Chapter 1: Prologue
(Quill Onkko Primary: Glass Shard Transmission):
"In the dying days of the Orokin, with forums and promenades still blood-wet from Tenno betrayal, a colossal Sentient descended upon ancient Er, falling from distant stars to deliver upon Orokin a terrible and final ruin. Tower upon Tower fell to its weapons, but one withstood. The Tower of the Unum.
The Tenno scattered, but one remained. Gara.
She and the Unum - inseparable. The Unum: lodestone of our people, and subject of a hundred stories herself. The Sentient was a deformed creature, twisted and massive, sent from some dark fold of distant space, a warped thing wounded by daylight.
By night it was a terror, felling Tower after Tower. Citadel after Citadel. By day it hid, blinded, and pained. It was during the day that Gara roamed, yearning to strike it from Creation while it cowered, weakened and blind, to safeguard her beloved Unum. But never could Gara find it."
Zzz(Static)zzzz
"By night the Sentient was abroad, its titanic mass casting a terrible shadow across the land, the mass of it railing against the walls of the Tower, yet kept at bay by the exertion of the Unum's colossal will and the sacrifice of her faithful.
But such exertions could not be maintained forever.
Gara yearned to strike out, to lash and tear at the monstrosity that threatened her love, but the Unum forbade it.
At night the Sentient was at the height of its power, and Gara's light would make her the most tempting of targets to a creature of such profound darkness. Gara's death would be certain.
No. A different strategy was required."
Zzz(Static)zzzz
"The Sentient prowled and pressed and failed, never risking too much - for the Sentient could not reproduce. What it lost it lost forever. It had killed many cities before, felled many Towers, but this little one prevailed.
Why, it pondered in many voices, was that? The Unum knew she could not defend forever, nor could her faithful throw their bodies against the Sentient in perpetuity.
So she gave her followers some of her blood - her refined Temple kuva - and they, in turn, gave it to the animals of the land, and the animals became an extension of her and she became an extension of them. And the animals roamed and searched.
And they found where the Sentient chose to hide itself."
Zzz(Static)zzzz
"The Sentient sensed this subterfuge, and capturing one of the Unum's animals opened it up for examination. And what little of the Unum was present there... lit the Sentient's mind like the dark star from which it had fallen.
The Sentient, you see, could not procreate. But in the Temple kuva it tasted healing. Completeness. A future. It devoured each and every last Unum-animal, but it was not enough.
The Sentient turned its hundreds of eyes toward the Tower with a new understanding: it would not destroy the Tower. It would become the Tower. It would kill the Unum, take her place and, one with that healing palace, and give birth to a race of itself.
Gara and Unum knew where the Sentient was. The Sentient knew the tower was the future of its race. The Sentient threw itself at the tower, no longer cautious, taking great losses and knowing the prize was worthy of it. Should it succeed all losses would be replaced a thousand-fold.
This is when, across the Plains, the great pylons ignited for the first time. Sheets of energy sprung up between them, powered by the will of the Unum at their epicenter, trapping the monstrosity within.
Loyal Gara, unwilling to heed inaction any longer, broke from the side of the Unum and flew out at night, her eyes on the sentient mind."
Zzz(Static)zzzz
"The Sentient, torn between its coveted prize and a mortal threat, broke from the Tower and turned back on itself from noble Gara.
But Gara's eyes were not for the Sentient - but for the glittering, man-sized device resting just beyond the gates. It had not been there before, but it was there now.
It swatted Gara from the sky, drew it to herself, meaning to end her life there and then. The battle was terrible. Gara sustained injuries she would not survive.
But! In her final moments, brave Gara seized upon the device her beloved Unum had crafted, seized it to her breast, and allowed the Sentient to draw her in one final time. Toward its core. Toward the seat of its intelligence. From within the Sentient unfurled myriad feelers, probles, tendrils - viciously-toothed and made for killing.
They swept towards Gara, violently, and the Glass Warrior made no defense. Her defense was her final attack. The device detonated, and the Unum cried out as night lit as day. The battle - the terror - was ended. The Tower walls shook.
The Sentient's body shuddered, wracked by cacophonous energy. Forests fell as piece after piece, giant body after giant body crashed to the Plains and marshes and flatlands.
Animals fled in spreading waves from pounding sky-high walls of dust, angered and whipped to fury by the death of a god. The last of Gara's energy arced from body-to-body, machine-to-machine, piece-to-piece, horizon-wide applause of light beautiful and terrible.
And then... silence. All was still. The Unum's adherents wandered throughout the haze, calling for one another, lost in a miasma. Husbands seizing onto wives, children onto parents. It was over.
