The Countdown

Tag...you're it...

The second that Master Shifu said to run, the students wasted no time scrambling out the door and away from the master and his knife. Po was nearly slit on the way out, but thanks to his quick maneuvering, he was able to avoid getting cut. As he raced out the door, Shifu shouted after him, (still running closely behind), "Not bad, panda. But not good enough!"

Seeing Shifu inches from slashing Po, Monkey grabbed a nearby spear with his tail and chucked it at Shifu's head. The red panda ducked and slowed down for a few seconds, giving Po enough time to sprint away from danger. He and the rest of the Five managed to run out of eyeshot as Shifu tried to follow them. Seeing that everyone had gotten away, Shifu chuckled to himself and set out to begin their game of hide and seek. Either he was getting too old for this, or Po was actually doing the warm-up runs he assigned every morning.

When the masters managed to get away from Shifu, they wasted no time hiding so as to avoid getting slashed with the knife. The Five were a little worried that Po would be found first as stealth mode wasn't his strongest skill. However, they didn't mention it to him as he was out of sight shortly following their scramble from Shifu. Po, who was the first to separate from the group, dashed almost immediately to the kitchen with the intention of getting a power snack. However, at the last second, he changed his mind and ran towards the Wu Dang Mountains, remembering that Tigress had promised to get him a fresh batch of cookies if he didn't sneak any food. His stomach loudly protested this, causing Po to hope that the noise wouldn't give him away.

Viper and Mantis were the second ones to hide. As the students approached the main courtyard of the Jade Palace, they flew up the stairs and into the Sacred Hall of Warriors. They had the same intention to hide in one of the sacred artifacts, somewhere they didn't think Shifu would bother to look. Taking advantage of his small size, Mantis decided at the last second to hide in the mouth of the Golden Dragon that hung above the moon pool, climbing up the shelves that housed the Thousand Scrolls of Kung Fu and landing inside the mouth with precision. Viper took longer as the artifact she wanted to hide in, The Legendary Urn of Whispering Warriors, was broken again. (As the masters had a tendency to notice). As she tried to decide where to go, she heard fleeting footsteps come up the stairs to Hall. Knowing it was Shifu, the master flung herself onto the nearest pillar and quickly slithered up to the top, hoping that her scales would camouflage her well enough to fool Shifu. The doors flung open the second that she settled into her hiding spot.

The three warriors who remained, Monkey, Tigress, and Crane, separated shortly after passing the Hall of Warriors. Monkey decided that the best hiding place would be the sacred peach tree of Heavenly Wisdom and tried his best to hide himself in the blossoms. Crane decided to hide in the cellar where the masters kept their boxes, and Tigress decided to try and hide in the kitchen. She had a gut feeling that would be the worst place to hide, as that would be the first place Shifu would look for Po, but with Shifu close behind, (wherever he was), she didn't have that much of an option. She screetched to a halt in the kitchen, managing to hide herself in one of the large pots on the floor under the new order of rice. It was a tight squeeze and it wouldn't give her any room to run if she was caught, but the master shut her eyes and hoped that Shifu wouldn't think to look there.

Shifu flung open the doors of the Sacred Hall of Warriors, hoping to startle someone out into the open. He didn't have any luck with that one however as the Hall appeared to be empty.

I know at least two were in here. He thought to himself. He had seen Viper and Mantis run up the stairs and as he had been nearly right behind them, he knew they wouldn't have any chance to run out before he flung the doors open. The master carefully glanced around, seeing if he could find any of them hidden anywhere. The first thing he saw was a slightly different shade of green by the pillar and the master almost immediately recognized it as Viper. He then glanced again and noticed a speck of green in the mouth of the Golden Dragon. The master thought it would be amusing to hit Mantis first, but as he was so small and Shifu didn't want to risk an emergency room visit, he decided that the safest course would be to take out Viper and then get her to tag the insect. Casually, Shifu walked through the hall until he thought he was close enough to hit Viper without injuring her greatly. He then launched the knife through the air so that it would graze Viper enough to cut her, but not enough to greatly harm her. The serpent let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground from the top, Shifu catching her at the last second. He then caught the knife which had fallen back down to the ground as Viper tried to find something to help nurse her wound.