Kung Fu Panda: The Rise Of Kahn
Prologue
Many, many years ago in a small valley situated in the north west of china, a place called The Valley Of Warriors, a great Kung Fu legend names Master Li Shang was walking down an ally way after attacking seven thugs who had prayed on the local food store to steal Mr Ki La's money.
The Asian lion watched as he saw three cubs scrapping over a bean bun that had been slung in the trash can. One of the cubs had thick muscles and broad shoulders, was very large with red fur and black stripes adorning his body. He was about five years old and he had gold and red eyes. The second cub had a golden coat with rosettes that matched those of both leopards and jaguars, he was a Jagulep, a hybrid between a leopard and a jaguar. He was also muscled, but was smaller and less developed than the male tiger cub. He must have been around four years old, and the third cub, a very young cub, maybe three years old. She had white fur and black stripes, she was clearly a tiger but with a white coat, she was also small in the extreme but very agile and quick with eyes the colour of Zinc, silver and grey with a blue hue to them.
The female tiger took the bean bun and turned to bolt when she caught sight of Master Li Shang standing watching them all fight in the ally way. He could see that the two males possessed strength and courage, and the young girl possessed cunning, agility and masterful tactics. He smiled to himself as the female cub stood there and growled, ears flat to her head standing her ground.
"Calm down child, I will not take your… meal… off you." Li Shang spoke in a soothing voice that made the male cubs turn to look at him too. "I was watching you all fight, you have good techniques. Where are your parents?"
"We have no parent's Master, we are just street children." The white cub said to Li Shang.
"And what is your name, child?" Li Shang asked the young cub.
"I am Taliah. These are my friends, Shiron and Kahn." Taliah said motioning towards the other starved young cubs.
"Why were you fighting them then, dear Taliah?" I asked the child, she looked at the bean bun and then said in a small voice.
"I'm hungry. It's survival of the fittest out here and I am not the fittest so I needed food." She said before looking at the mouldy bean bun. "Here, I'm not hungry anymore." Taliah said before rolling the bean bun to the two boys.
"Taliah, you can't not eat again." Shiron said to the girl, "That's just stupid. If anybody shouldn't eat it should be Kahn, he stole all the food for the last three nights!"
"Shut it, Shiron. Just because you're too small and weak to fight me for the food." Kahn growled at Shiron.
"We shouldn't have to fight for the food! It should be an equal share! That's why we agreed to stick together in the first place!" Shiron yelled at Kahn.
"That was before you insisted we take that thing with us!" Kahn pointed at Taliah before Shiron growled viciously at him.
"Children, stop fighting. I am prepared to offer you a choice." Li Shang said to the children, "I would like all three of you to come with me to the Ruby Palace and train in the art of Kung Fu." I said.
The three children were so starved they did not care what the condition was that they moved into the ruby palace, as long as they got a bed and food the children were happy.
Many years passed and the children all became some of the greatest kung fu masters to ever live. When Master Li Shang passed away, the palace was left to the three cubs to do with as they saw fit. They carried on practicing kung fu, but as they all matured into young adults, one thing came clear, that both Shiron and Kahn were madly in love with the beautiful Master Taliah who was now a beautiful tigress.
Both courted Taliah but she only responded with the same in difference to them both. Kahn tried to impress Taliah with great riches he had earned from missions, he promised her great power, dominance and fame. He gave her expensive gifts and showed off to her every day trying to catch her eye and win her heart. Shiron tried to impress Taliah in other ways, he talked to her, wrote her poems and love songs, showed her small chunks of the world and told her he would take her anywhere she wanted and above all, he showed Taliah that life was no all about Kung Fu, he showed her the beauty of life and the beauty of the world around them.
Eventually after years of trying, Shiron became almost bitter towards Kahn, and Kahn became angry and reserved around Shiron. They hated each other because they both knew what the other one wanted, but whereas Kahn thought he deserved Taliah's hand, Shiron was convinced that he didn't deserve her hand. He thought that without any shadow of a doubt that what Taliah needed was a man like Kahn to look after her. That night he went over to Kahn's home and knocked on the wooden door asking to speak with him.
Shiron gave Kahn permission to wed Taliah, finally admitting defeat. But that Shiron did not know, was that over the many months he had courted Taliah, she had fallen for him and his sweet ways over Kahn's vindictive and cruel nature. As she overheard the two talking, Taliah was enraged that Shiron had given up on her and the next morning out of spite the young woman accepted Kahn's marriage proposal in front of Shiron.
As time passed, Taliah began to regret her decision, but she went through with the wedding not knowing anyway to tell Kahn she didn't want to marry him. When the time came to bed Kahn however, she realised that she could not do it, she could not bed her husband because somewhere deep in her heart it felt like a betrayal to her real love, Shiron.
