"Victory is always within grasp, when you are without doubt… or fear…"
Dynasty of the Fated and the Cursed: Time
"Please… I don't know anyone else to turn to … Please…"
"But … what? Why Should I?! Why?!"
"They'll kill him if they find me, I can't allow that … he can't be associated with me … they'll be after him but he will be impossible to find in this valley, and they don't know his name so his identity will be safe."
"And … what is his name?"
"Tai-Lung, my son's name is Tai-Lung… Please help me and save him…"
…
…
…
"… give me the child…"
"Thank you, Please… never speak my name to him … it's better if he doesn't know me … I'll never survive to see him again, this I know so-"
"I understand … but I will watch over him as if he were my own."
"Thank you, Arigato Ademeska, thank you, I only wish I could meet you again in the future, but I know if I do, I endanger you, and my son…"
"Then please leave. I am sorry, but if what you say is true then you must move quickly … be careful…"
"I can only hope my lead is a great. They will follow me until they find and kill me, goodbye Shifu Sensei… Goodbye my son, I truly am sorry, and will always love you … Goodbye"
…
…
…
"Goodbye Shen-Mao … I know I'll never see you again, but … your son will be as an emperor in my care…"
Shifu was rocked from his day dreaming by a sudden beam falling from a section of the Palace. The fire that had made the attempt to corrode and destroy the Jade Palace hadn't been very severe, but that was only because it was destroyed immediately, if it were allowed life for even twenty seconds, it would have claimed at least a fourth of the palace. But a very scant few sections of the Palace had been completely burned and were in dire need of being replaced, which is why he had Mei-Ling quickly working on it. She wanted to be a warrior like the rest of his students he knew, but it would take far longer than a day, or even a few months to bring her up to speed with the rest of her students.
She still needed to show her skill in the training hall, and begin her training with the thousand scrolls of kung fu. There was very much this young woman needed to do in order to ascend the ranks to meet her new room mates and fellow students. But she was diligent and competent, so the red panda didn't worry as he did when the Dragon Warrior had first arrived. That wasn't what he expected in the least, however the end result was a lot better than he was predicting … The Dragon Warrior actually managed to halt his son Tai-Lung, or at least he thought that much … Shifu wasn't so sure what was going on anymore now that his mind was under constant attack from the gods with flashbacks of Tai-Lung and Tai-Lung's father, for the short amount of time that he knew him.
"Um, Master Shifu?" Mei-Ling's soft voice rang in his ears, which he quickly replied to as to not look as if he were insane with daydreaming. "Yes, Mei-Ling?"
"I have finished this wall, where else shall I begin? Um, do you want me to take care of that?" Mei-Ling's gloved paw was pointing at the burnt support beam resting in her Master's hand. Shifu had not even noticed that he'd moved into place to catch the beam as it came down, and he'd also not noticed his fur gently steaming against the cooling plank of birch wood, now knowing that it was incredibly susceptible to fire, mentally noting that birch wood's weakness' are now both 'fire' and 'flying bodies'. Quickly he turned to Mei-Ling and nodded, handling over the worthless beam. "Yes, thank you Mei-Ling, you may fetch another and replace it where this one came, then return to finishing the walls."
Mei-Ling smiled and nodded, "Ofcourse, Master Shifu." She wasn't much for resistance … Shifu would have expected an astronomical question from Tigress, or a witty remark from Po if he'd of asked the same question to him … and Tai-Lung would have suggested the wood be replaced with steel, which always lead into a heavy argument about why steel would be worse than wood. But allowing his mind to fall to his son again … he was hastily assaulted by a flash back.
Shifu had just finished a furious conversation with his own Master Oogway about which type of Soup was better for the soul, vegetable soup with meat, or that without, and Shifu couldn't believe the answer 'Both' was accurate, but the old turtle always had a way to unravel his words as if he were holding it in a rolled parchment, and wail you over the head with it until you understood, which never worked, however nodding and pretending you knew what Oogway was talking about was far better than falling levels and levels deep into metaphor after metaphor and riddle after riddle. Shifu was approaching the student's dormitories to see what his son was up to. He'd just completed a lengthy training course and Shifu wanted to attend to any wounds he may have suffered, which were never very much. Tai-Lung was an incredibly able student and son, he'd often bested all challenges presented to him with so much ease, it appeared as if the young snow leopard had designed the activity himself.
Shifu didn't find his son in any of the rooms until he passed by the den that was attached to the rooms, it served as a lounge area for students of the past and of the future whenever they needed a real break when one was given. Shifu however didn't know Tai-Lung was in the den until he crossed paths with the open door. Out the corner of his right side, he noticed Tai-Lung sitting on the floor having tea, with what looked like … a living shadow, that was sitting directly across from his son. Shifu's first instinct was to simply say 'Hello Son' but, he had frozen in place and blunk out of disbelief and snapped his head in the direction of his son and this figure… However, as his vision fell to focus, he caught what appeared to be the tail of this shadow falling upon the shadow of Tai-Lung, similar to a roach skittering under low furniture or into darkness with it's discovered and revealed against light.
Shifu entered the den quickly, with a flash of concern in his face. "T-Tai Lung? What's going on? Are you alright?" He demanded hastily, Tai-Lung turned up to his father and nodded, the young boy snow leopard was at the table setting down his cup of tea, with another cup sitting across from him, where that figure was… or where Shifu thought it was. "I'm fine father," Tai-Lung said with a bright smile, his golden eyes were glowing with appreciation and the joy of seeing his short, but caring parent. "Please have some tea, I overheard you and Grand Master Oogway and thought you might want a comforting drink of hot tea."
Shifu was eyeing Tai-Lung as if something was amiss, trying to detect a falsehood in his son's voice, but none was present what-so-ever, however with the red panda's gaze looking more intimidating than joyous, Tai-Lung's expression followed the same course. Quickly seeing this, Shifu took a seat across from his son, the seat was cold … as if no one was sitting there. Relieving … "Yes, my son. Thank you" Shifu nodded and bowed to his adopted son in respect, as Tai-Lung did the same.
