"For the Valley (I)"
"HE'S HERE!"
"ARGH!"
Whoosh.
Crack.
"NO!"
"PLEASE - ERGH!"
Po was running as quickly as possible, practically pushing past running villagers. In any other situation, he would have been running with them - not towards the very thing they were sprinting away from.
Yet he had made his choice. He ignored the noise - the yelling, the screaming, the breaking of flesh - desperately making his way to the center of the commotion.
The Valley was being thrown into chaos. Dust was clouding the thick air. Slowly, dusk began making an appearance. Buildings were being emptied at a rapid rate, some villagers' bodies laying face down - some with blood marks, some with purple marks on their neck, others just punched into unrecognizability. The ones who managed to run away were still somewhat injured, but all the adrenaline pumping through their veins spurred their motions away from the center.
Dad.
Po ignored the thought.
He must have gotten out. He must have.
Po failed to locate the goose anywhere. The one place - perhaps the only logical place to check - was the shop, but that was a bit further away from where Po was going. He had to get to the center of the Valley, the only space wide enough to accomodate enough combatants and hopefully keep innocent villagers out of harm's way.
The ones who hadn't already perished.
Po shivered, thinking of his father again.
They had to save as many people as possible. Defeating Tai Lung wasn't even a priority anymore.
And Po met the snow leopard immediately. Right in the heart of the Valley, flanked by numerous clay-white buildings and standing firmly on dusty, thick ground - Tai Lung held Tigress up by the throat, squeezing harder as other members of the Five and Shifu encircled the pair.
"WHERE - IS - THE DRAGON - WARRIOR!?" Tai Lung roared.
"Right here!" Po screamed back, watching Tai Lung toss Tigress' limp form to the side.
"Ah yes," Tai Lung noted, making a visual tracing from Po, then to the base of the Thousand Steps - both directly in-line. "The panda - hehe, I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I assumed you would be hiding in that Palace."
Kill them.
Now.
"Where is the Dragon Scroll?" Tai Lung ignored the spirit, keeping two eyes focused on Shifu and the rest of the Five - still encircling him with fists raised.
I will tolerate your insolence, boy.
As soon as you get the Scroll, kill them.
And get the beacon.
"You - will never be the Dragon Warrior," Shifu firmly denounced. "ATTACK!"
"NO!" Po screamed.
The Five rallied themselves. Shifu looked shocked, mouth already bleeding a bit. Po kept his ground, pulling out the golden scroll.
"PO!" Tigress yelled. "He does not deserve to - "
"LOOK AT IT!" Po forced, opening and showing the reflective golden surface to Tai Lung. "LOOK! IT'S NOTHING!"
Po kept his position. Tai Lung - with speed so quick it nearly baffled the panda - snatched the scroll, flexing and unfurling the scroll again and again.
"What is this…" Tai Lung gasped, seeing his own reflection for the first time in twenty years. "You - you - THIS IS A LIE!"
"It isn't!" Po stated, voice breaking due to emotion. "You've met Oogway! Is this really that freakin' weird for him to do?"
Tai Lung growled.
It couldn't be.
Twenty years in prison.
A lifetime waiting for this.
All the regret. The shame that Shifu had for him.
All the sense of wanting to pay it back.
Someone had robbed him of it.
"Give me the real scroll," Tai Lung breathed dangerously. "Or I will break every bone in your body."
"He's not going to stop, Po!" Viper called out. "He'll kill everyone and everything in the Valley! No matter what!"
"It's a metaphor," Po noted, bowing his head slightly. "It - "
"YES YES ABOUT BELIEVING IN YOURSELF!" Tai Lung cut him off, eyes practically bursting out of his head. "OOGWAY WOULD HAVE NOT HAVE TAKEN ALL THE TIME AND EFFORT TO JUST - "
The snow leopard stopped, seeing his reflection again in the Scroll's surface.
It didn't feel recognizable to him. It wasn't the same, happy, youthful twenty-year old that Shifu was so proud to be associated with. It wasn't the same cub that the old master had taken in all those years ago.
The face had more lines. The fur was sharp and bristled. The eyes had only malice and hatred.
Tai Lung couldn't understand why he looked like that.
Do not listen to the panda's tricks, boy.
Kill them all.
"I get it," Po noted, moving closer to the snow leopard - ignoring Tigress' protests, watching the rest of the Five circle up closer. "The time. The feeling that it was stolen from you. You losing everything because of some crazy old - turtle. Because of some crazy old - dad."
