A/N: I'm back! Imagine if I'd left the story on HIATUS after the previous chapter's cliffhanger...that would have been SOOOO evil. Luckily, I didn't do that. Here is the latest installment of KFP: ODT ( 'Kung Fu Panda: Operation Dragon Termination' is a god awful mouthful). Hope you guys are ready, it's story time.
As always, Read & Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dream Works or Kung Fu Panda. I only own this specific plot and my OCs.
Chapter XII: Enemies of Old, Friends of New
"No!"
Shifu tumbled out of bed in a crazed frenzy onto the wooden floorboards of the deck below. The formerly peaceful atmosphere was torn away, leaving the grandmaster confused and fearful. It'd been only a day since he and Jeffery, the ship captain, had gotten back onto the river. Fully fixed and moderately improved due to Shifu's earlier payment, the boat was in...well...ship shape. The red panda had all but ordered Jeff to sail at maximum capacity day and night. No time for rest, not under this serious situation. Aside from sitting and pacing, there was no much for the grandmaster to do on the boat but meditate and wait. Naturally, as soon as he'd decided to get a bit of shut eye, he was bombarded by dreams he could only hope to be a fantasy or his imagination going wild.
The pandas all dead, bloody bodies scattered across the barren waste land that'd once been the panda village. Shifu shivered at the thought. He could only hope it wasn't true. But that wasn't his main issue. No. The reason he'd woken up to a startle was death, that was certain, but the death of the Dragon Warrior. It had been so vivid, so life-like, almost as if he'd been watching from a few paces away. He could've almost felt the cold rain, and the sound of the thunder booming around him. It didn't help that this feeling nearly mimicked the one from a few years ago when Po had been thought dead because of Shen's cannon. There was nothing to do but wait and pray...
A knock came at the door before Jeff stuck his head through the doorway. The beaver looked curiously at the mess of the grandmaster laying on the floor.
"Are ya alright masta Shifu?" he questioned in concern.
The grandmaster waved him off, before rising to his feet and dusting himself off. Right now wasn't the time to worry Jeff, especially since he didn't handle stressful situations so well.
"I'm quite alright Jeff, just startled by something is all," he assured in a placating manner.
Jeff nodded in understanding before exiting the dorm.
"Be ready fo' more startling sir, a storms brewin and looks like we headin straight fo' it," he let out as his voice was drowned out by the slowly growing wind.
Shifu sat back down on his cot as the boat began to shake more roughly as the minutes passed by. Soon torrents of water were bashing against the boat, shaking the vessel from side to side. Sounds of deafening thunder and blindingly bright lighting followed within under ten minutes.
If Shifu was honest with himself, he'd never been much of a seafarer. Albeit this wasn't the ocean, just a rocking boat on a river. However, regardless of the technicalities, if his ever-growing nausea was any sign of it, he'd be heaving his guts over the railing in no time.
"Lovely," the grandmaster let out sardonically.
The Valley of Peace
"This will do nicely."
Currently Daemon was admiring the Hall of Heroes. The huge tiger calmly strolled around the hall, observing the priceless artifacts that littered the grand room. Saber followed closely behind, intrigued by his boss's musings.
"Sir if I may...what are you going to do with all this?" he asked in a wondering tone, gesturing to the countless treasures. The amount of wealth that decorated the hall was absolutely staggering. Even the emperor himself would think twice about some of the valuables in this hall.
Daemon patted his younger and smaller apprentice on the shoulder. Saber was an excellent pupil and mercenary; his foresight, however, always had room for improvement.
"These treasures should be more than enough to pay off my army," Daemon spoke as he analyzed the hall.
"And the palace itself?"
Daemon froze for a moment in thought. Casting his gaze across the room once more before exiting the room, motioning for the white tiger to follow. Saber took the cue and followed his master as the powerful warrior pushed open the hall's double doors. The duo exited the room out onto the concrete training grounds, now swarming with dozens of criminal guards. They continued their pace as they headed for the lounge area which had be reconstructed into a war and operations room.
"Albeit I do hold a soft spot for this place, I cannot risk any knowledge from here escaping. Oogway had too many secrets, too many back doors. If my plan is to succeed...then nothing of this palace can remain," his stated in finality, the deep coarseness of his voice sending shivers down Saber's spine. He'd never get used to the tiger's deep baritone.
"So, when do we destroy this place? Now or in a week? Or-" Saber questioned in curiosity before being cut off by the larger feline.
"No. No," Daemon let out with a slight chuckle. His young pupil really did need to improve his planning skills.
