Ohayo you happy-go-lucky Motherhopers! CJzilla here, SLAMMING out with a big chapter. In this chapter: After a big night you'll wanna know what both parties did and how they're holding up... And plenty of evil goodness.
As I rampage over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love on me... Hate on me... Man, I'm getting tired of this.
What Becomes of Us?
Morning was a welcomed sight after such a sour night. After what happened with Lady Layla an air of disappointment hung over the temple. Seeing the sun rise and bathe over the valley, a new day started and yesterday could be forgotten.
Master Shifu, always an early riser walked out of his sleeping quarters, the haze of sleep still hanging over his mind. The most sleep he had was ten minuets before he woke up. The Kung Fu master had been up most of the night watching the entrance to the Jade Mountain. There was a chance Layla could return and he wanted to be ready, whether she came with her tail tucked between her legs or with a sword in her hand.
Walking out into the sunlit pavilion of the Jade Temple, Shifu was startled when he saw Po sitting on the steps. The elderly red panda held his chest; his heart feeling like it jumped out of his body and was on the ground somewhere.
"Po!" The sleepy Kung Fu master barked. "What in the name of the seven secret noodle spices are you doing out here this early?! You nearly gave me a heart attack."
The panda laughed, taking his eyes off of the sunrise-kissed mountains and looked at his master.
"Sorry. I figured with ears as big as yours, you could hear the sun come up and me out here watching it." Po quipped, laughing.
Shifu was amused but let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Ha ha." He walked up beside the Dragon Warrior. "You are a scream. That's no way to talk to your master."
"You're not my master until the sun's up." Po yawned.
The red panda let out a laugh.
"Well, I don't wanna be a master until the sun's up and I've had my morning tea." Master Shifu rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleepy fuzz out of his vision.
Plopping down next to his friend and student, Shifu watched the sun rise with Po. Both sat in silence for over thirty seconds, a rarity. Shifu then stole a glance at the panda's face. Po was watching the sun rise, his eyes looking droopy and tired.
"You couldn't sleep either, huh?" The red panda master inquired lazily, cocking a fuzzy eyebrow.
"Nope." Po popped his lips.
Shifu grunted sleepily in acknowledgement.
"Neither could I." He stated, eyes half open. "I sense you are… disappointed, hmm?"
Po looked down at his half awake master.
"A little early to read emotions, huh, Master Shifu?" The panda jeered.
"It's never too early for a friend." The red panda returned, holding up his head by leaning on his staff.
It was too early for anything. The rooster hadn't even crowed yet for crying out loud!
"Eh." Po tapped his head with his finger as he winked in concentration. "Reality is still not sinking in. I mean, I know Lady Layla's gone, but I still don't think she's… evil."
The panda pursed his lips and looked into the amber morning sky. Then he smiled.
"But hey, you were right." Po looked back to his master and friend. "Lady Layla was making trouble. All the same… I'll miss her."
He chuckled. Po grew quiet after his forced chuckle died down. Shifu had his lips pursed as he looked between Po's face and Oogway's staff in his hand.
"As will I, Po." The red panda voiced. "Layla trained along side Tai Lung and she always did feel like a daughter to me, in some way. There is a chance that she isn't as evil as she portrayed herself last night."
Po looked down at his master.
"Serious?" He questioned, ears perked up.
Shifu nodded.
"Perhaps this suddenly and villainous behavior was brought on by the loss of Master Oogway." He felt a stab of mourning in his chest. "He was always a father-figure to Layla, whom she did everything she could to please. Her actions may, and I say "MAY", be due to her grief. The fox was never one to allow herself an emotional release."
Po brightened a little but then his face fell straight.
"Do you… Do you think she'll be back?" The panda asked, his innocent features twisting with uncertainty.
The thought slightly chilled Shifu's heart as he recalled Layla's last words to him. "I hope you trained your Furious Five well. Because I will not hold back and continue to let you spit upon Master Oogway's legacy! Mark me, Shifu!" He would not allow any of his beloved students, including Po, to be in the vixen's path.