That very day something changed, Tai-Lung's ability was something legendary after that, as if he was drinking the tea of ultimate legends… for kids; for Shifu didn't suddenly have the ability to outdo his own personal records. But Tai-Lung had become almost unreal as he took to training and the scrolls of Kung Fu like it was more of a review than a lesson. Shifu never mentioned what he saw to Oogway, not having proper evidence to back up his fear, but Shifu had always hoped what he saw was… no … Shifu knew what he saw… it looked like a direct black mirrored image of his son … there was no mistaking. Seeing that young smile and steadily growing frame of his adopted son for seven years, he couldn't mistake Tai-Lung for anyone else, and what he'd seen was another Tai-Lung, something far less comforting, and more sinister clearly, because he'd never seen it again after that day, allowing his fear to fade into the past, along with the innocence of his foster son.
Thinking on it again, Shifu was never able to understand exactly what happened that day, for everything else went on as planned. There was more training, and dinner, and followed by an audience with Master Oogway, which was a bit shorter than normal, but all the better. Shifu finished off the day with reading off stories to Tai-Lung to put him to bed, but he was always looking out for Tai-Lung's shadow to jump out from behind him and run away like he saw it do for only once before… The Red Panda thought he'd gone mad… but it was better to be prepared, than completely unarmed, unexpecting and utterly unlucky.
The air was cold today, early morning fog had begun to spread out and consume more of the morning paths than normal, as if the fog had been trying to catch up with the night as it fled across the plains. The dark morning sky was still hung too high within the heavens, casting no sign of the sun. As if the morning rays were purposely being hidden to escalate the night for the dark and sinister, because the fog made anyone on the road feel as though eyes were watching them while visibility was lower than ever on the road paths. This fog was unnatural, as if something brought this upon purposely. This was the perfect type of weather for ambushing bandits and theives; however no bandit would dare attack the Furious Five, or the Dragon Warrior, or… at least not now knowing who they were.
About an hour earlier, The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, had been ambushed by a bandit raid. Only a small militia of about 12 men, lead by a giant Ox who claimed to be leading Tai-Lung's new army. However the posers were beaten, broken and sent fleeing, but most were killed through Tigress' relentless strikes. It was all accidental as far as anyone was concerned, and completely justified considering the people that were being slain, but today when Tigress fought, it looked as though she was out for blood. She wasn't pulling her punches and immediately following up crushing blows with critical ones, attacking pressure points on her opponents and not showing mercy when they were doubled over in crippling and paralyzing pain. Each was slain by pure fatigue, pain and blood loss, nothing horrible like a decapitation or an evisceration thankfully, however the allies of the leader of the Furious Five, knew that she was to be left alone in this kind of mood.
It was clear that the striped feline was still taking the accident earlier and the scorning that followed hardest. Tigress had been put up on personal display for humiliation before her friends and two complete strangers and it was the last one she was intending to suffer from anyone. The pain of loss was still boiling in her heart and soul ever since she was a little girl. She had been abandoned as an orphan and thus, never knew who her real parents even were. Living amongst prey for years before she was finally accepted as daughter by a great and powerful man, however her new father never showed her the compassion she expected; but after over twenty years of neglect, pain, loss and depression. Tigress had developed into a virtual sentinel of lifeless emotion, whatever passion you saw in her eyes was normally that of rage, or the burning desire to kill. She'd almost gone feral from the emotional training she'd been put through, through her life … but all that was about to change soon.
Living more as a student than a daughter taught Tigress to be more intelligent than dependant, and to be more cautious and alert rather than naïve and playful. At an early age she was forced to be an adult, and fight like a monster, all because of the man that came before her, and even after years of training under her father, Shifu; the title she was rightfully about to receive for all the years of lost blood, broken bones and crushed dreams was swiftly stolen from her, and given to someone who never fit the qualifications. However, by some light, this new 'Dragon Warrior' actually managed to stop the tyrant Tai-Lung without any chi training. It was baffling for all of four months, because Tigress never knew the secret to unlimited power was literally 'inside', and now having the ability to use and command her own 'secret weapon' she was going to accomplish this mission and outdo the Dragon Warrior by killing the very man who tainted her existence before she even knew she was alive. Maybe then her father will realize that his decision, and that of Oogway's, was wrong, horribly terribly wrong.
Tigress knew that if the Dragon Warrior could stop Tai-Lung with literally no training and pure dumb luck. She, being easily the better, can surely kill Tai-Lung with even as little training as she was given, regardless if she'd almost torched her home when she made the attempt to wield her chi in tandem with her Tiger style Kung Fu, she was prepared to use that mistake, and convert it swiftly into an advantage against Tai-Lung. Tigress teeth had been gritting for hours as her mind fled to Tai-Lung, his very presence made her sick to her stomach. The fact that this spoiled brat was able to outdo her and her allies without breaking a sweat and still smiling like he was going to ask her to dinner was more of an insult than the defeat itself. Something deep within her couldn't accept what had transpired that day, and justice had to be served. Tai-Lung was either going to submit to her will and become her prisoner, or he was going to be diagnosed with a broken neck and a fist sized hole through his tiny brain.
"Hey guys," Po finally began to speak as everyone predicted had to happen eventually. "Don't you think we should take a break somewhere? Probably find something to eat?" Crane slowly turned back to glance at Po, they were all walking in a fairly slow straight line following Tigress, and Po was bringing up the rear. "No Po, Master Shifu has demanded that we seek out and finish the job, you started. If we take any longer to get to Tai-Lung, than we already are, he'll only get smarter and stronger." Crane's remark was ignored by Tigress, because she hadn't even heard it. She was enjoying the dream of removing Tai-Lung's teeth. Po sighed deeply, "Come on guys… I took out Tai-Lung once before. I can do it again! No sweat." Viper now turned, as Crane sighed. "Po, don't you think you may have gotten lucky the last time you fought him? We know that it was your chi that beat him last time, we just thought your Kung Fu was greater than his own. Somehow…"
Mantis now chimed in, riding on the shoulder of Monkey. "Yeah, we thought you outdid him in hand to hand combat, not blew him up. If any of us knew that kind of power existed, we'd of used our own and been done with the problem a long time ago. I mean –BOOM- threat gone." Po sighed again, "Guys, guys, you're missing the point. I beat Tai-Lung because I believed I could. That leopard was just a big nasty bandit like the rest of these guys we've been dealing with the past few months. He was beaten long before I blew him up."
