Hello there everyone! This is my first time writing a Kung Fu Panda fanfiction, so I hope you like it. :) The original idea of Tom the Kung Fu Master was my idea, but I must also credit Synchronized Harmony for helping me create his story. :) I highly recommend reading Synchronized Harmony's Lord Shen stories, they're very detailed and very well written. :) I enjoy reading them, as do many others.

Anyways I hope you enjoy this story, please review and thanks for reading!

-Shire from CollieandShire


Chapter One

Meeting Tom

I balled up my wing and wrapped on the door, and then folded my wings together under my rob sleeves. Inside my left sleeve was a bottle of ink and a brush, and in my right sleeve was a bundle of parchment paper.

The door slowly opened, and a head popped out through the crack. "Dude, how are ya?" he asked softly, using his wing to move his large wattle out of his eyes. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

His accent was distinctly American, and his choice of words were…strange, to say the least. Yet I'd come prepared, and was not taken back by his Americanisms.

"Hello, Master." I said respectfully, bowing low. "I am Lee Yan, and I hail from Gongmen city." I paused, and studied the American's eyes closely. He nodded, smiling.

"Dude, nice to meet you." He said, extending his wing. I took it and shook it lightly, surprised by his strong grasp.

"I was wondering if you'd honor me with an interview." I told him. "You see, I am a writer, and everyone has suggested I write your story. It's not every day an American comes to China and in less than a month becomes one of the greatest Kung Fu Masters of all time."

"Oh, that would be so totally awesome if you wrote my story!" he exclaimed. "Freaking cool!"

I was amazed at how similar he was to the legendary Dragon Warrior, who I'd had the privilege of meeting a while back. He, too, used such words, and I wondered who was copying who. Or perhaps they simply were being themselves.

"So, if you wrote my story, are you, y'know, gonna make it into a book?" the Master asked, his eyes wide with excitement. "'Cause if you do, I've gotta get a copy and send it back home to my buddies, they'll think it's sick."

"Yes, of course you'd get a copy." I agreed. "As many as you wanted. And yes, I'm planning on making your story into a book, with your permission of course."

The Master waved his wings around. "Dude, you've got my permission. When are you going to start on it?"

I glanced around. "I need to get an interview with you first." I reminded him.

He slapped himself in the face and gobbled. "Of course man, that's right!" Said he, ushering me in. "Let's get started then!"

I watched at the Master turned and skedaddled into the kitchen, calling behind him, "Go ahead and sit wherever you want! I'll be there in a sec!"

I looked around the small house in wonder, staring in awe at the many paintings on the wall. All of them were of that strange place called America. The Master had pictures of the Sea, with strange two legged creatures throwing nets in the water and pulling fish out. Others were of large vessels, with those same two legged creatures on them. Then there were paintings of the fowl the Master was, standing in the forest with giant antelope and strange looking creatures that I hadn't the faintest idea were.

I glanced around the main room, and seeing a comfortable looking chair I sat down, pulling out my pen, my ink and my papers.

"So dude man, you want some coffee or something?" the Master called from the kitchen.

"Tea would be fine, Master." I replied.

The Master emerged from the kitchen, his long green robe trailing behind his tail feathers. In his wings were two cups, one of which he handed to me and the other he set on the table in front of his chair.

"I brought you some tea." He said proudly, cocking his head and watching me sip from the cup. "Chai Tea. Dude, that stuff is expensive, y'know?"

"Yes Master, it is." I answered with a nod of my head.

"Dude, really, you don't need to call me Master." He rebuked with a grin. "The name's Tom."

"Tom." I repeated, my tongue not used to the strangeness of the formality of calling a Master by his first name. "What does 'Tom' mean in America?"

"Psh, I don't know." He chuckled. "It's just a name."

He leaned back and crossed his legs, sipping his coffee.

"So, Ma-er, I mean, Tom." I began, setting my cup down and opening my ink bottle. I dipped my pen in and wrote on the top of the page interview with Master Tom. "Why don't you start at the beginning. What kind of bird are you?"

Tom laughed. "Man, I'm a turkey." He said with a shrug. "There's like, y'know, millions of us in America."

"Turkey. Hmm, interesting." I wrote down the name on my paper. "What is the legend of the turkey?"

"What do you mean?"

I looked up. "Everyone has a story about how their species came to be." I explained. "Bats are descendents of the Dragons, birds come from Fenghuang. Do the Turkeys have a story of how they came to be?"

Tom leaned back in his chair, his long red wattles trailing from his yellow beak and resting on his brown neck feathers. "Let's see…" he muttered, pondering. "How about how the Turkey got his long neck?"

"Okay. How did the Turkey get his long neck?"

Tom grinned, and leaned forward. "Legend has it," he said, "That one day, a turkey crossed the road and got run over by a wagon. Now we all have long necks." He laughed, and slapped his knee.

I failed to see the irony in this story, and watched as he continued to roar at his joke.

"That's it?" I asked, unimpressed. "That's the only story you have?"

"Dude, we aren't much for, y'know, legends and stuff." He told me. "It happens, it happens. It's how it works, y'know." Tom looked me over. "By the way, what kind of bird are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a duck." I informed him.

"You should meet the American ducks. They look way different then you."

"I'm sure. So why don't you tell me how you came to China. What brought you here, why did you come here, and how did you become a Master?"

Tom once more leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "It kinda all started, y'know, like a normal day, y'know? Anyways it was me and my dude man friends, and we were walking down the road…"


Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please review, it will make my day! :D There will be more chapters forthcoming soon! :D

-Shire