[ I have been gone a while. Sorry about that. I don't like to make excuses, so I won't. Instead, here is the first chapter of my current KFP Story, that incorporates the events of KungFuPanda 2, as well as KungFuPanda-Legends of Awesomeness. Feel free to read and review at your leisure. Enjoy. ]
Kung-Fu Panda
Timeless
-1-
Tigress ...
The dust was clearing. The air wasn't nearly as thick as I would think it would be. I was expecting an epic struggle; A dynamic battle between two kung-fu juggernauts. But I was surprised to see nothing of the sort.
The battle was clearly one sided. For one man was flawless, the other was flawed. One had potential, the other was an encumbrance. One was destined for greatness, the other was foretold to be something of legend, and somehow all my expectations were false. Somehow each time I made a prediction, it was wrong.
I thought Po would die, and I was wrong.
Instead I was standing among the crowd of the shocked citizens of the valley. Po was gone, but everyone was still cheering. Hailing him as the 'Dragon Warrior', the 'Savior of the Valley', the 'Conqueror of Tai-Lung'... And all those titles were true, but none of them I ever predicted would be so. I was still holding my fists together, wearing a smile that was spawned equally from disbelief, shock and relief. Along with Po, I thought my friends and I would be dead by day break. I thought Tai-Lung was going to slaughter everyone in his rage, in his fight for the Dragon Scroll. Obviously, I was wrong.
But even though I was still taken aback by all that had occurred, no one else seemed to mind. No one else thought to question what had happened here, only moments ago. But I suppose I couldn't blame them, I too was just happy to be alive, and I had to thank Po for that.
I could barely make out the foggy outline of the Dragon Warrior charging off towards the Jade Palace after Master Shifu. My Master, I was completely unaware of his condition. After he fought with Tai-Lung I wasn't exactly sure of Master Shifu was alive or dead, but given my current record on predictions... I would be foolish to think that he had been slain by the rogue Snow Leopard. Shifu, my master and father, was alive... He had to be.
"Tigress?" A voice rang in my ears. I turned to see Master Crane, standing next to me with Viper at his side, and Monkey and Mantis beside her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just... surprised is all." I responded, trying not to sound too disgusted in myself for being so useless.
"I think we all are." Crane sighed, he was usually the voice of reason among us. "Somehow Po was able to single-handedly defeat Tai-Lung, when we... as a group, could not."
"Yes..." I sighed with Crane. "I would like to believe that we were fighting Tai-Lung on his own field-"
"Yeah!" Mantis cut in. Mantis was a cut up, a live wire. "That had to be it."
"Yeah, Tai-Lung was a Master a fighting on top of bridges against girls!" Monkey added to Mantis' ranting. Those two enjoyed finishing each others sentences, and were usually on the same page. But this time they were wrong.
"I would like to believe that too, Mantis. But Tai-Lung was in prison for twenty years... In chains and running non-stop to get to the Valley of Peace, when I- we... met him... He was basically running on adrenaline and rage..." I commented, turning to Master Crane, who was clearly thinking deeply. So deeply he didn't notice all the dust collecting on the tip of his beak; or Viper slithering up his neck to clean him off.
"I was only hit once, but..." Crane paused, touching the feathers just above his sash. "It still hurt. I could only imagine how powerful he would have been at full strength." Crane spoke, looking up towards the morning sun.
"He was strong." I commented, not wanting to think about the fight.
"But ... Really, I mean. In order to fight like that, he had to have trained for it. Right?" Mantis commented, leaping from one of Monkey's shoulders to the other.
"Do we have rope at the Jade Palace?" Monkey thought out loud.
"We have everything at the Jade Palace." Mantis answered Monkey's question. "Except for Almond Cookies." Mantis then laughed.
"Dude!" Monkey exclaimed, clearly upset from being reminded that Po had cleaned him out of his treats.
Master Viper erected herself from Crane's neck to meet my eye level. "So, were you scared, Tigress?"
