A/N: I do not own KUNG FU PANDA or any of its characters, locations, blah, blah, you know the drill.

I would like to thank RevDragon for their insightful review on my fic. Thanks! You rock!

**Warning! This chapter is the first of many chapters to come that prompted me to give this story a T rating. If any of you readers are squeamish towards any blood, intense images, and/or character deaths, then I suggest you skip over the italicized section of the chapter. However, it is a vital part of my story that will be commented on during several instances throughout the rest of the story, so if you must read, do it at your own risk!**

Don't say I didn't warn ya!

Nightmare

The strong scent of smoke invaded Shifu's lungs as he struggled to breathe. Roaring flames licked the sides of the surrounding houses, engulfing the small buildings within minutes. Shifu covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, trying to conserve as much oxygen as possible; ash was falling from the sky like snow, covering the ground with a fine layer of grey gunk.

Shifu quickened his pace, desperate to escape the inferno. He sprinted around the corner of a flaming building and found himself standing on the outskirts of an open courtyard. It was completely barren save for a group of terrifyingly familiar figures lying unmoving on the ground. The elderly red panda's eyes widened with horror and he dashed forward towards his fallen students. He skidded to a halt next to them and his heart nearly stopped.

His eyes immediately went to the largest of the group; Po was lying face down with a volley of arrows protruding from his back. A javelin had embedded itself through Monkey's chest, pinning the primate to the stone ground. Crane's beak was agape; his neck obviously broken for it was bent at an odd angle. Shifu could see Viper's twisted body lying in a heap on the ground, but her head had been cut clean off and was now lying next to the green and blue smear on the pavement that was all that remained of Mantis.

Shifu could hardly breathe, and he was practically frozen where he stood. His hands were clenched into tiny fists, and tears were beginning to swell in his steel blue eyes.

"…Master…"

Shifu's ears twitched towards where Tigress lay and he instantly rushed to her side. He knelt down next to her, placing her head in his lap. He could see that a throwing knife had embedded itself deep in her chest and that her vest had been stained by the dark sickly red of her own blood. Her breathing came in short, garbled gasps as she struggled to keep doing so.

"Tigress—" Shifu silently begged for her to open her eyes, and his heart skipped a beat as they fluttered open. Her fiery amber eyes with their red cores stared blankly into Shifu's; giving him the most heart-wrenching look he had ever seen from her.

"…I'm…sorry…" She said through clenched teeth.

"Shhh…" Shifu answered gently, and stroked the fur on her head as if he were lulling her to sleep. "Save your strength."

"…I…tried…" She said weakly and gave an involuntary shudder as pain coursed through her body, "…Wasn't…strong…enough..."

"No Tigress," Shifu assured her, barely preventing the tears from escaping from his own eyes, "You've always been strong; just hold on…please." He wanted so badly to switch places with her. He wished that it was he who was lying battered and bleeding on the ground, not her. Not my daughter. Not any of them. Shifu thought.

Tigress lifted a weak paw, trying to grasp the hilt of the knife with little success. Shifu reached a hand forward, grasping her paw and coaxing it back to her side. He tightened his hold on her paw as he reached his other hand towards the knife. Tigress squeezed Shifu's tiny hand as he grasped the hilt of the blade and pulled. The feline gave a small gasp as Shifu watched a new wave of pain wash over her.

Shifu let the knife clatter to the stone ground and he stroked the fur on Tigress's head with his free hand; still clinging onto her paw with his other. She gazed up at him with a pained look in her glazed eyes and Shifu could feel her grip on his hand slipping.

"Please hold on Tigress!" He desperately pleaded, but in vain. He watched helplessly as her eyes slowly closed, and her head sank into his lap. Shifu gripped at her paw, but she was no longer holding onto his hand. Tears streamed down the old man's cheeks as he cradled her head in his arms. "This can't be happening…" He said through clenched teeth and closed his eyes. He didn't know how long he sat there, but by the time he opened his eyes he noticed that the fires from the surrounding buildings were slowly making their way towards the center of the courtyard.

Shifu suddenly caught a glint of light in the corner of his eye. He looked down towards the knife that now lay on the ground; the nearby firelight reflecting off of its black surface. The blood-stained red dragon that was carved into the dark blade seemed to be sneering at him, relishing in his pain. Shifu's eyes narrowed, and his face contorted into a scowl. "This isn't real…"

"Oh, but it soon will be…"

Shifu's head snapped towards the rooftop of a nearby building to see the same dark figure from his previous vision standing atop the flaming structure. The tattered ends of its long black cloak contorted like the twisted roots of a tree as they stretched across the rafters of the building. The red panda gently settled Tigress's head on the pavement as he stood to face her killer. "I won't let this happen! Not again!" Shifu shouted angrily.