"We've won several battles young Saber, but the war isn't over yet. Destroying the palace as of the moment is not at the top of my priorities," he continued as he seated himself at the head of the table. Saber hesitantly followed suit, sitting in a chair a couple down from the intimidating tiger, not sure if he was allowed to sit at the table.
Daemon had crossed his hands over the table in thought, either not noticing or caring that Saber had taken a seat.
"As of now, our top goals are to lure Shifu back here. As well as deal with some of the rebellion groups across China," he stated, scratching his chin.
Saber nodded in understanding before another question popped up in his mind.
"What if Shifu doesn't return?"
Daemon sighed at the white tiger's lack of reasoning. It'd been long since he'd carried on such a tedious conversation with another person. At least the conversation with the Dragon Warrior had been somewhat interesting.
"He will. As far as Shifu's aware, the Dragon Warrior is still alive. And the Jade Palace hasn't been captured. And even if he somehow does. He WILL come. I knew him for a long-time. He is many things...a coward isn't one of them," Daemon stated in reasoning before rising sharply.
Saber flinched, thinking he'd offended his master, only for the larger cat to stride past him. The white tiger let out a sigh of relief, jumping up out of his chair and quickly following Daemon to the door.
"Where are you going sir?" he asked in interest.
Daemon looked back at his student with a raised eyebrow.
"To finish some documents, I've been working on. Unfortunately, the emperor and his army are taking longer to return from Mongolia than I'd first presumed. This has set back my plan for months at a minimum," he stated simply.
Saber nodded, assuming their conversation had ended. As he was about to leave, his attention was drawn back as Daemon cleared his throat. He looked up to see the hulking tiger frowning at him. Even thought he was an ally; it was still a frightening look. Saber made a mental note to change his pants after their conversation ended.
Daemon had a mixture of contempt and irritation across his face as he gestured behind Saber. The Siberian tiger turned around to find nothing out of the ordinary, except his chair sticking out from the rest of the table.
"Saber...push in your chair. We aren't savages," Daemon let out with a tired sigh before leaving to the study.
"Four hundred and thirty-two bottles of rum on the wall! Four hundred and thirty-two bottles of rum! Take one down! Pass it around! Four hundred and thirty-one bottles of rum on the wall...Four hundred and thirty-one bottles of rum on the-"
Thwap!
"Ow!"
Mantis gripped his head as he rubbed the tender spot that Viper has just smacked. The Five were currently locked in the dungeons beneath the palace. Oogway had contracted the finest craftsmen in all of China when building the chambers and it showed. The walls and floor were constructed of stone. Not the cheap kind that the Furious Five punched through on a daily basis, but hard reinforced marble infused stone. They doubted even steel weapons would have left a scratch on it. The bars were reinforced Damascus steel, apparently folded over ten thousand times. Their shackles weren't much better. Pressure point cuffs, composed of reinforced steels points and molded from tungsten. The cuffs were chained to the wall with links that seemed to be tungsten as well. They even had a pair that could fit Mantis. Don't ask them how, but they did. Already tired, the chains and cuffs weighed them down, so that they just sat there in the barely illuminated chamber.
"Mantis! You're lucky I can only move my tail. Because if I could-"
Thump Bump!
"If I could-"
Thump Bump!
"Will you cut that out?" Viper hissed directing her attention to Monkey who sat at the left end of the chamber tediously bouncing a rubber ball against the wall opposite of him. Saber had been kind enough to gift the ape master with some means of entertainment. Or maybe he predicted that the monkey would drive the others crazy with it...that was more likely.
"Sorry. I'm just trying to ease my mind. This helps," Monkey shrugged, gesturing to the ball.
Viper groaned before resting her head against the stone wall, seemingly forgetting about her quarrel with the insect a couple meters to her right. Mantis seemed relieved as he sat quietly, refraining from getting on the snake's nerves again.
"Well you know what would ease my mind? Silence. So, if you please," Crane let out irately before tilting his hat over his eyes to block his vision from the flickering torchlight, most likely trying to get shut eye.
"Shouldn't we be forming a plan to escape? Mantis finally let out quietly, looking around at the others, seeking confirmation.
Crane sighed before tilting his hat back up, "It's over Mantis. They won. We lost. There's nothing to do."
Mantis snorted in derision, "Well, that's helpful. How about something we can use."
The bug glanced over to Monkey who scratched his head. In truth, the ape had been going over escape scenarios in his head for the past hour, yet he'd come up dry. He hadn't the slightest idea how to escape the seemingly impossible scenario they were in.
"I-I don't know bud. We're locked up in things impossible to break or unlock. Nobody visits besides Saber, so manipulating guards is a no go. I can't think of anything else," Monkey let out with a huff.