Tigress, being in the front of the line by at least 10 feet, finally spoke. She was tired of the Dragon Warriors 'I am the awesome!' attitude. "Tai-Lung will kill him Mantis. He can't possibly fight Tai-Lung on his own ground and expect to survive… We just need to fight together as we always have, or he may kill us too."
The other Furious Five fell silent as their leader spoke, but what was said made them all shiver, not really prepared to face Tai-Lung for a second time. "What makes you so sure Tigress?" Monkey spoke now, picking up the pace, swinging on his fists against the ground to propel himself to catch her. "He didn't kill us when we lost to him before. He might not be murderous, just a bastard."
Tigress shook her head, shrugging. "I just know that Tai-Lung won't be so forgiving. He sent us back as a warning, that's why we fled when he came to the Jade Palace or else we'd of been legendary fodder. Now we're after him, he's the one trapped now, which means he'll fight to kill us. I know it…" The other Furious Five nodded slowly understanding the 'Cornered Mouse' will often fight instead of die. Tigress was still being direct to all her friends, however her mood did start to improve a little when she wasn't thinking about the walking bane to her existence, which relieved the rest of them. The others caught up to Tigress, while Po was now trailing by 10 feet or more.
The White Crane then began to speak, "Do you think our chi is strong enough, Tigress? I mean … we only had a few moments of training before we were sent out here. I can't create any water yet, or even conjure a rain cloud as Shifu said. I don't know if we should use it. I mean, if we're smart we can probably overpower him this time instead of being beaten. Especially fighting on solid ground this time."
Mantis nodded, "But Tai-Lung doesn't even have chi, even though he trained under Shifu before us Crane. Right?"
"Wait!" Viper said, "He does. Remember the paralysis… that was chi, right?"
Monkey nodded and fell silent for a short moment while the others listened, "It was a nerve attack, enhanced by his chi. So he does have it, but how strong is it?"
Viper, with a short hiss, slid up Crane's legs and onto his back to wrap her length around his neck like a fur, clearly bringing a bright blush to his cheeks, but she didn't immediately notice. "I know it put us all down in a hit. So it's strong … very strong." Viper thought about the nerve attack for a moment, she was the only one lucky enough to dodge one strike with Tai-Lung had attacked all of them. He moved so fast it looked as though he was throwing his arms in a random flurry, but each moving paw was directly targeting a nerve to render her, and her allies breathless and lifeless husks, until they were returned to life by Shifu … thankfully, Tai-Lung had the apparent kindness to leave Crane able to fly, to have the paralyzed treated… or else they'd of died a slow and terrible death.
"Not, strong enough though," Po finally spoke from the rear, and began to step it up to catch up with everybody. "He couldn't use his nerve attack on me remember?" Viper peered over Crane's folded wing. "No?" Po laughed to himself for a second, "Oh right, you guys weren't there. See, during the final bout with Tai-Lung after he'd taken the Dragon Scroll from me. He tried to use his nerve attack, but he couldn't, it just made me really laugh hard."
The others thought on it for a second, except for Tigress who already had the answer. Viper on the other hand was debating between taking Po's last statement as an insult, or insight.
"Do you think he could even find, your center through all that fat Dragon Warrior?" Tigress sighed, seeing her friends on each side of her now, walking in a line fanning outwards to consume the entire road instead of the center of it. "Are you all really ready for this? Be honest, because I'm ready to explore Tai-Lung's skull with my fists." She questioned her allies then directed her attention directly at Po. "And do you think you can really handle him now? I'm sure that if he's awake, when we get there, he'll try to break your neck before he even touches us…"
Po nodded pumping a fist at Tigress, "Oooh Yeah, Round 2 with Tai-Lung sounds rockin' after fighting these other numb nuts that try to attack the Valley of Peace." However the answer was the complete opposite from the others, Crane spoke up first replying to her first question, giving a better answer than something spawning from ignorance and adolescence. "Um really, I don't know Tigress… if he's gotten any stronger or smarter in the time he's been down, we could be in trouble, and who knows what kind of chi Tai-Lung has, or if he's been taught more than one type yet like Master Shifu said could be done."
Tigress shook her head, folding her arms across her chest, fending off her breasts from the still lingering cold of the abnormal morning fog. "I don't think so Crane, it hadn't been long enough for him to recover. Your friend said he was dying when people had saw him those months ago, and a broken bone takes more than four months to stitch back together." Tigress was now in her own head, wondering if Tai-Lung actually did have some type of Chi, he must have force chi because he can use the paralysis attack as can Master Shifu, and if Tigress remembered correctly, Shifu was stacking his Chi in a direct line. He was apparently born with the spirit of pure force, and he was taught force twice more by Oogway… which if Tigress also had remembered correctly. That meant with a simple glance of his paw, Master Shifu could destroy and probably even eject shattered bone from his opponent.
Mantis and Monkey both chimed in at once, "But what about the black guy helping him?" It made the both of them stare at each other and crack a goofy smile.
Tigress shook her head, not knowing what to say about that yet. Po placed a paw on Tigress' shoulder, which didn't reassure her in the least.
"Whatever the danger, we'll all survive through it, and have a great story to tell over noodles! We're the Furious Five right?"
Tigress rose a brow. "Um … We're the Furious Five," she said brushing off his paw and pointing at Mantis, Viper, Monkey and Crane. "With you added in, that wouldn't make Five, Po…"
Po thought for a long moment moment, the pumped his fists again. "Then we're the Serious Six!"