"I was suspended thousands of feet above visible ground, fighting against a man who I've only heard and read about, on a bridge that was nearly completely destroyed, in the middle of the day after running for hours..." I spoke without even thinking. "If I was meant to be afraid, I'd forgotten to do it during the fight." Viper nodded, smiling. She was clearly impressed with me and my demeanor. But when I paused and thought about it... I actually wasn't afraid. Something about Tai-Lung made me believe that he wasn't actually interested in killing me, or my friends that day. Perhaps it was the coy way he stood and leaned against the uneven bridge with no trouble. Or the way he sauntered towards me with such ease and perfect balance. Something about his body language was telling me that he could have killed me, Viper, Mantis, Crane and Monkey at any moment, but he didn't.
And even during the fight I was still trying to understand him. That was the first time we met, even though we were almost siblings, and I was there to maim him. I wanted to defeat him with my own power and drag him back to my Master as a bloodied, defeated and broken wreck of a man. Even though he was clearly coming to challenge my Master for the Dragon Scroll, I felt as if I were the bad guy. And even still he didn't make me feel as if I were in mortal danger, he was just defending himself. So I fought with all I had.
When I sent him soaring to the depths, I thought we had won.
When he reappeared before us with his grace and ability, I thought we were at a sudden disadvantage.
When he attacked Monkey, and dropped him with a single punch. I knew we had lost and it was all over... I was wrong about all of it.
Because Tai-Lung spared us.
"Tigress!" I heard a voice in my ear again, it was Viper.
"Hey, are you alright?" She repeated herself
I began blinking, was I alright? "Yeah, I think so."
"Well you looked like you were lost in thought for a minute, are... you thinking about that fight with Tai-Lung?" Viper inquired, with her eyes full of worry and concern.
"No no... Nothing like that." I was lying. "I was thinking about Master Shifu. I'm... worried about him."
"You?" Monkey leaned towards me, looking deeply confused. "Worried? Are you sure you're alright, Tigress?"
Did I put my foot in my mouth? Do I actually worry about others? "I-I'm fine, Monkey. Really." I shook my head, once again losing myself in thought. Another question was sailing through my brain and I had no concrete answer for it. How or what do my friends really think of me? Do they think I'm heartless? Do they think I'm weak? Do they still believe I'm a good leader?
"Well she does bring up a good point." Mantis chimed in, temporarily suppressing my thoughts. "Maybe we should go check on Master Shifu, he did fight Tai-Lung on his own, and ... I mean... he wasn't the one who put this hole in the ground. So he could be in bad shape."
"This ... hole." I turned around to look at the giant blast radius that was still partially smoking with golden steam and essence. "You're right, Mantis... It wasn't Shifu that defeated Tai-Lung today. It was Po."
"Yeah?" Crane stepped forward, with Viper still draping off his neck.
"So since it was Po. Then what technique was used in order to make a blast like this?" I questioned my friends, turning to each of their confused faces. "Was Po taught something we were not?"
"Good question." Mantis tapped his face with a pincer. "But, you think Master Shifu's really going to answer a question like... You know, considering he can answer anything."
"Mantis is right." Viper slithered down from Crane's neck. "Master Shifu may be in dire need of medical attention."
"Or a reprieve from Po." Monkey quickly added with a grin.
"I think we should go check on him, right away." Viper finished, rolling her eyes while trying not to get too upset with Mantis.
"But Po should be there already." I interjected, nearly putting my foot in my mouth with redundancy.
"Yes... And Po isn't his only student." Crane spoke without looking back at me. He was following Viper with a brisk clip. "We should go check on him."
"But what about the Valley? It's in shambles!" I shouted after the Furious Five in some odd manner of stalling.
Why wasn't I concerned with Master Shifu's health, even though I claimed to be only a moment before?
Aside from lying; Why was I making excuses?
Why was I more interested in these craters than my own adoptive father?
