CHAPTER 4 The Dragon Warrior Meets the Commandos
Day three of Dragon Warrior training, and Po had set a new record: five consecutive failures before breakfast.
Shifu stood at the center of the training hall, hands behind his back, patience thinning by the second. "The Jade Dragon stance. Simple. Even children can do it."
Po planted his feet. Bent his knees. His legs tangled and he went down like a sack of rice.
"Again."
He tried. Better this time — held it for two seconds — then overcorrected and stumbled into the ceremonial gong. The sound rolled across the Valley. Birds scattered.
The penguins watched from the far corner, Oogway's permission keeping Shifu from throwing them out. Kowalski scribbled on a scroll.
"His weight distribution is fundamentally flawed," he murmured.
"Also, he keeps apologizing mid-move," Skipper said. "Can't fight while saying sorry."
"I feel bad for him," Private said.
Rico shook his head. "Same."
Shifu directed Po to the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors — a row of spring-loaded training dummies that swung clubs and blades on rotating arms. "Strike each one as you pass."
"I can do this!"
He could not do this. The first dummy cracked him in the ribs. The second caught his knee. The third sent him spinning into the rotating blades — wooden, not sharp, but painful — and he crashed through the last row into the foam pit.
He surfaced covered in foam, spitting out a chunk of padding. "I'm okay!"
"No," Shifu said. "You're really not."
The Five watched from the colonnade. Tigress's jaw was set like stone.
"Three days," she said. "Zero progress."
"Give him time — " Viper started.
"We don't HAVE time."
"Maybe he needs a different approach?" Monkey suggested.
"Or a different Dragon Warrior," Mantis muttered.
Crane shifted uncomfortably. "Master Oogway chose him. There must be a reason."
"Or Master Oogway made a mistake."
The Five went quiet. Nobody questioned Oogway. Nobody.
Tigress looked at them. "What? I said it."
In the foam pit, Po sat with his arms on his knees, staring at nothing. The penguins waddled over.
"That looked painful," Private said.
"Everything looks painful when I do it."
"You got up though," Skipper said. "Every time. That counts."
"Does it?"
"In my book? Yeah."
* * *
Mr. Ping's lunch delivery to the Palace had become the highlight of everyone's day — though only Po and the penguins would admit it.
The goose rolled his cart into the courtyard at noon, beaming. "LUNCHTIME!"
"DAD!" Po sprinted across the yard — covering ground faster than he'd moved during any training exercise that morning. Shifu watched him go.
"Of course he runs for food."
The penguins converged from the other direction. Rico was already drooling. They settled into a circle on the courtyard steps — Po, four penguins, and an ever-growing pile of bowls — while the Five ate formally at the far table.
"You guys watched me fail all morning," Po said between bites. "Sorry about that."
"Don't apologize. You're trying. That's more than most do."
Kowalski set down his chopsticks. "Your approach is problematic. You're attempting to mimic forms designed for felines, serpents, and primates. Your body type simply doesn't match."
Po's face fell. "So I can't do kung fu?"
"Not THEIR kung fu. Maybe you need your own."
"What's MY kung fu?"
"Unknown. We'd need to experiment."
"Maybe kung fu that uses your size?" Private said, leaning forward. "Instead of being fast, be solid. Strong. Unmovable — like a boulder!"
Po blinked. "I like that."
"Don't fill his head with tactics, Private," Skipper warned.
"But it might help!"
"Or get him hurt."
Rico offered Po a fish. Regurgitated. Po stared at it, then politely reached for a dumpling instead. "I'll, uh, stick with these."
"You guys are the only ones who don't think I'm a total disaster," Po said quietly.
"We think you're a partial disaster," Skipper said. "Major difference."
Po laughed. "Thanks. I think?"
"What Skipper means," Private said, "is that you're still learning. We all were once."
"Were you guys bad at stuff?"
The penguins exchanged glances.
"Private couldn't swim initially," Kowalski said.
"HEY!"
"Rico ate explosives accidentally," Skipper added. "Three times."
"Good times," Rico said, grinning.
"So you all had to learn too?"
"Everyone does."
"Break is OVER!" Shifu's voice cut across the courtyard. "Po, back to training!"
Po groaned and hauled himself up. "Coming, Master Shifu!" He turned back to the penguins. "Thanks for making me feel less terrible."
"Anytime, kid."
After Po left, Mr. Ping lingered. He watched his son waddle back toward the training hall, then looked at Skipper.
"Po's never had friends before. Not real ones." The goose's voice was soft. "Thank you. For being kind to him."
"We're not kind," Skipper said. "We're practical. He feeds us."
"Still. Thank you."
* * *
Afternoon training went slightly better — until it went much worse.
"Today we work on CONTROL," Shifu announced. "Delicate, precise movements."
"I can do delicate!" Po said.
The exercise: carry a full bucket of water across a balance beam without spilling. The Five demonstrated first. Tigress glided across like the beam was a highway. Viper flowed. Crane floated. Monkey bounced. Even Mantis crossed without disturbing the surface.
Po picked up the bucket. Already shaking.
He stepped onto the beam. One foot. Two. The bucket sloshed. He overcorrected. Overcorrected the overcorrection.
"I've got this!"
Three steps in, his ankle rolled. His arms pinwheeled. The bucket left his hands in a graceful arc that would have been beautiful if it weren't heading directly for Shifu.
The water hit Shifu full in the face. Cascaded off him onto the sacred scroll display case. Splashed across Oogway's meditation cushion. Ricocheted onto all four penguins.
