Hi all! I've been writing for years now, but this is the first time I've posted something where others can see it. Also the first time I've written a fanfiction so I hope I've managed to do this justice.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda or any related characters. However, Traveller is MINE.

Po's eyes narrowed, his fists flexing in concentration as he stared at his opponent. He shifted the balance of his legs, feeling the rim of the inverted turtleshell roll with his movements. This would require his utmost concentration.

He let one fist swing forwards in a punch, giving a loud "Hi-ya!" as he did so. His opponent deflected the punch with one wing, grabbing the shell tightly with his talons as the sudden shifting of balance bounced it around like a leaf in the wind. Po's eyes widened as he realized his mistake, and desperately tried to keep his balance, which was getting trickier by the second.

His foe, sensing an opportunity, lashed out with a long, spindly leg, moving around the edge of the shell as he did so. Thinking fast, Po dove to the side, grabbing the rim with his paws and hoisting himself into a handstand facing away from the bowl. His opponent chuckled as the bowl tilted awkwardly, slowly lowering the panda towards the ground.

"Right, because that position's sooo much better than your other one. Didn't think that one through, did ya?"

"Yeah… not so much." Po conceded, his arms all but shaking under his own weight. He could hear the other master's footsteps as he cautiously made his way around the shell, getting within striking distance.

Alright, genius, how does the Dragon Warrior get himself out of this one? Po mentally berated himself.

Then, an idea struck him. He began to swing himself back and forth, using his weight to send the shell rocking violently, as if in a storm at sea. The other master was no longer advancing, and Po was fairly sure he knew where he was. He gave one more powerful swing and catapulted himself through the air, spinning like a drill as he sped feet-first towards his target.

"Skadoo-"

But he had rocked the shell too hard, and the other end rose quicker than he had anticipated, so instead of smashing into a feathery body, he instead hit the jade shell with almost bone-crunching force, a deep reverberating noise emanating from the sudden impact. The force of the blow knocked him forward, so he ended flat on his face against the wall of the shell in a spread-eagle position.

"Ow…"

There was a flapping sound from behind as Crane flew to the other side of the shell and steadied it, then looked down at the panda.

"Nice move, you almost had me."

"I hate fighting on the shell." Po grumbled, attempting to sit up.

"Really? I would have thought it would fit your Panda style perfectly!"

Po tried to reply to Crane's sarcasm, but he suddenly felt three meals make a daring escape for freedom, so he instead covered his mouth with a queasy look on his face while attempting to glare at his tormenter.

Apparently, the glare didn't do the trick, since Crane merely chuckled at the panda's plight before extending a talon to his comrade.

"Need a hand up?"

Pulling himself together, Po grabbed the talon, and his friend pulled him up out of the shell, and dropped him to the floor below.

The landing was… less graceful than Po would have liked. He landed on his ample hindquarters, one leg bending beneath him, causing the panda to stub his toe on the wooden planks of the training hall. He let out a cry of pain and grabbed his foot, nursing it.

Crane landed beside him, and looked down at the hapless panda, grinning slightly.

Po slowly clambered to his feet, and took a look around the training hall. Viper was still dodging gouts of fire, and both Monkey and Mantis were competing on the spiked rings hanging from the ceiling, each trying to outdo the other in both speed and agility. The only one missing was…

"Hey, Crane, where's Tigress?"

His avian friend looked around, then shrugged, his face totally deadpan as he answered,

"I dunno. Maybe she got tired of training?"

They stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.

Soft grass brushed beneath Tigress as she attempted to meditate. She was sitting just behind the Jade palace, not too far from the stairs leading up to the dining hall. The outside world was full of distractions, from the cool afternoon breeze to the sound of crickets chirping nearby. After decades of practice, none of these hindered her search for tranquility. But even so, despite her attempts to calm her mind, she was unable to grasp the peace that she knew was there.

In fact, she'd been having difficulty finding it since they had returned from Gongmen city nearly a month ago now. Despite all of her efforts at focus and concentration, her inner turmoil had overpowered them all.

Chains wrapped tight around her, preventing any sort of movement as she and the rest of the Five hung several feet above the deck. Wolves patrolled the boat below them.

"We cannot give up hope." Monkey spoke up. "Po would want us to remain strong. Hard-core. Right, Tigress?"

He was looking to her for leadership. She could feel his eyes on her, but she couldn't move. Couldn't say anything. The moment Po had been shot out of Shen's factory, she felt as if someone had torn out a part of her soul. She had only stood there as Shen's forces had surrounded and captured them.

And now here they were, floating down the river where Shen would execute them and begin his conquest of China. Part of her knew she should be fighting. She should feel angry that her friend was gone, should use that anger to fight back. But all she felt was… emptiness.

She did not answer. She could not answer. She could neither fight nor bring herself to lead. It was all she could do to keep tears from streaming down her face.

At the sound of the roar of cannons, the tiger opened her eyes and watched in horror as a bridge that had stood in the way of the fleet shattered around them, civilians barely making it off of it in time. She mustered every ounce of energy within her, and called back at Shen,

"You coward!"

But the peacock merely smiled, and Tigress felt that momentary anger fade away once more under the force of their utter defeat.

And then…

She looked up, her eyes widening as she saw a figure on a distant rooftop. He stood there, wearing a bamboo hat and… the same pants Po did.

Was it a ghost? A vision?

"Po?"

The others looked up as well, and their own startled utterances of their panda friend's name confirmed that she was not the only one seeing this, and it was if someone had lit a fire within her as feeling crashed into her spirit once more. From the ashes of her despair it was like… resurrection.