With a deep growl, I decided to suppress all my questions and follow after my friends, to find Master Shifu. Praying that he was alive.
Me and the Furious Five reached the Jade Palace in record time. We had clearly arrived after Po, but we weren't very far behind. We couldn't have been loitering in the battle-scarred Valley of Peace for very long. So ... I couldn't understand why Master Shifu and The Dragon Warrior were lying side by side as though they were sun bathing.
"What in..." Mantis half grunted to himself. He only made those noises when he was seeing something his insect brain couldn't comprehend, immediately. Interestingly enough, if I were able, I'd be making the same noises.
"Uh... Guys?" Monkey spoke silently. "Is it just me or ... am I seeing all this correctly?"
Crane's beak was hanging wide open, but he still managed to comment. "You mean... aside from; the ruined Hall of Warriors, the Missing Dragon Scroll, the scorched floor, disheveled scroll cabinets, mangled, or better yet, broken ceiling, broken and mislodged melee weapons and the scattered remnants of the stairs cascaded all across the hall?"
"Yeah..." Monkey paused, "Aside from all that."
"Then yes." Viper cleared her throat, now getting the attention of the Dragon Warrior and Master Shifu. "I believe you are seeing what everyone else was."
The pandas jumped to their feet like they were trying to hide a dirty secret of some sort. Their body language was nervous, like they were embarrassed that we arrived to see them lying so close to one another. I'd think something strange was going on, but I know better than to think that of my Master, and the fat prodigy the Dragon Warrior. But... if I know better, why were they so nervous? I hope they weren't assuming that we weren't going to arrive to check on Master Shifu.
"Oh, hey guys!" Po called out to us, somehow losing his nervous appearance and switching it to his casual... Everyday... Annoying self. "So good you could show up."
"Yes..." I responded to Po, clearly showing my disregard for his sudden, unconcerned attitude. "Here we are, to check on our Master after such a taxing battle."
Po took a step away, as the Furious Five and I, all approached Master Shifu and knelt down before him.
"Master." All five of us spoke in unison, showing our respect.
"Ah, please... There's no need for that right now." Master Shifu coughed as he spoke to us. He tried clearing his throat to mask his discomfort and instead immediately broke out into a savage fit of rough coughing.
"Master!" I jumped up to grab Master Shifu as he was losing his balance. But somehow, Shifu was caught by the Dragon Warrior, long before my paws even reached his kimono. But even still I wasn't able to stop myself from stepping forward, it was a natural instinct for me to move forward, without stopping; and today it was a curse.
I would assume that Po's first reaction is to grab the closest thing he touches, if he senses some type of danger. And his second reaction is to attempt to squeeze it against himself... So, since I decided to show my concern for my Master, I was now apart of a three person group hug, with Master Shifu quite uncomfortably in the middle.
"I... appreciate the concern, but seriously... Put me down, Po." I didn't give him time to respond, and struggled out of his grip instead. Master Shifu fell to the floor on his feet, still coughing but not nearly as hard as before.
"Yes Po... Your concern is flattering but, I don't believe suffocating a choking victim is the proper way to show that concern." Master Shifu then cleared his throat and began to breathe heavily, clearly showing that he had been greatly injured in the battle.
"Master Shifu, you're hurt!" Viper slithered forward, again her eyes were full of concern.
"I am fine, Viper." Shifu protested, but he began to cough again when finished speaking. Our Master was covering his mouth with his fist while coughing, a polite gesture. But we, as kung-fu masters, were far too well trained. Even though our Master could conceal the sight, there was no way for him to conceal the scent of blood.
"Master Shifu, please. You're wounded. You need to rest." I spoke, approaching Master Shifu. But again, before I was able to come in contact with my adoptive father, Po somehow managed to cut in.
"Oh no! Master Shifu! You're hurt! Real bad too!" Po's over-zealous attempt at showing concern were almost embarrassing, if not for the fact that they were genuine.
Master Shifu released a light sigh, to prevent him from hacking up more of his own blood. "...Well I suppose I may be a bit bruised."
