Well...this is it. The one day that scarred me when I was three. It was known as 'the worst, painful day of my life.'
Chapter 9: A Big Tragedy
Soon, the sounds of a fight woke my mother up and she quietly got up and wants to find out what's happening, because she knows my dad might be in trouble. I woke up as well and I saw my mom leave and I quietly asked, "Where you going, mama? Where's papa?"
She knew that something serious was happening and she told me, "I have to find out what's happening. You stay here, okay?"
"Okay."
Meanwhile, my dad was getting attacked at every single ounce he can try to beat Tai Lung down. He had fighting skills that were unstoppable to beat out with and my dad-as strong as he was-never knew how strong he could actually be. He got punched, kicked and taken down in so many various spars for unknown reasons. He then grabbed my dad by the neck and slammed him against the wall and yells out, "You don't know who you are dealing with! I'm gonna kill every single one of you...including your son! I will make sure that he doesn't live!"
My dad was willing not to let anything happen to us, so had enough strength to push him hard and exclaimed, "You stay away from us and you will not get anywhere near my son! Not when I'm around!"
"Who says? You are not the boss of me! Besides, I am unstoppable! You cannot escape my wrath!"
"You don't know who you are dealing with! If you think you're gonna kill my son, you're gonna have get through me! Because no one-not even your own kind-will have the means and the ability to bring harm into our family!"
"Your family? Your family will die and you will surffer!"
"Watch it. We don't even know who you are!"
He chuckled maliciously and said, "But you will. Now you will seek death in the eye!"
He goes over to punch my dad, but he brought in enough strength to take him down with his kung-fu skills. He kicked, punched and slapped him all over the place, but somehow-unexpectedly-it wasn't enough. Nothing fazed him. My dad looked shocked and said, "Impossible! How did you even manage to even-"
"Well, it looks like your kung-fu has no effect on me." Tai Lung said.
Suddenly, my mother slowly comes in and sees my dad being beaten down and shoved to the ground in horror. My dad groans in pain, then gets up and looks up at my mom with a bloody face and she asked, "Sakamoto, what's going on?"
"Run, my sweet." he said, softly.
Tai Lung looks over and sees her face, which made her back off softly. He smiles evilly and asked, "Is this your wife?"
She didn't know who he was or where he came from and she asked, fearfully, "Who are you?"
"Your worst nightmare."
"Get away from my wife, beast!" my dad exclaimed.
He growls and then she takes off running, leaving Tai Lung with enough force to take her down. He stops her dead in her tracks and he said, "You have nowhere to go."
"Please...leave me alone!"
He comes in and punches her in the face and shoves her down on the ground. She was scared for her life and I even heard her coming from the cave. I took a little peek and saw some stranger hurting my mom. It was scary for me to watch and I was worried about what might happen if he saw me, but worst of all, I was scared about what he'll do to my mom.
I let out a small squeak, which caught his attention. I knew he heard me when he saw my face and I crouched back into the cave to find a hiding place while he attempts to walk through the mountain and heads inside the cave and sees me hiding somewhere. Somehow, my little tail gave it away and he chuckled evilly and grabs it. Not only that, he furiously picked me up by the leg and I was so scared, I didn't know what to do.
I asked him fearfully, "Who are you?"
"I am...Tai Lung. And you...will have your last day on this earth!"
"YOU LEAVE MY SON ALONE!"
My dad came back and he was very angry when he saw me being apprehended by Tai Lung. My mother saw this and she said, "Put our son down, please!"
He chuckled evilly and said, "Not an option. Your son will be gone."
"What has he ever done to you?"
"None of your business!"
"Put me down!" I cried.
"Shut up, you little ragamuffin!" Tai Lung shouted and then he slapped me in the face, hard.
That was the straw that broke my dad's back, so he brought in his hammer and beaten him down. Tai Lung lets go of me and my mom quickly saved me as she wrapped around me in her arms. She looked at me and asked, "Are you okay, little Musaki?"
"I think so." he replied.
"Go! Find a place where he can't hurt our son!" my dad yelled out.
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me! I can handle this beast! Now go!"
She did what my dad said, so she ran off with me as she tried to find a place to hide me from that monster. Then, I saw Tai Lung coming behind us and I was really scared and I covered my eyes and started crying. She petted me and then, we went around another cave where it was dark and scary. We walked slowly, hopefully to find a hidden area to get away from Tai Lung.
I was too scared of the dark and I was worried about what'll happen to my dad. I looked at my mom and asked, "Where's dad?"
"He's coming."
"But when?"
"He'll be here, little one."
