for them and immediately left the table to look around in Po's room and literally anywhere else she thought po would logically place them. Destiny joined in as well with the idea that maybe Po put them down in an unlikely spot and began searching everywhere Lu-Shi wasn't. (Which meant starting in the masters' rooms). Po warned her to stay out of their personal stuff, and Song quickly followed saying she'd keep an eye on them. This left everyone else doing absolutely nothing for the day and scattering around the grounds. Po wasn't really sure what to do with his time, but he decided he could use a little break, as Monkey had suggested, and went to the Wu Dan mountains to just lay in the grass and relax for a while. He figured maybe if he rested long enough he could remember where he had put those stupid action figures! No, he couldn't think like that. The action figures weren't stupid. He was just having some issues remembering. His friends were probably right. There had been so much excitement over the past week that he quite frankly felt like he was in a giant whirl. So that could explain his memory not functioning well. Or perhaps if he put them someplace odd, it would explain that too. 

Po decided to hang out by the little lake in the center of the Wu Dan mountains, by some of the many tall pillars of rock that provided some of the shade on the mountain. He laid down in the grass and just let the early summer winds pass over his face. He listened to the grass rustling around him and took a deep breath in and out. He felt his body start to loosen and relax and time started to melt away around him as he eventually fell asleep. He was asleep for about two hours or so before he was woken up by Ordai who had taken to laying in the grass next to him with a grin. 

"Morning, sleepy head," she joked. 

Po rubbed his eyes and sat up, asking her how long she had been sitting there.

"Not long," Ordai promised. "I thought I'd come and hang out with you for a little bit. I couldn't find you, so I had to ask a guard. You know, they're very polite." 

Po yawned. "Were you looking to hang out?" he asked. 

"Among other things, yes," Ordai admitted. "I wanted to spend some time with you before the afternoon. The girls and I were talking about things we could do to get to know each other  better, and we all agreed that a painting session would be fun." 

"Oh, cool. That does sound fun. Or at the very least relaxing. Who came up with the idea?"

"I did," Ordai told him proudly. "And it'd be great for anyone who isn't really good at painting to get some more practice." 

She laid down next to him in the grass and looked up at the clouds with a happy sigh. "It's so pretty out here," she observed. "I could stay out here for hours."

"I know. Especially on a day like today," Po agreed, rubbing his eyes to wake up some more. "It's relaxing." 

Ordai smiled and said, "When I was little, I used to stare at the clouds constantly and make shapes with them. Sometimes I'll do it whenever I remember to actually look up, but work takes a lot of attention to detail, so I don't usually so it unless I have free time." 

Po grinned. "Aw, I love doing that!" he told her. "Sometimes Monkey and I will do that, or Viper. The others not so much. It's a fun way to pass the time sometimes." 

"I couldn't agree more." She looked at a few passing clouds and smiled. "That one looks like a chair," she noted.

Po looked at the spot where her eyes had settled and noticed the big fluffy cloud which did indeed resemble a chair. "Neat!" he exclaimed. He looked at another cloud and saw it resembling the shape of a tree, which Ordai was more than happy to admire when he pointed it out. They laid there for a little while looking at all the different cloud shapes; some looked like palaces, others like boats, and others like giant dragons. After some time, the two just quietly laid there and stared at the sky for a relaxing few minutes. Then Ordai looked over at Po and asked, "Not to get personal, but do you really have a ring?"

Po turned his head to look at her. He clearly was confused by this statement. "Who told you that?" he asked.

"Master Crane did," Ordai told him. "He came over to the peach tree to hang out, and he mentioned while we were talking that you had a really pretty wedding ring that was passed down in the family."

"Oh! Yeah. Dad gave it to me the other day. I wasn't really planning on mentioning it since I thought maybe it would be good to just put it in my room for now."

"That's understandable," Ordai assured him. She gave him a pleading smiled and added, "Could I see it though? Since I already know about it?"

"Uh...." Po started to protest. "I don't know...I mean, it's be weird if I showed you something and not anybody else. The other girls might feel snubbed about that."

"I have to grab painting supplies from my room anyway. I brought them to pass the time, so I don't have a lot. But I have enough to count out and separate into even groups. So we can go there to grab the paint supplies and maybe you could show me on the way out?"

Po thought that over for a moment before agreeing and the two got up and walked out of the Wu Dan mountains and back down the paths to get to the barracks. It took them a little while since the walk back down was long and Po needed to stop and catch his breath every so often, but they soon arrived at the barracks and greeted Lu-Shi who was leaving. Ordai said she was getting her art supplies for later, an explanation Lu-Shi accepted without even batting an eye, and headed upstairs with Po in tow.

