Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Kung Fu Panda (c) to DreamWorks and whoever-else-made-it
Author's Note: Thanks all those who reviewed and favourited! :) I'm sorry I'm a slow updater, and I can't promise I'll update any faster but the next chapter should come soon. I may decide to update upon a monthly basis but I'm still unsure about this. I'm focusing on another story at the minute, but as soon as I've finished it I'm going to come back, I will probably update again before I've finished with the other story but it won't be regular updates for a while more.
Chapter 3
I work at a market
He stared intently into the mirror in front of him, examining his reflection, admiring it. But Tai Lung was not being arrogant, the person who looked back at him looked nothing alike to who he had been the day before. Stolen black dye, he loved his fur and would on normal situations have completely thrown the idea clear of the sky and cleared his mind of even the slightest tinge that represented a memory of it. It hadn't only been his fur he had had to work on though, it had taken a stolen blade and some very careful maneuvering to cut off the excess fur that formed the mohawk like ridge down the back of his neck, along with anything else on his face that didn't make him appear bald.
As a result he had a much narrower looking face, he had also parted his whiskers so that they did not connect at the tips like they had before, and rounded his ears by removing the fur tufts off of them. He was renting a room off the some cheap hostel on the outskirts of the town, he wasn't expected to actually start working at the market until the next morning, he was still a little skeptical on the idea, and not that wise on the details either. The clouded leopardess had simply told him to turn up the next day and help out, she had mentioned metal work but he doubted this had anything to do with him. Tai Lung just hoped he wouldn't be recognized, ever again.
He had even introduced himself as Xin…how unoriginal.
The next morning he rose as early as he could, and left just as quickly. He wouldn't have admitted it but he was still feeling weak and didn't really want to do anything but sleep it off, but he ignored this, because in the new reality he had created around himself, nothing had never happened. Xiu was waiting for him at the same place as she had been before, except this time she was accompanied by a huge beast of a person who Tai Lung wasn't even sure of what species he belonged to. At first he had thought it was an oversized hog just with a longer and narrower face that usual, but closer inspection showed otherwise, Tai Lung stared, but the creature did not stare back, he was blind; a length of green silk wrapped around his head to hide his eyes completely, like in a game of blind-man's-buff.
"Morning Xin, this is Raaeng, he's a metal worker, you will be helping him today."
The Malayan Tapir, for that was what Raaeng was, said nothing; Tai Lung wondered if he was mute as well, or maybe just plain weird, why would somehow wrap cloth around their head anyway?
"Raaeng, I've already told you about Xin, I hope the two of you get along."
Tai Lung doubted it, already he could tell that this Raaeng was probably nothing but a stupid, thick headed oaf who would be incapable of holding a conversation that lasted longer that a few words.
"We will." There was underlined annoyance in the beast's voice.
Up at the temple the gong had not sounded, but out of habit most of the students were awake anyway, waiting and waiting for the sound to jump to their feet and greet Master Shifu. But there was no sound in or anywhere near the barracks except for a loud creaking coming from the hall, Po was trying to sneak out without waking anyone up, unfortunately even the deepest sleeper would have been awoken by his "stealth".
Shifu not sounding the gong was a cause for worry, especially after his behavior of the day before. Crane, being the most logical and well thinking of the students, got up first and went out into the hall to see what Po was up to.
"Well obviously Master Shifu has overslept, so why not wake him up?" stated Po, Crane was about to protest when Monkey came out and waved a hand at him, telling him to stay silent.
"It will be amusing." He stated. "Besides, it's Po who'll be in trouble, we're just innocent observers."
Tigress and Viper soon joined, interested to see what the results would be. The loud creaking that emitted from wherever Po placed his feet made them wonder why the floor hadn't caved in already, but squeaky floorboards were the least of their worries now. Shifu had his own room at the very end of the student dormitories, he never in it except when he was sleeping. It was a delicate sliding paper door, Po didn't treat it as such though as he pushed hurriedly to one side and leapt in with a grin.
"Rise and shine, Master Shi-" Po stopped when he realized no one was there.
The others hurried over at the silence and looked in upon the room, there was no sign Shifu had ever returned the night before. The bed was completely untouched, the blinds had not even been drawn open.
