And here it is, The First Chapter to the Third installment of my Kung Fu Panda series! for those of you who have been patiently waiting for this story I appreciate your patients! I just needed to finish my A Legend is Born series first otherwise I risked merging the characters personalities from both stories by accident. Not good. anyway. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the first Chapter!

Disclaimer: for this Chapter and all of the rest, I do NOT own Kung Fu Panda or any of it's characters!

Kung Fu Panda:

One's Curse To Bear...

Created by

Pandafan91

Chapter 1

A New Shadow Looms

Four months later…

Soaring high above the clouds, well above the line of sight from those who walked upon the earth, a single Raven, with feathers black as the night itself, flew at an incredible speed towards a single Village. Night had fallen hours ago, and soon the Raven had arrived at his destination. As the Raven dropped into a dive, he hurled towards the village at an alarming speed, his yellow eyes barely visible through the slits of his eyelids, as he approached the giant rock stationed up high in the center of the village, he unfurled his wings, catching the wind underneath him, as he rode a stray air current and slowed his decent until he carefully landed atop of his perch.

His name was Drizen (Dry-zen), and as he stood atop of the "Full Moon" Gemstone, situated at the center of the Full Moon Village, he gazed down upon the few villagers who still walked the streets. According to his recently learned bit of information, the individual he sought once made an appearance here in this very village. And if he was ever going to get another lead as to where that individual had gone, he would have to find it here...somewhere.

Drizen then flew down to a nearby alley and landed behind a few barrels. After searching through his bag that was slung over his shoulder, he pulled out a customized black cloak and put it on over his person, his wings sliding into the sleeves, which hung down well past his wingspan, while the tail of the cloak trailed upon the ground. Of course, wearing this cloak meant he no longer could fly, but that was quite alright, because for now he did not wish to be discovered, should his pray catch wind of his presence anywhere, then he could lose the trail once again. And after four months of searching, and following so many dead end leads and false trails, he was fed up with this little game of cat and mouse. And besides, should he wind up taking part of a struggle, he was more than capable of dealing with these simpletons himself.

Slowly, Drizen emerged from the shadows and made his way over to the village inn. As he neared the door, he could hear many civilians inside chattering amongst themselves, all in good spirits it seemed. "Perfect, plenty of loose lips to listen to tonight." Drizen mumbled as he pushed his way through the door, and into the inn.

Upon his entering the establishment, several eyes turned to see who had entered the inn only to just as quickly disregard him, going back to their good times. Drizen then made his way over to an empty table and sat down. Quickly a younger pig waitress walked up to him and asked "And what can I get for you tonight stranger?" Drizen never looked at her directly as he muttered," Water…and perhaps a bowl of dumplings." The waitress then suggested "Do you require a room tonight? Your meal is half off if you rent one of our rooms for the night." Drizen fought back a snap at the pig, reminding himself he did not need to create a scene, "No, just the water and dumplings, nothing more." Although a bit disappointed, the waitress nodded her head and went back into the kitchen.

After the waitress brought him his meal, Drizen listened in on many of the conversations going on around him. He purposely chose where he sat so he could hear more people talking amongst themselves. For the most part it was all useless babble that he couldn't have cared less about. Some were talking about how slow the trading business had been that week, while others complained about their family lives. Honestly it was enough to drive the raven Mad. He did however over hear one piece of information that although was completely irrelevant to his mission, still caught his attention.

"Hard, to believe that the Dragon Warrior is actually going to get married." Some random goose had started while the pig he was talking to added, "Yeah, when I was over in the Valley of Peace a few weeks back, it's all the Village seemed to talk about. Good for him, he's done so much for China, it's about time he settles down and gets a good girl, I mean, the guy helped save the world for crying out loud." At this, Drizen brought his wing into a fist as he continued eavesdropping. The goose asked, "Settle down? Who said anything about him settling down? For crying out loud the Dragon Warrior isn't that old." the pig wore a confused expression saying "Well…The Dragon Warrior is getting married, so doesn't that mean he has step down and give up the title?" The goose shook his head no saying "Gods, didn't you pay attention when you were in the village? No, since the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress are the countries Saviors, The Emperor is going to let The Dragon Warrior keep his title. He gets to stay on as the Dragon Warrior, and we don't lose a hero!"