Mantis scratch his head with a wince, it was still tender from when Viper had hit him. Looking over to the snake he came to a realization.
"Wait! Viper can pick the cuffs like she did last time!" he let out in exhilaration. He mentally smacked himself, how had he missed something so blatant. This could be the beginning of their escape. He was never one to come up with plans, but the feeling he was getting at the moment was amazing. It was a thrill. Maybe he should come up with smart ideas more often.
His idea was shot down within seconds by the serpent herself.
"Sorry Mantis. These cuffs need two keys simultaneously to unlock. No picking is gonna work," Viper consoled with a tired voice.
Mantis deflated at that. He looked around at his comrades. All of them looked defeated. He couldn't stand it.
"So what? You guys are just giving up!" he questioned angrily looking them all up and down. None of them could look him in the eyes, as they downcast their gazes to the stone floor. Mantis's heated glare finally landed on the last member of the Five who'd been deadly quiet the entire time they'd been in here. Tigress was currently rolled up in a ball, clutching her knees in the corner of the room, her back facing everyone.
"Hey furball! We are planning our escape here! Mind joining the same wavelength?" Mantis snarked towards the feline, hoping to get her out of the shell she was living in at the moment. Regardless of how she may have felt, there was no reaction from the tiger master.
"Mantis! Try and be civil! She's been through a lot," Viper hushed, trying to diffuse the situation. Mantis wasn't having it.
"I don't care. She's acting like a baby. So, what if she lost Po? We all did! She didn't seem to care too much about him when she was shagging Saber!" his voice grew in volume with each sentence. His comment worked as the female tiger tensed at his words, especially the very last ones.
Within a second Tigress was turned around, her bloodshot eyes glaring murderously at Mantis. For the first time in his life, Mantis was unfazed. He'd felt bad about not hanging with Po often enough and he acknowledged that. Tigress had not only ignored Po, but berated him and told him to leave. And her behavior needed to be called out. If no one else was going to do it, then he'd do it himself.
"Don't you fucking dare bring Saber into this!" she growled at him, wishing she could stomp the bug into oblivion.
Not backing down Mantis shot back, "I can and I will! YOU chose Saber because you wanted a fuckbuddy you slut!"
Crane had folded his wing around himself in discomfort as he watched the verbal fight play out. Monkey would've laughed at the situation had it not been so dire, so he was content to watch in nervousness as the two masters went at each other's throats. Viper looked helplessly as her two friends tore their friendship apart.
"I'LL KILL YOU! BASTARD!" Tigress was struggling against the chains with all her might. Had they been normal chains, they'd have snapped a long time ago. However, Mantis would have to thank Oogway that they weren't normal chains.
"If Po was here, he wouldn't want us to fight! Please let's try and figure something out," Viper tried to placate.
Tigress turned her attention to the snake with fury burning in her eyes. Viper suddenly felt very small and insignificant. In fact, she just wanted to find a rock...or a hole and hide.
"PO ISN'T HERE! HE'S GONE! SO, SHUT UP!" she snarled at the serpent viciously.
Although Tigress theoretically couldn't reach her, Viper was still quite fearful for her well-being. Obviously, the feline was going through a rough patch and agitating her wasn't the smartest of plans. Nonetheless, Viper swallowed her fears and managed to reply with a steady voice, "I'm only trying to help Tigress. Please calm down."
The plea of the snake was to no effect, or at least no positive one. In fact, Tigress looked even angrier than before — if that was even possible.
"I SHOULDN'T HAVE EVER LISTENED TO YOU! WHY DOES ANYONE EVER LISTEN TO YOU? YOU'RE A SNAKE WITHOUT FANGS! DEFECTIVE!" Tigress roared at her. Viper looked hurt by the statement as her eyes began to water. She had always had comments about her fang-less nature from enemies and bullies. But what her friend had said was so vicious...it hurt. She turned away from the feline, her lips quivering. She proceeded to drag herself away to her corner, tears streaming down her usually happy face. Tigress looked at her, not a smidgen of guilt or sympathy across her furious expression.
Mantis looked at her shocked and tentative. He couldn't believe what Tigress had just said. That was awful. Insensitive, even for her. Even though him and Viper had disputes, she was still always like a little sister to him. He'd never want to see her cry.
"Viper?" Mantis asked tentatively getting no response but the snake's trembling lower lip as her tail felt the spots in her mouth that were devoid of fangs. She quickly collapsed, her form shaking in grief. Mantis looked heatedly at the tiger across the room. Before he could utter a syllable, Crane beat him to it.
