Kung Fu Panda's Master Tigress in:
Shattered Destiny
(DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kung Fu Panda, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, or any fictional franchises, factions or events I may not have mentioned.)
Prologue
War. War never changes. Since the dawn of life, when the ancestors of the Valley of Peace – and everywhere else in the world – discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of every conceivable reason, from god, to justice, to simple, psychotic rage.
Even the Dragon Warrior, Po, and the Furious Five, led by Master Tigress, could not stop the wars that eventually found their home. Powerful warriors they may be, they were still mortal, and therefore did not live to see everything they held dear laid to waste by the mysterious, evil villain, Eden. No one knew who Eden was. No one knew where he came from. No one knew what he wanted. But one thing was clear: Eden was, somehow, immortal.
But in the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of Eden and the rest of the world that the Valley of Peace had been so isolated from, could sustain itself no longer. The entire world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation. But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the Apocalypse was merely the prologue to another bloody chapter in the annals of history. For Eden, and the great powers of the world, had succeeded in destroying the very world they sought to protect for whatever reasons, but war... war never changes.
In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the nuclear holocaust by taking refuge in giant, underground facilities, called Vaults. It was there that there came to be a legend of a man who would destroy Eden and his followers – like Eden, an immortal being, known only as Twinblade. But this man was merely a legend, as evidenced by the events surrounding Eden's rise to power and the apocalypse.
However, two hundred years after the Atomic Apocalypse of 2077, some time after the survivors emerged from their vaults to the hell of the Wasteland, the Immortal Twinblade was supposedly sighted, and the very fabric of time began to turn back on itself. For not only was Twinblade spotted, but he was not alone. He walked with another, one who did not belong.
A companion, it seemed, that was from another time...
Tigress awoke, barely keeping herself from screaming. Another nightmare. The same thing as it had been fore the past three weeks. A villain, impossible to defeat. A portal, to a different land – barren, lifeless, and seemingly devoid of life. A wasteland. She still felt her skin and fur tingle at the mere memory of it. In the nightmare, she felt sick, like the very air itself was poisonous. It made her weak, falling to her knees and vomiting. She felt her very life leaving her. And then, just as she was about to pass, she saw him – the warrior who finds her, a white tiger, almost like a ghost.
Tigress rose from bed and dressed, heading out toward the kitchen. She wasn't hungry, but she had to eat something. But after she ate, she headed to the Pool of Sacred Tears, where Shifu was normally meditating. But how would she tell him? How could she tell her adopted father that she was having dreams of what she perceived as her own death? In an alien landscape she knew nothing about? She didn't know.
As Tigress expected, Shifu was meditating near the pool. She bowed to him, then began, "Master, I have-"
"I know, Tigress," Shifu said, before Tigress could say anything else. "The others have told me. Po seems especially worried about you."
"I've been having... nightmares, master," Tigress said.
"I know," Shifu affirmed. "It shows. You are distracted. Unbalanced." Shifu paused, then asked, "These nightmares... what are they about?"
Tigress sighed, then began to recount the details of the nightmare she'd been having for three weeks. When she finished, Shifu let out a long sigh. "This is, indeed, disturbing, Tigress. It seems to suggest that this... villain, whoever he may be... is a great threat. But the land you find yourself in... doesn't seem to fit the world we live in."
"And what about the man at the end of my dream? The one who finds me as I'm... dying?" Tigress asked.
"He is unfamiliar to me. The only person I know that even comes close to that description was Tai Lung, and he's been dead for years," Shifu explained. Again, he paused, then rose from meditation to approach Tigress. "Tigress, I've known you since you were a little girl. I raised you. But never did I think I would live to see the day when you had a vision of your own."
"... Vision...?" Tigress murmured, confused.
"The events you describe are not consistent with any mere dream – the Universe has given you a vision of the future," Shifu said.
Tigress was shocked and appalled. A vision of the future? Could that barren wasteland be the future of the Valley of Peace? Is the man in her dream Tai Lung reborn?
Was she destined to die like that?
"So... I am destined... to die in agony?" Tigress queried, her voice quiet.
"Tigress," Shifu assured her, "You would do well to remember that the prophecies suggested in visions like yours tell of what may be, not what should be."
"What should I do, master?" Tigress asked.