The entire Furious Five let out a low groan and took turns slapping the Dragon Warrior across his head and ears for a moment before continuing on their path towards Chorh Gom Prison.
Tai-Lung, the tyrant snow leopard was still unconscious.
Chorh Gom Prison had been shrouded from vision by a gigantic snow storm that was wreaking pure havoc outside. However no one was stupid enough to venture near the prison in this type of weather, and the rumor of Tai-Lung's return hadn't had enough time among the land to spread, although Tai-Lung's savior was more than sure the time would eventually come where raiders, bandits and probably even the righteous would dare to invade his prison to take the life of the greatest demon of China's current age. The Panther was ever ready, and never dropping his guard, always watching.
He was very aged in appearance, at least 60, if not far older. His fur was ragged and unkempt as if untouched by brush or claw for too many weeks. He was fully black aside from having a white furry chin, white fur extending from the inside of his oversized ears and a set of white triangles under each of his eyes and two down the bridge of his nose. He was one of the rare animals that actually was showing hair which were done in long white braids extending down the back of his head, stopping short slightly below his shoulder blades. He clearly wasn't thinking highly of his outer appearance, as his robes of choice was the same as Tai-Lung was sleeping on; acquired robes and clothing from whatever was salvageable from the prison. White bandages wrapped his body, across his chest, waist, and lower arms, starting at the fist and stopping towards his large biceps.
He was wearing black pants similar to Tai-Lung used to, which fit well however there wasn't anything special about them either, aside from the fact they were stainless and clean. The only thing that stood out on him greatly, was a large jade plate with a stone reconstruction of a yin-yan resting on his chest, apparently it was weightless, because even though he wore medical bandages that would rip and tear with severe wind or a brush against a tree, the apparently heavy, symbol didn't tear through them or even appeared to be trying. He slowly began to tread towards the figure of Tai-Lung, raising a paw and resting it on the Snow Leopard's forehead and taking a deep breath and channeling more of his force, power and life back into the fallen warrior, to restore all he'd lost and making the attempt to repair a broken dream… and a broken heart…
Word of Tai-Lung's survival had spread like wildfire in the Valley of Peace only after a couple of hours. Far over half the day is gone and all the residents were worried that he'd return, it was almost destined some were saying. Others thought the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior would finish the job they started, but most had already fled the valley. Dealing with the Tyrant Snow Leopard twice is more than enough to make people leave hearing that he wasn't dead. For the short while he was suspected to be deceased, the Valley of Peace had much prosperity and tranquility, but the thought of Tai-Lung's return has scared virtually everyone out. Only the elderly, the foolish and the business owners remain mostly, and those who are willing to take up arms to try and defend their home. The Valley's militia was only about 13 people however, but they were determined to do all they could, not even the Palace Guards were a match for Tai-Lung but no one would tell the militia that their attempts would be worthless if Tai-Lung actually returned a 3rd time. All would be destroyed effortlessly under the leopard's paws.
Sa-Chi was still sitting by however, still selling her wares to people who had time to stop by and listen. In all reality, she was the one who supplied the valley's militia with those stolen weapons from the fog blow the Thread of Hope. Her sales pitches had been falling on deaf ears after The Furious Five had left however. By her own fault, she'd let the word loose that Tai-Lung was alive, not really thinking it was that much of a big deal. But once business began to flee, she felt that rumor may have been too much. For the afternoon, she'd spent her time near Mr. Ping's Noodle shop, Po's old home. The Noodle shop owner had visited Sa-Chi a few times, seeing fine cutlery and dishes that he couldn't do without, however once he'd purchased those wares, he then spent Sa-chi's time in telling about how he never thought his 'son' would become the Dragon Warrior, even though he had the 'Noodle Dream' and even spent a good length explaining about the dream, which was more hilarious than disturbing to Sa-Chi's relief.
"So you say, he was worshipping the Furious Five long before he became better than them?" Sa-Chi asked, while pouring Mr. Ping another glass of hot sake that he'd paid for and been deeply enjoying. "Oooh Yes, he used to sit around in his room at night and play with his figurines, or try to use his weapons." Mr. Ping chatted while enjoying the sake, in which he was carrying an irregularly large tolerance to. "Is he a weapon's expert, or did he just play around … in his room?" Sa-Chi simply continued to chat and pour the shop owner more rice wine as long as he kept paying. "Yes yes, all night sometimes, I think he may have had an obsession for Tigress, but thankfully he got over all of that." Mr. Ping had another glass and laughed. "He even went as so far as to dress up like Tigress one morning. He had noodle bowls on his chest and was growling out the window like a tiger. No business that day…" Sa-Chi chuckled, counting her cash, "That almost sounds more like a creepy obsession than a fan based one."
Mr. Ping nodded, "Yes, yes but I think he got over it. He quit talking about her so much when he got into reading scrolls and books about Kung Fu, I think he was going to start training himself in secret" Mr. Ping was finally starting to feel the effects of drinking so much Sake that he was almost slurring his words and not actually looking at Sa-Chi when he spoke. "Training in secret huh?" Sa-Chi questioned, leaning back and watching the drunk duck in action, now looking over his noodle shop from the street where she was resting, seeing if there was anything of apparent worth.
"Yes, I think so, but he'd of never gotten out of the front door if we were attacked. He's a softie, I know it. He is my son after all."
Sa-Chi blinked a moment and made the attempt to ask about how a Panda was born and raised under the apparent care of a Peking Duck, but was cut off by Mr. Ping starting up another of his stories.
"You know, yesterday after all the fire and the warriors left I overheard some strange news." Sa-Chi's ears perked, "Oh? Like what?" She asked, wondering if he was ever going to buy another drink or say something useful. "People come into my store all the time and talk about everything. It's mostly been about leaving the Peace of Valley, but others were talking about the Jade Paris." Sa-Chi chuckled again, assuming Mr. Ping meant, Valley of Peace, and Jade Palace however she nodded and asked him to continue.
