A/N: Well, I hope you liked the first chapter of this story. But now… all the sadness comes. Come on; you could have figured out by the ending of the last chapter! So yeah; this chapter involves things that are the reason why this story is rated T.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Truth of Tall Tales
Huge Loss

It was the scream that woke up Liwei. He immediately sat up, turning his head around rapidly. "Lan, was that you?" he asked his sister. Sometimes the girl would have horrible nightmares so not even their mother could get her to calm down. When that happened, Liwei started to tell her one of the stories he made it just for her. It would distract her and in the end it would stop her tears.

But his sister was still sleeping and only lifted her head a tiny bit when he called her name. "What?" she asked, her voice drowsy from sleep.

Liwei could hear that his parents were getting up, and so he understood that he could not just stay in bed. "Never mind. Go back to sleep," he told Lan.

She did not need him to repeat his words, as her head quickly fell down again and she was once again back in her dream world. Liwei quickly took his pants and vest back on, and quietly left the room. Closing the door behind him, he saw his parents at the door that was leading out of the house.

"What's going on?" he whispered. As he came closer, he saw that Cuifen was busy helping Renshu with putting on his armor. His sword was leaning against the wall. "Are you going to fight?"

"Liwei, go back inside," his father ordered, finally putting the rest of the metal on his body. He then attached the sword to his belt and took the first step outside.

The young tiger looked at his mother, and fear started to fill him when he saw her big eyes. She was still wearing her nightclothes, and her arms were shaking slightly when she shoved him back to his room.

"What's going on?" he asked her again, grabbing her paws to prevent her from forcing him back.

She bit her lip and turned her head away. "I am not sure. Liwei, just please go back inside," he pleaded him.

Her eyes and voice almost got him to retreat back to his room. But then he heard more scream coming from outside and the smell of smoke filled his nostrils. Looking at the now open door, Liwei could see that his father had already left.

"Liwei, go back now."

But he pulled himself away from her, running towards the cupboard in the living room where he knew his knife was waiting for him. It was not big, and he never really used it to fight. But a dagger was better than nothing.

"Liwei!"

"Stay with Lan," he ordered, backing out of the room. A part of him was absolutely terrified, but he needed to know what was going on. Besides; his father was out there and maybe he needed his help.

Cuifen took a step forward as she wanted to go after his son, but then remembered her little daughter in the room just beside her. Forcing her tears down, she quietly looked inside to see that Lan was sleeping. Closing the door again, Cuifen could do nothing but wait for her husband and her son to return.


"Dad!" Liwei called, running into the darkness. "Dad!" As he ran down the hill, he had the sickening feeling that he was inside a nightmare. The peaceful village that he knew so well, was now turned into ruins and fire.

Around his neighbors he could see strangers, warriors, with weapons pointed at his friends. They were sneering, growling, hate in their eyes. Liwei tried to avoid them, but sometimes they would get a glimpse of him. Then he would lose them by turning around corners or jumping over piles of what once had been a house.

But he could not find his father. The smoke made his eyes sting, and his breathing began to become labored as panic filled his heart. Their home was attacked.

"Liwei?"

The tiger's ears turned towards the sound. Stopping running, he slowly walked towards the heap of rocks and pieces of woods the voice had come from. Kneeling down, he removed some of it and found to his surprise a goat.

"Mister Bai," he muttered, helping up his neighbor. Bai was the person that lived closest to the tiger family, just down the hill. The goat was not exactly young, and Liwei could clearly remember the day Bai's wife had died. The young tiger had cried, remembering how the goat once had given him sweets to cheer him up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, fine. Just couldn't get out of the way before the building crushed," the gat explained while trying to find his staff that helped him walking.

Liwei's golden eyes spotted the long piece of wood. Grabbing it carefully, he gave it to Bai. "What's going on?" he asked again, hoping to get an answer this time.

Bai widened his eyes as if he first now realized who he was talking to. "Liwei, you have to get your mother and sister out of here!"

"What's…?"

"Don't you get it, boy? It's Tengfei! He has come back!" The goat started shaking over is whole body. "For revenge, don't you see? Your father killed two of his sons last time he scared that bear away. Now he is back, and I don't even dare to think of what will happen if he finds your family."