"And why is that?" the avian broke the silence with a voice with barely constrained rage. Him and Viper were close friends, maybe someday he could hope to be more than that. But regardless, what Tigress had said was unacceptable. There was a reason he never got into arguments with his friends. Because of a combination of his wit and observational skills, he knew exactly what to say to hurt someone...badly. And at the moment, Tigress deserved that in spades.
Tigress looked back at Crane with anger, with a little confusion in the mix.
"Why she doesn't have fangs? She wasn't born wi-" she was cut off sharply by the bird.
"Not that. Why Po is gone?" he continued calm and collected tone.
Monkey froze as he watched Crane enter the exchange. Crane never got involved in an argument, but when he did, he finished it.
Tigress's anger dissolved, timidness overtaking it, "I-I, do-"
"Let me save you from the trouble. He's gone because of YOU," Crane stated in a piercing tone that would make even Shifu wince.
Tigress's mouth was faltering as she tried to form a word, let alone a sentence. The former confident anger from before was now completely gone.
Crane didn't stop there; he was far from finished. He was sick and tired of Tigress's aloofness and general attitude. She was about to be brought back down to Earth and sent a few feet under as well.
"Tigress you've been a bitter and withdraw person for as long as I can remember. I can hardly blame though. Because there's one thing we've all had that you've lacked," Crane began, his voice crisp and precise.
Tigress found her voice finally after a few moments of silence, "There's nothing any of you have that I want or need!"
Crane let out a humorless chuckle, "Oh yeah? Well I'll tell you anyways. We've all had parents and affection. Monkey...Mantis, albeit only his mother...Me...and Viper. Your parents didn't want you. They threw you out like yesterday's garbage."
Tigress was trembling in a mix of anger and pain as she pointed a finger at the bird.
"Y-you don't know what you're talking about," she responded back, shaken.
Crane had cracked the dam, now it was only a matter of time and a few more hits. He felt a little bad about this, especially since he was enjoying it a bit, but Tigress had this coming.
"You were abandoned. They didn't want you. They probably were better off without you," he remarked with a neutral tone.
"Shut up!" she growled at him.
Was it true though? Did her biological parents really not want her? Was she just a mistake? Tigress's mind was jumbled as she gripped her head in pain. Whether it was mental or physical she couldn't tell. Crane continued to drive jab after jab until he hit the X mark.
"Tigress, I don't know whether or not you liked Po or not. Or whether he liked you. But one thing is certain. Regardless of all that, I'm glad you chose Saber, which resulted in all of this," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Tigress looked at him in anger and pain, "Why? So, you could list off pointless facts that I don't care about," she retorted in defiance.
Crane shook his head.
"No...Because Po could've done SO much better than you. He deserved so much better than you," he ended in a cold tone, the final nail in the coffin.
Tigress closed her mouth, staring at the bird. Her eyes were a whirlwind of emotions, all split second, all unpredictable. Finally, she collapsed to her knees, small tears exiting her eyes as she wept. Her body shook violently as her muffled sobs escaped her tired body. She was broken and crying. And unlike Viper, none of the others went to console her.
Several Hundred Li Southwest of the Valley
"Man, I can't believe my luck," Kiara groaned in annoyance as she trudged through the mud.
It'd been a relatively nice trip after she'd escaped the pirates and headed inland. Without having the constant threat of Pirates, Akua's men, or a bounty on her head, she'd been free to travel at whatever pace she deemed comfortable. The first week of her travel had been a breeze. Although she'd grown up in the Egyptian desert and heat, the cool and brisk climate of China's winter had been a welcome change. After all, the princess didn't get out much. However, after days of perfect travelling weather she'd grown content. Naturally, the gods must've thought she was having it too easy.
The past several days had been a nightmare. The previous brisk temperature had been complimented by the warming rays of the ever-shining sun. Currently, the sun was blocked out by huge dark storm clouds. In result, the temperature had plummeted several dozen degrees. Kiara could've dealt with that; she wasn't one to complain. She'd met enough royalty to know that she didn't want to fit into the stereotype of a spoilt rotten brat that most princesses were. However, the lioness definitely could've done without the sheets of ice and rain that sleeted down from the whirling mass of storm clouds above. It was cold enough to partially solidify the ice, but not cold enough to turn it into snow or hail. On second thought, hail probably would've been worse, but as of the moment she wasn't oozing optimism. Well...she was oozing for sure, just not with optimism...rather cold rain water.
The feline was soaked to the bone in freezing rain, her fur which had originally been a beautiful golden color, was now an unattractive mottled brown, partially because of the rain, but primarily because of the mud puddles she was constantly falling in. Before, she'd been easily identifiable as a lioness, despite her shorter stature than most. However, she wouldn't be shocked if someone mistook her for a brown cougar or mountain cat now.