20 years previously...
The evening was getting colder, the sun had not yet set but it would soon, Tigress was sitting at the top of the thousand step stairs, looking down towards the town. Despite the low temperature, she was content, there was something strangely comforting about sitting on a hilltop so high above the rest of the world, it made her feel powerful, she owned everything as far as she could see. And things were going well for her, recently, since she had moved there, young pupils her age had began to appear to learn the art of Kung Fu, she had already made several good friends, none of them seemed to care she was a tiger rather than a rabbit or a goose, most of them weren't said typical animals themselves. Shifu was a wise father, always with some thoughtful word to put forward when she felt sad, but she wasn't anymore, she was living the dream; what more could she wish for than this?
She didn't mind Tai Lung too much anymore either, though at first the two had hated each other for unsaid reasons, such as childish jealousy over Shifu. But eventually he had shown different colors and had become friendlier, helping her with her training when Shifu was absent and even reading stories aloud to her when she was bored, out of an old childhood book he had kept out of memory; Shifu had apparently read to Tai Lung when he had been little, but probably out of awkwardness, he had not done the same with Tigress. Talking about Tai Lung, he was getting the world famous Dragon Scroll today, right this moment! To know Tai Lung was to know a celebrity, or would be, once he became the Dragon Warrior, she had already told this to several of the new recruits training with her, it had impressed a lot of them.
The door to the Jade Palace opened and Tigress looked back to see who it was, smiling when she spotted Tai Lung, but something was wrong, his head was hung low and was moving carelessly, like the world no longer had anything to offer him. She called out a greeting as he approached, causing him to stop and look up, his eyes were sad but he forced a smile.
"Tigress, shouldn't you be back at the barracks with the other children, it's getting cold out here."
Since the other students had began training here most had decided to take residence in the barracks, only going home on weekends. Tigress shook her head stood up, still smiling.
"Shouldn't you be?" she asked cheekily.
Tai Lung gave her another half smile and shook his head as well.
"Don't need to be, I'm the Dragon Warrior, I can stay up as late as I want to."
Tigress scowled.
"Yeah, but you don't need act so depressed. What's the matter? If I was the Dragon Warrior I would be really happy."
Tai Lung tried to smile again but this time he failed, he walked past her and with his back to her he began to head down the steps towards the town. Tigress suddenly felt worried, Tai Lung was never normally like this, was he planning on leaving? Was he leaving? Maybe with his new powers and the scroll he no longer needed to stay with them and he would leave forever. She quickly stood up.
"Tai, you're coming back aren't you?" She shouted after him frantically.
Tai Lung immediately stopped in his tracks and but he didn't look back. But he replied, but so quietly she almost missed it:
"Yes Tigress, I will be coming back."
And then he was on his way.
Tigress watched him until he was out of sight, then she turned around and headed back over to the barracks humming a tune to herself. And when she got there she told the others of how her 'brother' was now the legend itself, and everyone was awed, even those who hadn't cared before. So they all waited, waiting for the legend to reappear, read a story to all of them for Tigress had invited them all to share her room for the night to listen as well. But Tai Lung did not come back.
Tigress eventually excused herself from the barracks to find Tai Lung. She went out into the courtyard and waited there a while, but Tai Lung did not come back. So she went to the Jade Palace in case Tai Lung came gone there first, into the Sacred Hall of Heroes, here she found Master Oogway, but Tai Lung had not come back. She saw a golden glint out of the corner of her eye and gasped as she noticed the Dragon Scroll was still there, high up and out of reach, she thought this was weird because she was sure Tai Lung would have taken it with him.
"Master Tigress, what brings you here at this late hour?" he asked, at least Oogway wasn't acting any different than usual.
Tigress gave a little bow.
"Master Oogway, the Dragon Warrior Master Tai Lung hasn't returned yet and I was looking for him. Do you where he is?"
The Tortoise Master looked grave, he leaned against his staff for a moment, considering how to reply. Tigress knew how long this could last, so she simply thanked him and moved to leave, but he said something which did not answer her question but created more:
"Master Tai Lung is not the Dragon Warrior."