Rico spat out a mouthful. "Needed bath anyway."
Po lay on the ground beneath the beam, clutching the empty bucket. "I can explain?"
Shifu stood dripping. His whiskers hung limp. His robes clung to him. The silence stretched so long that Private counted his own heartbeats. Fourteen. Fifteen.
"ENOUGH!" The word cracked off the walls. "You're hopeless! Clumsy! A DISASTER!"
Po flinched. Shifu kept going.
"You will NEVER be the Dragon Warrior! Oogway made a MISTAKE!"
Po's mouth opened. Closed. His eyes glistened, but he blinked hard and held it together. Barely.
"Clean this up." Shifu's voice dropped to ice. "Training is over. Forever."
He stormed out. The Five filed after him — Tigress first, then the others, none of them looking back. The training hall emptied until only the penguins remained, standing in puddles, watching Po hold that empty bucket like it was the heaviest thing in the world.
Private broke the silence first. "He shouldn't have said that."
"He's right though," Po whispered.
"No," Skipper said. "He's frustrated. Different thing."
"I AM hopeless."
"You're learning slowly," Private said. "That's not the same as hopeless."
"Too slowly. I'll never be ready."
* * *
The Sacred Peach Tree grew at the edge of the Palace cliff, its branches stretching over the Valley like open arms. Po sat beneath it with his back against the trunk, knees pulled to his chest. Not eating. For Po, that was the worst sign possible.
The penguins found him there as the sun dropped behind the western peaks.
"Mind if we join?" Skipper asked.
"Free country. Er, valley."
They sat. The branches rustled overhead. Peach blossoms drifted down and settled on Rico's head. He left them there.
"I'm going to quit," Po said.
"What?!"
"I can't do this. Shifu's right. I'm not Dragon Warrior material."
"That's quitter talk."
"It's realistic talk!"
"From an objective standpoint," Kowalski started, "you've shown minimal improvement in conventional — "
"NOT HELPING, KOWALSKI."
"Sorry."
"Po," Private said gently. "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"I was terrified of water when I was young."
Po turned. "But you're a penguin?"
"Exactly. Supposed to be a natural swimmer. Everyone said I was broken. Defective. Not a real penguin."
"What changed?"
Private picked a peach blossom off his flipper. "I realized that being afraid didn't make me broken. Giving up would."
"But I keep failing — "
"So? Keep trying. Eventually you fail less."
Rico leaned forward. "Fail lots. Still here."
"Statistically," Kowalski added, "persistence beats talent over time."
Skipper waited until the others finished, then spoke. "You want to know why we're helping you?"
"Because you're nice?"
"Ha! No. Because you remind us of us."
"How?"
"We don't fit in here either. We're just as weird as you."
"You guys are cool though."
"So are you. You just don't see it yet."
The Valley darkened below them, lanterns flickering to life in the village. Po stared at the view for a long time.
"You really think I can do this?"
"Honestly? No idea."
"That's not encouraging."
"But we'll help anyway. Because that's what friends do."
Po's voice cracked. "We're friends?"
"Yeah, Big Guy. We're friends."
Rico threw his flippers around Po's arm — or as much of it as he could reach. Private piled on. Kowalski hesitated, then joined. Skipper stood apart for two seconds, shook his head, and leaned in.
"The weird friends group," Private said.
Po laughed through the wetness in his eyes. "I'm still going to fail tomorrow."
"Probably," Skipper said. "But you'll fail with friends. Makes it better."
"Yeah. It does."
* * *
Oogway watched from behind the peach tree's trunk as the group headed back inside, their laughter carrying across the courtyard. Shifu materialized beside him, silent and stiff.
"I was too harsh with the panda."
"Yes," Oogway said. "You were."
"Should I apologize?"
"Eventually. But first — observe." He pointed his staff toward Po and the penguins disappearing through the Palace doors. Laughing. Bumping into each other. Po pretending to karate-chop Rico while Rico pretended to explode.
"He has found allies," Oogway said. "Unexpected ones."
"The penguins are a distraction."
"Are they? Po trains all day to meet your expectations. And fails. But with those four, he succeeds at friendship. At kindness. At being himself."
"But he needs to learn KUNG FU — "
"He needs to learn to be the Dragon Warrior. Not the same thing."
Shifu frowned. "I don't understand."
"You will." Oogway began walking. "The penguins may be the key to Po's success."
"Those chaotic birds?"
"Those loyal friends." Oogway paused at the door. "Let Po train his way, Shifu. With his friends nearby. They help more than they know."
"That is deeply unorthodox."
"Po is unorthodox. Use it."
Oogway left. Shifu stood beneath the peach tree and tried very hard to see what his master saw.
In the storage room, Skipper turned to his team.
"Did we just adopt a panda?"
"Appears so," Kowalski said.
"I like him," Private said.
"Me too," Rico said.
"New standing order: we help Po succeed. Whatever it takes."
"Affirmative."
"How do we help him?" Private asked.
Skipper lay back on his blanket and stared at the ceiling. "No idea. We'll figure it out."
The next morning, Po walked into the training yard with his chin up. The penguins sat along the wall. Shifu stood waiting — and his voice, when it came, was different. Softer. Something had shifted overnight.
"Po. Let us try something different today."
"Different how?"
"No more copying the Five. We find YOUR style."
Po's jaw dropped. "Really?"
"Really. Now — show me what you can do."
He tried. Still clumsy. Still wrong. But when he stumbled, the penguins cheered from the wall: "You got back up faster!"
Po grinned. Failed again. Got up again. Kept going.
— End of Chapter 4 —