Suddenly, we hear a slight noise come out of nowhere and it scared both of us. I started whimpering in fear and hid on my mom's arms. She comforted me and said, "It'll be okay, Musaki."
A couple of seconds later, we hear footsteps come in and thought it would be that monster, but as soon as my mom turned around, we found that it was dad. He whispered, "Are you both okay?"
"We're fine." my mom replied.
My dad sighed in relief and said, "I'm glad."
"You?"
"He got me, but I managed to hold him off. He'll think twice before he plans to hurt our son...and us. I'll do whatever it takes for us to escape from his grasp."
I saw my dad and his face was covered in blood. It was pure horror for me to see this. My dad looked at me and said, "Xing-Fu...I'm so glad to see you're still alive."
We hugged each other and all of us hugged together and my parents looked at each other and they have plenty of hope that we will get out of this. My dad got up and walked around a bit and then he turned to us and said, "I'm gonna go around the cave and see if we can find a way out."
"Be careful, Sakamoto." my mom said, worriedly.
"I'll be back, I promise."
He walks around the parts of the cave, but tried to be quiet to not give ourselves away. He slowly pops up and plans to find an opening to escape Tai Lung's wrath, but he was unaware that Tai Lung was crawling through the top of the rocks and he spotted him on the spot. Suddenly, my dad heard a noise out of nowhere and sees a few pebbles falling down to the ground and he slowly looks up and sees those orange eyes come out. That's when he knew that his presence is near. My dad backed away slowly to get away from him, but Tai Lung got him right where he wanted him. He lets out an evil chuckle, falls down, lands on his feet, growls at him and said, "Escape is futile."
My dad was caught and suddenly, he lunged at him, letting out a huge scream. I was definitely scared and my mom looked in horror as Tai Lung attempted to kill my father. She set me down and she hugged me deeply and said, "I gotta help your father. I'll be back, little Musaki."
"Hurry!" I exclaimed.
She went over from behind and threw a big rock at his back and exclaimed, "That's for hurting my husband, you filthy thing!"
Then, both of them ran for their lives and tried to come back for me, but they were stopped by him and exclaimed, "You're not going anywhere until I get that kid!"
"You will do nothing of the kind!" my father exclaimed.
He sees me shaking in fear and then turned back to my dad with a smirk on his face and said, "Watch me."
He tries to grab me, but I backed away from him and I exclaimed, "What do you want from me?"
"I want you to DIE!" Tai Lung roared, as he tries to scar me.
Looking at his orange evil eyes, it really scared me. As soon as he tried to kill me, my dad went in and stomped on his tail. He yells out in pain and my dad went and put me in a place where I could be safe. He quickly said, "Stay here, okay? We'll come back for you."
He runs off and then, gets punched in the face by Tai Lung and then, my mom comes in to save him, but he struck a blow to face. They both stood up and tried to fight him together, but Tai Lung grabbed them and punched both of them hard and he violently shoved them down on the deepest cliff and they held on to each other while my dad held on to a boulder.
"Sakamoto!" my mother screamed.
"I won't let you go!" my father exclaimed.
Tai Lung came in and put his foot on my dad's hand and my dad said, "Please...don't do this."
He looked at them and said, "No one can save you now."
Then, he stamped his feet, which in turn caused them to fall down. I helplessly heard them scream and I was horrified. I quickly ran out and I looked down and I didn't see them anywhere. I didn't know if they would still be alive or if they didn't make it. My eyes were welled up with tears because I was scared to think of something horrible happening.
I sat down in that boulder, feeling so helpless and called out my parents. I tried again, but there was no one there, which scared me. I was shaking so deeply that I fell down to my knees and felt like I could've done something to save them. I crawled out and looked at that big drop where my parents fell down and I tried calling them again so they can hear me.
"Mama! Papa! Can you hear me?"
No one can hear me. I just sat on the ground and the tears start falling down on my eyes and suddenly, I heard some footsteps come out of nowhere and that's when I knew that it was Tai Lung.
"There is no one there. Your parents are dead. Now it's time for you...to die!"
I turned around and I saw Tai Lung coming in towards me and plans to kill me too. I tried to run, but he grabs me by the leg and throws me towards the walls and I fell down to the ground. Then he raises his claws to scar me, but he soon got tackled by some other people. I backed away and just ran back, but someone tried to stop me.
"Hey, kid. It's okay. We're here."
Suddenly, I looked up and there was a rhino guard coming in to comfort me. I saw some others taking Tai Lung away in cuffs and the rhino guard asked me, "What are you doing here all alone? Do you have any parents?"
