This story was very heavily influenced by an amazing fanfiction I read by Pandafan91 called "Fate Can Be So Cruel"
Disclaimer: I do not own the KFP franchise
Fair warning by the way, like my other stories, this is a dark story with disturbing ideas and grim themes
Please tell me if you think the story too closely resembles Pandafan's, and if it does I will remove it from my page
There will also be a little bit of TiPo shenanigans, but don't get too horny over the M rating because I am not taking it there
Also this story has nothing to do with It Is Destiny or Scars, so don't be confused by the existence of Tzu Lin or other OCs
Chapter 1
"What did they do to this place…"
Tai Lung looked at the wasteland that was once a village in shock.
"Lord Shen was given a prophecy. The prophecy stated that a warrior of black and white would be his demise, so he…" Shifu answered, gesturing at the wreckage.
The buildings were all charred and smoking, the snow melting around them. They saw remnants of school buildings and medical huts. Mutilated bodies were strewn as far as they could see through the thick smoke. The smell of the deceased making them feel sick.
Shifu's ear twitched. There was a faint crying noise. His eyes shot wide.
"Tai Lung! There is a living child still here!" he yelled.
They began in the direction Shifu had heard the noise coming from, the noise growing louder as they did. Soon they came upon a path that led into a pine forest. There was a trail of blood leading to the corpse of a female panda around one hundred meters away.
They started running towards the corpse, but noticed the crying was coming from a food delivery nearby. They came upon the food delivery and looked around. Inside of a radish basket was a crying panda cub with jade green eyes. In his arms there was a small panda doll that had "Po" written on it.
Tai Lung scooped the cub into his arms and read out the name on the doll.
"Po" he said.
Po's cries soon disappeared as it was lulled into sleep by Tai Lung's slowly rocking arms. Tai Lung looked down at the panda cub in his arms, a sad but relieved expression on his face.
Shifu sighed. "Well, we need to get back to the valley and get Po to Bao Gu-"
"NO!" Tai Lung snapped. "He doesn't deserve to be subjected to orphan life, not after he's already been through all of this."
He gestured back at the village.
"Ahh… I see." Shifu responded calmly. "I suppose you may bring him back to the Jade Palace, however you must take responsibility for this child as if it were your own."
"I will master."
"Good, I didn't expect to be a grandfather this soon, but…" Shifu shrugged and attempted to smile.
When they arrived back at Gongmen City, they reported their findings to the lord of the city before heading back to the Valley of Peace.
They returned six days later.
After they arrived, Tai Lung promptly bathed the panda, fed him, and laid him to rest.
Tai Lung smiled inwardly, knowing that even though they couldn't save the panda's village, he could at least spare the last cub from a life of suffering.
Tai Lung went to his bedroom and he fell asleep the instant his head hit the pillow, the fatigue of the journey finally hitting him.
*Tai Lung's Dreamscape*
Suddenly Tai Lung awoke in the hall of heroes. The hall was bathed in a red light and it was missing all of the artifacts that used to reside within it. The doors to the hall were open, and he could see the village beyond. The only issue was that the village that lay before his eyes wasn't the valley of peace, but instead the destroyed panda village. The village was overrun by wolves that appeared to be looking for something. In the middle of the village, one of the wolves picked up a small panda cub with green eyes and threw it into a cage inside a wagon. Tai Lung was filled with horror as he saw Po being taken away, his distorted cries echoing into the night. Tai Lung tried to run after the wagon, but chains had appeared around him, slowly pulling him back into the hall. The hall had become a black abyss filled with the sound of Po's cries. A symbol flashed by Tai Lung's vision, a line with a circle around the top half.
*BONG*
*BONG*
*BONG*
Tai Lung was shocked awake by the morning gong. He instantly shot out of his bed and bolted to Po's room. He released a sigh of relief when he saw the panda still sleeping peacefully in his bed. Tai Lung gently woke Po up. The panda opened his eyes and smiled when he saw the leopard standing above him. He scooped Po up and walked over to the kitchen where he, after setting Po in a chair, began making rice porridge. He had a wide smile stretched across his face as he thought about their future together.