Tai Lung's eyes flew to Shifu. He had never taken the time to pause and look at what he was fighting.
Many villagers' bodies were laying face down around him. Blood gashes were omnipresent. The remaining villagers had cleared out, moving at a fast pace away from him.
Shifu didn't look the same. The limp Tai Lung had given him still existed, but there was also an element of age.
Tiredness.
Regret.
A specific regret.
Tai Lung had seen that feeling before - right after Oogway had stopped his assault all those years ago.
Shifu had given him that same look. A nostalgic affection - long since abandoned in favor of an objective, almost procedural enmity.
"Look around you," Po whispered, watching the snow leopard's eyes stare at the ground. "Look at the bodies. The chaos. Is it all - really worth it?"
Listen - to - me - BOY.
KILL. THEM.
"Just - " Tai Lung stated quietly, punching the ground hard enough to crack it. " - just give me the real scroll, panda…"
"Son."
Po's first impression was to try and find his father, but the voice was too low and refined. The Five took a moment to locate the source.
Tai Lung however - recognized it immediately.
Shifu moved closer, limp showing itself more. "I'm - I'm sorry."
Tai Lung flung his paw at Shifu, gripping the old master tightly by the neck and lifting him effortlessly into the air.
"WHERE IS IT?!" Tai Lung roared.
The Five took no more time. Mantis and Crane lunged at Tai Lung, who promptly flipped over them and kicked away - sending both masters flying into the nearest clay wall. With his free hand, Tai Lung grabbed Monkey by the tail - and before the master could react - threw him into Tigress' already injured ribs.
Viper was still, focusing her tail at the massive snow leopard.
"PLEASE!" Shifu begged, feeling his airway constrict. "STOP THIS! DON'T HURT ANY OF THEM! HURT ME! KILL ME!"
"No! Shifu!" Po yelled, running forward to attempt a spin kick.
Tai Lung bared his teeth, rotating his forearm in a vicious counter move - colliding it directly with Po's shin.
The feeling of cracking had never been so apparent. Po clutched at the leg with desperation, flipping upwards to kick Tai Lung straight in the head.
Mere seconds after the foot made contact, Tai Lung had recovered - again using his free arm to grab Po by the neck - slamming the panda hard onto the ground.
"OOF!"
Po felt the wind surge out of him.
"YOU LET EVERYONE LIE TO ME BACK THEN!" Tai Lung screamed, tightening his grip on Shifu. "AND STILL YOU LIE! WHERE IS THE SCROLL!?"
"You - never - needed it..." Shifu croaked back.
Po grimaced, watching the Five get back up and resume circling Tai Lung.
"What do you mean?" Tai Lung spat. "What do mean I - "
Shifu's voice was growing increasingly strained. The Five were just beginning to recover from their blows, trying to seek an easy opening - a part of Tai Lung that was unprotected, unguarded - yet they couldn't find it. Po kept his stance low and to the ground, thinking hard about what to do next.
"You - are - my best student," Shifu let out, voice coming in hoarse whispers. "You - from the moment I met you - were the best. You never needed a scroll - or a - ergh- prophecy."
Tai Lung stared hard at Shifu.
He was determined to continue the feeling.
The feeling of hate.
He wanted to keep feeling the urge to kill Shifu.
He had fantasized about it for so long.
The same desire that drove him to survive in Chorh-Gom - one day hoping to break free.
To reclaim what was his.
But now - he didn't know what that was.
"You were like, my favorite master," Po broke in, voice coughing out dust. "Yanno - minus the whole revenge against the Valley part. And second to Tigress, of course."
Tigress - despite being bruised and injured - rolled her eyes.
"The scroll," Tai Lung relied upon, trying to focus all his energy on the one thing that had been constant in his life - the one thing that had been pushing him for the last twenty years. "The scroll... don't try to trick me with some idiotic metaphor..."
"You never needed some stupid metaphor, dude," Po emphasized, trying to walk somehow and put weight on the injured shin. "You were Tai Lung. That was enough."
"I - I was your favorite?" Tai Lung noted, eyes narrowing. His grip on Shifu's neck slacked a bit. "I was - what did you read about me?"
"That you were epic!" Po continued, voice just minutely enthusiastic. "First to master the Thousand Scrolls of Kung Fu! Adopted from birth - came up from nothing! Hit so hard that even the Shield of Xeng Shing could break under your force!"