The master hadn't actually seen the girls rooms except prior to them arriving at the Jade Palace. He had no idea how they were decorate or who slept where. He had simply stayed downstairs in his room and let them have their privacy. The doors mostly were closed as he walked down the hallway, but a few were left open, so Po had a split second to see the decor and try to guess whose room was whose. The only door he could guess with a hundred percent accuracy was Lu-Shi's as he spotted rare action figures lined up on one of the dressers just as the open room went out of sight. The other opened rooms were either cracked open or fully open, and out of the fully open rooms, only two others were wide open for Po's viewing. One had the bed neatly made with nothing else out on the floor and the other room had little pictures hanging on the wall and a giant fluffy pillow practically engulfing the whole entire bed. Ordai's room was closed and wound up being in the middle on the right side of the upstairs hallway. Upon entering, Po immediately noticed that the panther had made herself right at home. There were a few simple but pretty paintings lining the wall, the dresser was covered with a blue and purple gradient cloth, some combs and brushes, and off in the corner was a giant chest which more than likely had her clothes in it. Ordai immediately went under her bed and pulled out some of the painting materials she had with her, which was contained in a simple mahogany box. 

"So, what exactly did you and Crane talk about?" Po asked curiously, thinking about his friend's strange shift in behavior the night before. 

"Relationships mostly," Ordai explained as she lead Po out of the room with the painting supplies. "He was telling me about how he was massively in love with one of your teammates, I won't say who for privacy reasons..."

Po immediately thought about Viper and wondered whether or not Crane's stalking and obsessiveness was as obvious as he thought it was. 

"But he couldn't figure it out because he was always trying to do nice things for her," Ordai continued as they headed down the stairs. "And she was always rejecting his advances. So I told him that most people don't like to be suffocated. I love someone who's always looking out for my best interests, but I need space to breathe you know. And he should show her that same courtesy if he really loves her. He mentioned his mom being suffocating, so I wonder if that sort of influenced his behavior a bit. Parents do have a lot of influence on their kid's mental state." 

I guess that explains why he's been giving her space, he thought to himself. I don't remember what exactly he was like when he and Viper were actually dating since it's been a while and they kinda' kept a low profile, but nice to know someone's giving him advice on how to be less creepy. And clingy. 

Po and Ordai soon made their way down the first floor hallway and into Po's room to look at the ring. Po felt bad for just showing Ordai, but he figured it was only fair since Crane did let it slip. It wasn't like he was giving her special treatment. The master entered his room and took the chest out from under his bed and dug through it for the box his dad had given him. Po breathed a sigh of relief that it was still there and opened it, only to freeze in horror when he discovered the ring was missing from the box. 

Seeing the look on his face, Ordai guessed immediately that something was not right. 

"Maybe it fell out of the box?" she guessed lamely, but they both knew from the way the box locked that this was not remotely possible. 

"Dad...is going to kill me!!!!" Po cried. "Why does everything I own go missing??!!!" 

He clutched the box and sat down on his bed with a strong feeling of shock and bewilderment. Ordai put the supplies down on the floor and quickly walked over to give him a hug. "Don't worry," she promised. "Your stuff couldn't have gone far. And you seem so careful with the things you own- wait! The other masters! It's close to lunch time! They might be on their way back! Don't move!" 

And with that she took off down the hallway in search of the Furious Five. Po sat there in shock for another minute before he finally came to his senses and decided to search his chest, just in case the ring had slipped out of the box when he put it in. A terrible thought tugged on the back of Po's mind, and he tried desperately to not think of it, but to no avail. Did someone steal the ring? Maybe someone saw it? Maybe a thief broke into the Jade Palace under the cover of darkness and took it. But no one would take his stuff. Who would even want to go searching through a chest of clothes for valuables? It was the Jade Palace! They'd have to search the Sacred Hall of Warriors if they wanted to steal something. Po kept telling himself over and over again that it was just another thing that had mysteriously gone missing. But he had to keep fighting the terrible thought in his head to keep thinking that. After a few minutes of him searching the room by himself, his friends came barging into the room in a rush. 

"Your ring is missing?!" Viper exclaimed in shock. "How?! We saw you put it away!" 

This didn't make Po feel any better. 

"I don't know what's going on!" he cried. "Where is all of my stuff?!"

"Hey don't worry about it," Mantis promised. "You go and get lunch and hang out with your guests and we'll help you find everything."

Po groaned and got up only to notice that Tigress wasn't with his friends, though Viper explained that this was because she was doing more one-on-one Dragon Warrior training with Shifu. 

"She wanted to help, but Shifu told her four people should suffice," Monkey explained. "But if we still can't find it I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help. Plus it'll help keep the drama down a bit if we keep the search party low." 

The Furious Five started to search the barracks for Po's missing items as the panda dragged himself to the kitchen for lunch. He was quick to find out that everyone in the kitchen now knew about the existence of the ring his dad had given him, though Ordai had explained that Master Crane had been the one to let the secret slip loose rather than Po. He was immediately greeted with sympathetic pats and assurances and Ordai was quick to pull him into the seat next to her for lunch so that she could pat him and assure him that the Five would find his missing items. Po didn't have much to say as he was silently racking his brain as to what on earth he could have possibly done with his personal stuff. In the middle of lunch, when the chatting and sympathetic words had died down, Tai Lin suddenly said, "I'll help your friends look after lunch." 

"But we were going to paint!" Ordai protested. 

"You guys can paint," Tai Lin said firmly. "I'll feel better if I help look. I know I'd feel just as stressed if I lost my necklace." 