The pig then asked "Wait, what does Master Tigress have to do with this?" The goose then smacked his head as he said "Good grief, you were just saying you were in the Valley and you didn't know that the Dragon Warrior is going to marry THE Master Tigress!? It's all the people of China are talking about!" The Pig then asked "Master Tigress? Like, of the Furious Five?" The goose then asked "Is there another one?" The pig was silent then, after a moment he said "That's…interesting." The goose then said "What's that supposed to mean, just a minute ago you were happy for the man." The pig then shifted uncomfortably as he took a swig of his drink, then said "Well, it's just…how would that even work? I mean…don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the Dragon Warrior and all, but a Panda with a Tiger?" The goose then hit the pig with his wing saying "Oh don't even get me started on that! Hey, if the two love each other who cares about the small stuff!" The Pig then started "But it's just so-" But he was immediately silenced by his companion and the two remained silent.

Finally the Pig changed the subject a bit. "You know about that Darkness people are talking about that threatened the whole world? Well I hear it was being kept not too far from here." Drizen immediately straightened up as he now took a whole new interest in this conversation. The pig then continued "Got an acquaintance of mine who was here about a little over four months back, said he was one of the victims of some sort of, Mind control, if you can believe that. All he said he remembered was some black fire one minute, and then the next, he's waking up in a cave with the Dragon Warrior, the Grandmaster of the Jade Palace, and the Furious Five getting him and some other folks out of a cave." The goose then asked "Which cave?" Drizen was now sitting on the edge of his seat as he waited for the pig to answer. "I'm not certain exactly… the man said something about being a up ways North of the Village here, just close enough for them all to walk back here with them Masters."

Drizen had heard enough. He quickly left a few coins on the table and hurried out the door. Once he was outside, he snuck over to the back of the inn, folded his cloak inside his bag, and immediately took to the skies once more. "I'm finally getting closer. This is it, I can almost taste it!" as the raven flew off into the night. And in a matter of hours, he managed to spot a cave down below surrounded by many trees, and so he dropped down into a dive from the skies, where he landed in front of the cave's mouth. After looking around to make sure no one was around, Drizen dug around in his cloak until he found the object he was looking for.

Slowly Drizen removed a small crystal from his bag, and as he held it up he muttered a single incantation, and sure enough the crystal began to glow a soft purplish glow. "This is it! I have finally found it! The former prison of the great Hei'an! " immediately Drizen entered the cave, the only source of light being the glow of his crystal. As he moved deeper and deeper into the cave, he found himself wandering a long, man made tunnel, and with each mile he descended into the tunnel, the crystal in his hand seemed to get even brighter, it's soft glow, becoming bright and fierce, indicating that he was nearing the strongest concentration of this ominous power.

Eventually he could see an opening at the end of the tunnel and as he walked through, he stopped and looked around at the open cavern. "By the Gods." Drizen whispered as he gazed upon the one time prison, turned battleground. He saw large indents into the walls the size of perhaps a creature just a foot taller than him. Claw marks tore at the ground and walls wherever he looked. But what really caught his attention was the almost completely destroyed wall. As he flew over to it, his crystal actually was beginning to get hot to the touch as he produced a cloth to lay it on. "I've found it at last! To think, the great Hei'an, lord of eternal Darkness was once imprisoned in these very walls." Drizen then looked beyond the destroyed wall to see giant claw marks, ones bigger than entire houses lining the walls, like whatever used to be trapped in here was trying to free itself for quite some time.

As Drizen looked back out into the cavern he muttered to himself "The amount of Power it would have taken to cause such damage…it's unthinkable. If I can just find what remains of Lord Hei'an's power…adding it to my own would make me unstoppable! But first... I must find what it is that I came for." With that, Drizen waved his wing over the crystal and muttered a second incantation, and seconds later, the crystal floated from his wing, and into the center of the cave, casting it's purple light throughout the entire cavern. All he needed was a sample…just one sample of the Servant's fur, a claw, even a tooth would do. As Drizen spent hours searching the cavern walls and floors he eventually found several samples. He found some yellow fur, some green scales, a stray feather, even some red fur, but when he brought them to the floating crystal, there was no indication that these were the samples he required. However, once he found some stray orange hairs, once he held them up to the crystal they began to glow a bright red. "Interesting…" Drizen muttered, but these were not what he searched for. Even stranger was when he found a tuff of white fur and when he brought it up to the crystal, even the crystal changed to a golden glow, rivaling the sun. "Most intriguing." Drizen marveled, but this too was not what he searched for,

