Chapter 10 : Unlucky Night

The Valley of Peace,

Somewhere in The Valley of Peace, five wolves, who were also thieves, were arguing with each other. As bandits, their only income was from robbing others, and to be able to do it, they had to be able to fight reasonably well.

"Tomorrow, our target is that ceramic store," one of the wolves said.

"You're right," another wolf responded in agreement. "If we are successful, we can relax for a month."

CLINK

A little bundle dropped in front of them. The five wolves stopped their discussion as they looked at it.

"With that, you won't need to work for two months," An unknown voice spoke.

"Who's that?! Show yourself!" A wolf commanded.

A male tiger appeared from the shadows. "Remember me?"

Five pairs of eyes widened when they saw him. "You... you're..."

"I am the prince you tried to rob yesterday."

"A prince?" the wolves looked at each other. They were puzzled as to why a person with royal blood would travel unprotected and alone, but their greed took over. They knew that he would be a huge catch and it would be a waste not to make full use of this once in a life time chance. Soon, their look of surprised was replaced by an evil grin.

"A prince, huh?" said one wolf. He and the other four started closing in on the tiger. "A prince worth lots and lots of money."

Prince Yuan Sheng realized the situation he was in.

"Whoa...whoa... hold on a second guys," he said as he stepped backwards. "I came to offer you all a deal."

The wolves kept moving closer. "A deal? About what? Money?"

"Yes. Money. Look at what's inside," The prince replied as he gestured towards the bundle.

The wolves stopped and one of them approached the bundle. As he unwrapped it, his eyes nearly popped out as his jaw dropped.

"WOW... We're rich... WE'RE RICH!" He exclaimed.

His friends surrounded him as they scrambled to see what was inside.

"Whoaa...," Like being hypnotized, they didn't remove their sight from whatever they were looking at. "Money..." they murmured.

"That is just the down payment for our first agreement," The prince explained. "You'll get more if you do what I say."

"More?"

"Yes. You won't have to rob for months. And if you do well, I might even pay you double. What do you think?"

"Hmm..." the bandits looked at each other again, continuing their silent discussion.

"Very well," one of them spoke. "We'll take your offer. Now tell us what exactly do you want us to do?"

"Something you would like. But the most important thing is, I want you to be my bodyguards while I'm making a deal with a certain Kung Fu Master. Your fighting skills would be very necessary."

"And when will we begin this job?"

The Prince smirked. "Tonight."

.

~0~0~TLoTDaTT~0~0~

.

After walking for hours aimlessly, Tigress began to tire. She didn't usually get tired, but by skipping both lunch and dinner, she was now hungry and weak. Furthermore, with the cold air that was still blowing and chilling her to the bone, she didn't feel like a warrior. It was a good thing that she hadn't met anyone she needed to fight with. If she did, she would have lost.

"So, you give up?"

Tigress growled in annoyance when she heard that familiar voice. Him again?

"What do you want?!" she snapped without looking at him.

"What I want? You know it already."

"Still the same?"

"Sure."

"Hah!" Tigress laughed as she mocked him. "I have told you, Foolish Tiger, that I won't be joining in, or going with you."

"Are you sure? After running away from home, you don't have any other place to stay," Prince Yuan Sheng told her. "Except in the Darknest Land."

"Listen, Foolish Tiger," her voice didn't sound harsh anymore. "I'm too tired to beat you up. So, rather than wasting my energy, I'm going to just repeat myself. I-won't-be-going-with-you."

"Ah... you're too weak? That's bad, whereas I have prepared myself for your attack. Tsk...tsk...tsk... The Kung Fu Master has nothing now. No home. No family. No power. No—"

"Enough!" Tigress whirled around to face the tiger in her Kung Fu stance. "I may be weak to fight against bandits, but I will forever have enough energy to fight a brainless guy like you."

Without any warning, Tigress rushed towards Prince Yuan Sheng. But before she could touch him, five wolves jumped out from nowhere and landed right between the two tigers. The wolves looked like they're protecting the prince from Tigress' attack.

"Well...well...well...," the wolf in the middle mumbled. "Too weak to fight against bandits, eh? I guess it means that tonight will be your unlucky night."

Tigress started to worry. She knew that she had no chance of winning.

.

~0~0~TLoTDaTT~0~0~

.

Po was in an unfamiliar place. He looked around and saw that there was nothing else except clear blue sky, some clouds, himself and... a dragon?

The dragon flew gracefully before landing in front of Po, his head bowed.

"Dragon Warrior," he greeted. "It is an honour to finally meet you."

"Cool! You know me? How?" Po ASKED. "We've just met—Oh—" Po realized something. "Of course. I'm in a dream. You must be Long."

"You are right, Dragon Warrior. I am Long, the leader of Dragon clan. I've come to inform you that your time has come."

"To what? Wake up? Or..."

"To fulfil your destiny."

"My destiny? But I have been fulfilling it, I mean; I have defeated both Tai Lung and Lord Shen. I've saved China before."

"Yes, and now, you must save it again."

"You meant something big is coming up?"

Long nodded. "Something bigger."

"Awesome... I can't wait for a new adventure. Can you show me my next enemy? With your magic if possible?"

"Sadly, I'm not a wizard, Dragon Warrior. All I can tell you is that the Reincarnation of Khan is now moving towards her own destiny."

"Reincarnation of...whoa...whoa...whoa... you're not talking about Tigress, are you? I meant, you aren't going to order me to kill my best friend, right?"

"I'm talking about her, Dragon Warrior. It's one of your duties as the most honourable warrior in the whole of China. It's written in your fate."

"Come on. Can't you just ask me to defeat someone else? Someone other than Tigress?"

Long shook his head sadly. "As The Dragon Warrior, China's safety depends on you. I sent you to this world because you're the only one who can save it."

"And what if I refuse?"

Long hissed and leaned his head towards Po. "Destruction, darkness and misery. That's what will happen if you refuse."

"But I can't. I can't kill someone I... I love. I – I mean, love like a friend," he quickly corrected himself. "I can't."

"Dragon Warrior, sometimes a true warrior has to sacrifice something he loves."

"There must be another way. There's got to be another way that doesn't involve death."

"There is no another way. If you die, China is doomed. If she dies, China will be safe."

After saying that, Long turned and took off towards the sky.

"Wait!" Po shouted before the dragon disappeared from his view. "How to change one's fate?!"

Long stopped for a moment. "Fate won't be changed, unless you try," he replied.

"How?!"

"It depends on your heart."

Long continued ascending towards the skies until he finally disappeared behind the clouds.

.

~0~0~TLoTDaTT~0~0~

.

Early next morning

The sun hadn't risen and everyone was still asleep. Everyone except Shifu. He was in the Student Barracks and was intending to pay Tigress a visit.

When he reached her door, Shifu knocked lightly.

"Tigress?" he called softly. "Are you up?"

No answer

"Listen. I'm sorry for what I've have done yesterday. I shouldn't have been so harsh and heartless to you. I want you to understand that I regretted it."

Still no answer

"Please. Open the door. Let us talk."

Silence for a moment

"Tigress? Are you... in there?"

Getting impatient, Shifu decided to open the door himself.

"Tigress. Why aren't you—" He was surprised to find the room empty. "Where is she?" He mumbled to himself.

He scanned the room, but all he found was only a scroll on the futon.

"No!" Shifu picked up the scroll, unrolled it and began reading. "No... no... no..." His expression melted from fear to horror. "This can't be happening..."