8. Extremely aggravated theft

Gradually silence came to the palace. Po slept soundly in his room. Everyone else was in their beds, too. Even soothsayer, although she had a restless sleep as so often, much to the chagrin of her great-nephew.

Overall, everyone had a quick sleep. Also Yin-Yu, she fell asleep inside a few minutes. And even Shen, who was standing next to her, had to yawn several times. He shook his head wildly. Actually, he was rarely that tired. It was difficult for him to keep his eyes open. That wasn't normal.

He tried to distract himself. But no matter what he did, he always nodded off a little. Finally, the unusual tiredness gained the upper hand over his mind and he sank to the floor next to the bed.


Po was sleeping so deeply that he didn't even notice the creaking door, which slowly opened. A small, dark figure slipped in, but the panda didn't even begin to notice.

The little figure crouched like a shadow next to the bed and waved something over the panda's nose.

Po had to sneeze hard and was immediately awake, even if still drowsy.

"W-what... achoo!"

He hastily wiped his nose.

"Must be the dust here... or the flowers."

He paused when he thought he saw something darting through the door.

"Hello?" Hesitantly, the panda left the bed. "Is anybody there?"

He rubbed his face. But the quiet steps in the corridor in front of the door, that was no imagination.

"Is anybody here?"

Po found it extremely strange that no one answered him.

Was it a ghost?

The panda quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the door. The corridor was empty. But then he saw something disappearing around the corner.

"Hey! Is this going to be a midnight hide-and-seek game, or what?"

Po was tired, but this strange behavior had made him curious. Maybe it was a sleepwalker who had to be led back to bed.

The panda crept down the corridor on tiptoes.


The small black figure crept gently and past the white ruler who was sleeping on the floor.

The soporific didn't fail to work, he thought.

Now he could do his work without any problems. Carefully, he pushed the peahen aside and took out one egg after the other, which he then put in a basket.


For Po, it struck him as odd. It was extremely quiet in the palace. Maybe even too quiet. And when he passed two guards on duty in the hallway, he knew why. The two rams slept, which surprised Po extremely.

"Hey! Since when do you sleep on the guard post?"

But none of the guards woke up. Even when he waved his hands in front of their faces.

"Helloo?"

When that didn't work either, the panda shrugged his shoulders.

"Must have been a very tough day."

He paused. He stood not far from Shen and Yin-Yu's room now. But the door was open.

Why has someone left the door open at this time? It was a bit too drafty for fresh air.

"The poor one. She could catch a cold," Po thought and went to the open door quickly to close it. But as soon as he stood in the door frame, he stopped dead in his tracks.


After he had packed the last egg in the basket, he pulled his dark cape closer over himself, which not only covered his body, but also almost his entire head. Nobody was allowed to recognize him.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The hooded figure turned. But no sooner he had seen the panda, he fluttered away, grabbed the basket and flew with it in his claws out through the open window.

"HEY, wait!"

Po stormed forward, but the little bird had already lifted and sailed outside.

The panda looked around in the room with excitement. The first thing he realized was that the eggs weren't there anymore. But it was more a mystery for him, that neither of the parents had woken up.

Hastily he leaned down to the white lord who was still lying on the floor.

"Shen?! Shen! SHEN! "

But as much as he shook the peacock, he didn't wake up.

"Okay, okay," the panda said to himself. "Just stay calm. Or don't you stay calm?"

Immediately it was clear to the panda that this was a kidnapping.

Quickly he ran back to the window. The bird was already a little way over town, but seemed to be having some troubles because he had to drag not only a cape but also to hold the basket.

Po drew his eyebrows together. Then he jumped on the windowsill and looked around for the nearest place to jump. A flag hung not far from him. Without further hesitation, he jumped out and swung himself on the flag in a huge leap over to the wall. There he came up with a hard landing. However, in anticipation of being held up by guards, everything remained calm. Po ignored this unusual situation and looked over the wall at the city. The bird with the basket was still in sight. With the next jump, the panda swung himself onto the next roof and from there he ran from roof to roof, always following the bird and catching up with it more and more.

When he thought he had almost reached him, he swung himself up on a wooden pole, tensed it, then he let it go. The force threw the panda through the air like a rocket. The bird with the basket had already reached the outer wall of the city. Po stretched out his hands. His fingertips touched the basket, but it wasn't enough. The gravity pulled him back down.

With a loud scream, the panda sailed to the ground, but he managed to cushion the impact with a terrific stance.

He looked around hastily. He stood at the city gate. But here the guards were sleeping too.

The panda shook his head in disbelief. But there was no time for a closer examination. Panicked, he searched the sky. He had lost sight of him. Where was the thief? Or more precisely, the kidnapper?

He raced up the hill as fast as he could. When he finally got up there, he stopped dead.

In the place where the two guards normally stood, there lay only two shadows. And they slept.

Po was slowly starting to get really scared. The shock spread inside him when he saw the dark, flying shadow again.

With wide eyes he watched the bird hover over a yawning gorge in the mountains. There was no way to follow him about it.

But when Po was about to shout something to him, the bird opened its claws.

Like out of his mind, Po gave a loud scream and jumped to the edge of the slope.

He had to watch helplessly as the basket disappeared into the ravine. He didn't even notice the bird's disappearance. The panda stared into the darkness in disbelief.

This can't be true! That can't be!