"… Perhaps, but I hope, by this banishment, she clears her head of all her wicked thoughts. If and when she does return, I hope she returns with a repentant attitude." Shifu's mouth snapped shut as he resisted telling Po of Layla's dangerous promise.
From what Shifu learnt last night, Layla had a soft spot for Po. Her interest in the panda went beyond his title as the Dragon Warrior and that frightened Shifu. She expressed that her dividing words to the panda was a "warning". And from the same spectrum, Po seemed to have grown a liking for the wayward Layla as well. But Shifu promised himself that Po would not become a fly in Layla's web of deceit.
"Her banishment still stands, Po." Shifu's voice grew authoritative. "Layla is forbidden from the Jade Mountain and you are forbidden to have any dealings with her. If you are to see her or if she comes to you in any way, you will not return the favor. Report to me at once."
The expression on Po's face fell low.
"Yes, Master Shifu." He whispered, his eyes on the steps.
Shifu had a prick in his throat from his hard tone. Po got to his feet and walked down the few steps to the training yard, mumbling to himself and kicking invisible stones. The red panda had never seen his student so down and it tore through his heart like an arrow. Po's downer had to be cured at once!
"Po?" Shifu got to his feet and walked to the training yard. "Why don't you take the day off?"
The panda shook his head, his nose scrunched like he didn't need a break.
"No, honestly." Shifu persisted. "I know for a fact that you have not seen your father in days. Why not take this opportunity to see him?"
How that goose was Po's father was beyond Shifu.
"I can't just leave!" The panda returned, gesturing. "You've gotta teach me more awesome Kung Fu lessons."
The red panda gave a knowing smile.
"Even the greatest warriors need a break once in a while." Master Shifu returned. "Besides, I haven't had time with the others in over a week. It will be nice to catch up with them."
Po still wasn't convinced.
"But-" The panda was cut off when Shifu tapped his nose with his staff.
"I want you to go!" Now the red panda was through with asking. "I command you to take the day off."
Po gave his mentor a funny, surprised look.
"Don't worry; I'll find someone else to smack around." Shifu gave a quick smile glancing at his wooden staff.
The panda gave a laugh.
"Whew!" Po wiped invisible sweat droplets off of his forehead. "For a second there, I thought you couldn't go a day without hitting me."
Shifu rolled his eyes.
"I can't. So, I better get it all out of my system now before you leave." The red panda smiled evilly.
With that Shifu chased Po around the training yard.
Tail Lung awoke with ease. Joyous birdsong harmonized to the morning sun as a welcoming breeze whispered through leaves. There were no sounds of chains rattling, no icy winds ceaselessly whistling, no limitless echoes of guards' footfalls and no Commander Vachir's jeering laughter to wake him from his sleep. His sleep was solid and he received the morning for the first time in twenty years.
A warm sun lapped Tai Lung's face, flirtatiously winking at him through the leaves of the bamboo trees he awoke under. The snow leopard yawned and rolled over, stretching his legs out. Under him, he felt a soft straw mat with an old wool blanket over it. There was no longer infinite blackness around him, but colors of all hues greeting him warmly. It was bliss. Closing his eyes, he let the softness of his bed sink in.
Since his imprisonment and recapture, Tai Lung never welcomed consciousness. Chorh-Gom Prison was nothing less than torture and every waking moment was pure agony. Every time the snow leopard opened his eyes, pain, hunger, cold and nothingness was all that he experienced. Chorh-Gom managed to break down his willpower to the point where Tai Lung wished to never wake up again. But now he chuckled at the thought. Now he was warm and pain-free.
Drifting between the void of sleep and consciousness, Tai Lung heard the crackling of a fire over the noise of the forest. Rolling over to his side and blinking the sleep out of his eyes, the snow leopard saw a small fire within a ring of rocks. As reality sharpened further, he found himself in the middle on a dense bamboo forest surrounded by tall bamboo trees.
Letting his head fall back down, Tai Lung took a big inhale of his pillow. It smelt sweet yet spicy, like a wonderful musk. Then he remembered how he escaped Chorh-Gom. Layla.