I was so shaken by everything that happened that I didn't even know what went on. I then went ahead to find my parents and as soon as I got there on my own, my eyes looked up in deep horror-seeing both of them laying there, lifeless. I walked slowly towards them and I tried to wake them up, but they couldn't wake up.
I was afraid that they might be dead and then, I hear some breathing coming from my dad and he looked at me and said, "Xing-Fu..."
I looked up and I was worried to see my dad like this. I asked, "Are you okay?"
"Son...promise me that you'll...remember us...if you can't see us." my dad said.
"What do you mean? We're still gonna be together, right?"
"Of course we will...just in spirit. Little Xing-Fu...Tai Lung has killed us. So I hope that you'll be safe and happy. No matter what you do, we will always be proud of you. Just...take care of yourself and don't... forget about-"
He stopped breathing and then, his hand lowered down to the ground and closed his eyes. I wanted to hear the rest of what he said, but it was too late. My eyes were welling up with tears and said, "No, no, no, no, no! Mommy! Daddy! Please wake up! Don't leave me!"
They couldn't respond. That's when I knew-they're both dead. I sat down, curled myself up and started crying. The fact that I saw them die at three years old in my own eyes is very heartbreaking for me. Suddenly, the rain started pouring in and there was thunder and lightning, but I didn't care at all. My parents were gone.
Suddenly, the rhino guard puts his hand on my shoulder and he picked me up and then, looked at my parents and sees that they're both dead.
"Come on, kid. Sorry you had to witness this."
Later, some of the rhino guards were talking while I was sitting on the edge of the mountain, looking really sad and lonely because my parents were killed.
"...the Valley of Peace?"
"You sure?"
"It's the only suggestion."
"What if he has family there?"
They thought about it and decided to ask me about it. One of the rhino guards came to me and said, "Do you have any other family where you're from?"
I couldn't even look at him because I was still depressed and he could tell that this situation really hit me hard. He puts his hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry. We will take you somewhere safe."
Later, two pandas came by and they saw what happened and they started talking to the rhino guards about me and they decided to become my part-time caretakers while I'm in the orphange. They came to me and I was kinda scared at first, but they grabbed me by the hand and one said, "Don't worry, kid. You're safe with us."
"I'm Brutus and this is my brother Shakur. Those nice guards will take you somewhere nice and safe and that no one will hurt you, okay?"
I nodded my head in sadness and the rhino guards picked me up as we went on. Brutus sighed heavily and said, "Poor kid."
"Yeah, must've been hard for him to witness something like that."
So, I went on the back of the crate and after that, they took me out of Rainbow Canyon. I just sat there, crying...crying in deep painful anguish because my parents are dead. It was the first time I ever experienced death before and it's like my life was falling apart already. My parents meant everything to me and now they're gone. Sometimes, I felt like this was all a bad dream that I wanna get out of, but it's not a bad dream-even though it feels like it. It's real and it hurt me deeply.
Later, my Uncle Mako frantically ran towards the canyon to find my parents after findong out that they might be in trouble, but when he got there, he saw some guard rhinos coming in and he asked, "What's going on here?"
"There was a murder scene in that cave."
"Oh no, that's terrible. Who was killed?"
"Guys, the two pandas I found-one of them is Oak Sung's son!"
Mako's heart sunk deeply when he mentioned my dad's name and he wished it was another panda. Any panda except my dad. He looked very petrified and asked, "Is his name Sakamoto Akio-Meng?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"That's my brother!"
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but...your brother's dead."
It shook Mako deeply and he gets down on his knees and he was in disbelief. He lowered his head down with emotional pain and looked at them with tears in his eyes and asked, "Who else?"
"His wife."
He lowered his head down again after hearing my mom died and he just felt like it was all a nightmare and that he wished he woke up and see that they're okay, but one look at my dad's deceased body and he knew-that it was real. He broke down crying softly and covered his face to avoid someone seeing him tear up. Then, he looks up at the rhino guard and asked, "Did anyone else survive?"
"There was one kid that survived. He was identified as Musaki Meng."
Mako sighed in relief when he found out I was still alive. He asked, "Where is he now?"
"He's on his way to the orphanage in the Valley of Peace."
"They're putting my nephew in the orphanage?"
"Your nephew?"
"Yes."
Soon, Shin Hai frantically came in and looked extremely worried and said, "I got here as soon as I could! Where's Sakamoto?"
"Shin Hai..."
Mako looked at him as he puts his hand on his shoulder in deep sorrow, lowered his head then faced him and said, tearfully, "It's too late."