"They said they saw people moving the rare artifacts out palace, off to the underground storage… or … whatever they mentioned." "Store House?" Sa-chi questioned, and Mr. Ping nodded, "Yes tha Store House, somewhere in mountains… Store House have many good things." The Iriomote smiled, "Hmmm Good Things." She said with a small chuckle. "What kind of things Honorable Sir?"
"Oooh, the relics like the Armor of Flying Rhino. And Secret Scrolls of Kung Fu; and the Heroes of Sword." He said, finally dropping a few more coins for another and probably his final glass of warm sake. Sa-Chi poured his additional cup and asked him to speak further and to clarify what he meant. "Heroes of Sword?"
"Sword of Heroes," He finally corrected himself, "The Sword of Legend, that has the ability to cut the air and the flesh of it's opponents at mere glance." This immediately peaked Sa-Chi's interest. "That's amazing, how so?"
"Sword itself is flowing with power, I can't say for sure." He let out a yawn and stretched. "But if relics were damaged. The Palace would lose great beauty."
Sa-Chi shook her head, concealing a smile. "That would be terrible. But Mr. Ping you've had enough. Allow me to escort you home." The duck merely waved off the help, "Thank you young lady, but I only live across street." He stumped his tiny duckling feet back across the 8 feet of street back into the courtyard of the noodle shop. "Goodnight!" He said, waddling off, trying not to giggle too hard as he began talking to himself about how he used to drink much more than what he did tonight.
Sa-Chi laughed and counted up her money for the day, a fairly good til from Mr. Ping alone, and began to search for a place to stay for the night. With a stretch, she simply decided to camp out, while absent mindedly thinking about what Mei-Ling might be doing right now. However regardless of all that, what really had caught Sa-Chi's interest was this Sword of Heroes, she had to see it for herself and see if the rumor was true. But that could wait till morning, after she'd had a proper breakfast and plan of attack.
It was almost midnight and Mei-Ling was still restoring the Jade Palace to its previous beauty, with actual help from Shifu instead of his constant day dreaming. The mountain cat at first thought it was something that he probably did often due to his age, however the constant expression of doubt, worry and fear didn't seem to match his daydreaming. Mei-Ling had also noticed that he wouldn't tread very far from her, or leave her out of sight for very long stretches of time, was he nervous about something? At first, it was a welcome feeling, because most of the weaker areas of the building had been burned badly and she could have possibly hurt herself on something which made her appreciate Shifu's company. However, after a while it began to feel odd, if not completely creepy because she had no idea what her new master intended. Shifu wasn't making any advances thankfully, however Mei-Ling could always feel the short Master's eyes on her back every so often.
Shifu on the otherhand was thinking something completely different. He was observing the Jade Palace slowly coming back together, and thinking back on the past… remembering when he was in the company of Tigress. A heavy heart filled with regret kept him from showing his young daughter the type of compassion and love that she deserved. She was showing the exact same amount of prowess that Tai-Lung did, however in seeing this; it only drove Shifu further away. He'd never seen anything change in Tigress' form in heavy comparison to Tai-Lung's aside from the very end result; lecturing instead of praise. He knew Tigress was only trying to make him happy, but seeing the same fire in her eyes as he did his son was blinding him from the truth and only corrupting his daughter.
The current room Mei-Ling was repairing was finally finished, and the hard wood of the building wasn't damaged in the least, and the support beams were superior to mostly everything as they went further in. So fire damage wasn't even present. All Mei-Ling needed to do was replace the rice paper in the room as instructed, and make sure nothing was charred, or unsafe and everything was in order. The mountain cat realized that it was getting incredibly late and produced a small yawn and glanced backwards to see Shifu walking towards her. A curious brow rose for a moment on her sweet brown face, but before she could ask anything of her new master he began to speak first.
"Allow me to show you to your room. It's too late to continue with anything so you should rest." He spoke softly, or as soft as his gruff voice could manage still seeing his daughter before him rather than the new student. Shifu knew it was a lie however, and shook away the memory gripping Mei-Ling's features to show the sweet smile of Crane's long time friend, he almost felt at ease now having someone new in his Palace, secretly he knew it was going to add some excitement to his daily life as she began to blend in, but all that would come to the light with time, for now Shifu simply offered a paw to the cat and again offered to lead her to her room in the student dormitories.
"Alright," Mei-Ling simply replied and took the red panda's paw, being lead deeper into the building, into the areas untouched by fire or smoke. She was very pleased to see that the other areas of the Palace were void of any kind of fire damage, and actually appeared to be completely purged of any kind of dust, or grime. The palace attendants must really take great care of this place when the Furious Five aren't moving through the halls. Mei-Ling sighed to herself, knowing that she was being taken to her Master's quarters and being a new fresh student, and especially a cute one, she knew she couldn't deny anything that she was demanded.
Probably knowing that she would be giving this old Master a back massage and warm milk for hours before she was able to relax, old men did like young and beautiful women to rub them down right?
Although all that was thrown out when Shifu had finally lead Mei-Ling to a simple looking door and stood to the side, to allow her to push the door aside and enter. "This will be your room." He said, glancing up at what his eyes were seeing as a brown version of Tigress again. Mei-Ling almost giggled to herself with how ditsy she was making herself out to be but bowed before her new Master instead of making any type of scene. "Thank you, Master Shifu," she thanked him and slid the door open, peering into the simple room. This room turned to be nothing more than a simple bedroll resting in the center of the room, with a few weights in the corner and a few straps hanging off the ceiling's support bars, for training purposes. Probably.
