Prologue
Nightmare
"Sister!" the black furred warrior shouted as he was harshly pulled away from the temple. His crimson eyes gazed out at her glassy with tears that streamed down his fur. Tigress stretched her hand out as if to take his paw but gently pulled it down and turned the only sound in her head being the screams of the boy as he was dragged from her sight. Nothing lasts forever she had always told herself. Now, though she had trained for years, the hardest thing for her to do was to make sure she didn't turn her head to stare. Slowly she lifted her eyes risking one last glance at the boy that she had let her guard down and revealed herself to, but instead she was greeted by rain. Thunder and lightning all around her as bits of the temple was being lifted from the very earth itself and rocks were cascading around her as if the floor she was on was falling from the sky itself. Before her stood a warrior wearing pants of flowing purple silk with a dragon adornment on the side, whose eyes were a dulled bloodied red. He grinned revealing his teeth in which two of them were capped in iron. She gasped as he darted towards her his claws leaving sparks on the very earth as he opened his jaws wide ready to enclose them upon her. In a splash of blood that was her own she saw her own terrified face and slowly her mouth began to form the beast's name.
"No!" she shouted as she awoke on the ground her body flush with cold sweat and her fur matted down against her body. She tensed up as she began to hear voices whisper but soon they died down and her body relaxed. Her tail tensed and instinctively she turned to find something to calm her down further. Laying limp behind the shelf in her room was a small stuffed rabbit that she had owned when she was a child in the orphanage. Slowly she gripped at its arm and then held it against her chest letting it rest its head on her neck. She began to sing softly to herself rocking back and forth to further calm her aching nerves. "Natsuhiboshi why are you so red? Because I had a sad dream last night. My eyes are red from the tears that I shed. Swollen as I cried."
Her soft voice was a lilting tune that Master Shifu listened to through large ears. With a twist of his palm he directed a leaf falling under the peach tree and moved it slowly towards the valley before him carrying with it the wonderful sound of her voice. He had not heard her sing that song in years and it did him well to listen to her again. However the tune was sad and with its meaning he himself felt moved to shed a tear. The tune was one that Tai-Lung had sung once before as well, and it was dear to another feline student who he had grown to care for and consider family just as he had for the snow leopard and the tiger.
"Prove to me that you are worthy to carry on as my commander." A deep voice rumbled as the large mass tapped a hand against the iron black throne of a ruler. The wolf let a gulp echo out of his throat as he raised his clawed hand directing it towards the other wolves gathered behind him each brandishing a weapon of different style and strength. He himself had a double volgue positioned upon a strap at his back. The beast snorted sending out a gust of smoky air as he laughed.
"That? A measly excuse for warriors who call themselves masters." The beast laughed running his hand along the thrones arm rest before turning his head and raising his mouth. "Gessyoku!" he bellowed.
A shadowed form slowly pushed his way out of the mist keeping his head propped up on a lean build. He didn't open his mouth or make a sound except for the labored tone of his breathing which sent spirals of smoke out of the fabric covering his mouth. The wolves immediately drew backwards starting to hold their weapons out in fear. Gessyoku grinned under the fabric and took a slow and tantalizingly calm step towards the canines before stopping a foot in front of the beast who had commanded him. "Beat my greatest warrior and you shall all consider yourselves my right hand henchmen." The beast laughed before snapping his fingers. Gessyoku tensed a bit and then lunged darting above the lead wolf and landing at the center of them all with hands outstretched as the mist forced away from him revealing jet black fur. One of the wolves found the courage in him to charge with two knives outstretched to slice. The knives made impact against keratin as Gessyoku twisted hard snapping the blades before spinning on his heels and slamming his back left foot into the warriors neck listening to the audible crack of bones before the beast slumped to the ground. A second wolf found his chance to lunge towards the panthers exposed back but he turned abruptly edging back and then shoving his fists hard into the wolfs ribs shattering four of them before the canine flew backwards and connected with a pillar. Two others found the opportunity to leap towards him but he turned again leaping into the air and twisting which sent both animals back to the ground skull first as three slash wounds were embedded in their skulls. More and more the bodies dropped around him and with each drop he seemed to get more brutal in his tactics until at last standing before him was the lead wolf who had drawn his double volgue in fear.
Gessyoku paused and held his paws out edging his right one back so that the left one was more extended. The wolf howled out and charged edging the volgue back and then lunging sending the blade towards the paw. Gessyoku took one small step foreword and then pushed his right hand out connecting with the blade edge. The metal warped at his touch and then pushed down embedding into the earth to the wolfs surprise. Gessyoku then moved his left paw up connecting it into the canine's lower jaw and being satisfied by hearing the crick of the jawbone popping. A joyous sound to him and as the wolf fell in agony he lifted up his foot looking up at the great beast which laughed in approval and motioned for him to be done with it. The panther nodded and let his foot drop hard landing down onto the wolfs wounded skull.
Thunder and lightning cracked close to the city of Wu Zhang and Shifu tensed raising his body up to stare at the darkening clouds. His ears twitched as he began to hear the faint echoes of a laugh like the thunder from which it came and he backed away from it feeling fear again in his heart. "A storm is coming with the roar of vengeance inside of it. My students must be prepared and one in particular must be ready." He whispered turning his head to stare at the dojo from his perch. He watched as a single lamp went out but could still see the shadow of Master Tigress' form pushing back into her cot. Both of them had thought that a nightmare had died that day when it was taken but now Shifu knew that the nightmare had only gotten worse. Much much worse.
Set after Kung Fu Panda 2. All characters belong to their respective owners. Please Comment.