Liwei stared at him, his face frozen in shock. He sure had heard that his father and some of the men from the village had attacked Tengfei's home, as they thought it lied too close to the valley. That was how it had been going on for decades! Tengfei would attack, they would attack, Tengfei would attack, they would attack…

The tiger then shook his head to get himself out of his thoughts. "We gotta get you out of here." A part of him briefly reminded him that panicking villagers were all around him, but right now he could only focus at one thing.

Bai shook his head, causing his beard to swing back and forth. "No, don't think of me. It's your family you have to take care of now."


"Momma?" Lan asked as Cuifen picked her up. The older tiger sat down on Liwei's bed, while placing her daughter on her lap. The five year old had tilted her head in confusion, as if she was not sure if it all was just a prank. "Did Li and Dad go?"

"Yes, darling," her mother answered, letting her stand up so she could look her in the eyes.

Lan was not satisfied with that answer though. "Where are they?"

"Just helping out in the village; a fire happened," Cuifen quickly said, lying. "But it's far away from our home and it won't hurt anyone."

"Okay," Lan answered, not liking how sad her mother looked like. As she met her mother's eyes, she saw the same golden color as her own. People said that she looked like her mother; though, Lan thought that they were wrong, as she was much smaller than her mother.

Cuifen then pulled her daughter into a hug, gently rubbing her back. "Lan?"

"What?"

"I have taught you how to be a good girl," Cuifen said gently, still looking over the shoulder of her daughter. "Now you have to remember that, darling."

Lan's wrinkled her nose, twisting her face into an expression that she did not usually wear. She was confused, finding her mother's lines a bit funny, but on the same time deep down she was scared. Something was going on, and maybe it was more than just that fire.

Cuifen finally pulled her away to give her a kiss on the forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'll wait for them to return."

Placing Lan in her own bed, she put the covers in top of her. Lan stuck out her head to see her mother leaving the room. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Glancing nervously into the living room, Cuifen added gently, "Stay in bed."

And Lan did what she was told. Even when she heard the gasp coming from the living room and the sound of someone hitting the ground with a dull thump.


Renshu was furious. With a roar he swung his sword, but it just narrowly missed the bear in front of him. "You're getting old, Renshu," Tengfei taunted him, while circling around him.

"You made a mistake of coming here," the tiger growled threatening, gripping his sword harder. But he had only to hurt the bear a few times, and none of the cuts slowed him down.

What scared the tiger further was the fact that there was only him and about ten men from the village that had the abilities of being a warrior. Many had gotten too old since the last battle they had been part of had happened over ten years ago. When they had attacked Tengfei's family…

Now the bear had created an army of his own, and there was no way that they could beat so many warriors.

Tengfei had been waiting for him, and none of his guard attacked him unless he ordered them too. This fight was between Tengfei and Renshu. Meanwhile, the warriors would attack the innocent villagers.

"Don't you get it, Renshu?" the bear asked. His black fur was as dark as the night and some places it was gone and instead battle scars could be seen. His claws were long, sharp, just as dangerous as if he had used a blade. "You deserve this."

Renshu jumped away to avoid the attack, he then quickly made a kick to shove the bear away. "Stay away from the village," he ordered with his deep voice mixed with a growl.

"Don't you worry," Tengfei told him. "We won't kill them; they will be excellent as slaves when we take over the valley. But… then there is your family."

"Don't you touch them!" Renshu growled, leaping at his enemy again.

The bear just took a step backwards, amused by the tiger's anger. "I will destroy all of you, as the pests you are!"

With a wordless yell, Renshu swung his sword and this time he managed to create a long wound across the bear's chest. Tengfei looked down shortly, then he lifted up his head with a grin. "And when you are gone, who can protect them?"

Renshu opened his mouth, but was cut off as he heard the yell. "Dad!" Looking to the left, he saw his son in the distance. Horror was his expression and the young tiger took a step forward, even though there was no way he could reach his father with the distance that was between them.

"Liwei," the tiger breathed out, scared that his son might run towards him. Tengfei looked at the distract tiger in front of him. Then he lashed out with his paw, claws hitting the throat.

Liwei let out a strangled scream of horror as he saw his father fall. He could not be dead. He just could not! But the bear in the distance straightened up to look at him, and Liwei could see the blood on his claws.

Protect the family.

Liwei turned around, dropping on all fours as he sprinted back to his home.