The next three years went by smoothly, or at least as smoothly as it can go when raising a child.
Tai Lung taught Po how to read and write. He taught him how to speak and how to behave. He even taught Po basic Kung Fu.
One day Shifu came back from a trip to the village with something interesting. A small, shy tiger cub around the same age as Po. It hid behind Shifu when Po and Tai Lung came to greet him.
"Who's this?" Tai Lung asked, smiling at the tiger.
"This is Tigress, she was an orphan at Bao Gu." Shifu responded, moving out from in front of Tigress.
Po walked up to the feline and looked her up and down before bowing.
"I'm Po." he stated simply.
Tigress stepped forward shyly and began to look at Po a bit before Shifu prompted her to bow in return. She bowed and introduced herself.
"I am Tigress." she said nervously.
Shifu smiled and nodded at Tigress before looking up to Tai Lung and clearing his throat.
"Go play or… something, little ones." Tai Lung said, hastily shooing them off.
"Come on Tigress!" Po yelled excitedly as he ran towards the training hall.
Tigress looked at Shifu for approval before chasing after Po with a big smile.
"So…" Tai Lung said as the cubs went off to play.
"Tigress is our newest student." Shifu said proudly. "She is fast, agile, strong, and smart. She will make a wonderful Kung Fu master."
"Who will raise her?" Tai Lung questioned.
"She will be raised by Kung Fu." Shifu responded.
"What? Th-that makes no sense. She needs at least a father!" Tai Lung shot back.
"Master Oogway already took care of that. He will provide the support she needs through her training although, the primary male influence in her life will be me."
"So you're going to take up the roll of Tigress's father?" Tai Lung asked.
"In a way, but I can not raise her the same way as I raised you. My intentions with you were to raise a healthy, decent son, whereas my goal for Tigress is to create a warrior worthy to be the Dragon Warrior." Shifu responded matter-of-factly. "Unfortunately this means she may never really have a father as I can't craft the Dragon Warrior out of kindness and affection rather I need to be stern and stoic.
"Dragon Warrior huh…" Tai Lung looked at Shifu and sighed. "Do you really think she will be able?"
"Beyond a reasonable doubt."
*Two years later*
"Po!"
"Yes dad?"
"If you wouldn't mind running down to Ping's Noodle Shop and getting lunch for us."
Tai Lung tossed him a small sack full of gold coins.
"Of course." Po responded as he began walking to the thousand steps.
"Stay safe and hurry, we're starving over here!" Tai Lung shouted after Po.
Po smiled back and began running. The thousand steps were always a challenge for Po, even going down. His balance wasn't great and the speed at which he was going didn't help either. He quickly lost his footing and began tumbling his way down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he lost hold of the sac of coins in his hand and it flew into a pile of trash behind a restaurant. Po, now covered in dirt, quickly got to his feet and ran over to the trash to find the sac.
Suddenly he was seized from behind and thrown into a wagon with three other kids.
"Yep, he's in." a wolf called to the ox pulling the wagon.
Po began to panic.
"Who are you?! Why am I in here?!" he yelled frantically.
The wolf looked at him and flashed a small badge that read "Officer" on it.
"Look kid, I know this may be hard for you to understand at your age, but what we're doing is for the greater good." the wolf responded casually.
"Where are you taking me?!" Po yelled in return.
The wolf sighed. "Kid, you're going to an orphanage. Trust me, it will be MUCH better than your current situation."
Po was shocked. He was being sent to an orphanage?
"I-I'm not an orphan!" he yelled.
"Really… I find you covered in dirt, digging through the trash behind that restaurant, and you're how old? Five, six?" the wolf responded. "You're definitely an orphan."
"I'M NOT!"