The dark figure chuckled, and despite the heat from the approaching fires, Shifu could feel a chill running down his spine. "You weren't able to stop it the first time Shifu. What makes you think you are capable of stopping it from happening now?"

Shifu's face contorted into a scowl; he reached for the knife on the ground and threw it towards the enemy. But the stranger easily caught the blade in its thin, crooked fingers. "You cannot stop that which is already in motion." The cloaked figure mocked. "There is no escape!" The demon then shot the blade back at Shifu with deadly precision…

"NO!"

A clap of thunder boomed in Shifu's sensitive ears as he bolted upright from his bed; his heart was practically pounding against his chest to the same beat as the hammering rain that fell against the rafters of the roof above his head. The elderly red panda took in several panic stricken breaths as his tiny hands clenched at the folds of his blankets. He quickly threw them off and jumped hastily from his bed, completely forgetting about his injuries from his earlier tangle with the Shadow Dragons. Shifu fell to the ground with a thump as his bad leg gave out underneath him. He clenched his jaw as he painfully rose to his feet and limped for the bedroom door; not even bothering to change out of his night robe. He pushed the sliding door open and quickly, but quietly, made his way to the room next to his own where his students were sleeping.

He grasped the wooden frame of the paper door and carefully slid it open. Immediately he was met by Po's loud snoring and the tiny twitching sounds of Mantis's antenna as the insect dreamed. Shifu could clearly see Viper asleep in a neat coil atop a stack of pillows, and Crane who was perfectly balanced on one leg with his beak dipped beneath his wing. The old master crept past Monkey's bed where the primate mumbled something in his sleep, and stopped next to where Tigress lay. He could see the steady rise and fall of her chest as she took slow, even breaths.

Shifu gave an exhausted sigh of relief and ran a small hand through the white fur on his head as he leaned up against the wall for support. He clutched at the folds of his robe above his chest as he attempted to slow his heart rate, but the nightmare was still resonating inside his mind's eye, and the relentless storm from outside wasn't doing anything to calm his nerves. He took some deep breaths as he tried to compose himself before slowly making his way for the door. Shifu took a final glance towards his sleeping students before he finally closed the door behind him; silently thanking the Heavens that his students were alright.

Tigress waited until she could clearly hear the sound of Shifu's bedroom door closing behind him before she opened her eyes and sat up from her bed. She wasn't the only one; everyone was wide awake, staring worriedly towards the door. They had all heard Shifu cry out, and they were about to go check on him; but they had heard him coming. The Kung Fu Warriors had barely managed to resume their sleeping positions before Shifu had entered their room only a few seconds afterwards.

"Nice job at the fake snoring Po." Mantis whispered.

"But what if he caught on?" Po asked, "I don't usually snore when I sleep."

"Yes you do." The others said in unison.

Viper eyed the door worriedly, "What do you think happened?" She asked.

Monkey shrugged his shoulders, "Bad dream maybe?"

"That's gotta be one heck of a bad dream." Mantis added.

"Yeah, more like a nightmare." Crane finished as a sudden burst of light invaded the room, followed by a bone shattering roar of thunder.

"Do you think we should check on him to make sure he's okay?" Po asked, and everyone turned towards Tigress who hadn't spoken a word. Her eyes were fixated on the door in deep thought and several moments of silence passed before she finally spoke.

"We'll take turns guarding his room, if he needs us at least one of us will be able to aid him immediately if something happens."

They all nodded at this.

"I'll take the first watch; we'll switch off every hour." The feline then leapt for the window, balancing herself along the window's edge. Thankfully the overhanging roof above her head was shielding her from the downpour of rain as she made her way across the narrow sidings of the two story house; digging her claws into the wooden structure to keep herself from falling as she made her way towards the window of Shifu's room.

Tigress silently sat herself down on the brim of the wooden frame and listened intently towards the heavy breathing of her master. She peeked ever so slightly inside the small room to see him sitting on the edge of his bed with his elbows resting against his knees. He stared towards the ground in front of him; his eyes were wide and filled with fear.

Tigress had never seen him look so frightened before, heck, for the longest time she had always thought that he was incapable of fear. But then again that thought was just as foolish as Po's earlier remark to her when he had said that she was so 'hard core' that she was devoid of all feeling. She knew that wasn't what Po had meant, but it had still hurt. Tigress watched as Shifu retreated beneath the folds of his blankets, completely unaware of her presence no doubt because of the onslaught of noises from the evening storm. She waited in silence until he finally was able to fall into an uneasy sleep. She then crept inside and sat herself on the ground in lotus position beside his bed while the storm still raged on beyond the window.

A/N: Oh gosh…It killed me to write this chapter. I shudder towards the fact that I could write something so dark! *Shudders* X(

Poor Shifu, I hope he isn't scarred for life.

R&R and PM me if you'd like. You readers are going to be thrown for a loop in the next chapter.