It was a stroke of good fortune when Kiara finally stumbled into a medium sized town. As of the moment she was thankful just to re-enter civilization again after trekking through the forests and the cold wetlands for the past couple days. She would kill for a warm, but more importantly, DRY bed. Some food would be good too.
"T-this D-dragon Warrior guy b-better be w-worth it," she grumbled, teeth chattering as she trudged towards the closest inn.
As Kiara walked up to the double doors of the establishment, she took a glance up to spot the sign hanging above the doorway. It read, 'Shao's Stay Inn'.
Shrugging, she pushed open the doors and entered the inn. Much to her delight, the lioness was greeted by the warm air of lobby. It was a welcome change from the frigid cold from outside. The inn was quite simple in all honesty. The lobby must've been no bigger than the size of her room back home, maybe a little bigger. A small fireplace crackled at the end of the lobby. A small bar was setup on the left, an eating/lounge area was off to the right. There were also a few doorways near the corner of the room. All in all, it wasn't the fanciest of places Kiara had been, but given her living situation the past couple months she couldn't complain.
"Hello?" the lioness called out to the empty lobby.
After a few seconds, the sound of footsteps reverberated through the old wooden planks underfoot. An old bull entered through the doorway farthest to the left. He took one look at the feline and smiled.
"Why hello young lady. What brings you here at such a late hour?" he asked in a deep gentle voice.
Kiara returned the smile to the elder bull, "I just needed a place to stay for the night sir."
The bull nodded in understanding, while walking over to the desk next to the bar. After rummaging around for a few seconds, he withdrew a key from one of the drawers. Walking over to the lioness he extended his empty hand.
"That'll be thirty-two yuan miss," he stated with a slight yawn.
Nodding, the princess dug into her travel pack which, much like her, was also soaked and coated in mud. Withdrawing her sack of coins, she realized that she didn't have yuan. The currency back in Egypt was gold drachmas, much different than the bronze coins that were used here in China.
"Do you accept drachmas as payment?" she asked sheepishly.
The old bull laughed at that remark.
"Boy I wish! Drachmas around here are about as rare as they come. Half a gold drachma would be enough to pay for a much nicer hotel than this old place," the owner chuckled light-heartedly.
Kiara nodded in relief. She hadn't been sure if the exchange rate between the two currencies would work in her favor. However, given that gold was much more expensive that bronze, she probably shouldn't have stressed too much over it.
"Oh, well I don't really have any half-drachmas, so just keep the change on this one," Kiara said, dropping a gold drachma into the bull's unsuspecting grasp.
It took a few moments for the elder inn owner to process what had just happened. He then proceeded to gawk at the cookie sized Egyptian gold coin. His shock wasn't unwarranted; commoners rarely saw pure gold, much less obtain it.
After another few moments of gazing in awe at the drachma, Kiara spoke up, "Okaaaay. I'll just take this. Have a good night," she let out, taking the room key from his grasp and leaving for the doorway that was labeled 'rooms'.
The bull didn't show any sign of noticing her actions aside from a barely audible grunt. As the princess headed for her room, room 34, she made a mental note to stop by a currency exchange establishment whenever she reached a bigger town and trade some of her drachmas for yuan. Obviously having an abundance of drachmas in China wasn't common. And the last thing she needed to do right now was to stick out like a sore thumb.
Arriving at room 34, Kiara unlocked the door and entered the dorm. She was pleasantly surprised to see there was a functional washing room, as well as a fairly sizeable bed.
Setting down her travel pack, the lioness decided that washing was in order. After all it'd been days since she'd had a proper wash.
Half an hour later, the princess exited the washing room looking rather refreshed. Her coat was back to its normal soft golden self, and she felt a lot better than she had in days. Walking over to her travel pack, Kiara rummaged around before pulling out some undergarments and a night gown. No reason to not get comfortable for the night. Slipping them on, she sighed in pleasure as she felt the touch of soft silk against her fur. After days of wearing the same soaked, dirty, and itchy wool, silk felt like heaven.
Kiara was about to close her bag when she spotted her sword. Although the adult part of her told her that she shouldn't be messing around with a weapon indoors, the immature side of her won over. What could be the harm?
Taking the sword out of the bag, she unsheathed the half-gold and half-silver blade. The lioness had to admit that it really was a beautiful weapon as she stared at her reflection in the deadly, yet elegant blade.
'I should probably learn how to use a sword. I don't want to be some damsel in distress all the time,' Kiara thought in irritation.
Sweeping the sword in a horizontal motion, she executed a clumsy slash. Bringing the weapon back, the lioness the jabbed at an imaginary opponent, a smile emerging on her features. She continued to weave, dart, stab, and swipe at imaginary foes, in a clumsy and chaotic manner.
