A/N: Hellooooo, are you there? Yes? That's good... Sorry for the wait. It was just testing week, like...last week and my brains all fried now. :p. No worries though, I'm still able to write :D. Haha, I literally had to fight myself to write this. I skipped breakfast and lunch and dinner to write this... if you've read my profile recently, I have a lot of moods. I was in an 'IDK' mood, but luckily for us, it's gone! YAY!
As much as I'd like you to continue reading, this has been pointed out to me twice, and I thought to mention it. (I should've done so before in the last chapter, but...I'm also very forgetful.) Ah-lam and Baatarsaikhan, it appears to have been in another story...I didn't know that. So please, just forget that and just... let that not stop you from reviewing. I apologize if it bothers you.
but when all the suns work together
the bindings will tether
to form a bond closer
than anything seen before
righteousness will reign
life's evil will quell
it's wicked set right
but only when the suns unite
A continuation; Excerpt from Journal: Jie Kun
Her dreams were vivid.
Green flashed blue. Black and white merged with brown. Green overwhelmed everything, while fiery embers flared nearby. And like a gentle river, soft waves caressed her fur. The hues around her suddenly changed, and everything took their form.
She was an older version of herself. Surrounded by trees that weren't like any other seen before. She walked over to one, and rubbed her paws over it. By the feel of it, they were iron. Her eyes widened, since when were trees made of iron?
The whistling wind above hummed her name; "Tigress..."
Pink peach petals swooned in the breeze a few feet away. Another just inches behind...until hundreds were in a line, disappearing behind the trees.
In a vague haze, the tiger followed it's trail. She felt a strange sense of deja vu. It was like she was walking through different spans of her life; a life she never knew she had. With each step, new emotions revealed themselves to her. Tigress felt an ache even greater than those at the orphanage. A desire stronger than her wish for a family. Even pain in her paw, like she was punching something. Hard. But when she looked down, all she saw was...her paw.
Gasping, Tigress focused her attention to the peach petals. Each blossom glowed an aura. There were fourteen though that really stuck out. She reached out her paw, and grabbed them. They slipped through her fingers, like sand. But images were displayed in her head...
A turtle... Snake... Bird... Insect... Monkey...? Who were these people? Another tiger... Panda... Two leopards... Fox... A crown?... And lastly Master Xue and Master Shifu.
"Who are you?" she asked aloud. Tigress listened for an answer, but none came. Shaking her head, she continued. Looking around again, Tigress noticed that she was on a hill of some sort, the blossoms led her to a path.
Shortly after, she came across a fork. Toward her left, the tiger saw a valley. It's citizens doing day-to-day errands by the look of it. Past all this though she spotted a huge mountain. Mist covered the top but a parting in the clouds made the sun shine through it. What was revealed... neverless was an awesomefirst impression. It was a palace.
But to her right was dark and dreary, it's trees were bigger and it's branches intertwined together so it formed a canopy. Light radiated through small cracks, making it seem that much more mysterious. Tigress squinted, trying to see what lay past it's darkness.
Nothing.
Without a second thought, she made her way to the left. But a voice stopped her.
Below the ruins of twilights moon, there are ten people. With a new destiny in store. You will be one, Master Xue another. Find the rest and complete your path. If you don't, destruction...is near...
Tigress growled. She wasn'tgoing to the right! Who knew what layed there? Even if she did, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. So, the tiger continued.
Destruction is near...
An older Bang suddenly appeared in the village. A female bunny beside him, with children at their feet. They all looked happy and content. But the carefree ambiance was short-lived.
Monsters emerged from shadows. Wielding spears, swords, daggers, they all slaughtered innocents. A figure had a bow, and was aiming it right at Bang. Tigress tried to move, but her feet refused her order. She screamed, but no one heard. "Bang!"
He fell. Lifeless. His wife knelt down beside him and shook his shoulders. Begging her husbands life back... Their children surrounded her, wailing.
Bang's murderer laughed wickedly and advanced toward the broken family. He kicked the female bunny away and grabbed a child by it's neck. The mother screamed. She ran towards her baby... Tigress knew the mother would be too late...
"Hiyah!" A warrior appeared out of nowhere, "Your evil doings will be undone with my awesome-ness!" With a swift punch, the panda-yes, the panda- managed to get the figure to drop the bunny and fall unconscious. With amazing speed, he caught the child and turned to the mother.
"Your husbands death will be avenged," the panda swore seriously. He then gave the bunny to his mother and turned back to the fight. "Be ready for a plate of epic, because you're about to be pounded by thepanda!"
Five more creatures leapt by his side. Each with different battle stances. "And the victorious Furious Five!"
They each charged out. Taking out the enemy with amazing skill.
Tigress near squealed with excitement. Finally! Evil wasn't gonna win this time!
Even the noblest of warriors will be conquered...follow your destined path. The same voice as before whispered in her ear. She shrugged it away.
Dark clouds descended, like a hand, it swerved between the warriors. Until it created a wall around them. It twisted around them, so fast it became a gray. The enemy that was left shouted in triumph. "The Valley is ours!"
"What?! No! This can't happen!" Tigress yelled. With all her will, she tried to move her legs, but failed. "Nooo!"