Gara was never seen again. The Sentients, then, became as they are now: senseless, wandering, yearning for a unity they sense more than they remember. And the Unum? The Unum survived, alone, for centuries. Until today. When you stand here, reading this.
This is Onkko, Cetus Archivist, with my translation of the Gara legend."
(End of Glass Shard Transmission)
(Meanwhile in the Jade Palace)
Outside of the Jade Palace, An old red panda by the name of Shifu, the master of the palace, is playing a flute. He is surrounded by the bushes and trees that nestle between the Training Hall.
From behind the bushes, stealthy dark shapes move in the foreground. He is still playing and seems oblivious. So what the attackers thought. Five figures explode from the undergrowth simultaneously, diving on him. Shifu moves like lightning, the flute now wielded like a staff. He deflects, blocks, dodges, parries, and the attackers go flying.
The attackers were the Furious Five, a quintet of skilled kung fu warriors famed throughout all of China. Each of them attaining the rank of Master. The Five were trained by Master Shifu in the "Five Animal" styles of Hung Ga kung fu—the Tiger, Snake, Crane, Monkey, and Praying Mantis styles respectively.
They rolled and picked themselves up, turning to face him, who is now standing poised, ready for their next move. "Well done, students... if you were trying to disappoint me." Shifu said proudly.
He drops off from his stance and uses his flute to point at the Five, who respectfully bow as their name is mentioned. "Tigress, you need more ferocity. Monkey, greater speed. Crane—height. Viper—subtlety. Mantis—"
"Master Shifu." Shifu suddenly points the flute at a scared palace goose, Zeng.
"What!?" Shifu impatiently asked.
"It's Master Oogway. He wants to see you." Zeng explained. Shifu looks up at the Jade Palace, Looking very concerned.
(Timeskip)
After dismissing the Furious Five, Shifu runs to the Jade Palace, which is lined with palace geese. The door bursts open. Shifu enters and comes to a halt. Candles and emerald lighting fill the room. He takes a deep breath and bows.
"Master Oogway? You summoned me." Shifu asked his Master while bowing. He looked up He looks up at a tortoiseshell perfectly balanced on a thin wooden staff. "Is something wrong?"
Master Oogway was an elderly tortoise and the previous senior master of the Jade Palace. He is credited as the founder of the Valley of Peace, the creator of kung fu, and the developer of the Dragon Warrior legend.
Highly venerated for his wisdom, knowledge, and experience, Oogway was considered by many to be a sage. He was greatly respected by the entire Valley of Peace, and all of China. He was known as the greatest kung fu master in history, with no other reputation surpassing his.
Oogway slowly emerges slowly from his meditative position and climbs down effortlessly. "Why must something be wrong for me to want to see my old friend?" Oogway replied with a kind smile.
Shifu looked at him with a questioning look. "So... nothing's wrong?"
"Well, I didn't say that," Oogway said. Shifu looked concerned when his master open his mouth to speak, only for him to see that Oogway blows out a candle. And another candle. And another. And another. Oogway opens his mouth to say something, then blows out another candle.
Finally, an impatient Shifu uses his kung fu skills to blow them all out. "You were saying?" Shifu spoked.
"I have had a vision: Tai Lung will return," Oogway said, which made Shifu stricken.
"That is impossible! He is in prison!" Shifu cried out.
"Nothing is impossible," Oogway replied calmly. Shifu cannot help but stare in horror. Until he thought of a way to check things up. He called out Zeng and the goose comes flying in. He pulled the goose to his face.
"Fly to Chorh-Gom Prison and tell them to double the guards, double their weapons. Double everything! Tai Lung does not leave that prison!" Shifu ordered.
"Yes, Master Shifu!" Zeng flies off on his way to the Prison and Oogway walks away from Shifu.
"One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it," Oogway said to himself. He didn't notice Shifu rushing to his side.
"W-we have to do something. We can't just let him march on the Valley and take his revenge! He'll, he'll—" Shifu was stuttering with full panic. He was-
"Your mind is like this water, my friend." Oogway's voice brought Shifu to calm down while looking into the water of the Moon Pool. "When it is agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear."
Both Shifu and Oogway stare into the pool. Oogway settles the water with his staff. Shifu Looks up, revealing the reflection of an intricately carved dragon clutching a scroll in its mouth. "The Dragon Scroll..."
"It is time. But not just for the Dragon warrior. Also for another warrior who will be descending upon us." Oogway explained and Shifu looked at the elderly tortoise.
"But who? Who is worthy to be trusted with the secret to limitless power? To become the Dragon Warrior? And who is this 'other warrior' you are referring to?" Shifu asked.
Oogway smiled while Shifu continues to stare at him. Oogway spoked. "I don't know. But we will be meeting them soon."
End Of Chapter 1