Chapter I
The luminous full moon lingered over the Valley of Peace, stars glistened amidst the black, night sky. The Jade Palace stood proudly atop the Jade Mountain, the tiled roof gleamed in the moon's pallid illumination.
Floorboards creaked lightly as a large silhouette crept through the sombre halls of the Student Barracks. The silhouette swiftly made his way through the barracks with proficient stealth, until he had reached his destination. The Kitchen.
A pair of glittering, jade eyes flicked in all directions until he had caught sight of his treasure. A jar. The silhouette glanced back at the kitchen doorway over his right shoulder, making sure the coast was clear.
He forwards his gaze and skulked forward. The silhouette's flabby arms reached the jar sitting atop the wooden shelf and grabbed it gingerly. The silhouette lifted the jar from the shelve and pulled it closer to his person, he twisted off the lid of the jar and sets it down on the shelf.
The silhouette's left paw slid into the jar and pulled out a round object. He gently placed the jar back upon the shelf and lifted his prize into the air. A single ray of moonlight shone upon the object, revealing it to be... a cookie. An almond cookie.
The silhouette lowered the cookie to face-level, his black lips parted as he opened his mouth wide. The silhouette slowly brought the cookie closer to his mouth, but before he could taste it, an amber light filled the room.
He whirled around to see Master Monkey, standing in the doorway, holding an oil lantern in his left paw. The simian stared at the thief before him, his facial expression was stern and the flickering amber hues of the lantern flame made his glare more intimidating.
"Hello, Po." He said. Po froze in surprise for a moment, he then quickly hid the cookie behind his back, silently praying that Monkey didn't see it. Po waved his right paw.
"Oh, hey Monkey. Good morning." He chuckled nervously.
"It's the middle of the night." He corrected. "Speaking of which. What're you doing up this late Po, midnight snacking?"
"Pfft, what? No, I was just..." Po turned his gaze away from the simian as his voice trailed off.
"Just what, stealing my last almond cookie?!" A droplet of sweat slid down the side of Po's face. His heart thumped against his chest at a rapid pace.
"Off course not." Po lied. Monkey narrowed his eyes.
"I don't believe you." Monkey then released his primal screech, dropping the lantern he lunged at Po and tackled him to the ground. The two warriors wrestled and rolled across the floorboards. Monkey pinned Po against the floorboards.
"Monkey get off me!" The panda said, squirming as he attempting to escape the simian's grip.
"Not until you give me back my cookie, I'm sick of you always eating them!" Po managed to roll off his back and pin Monkey on the floor. Monkey kicked and thrashed, but due to the Dragon Warrior's immense Monkey couldn't budge him.
A sound filled their ears, the sound of something rolling across the floorboards. Po glances to his right and Monkey to his left to see the cookie rolling away from them. The cookie rolled in a circle and fell against the floor.
Amidst the dim amber hues of the flame within the oil lantern, a figure stood in the doorway. A pair of glowing blue eyes glistened in the shadows. The silhouette lowered his gaze to the cookie at his feet before bending down to pick it up.
The silhouette stuffed the almond cookie into his mouth and proceeded to chew it.
"My cookie!" Po and Monkey exclaimed in unison. They could hear the cookie crunching within the silhouette's mouth, finally the silhouette swallowed down the cookie and bent down to pick up the oil lantern.
The silhouette rose to full height and lifted the lantern in front of his face, the shadows that concealed him retreated and exposed his appearance. A white tiger, who was 21 years of age with sharp electric blue eyes, a strong jawline, high cheek-bone and three vertical scars on his left eye that stretched from his brow, down to his cheekbone. Although the scars had faded greatly, they were still visible.
"Wei, what the hell?!" Po spat.
"You two idiots are making enough noise to wake the dead. I mean come on, two grown men fighting over a cookie? Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?"
"Well," Monkey started "When you put it like that..." The simian's voice trailed off.
"Go to bed you two, it's getting late." Wei turned his feet around and stepped out of the kitchen and made his way back to his room.
Once he had arrived at his destination, he slid open his door and stepped inside. After sliding his door shut, Wei approached his bed.
Wei slowed his pace the closer he got to his bed before stopping all together. He lifted the lantern up to his pursed lips and blew out the flame. Wei set the lantern on his bedside cabinet before climbing into his bed, and pulling the blanket over his body.
Wei laid on his back and gazed at the ceiling; it had been four months since he defeated Jun. Ever since Jun's defeat, Wei stopped having nightmares about the day Jun invaded his village. But, the death of Shang, still haunted him. He couldn't help but feel it was his fault, he regretted not taking Shang to a medic when he needed, he hated that Shang had to die saving him.
But he was honoring Shang's dying wish - looking after his younger sister, Mei-Lien. It took a month for her to fully get over her brother's death, she took an interest in Kung Fu and started training the previous month. Although she struggles a lot of the time, Wei believes she has potential.
The creaking of floorboards resounded the eerie silence of the barracks. Wei could hear Po and Monkey silently muttering to each other, he then heard their doors slide open and were slid closed again.
He heard Po's bed creak under the panda's weight in the room next to him. Ten seconds later, the panda's snores came into his hearing range. Wei began to feel the bonds of sleep, his eyelids became very heavy. Wei's eyelids closed over his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
The young Wei trudged across the long path that cut through the endless field of grass. The heat from the blazing sun encompassed his small form, causing sweat droplets to streak down his face. A katana was strapped to his left hip, the metal tip of the sheath was dragged across the dirt behind him.