'This isn't so hard. I guess watching those guards practice sword fighting payed off after all,' she thought in excited pride.
Any weapons expert would've probably had a heart attack if they watched the princess attempt at using a sword properly. After another few moments, the lioness's adrenaline got the better of her. As she zipped around the room flailing her weapon at the empty air, she didn't notice a stray nail that was sticking out of one of the wooden planks.
Thunk!
"Ouch!" Kiara hissed in pain after stubbing her foot on the cursed piece of metal. Unfortunately, she'd done so mid-swing, and in result, accidentally released the sword from her grip, sending it flying through the air. The princess watched in horror as the blade flew straight into the oil lamp on the night stand. The sword shattered the lamp, leaking oil everywhere, and in result, spreading the once docile lighten flame into a growing fire.
"Oh crap!" Kiara exclaimed frantically. Rushing over to the wash room, the princess retrieved a couple towels. She then spent the next several minutes beating out the flames of the oil lamp until only glowing embers remained. Kiara dropped the blacked towels to the floor as she wiped some soot of her face. She reminded herself to ask the owner what the deposit on this place was whenever she saw him tomorrow.
Wheezing in exhaustion she ambled over to and collapsed on the bed, one of the few things that escaped the fire's wrath. She couldn't imagine what she would've done if the bed had caught on fire...that would've been a disaster. Sighing tiredly, Kiara concluded that she'd leave the sword lessons for another day...or month.
"Ok so it's a little harder than I thought," she grumbled tiredly before shutting her eyes.
Location Unknown
"Aggh."
Everything ached. His legs. Arms. Head. You name it. If it was a body part, it hurt. Slowly...tiredly, he tried to open his eyes. It took a tremendous amount of effort to do even that. It felt as if each individual eyelid was weighed down by a ship anchor. He wanted so badly to just give up and let them down, but his curiosity won over. The burning sensation that came after he opened his eyes wasn't helping either. The glaring light was a stark contrast to the darkness he'd experienced the past...well, however long he'd been out.
Once his eyes finally adjusted to the lighting, he made out his surroundings. He was in a moderately new log cabin, either that or a very well maintained one. He could tell because of the smell of freshly cut red pine wood, and the fact that the planks below were well polished and lacked any signs of wear. Aside from that, he was lying in a cot, barely big enough to fit him. Aside from the cot, there was a medium sized fireplace in the back, the roaring fire warming the cabin quite nicely. There was a small kitchen area to the right of the fireplace, stocked with a variety of cookware. To the left was another cot roughly the same size as the one he lay in. There were several windows around the cabin, showing the darkness of the night outside. So enthralled in his new surroundings, he didn't notice another presence in the cabin until it spoke out.
"Dragon Warrior, you're up. It's been quite a while," came the voice of a figure who was hunched over a desk on the opposite side of the room. The wooden desk was littered with paperwork and other miscellaneous items. The muscular feline was busy shuffling through the papers on the desk, illuminated by a simple oil lamp that stood atop the wooden furniture.
"Oh dammit," Po grumbled in realization as he tried to move out of bed. A sharp pain stopped him from doing so, as he grunted in pain. He would've recognized that voice from anywhere. Even though it'd been years, he couldn't forget the first man who'd tried to kill him. Yes, there'd been many who tried to kill him, but Tai Lung had been the first.
'You know what they say about first times! Amirite?' Red laughed.
Po ignored the useless voice, proceeding to try and prepare himself. Struggling to get up, Po crashed back down into bed.
"Relax Dragon Warrior. If I wanted you dead, you would be," Tai Lung called out, his back to the helpless warrior.
"Lovely..." Po muttered.
Tai Lung seemingly finished with his desk work, rose from his chair and turned around to face his former enemy. He looked exactly the same as Po had last seen him. Minus of few changes. He wore a pair of cobalt blue pants instead of his former notorious royal purple. And he was wearing a pair of reading glasses. Tai Lung folded up the glasses and set them on the desk before crossing his arms.
"Lovely? That's all? No questions?" the snow leopard questioned with a small smirk.
Po snorted in derision. It seems that Tai Lung was a little more civil than they'd last met. However, that wasn't saying much.
"Yeah...is this Hell?" Po grumbled sarcastically. This was just perfect. He was dead. And now he was stuck with Tai Lung in the afterlife! As what...torture? It's not as if his life when living was bad enough.
"Not quite," Tai Lung laughed before bringing a chair over and sitting down in front of the panda.
"You're lucky y'know. It's a miracle that you're alive. If I was any later you probably wouldn't have made it," he remarked in a serious tone.