"Heh," Tai Lung involuntarily let out. "That - could be exaggerating it - just a little."
The Five kept their stances, but they focused on Po now - perhaps happy that all the villagers had left the Valley by now. The entire area seemed more focused as well - just Shifu and Tai Lung, and Po, surrounded by the Five, moonlight just beginning to flow through cool night air.
They were still at the center of the Valley. They weren't even close to the base of the Thousand Steps.
STOP WASTING TIME.
KILL THEM.
Tai Lung - for perhaps the thousandth time in the last few weeks - was growing irritated of the voice.
"No man," Po replied, moving just a tiny bit closer - keeping his gaze low and humble towards Tai Lung. "The reason those legends exist is because you were part of them. You made them. Not Shifu. Not Oogway. Not even the Dragon Scroll. It was all - you."
Tai Lung's grip on Shifu was slacking to the point where the old master was held loosely now. The Five still were around him, but their arms were down. Tigress looked at Po with a small smile - shocked at what the panda was able to do.
Tai Lung's eyes moved again to Shifu.
The old master nodded, small tears just beginning to form at the edges of those aged eyelids. "You never needed it, son."
Tai Lung clenched his teeth.
He wasn't sure what he was feeling.
But a part of him wanted this to end.
It didn't feel right anymore.
It didn't feel like what he had imagined it to be.
"Father," Tai Lung quietly whispered. "I - I'm sorry."
Po's grin exploded. The Five's eyes went wide. Tigress kept an appreciative gaze at the panda.
Shifu and Tai Lung stared at each other, almost as if they had seen a long-distant memory together and were just beginning to understand what it meant.
Po knew it was going to be alright now. The Five began smiling. Tai Lung gently started letting Shifu down.
You forced my hand boy.
"ARGH!"
Po was shocked. Shifu moved quickly away, joining the rest of the Five as they stared at the snow leopard - convulsing and raging at the floor, the sky, and everything around him.
Tai Lung's eyes went wide. His paws flew to his ears.
The ringing was back. It was sharp and piercing this time - and the intensity was unbelievable. The pain seared through the snow leopard like boiling oil.
All this time - I tried to give you a choice.
I tried to allow you to execute your own plan.
I hoped that - out of gratefulness for helping you escape from the Prison…
You would help me.
You have failed.
Despite the pain, Tai Lung fought back. "I - I did all that. Me. Tai Lung..."
You are nothing.
Nothing without me.
Now…
Now I will show you what it really means…
To feel imprisoned.
Tai Lung's head felt like it was being torn apart. A dull sense of peace - then nothing. The snow leopard lost consciousness, sliding to the ground in a flurry.
Po and the Five stared with confusion. Tai Lung lay motionless on the hard, rocky ground - bright moonlight illuminating his closed, tired eyes.
A pause.
Then a burst.
Shifu started choking. Tai Lung's paw was around him once more.
Po and the Five watched in horror, watching the snow leopard stand up - face completely unrecognizable.
The same features were there - even the same colored eyes - but the feeling wasn't there. Something had changed.
"On second thought - father - I changed my mind. I'd like to kill all of you."
. . .
"What does the map say?"
No response.
"Alf?"
Still no response.
"Alf!"
Nothing.
Yu sighed, making her way over to the daydreaming boy.
Moonlight was fresh, and they had just heard some piercing screams coming from the Valley. The path they had elected to take was moderate and easy to traverse, and aside from the constant stream of forestry in the form of bamboo trees, rock-ridden ground and cluttering insects - the Wu Dan mountains felt close. Yu could see it just over in the distance of her vision, jagged peaks overset by a clear, dark blue night sky.
"Dude, is your bag too heavy or something?" Yu asked, watching Alf pause in the middle of the stone path splitting the forest. "Why are you stopping?"
Alf's eyes went from Yu, to the ground, then back to his bag.
"Nothing," Alf emphasized. "Let's keep moving."
"No - what is it?" Yu forced, shoving Alf back as he tried to walk forward. She placed her bag down as well. "Spit it out now - I don't want anything coming up later."
"It's just stupid," Alf noted. "Forget it. We've gotta go, anyway. If those sounds that we just heard were any indication…"
"You wanna go back."
Alf avoided looking at Yu - or at least tried to, until the fox shoved his head up with three fingers pushing his chin upwards.