After that, Drizen spent another three hours searching for what he came for, but was unsuccessful. Furious with himself, he was about to call it quits when he discovered another indent in the wall, over by the tunnel entrance. Realizing he had checked everywhere else, he flew over to the indent and began turning over the few stray rocks. It didn't take him long to discover a small tuff of black fur. Fur that was so dark, it rivaled the color of his own feathers. Excited he may have finally found what he was searching for; Drizen flew back to the crystal and brought the fur before it. Immediately the crystal flared a dark malevolent Purple as did the fur in Drizen outstretched talons. "This is it! After months of searching, I have finally found what I need to track down the remaining source of Hei'an's power! I am so close! Now… I must get back to my cave." And with that, Drizen stuffed the fur into his bag, wrapped up the crystal so he could carry it and fled the massive cavern.

Two Days Later…

High up in the western mountains, Drizen had finally made it back to his lair, deep within the caves situated near the tops of the mountain. Although the temperatures were often freezing, especially during winter, the high altitude kept most unwanted visitors far away from Drizen's home. And solitude, was exactly what he required at this time. For months, he had been gathering the ingredients needed for this spell, the spell that would finally lead him to the remaining source of Pure Darkness. Although Hei'an, a being revered by those of the Dark arts as a deity, was no more, word had gotten around that he had one servant. Not much was known about the lone figure; but enough to know that he had power. And not just power, but Dark power. Power, that if Drizen had to guess, he was only able to wield thanks to the blessings of Hei'an.

Sure there was that old Prophecy, That one day a great Darkness will rise from the confines of an earthly prison, to flood the world in eternal Darkness, ending life for all. Upon the rising of the Darkness Two Lights will rise up to face it." And that Prophecy had indeed come to pass, thanks to the Dragon Warrior and that Master Tigress. Though Drizen would never understand how the two managed to stop a force as great as Hei'an, it mattered not. For now Hei'an was gone, therefore he had little reason to fear the two saviors. BUT…if his plan did succeed, not only will he be blessed by the dark powers of Hei'an. But he may be able to restore the great being back to his former glory! Oh if he were to manage such a feat, think of the reward the Dark Master could bestow upon the raven! But…first he had to find the last remains of Hei'an's power.

Drizen now stood before a boiling cauldron, as he continued to add bits and pieces of many things. A pinch of powder here, a rare flower there, a vial of the blood of a newborn baby poured into the cauldron. Yes, some of these ingredients were a bit, challenging to acquire, but so is the cost when one practices the dark arts. Finally, after adding the last ingredient, Drizen muttered another incantation as he waived his wings out over the cauldron, resulting in the contents to boil furiously. Finally, Drizen unwrapped the tuff of fur he had acquired, and after muttering one last incantation, he dropped the fur into the cauldron, as the boiling water now became a dark purplish color, Drizen called out "Now, show me the one I seek. Show me the face, which holds that which I desire. Show me the one who holds the power that is to be MINE!"

The water swirled at the sorcerer's commands, and as he continued to wave his hands over the glowing cauldron, an image began to appear, "Yes, just a little more." Drizen whispered as the image began to take shape, and Drizen's eyes widened at what he saw. There, in his cauldron he saw the image of a Black furred wolf with Blue eyes, bustling around a tea shop carrying dishes, hollering inaudibly over his shoulder to someone Drizen could not see. Since the wolf's fur was all he had, he could only see the wolf himself. As Drizen gazed into the cauldron he smiled wickedly to himself at the image of the wolf as he whispered "Finally, I have found you at last…Servant of Hei'an!" And with that Drizen cackled maniacally into the cave.

After months of searching, he finally knew the face of the one he sought! Now all that was left to do was to find this wolf and extract what remained of the Great Hei'an's power. Drizen slowly walked over to a wooden chest that sat on an altar made of bones in the back of the cave. Carefully Drizen gathered his cloak and put it on. His wings now covered, he opened the chest, and marveled at the purple crystal inside. This was no mere crystal though. This, was the Encryllion (En-Krill-E-On), an ancient artifact said that with the slightest touch, could drain any power from a host, and contain it within. That went for Magic, Chi, and Power of any sort. With this, Drizen could extract the last of Hei'an's power and become the most powerful sorcerer in all of China! "Soon" Drizen muttered to himself as he closed the lid to the chest and walked out of the cave to gaze upon the country below. "Very, very soon."

Well there you have it! The first Chapter to One's Curse To Bear. Don't forget to review and thanks for reading!

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