Yes, it's a Kung Fu Panda fic. No, it's not for children. It's going to get kinda violent, so mature readers only. This is just the prologue to the first chapter- I'll post that a bit later. Please, please, please R&R. Constructive criticism, especially for this piece, is really needed. I'd be very grateful, because I don't think I did the best I could do on this one... All comments appreciated! (but I do LOVE constructive criticism *nudges*)

Prologue- The Dire Reunion

"The times of changed since I was a student," the old bear sat near the campfire he had created. He was dressed in a raggedy robe, and his voice was rusty, as if he had not used it in quite some time. His eyes, misted over with age and memory, shone by the glow of the fire. "In my time," he rasped softly, "Elders were held in the highest regard, and our students approached us with the utmost respect." He shifted restlessly, and his robes rustled softly. Moving with a calm deliberation, the bear retrieved a bowl that rested empty by his side. He leaned over the fire to dip it in a bubbling pot of soup, suspended above the flame, and brought the bowl to his lips, taking a debonair sip before replacing the bowl. The bear then opened his matured and fixed a look at the figure who sat across from him. "Have you approached me out of respect, Yong?" He inquired. "Or have you approached me out of concern for your own welfare?"

Yong eyed the bear, almost skeptically, his eyes also shimmering in the light of the flame. "Cannot it be both, Feng?" He paused and then corrected, almost reluctantly, "Master?"

Feng's eyes flashed at the usage of his first name from his pupil, but he brushed it aside. Instead, he remained silent, and studied the raccoon dog thoughtfully. Black markings streaked the matted grey fur, and slashed across Yong's eyes like scars. His hands were ideal for the art of kung fu, slender, almost feminine, and above all, agile. Yong's flexible, light frame was built for speed and agility, and his large, fluffy tail, was perfect for balance.

For years, Yong had been the perfect apprentice. He contrasted Feng's powerful, bulky frame with a rarely attained balance. The two had been faultless in battle. Feng's body had provided the endurance needed for battles against mighty armies, and Yong had been swift enough to avoid injury. But that had been years ago, and Feng acknowledged with a dour sadness that things had changed. His broad chest inflated with a sigh, and compressed smoothly as he exhaled.

"Why are you here, Yong?" His voice was soft, but carried the strength of a windstorm.

Yong looked away from Feng's seeking eyes, and studied the dirt he was sitting in. "Shifu sent me." He replied. He glanced back expectantly at Feng, attempting to gauge the bear's reaction, but Feng remained as still as a boulder. "He… has had a vision." Yong continued, prancing around his words nervously.

"Yes?" prompted Feng.

Yong let out a tense bark of laughter. "It's foolish, really…"

Feng's raised his eyebrows a fraction of an inch. "You find your sensei's precognitions… foolish?" He successfully dampened the bitterness in his tone, but failed to do so in his heart.

A muscle throbbed momentarily in Yong's jaw, but he pressed on. "Master Shifu foresaw the return of-" His voice caught, and he choked out the name. "Tai Lung." When Feng still didn't speak, Yong spoke once more. "Shifu claim- er, foresaw- the Great White Cat's return in a vision similar to Master Oogway's vision before him. But- but… Master, you and I- and all of China- know that this is impossible." Confidence straightened Yong's spine and fortified his voice. "The Dragon Warrior destroyed Tai Lung years ago. The explosion was seen for miles. Tai Lung was destroyed." Yong seemed to be speaking the words to comfort himself, rather than inform Feng.

Feng lowered his gaze to peer into the flames that flickered in between the two. Still, he did not speak. He merely sat noiselessly, the wind shifting his robes around him. His face had taken on an identifiable air of concern. His breath became uneven, uneasy, and Yong picked up on Feng's restiveness without error. "Master?" His voice shook slightly, and Yong berated himself for his fear.

Finally, Feng's voice broke through the stillness of the night. "You were my pupil for years, Yong; did you learn nothing?"

Yong blinked, and opened his mouth to speak, but found he had nothing to say.

With a gruff cough, Feng closed his eyes, his ears twitching in irritation. "Yong… Tai Lung lives on. As does Master Oogway, Master Wushi, and- if he has truly passed away- Master Po. Their bodies, of course, grew old and decrepit- unfit to harbor a soul any longer. But the soul- and the energy it possesses will never perish," Feng droned on, a note of warning ever present in his lecture. "The chi that flowed through the body is freed when a body decays, and it becomes a part of every strain and pool of force that is in existence. Master Oogway is with us still, my friend. He is in the flowers that blossom, the rivers that flow, the air we breathe in."

