Kung Fu Panda

Light and Shadow

Chapter I: Desert

I would have never guessed that I would do this one day. But I truly say without shame:

"Waaaateeeer." and my voice is no more than a whisper.

For days we are already in this damn desert. And since the morning the water was almost all. My tongue had forgotten the way back to my mouth.

I plead again:

"Waaaateeeer.",

"Ah shut up, Cien." Tai Lung mutters beside me, "Stop whining."

He also doesn't look very healthy.

This is so hot here. Why is it so hot in a desert?

I even undressed my jacket and am going only in my vest. Okay. I have black fur and a black vest and black pants. And my father said to me, that the black color is storing the heat better than brighter things, but still…

"Why is it so hot?"

"I said shut up, Cien. When you are talking about this I must….Damn I think already about this. Thank you, now I am thirsty also."

I try to chuckle, but it stops at my throat. I can't even laugh anymore.

The Hell is frozen. And the Devil makes his forced vacation here by us.

"When you are so thirsty then make something useful. Look if we still have water." Tai Lung mutters to me and his voice is croaking also already.

I rattle. "And stop this nonsense!" I wonder that he can still shout.

I breathe out loudly and turn around.

I and Tai Lung are on a dune; in the opposite of this the others were still at the bottom to it. We are not a big group: We as the vanguard, Feng Sheng the duck, the owner of this "Caravan", two gorillas as his guard and two camel carriers, who had the luck to carry the merchant's goods.

Ok the goods which he still had. He was on a run. Sort of. And that is the reason why he hadn't planned enough water for our tour through the desert. This jerk!

"I think that we haven't even a water drop anymore." I mutter.

"And why is it so?" Tai Lung asks and is panting like me.

"Even the camel guys are panting with their tongues out."

"DOH….Let's make a rest. Until they reach us."

And so we made a rest on this hot sand of the dune. I look around. Sand in this direction. Sand in that direction. An Oasis there. And sand…..

What!

I look back. Really!

"Water!" I yell.

"Stop whining I said!" Tai Lung replies to me still annoyed.

"No. There!", and I remember that Tai Lung's eyesight isn't the best, "There is water!"

"What! Where?"

"Follow me!" I yell and run the dune down.

After the first steps I trip and land in the sand. Before I roll down the dune. And end up with the head in the hot sand.

I try to speak without much success.

Then I am lifted by my foot and see Tai Lung's serious face upside down.

"Where is the water?" he demands to know.

I look around and see it again. "There!" I say and point out. He drops me.

"Where?"

I can stand up again. "You are blinder than I thought." I mutter and run again in the direction of the oasis.

It is so close. I can see already the palms, the bushes, and the small lake in it. A wonder!

When I am at the edge of the lake, I jump in.

Yeah this wet feeling….

Wait a minute.

This is hot. This is boiling. In my mouth!

I spit it out and see sand. Hot Sand was in my mouth! Ahh!

My tongue is burned!

Where is the water? The palms? The bushes?

"So where is it?" Tai Lung says after he reaches me panting.

"I don't know. It was here!" I wanted to say, but this get out:

"I dt no. Is wo hi!"

"What?" Tai Lung asks me.

I can't speak!

"I ct sk!" was my answer.

"Where is it? Where is the water?" Feng Sheng demands to know after he reached us.

Tai Lung turns to him. "No water. But Cien said he saw something. But now he mutters something intelligible."

Feng Sheng turns to me. "You idiot! That was a Fata Morgana!" he says to me.

"What is this?" Tai Lung wants to know.

"An illusion. This comes out, when someone is too long in the sun."

"Ilsien?" I mutter and can't believe it. How my mind could be tricked so easily?

After a while Tai Lung says: "This comes out, when someone don't plan enough water for a tour through this desert."

"Do you want to quarrel with me?" the duck responds more aggressive than I am accustomed to.

"Yeah, I want to! How can an experienced merchant like you not think about enough water for a tour through the desert?", now Tai Lung gets angry as well. Ok by him it is nothing unusual.

"I had planned enough water!" corrected Feng Sheng.

"And why do we have nothing anymore?"

"Because….Because…" Feng Sheng stammers, if he had remembered something.

"Yeah?"

"This is…not the road I wanted to take.", somehow he got weak again. Now the world seems to be all right again.

"What? What do you mean with ´not the road you wanted to take`?" Tai Lung asks in a surprised manner.

"Eh, we…took a road….which I…don't know…" Feng Sheng stammers scared.

Now someone can see Tai Lungs anger rather good in his face.

"So, we are lost?" he asks almost exploding.

"Eh…." more the duck didn't bring out, when Tai Lung grabbed his smaller throat.

"You idiot! How could you do this?"

This was not good. This can end rather badly. I want to go between them.

"Sp!" I say with my still burned tongue. Tai Lung doesn't hear me, but instead shakes the duck.

"Stp!" I demand again and try to grab Tai Lungs shoulder.

Before I achieve this Tai Lung throws the duck. This one lands with his bill in the middle of the sand.

In front of someone's feet.

I and Tai Lung look up.

In front of us was the most gorgeous vixen I have ever seen.

She had red-brownish fur, a peaky mouth with a greenish cute nose, deep blue eyes and a thick scarlet-brownish Sideswept Bang, which was hiding her eyes partially. She wore a sand color cloak and hood over black clothes.

I would have said Wow, but out came only hot air.

"We are surrounded." Tai Lung says and that is the first time I look around. He is right. Everywhere were more of these sand guys and I think also females.

But my look came back to her.

"Well, Well, what we have here." she says and even her voice sounds gorgeous. Somehow it fits, that my tongue isn't in the mouth anymore again.

"Guards! Guards!" yells Feng Sheng, but it is useless.

"I don't think they hear you, ducky. They sleep and this without our help." she says to him.

"Cien, prepare yourself." Tai Lung whispers to me and I feel like he is going into battle posture.

I don't even think about this.

"Well guys you have Two choices: Either you surrender and we give you water or you fight and force us to beat you up and handcuff you. You choose." she says.

The choice was obvious.

"We sreder!" I yell and fall on my knees, raising my arms in capitulation manners.

I think all are a little surprised, because it last a while until I hear a reaction.

"Cien, you idiot." Tai Lung says, before he gives up also.

"Kung Fu Panda" (c) DreamWorks Animation

I own nothing except for the written word.

Characters you don't know are from me.