Love of the Dragon Warrior

Trail of Flames

Once the lunch rush was over, Lam and the rest of the girls said goodbye to Mr. Ping and headed back up to the Jade Palace. They checked up on Jai-Rong who was treating her hives and was feeling a little better, but still needed to rest and take care of herself before she was free to move about. Po, Shifu, Monkey, and Mantis had heard the commotion from the girls coming up the stairs and had been keeping a close eye on the colubrid to make sure she was alright. When everyone had finally come back to the Jade Palace and met back up with Po, they wasted no time telling him what a pleasant time they spent with his father and how he had helped them with doing kitchen tasks and some of the cooking. Destiny had felt a bit embarrassed but was glad the old goose didn't hold her clumsiness and slow speed against her and was more than eager to hear about how Lam's session had gone since some of them had left before she had even began. Tai Lin kept quiet during the whole conversation since she was busy tending to Jai-Rong who wished she had been more helpful to Mr. Ping, but she soon joined in in telling Po what she had done while down in the restaurant. Po was glad his dad seemed to get along with everyone and he decided to privately find out later what his dad had personally thought.

The commotion soon died down and Po and the girls had lunch and separated to ponder over the experience they had. Po headed down to the village to help his dad with the afternoon rush to talk and hang out where he saw first hand Tai Lin's handy work on the counter. Po was impressed, but Mr. Ping admitted that despite Tai Lin's skill, personality-wise she didn't seem like a good match and he advised Po to drop her from the group as soon as possible. Her and Madame Zhou, since Mr. Ping still didn't approve of the age gap, and upon reflection, never actually got to talk to during the session.

"She had to use the bathroom, and then she left with Tai-Lin to take care of Jai-Rong," Mr. Ping explained. "So we never actually got to talk or work together in the kitchen."

However, Mr. Ping had gotten a better chance to learn about the other girls and after spending time observing them and learning a little more about them, he had a much better idea of who Po was more of a fit for. Po didn't talk over these opinions with the girls, but he did talk them over with Shifu since Shifu had offered to help take care of any needed dismissals and with his friends since they were good at offering advice on things Po was fuzzy about.

"I think dad likes Lam the most, if we're being honest," Po noted in the middle of training one day. The girls had decided to spend the morning hanging out by themselves in the valley and Po had decided to take the opportunity to train with his friends and talk things out. "He talked forever about stuff they did in the kitchen."

Monkey laughed. "It sounds like your dad really misses having help in the kitchen" he said.

Po ducked a fan swing from Viper while he struggled to hold onto the Fire Staff and work with the newest extension Shifu had placed onto it. The Five and Po had already adjusted to the recent extensions which included side mirrors for the staff and dust inside of the fan. The newest addition to the fan were darts which came from the sharp tips where the metal met on top of the fan, and for the staff, which Po now struggled with, two swords which could be slid out of the bottom half and wielded on the wrist as a doubled weapon. Between the weight, the fire, and Po trying to not open up the mirrors or stab himself by accident, it was a lot for Po to try and get the hang of and he honestly felt like he'd never get the hang of Heart of Yang.

"What about the other girls?" Viper asked, sending the darts in Po's direction.

Po blocked it with the staff (with one just narrowly missing his face) and tried to think as he maneuvered his way around Viper. "Um...he said....he doesn't like madame Zhou....I don't blame him, but Zhou was doing business, and now she's recovering from her bee sting-"