"Admit it," Yu denoted. "I knew this would happen."
"Knew what would happen?" Alf asked back, anger flaring up. "That I would actually care about the dude I knew since like - my first memory? Yeah - what a surprise…"
"It isn't about that!" Yu fired back, eyes glaring. "You brought up this whole stupid idea! Can you not commit to anything?"
"I commit to stuff! I'm gonna go - alright? Can't I just feel shitty about what's happening?"
"What's shitty about it?" Yu asked, glowering. "They chose that!"
"Yeah well I'm choosing to feel guilty!"
"FOR WHAT?!"
"BECAUSE I WON'T SEE PO AGAIN! BECAUSE I WISH I COULD HAVE HELPED HIM!"
"Wait wait wait, back up," Yu stopped, suddenly calm and alert. "Did you say you wanted to - help him?"
"Yeah, help him come with us," Alf tried.
"No," Yu rejected. "You said help. Like - you want to go back and fight that crazy leopard dude."
Alf stayed silent.
"Oh my freaking scrolls," Yu let out, staring at the sky with an exasperated smile. "Alf! You're the freaking scum of the Valley - as everyone keeps reminding you about. What do you think will happen when Tai Lung sees you?"
Alf frowned. "He'll kill me."
"Instantly! With no effort at all! And you don't even have Po's training! Shifu is too busy hating your guts to back you up, the Five won't care, the Valley won't care - "
"What about me?!" Alf broke in. "I care! About Po!"
"What about me?!" Yu retorted, equal tone of voice. "I care! About you!"
Alf stopped, pacing back and forth with a mild sense of discomfort.
"You'd really risk your neck out for a guy who said no to your face?"
A silence came. Yu didn't exactly understand what Alf was feeling, but she could definitely estimate it somewhat. It was in his pauses, the hesitation he had when walking, the constant lookbacks that he flashed at every moment he thought she wasn't looking - but more than that, it had been his attitude.
The lack of words. The lack of conversation.
She knew it had been off - the second they had left the Palace.
"When I was young, a group of kids followed me to Po's house one night."
Yu looked up, watching Alf stare at her feet with simplicity. She moved closer, interest piqued.
"And?" she gently added.
Alf smiled, recalling the memory. "It was some rhino kids. I must have been like - eight or nine, or something. They knew where Po went to school, they knew where we met up after his school was done."
"His school?" Yu asked, puzzled. "You guys went to separate schools?"
"No, I mean his school," Alf clarified. "I'm not - um - allowed in schools."
Yu moved her gaze to the ground.
Alf continued. "So anyway, one night these group of kids just - sorta see that this panda hangs around with this Seeker kid - the kid the Valley sort of talks about, but only in like - private places, places no one can hear. And they decide to - yanno - test a theory out."
Yu brought her head up, curious. "Theory?"
"People sorta say - that because Seekers don't really have um - fur," Alf began. "If you - well - brand their skin, it doesn't really heal off - it stays on, basically."
Yu understood what had happened immediately.
She shuddered.
Kids.
No more than eight or nine.
She moved a hand to Alf's shoulder, but he pushed it away.
"That's not the point of the story," Alf forced "It's just for - context, I guess."
"I'm sorry, Alf," Yu remarked, hand making contact with his shoulder again. "I - I can't even imagine what it must have felt like."
"Yeah well," Alf continued, trying to move past that point. "So the night the kids finally corner me somewhere - I think it was some weird forest place, kinda like this - they pin me down and yanno - take off my shirt and gag my mouth so no one would hear…"
Alf paused, oddly smiling. "... as if anyone in this Valley would give a crap if they heard a Seeker screaming."
Yu returned the smile, but only out of favor. Nothing felt humorous so far.
"So I'm screaming and screaming," Alf went on. "And obviously - the kids are laughing, drawing different kinds of shapes and letters - and trying new stuff and - and all of a sudden, this fat panda comes outta nowhere…"
Yu's eyes went wide. "You're kidding! Po beat them all up?"
Alf grinned. "No! They jumped him and beat him up 'till he fell asleep!"
Yu laughed uproariously. "Seriously?"
Alf smiled, true enjoyment now showing itself. "I swear, he didn't even get knocked out - it was like two punches and then - he just went to bed! On the forest floor!"
Yu shook her head in amusement. "So? How'd you get out?"