"Forgive me if I'm not jumping for joy," Po responded tiredly, finally managing to remove his covers. The bear then began to examine himself for injuries.
"I fixed up most of your injuries using Chi. Daemon really did a number on you. It took a lot out of me, given your condition," Tai Lung revealed as he sat watching the panda patiently. After a moment Po came to a realization.
"Daemon said he destroyed three points in my spine that control Chi functionality. Did you fix that?" Po asked solemnly, but you could hear the distress in his voice.
Tai Lung cleared his throat, and scratched his head awkwardly. This was what he'd been dreading.
"I'm not sure. The spine, especially the spinal nerves, are very delicate. I healed them the best I could," he admitted quietly.
Po nodded in uncertainty before closing his eyes. After a few moments, he began to move his arms in a familiar motion. A bead of sweat dripped down the bear's face as he concentrated on the task at hand. He brought his hands together in a steady pattern and opened his eyes to see.
Nothing. No warm feeling in his paws. No glowing light. His hands were empty.
"No. No. No," Po mumbled in disbelief. He tried again. And again. And again. After his fifth try, Tai Lung put his hand on his shoulder. Po looked at the snow leopard in disbelief. He'd lost his ability to use Chi.
"I'm afraid that's not all Po. While I was healing you, I noticed the nerve receptors in your right leg weren't responding to my Chi or any sort of nerve triggers," the feline stated in a reluctant tone.
Po looked at him with a confused frown before it shifted into a look of utter horror. He couldn't mean that...it couldn't be...
With extreme effort, the panda swung his legs over the side of the cot and tried to rise. He took his first step with his left leg before trying to use his right. Po collapsed to the ground almost instantly. Tai Lung let out a sigh. He'd been hoping that he was wrong. Unfortunately for Po, he wasn't.
"M-my leg. I can't use my leg! Why!" Po stuttered in shock.
"It's been paralyzed Po...there's nothing anyone can do," Tai Lung consoled.
Po froze in fear. His leg? How? Why? His life had revolved around Kung Fu for years now. How was he supposed to cope without a leg? Why did fate hate him?
"I-I need to be alone," Po let out.
Tai Lung nodded, as if he was expecting the response. He'd been meaning to go buy supplies anyways. Might as well allow the panda some time to mourn. He walked over to the front door, slipping on a winter coat.
"I managed to snag your luggage from the Jade Palace a few days ago," he stated pointing to the bags next to Po's cot before heading out the door, leaving the panda alone in the cabin.
Po sat there in shock. It was like a bad dream that he couldn't wake up from. It seemed like hours before he decided to move again. Slowly...hesitantly, he rose to his unsteady feet, putting all his weight onto his left foot. Po tiredly limped over to his bags and brought them over to the fireplace, where it was warmer. As he sat down in front of the crackling flames, Po went through all the items he'd packed. Nothing much. Just some food, a few pairs of clothes. Pictures of his dad, and Li, his other dad.
Po looked down at the pictures as tears welled up in his eyes. They were gone. All of them. Everyone who'd loved him. Gone.
He'd been too weak. Too much of a loser. Too much of a child. He'd rather be dead. He wished he was.
Po continued to rummage through his bag until he came across his Furious Five action figures. Po stared at them for a moment, before a look of fury ignited across his features.
They had been his heroes! He thought they were friends! He thought they were family! But they didn't care about him...he wasn't sure if they really ever did.
'If they don't care...then why should I?' Po thought in anger.
Without hesitation, Po began to toss the figures into the fire. One by one. Until he came to Tigress's. He hesitated. Even after all she'd done, he hesitated. Steeling himself, Po crushed the figure into pieces before tossing them into the fireplace.
Po watched the figures, figures that he'd once admired with a passion, burn into ash. He was done with the Five. He was free.
Tai Lung entered hours later to find Po in a meditation stance. Raising an eyebrow, the leopard set down the bag of groceries and walked over to the panda taking a seat near him.
"I see you seem to have come to terms with everything," the feline managed, observing the bear's reaction.
Po opened his bloodshot eyes, staring at his former enemy.
"How long was I out?" he asked, ignoring the leopard's first comment.
Tai Lung scratched his chin, "About a week, give or take a few days. I found you in the marshes about a day after I learnt about Daemon seizing the Jade Palace."
Po nodded quietly, shifting his gaze from the feline to the raging fire to his left. Although calm, the Kung Fu master's trained eye detected subtle emotions boiling beneath the bear's surface. Tai Lung was a little unnerved to say the least. He had to admit, although annoying, he kind of missed the upbeat attitude of his foe in the past. Now he seemed to be detached, and a ball of swirling emotions, volatile, unpredictable.