"Bruised?" Master Monkey spoke up, but surprisingly he with held is usual edgy humor. "Master Shifu, you look terrible. I've never seen you so injured..."
Master Shifu's gaze turned to Monkey, an a small, but warm smile appeared for a moment. "Monkey." He spoke, then dropped to his knees, coughing furiously.
I wanted to start barking out orders, but Master Shifu found his way off the floor and into Po's large arms before I could. Our Master clearly wasn't happy to be hoisted into the air like a sick child, but the sad truth was, the most tender of all of us was Po. Our Master taught us to endure our pain, and to revel in it... However I've never had to endure an internal injury with the symptoms looking as bad as what my Master was going through. Po was furiously shifting his head about the Hall of Warriors, as if he were looking for some place to lay our Master, but the hall was nothing more than splintered wood, mislodged weaponry, broken stone and scorched earth. There was no place for Shifu to rest here.
"What should we do for Master Shifu, guys? He's hurt bad!" Po repeated himself, while my friends looked back and forth at each other.
"We need to get him to a doctor." Viper spoke up.
"Yeah, a doctor. And Master Shifu needs a warm bedroll to lay in." Crane added, running through a plan in his own head.
"Oh right." Mantis also spoke up, leaping onto Monkey's shoulders. "Do we have any hot water?"
"Hot... Water?" I coughed, trying to understand Master Mantis' train of thought. "Are you... trying to serve our Master, tea?"
"T-tea. Tea?" Mantis blinked, as if he were remembering something. "Oh right! TEA! Uh... yeah, that's what I was getting at."
I brought a paw to my face, "Tea probably isn't the best solution, Mantis. And Viper... The Valley of Peace is in shambles right now. All the villagers evacuated when Tai-Lung was on the war path."
"Oh no!" Viper gasped, "Was the Doctor's Office destroyed?"
I shook my head, "Not from what I saw, but Dr. Goose was at the front of the line when we were evacuating. She wouldn't be back in her office and setting up for another few hours."
"God, you're right." Monkey interrupted, placing a hand over his eyes. "That woman takes -foooorever, to see you when you're in the waiting room."
"I know right." Mantis chimed in, in his usual comedic fashion. "And those scrolls lying around... Gah, how old are they really? From the 9th Dynasty or something?"
Viper hissed and slapped Monkey and Mantis across each of their tiny heads. "Hey! Mater Shifu, remember!"
Monkey was now holding his head with both hands, covering his bald spot from another strike. "Yes, Viper. I remember. So... We need to find Master Shifu a bed, and... some medical supplies. Right?"
Crane nodded, stepping up to the conversation. "Why not put Master Shifu in his own room for now? The comfortable surroundings will make him feel better while we seek aid."
Shifu sighed, "I'm not in a coma..."
Crane gave a nervous laugh, "Oh right. Sorry Master."
"It's fine, Crane... And all of you, you shouldn't be worrying so much. I'm sure I'm suffering from no more than a cracked rib, and a damaged chi current... Possibly also a concussion, and a runny nose."
"Hehe, runny nose." Monkey chuckled, and swiftly received a hard crack across his butt by Viper's tail. "YEOWCH!"
"It's your own fault!" Viper hissed at the Golden Langur, as the rest of us sighed. This scene was all too familiar... But at least they were taking Master Shifu's advice.
"But," Shifu interrupted. "I believe I will need some time to rest. I will recover from my injuries gradually. So, everyone... Go do whatever you've intended, but allow me to rest for a while first. At least... for an hour or so."
"Really?" Mantis looked back and forth, clearly confused. "An hour? Why so long Master?"
I decided to interrupt this time. "Yes Master... Really? An hour? That's a long time to wait for medical aid."
"That's about how long he'd be waiting at Dr. Goose's." Mantis quipped with a grin, only to be hit by Master Viper again.
