AN: I love this movie, and after leaving it some things stuck with me.. the Jade Palace, the massive army, the impressively but simply fortified village that was protected largely by clever usage of the geography? My versions of events don't necessarily jive 100 with those in the website, or probably even in the making of book, but please bear with me. Think of it as a what if set in a universe just a step or two off from the main world of Kung Fu Panda, if anything seems hopelessly contradictory. That being said, I hope you enjoy my tale. I own nothing but a few OC's, at least one with a hopelessly tangled, nonsensical name.
Chapter One: What Might Have Been
The old kung fu master stood framed in the massive doorway of the Jade Palace, thinking. He could see that the preparations he'd asked for had been completed, three small birds in cages sat at the top of the stairs. He walked cautiously out to inspect them, leaning heavily on the flute he sometimes was compelled to use as a cane. He reached to open the first cage, but something made him pause.
Shifu turned his eyes down the staircase, looking down over the village that nestled at the foot of the mountain like a contented pet beside its' master. The great evil that Master Oogway had foretold had come to pass. Twice, just as the old turtle had predicted. Shifu was uncertain if he believed that it had truly been deflected in the manner that the ancient one had intended. But then, how could they have known that the great evil that would rear its' head to endanger them all... would arrive in the form of a small, harmless, fluffy grey baby?
A small twist of regretful pain seized at Shifu's heart, and he sighed. He no longer agonized and blamed himself for Tai Lung's betrayal, now that he had accepted his part in it. He had failed the one he had loved and raised as his son, but now he could also see that Tai Lung had failed himself as well.
Had the great lord been here, in the Jade Palace, how differently would things have panned out? Would HE have taken the little cub in? How could he not have? What havoc could Tai Lung have wrought if the knowledge that he'd eagerly soaked up like a sponge had been military warfare instead of the discipline of kung fu?
Shifu stifled the urge to shudder as the idea of Tai Lung, commanding the enormous Chorh-Gom army swam suddenly in front of his eyes. He tried clenching them shut and holding his hands over his ears, but the vision had him fully in its' grip now and would not release him. He could see the Jade Palace in flames, could smell the choking aura of despair and smoke... the village below only beginning to burn in the hazy midsummer sunlight. He could hear screams of terror echoing up from the town below, and saw a much younger version of himself running into the courtyard of the exhibition grounds, wide-eyed and panic-striken.
The younger Shifu's training robe was smeared with drying blood, and the older Shifu watching knew immediately that it belonged to the great dog lord. His younger self must have only just escaped from the flaming ruin of the Jade Palace. So it was too late then, Morimotsuhitsu had fallen. The lord's own two sons- the bear and the leopard- had killed him and taken command of the bored and frustrated army.
The oldest daughter had run to the treasury to hide and had obviously not survived long afterwards if the memory his younger self was struggling to repress was any indication, and the youngest girl.. he didn't know where she was, but he could feel that she was here, somewhere. His master had ordered him to find whatever of the lord's family had survived and evacuate them before the seemingly ageless turtle had rushed off towards the town.
Young Shifu darted quickly to the gates, and risked a fast glance down again towards the valley. He had a cold, unmoving pressure in his chest which suddenly made him certain that his master either had or shortly would die in the attempt at stopping Tai Lung and Guiren. The red panda debated with himself as he stood in the doorway of his old life. Run? Not run? Fight? Not fight? Search more? Give up? His thoughts tumbled over each other like a landslide of loose stones, refusing to be quieted.
"Sh-Shifu!"
He whirled around to see the youngest girl, her face soaked with tears and her clothing was torn and bloody. From the way she hesitantly limped out from behind the broken barrel she'd apparently been hiding in, he reasoned that it must be her own blood that she was wearing. The raccoon dog was gasping for breath and clutching her limply-hanging left arm as she struggled out of her hiding place. He rushed back, and caught more than steadied her as the tanuki stumbled over to him.
"Father's dead, isn't he?" she whimpered as he attempted to make a tourniquet out of part of her embroidered sleeve. There was an open gash in that broken arm that was losing most of the unsettling amount of blood that had stained her fur and wardrobe. His younger self couldn't manage to say the words, so he settled for a brisk nod.
The girl's despondant expression hardened. "Wh-what do we do?" Shifu looked up at her, a little taken aback that the spoiled little girl who'd taken it upon herself to make his entire training and life at the Jade Palace a hell on earth was now looking so earnestly to him for guidance. Before he could answer, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps coming from the doors. In leiu of an answer, he grabbed up the young girl and ran with her, back through the courtyard, through the gates that faced the palace, and into the rough trail that wound around the side of the mountain.
He hoped that the thick smoke now blowing down from the ruined palace would camoflague their escape. He had not counted on it also concealing a portion of the massive army. Which was led by that massive, cocky leopard. The smoke swirled around them again, and Shifu readied himself, setting the shivering girl down in the grass behind him. He could not abandon an injured young girl to them. And there was little chance he could overcome them all himself.
So be it then. If he must die, he'd sell his life and hers as dearly and honorably as he possibly could. And then, with the leopard's battle cry ringing in his ears, Shifu's world went black.
He found himself crumpled on the ground before the thousand steps, just where he'd been before. The three caged birds sitting beside him chirruped and peeped curiously, and he wondered how long he'd been out if creatures with so little brain as these were interested in his condition. He felt something sitting on top of his head and reached up with a shaking hand to investigate.
A single peach blossom petal greeted him before being drawn away into the gentle breeze that wafted up from the valley. The red panda watched it flutter away numbly. Had his late master given him a powerful vision of what might have been? Or had the whole thing been a stress-induced nightmare after the vicious beating his former student had given him earlier?
No matter. The time had come. He carefully opened each cage and began releasing the three nightengales. One for each party who'd left the Jade Palace. One for Ruiling, who had fled to the palace belonging to her wealthy mother- four long days' journey in the east. One for Guiren, who'd taken part of the army and left to join the Imperial forces in the outpost two days to the south. And lastly, the oldest bird was brought out. Shifu had doubts that the poor thing would be able to fly at all, let alone track down its master. But the moment he held it aloft, it's head raised and it darted into the air as if it knew exactly where it was headed.
Shifu certainly hoped that it did. No one really knew where Lord Morimotsuhitsu had gone when he'd taken Oogway's warning about the approach of a great and dangerous evil to heart. All that anyone knew was that he was travelling in disguise.. and that he'd allowed his clingy youngest daughter to accompany him.
The kung fu master gave another world-weary sigh and gathered the small cages. Soon enough the true lord of the Jade Palace would return. Shifu could only hope that Oogway's friend "Lord Morry" would be as he remembered him... and that his children would not.