The three vertical scars on his left eye were still fresh. A month had passed since that unknown silhouette had raided his village and took his family from him. Swearing revenge on him, he took his father's katana and ventured out to find him.
However, it wasn't an easy journey. He was exhausted, starving and dehydrated. But, the need for revenge, the need to avenge his family and friends is what kept him going.
An eerie shriek pierced his ears, causing them perk. Wei's eyes bugged slightly and he turned his neck to his right, which was the direction of the scream. Following the screams, Wei dashed away from the path and climbed a large hill.
Once Wei had reached the top of the hill, his head whirled left and right until he spotted three bandits harrassing a young cub at the foot of the hill. Acting on instinct, Wei sprinted down the hill to intervene in this cruel act.
"I said 'Where is he'? You little brat!" The boar bandit growled. The black panther cub whimpered as its body shook violently. Tears rimmed the cub's eyes.
"I-I-I don't k-know who you're talking a-about." The cub stammered.
The coyote bandit snorted and turned to the boar bandit.
"The brat ain't talking boss. Let's just kill the little runt and search for him on our own." The coyote said.
"Yeah, we're wasting our time." Said the wolf bandit.
"A'right!" The boar's right hoof gripped the handle of the long dagger, tied to his right hip. He yanked the dagger off his hip and lifted his arm up into the air.
The cub was shaking like it was in an earthquake and her whimpers increased in volume. The boar smirk menacingly, relishing the sight of this child in fear. Before he could bring the blade down on the poor child, he spotted something moving at the top of his vision.
The boar tilts his chin upwards and his beady yellow eyes become locked on the sight of a white tiger cub, charging down the hill with a weapon strapped to his hip.
"What the hell?" The boar's companions turned around and followed his gaze until they too saw Wei.
"Is that a white tiger cub?" The wolf asked. The three crooks watched as Wei sprinted down the hill with remarkable speed, he finally reached the foot of the hill and glared at the bandits.
"The fuck? Get outta here kid!" Ordered the boar. Wei narrowed his eyes and gripped the handle of his katana with his right paw.
"No way!" Wei's eyes then trailed to the black panther cub. It was a girl, round about his age, her round black eyes were filled with fear and rimmed with fresh tears, ready to fall. She wore a pink kimono dress that contrasted with her black fur.
Wei jerked his head to the right, gesturing the girl to run away. The cub quickly turned to her left and ran away as fast as she could, sobbing. The boar's head whipped in the panther's direction, he gritted teeth and creased his face.
"After her!" He ordered. The coyote turned his feet to his left, but before he could chase her, Wei unsheathed the katana and dashed towards him. Wei closed in on the coyote quickly and with one horizontal slash - the coyote's stomach was slice open and his intestines slipped through the wound and blood cascaded onto the grass at his feet - staining it crimson.
The coyote placed his paws over his wound, trying desparately to keep his guts inside of him and to prevent more bleeding. The boar and wolf could watch in horror as the coyote collapsed onto his knees and slumped forward. Dead.
Wei turned to face the remaining two, but was met with a solid punch to the face, causing him to drop his katana. The ten year-old siberian was knocked onto his posterior, he clutched his nose where blood poured profusely from. Wei's lifted his gaze to the boar standing before him, indication it he who had punched him.
The boar's face was complete wrinkled, his jaw was tightened and his teeth were grit. The boar fumed at Wei, his chest heaved in and out with each breath.
"You!" He hissed "You're fucking dead!"
The boar's right collided with the left side of Wei's head. Wei grunted in pain as his head was flung to the right, his eyes wide. Wei fell onto the right of his body, his head throbbed with pain. The boar and wolf then proceeded to ruthlessly pummel the poor siberian tiger.
Drops of blood stained the grass and painful grunts resounded the atmosphere as the two bandits to continued to assault relentlessly. They continued for several minutes before they grew weary of it.
The boar bandit loomed over the beaten, bloody form of Wei. He spat on the poor cub and said "That's what you get, you little shit!"
The boar landed one more brutal kick to Wei's stomach. Wei groaned in pain and curled into ball as the bandit retracted his left foot. The boar and the coyote turned in the opposite direction and strolled away.
Wei watched them, his vision wavered and blurred, his conscious was slipping. Once the two bandits had disappeared from his sights, Wei lost consciousness.
Wei bolted upright from his bed in a cold sweat. He panted frantically as he gazed at his surroundings. He was in his room, at the Jade Palace. He began slow down his breaths until they had finally reached their normal rhythm. Wei let out a sigh and stared at his lap.
"Not another nightmare about the past."
There you go my loyal fans, the first chapter of the sequel to the Story of Wei. I never expected there to be a sequel, I never even expected the Story of Wei to be as successful as it was. Moving on, if you haven't figured it out, this story will delve more into Wei's past. Showing his life after Jun's raid and before the events of the Story of Wei. Also, from now on I'm gonna put a bit of trivia in each chapter. It's just something that popped into my head while planning this, if you want you can use the idea yourself.
Trivia: Wei's scars are symbolic, they represent the three family members he lost during Jun's raid. His mother and father who were killed in the raid, and Feng whom he was separated from for 10 years. In this chapter it mentions that Wei's scars are faded, that's supposed represent his ten year long nightmare ending. His parents were avenged and he was reunited with his brother.
There you have it, stay tuned for the next chapter.