"Yes well, even though Monkey is correct. I need that long for my chi to re-align with my spirit, and ... I can use the time to think."
"But Master?" Po looked confused this time, probably now speaking from his brain rather than his heart. "I thought you said you were at peace? What more is there to think about?"
"..." Master Shifu remained silent, and without answer or usher, Po began to carry Shifu away to his room. The Giant Panda, still looked puzzled, but I was sure that Master Shifu would leave him guessing in his own silence. Master Shifu wasn't the type to suddenly show compassion, or at least... That's the Master Shifu I remember.
Po and Master Shifu vanished from sight, out the Hall of Warriors and I sighed, turning to my friends.
"I'm worried about Master Shifu." I voices my concerns, and this time my friends agreed with me, instead of questioning my concern.
"I am too," Viper sighed, looking down at the ruined floor. "Master Shifu was barely on his feet when we arrived."
"Actually he wasn't on his feet, he was on his back." Monkey added, not joking this time. "He must have been in a serious battle."
Crane clapped his beak while nodding. "He was fighting Tai-Lung. Somehow, even after 20 years of sitting in prison... That guy was far more powerful than all five of us. I mean, look at the damage in this place."
I, and the rest of the furious five, followed through with Crane's request. If there was anything one thing Master Crane was great at, it was attention to detail.
"See the ceiling?" Crane pointed upwards, at the multiple entry and exit wounds the roof of this temple has suffered. "Not only would we get chewed out for days for doing damage like that, it would also take a substantial amount of force to get through the construction beams and the tiles of the roof. We've had to fight on top of the palace before and those tiles don't break easy." Crane began to explain, pointing at the ceiling's holes.
I was nodding while Crane spoke, what he was saying was true.
"And all across the floor." Crane redirected our gaze to floor. "The scorch marks... One of Master Oogway's oil burning braziers... But what's strange about them is that there are intense scorch marks further from where the actual brazier tipped over."
"Yeah..." Monkey scratched his hairy chin. "You would think that the base of the fire would be the most burned."
"I would." Crane turned and pointed around the Hall. "And these weapons... We all know they're legendary, but they're also on display. They wouldn't be sharpened, because children are allowed in the Hall of Warriors, and it would be tragic if a child was hurt on a weapon that belonged to a legend of the past."
"Well, what about the Sword of Heroes? That's sharp, isn't it? Po said he nicked his finger on the Legendary Blade." Viper slithered over to Crane, trying to make a point.
Crane turned his gaze back down to Viper. "Viper, you know as well as I do, that the Sword of Heroes only works when it's being swung around. It's magical properties don't apply when it's stationary."
"Yeah?" Mantis chimed in. "What about the Invisible Trident of Destiny?"
Crane rolled his eyes, "Yeah? Well can you find it?"
"Clearly not man, it's invisible!" Mantis retorted.
"And that's because it's not here..." Crane then slowly began pointing out weapons lodged into the walls and floor of the Hall. "These weapons in the hall, aren't dangerous to anyone. At most, they're valuable, expensive and precious to Master Shifu, but they certainly aren't dangerous, or at least not to a limp touch."
"So..." I opened up to speak again. "All the weapons stabbed into the floor, you think are a show of Tai-Lung's strength? We can all do that, Crane."
"Well I'm well a ware of that, Tigress. But, the point I'm trying to make is this..." Crane approached the Sacred Moon Pool, pointing at a large one handed blade. "This weapon is different from the rest... I can feel some strange power emanating from it, even though I know it's just a plain sword."
"But... It's just a plain sword!" Monkey spoke up with his version of a new revelation.
Crane sighed, ignoring Monkey. "What's strange about it is that... I can tell this weapon has some strange power put into it, but... I don't know what it is."
Viper slithered over to Crane and the sword to smell at it. "Crane's right, I can tell there is energy here, but... I don't know what it is either. How did this happen?"
Mantis leapt off of Monkey's shoulder and began poking at rubble around the Hall. "Hey... Is that the same energy that's coming off these rock pieces? Because all these rocks seem to be empowered too ... Some how."