"That is up to you, Tigress – but whatever you do, don't fight your destiny. As Master Oogway told me, many warriors meet their destiny on the path they take to avoid it," Shifu explained.
Tigress had heard enough. She thanked Shifu for his wisdom and departed. She wished that his answers would set her mind at ease, but now, she was more on edge than ever.
Faced with her own death, she found she was angry. What kind of supreme being dictated she die like that? To die so young? Before she could ever feel what it was like to fall in love? To have a family of her own? To see her grandchildren? To grow old, be at peace, knowing she led a fulfilling life despite everything she'd been through? It galled her to her core.
No, she thought. She would not die. She would take steps to ensure she would live to a ripe, old age. She would change her future.
Though she knew not how...
* * * Two Weeks Later * * *
The dreams continued to plague Tigress, but somehow, less than before, as the weeks rolled by. Tigress was in the kitchen, eating noodles cooked by Po as she considered that maybe these were merely bad dreams, contrary to what Shifu had said, when Monkey came bursting into the room.
"Tigress!" he exclaimed, "You must come at once!"
"What is it?" Tigress asked.
"It's Shifu! He's in trouble!" Monkey responded. Tigress and Po dropped what they were doing and followed Monkey, through the valley and out to a field on the outskirts, where Viper, Crane and Mantis were already present. There, a strangely-dressed leopard stood waiting, with Shifu held by the throat in the air.
"So, the Furious Fighters are arrayed against me, in protectorship of their master... how predictable," he said, his accent completely alien to the group.
It was then that Tigress recognized this man – his voice, his look... She knew this man.
"You took my home from me, Eden... seems fitting I take your life!" She heard herself growl in anger.
"And who are you to take my life, when clearly, I am the best chance the world has of getting back to it's former glory?" Tigress heard the man say.
"Who am I? My name... is Tigress... Priznat! And I will have! My! REVENGE!" Tigress screamed in her dreams.
She knew this man. She recognized him.
"... Eden..." She said.
The man frowned, dropping Shifu. He regarded Tigress with confusion and suspicion. "Are you familiar to me?" he asked. "Have we met on some distant field?"
Tigress snapped to her fighting mind. "You will not harm our people," she growled as the others assumed their fighting stances.
Eden's expression changed to one of shock, as he apparently recognized Tigress. "You...! It's you! This is the day!" He snapped into his own fighting stance.
The fighters all came at Eden at once. But he was apparently expecting this, and easily deflected and redirected their attacks at each other. All except Tigress, who managed to keep her attacks on Eden. The others, especially Po, lunged in whenever they could, but were no match for Eden. It was like he knew every move they would make before they did – all except Tigress. Somehow, he could not predict her.
He roared, sending a concussive blast outward, sending all but Tigress sprawling to the ground. He seized Tigress by the throat and lifted her off her feet.
"You're not the one to bring me down..." he growled. His grip tightened, and Tigress couldn't breathe. There was a flash of light behind her, and an echoing, artificial roar. "Perhaps a vision of what is to come is in order...?" He turned Tigress around, and she saw the source of the light – a swirling, shimmering portal. Where it led, she didn't know. And before she could react, she was thrown into it as she heard Eden begin to laugh. Thousands of lights flashed before her eyes, she felt as though she was rushing at an insane speed, and just as this all started, it ended, and she collided with the ground in a strange mist that made her skin and fur tingle.
The dream. This was happening just as it happened in her dream. Her nightmare. Her premonition. This was the end. Where she would die. "H-hello?" she called out, hoping to find someone who could help her. "Is any..." She paused, vomiting onto the ground. "... Can anyone... hear me...?" Desperate, she moved blindly through the mist, trying to find her way out, but the mist seemingly sapped her strength, more and more. She'd gone no more than ten or twelve paces when she dropped to her knees, weakened and dying. "Is anyone out there?" There was still no response. This was it. Her death. So much left unfinished, so much not done. Not experienced. Not...
As the sky darkened, and Tigress toppled over, too weak to go on, she saw him – the ghost. The white tiger. He came running over to her side as she blacked out. She was barely conscious enough to feel something prick her arm, but then, everything was dark, and she waited for her first glimpse of paradise in the afterlife...
(More to follow. Stay tuned.)