Master Oogway sat peacefully, admiring the tranquil silence the Spirit Realm offered. It was a welcome, serene silence, perfect for the amount of meditation he did on a regular basis. A few days after Kai's defeat, almost every master who resided here in the spirit realm wished to rest, not because they were physically tired, but the entire ordeal with Kai proved to be rather mentally exhausting.
Every master except Tai Lung, who happened to be headed this way, Oogway sensed.
Tai Lung had been furious ever since he regained existence. Mostly because he had proved to be a formidable adversary to the yak, but was defeated nonetheless. Defeat was not something Tai Lung was used to, as he had rarely been in defeated in his life. In fact, other than by Oogway, Tai Lung had only ever been defeated by Po (he refused to call him by the title Dragon Warrior). At first, he assured himself that whenever he saw Kai again, he would ruthlessly defeat him. However, when it seemed evident that Kai was not coming back, he decided to go looking for him. He had searched the majority of the spirit realm, but there was no sign of him. Just when he was about the end his search, convincing himself that Kai had run off out of fear of his retaliation, a master noticed his frantic search and told him that he had been defeated by a master of chi.
And Tai Lung knew who it must have been. At that time, all the other masters had been taken by Kai, as Kai and stated triumphantly that he was the last thing standing in his way to Oogway. Not to mention Oogway was the only master in the spirit realm that Tai Lung knew of that had practiced chi.
He thought back to his first attempt to take the dragon scroll, when Oogway had blocked his chi, and grimaced. Tai Lung had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that Oogway was never one to take lightly when it came to battle, and he had learned that the hard way. With a sigh, he set off for Oogway. He was not looking forward to this encounter, but he did want answers, and he knew Oogway was the one who would have them.
When he finally reached Oogway, he was surprised to find him seemingly waiting for him. Master Oogway sat under his tree, with a knowing smile that brought a scowl to the snow leopard's face. Tai Lung never did like the tortoise's ability to see through almost everyone, and he had a keen sense of doing so. However, he decided to briefly ignore this trait and begin the conversation when Oogway began to speak.
"Well, what a pleasant surprise," Master Oogway began good-naturedly. "I wasn't expecting another visitor for a while."
Tai Lung looked away with a scowl. Another thing he didn't like about the old master was that he was seemingly unable to hold a grudge against anyone, no matter what they did.
"I have no intention of staying!" Tai Lung responded sharply, taking a breath before speaking again. "I just came to ask you-"
"What happened to Kai?" Oogway interrupted, finishing Tai Lung's sentence. Tai Lung glared at Oogway, but nodded, not wanting to say more. Oogway stood up in front of Tai Lung, that smile still present on his face.
"He was defeated by a master of chi. One who is truly in touch with the universe and those in it." Oogway said enigmatically. Tai Lung rolled his eyes.
"Is that 'Oogway' for saying that it was you?" He asked, annoyed. Oogway chuckled at his apparent irritation.
"No, I'm afraid I was not the one to defeat him. He had taken my chi as well, after all." Oogway said calmly. Tai Lung's eyes widened in surprise, and his bewildered expression caused Oogway to chuckle once more.
"What?!" Tai Lung asked, unnerved by the tortoise's calm demeanor, and the lack of logic it seemed to have. "If it wasn't you who was it?
"The Dragon Warrior, of course." Oogway answered pleasantly, as if he was unaware that this very answer would throw the snow leopard into absolute rage. Quite the contrary, he simply braced himself for Tai Lung's expected bout of rage.
He was surprised when, instead of rage on Tai Lung's face, he saw resignation, if not slight irritation. Tai Lung placed his hand on his forehead, as if he had a headache, and sighed.
"Of course he did." Tai Lung said exasperated. He sat down, turned away from Oogway to face the sea of gold before them. A moment of silence passed between the two, until Tai Lung spoke up.
"So," He began hesitantly, as he was unsure if he even wanted the answer, "Where is the panda now?" He asked. Oogway joined him in looking out to the realm.
"He returned to the living realm." The master replied. He glanced at Tai Lung, still surprised at his calm composure. "I can't say I blame him, as I doubt he'd want another battle against you any time soon." He added good-naturedly.
Tai Lung scoffed, but the corners of his mouth were turned up in the slightest of smiles. He stood up, preparing to leave. "Well, I guess there is one good that about that panda." He began, now with an enigmatic tone of his own. Oogway looked at him curiously.
"And what is that?" He asked.
"At least he didn't just beat me at kung fu, he beats everyone at everything." Tai Lung replied simply. Oogway chuckled in agreement.
With that, Tai Lung left, leaving Oogway still slightly confused on how pleasant that conversation went. But Oogway, never one to dwell on such things, decided that whatever the reason was, it was the proper reason. Reassuming his position under the peach tree, he began to meditate.
Tai Lung supposed he should be more upset that it was the panda that defeated Kai, but he couldn't. So what if he didn't get his rematch with Kai? He had another rematch to look forward to, and the opponent would have far more impressive accomplishments.