I dropped to a knee to get at Mantis' level and picked up a few fragments of what was clearly the front stairs of the Hall of Warriors. I could feel it too. This energy that everyone else was talking about. It was chi, clearly... But, I was apparently the only person who knew that, since... No one else said it. I picked up a few broken shards of stair in my paw, and rolled them about, as if I was looking for clues to a good mystery. These stones were nothing but rubble but... There was clearly chi burning across the surface of each stone... As if the original rock this came from was destroyed with chi.
"I'm not really sure what it means." Crane turned to everyone. "But I do know this has to do with Master Shifu, Tai-Lung and Po."
"Po?" I stood up, dropping the rocks in my possession and dusting off my chest. "I wouldn't think that Po had anything to do with all the latent energy still present after the battle."
"Oh?" Crane turned to me, looking interested in what I had to say. "Well I'm no Master at reading minds. So, you want to fill me in on how you know this?"
I paused, "Well... I don't. But... Really. Po? You think he had anything to do with this? Master Shifu and Tai-Lung were the only fighters here."
Mantis jumped up into my open palm. "The whole time? What if he appeared at the end and started shooting power everywhere?"
I turned my gaze down to Mantis, glaring at him. He got the hint.
"Heh right... Stupid idea." He admitted, then jumped back down.
"Okay Tigress, I understand that you don't see the same power and skill in Po as... Master Shifu does. But, he did defeat, Tai-Lung." Crane spoke while re-examining the sword in front of him.
"How are we completely sure he did, Crane?" I retorted.
"What?" Crane replied, confused again. "What do you me-"
I interrupted. "How are we all so sure Po actually killed, Tai-Lung. I mean, Po clearly is the Dragon Warrior of Legend, and he did somehow manage to best Tai-Lung, but... Did he really know what he was doing at the time? And how do we know that Tai-Lung didn't just... give up?"
Viper slithered towards me a little, sitting up. "How can you say that? How? Or... really, Why would Tai-Lung just... Give up?"
"Yeah," Monkey added in, "Tai-Lung was practically at the finish line. Why would he give up after all this time?"
I sighed, looking down at my feet amongst the rubble. "Maybe... Tai-Lung discovered what the Dragon Scroll truly was..." I wanted to whisper those words, but I didn't. I couldn't. I didn't even have to look at the faces of my allies. I knew they were all changing from confused and concerned to disappointed and hurt. We all trained for years to be the perfect warriors in our respective styles of Kung-Fu, but... only to discover that all that back breaking training, exercise and conditioning was for nothing. That hurt deeply.
"Maybe Tai-Lung wrestled the Scroll from the Dragon Warriors hands, and gazed upon the most sacred of all the Scrolls of Kung-Fu and discovered that what he was fighting and dying for... was a fraud." I turned my gaze back up to everyone, who was looking as depressed as I figured they would be. "Master Oogway was a mysterious man, but he was never a cruel man. Even still... He said and did things that none of us could understand, even after days and weeks of contemplation."
"Tigress is right." Mantis chimed in. "I always thought Master Oogway was a lunatic until I actually came to the Jade Palace. I hardly ever understood his riddles."
"Nobody understood his riddles... I mean, I was the closest to Master Oogway but I was left scratching my head so long I developed a bald spot."
Mantis began to laugh, "Is that why you have that?"
"Ofcourse! What? You think my entire species is bald?"
"Man... Who'd a thunk it."
I sighed, but smiled, looking over to Crane who didn't look very impressed with the situation. "So, Master Crane. You assume there's something going on that we, the Furious Five, are completely ignorant to. Correct?"
Crane nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly how I feel. I think we, the Furious Five, are actually being kept in the dark on some new Kung-Fu secrets."
"Well then..." I turned, to look out of the Hall of Warriors, out to the afternoon sky. "Then I say we go visit our wounded Master and ask him directly."