Shin Hai's heart sunk deep and his eyes welled up with tears, then covered his face and asked, "Are you saying...my best friend...is dead?"
"And his wife too."
Shin Hai shuddered sharply and it hurt him deep inside knowing that he came all the way to save his friend wasn't enough. He stood on the back of the wall, then slid down to the ground and just sat down there just crying and Mako puts his hand on his shoulder and said, "Xing-Fu was the only one that's still alive."
"Why...why would someone do this to my best friend? I told my pack that I should go out and save him, but they told me it's too dangerous. Why couldn't I have rescued him in time? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?"
"Shin Hai! I'm just upset about this as you are." Mako exclaimed.
"Why couldn't I have saved him? He was..he was my best friend!"
Mako gave him a hug as Shin Hai cried on his shoulder and Mako told him, "Shin Hai...there was nothing you could've done. There was nothing that any of us could've done."
Shin Hai felt a huge amount of guilt that he didn't save my parents in time and he sighed deeply in regret and remorse for not being there when it happened. He turned to Mako and said, "He was like the father I never had before, just so full of life, love and always so selfless...and now...now he's gone...along with his wife."
Mako puts his hand on Shin Hai's shoulder and said, "We have one survivor. His son was the only one still living."
He felt like his world was falling apart, but felt a little relieved to hear that I was the only one still alive. Then, he wiped his eyes and asked, "Tell me...Little Xing-Fu's alive? He's the only survivor?"
"Yes. They're taking him to an orphanage now."
"His parents risked their lives to save that little guy, huh?"
"From what I heard, they did."
He felt really sorry for me and tearfully whispered, "Poor little guy. It's a shame that he had to see his parents gone. I wish I could find the beast that did this."
Then, Shin Hai looked at Tai Lung as the rhino guards dragged him with cuffs and that made him angry that he killed my parents. He shouted, "YOU STUPID HEARTLESS MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU KILL MY BEST FRIEND AND GET AWAY WITH IT?"
He wanted to fight him, but my uncle held him and said "It's not worth it! It's not worth it!"
The rhino guard calmed him down and said, "Don't worry. He won't be bothering anyone else anytime soon. So just stay out of this."
Shin Hai eventually calmed down, but still felt angry that he met the killer for the first time and wanted to avenge his best friend. He turned away from Mako and said, "I could've stopped this before my best friend died."
"I know. But like I said, there was nothing we could've done."
Shin Hai was in disarray knowing that my parents were gone and I was sent to an orphanage. It hit hard on both of them when they saw the bodies of my parents come out and see it before their very eyes. Shin Hai got down on his knees and started crying. The death of my father hit Shin Hai really hard. To him, he was everything to him. He then closed his eyes, got down on his knees, let out some choked sobs and tearfully whispered, "I failed you, my friend."
Later on, the entire Shanghai Secluded Valley set up a funeral to honor my parents. Everyone who knew him was there and my grandparents were most definitely shaken up about it. It soon brought the entire village together as the mourned the loss of my mom and dad. My grandfather looked at everyone and said, "Let us take a moment to honor my son and my daughter-in-law, who sadly had their lives taken so senselessly."
All of them bowed down to honor my parents' passing and then, my grandfather announced, "My grandson, Xing-Fu is the only person that's still alive. So until we see him again, let us all remember all the times my son has brighten your days and I know they'll look down on us from heaven with his wife, smiling down on us."
Shin Hai became emotionally broken and he closed his eyes as the tears start coming out of his face, knowing that he can't accept the fact that his best friend was dead. My grandfather said, "Never forget my son's legacy and never forget my grandson, for we know he is alive and he will bring us hope."
They still bowed to them and my grandfather played his flute as everyone honored him in tears, knowing that my father will be missed dearly. Then, Shin Hai and his wolf pack began to howl mournfully for the loss of my parents and they all howled with sorrow, emotional pain, but also with honor. That day for everyone, inclduing me...is described as one big horrific tragedy.
Musaki: That day...was like a dark day for me.
Animation Universe 2005: I'm sorry you had to be there for that.
Musaki: So was I.
Animation Universe 2005: So, there you have it. Now you know how Musaki's parents got killed and the impact that it had on him was hard for him to swallow. I know you guys feel sorry for him that it happened. So, you might be asking where's Musaki going now?
Musaki: The next chapter is where my depression, hurt and sorrow feelings at the orphanage kicked in. Where those emotional scars and wounds always stayed with me for so long.
Both: And so the story continues...
Animation Universe 2005: Let me know what you think of this chapter. Did it leave you satisfied or whatever? Hit us up some reviews.
Musaki: Happy 4th of July!