"In… here, Master?" She asked again, expecting some lavish room with candle light and a big bed. 'Not really…well maybe more than this at least' Shifu nodded, "Yes, you will be sleeping in the dormitories with the other students, the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior; however you'll be the only one here tonight Mei-Ling. I shall return for you in the morning, so we can test you in training and combat. I expect you dressed and prepared to sweat at the first bell." Mei-Ling nodded slowly and stepped into her room, thanking the red panda again, and slowly sliding the door shut. 'Time to relax'
Slowly the mountain cat fell backwards onto the bedroll, and stretched out long and loud like cats do. She grabbed her own breasts for a moment and purred feeling much better on a fairly soft bedroll instead of crouching and stretching up to paint wall covering. Allowing herself to further enjoy solitude, Mei-Ling began to lick at the backs of her paws after removing her protective gloves and began to think to herself and where she was, pondering deeper exactly where she was going with her life now. She'd left her Academy behind in Sun-Lo and probably the only guy she'd of had any interest in starting a future with, to become a student of the Grand Master Shifu so she can aide China in stopping the great tyrant from returning.
The same tyrant that would probably snap her in half upon their first encounter, Mei-Ling had already been studying the thousand scrolls of kung fu whenever she was allowed the chance to get her hands one a few, giving herself a total of around 400 of the scrolls already down, but the others were out of reach. However, Tai-Lung knew all one thousand, and he was well defined in the styles of Tiger, Crane, Monkey, Viper and what appeared to be his own blend of leopard kung fu, because from some of the stories she'd heard. He'd sometimes use more unorthodox tactics to break his opponents, almost as if he weren't using Kung Fu at all, or some gross variant of it. 'Speaking of definition … When he was growing up, he was a fine display of modern muscle' Mei-Lung giggled to herself.
A light thought of Tai-Lung as a possible mate slipped through her mind and made Mei-Ling laugh out loud, she didn't even know what his reaction would be to her when she would first meet with him. Would he treat her like he did Tigress when he first met the Furious Five on the still sundered Thread of Hope, or would he be more the type to lift her into the air by her neck and demand that she begs for her life before he tore it away. 'Tai-Lung … hmm, I wonder what makes him tick, and how he can still want to return to the Valley of Peace after being beaten twice…' The mountain cat thought more on him, trying to decide some type of tactic in her mind that would somehow allow her to hold a conversation with Tai-Lung instead of immediately engaging in combat when she first met him, but didn't know anything that would work unless… …
Mei-Ling quickly threw out her ideas and abandoned the scarf she always had with her starting to undress. Then she quickly slipping out of her green leathery top and dark soft silken bottom, and began purring again, trying to clear her thoughts of befriending the master of the thousand scrolls. But being naked this should have been the perfect time to relax for Mei-Ling now that she was naked if not for the fact that she smelt like she'd been working without a break, or soap for a few days.
"Oh wow, I really smell like a sweaty ox now!" Mei-Ling laughed at herself while holding her nose and rose to leave the room. Taking the bedsheet with her to cover her thin, agile frame while she tried to locate the bath house, thinking one might be inside because she had no idea where anything was in the palace yet. A tiny cat nose slid out the door of her room, but she didn't detect the smell of the Master anywhere close, or at least nothing fresh. Slowly she slipped out of her room, hardly dressed and began to search the rooms nearby for the bath house or a bathroom.
Peeking into The Dragon Warrior's room first, by accident, noticing the noodle bowls stacked up high. It surprised her that Shifu hadn't come down on the Panda about his sloppiness at all. Mei-Ling shrugged it off and left, now deciding to take another look through another door, seeing nothing of particular interest, and figured it must belong to Master Mantis due to how small the bedding was and some of the equipment that was present and what looked like scrolls. Possibly duplicated scrolls for Kung Fu styles and abilities, or maybe even something from his hometown, regardless… all of it was miniature and worthless to Mei-Ling.
Next was the room of Master Viper, and again, nothing of particular interest was present, aside from a few sheddings, makeup and a ribbon or two draped from the ceiling. However, Viper did apparently take delight in writing from how many paintings were hanging from the wall, and one of Crane. They must be good friends. A curious thought then slipped through the cat's mind, making her tail jitter in irritation for a moment 'Did Crane forget about me?' Mei-Ling pondered to herself for a moment, then laughed off the thought, knowing gentle, passive and quiet Crane. The day he was able to openly speak to a woman without tripping over his own long legs would be the day he was able to pluck the sun from the heavens without burning himself.
Viper's room wasn't much just like the others, however Mei-Ling decided to check a few more rooms still actively searching for the bathhouse but not minding when she came across something new. It was in her nature after all. Now entering Master Tigress' room, and out of curiosity, she was assaulted with the obvious smell of another cat, she began to look around. There was more in this room than all the others. A few pictures on the wall of a few Chinese and Japanese symbols almost like Viper's was, obviously the Japanese not making since to Mei-Ling but she knew where they hailed from at least. Her bed was as simple as Mei-Lings, but the room felt as though it had a secret hidden within it somewhere.
Slowly, Mei-Ling began to snoop, again out of pure feline curiosity, knowing that cats like to hide things to be intentionally discovered by someone else; or at least knowing she did. Diving her nose between Tigress' sheets for a moment excited Mei-Ling's fur, forcing her fur to stand on end down her spine and giving her a quick hot flash, but nothing of particular interest really stood out immediately. Until Mei-Ling touched the pillow of Tigress' bedroll, feeling something underneath, something small. Checking the pillow, Mei-Ling found a tiny ink well… no ink in it however nor a quill anywhere nearby. But she began thinking quickly which, for Mei-Ling, was impressive for being naked and breathing in the scent of another cat that was making her thoughts go quickly from nice to naughty.
Her eyes trailed over quickly to the Japanese symbols on the wall. She approached the one that stood out the most, leaving her bedsheets on Tigress' bed and carefully removed the picture off the wall, examining it; knowing that cats hid things, to be intentionally discovered by someone else.
At first nothing stood out, the picture was the most unique because it was incredibly old. It had to be at least 20 years old, at least judging by how the black ink that was used to create this particular piece of parchment had begun to fade away, leaving a fainted brown against the already tan paper. Tigress couldn't have written this, or at least not at her age, not so perfectly. Nothing stood out immediately on the front until Mei-Ling turned the picture over, and discovered a lot of writing, however … like the symbol on the front. It was all in Japanese, and the cat couldn't understand a single damn word of it except for one, 'Otome' … 'Daughter' Mei-Ling thought to herself. But that was all that she could immediately understand, there was no way Mei-Ling could accurately read it, but out of pure cat curiosity she decided to keep the picture, passively knowing the 5 wouldn't return soon. Quickly Mei-Ling snatched her 'robe' and fled the room, looking around and sniffing about, trying to get the scent of Tigress out her nose to check for Shifu, which she wasn't picking up. She let out a sigh in relief, and began to search for the bath again, but stopped short, peering at the last room in the Quarters she hadn't checked yet… Master Crane's room.