Tengfei grinned, knowing that his warriors would be there before the young tiger.

Some part of him just could not believe it. It was a nightmare, nothing more than a nightmare. This was such a thing that only happened in his sister's bad dreams; murders, blood and destruction.

And now when it came so close, he saw no other solution than running. And so he did. He felt the cold earth under his paws, ragged breathing as he desperately tried to get enough air into his lungs so he could keep moving.

As he reached the house, the door was still open. It was swinging limply back and forth, its movement caused by the weak wind. "Mother!" He stepped inside, panting with a wild look in his eyes.

"Too late, boy."

He spun around. In his home a lynx was standing, holding a bloody knife. Beside him on the floor was Cuifen, his mother, lying lifelessly. It was her blood that was standing the knife; she was dead and he had killed her.

His mother that had kissed him goodnight every time he went to bed as kid. His mother that had taught how to speak, run, how to live. His mother that had taught him how to treat people the way you wished people treated you. His mother that now was dead, and he could not do a thing about it.

Liwei was shaking, mind slowly fading away until there was only hate and sorrow back. He stared at the lynx that was still grinning. He wished to kill him. He wished to take his knife and then plunge it into the lynx's heart. He wanted to yell that he was going to kill him.

But he did none of those things. Instead, he turned around, running as fast as he could. He did not even open the door; he simply smashed against it, breaking it, but he did enter the room.

And there she was, still lying in bed, staring at him with those big eyes. "Liwei?" In the next second he had picked her up, pressing her against his own body. She was alive. His sister was now the only family he had left, and now he was clinging on to her as if his own life depended on it.

Still not letting go of her, he started searching through their cupboard. "Li?" she asked him again, eyes started to be filled with scared tears. She did not understand what was going on, but she could sense his fear and panic.

It only took him some seconds before he had picked up his sister's dress and little shoes; he then stuffed everything into his pocket. They had to leave, but if she could only wear her nightdress, then the nights would become too cold for her. Where could they go? He knew they could not stay in the village, so the forest seemed like the best place to go right now.

But in his state of panic, Liwei had forgotten all about the lynx that had taken his mother's life. It was like a demon; but now Liwei had stepped into a new room where he could feel the living beating heart of someone he knew, and frankly it just felt like he had entered a safe world. At least for now.

"We gotta leave," he muttered, turning to the doorway to carry his scared sister out of here. Well, to be honest, he believed he was even more frightened than her. And it definitely did not help as he saw they could not leave their room, as a big bear and two warriors, the lynx and now also an armored pig, were standing in the doorway, blocking their way.

"Good work, Da," Tengfei said, nodding to the lynx. Liwei backed some step away while Lan buried her head in his shoulder. The bear grinned evilly as he asked the children, "What are your names?"

Liwei just stared at him, letting out something that was a mix between a sob and a growl. With his paw on his sister's back, he held her tighter as he did not want her to see their parents' murderer.

Tengfei lost his patience and picked up his sword, pointing at the two tigers. "I said; what are your names?"

"Lan." At the sound moment the little girl sobbed out her name, Liwei hissed into her ear, "Shhh."

The bear grinned, having gotten one name out of two. Meeting the boy's glance, he then looked down to stare at the crying girl. When the bear moved his glance, Liwei found no other choice. "Liwei," he muttered, thinking about how his knife was hidden in his pocket. But while carrying his sister, he could not grab it.

And then there was the fact that he was not a warrior, but those in front of him surely were. "And you are Renshu's kids?"

"Yes."

Liwei noticed the smirk on the bear's face. "Then I guess there is nothing to be mistaken." He then gave the lynx, Da, a short nod. Liwei's body tensed up when he saw the lynx's hand travel down to pick up the knife that was already stained with his mother's blood.

And, before he even knew what he was doing, he was running towards the wall. He remembered how he once, in anger, had kicked a hole in it as a little kid. Mother had scolded him, while his father had grinned, seeing his son's strength.

Embracing Lan, he took the hit by the shoulder and sure enough, the wood broke, pieces of it flying through the air. Liwei did not take the time to stop, instead he quickly placed Lan on his back, making sure she was taking a firm grip on his shoulders. "Hang on, Lan."

Dropping to all fours, he ran into the woods, disappearing in the darkness along with his sister.