Sensing where Feng was headed, a dark sense of foreboding began to infest Yong's stomach, and his fur bristled.

"Such is the fate of every living thing- the masters of kung fu carry with them a knowledge that allows them to utilize this energy after their… death. Masters Oogway and Wushi are free to roam the universe as they please. And although he was never a master in name, I have no doubt that Tai Lung also possesses this power." Feng opened his eyes and fixed them on Yong once more. "Tai Lung will not return as a Great White Cat, Yong. But make no mistake- energy that is so contaminated with hatred and anger will find its way back in a different body. Tai Lung will return to us in the form of a child. And, regardless of how he is raised or nurtured, his rage will once again consume him. He could find the power to destroy us all- indeed, that will be is one and only desire."

The rice that Yong had devoured earlier began to rise in his throat, and an unruly dread seized his heart. The blood that pounded through the dog's veins chilled, and an icy sweat broke on Yong's skin. He had heard the stories, of course. The stories were legend. Tai Lung, driven by his immortal quest for power, had laid waste to villages- how the blood of the elders mixed with the blood of the children. Within no more than a few hours, Tai Lung had destroyed thousands of lives, and devastated millions. He'd been imprisoned for twenty years, but then broke free to return for the Dragon Scroll- the scroll that was said to contain the secret to ultimate and limitless power. But Master Po, the first Kung Fu warrior to gaze upon the scroll since its completion, had obliterated him, and the Valley of Peace had been saved.

But Master Po was gone now, and the antagonism and cruelty within Tai Lung had had thirty years to fester and grow from an ember to a wildfire.

Yong swallowed the lump in his throat and forced out, "What can we do, Master Feng? Master Shifu seeks your guidance. How can Tai Lung be defeated without Master Po?"

Feng didn't speak for some time. He merely gazed into the flames, listening to crackle of the writhing flames. The flames seemed to sway and dance in a language that only Feng could understand. They were whispering words that brushed the old bear's ears before fading into the night.

"He cannot." Feng said softly.

Yong blinked, failing to process what Feng had just stated. Feng noted his student's confusion. "Tai Lung… his soul, could be thousands of years old. The Great White Cat was most certainly not the first body he had. His soul has possibly been dark since the dawn of time. My theory is that- in his first life- Tai Lung was taught the ways of Kung Fu. That is why he possessed great skill at the martial arts at such a young age. That is why Oogway saw evil in him. And now that he will reincarnate himself, as evil often does, he has another lifetime of knowledge to help him in his quest." Feng was quiet once more. "He will destroy us all." He finally repeated.

Yong's head was suddenly heavy with weariness, and he reached up with a paw to pinch the bridge of his snout. He gave his head a shake, and muttered, "No, Sensei. What you say cannot be true. There must be a way to stop him." Yong's eyes brightened with inspiration and he jerked his head upwards. "Wait- you say that Tai Lung will reincarnate himself, yes? Well, then, Master Po- or Master Oogway! Surely, one of them will return and defeat Tai Lung, as they did before!"

Feng was tempted to smirk at the naïve hope in Yong's eyes, but his face remained grimly cemented, and he gave his head a slow, firm shake. "Only someone as foolish, selfish, and greedy as Tai Lung would choose to live another lifetime. We are given one life only, Yong. That is all we are meant to live. To reincarnate oneself is a mistake that wise ones would never consider."

The glimpse of salvation Yong had was extinguished without mercy. There was silence once more. The fire continued to burn ravishingly, and in the distance, crickets could be heard chirping their nocturnal song. A winter wind slipped among the trees, and the leaves shivered, mirroring a fear that came with the knowledge Feng had given Yong. Sapped of his energy, Feng seemed to droop with depression. Yong shivered- not from the weather- and pulled his imperial robes about his body tightly. He swallowed once more, but this time the lump did not disappear. It remained lodged in his throat, choking Yong with a bleak sense of horror.

Yong had been trained from birth to hide his emotions so that not even a fur on his face betrayed how he was feeling, but nothing was able to smother the desperate, lost crack in his voice, or the desolate tear that brimmed his eye. "We are surely lost, then." His voice sounded dead and hollow. It was a stranger's voice emanating from Yong's throat.

Feng's voice, void of emotion, stumbled from his throat helplessly. "Yes, Yong. I fear we are lost."

In the distance, a cry of a wolf or dog spiked across the mountains, as if the very Earth was weeping for the inevitable death of her children. Feng raised his eyes towards the heavens once more.

"We are lost."