Chapter 1: Floating

Possible TW: light existentialism

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kung Fu Panda franchise or any of the characters associated, it is all owned by DreamWorks. This work is for entertainment purposes only and I do not financially profit from it in any way.

Post Kung Fu Panda 3

There was always a profound silence during this time. It was a time when his section of the world hadn't woken up yet, the land that was usually bursting with life was condemned to an unmoving, dormant state. It was odd, he'd always thought, that there were night sounds; the creaking of the barracks' wooden structure, the whispering of the wind as cold breezes wafted through the surrounding mountains, and the occasional grunting of one of the five as they shifted into a new sleeping position.

It was odd that there were night sounds, yet at this hour, when the sun was peeking over the horizon and the moisture of nightfall started to rise, leaving remnants of dewdrops on surfaces of every kind, there wasn't a sound to be heard.

Rays of aureolin sunlight shone through his open window, casting light onto the dust particles that were floating idly around the room. It was a strangely therapeutic setting, being calm and beautiful in its simplicity. It was his favorite time of day as well, because of how rare it was. The gong would ring sooner than he'd like it to, waking up the land, and his day would begin. He wouldn't mind if he could just stay in this moment.

Jade eyes flicked up from the worn wooden flooring to the open window, observing the ajar shutters and the small view of the outside world that the smallish window frame allowed. The sky was beginning to take on a vibrant orange, as it did every morning, and multiple ironwood trees were visible from where he was seated on the foot of his bed.

His vision drifted semi-lazily around his room, looking for nothing in particular, until something caught his attention; a red and green scroll with golden engravings, resting on a wooden nightstand that sat just beneath the open window.

The scroll, with the exception of light dusting done by palace hands, hadn't been touched in what felt like decades. The Dragon Scroll was probably accustomed to the neglect, though, seeing as it sat untouched in a golden dragon's mouth on the ceiling of the Jade Palace for potentially hundreds of years.

From the moment he was publicly given the title of the Dragon Warrior, he'd been approached by hundreds of people from around the world telling him how much they admired him, or how in debt they felt to him after he returned home from a mission. It was the same way in the stories that were told about his ventures; they made him out to be larger than life, a hero sent by the universe itself, which, based off of how he made his grand debut at the Dragon Warrior tournament, he could somewhat understand. Still, the quality of the attention was almost dehumanizing; his fans obviously cared about him, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the praise. Despite this, the careless comments about his abilities and appearance that were sometimes made still hurt.

He supposed that as the Dragon Warrior, he was seen as a being of legend; that's how he was portrayed. The title of the Dragon Warrior was to be bestowed upon the being who had the ability to be a perfect balance of yin and yang, the ultimate Kung Fu warrior and savior of China. The Dragon Warrior was never portrayed as a person with thoughts, feelings, hopes or dreams.

He was almost jealous of the dust particles drifting around in the sunrays; worriless, not a care in the world. No responsibilities, no standards, and nothing to uphold; they were just there. They floated aimlessly in a plane of existence, nowhere to be, nowhere to go. It was enviable, he thought, that the little dots had nowhere to be. Having nowhere to go, on the other hand, wasn't as appealing.

He remembered that feeling all too well; feeling as though he couldn't go back to where he came from, but couldn't make himself move in the other direction, forward.

He knew what floating felt like.

Author's note:

Hello everyone! There were a few setbacks along the way, but I'm more than happy to be able to present this to you all. Updates may be slower than I originally anticipated (some things in my personal life have been taking up a lot more of my focus and energy than I'd thought they would), but I will still try my hardest to supply you all with a consistent upload schedule. Also, this won't be the length of all of the chapters, this was just what I had already written and decided to post as it was.

Quick heads-up: I won't be nearly as active on FFN and AO3 as I have been in the past, mostly because of things in my personal life that I have to do. I'm really sorry in advance to all of the amazing authors whose awesome stories I may not be able to find the time to read and review. I'll try to find time, though, because you guys are all beyond amazing at what you do. :)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave your thoughts in the reviews/comments if you feel like it, I'd absolutely love to hear them. I hope you're all well, you guys are amazing. :)))