Insecurities

Zhao the Liar

He heard a noise. The panda suddenly woke up to the darkness of his tent. Po got to his feet and walked out of the tent flap. He shoved his foot through one hole of his pants and struggled with the other. "Ugh, stupid pants," Po grumbled.

"I didn't know you sleep without them?" said a voice in front of him. Po looked up and saw a jet black-clothed duck. He wore a Chinese black straw hat with a large quiver of arrows strapped to his back. His black band mask covered only his eyes while his buttoned vest had white lining down the middle. The duck sat on a large boulder with his left leg propped up and his left-wing resting on his kneecap. He wore a 'glad' smirk like he was pleased to see Po but had a trick up his sleeve.

Po's eyes widened as he rushed over to the duck. "Zeng!" He whispered loudly. Zeng quickly held his wing up. They couldn't wake up the others. "What are you doing here?"

"To make sure you got my message. Zhao's almost a day away from you guys. His army is stuck in the mountain," the archer explained, hopping off the boulder.

"They know you're Dead Shot Duck," Po said.

The duck paused then walked over towards the black fire pit from earlier that night. "I know," Zeng replied sadly, "And I can only imagine how Tigress felt." Zeng looked back. Po narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at the duck. "I was Tigress's eyes and ears for the village. I was a beloved uncle to her."

"She felt a little betrayed, but she understands why you did what you did," Po said. "I don't think she's not going to kill you, but I guess she'll be fine... maybe... soon... perhaps." Zeng simply smiled, gazing at the mountain in the dark night. "Well, at least you're not looking at the sky," Po muttered in annoyance.

Zeng rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. "There's not much time," He rushed, "I'm going to make sure that the Emperor sends reinforcements here. An outpost is not far from here. You guys have to stop Zhao at the Old Mung Lu Temple. The mountain pass is narrow enough for you to cut them off and finally beat them."

Po nodded. He grabbed the duck's wing. "There's one thing that I have to know. How do you and Zhao know each other?" Zeng looked at the panda's eyes with a raised eyebrow before Po let go of his wing. "You never explained how you knew him. I understand being a legend, but what would a Chinese legend know of a Mongolian? Plus, you said to kill his mouth. I don't understand what you meant by that."

Dead Shot crossed his arms and threw out a quick grunt. His glare at the tree gave Po the impression it was a long history between the two. Zeng sighed, "Zhao has always been an excellent liar since we got inducted into the Mongolian army."

"You were in the Mongolian army?! Wait! You're Mongolian!"

"SHHH!" Zeng hushed, "Yes, I'm Mongolian, but that changed when Zhao and I were inducted. I got into the army at a young age as did Zhao. He manipulated everyone around him to his will, even the supervisors above us." Zeng shook his head as he gazed at the ground. Was he shaking off a bad memory? Po couldn't tell. "The point is he's very manipulative. Kill his mouth first and don't let him get into your head, got it?" The panda slowly nodded. "Go back to sleep and make sure that you're prepared for tomorrow." Po walked back to his tent and disappeared under the tarp. Dead Shot sighed as he glanced over to his left. He casually walked over to two gray odd-shaped rocks. He stopped just in front of them. "I know you're there, Tigress," said Zeng. Slowly, the tiger emerged from the boulders. Her downcast eyes looked at Zeng's heavy weighted ones. "I'm sorry I never told you," He whispered. She thickly swallowed. The struggle in her mind pulled her to either rage or sadness. Tigress stayed stuck between those two, and Zeng picked up on this struggle. There wasn't much he could do, so Zeng, "But you do understand why I couldn't." Tigress nodded. "I'm sorry."