She gently squeezed the locket that hung down from the choker she wore and silently finished her meal before getting up, washing her place, and leaving the kitchen. 




Just to give you sort of an idea of what Tai Lin's choker looks like, here's a reference picture. Just imagine the locket hanging slightly lower, say by two or three chain loops, and there you go. 


Po just watched her leave and sighed before going back to his own food. The group of women noticed that he was still a bit down and continued trying their best to get his mind off of it. After lunch, Ordai dismissed everyone to the main arena in front of the stairs of the Sacred Hall of Warriors and quickly ran back to the barracks when she realized she had forgotten her painting supplies. She then returned to the group in front of the stairs and began to distribute paper and paint to the group and set up her own on her portable easel. She then told everyone that they would paint something based on a word or phrase everyone picked out and then share the picture with the group. The first word used was apple, which resulted with some pretty basic paintings being shown off to the group. (Lu-Shi got a little more creative with drawing an apple being eaten by a kung fu master and Destiny did a doodle of an apple army vs vegetables). The next picture that was drawn involved the moon, with all the paintings varying on perspective and style choice. The next was the idiom "driving me up the wall", the phrase "quiet as a mouse", and then the word "dress". Halfway through the activity, Ordai and a few of the others noticed that Po's paintings were more like basic sketches and took a break to try and get him to refocus. 

"Sorry," Po apologized as Lam offered to go and get some tea. "I just feel awful about losing that ring. I told dad I'd take good care of it and now it's just gone! And it's so baffling!" 

"You don't think it could be connected to the list do you?" Song asked thinking carefully. "I noticed a lot of the strange things are happening in your room: stuff going missing, words being crossed off a list where it leaks onto the nightstand....that sounds like more than a coincidence." 

"I'm trying not to think that," Po admitted. "Because then that would mean someone is running around the Jade Palace with some kind of malicious intent." 

"It better not be Jungie!" Lu-Shi said irritably. 

"Jungie wants power over the Jade Palace. I doubt he'd go about stealing my stuff," Po assured her. 

"What about the fan?" Jai-Rong noted suddenly. "Speaking of weird stuff. Remember how weird the fan was placed in the weapons rack? Maybe there is a thief here, but he can't get out because there are too many guards!" 

"Then how would he get in?" Ordai asked. 

"Maybe he has an invisibility cloak!" Destiny suggested excitedly. "Or a teleportation device! Or maybe he can jump from mirror to mirror! Actually, he'd be able to get out with that stuff, wouldn't he? Maybe he's posing as a guard but can't get out until the contest is over!" 

"Let's not start thinking that," Leopard told her sternly. "I'm sure the masters know most of the guards and the last thing we want is to start acting suspicious. Especially of the Japanese guards. That wouldn't be very hospitable." 

Po groaned and just laid on the ground as his dating group went around with theories and ideas about the strange disappearing items in the Jade Palace, throwing out ideas that Po was sleepwalking to someone digging a hole under the Jade Palace and secretly taking stuff into it. Eventually Lam came back with the tea and was caught up to speed on what the chatter was about and just shortly after that, the masters came back with bad news: no ring. 

"We looked all over the barracks!" Mantis exclaimed. "We checked all the rooms, we checked our own personal stuff in case maybe we saw it and just put it away and forgot about it-!"

"Tigress can double-check her stuff when she comes back for dinner later," Monkey reminded Po. 

"We checked outside the grounds, we checked the paths, and we even asked some of the guards if they saw anything laying on the ground that shouldn't be there," Viper finished. "Nothing."

"Tai Lin is staying back at the barracks to look over everything with a fine tooth comb," Crane added. "We're going to check the stairs in case maybe they fell out of your bag or something on the way up." 

"Thanks," Po said with a sigh. "I feel bad for making you guys look everywhere, but I do appreciate the help." 

"We were speculating on maybe there being a thief!" Destiny told the masters excitedly. "Since a bunch of weird stuff is going on!" 

"Doubtful," Crane corrected her. "The guards are specifically trained to catch intruders or suspicious or mob-like activity. They would have seen someone trying to get in or out. Or somebody being where they shouldn't be." 

Destiny frowned at this idea. 

"Maybe we can help?" Song suggested. "The more eyes the better." 

The Five looked at each other. "I mean, if you want," Crane said. "I suppose the more paws the better. At least until Tigress and Shifu come back." 

"There she is!" Lu-Shi exclaimed giddily. "Master Tigress over here! We were just talking about you!" 

Everyone turned to look in the master's direction, only to step back a little in fear when they saw the angry expression plastered across her face. Po knew that look meant that somebody was going to get it and he racked his brain trying to think if there was something he had accidentally said or done to offend her that day. However, Tigress stormed past him, ignoring Po and his friends asking what was wrong. Coming up in the rear off in the distance was Shifu, which created even more confusion, trying his best to catch up with Tigress as she stormed through the women sitting by the stairs. She soon reached the target her eyes were angrily set on and, with one paw clutching a piece of paper so tight it was shocking it didn't rip, she grabbed Song by the collar, lifted her up to her eye level from the ground, and practically yelled,

"YOU DECEITFUL LITTLE THIEF!!!!"

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