As she told Kahn that she had made a mistake and that she could not be with him, Kahn became outraged, raising his claws and raking them across his wife's face, leaving long, bloodied scars on her once beautiful face. He then forced her to submit onto him, and by morning he had gotten what he wanted.
Feeling scared, exhausted and alone, Taliah waited until her husband was asleep and then in the dead of morning just before the sun was about to rise, she pulled on her dark cloak and ran out into the centre of her town and to the home of Shiron.
She beat on his door, her paws quivering as the door splintered under her heavy banging. "Shiron! Shiron!" She cried in vain.
Shiron went to the door and opened it, not knowing who the stranger was who was beating on his door at such a strange hour. As Taliah took down her hood, he realised who she was by the colour of her eyes, getting over his initial revulsion of the blood that splattered her body and her wounded flesh, he pulled her inside and began to run around his house panicking as he found supplies to medicate her wounds with.
When he had water, a cloth, medicine and dressings ready to clean the deep gashes on her cheek, he sat down beside her and began to attend to her wounds, carsing her cold skin as he did so.
"Who did this to you, Taliah?" Shiron asked his love.
"It was Kahn." She murmured and then he hear a sob come out of her lips. "I wouldn't bed him so he…" Shiron snarled in anger at her words, knowing what she was going to say.
"By god, he will pay for this cruel act he had bestowed upon you!" Shiron hissed to Taliah as he carried on cleaning her wounds and then he said, "This is my fault. I should have never left you alone with him."
"It's not your fault. It's my own. I was too spiteful to just tell him no and tell him who I really loved." Taliah said to Shiron.
"So that's why you never let any of us be with you, because you loved somebody else?" Shiron asked Taliah, wanting the truth from her.
"No Shiron. I wouldn't be with any of you because I didn't like you fighting over me, I didn't want Kahn to hurt you. And when you gave up on me… I… I thought I'd try hurt you by marrying Kahn but I only hurt myself." Taliah whispered to Shiron.
"Wait… I'm the one you love?" Shiron said and then he began to tremble.
"Of course." Taliah murmured yet again, smiling lightly and then grimacing in pain as pain shot through her cheek at the action.
"I love you too. I only let you go because I thought you loved Kahn, I thought he would be better for you, but now…" Shiron growled and then took a piece of dressing and started to attach it to Taliah's face.
"But I was a fool, and now I paid for that in the worst way possible. Shiron?" Taliah asked.
"What, Taliah?" Shiron said trying to smile at her to make her feel more at ease.
"Please run away with me."
Months passed as the two rouge felines ran ahead, by the end of the third month, Taliah was large with pregnancy and was ready to give birth. As she gave birth, her child, a daughter that she named Ta Li after herself and her master Li Shang. The young cub was born with bright red fur and fiery red and amber eyes, so there was no doubt on who the father was but Shiron swore to raise the child as if it was his own from the first moment he had seen the small bundle in his lover's arms.
More months passed and Ta Li, Taliah and Shiron travelled very far north near more villages that they thought they may be able to make home in, but that was the moment when Kahn had finally hunted them down again and had sworn vengeance on them for breaking his heart.
A battle commenced between Taliah, Shiron and their opponent Kahn. Both sides were very good, but eventually Kahn was overcome with sheer power and cunning from both of his previous companions. Forced to travel deep into the valley, Kahn swore to return and take what was rightfully his and he also promised that he would kill his cub.
Taliah and Shiron knew that they had to do what was right by Ta Li so they travelled even further north, finding a pretty desolate village in a place called 'The Valley Of Peace,' and they said their final good byes to the small tiger cub and left her at the door of the Bao Gu Orphanage.
Taliah yet again heavy with child plodded on into the night with her lover Shiron, going deep into the wilderness to have her second child and this child, she promised would be protected from all harm. She named the child Bei Li, she had her mother's white coat with black stripes but her father's leopard and jaguar rosettes also. Bei Li also had her mother's eyes and her fathers tufted hair.
It is said that one day, Kahn would come back and take Taliah and Ta Li back with the power of ten thousand soldiers behind him. It was also prophesized that only ten warriors could stop him and her is how the prophecy goes:
One of the dragon's heart,
One from the loins of Kahn,
One of the kingdom of the trees,
One from the kingdom of the conifers,
One born under Orion's Belt,
One from the kingdom of the sky,
One from the grass lands of thame,
One born under the dusk of days,
One born of his death drawn hand,
One who had been to the edge and back.
Okay, so this is just the back story leading onto the real story of everything what happened. What do you all think? Please review! This is only my second Kung Fu panda story and the other one was just a one shot! So this is the first Multi-Chapter KFP I've written! :D