Tengfei had covered his eyes as the boy smashed through the wall, but now he regretted that choice. "After them!" he ordered, growling. "The family must be destroyed!"

His warriors nodded, leaving the house and were soon joined by more comrades.

As the bear looked down, he noticed a piece of paper that was lying under the bed. Only the corner of it could be seen, but Tengfei moved it closer to him by placing his foot on it.

It was a painting of the family he was just about to destroy. And by the look of how badly it was drawn, he guessed it was the little one who had made it.

Rubbing his foot against the floor with the paper stuck in the middle, Tengfei easily destroyed the painting.


"The kids got away!"

"Go get them!"

"This way!"

Spreading out, they were about to enter the forest, but stopped as they understood how big it was. Da growled, "They can't have gone far…" He then hears a noise and spun around to see an old goat limping away from the tigers' house.

Squinting, Da called out, "You! Stop!"

Bai looked up, arms shaking of tiredness. "What?"

"You saw the children leaving," the lynx growled with the other warriors waiting behind him. "In which direction did they go?"

The goat lifted an eyebrow. "And why should I say that?"

The next second, Da had slammed his fist into the back of his head, causing him to fall forwards into the ground. Bai's shaking form finally looked up again, dirt on his face.

"Where did they go?!"

The goat lowered his head. "South," he muttered, obviously ashamed.

Da smiled; he knew everybody would speak. It was just a question about when. But then he noticed the small smile on the goat's face. "Go north," he ordered his warriors.

They looked stunned. "But didn't he…?"

"He's a friend of the family; he won't give them away." The lynx kicked the goat, causing him to groan. "Nice try, old man."

Then they left, going north into the forest. Bai lifted his head from the earth, still shaking. "Idiots," he muttered, while slowly getting to his feet. Because the goat had seen that the children went east.


Lan was crying on his back as they ran. He could feel her body shake with each sob and the tears were starting to get through his vest. Honestly, he was not even sure how he could keep himself from crying.

Right now all the mattered was just to run. He did not even look where they went in the start; he just needed to get away from the bear. But as they had been running for over an hour, and he slowly realized that they were getting away, he looked around to see what they were heading towards.

Slowing down, he finally stopped; his chest still rising and falling rapidly as he panted. "Lan?" he asked with a hoarse voice. "You can come down."

The girl did what she told, her legs shaking so much that it made his heart ache. Though, he did not look great either. His face had gotten so pale that not even his orange fur could hide it. "Come on, Lan," he muttered, holding out his arms.

Crying, she let him lift her up, and she then clung on to him as she threw her little arms around her neck. Not knowing what to say to comfort her, he just patted her back. He continued waling, though, this time he stayed on two legs so he could hold her.

"Li, who were they?" Lan finally asked, as she wanted to know what exactly had happened. She had just heard the screams, smelled the fire and seen the weapon pointed at them; all this just created a serious confusion.

"Just... bad guys doing evil stuff," Liwei gasped out, not knowing what to say. How could he tell her that they were trying to kill them?

"But that only happens in the stories," the small tiger whimpered. "Right, Li?"

The older tiger did not answer, but continued looking around. Sure enough; they had been here before. At least, he had. When he had been younger, he had built a secret hiding place out here; in case he got into a fight with his parents.

"Hey, Lan?" he said, hoping to find the right place for them to rest. He kneeled down and removed some fallen branches; and there it was. The old little cave. It was not actually a cave; more like a crack in the cliff they could both fit in.

"What's that?"

"That's our home for tonight," he muttered and put her down. They both crawled in, and he placed the branches back on so no one could see them.

As he made Lan wear her normal dress on top of her nightclothes, the little tiger looked up at him. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

Liwei widened his eyes as he realized she did not know anything about their deaths. "They… they are coming tomorrow."

"Why are you crying, Li?" Seeing her brother like this made her own eyes wet.

Liwei lied down beside her. "Just go to sleep, Little Lan." He tried to ignore the sob in his voice as he knew the family was never going to be the same again.


A/N: And I finally updated! But thank NJ7009, it was because of her I updated (you know why, NJ :P). So yeah, I know the story seems pretty boring (as in seen before) right now, but believe me, I have plans. So just wait, okay? And I'll try and update more often, but can't promise because of my exams…