Strong

Training to be Yourself

"Again!" Lion shouted. Po grunted and strained as two massive boulders shackled to his arms and legs scraped the floor. A small circle in the sand dotted the place where he could move, but the boulder's weight felt like the earth was on his shoulders. Literally. He made the punch and the kick and then moved back. The boulders moved and jerked a bit in place, and Po groaned as he heard that word spring from Lion's mouth. "Again."

Tigress stood by the sideline, watching Po work. Above her, her avian comrade was going through similar training. He had a large rock strapped to his waist and did push-ups with his wings on the rafters. His body was completely straight while his feet had nothing to rest on. The bird's hat was by Tigress's side. He didn't want to get it dirty with his sweat, and the bird was sweating up a storm. But Tigress could see the focused glares in their eyes.

Something was pushing them. Pushing them to keep going after every command out of Lion's mouth. For Crane, it was easy to figure out: Protecting Viper. But for Po, Tigress couldn't easily figure out his goal. To be stronger? For what?

"That's enough," Lion said. Po dropped to his knees while Crane would've dropped to the ground had Po not caught him.

"Thanks. Forgot how heavy the rock was," Crane groaned.

"Rest for a while, then we'll start up again with Tigress and Po. Crane will go outside and try lifting that boulder off the ground, later. Right now, rest."

"Thanks," Crane groaned. Po shook his head with a smile as he helped Crane undo the rope around his waist, tying him to the boulder. The poor bird limped to the sideline where Tigress was and collapsed while Po sat on the other side of Tigress, laughing.

The wolf smiled at the three. He stood on the opposite side of the Training Hall, watching the warriors nurse each others' wounds. Just then, Master Shifu came in. Lion bowed, "Master Shifu."

"Please, Lion. There's no need for the formalities." Shifu looked at the warriors resting. "How are they doing?"

"Great. Po's showing rapid improvement and Crane's strength is starting to pick up." Though he spoke in a light tone, his frown couldn't be shaken. "But... I understand why Crane's pushing himself. But why is Po? It can't just be to protect the valley."

Shifu stroked his beard, silently staring at the floor. "I believe," he said after a long pause, "It's because he wants to be stronger than Platon. I believe it started when he first encountered Platon. He asked the question if strength can be taught or born with."

"I think I know what Platon said," Lion interjected, "But why would he want to be stronger than Platon?"

"To defeat him." Lion rose his eyebrow. "When you first came, your strength made a great impression on Po. That much was obvious. But so did Sho," Shifu sighed. "I think Po is... frustrated with just doing things by ear, in a manner of speaking. Deep down, I think he's trying to find something that he can truly say he worked for."

"Like strength." Shifu nodded.

"What really tipped me off was the fact that he decided to train without a concern for you." Lion gave a sideways glance. "Po's naturally curious and most of the time can't keep secret. But..." Shifu sighed. "I guess he was worried about more important things. That and he didn't need to convince us about you."

"How come?"

"You have a very... innocent demeanor," Shifu replied. "And I guess he had given up on trying to change our minds."

The wolf looked at the red panda through narrowed eyes. Shifu's back was hunched over some and he glumly stared at the floor. "Why are you upset about that?" Lion asked.