His golden eyes combed over the small camp. Right next to him, Tai Lung saw that there was a body-shaped indentation in the grass. The silver vixen couldn't have gone far. Then something swaying in the wind caught his eye. A cream-colored fabric hung on a nearby bamboo bough; it looked like Layla's cloak and pants. Tai Lung sighed and closed his tired eyes again. Just five more minuets and then he'd get up and look for his long-lost friend.
But before he could fall asleep again, he heard dainty footfalls on the forest floor. Tai Lung opened his golden eyes and turned his head toward the sound. There was Layla walking toward him, a worn metal tea kettle in her grasp.
Layla's yellow eyes were cast down to her feet as her slitted silk skirt moved with her. Her heart stung. She was banished from the Jade Mountain, from Master Oogway's legacy and from Po. Yes, she was beginning to care for the clumsy panda more than she imagined she would. Why? Po was genuine and loving in a way the vixen had forgotten. Layla could feel her heart wrap around him. Was it love? Yes, but the kind of love she'd never experienced as a child: the love of a family.
Bringing her eyes back up she glanced over her campsite. And she found Tai Lung, his back to her, still sleeping where she'd left him. Layla smiled and examined him in legitimate lighting. He was taller and beefy, brawnier than she remembered. The snow leopard's fur was dull and worn, probably from his bad living conditions. But against his flat fur, Layla saw the rippling muscles of his back. She couldn't help a greedy smile.
Walking over to the slumbering snow leopard, Layla set down her tea kettle and knelt over him. Tai Lung's chest heaved in and out with peaceful breaths and it almost pained her to wake him up. Placing a hand on his large bicep, the vixen gave him a shake.
"Wake up, Tai Lung." She coaxed.
The snow leopard didn't move. Layla leaned further over him.
"Tai Lung." Her mouth was over his ear.
Still no response, not even a groan. Layla rolled him over on his back and looked him over. The snow leopard didn't look hurt so why wasn't he waking up? The vixen put her ear to his mouth, listening to his breathing.
Tai Lung held in a laugh as he cracked one of his eyes open. The fur on Layla's ear tickled his mouth and her spicy scent danced over his sense of smell. Her cloak was hanging on a nearby tree and now he saw his childhood friend in the light. The vixen's silvery fur was lighter than he remembered, showing that she was sun-kissed from her journeys. Layla was no longer painfully thin but was now fleshy and curvy. She'd grown into her ears and nose, making her quite beautiful. And now the vixen had poise about her, something that made Tai Lung's knees knock together.
The snow leopard saw her tail flick to the side. He snapped his eye shut as she rose.
Layla sat on her knees and looked over her slumbering friend. She decided that it would be best to just let him sleep. After all, he suffered in that prison for the last twenty years; Tai Lung deserved to sleep in. Chuckling to herself, the vixen got to her feet, snatching the tea kettle from the ground and placed it in the fire. The water inside the kettle would boil, but Layla wasn't going to wait around and watch it.
Looking up at the nearest bamboo tree, the vixen darted to it and shot up its lean trunk.
Bouncing between trees, Layla made it to one of the tallest in the area. The supple bamboo swayed with the wind as Layla reached the top of the tree. The bamboo flexed with her weight allowing the vixen to stand on its tip. Layla was looking in the direction of the Jade Mountain. The village and temple were off in the distance; about five miles away but it didn't detract from its brilliance. The mountain mist was beginning to fade around the Jade Palace as the morning sun lit up the many steps leading to the entrance of the temple. It was a beautiful sight.
The vixen stared at the place that she grew up in. Though it was necessary that the Jade Mountain must be cleansed, Layla questioned herself again. If Shifu was evil, wouldn't have Master Oogway dismissed him long ago? Yes. So perhaps there was nothing wrong with the red panda. Doubtful. The vixen couldn't excuse Shifu's brash decision to banish her. He had to be hiding something to kick her out so quickly. Master Oogway would not have approved of her banishment. Layla would purge the temple of Shifu and his followers. Then she thought of Po.