"Where are your parents then?"
"I live in the Jade Palace with my dad Tai Lung!" Po answered.
"Pfft, you live in the Jade Palace. Ha! Good one kiddo. Hey! We can start moving now." the wolf called to the ox.
"WAIT NO PLEASE!" Po cried, tears streaming from his eyes.
The wagon started moving. Po just sat down in the corner, crying silently. He was defeated.
Back at the Jade Palace it was beginning to get dark and the masters were getting worried.
"It's been three hours already, it should only have taken him one. Where is he?" Tai Lung thought out loud.
Tigress ran over to him.
"Where's Po?" she asked, a little concern in her voice.
"He's just out getting our dinner, he'll be back soon. Now run along little one." Tai Lung said reassuringly.
After two more hours had passed, Tai Lung decided to go down to the village and search for Po himself. He ran through and checked every restaurant, shop, and house. He asked every villager he came across if they had seen a panda cub with green eyes. For hours he searched the woods and mountains surrounding the village, yet when he returned to the Jade Palace, he had yet to find anything.
He began climbing the thousand steps in defeat until he noticed a small, shimmering object in the trash near him. He walked over and found the small, silk pouch he had given Po, a singular strain of wolf fur on top of it. Tai Lung's eyes widened as panic set in. Thinking the worst he sprinted up the thousand steps faster than he had ever climbed before.
When he reached the top he summoned Shifu.
"We need to organize a search team." Tai Lung panted, obviously in distress.
"Why?" Shifu asked, his face growing concerned.
"Po's been kidnapped." Tai Lung said, his face pained.
Shifu's eyes shot open.
"ZENG! SEND WORD TO THE VILLAGE AND ALL NEIGHBORING VILLAGES TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A PANDA CUB WITH GREEN EYES!" Shifu yelled. "Tai Lung, since you are one of the best trackers in China, you are tasked with finding Po as soon as possible. Oogway and I will organize the search team."
"Yes master!"
Tai Lung quickly ran to the barracks and gathered a small bag of food and clothing.
"What are you doing?" Tigress asked before Tai Lung left.
"O-oh I'm just going on a little trip. I-I'll be back soon little one." Tai Lung tried to smile reassuringly before he bolted out of the barracks and began his search.
Tigress just stood there. Despite the fact that she was only five, she was incredibly good at critical thinking. She began brainstorming, it was painfully obvious that Tai Lung wasn't just going on a "little trip" as he said, rather it seemed this "little trip" was actually rather important. She thought about the events of the day and of the previous days. She let out a small gasp as the thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Po was taking way too long with the noodles, then Tai Lung randomly has to go on a trip? Come to think of it, Tigress had yet to see Po since he was sent to get their meals. She was filled with worry as the puzzle was solved. Po was gone.
The wagon had been moving for five hours now. It was completely silent except for the sounds of breathing and the sound of the wagon moving across the ground. Suddenly the ox pounded the wagon.
"We're here."
The wolf's face grew sad as he suddenly began speaking, not to the ox, but to the children.
"Listen I-uh... We're not at an orphanage." he said. "Just-I-please forgive me for whatever he does to you in there. I-I had no choice, he-he threatened my family."
Before any of them could respond or even process his words, the wagon doors were thrown open. Before them stood a huge brown bear. His eyes were blindingly white and his mouth was fixed in a terrifying grin. Four wolves grabbed all of the kids out and carried them towards a broken down building. There was a sign that read "Lin Jao Facility". The kids were kicking and screaming, trying to get away, but they weren't strong enough. They were each tossed into their own cell, and each door was shut and locked. The bear came forward and spoke.
"Hello kids! I'm Tzu Lin! Welcome to the Li Jao Facility! This is NOT an orphanage, no, it's far more fun than any orphanage!" he laughed maniacally.
His voice was a deep baritone that shook the air around them.
"Ha ha ha I can't wait to begin!"
So that's chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed and please review :)