'Better not be a Viper in here'
Slowly, she entered Crane's room as if expecting to see him waiting for her. There, like the other rooms, wasn't very much standing out aside from a few things on the wall to decorate the room like Tigress did hers. But Mei-Ling wasn't interested in what was in the room, she was more interested in who … or at least, his smell. Mei-Ling began to breathe in Crane's scent deeply and slowly to savor her avian fling, immediately making her knees weak and her body temperature rise immensely. A small grin slid across her thin muzzle as she fell on all fours and stalked towards Crane's nest, which was sitting in the center of the room like the other beds were, except for Po's ofcourse. The mountain cat circled his nest at least 7 times, nipping gently at the twigs and nuzzling her cheek and tail against the thin nesting she always remembered Crane having. Her face began to glow with a light blush as she stepped into it, shivering and giggling gently to herself as the rough feel of the thin twigs teased her haunches and poked back at her foot and hand paw pads. Mei-Ling sat directly in the center of his nest and released a long, deep and erotic "Meeeooooooooowwww…" Followed swiftly by a gentle purr.
This visit made Mei-Ling's day, or at least night. She hadn't had the chance to actually talk with her long lost friend yet, but remembering him so deeply made her glow. However, she never was intimate with him or thought about it much, but stealing a guilty pleasure and his scent was all she needed to remember Crane for a while. Mei-Ling was a smart girl and knew that she was a beautiful woman, that could probably have anyone she actively sought after, but her relationship with Crane was perfect as it was and she had no interesting anyone else. Even when her avian accomplice left her alone in Sun-Lo for over 10 years, she still loved him dearly as a friend, and often thought of him as her greatest strength whenever she needed to pick herself from depression, even if he was somewhere in the world, he was always in her heart. Quickly though, her dreams were interrupted with the rank scent of her own armpits and thighs. For it had been far too long since she'd had a hot bath, and the body wasn't going to wait much longer. Quickly, Mei-Ling snatched up her 'robe' and the painting and fled off to find the bath somewhere.
"It has to be somewhere in this damn palace!" She groaned, but halted in her tracks as she passed by another door, which the old scent alone gave away who it had belonged to. She took the last moment she had to slide open the door of the room and inhaled the scent of the long vacant owner. 'Tai-Lung…'
The sun had begun to rise for the second time. It had been over a full day so far, and the Furious Five were still on the road. Tigress' mood had again, taken a turn for the worst when the Five had stopped at a fishing town, that had heard of the Dragon Warrior and hailed him endlessly. Actually all of the Furious Five were a bit agitated at the ignorance of the people, but it wasn't in their honor to seek glory, or steal it from a brother, no matter how fat or foolish he may be. So the Furious Five left early, leaving Po behind in the village to bask in the glory of being a hero. To their discomfort, he caught up with amazing speed and a slur of apologies, occasionally asking 'What Gives?' and blurting 'Time Out!' as if freeze tag was a heavy part of life or death combat.
Like before, Po was bringing up the rear of the group as everyone was headed north now. They had to avoid the broken Thread of Hope or they'd of lost more time than they already have, but from the city it was now just a straight shot to Chorh Gom Prison, immediately north. Tigress was in a fury and leaping from tree to tree in the lush mountains, feeling the burn of actually gaining time towards her goal now moving independently but also as a group instead of conforming to the 'Average' speed of the group, which is Po's normal walking speed.. "Let's move faster. I can already feel the biting cold, we're getting closer." She called out to her allies, who were also fully prepared to fly into combat now. Seeing the Dragon Warrior hailed for luck was a low blow to the pride of the Furious Five, so seeking out their target quickly was all that was in mind. China would soon be chanting the name of the Furious Five and their exploits instead of the Panda's.
Master Monkey was backflipping through the trees, while weaving past the swooping Master Crane, the langur was spinning his bo staff in his hands feeling the excitement of the oncoming fight, ready to reset the scale to a draw instead of leaving Tai-Lung ahead by 1 victory. "Oh yes, I'm sooo ready for this. My Lightning Chi is tingling in my fingers!" Which was apparent as his staff had begun to smoke, and highlighted upon by Viper sneezing from the smell of monkey sweat and burning bamboo. "I can smell it Monkey, can you be any less excited about this?"
Mantis held back a witty reply as he began to hear Panda shouting from probably twenty feet back, "Hey Guys! Wait up!" Po was shouting and gasping loudly as if he'd been shot, but he was losing his breath quickly after inhaling so much fine Chinese cuisine, and running through the forest floor kept him at a steady, and slow pace, compared to everyone else who were almost literally air born. "Catch up Brother! We have an urgent Mission!" Viper shouted out, hanging herself upside down from a tree to taunt Po as the others passively were. "Dragon Warrior there's no time to fall over and fake a heart attack!"
Po was now suddenly on his back, clutching his chest. "I'm … not pretending. Erg."
And as before, the Furious 5 let out a groan.
- - - - - - - - -
After a short while, the group had returned the Dragon Warrior back to good health and they were again moving at a steady pace, however it was far slower than anyone wanted right now. Po was trying to keep up with them, but from stuffing himself so full, he wasn't able to move very far without losing his breathe. Fish, and sweets seemed to have clogged him for a while, when the others simply had what they needed, and what they knew wouldn't hinder them in combat. Ingesting nearly as much cheese as Po did, would have probably stunted, if not completely killed their combat ability when it was recommended to be at 115% soon.
