Before Sunrise

Act II - Chapter VII - Alluring Adventure Pt. 2

Upon rushing through the dense mist, the wheels barely sitting attached to their wheelbarrowed creaked as they made their way to the Saffron Valley through the inferno of war and the brimstone of bravery. The pair of aspiring warriors and humble cooks lacked the time necessary to contemplate what in the name of the Jade Palace had transpired behind them, all that was important to them was the fact they managed to emerge from that situation alive and wielding their father's cutlery.

Not long after their arrival at the Saffron Valley, news had obviously gotten out about the raid currently taking place inside of the Musicians Village and several armed rhino guards armed themselves, sprinting to the bridge as they mostly ignored Po and Tigress before disappearing into the fog to presumably fight their opponents in battle.

The pair of them were breathless whilst their shoulders ached from pushing their wheelbarrows far and rapidly across the bridge. They were convinced that Feng alongside his family as well as associated had showered them with the lions share of their metal in the hopes that their delivery would still make it to Ping and Feng would be able to get word out that his metal business is temporarily under renovation due to the impromptu raid.

Eventually, the pair of them, exhausted and left in a heap, came to a crashing halt right before the western entrance of the Saffron Valley. In a stroke of luck, Mr & Ms. Mian happened to be anticipating their arrival in the hopes of assisting the pair of children with the wheeling of their barrows alongside bartering with those in the neighbouring valley for those precious ingredients Ping sought after, at least, those that they couldn't source by themselves.

"Po? Tigi? Oh my goodness! What happened to you two? Are you alright?" Ms. Mian, being the motherly figure she was, immediately fluttered her crystal eyes as she placed her paws around Tigress to give her some reassurance, all the while Mr. Main followed suit with Po.

"We heard about the raid on the Musicians Village and were ready to come your way, I'm glad to see that you managed to avoid most of the conflict but the pair of you have cuts on your paws, would you like us to take care of that?" Mr. Main with his jade orbs gazed into the empowering eyes of Po yet saw a rather reserved reaction from Po as a small smile slipped onto his face.

"We're exhausted but... We survived! And we kicked butt, didn't we, Ti?" Po chirped, surprising Mr. Mian as he backed up in shock.

"Yes we did! We may be bruised but we fought off a bunch of big bad wolf bandits! They wanted the metal that we had bought from Feng, turns out Feng is actually super good at fighting and held him off as one of his adopted daughters guided us to the bridge and to safety! Nothing we can do about the miserable weather, though," However, Tigress was in for a surprise as Mr. & Ms. Mian both pulled out umbrellas, hooking them to the wheelbarrows as their paws gripped the handles whilst both children picked themselves up from their feet. "Oooh~ you brought an umbrella!"

"One for us means one for all!" Ms. Mian replied with a spring in her step. "You children must be exhausted, but like my marriage with Mr. Mian, your journey is not complete yet! Hop aboard the wheelbarrow and relax, we'll take you to your next destination... It's almost afternoon already!" Both Po and Tigress complied, climbing aboard the wheelbarrow and being careful to seat themselves in a position in which nothing sharp or metallic would be able to penetrate their skin, all whilst their curious tendencies made them question what Ms. Mian truly meant by her slight tease to her adversary.

"Hey, what did you mean by that? I thought you two were happily married! At least, that's what dad told me! Are you telling me you two are just boyfriend and girlfriend?" Po's question raised some concerns for Mr. Mian who felt a gentle flush of anxiety flash across his face as he was left to explain to the pair of them in simple terms as to why Ms. Mian wasn't called Mrs. Mian as they were wheeled forward through the Saffron Valley.