Alf's grin faded and the neutral expression - almost as if he was trying to hide any emotion - came back. "I - I didn't. I don't remember for how long they did it - probably because at a certain point, I just passed out - but I know they did it again. And again. And again. Too - too many times, really…"
Yu's eyes began to heat up. She didn't know whether to hug Alf, feel enraged, just feel ashamed to be part of the Valley, or anything else.
"And every single time the kids would corner me and pin me down," Alf started again. "Po came. And always, I'm talking always - we got our asses kicked."
Yu didn't smile this time, feeling uncomfortable.
"It's not just the branding thing," Alf noted. "It's everything. The angry villagers, Mr. Ping, him sharing food with me... since day one, Po and I have just - I don't know - always been there for each other."
"Through thick and thin," Yu completed. "Through the worst and the best. Through it all."
"Yeah," Alf agreed. "If in some crazy universe, if I was picked as the Dragon Warrior - Po would have come for me. I - I know that. I know him."
Yu kept silent.
"It's hard to know what I'm talking about - without going through all the things we went through," Alf finished. "Together."
Yu stayed silent again, watching Alf stare at the ground in defeat - almost as if he hadn't wanted to say it like this. A few idle birds whistled by, overcast by the sharp cast of screams constantly emanating from the Valley - still close enough to walk back to, but far enough to where if one wanted - they could move forward, not turn back, and never see the Valley again.
"You're right, I can't know," Yu stated, albeit moving closer to Alf. "But - I do understand."
Now Alf chose to remain silent. Yu watched him with a conceding sense of acknowledgement.
"Well, whaddya waiting for?" Yu noted. "Just - do what you gotta do."
Alf's eyes perked up, sharp and attentive once more. "Yu - I - "
"Alf," Yu cut across, moving closer to him to place a paw on his soft cheekbone. "Just - just know that once you go there, I won't expect to see you come back. That is - if Po is even still alive."
Alf nodded his head in agreement. "I know. But it isn't about what we expect, is it? It's all about what we believe."
More screams came from the Valley - cutting through the distance like a sharp knife.
"Get outta here, fleshling," Yu admitted, smiling. "It was - an honor. And - I'm taking your bag."
Alf grinned, placing the bag close to her. He began to sprint away, for the first time in many years feeling sure of himself - but at the same vein, knowing exactly what the outcome would be.
Yet that didn't diminish anything.
Yu watched the Seeker bolt away, wiping away a few remnant tears from her eye. She spent a few extra moments standing in silence, waiting for Alf's shadow to disappear behind thick bamboo trunks and windy, rocky paths. With newfound energy, she picked up the extra bag and slung it over her shoulder - making her way in pursuit of those jagged, inhospitable Wu Dan mountains.
A/N (yeah it's long, sorry)
This chapter was an absolute blast to write! I love Alf's character and developing it piece by piece, layer by layer - is just lovely for writers to do.
And more Tai Lung/voice stuff! People tend to go crazy with speculation over this (PM'ers, I'm looking at you!). Guess you'll just have to wait and see… but remember what I said about me loving slow builds ;)
My personal fav. Speculation: a reader asked if the voice was secretly an evil version of Yu who wanted to "kill the Five" so Alf would be forced to romance her! (XDXDXD)
And whaddya know - DragonChronicle was right! (so far, hehe…) Alf ended up going back, awww…
Also prob. on what's readers' minds:
Q: Why r u updating so much like don't u have a life rofl
A: I don't have a life :D
And I'm crazy excited to finish KFP 1 (we're really close, tbh) and starting KFP2! As a writer, every time you get fresh ideas, you wanna implement them immediately - but then realize you have to finish existing plotlines.. LOL. I'm sure a lot of ppl have that feeling where it's like -
WAU THAT COULD BE A GREAT IDEA.
Then you're like…
Wait a sec i gotta finish off this stuff.. awww…
Still love doing it tho!
And - Support Lvl = Over 9000. 'Nuff said.
~TW
P.S: woooo 50 reviews wooo let's get it to 100! (jk im not that guy/girl)
P.P.S: If someone could drop a hate review, that'd be nice :) sometimes i look at all the amazing people reading/commenting on my stuff and then I read their stuff and I'm like… wow do i suck.. Seriously. You guys are freaking good…
P.P.P.S (lol): paws of destiny is out on amazon prime. No furious five/Shifu. Disappointed but haven't watched it yet… so here goes nothing...