And though he did return to the Jade Palace that night in one last ditch attempt to get revenge on those who had denied him his world, Tai Lung, as a person, did not come back.
He had been working here for a week now, and was getting used to the routine, though no one had asked he had already made up a past for himself, and so desperate was he to forget that he was even beginning to believe that the past he had made up for himself was true. The market place he worked at was actually a small collection of stalls settled around a large house, the people working here had banded together for quite some time now, all specializing in their own trades, Tai Lung helped with moving objects and carrying messages around, a helping hand; it was almost humiliating.
Almost as in the fact that strangely enough he felt different, and not in the bad way. It had been so long since he had done something ordinary like this, some damned twenty years in fact. Raaeng, as he was called, seemed just as stupid at Tai Lung predicted, doing nothing more than grunting out orders and sneering, though there was one thing that quite fascinated Tai Lung about the seemingly brainless lump: he could see.
Well literally he couldn't physically see, he was as blind as a bat apparently and even if he hadn't been the great piece of cloth he kept wrapped around his head would have prevented anyone from seeing. Yet Raaeng seemed to sense everyone around him, facing the right direction and speaking to the correct person when he was addressing them. He was also strong, able to pull along and carry massive boxes which must have weighed twice his weight. Tai Lung had briefly speculated that the tapir could have once been a Kung Fu student, but then remembered that tapirs weren't speculated to really have that good sense of sight anyway and the amazing "senses" were probably just natural.
He hadn't expected for much to happen. It had only been days but already he was begginning to grow used to the days of nothingness, he no longer believed in his previous life, but in a way this was only worse. He no longer felt the blinding anger which masked all the loss he had faced, but without the anger he was left empty. Tai Lung no longer felt he had a purpose. He was no one now, he had died twenty years before, on the day he had been told he wasn't the Dragon Warrior. He was already nothing but a corpse filled with memories on the day the "Dragon Warrior" had "killed" him.
Pah, the "Dragon Warrior"! It was all a lie, he knew that now, some sick twisted game! They had chosen the first person to ever approach Kung Fu without any training whatsoever, and at his age? Tai Lung had trained since he had first been able to walk, what the hell had been going through their minds when they had chosen him? Maybe Oogway had finally grown senile, after all, he had died only days after the decision had been made.
It was best to not think about it. And fortunately for him, Tai Lung didn't even need to try.
There was suddenly scream.
Raaeng, who had been lazing against a wall nearby, snorted, agitated, and stood up very suddenly, almost knocking over a nearby stall. Tai Lung had picked up on it as well, hurriedly dropping what he was doing and hurrying towards where the sound was coming from. There was more screaming now, Tai Lung came skidding to a halt as a he found his way blocked by a wall of people who had emerged onto the streets to see what was going on.
There, on the roof of a low building at the end of the street, leading out towards the town square, was the source of the trouble. There was ferocious looking buffalo standing upon one roof, he was armed and dangerous, and what was worse, he had a hostage. He wasn't alone either, a large group of thugs stood around nearby causing havoc.
"They've got the mayor!" someone screamed.
Tai Lung found himself frozen to the spot, unsure what to do. He knew that staying here risked the chances that the kung fu masters would show up, they were likely to recognise him, particularly one of them...This wasn't his fight, he shouldn't have cared, just let it play out as it was. But this wasn't what he had seen for so long, normally it was he causing the suffering, everything so fast pased that he was only aware of his goal, and now he could see everything at a normal time speed without a goal and it was different. A weird different that Tai Lung disliked.
He found himself half wishing that the kung fu masters would appear, just to get rid of the problem and wake him into leaving. He couldn't act, he couldn't bring attention to himself.
'BANG!'
The loudest sound he had ever heard at close range, sharp and crisp. Smoke furled and the buffalo toppled and fell off the roof. A horrid silence descended, no one quite knew what exactly had happened and took Tai Lung a while until realized that he was no longer needed to make a decision. The situation had already been dealt with by a most disturbing occurence, and as cheers went up for the saving of the mayor, Tai Lung could only look on in horror at what had happened to the buffalo.
Xin - New
Lin - Gem
Xiu - Elegant
Raaeng - Strong
Ben Zou - Rush about
Cheng - Hasten