Follow your destined path, or destruction will come...Follow your path...
Gasping, the Tiger turned back and ran. Looking behind her, she could see the gray clouds... threatening her. She skidded to a halt. With one last look at the village, the gray obscured her vision. Taking a deep breath, the tiger pelted to the right side of the road.
Into the never ending darkness.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Tigress, you dunce- you over-slept!"
Her amber-red eyes flashed open. She jumped out of bed and lashed out. Unfortunately, this resulted in a big crash to the ground. Tigress shuddered, her dream still very vivid in her mind. She glanced up and saw Bang. With a yell, she jumped up and hugged her best friend.
"Tigress... is something wrong?" The rabbit questioned. He struggled to get out of her grip...and failed miserably. "You can-uh- let go now..."
She sniffed and let go. Calm down...it was only a dream,she told herself. "Sorry...it was just this dream I had." Tigress explained.
"You wanna talk about it?" Bang asked, understanding in his eyes. "I've had bad dreams before, and it always helped to talk about it."
His concern warmed her heart. But she had a feeling this dream for her alone...
"No, Bang. I'll be fine, thank you." Tigress smiled at him.
Bang nodded and changed the subject. "You over-slept... Master Xue's waiting..." He began leaving the room, "Come on!"
"Wait..." Tigress grabbed his arm. "About yesterday-"
"Don't." He interrupted, "I was selfish. You deserve a home, Tigress, like everybody else here...Just-just promise you'll visit me. Or at least write... Um, at least, when I learn how to..."
She smiled, "I promise I'll visit. And we'll write, I'll ask Master Xue to help me and you can ask Mrs. Yáng or something."
Bang looked around, and leaned closer. "I don't like Mrs. Yáng, haven't you ever noticed she smelled like prunes? Yuck!" He whispered, "And her wool is always tickling my nose, and she has a loud voice." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
Tigress couldn't help but giggle.
Her friend in turn, cocked an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"N-nothing," she laughed. He still looked skeptical, but shrugged.
"We should reallyget going. Mrs. Yáng's pretty angry."
She nodded and followed, smirking the whole way. Her dream forgotten. Bang led the way towards the dining hall, where Mrs. Yáng and Master Xue waited. Her smile disappeared and she gulped. Mrs. Yáng didlook mad. Would she not allow Tigress to be adopted?
The old sheep opened her mouth to speak, but the wolf beat her to it.
Master Xue grinned, "Hello young one. Did you eat yet?"
Tigress cocked her head, did Master Shifu have a different definition of 'slagging' than this wolf? She really hoped so...
"No, Master Xue," she bowed. "...I-I just woke up."
He laughed, "I expected so. Don't be ashamed child, my first day with my master sucked as well."
"But... aren't you disappointed? We haven't even begun training, and I'm already late." Tigress bit her lip.
"Nah, we're not even gonna begin training for a while yet. First I want us to get to know eachother better. But before that, we need to hit the road," he smiled at Mrs. Yáng. "Thank you for looking after Tigress. I'm really excited to begin training her."
Mrs. Yáng coughed awkwardly, and nodded. She smiled tightly back. Tigress could see guilt in her eyes. "Good luck on your journey, Master Xue and Tigress. I wish you both well."
Even though Mrs. Yáng hadn't exactly been the best caretaker, the tiger still felt indebted to her. After all, the sheep had been the one to take her in. And she hasn't entirelygiven up on her, because she got help from Master Shifu.
Tigress grinned back at her old caretaker, "Bye Mrs. Yáng. Thank you for accepting me into Bao Gu, and getting Master Shifu."
The sheep nodded, and smiled slightly. "You're a good girl."
She felt a poke on her arm. Tigress looked down at Bang. Her eyes pricked, but she refused to let any tears come out. Kneeling down to the bunny's height, she hugged her first friend. "I'll miss you Bang."
He nodded and wrapped his smaller arms around the feline. "I'll miss you too." His voice wavered. Bang cleared his throat, and said for the second time that morning: "You can...let go now."
When they parted, Master Xue put a paw on his new student's shoulder. "C'mon Tigress," he said gently, "It's time to go."
She nodded and followed her new adoptive father out of Bao Gu. With one last glance behind her, Tigress said her last farewell to her old home. Turning around again, she walked away... To her destined future.
A/N: Sorry that it's a smaller chapter, it could've been shorter though...I mean, I could've stopped at the dream, but I felt this ending was more appropriate...and sorry for the long A/N...
The journey begins in the next chapter...But 1st, a lovely question: Just what are those gray clouds?... Stay tuned. :D
I don't know when I'll update, I believe they'll be faster now. Since school doesn't start till the 8th of January...but then it'll be Christmas in a few days, then a week later it's my Birthday... Maybe I'll make it a surprise ;)
Anyway, tell me what you think! Seriously, don't be afraid to review. I love those kind words you viewers send. But don't hesitate to criticize! I'll take any comment to help make me a better writer. I'll even give you a topic...my POETRY! I know it sucks, but still tell me. I want another persons view. Do I suck as much as I think I do?
Warriors-Cafe, out!