"Some Dragon Warrior" Tigress grumbled low to herself, as she turned and glared over her striped shoulder, knowing that any of her friends would make the title look better than Po was right now, even Mantis who was smaller than a dragon's fang, but he was far stronger, smarter, swifter and sadly still … smaller than Po. "Hey, I'm still ready for… a fight!" Po tried to say, not yet having digested his meal. "I'm not gunna be beaten you guys. Phew." The Panda was trying harder than he needed to, when in all reality, if he had a moment to relax, everything would settle and he'd be able to move a lot faster. Master Viper slowly broke off from the group and slithered up towards Po, trying her best to look him straight in the eyes as she suspended most of her tattooed length upright.
"Po?" She was asked almost tempted to cast her serpent gaze on him to get his attention, as Viper was always prone to treat him like a small child out of habit and instinct. "You know this is very important right, to all of us. Especially Master Shifu, he would never tell us to kill his son unless he was deadly serious about it." The Panda glanced down at Viper, nodding quickly. "Yes, I know, I know. I totally know." He was using his big words to try to reassure Viper, however Po was starting to feel the same type of distress everyone else was. It was true, that he'd won the last altercation with Tai-Lung by luck, but at the same time, he won because he believed in himself. If by some chance, he couldn't trigger than same flowing emotion of confidence mixed with righteousness and forgiveness, then he probably would have his neck broken by Tai-Lung's superior muscles and his massive paws.
Viper nodded, now being watched by the other Furious Five members, "Then you have to understand, that time is very important to all of China. We have to move faster so we can make it to the Prison. We have to make sure Tai-Lung never threatens our home again. It's our duty to protect China and the artifacts of the Jade Palace. If we let him get away now, everyone's doomed. And you will never have noodles ever again."
Po nodded slowly, feeling a bit disappointed in himself now, and the thought of food made him cringe at the moment. Because he could still feel it processing, but he did need to cast his rebuttal even though, Viper was absolutely right. Though nothing could shake the nervous tension from the Panda's bones, even though they are all marching to him as this was a harder level of training, Tai-Lung wasn't a man to challenge and hope to survive. Like diving into freezing water, he just wanted to quickly get it over with so he could either save the world, or die trying … which he greatly preferred the former in comparison to the latter. No noodles would suck.
"Yeah Viper, I know but … I just had to eat ya know, I eat when I'm nervous… well that and I had to or else those guys would of thought I was being offending to them." Tigress sighed and stepped towards Viper and Po by destroying the walking formation, "We told them we were on an important mission, Po. You, on the other hand, decided it was better to eat and risk everyone's lives … we didn't leave you at first because we're all a team." Tigress hated to admit it, but Po was apart of the Furious Five, although he wasn't actively in the billing. "But after forty-five minutes Po, you became a liability… If one of us dies Dragon Warrior, then we're all going to die. Especially if your lucky chi attack doesn't work… for a second time, Tai-Lung will kill and EAT us all." Tigress' gaze was deep and penetrating to Po's psyche. The molten heat could almost be felt resonating from the striped female's eyes. He begun to straighten up instantly, and prepared to fall into the already broken formation.
However Po still managed to find self pity and sighed, "I know … I'm worried about it too, I did beat him once before but I know I can beat Tai-Lung again if … If you guys are in trouble. I love all you guys as family." Viper hissed happily interrupting, "We all think of you as family too, but if you don't pick up the pace. Our family will be in grave danger, and everyone we know." Crane stepped forward this time, sighing. "Guys, this is very touching … but I think we should keep moving. The clouds are starting to pick up and the weather is only going to get less kind." Crane spoke and wove a wing towards the northern mountains, immediately as an arctic gust came down upon all of them.
Slowly, very slowly they had been approaching the mountains changing the terrain from glassland to iceland almost instantly as if there was a definite border. If not for the shifting flakes of snow, the Furious Five would be able to make out some of the footprints of moving traders, and bandits within this region, and the closer they'd get to Chorh Gom, they would be able to see Tai-Lung's foot prints and even rubble that had blown from the escape of Chorh Gom four months ago. The horrible temperatures didn't allow very much to decay, but the constant snowfall hid anything that happened to stand still long enough to catch, and was cold enough to hold snowflakes.
Tigress turned to look up at the mountains. "Yes, I can see … there's a storm going on up there, it's going to get very cold, very quickly… Be prepared."
Po stood up for himself finally, "Hey guys … what ever happened to us?" He spoke as if trying to change the subject, which he did manage to do.
Monkey rose a brow, "What are you talking about Po?" Po stepped up to speak, as if he were upon a soapbox. "You know, when you guys accepted me instead of thinking I was holding everyone back. I mean, I thought the whole 'Master' thing was cool, I was still just a warrior like you guys. But why's everyone treating me like an outcast now?" Monkey shrugged his shoulders and answered quickly, "Maybe it's because we know that you blew him up with your energy instead of beat him with your hands. Come on Po, get over it. You got lucky, now lets make sure our luck hadn't run out alright? Tai-Lung's a tough guy… we need to get him early while we have the chance."
Po shook his head, "But what about honor? Kill him while he's weak? Shouldn't it be a fair fight?" Mantis tweaked his head, "He can beat us 5 to 1, err you added in is about as FAIR as it gets. Lets get a move on!" Po nodded and patted his fat gut. "Do you guys think I should get in shape if I survive this?"
"No" They all replied in complete unison, leaving Po shocked for a moment. "Why not?" Po asked, running ahead of the rest of them to his obvious shock. "Shouldn't I be fit and slender, like you guys?" Tigress patted Po on his head as her and her brothers and sisters began to rush by him. "Why give up what makes you unique? It's technically not holding you back from fighting, just holding you back from fitness, and I know you sat on Tai-Lung once during that fight. Why give that up?" Tigress looked as though she was almost going to crack a smile, but she quickly turned and caught up with her allies, heading into the snow storm.
Po thought on it for a second, then pulled up his shorts and floored it to follow the rest of them up into, and through the forest, to the mountains and Tai-Lung's lair, Chorch Gom Prison.