If any doubts remained to the tiger master, they were erased at Po's unique rescue attempt. As the panda hit the boat, she could not help the smile forming on her face. A wave of joy washed through her as the panda approached and-

Tigress shook her head, letting out a small growl as she did so. This was not helping. Ever since they had returned and recovered from their ordeal, her feelings had been knotted up in ways she could not describe. Whenever she saw Po now she wasn't sure whether to punch him or…

Or…

With a snarl she stood up. It was obvious she would get nowhere meditating today. As she began to walk towards the gates of the Jade Palace, she considered once more speaking with Shifu about her problem. Her training was suffering because of her inner turmoil and it was only getting harder to focus. Perhaps he would have some insight that eluded her.

As she reluctantly resolved to speak with her master, she happened to take a look down the thousand steps. Halfway up was a figure swathed in a hooded cloak, the black fabric almost brushing the steps as he walked up towards the palace.

Tigress's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Meanwhile the hooded figure had stopped for a moment, rummaging around in his cloak.. As he did so, for a brief second she caught a dull glint from beneath the fabric. A weapon perhaps? It was gone before she could tell for sure, but she resolved to speak with the others, and let them know about their visitor… and potential intruder.

By the time the figure reached the top of the stairs, the Furious Five and Shifu were waiting for him. Po came shuffling over, a face full of food, just as the dark figure stood before the Kung-fu masters.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Po asked around a mouthful of dumplings. Tigress glared at him, and he seemed to shrink slightly, swallowing and pressing his fingertips together nervously. It was only then that he noticed the hooded figure.

It was slightly shorter than Tigress, and she saw the glint of blue eyes in the depths of the hood. The cloak was open slightly at the front, revealing some kind of close-fitting breastplate that gleamed dully in the afternoon light. So far, he had said nothing.

Master Shifu gave a slight bow, though he never took his eyes off the figure.

"We welcome you to the Jade palace. Who-"

He was cut short as Po interjected with what he probably thought was a whisper in Monkey's direction,

"Why is he wearing that huge black cloak in the middle of summer? It's roasting out here!"

Shifu shot the panda a chilling glare and Po winced.

"Sorry."

Shifu turned back to the figure, who had still said nothing nor made any move. Tigress glared at him, subtly shifting closer to a combat stance. There was something odd going on here.

Before her master could speak again, the figure raised his hands to his hood. Tigress saw that they were much the same as Monkey's, though furless and with longer fingers. He pulled the hood back.

Tigress's eyes widened in shock, and there was a faint gasp coming from the other masters. The figure's face was smooth save for a single white scar running across a hooked nose. Hiis skin a light shade of pink, and furless apart from a thick patch of wiry fur atop his head that did not reach down farther than the tops of his rounded, fleshy ears. But the most startling feature of this strange figure were the eyes.

They were old. They were eyes that had seen many battles and atrocities. But there was also a familiar glint within them, a glint she had not seen since Oogway. Eyes that had seen the beauty of the universe and watched stars burn.

"Greetings, masters of the Jade Palace." The figure said, giving a slight smile as he bowed respectfully. "I am Traveller." Though he spoke quietly, his voice carried easily and they had no trouble hearing him.

Tigress heard Po whisper to Monkey, "I've never seen one of those before."

It seemed Traveller heard as well.

"I would not think so. I am of the Eldar… and I am far from home." He gave a pleased little sigh. "It is rare indeed that I find a place where I am not mistaken to be Human."

"Hu-what now?" Mantis asked.

"Human. Their kind are… physically very similar to my own."

"What do you want?" Tigress asked bluntly, more than a little annoyed at how easily her comrades were getting off topic.

"Tigress!" Master Shifu snapped. "My apologies… Traveller. Tigress should know better than to speak so to a guest."

Tigress lowered her head in shame, her amber eyes studying the ground as she cursed herself for letting Shifu down.

The Eldar waved a hand dismissively. "It is of no concern, Master Shifu. It takes more than that to offend me. Not to mention that she raises a valid point. Honoring though it is to visit the Jade Palace, I did not come for- yes what is it?"

Po was hopping up and down with his hand raised in the air like a schoolchild. Upon Traveller's acknowledgement, he dropped his hand and asked.

"So is Traveller like your actual name? Cause let me tell ya, you must have had some pretty weird parents to get a name like that, or is this like some Eldamawhozit's thing? Like they name you after stuff or-"

The cloaked man raised a hand, silencing the over-excited panda.

"It is simply who I am."

"Well, that certainly clears that up."

The Eldar fixed Po with his gaze for a few moments, and the further questions the panda was trying to ask died on the tip of his tongue. Then he re-focused on the other masters.

"I came here to deliver a warning, and to lend my aid, if you would accept it."

"What kind of warning?" Crane asked suspiciously.

"The kind that warns you."

Tigress had had a sudden flashback to old conversations with master Oogway, and was surprised at how much this man reminded her of the ancient master.

Shifu had begun to speak again.

"What is it?"

Traveller's face became grave, then he said,

"Before I tell you, I want to demonstrate exactly how serious the situation is. With your permission Master Shifu, I would like to spar with your students."

Shifu gave a small, pride-filled smile before answering.

"Very well, who would you like to spar with first?"

"All of them."

Tigress smiled to herself. She was more than happy to have something to keep her mind off her problems. And she'd been itching to hit something all day.

Startled, Shifu's ears went straight up, then he gave a nod, his grin widening in anticipation.

"Very well. Come in, there's a sparring arena just inside this gate."