"So, there are some things I need to fill you in on," Tai Lung began.
Po sat there quietly as the former felon explained the situation. How he'd learned all this only Oogway knows. Although tired, Po listened as the leopard summarized all that had happened.
To start off, he'd been sent back from the Spirit Realm by Oogway. He'd been learning about Daemon and his plans for almost a month now. Daemon had annihilated every major Kung Fu academy and palace across the nation. His network of criminals was growing larger and larger by the day. Shifu hadn't been captured yet. There were several rebellions against Daemon's criminal syndicate by the few remaining Kung Fu masters, which were slowing down the tiger's plans. The Jade Palace was captured (like Po didn't know that). Daemon was planning on toppling the emperor next. To make matters worse, the emperor, royal guard, and imperial army were busy dealing with a war in Mongolia at the moment. They hadn't been informed of the matters in China, and were unaware of the current circumstances. Since Daemon had killed, captured, or paid off any remaining Kung Fu masters or political figures, there would be no way to tell the Emperor and his staff after they returned from Mongolia.
"Thankfully, this means two things. One, we have time. The emperor isn't set to return to China for months due to complications in Mongolia. And two, the Furious Five's execution dates have been postponed as well," Tai Lung finished.
Po was quiet for several moments. The leopard thought the bear had dozed off until he spoke, "And what am I supposed to do?"
Tai Lung looked at him dumbly. There were a million things he'd been prepared to hear. That wasn't one of them.
"You-you're the Dragon Warrior you-" he managed before being cut off by the panda.
"No, I'm not...not anymore," Po said his voice straining to keep calm.
Tai Lung was nervous. This was not part of Oogway's plan.
"Surely, you can't just quit," he tried to reason.
Po snorted, "I just did. I'm done with the Five. I'm done with being the good guy. I'm done being the hero. Because I don't care anymore. I'm done," the bear stated with finality.
"But what about China? Your family? Your frien-" he questioned before Po slammed his hand down onto the solid pine floor.
WHAM!
"China can go fuck itself! I've sacrificed enough! All my family is dead! My entire fucking race is dead! My friends are back stabbing assholes! And in case you haven't noticed...I JUST BECAME LEFT FOOTED!" Po exploded in anger, gesturing towards his paralyzed right leg.
Tai Lung look over in shock at the bear. He'd never seen him that angry before...albeit he'd only known him for a short period. This wasn't good.
Po let out a breath to calm himself. He stared back at the leopard. His anger slowly fading to simple regret and pain.
"Listen...I know you mean well. But it's over...Daemon's won. I lost. End of story," he stated tiredly, limping over to his cot before sitting down.
Tail Lung sighed. There wasn't much to do. If he couldn't convince Po to come back, they were doomed.
'Hell. We're pretty much doomed as it is,' he thought with a laugh. The leopard walked over to one of the counters and pulled out two glasses. He then retrieved a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet to his left. Filling both glasses to the brim, he brought them over to the 'former' Dragon Warrior, offering him one.
"You drink?" he asked the bear.
Po looked back at him, then at the glass. He'd had whiskey once in his life. Back in his teens before he'd met Kenli.
"Sure," he said, gingerly taking the glass. He took a small whiff of the amber liquid that swirled around in the nearly overflowing glass.
'Hold on there buddy. We don't drink. Remember? You told Kenli you wouldn't,' Red warned in a cautious tone, all signs of his former immaturity gone.
'What are you my conscious? Who cares?' Po shot back.
'Kenli would. You promised her,' Red insisted.
'Yeah. I also promised her to be a good man. And look where that's gotten me,' Po thought bitterly.
'But-'
'I don't care anymore Red. You were right. Being a good person is overrated,' Po thought in finality.
Raising the glass in a toast, Po let out a careless chuckle.
"To a life of pain, and a future of misery," he said with a humorless smile.
Tai Lung shrugged, "I'll drink to that."
Clink!
They both toasted before Po downed the entire glass in one gulp. The snow leopard looked at the panda in disbelief. Po just returned his shocked look with a buzzed smile. He'd been missing out. This stuff was delicious.
"All take another if that's alright with you," Po chuckled tiredly.
A/N: Wow. Things are looking pretty crazy. Po's character development is going on a roller-coaster of a ride. I'm not done yet. I'm really looking forward to writing more interactions between Po and Tai Lung. I feel like Tai Lung had and has so much more development that the writers never grasped. He was just the 'bad guy'. But I think he deserves more than that. I hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you thought. I'll see you guys next chapter.
Next chapter, Chapter XIII: The Princess & the Panda
Frost2001 Out!