No. She couldn't face the panda in her thoughts; the matter will be dealt with as it came. Though, she did wonder what Po would do. He was the Dragon Warrior and he would defend his friends. Layla would not and could not hurt Po.
Tai Lung watched his friend. From atop of a bamboo tree, the snow leopard was behind the fox, looking where she was looking. A scowl rippled across his face. The Jade Palace; home of the Dragon Warrior that put him back in Chorh-Gom Prison. That graceless, smelly, over-weight panda defeated him in a most embarrassing way and Tai Lung wasn't about to forget it. Vengeance was the only way to redeem himself and he'd string that panda up by his pants so fast, he wouldn't know what hit him.
But that was going to wait. Tai Lung looked to Layla again. He was thankful she wasn't wearing that baggy cloak and was pleased to see the wind blow through her high-slitted silk skirt. The snow leopard smiled devilishly and moved closer, silently bouncing from bamboo tree top to bamboo tree top.
Layla felt the wind move curiously around her. Opening her yellow eyes, the slivery vixen turned on her heel. She came face to face, or rather, face to chest with Tai Lung. The snow leopard was balancing on a bamboo tree that was right next to her. She held in a yelp of surprise.
Then she felt Tai Lung shake with a laugh.
"Good morning, Baby Bird." He jeered into her ear, using her hated nickname.
In a lightning fast move, Tai Lung grabbed her hand, spun her around, locked her arms and held her against his chest. Layla felt the snow leopard's breath on her neck as he laughed at her.
"It took you long enough, Layla." Tai Lung told her. "Where have you been all these years?"
The vixen gritted her teeth. Tai Lung prided himself in making her feel weak and inferior, something he did to her even when they were students together. Layla always hated it when he did this, but she was ready for it.
The gray vixen giggled.
"Around." She coyly returned.
Without a warning, Layla swung her legs up and hit the snow leopard on the nose. Tai Lung released her, the sudden and unexpected move throwing him off. The vixen grabbed his beefy wrists in one hand, forced them down and rested her forefinger and middle finger on his throat. If this had been a real battle, Tai Lung would be dead. By the time the snow leopard opened his eyes, she had him in a death-grip.
"And I've learned a few new tricks." Layla gave him a saucy smile.
Tai Lung was taken aback by that smile. He enjoyed seeing the vixen's beautiful yellow eyes grow wide with surprise but when she smiled… Now it was his eyes that grew wide. At seeing this, Layla laughed.
"What? Is the mighty Tai Lung surprised? For the first time?!" The vixen laughed, releasing his hands.
It was good to finally see surprise on Tai Lung's face. He'd tormented her for so long when they were young, constantly ambushing her, tackling her and pinning her to the ground until she surrendered. Now it was her turn for payback.
The snow leopard cleaned his face and his cocky grin returned.
"I see your skills and looks have improved over the years." He said regaining his confident swagger.
Shivers danced on her spine as she avoided his eyes. Tai Lung let out a silent chuckle. Same old, easily flustered Layla. The vixen managed a laugh.
"It's been over two decades, Tai Lung." Layla smirked.
Layla brought her eyes back up to Tai Lung's and she saw an amused smile on his face.
"And I want to know if the years have been good to you." She added.
The answer was obvious. The snow leopard was taller than she remembered; his shoulders were about her eye level. Tai Lung was nothing but muscle and pride from head to toe. Tearing her eyes from looking over his beefy form, Layla looked back into his golden eyes. Tai Lung held a dirty smile on his face.
"Why do you ask questions you all ready know the answers to?" He arrogantly voiced.
The vixen rolled her eyes. Tai Lung looked into her eyes before letting them drift over her form. His tail flicked hungrily as he grinned and leaned into her.
"Years have made me much, much better." The snow leopard whispered into her ear.
The morning air lost its nip, Layla felt heat rise through her body. Then the vixen giggled.
"Prove it." She returned.
A wicked smile spread over Tai Lung's face.
"With pleasure." He gave a growl.
R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!