Ello everyone. I bring to you, Chapter 2 of Clash of Warriors. As said, there is changes to the KFP storyline. In this story, we will see a non-evil Tai Lung with the Jade Palace defenders.
Please review and tell me what you think.
Twenty years earlier.
An eighteen-year-old Tai Lung was training inside the training hall of the Jade Palace. He was in the middle of the field of wooden warriors, dodging and deflecting attacks from all sides. The snow leopard jumped into the air evading the blows and dealt a power full kick to the middle of the wooden warrior, turning it to splinter.
Shifu looked on from a nearby pillar. He was pleased with Tai Lungs training. The snow leopard had trained for thirteen years, he was nineteen now, and had mastered all 1000 scrolls of Kung Fu. He knows of all the styles of Kung Fu and had mastered them all. Only the dragon warrior can learn and master that much in such a short amount of time.
Right next to Master Shifu sat a six-year-old tigress. Shifu had adopted her half a year ago and after months of begging brought the tiger cub into the training hall during one of Tai Lung's sessions. To say she was impressed at the snow leopards skills would not suffice. She was shocked at how fast the snow leopard moved.
Without knowing it, she stared at the snow leopard with her jaws hanging. She was worried when she suddenly saw the snow leopard jump onto the flaming fields. Flames spit up from the ground but the snow leopard dodged it all. Tigress grinned and smiled as she saw him dodge it all, and suddenly everything turned silent.
A grin is visible on the snow leopards face. He jumped straight up into the air just as the entire field turned ablaze. The fire was taller than earlier, but the snow leopard jumped above them. He hit the roof of the training hall before jumping out of the training area, landing in front of Shifu and Tigress. Shifu nodded as his student landed in front of him, while Tigress feel backwards, landing on her tail.
Tai Lung looked as Tigress landed on her tail and grinned. He walked over to her and gave her a paw to get up. She took it and he immediately ruffled the top of her head before going back to his respective stance in front of Shifu.
"Half a second faster than last time. You can do better Tai Lung"
Tai Lung wanted to let out a sigh but only nodded at his master's words.
"Again!"
The snow leopard turned around and leapt onto the spinning serpents going through the entire course again. That would be the activity all day long. Tai Lung kept finishing and Shifu kept sending him back, telling him to do better next time. Meanwhile Tigress sits there shocked and amazed at the fact that the snow leopard kept improving at speeds unimaginable for her.
Later that night Tai Lung got called into the main building of the Jade Palace. Shifu and Oogway wanted to speak with the snow leopard. Meanwhile Tigress finds herself inside Jade palace's training hall. The sun has set and she is supposed to lie in her bed, but after Tai Lung going through the training course she could not sleep. She knew she could never manage the training field, so she went for the training dummy.
She raised her paw and formed a fist. She moved as she saw Tai Lung do it and hit the dummy in the middle of it, but it did not move at all. She hit it again and once more, it did not move. She was about to hit it for a third time, when her paw was stopped by someone. Tigress tensed up and looked behind, only to find the amber eyes of Tai Lung staring at her.
Tigress did not know what to say. Normally those eyes seemed friendly, but right now, they were stone cold. He watched her stance and shook his head.
"If you want to hit it, at least hit it properly," he said in a mocking voice.
Tai Lung put his right paw in front of him and took a step forward with his left foot. He looked down at Tigress nodding at her.
"Do as I do"
Tigress nodded and stood in the same way Tai Lung did. Suddenly the snow leopard took a step forward with his right foot thrusting his paw forward in a fist. Tigress did not move and the snow leopard raised his eyebrow.
"Something wrong?"
"No… no just nervous"
"Try to do what I did"
Tigress tried to redo what Tai Lung did. She took a step forward and thrusted her paw forward. Her paw made impact into the dummy and send it flying backwards, hitting the wall. She threw her fists into the air. Tai Lung grinned as he watched her celebrate. Tigress looked up at Tai Lung.
"Keep doing it like that and you will punch that dummy half across China with one blow in no time"
Tigress immediately returned to the stance shown earlier. She hit the dummy repeatedly under the snow leopards supervision. She had a grin on her face, but it vanished when she looked behind her.
Tai Lung was looking at his feet with a very sad expression on his face. He had mixed feelings. How dare they take from him what he trained his entire life to become? In his thinking, Tai Lung never noticed that Tigress stopped hitting the dummy and had walked over to where he stood. He looked up then down as he suddenly felt something wrap itself around his right leg. He looked down and saw Tigress hugging his right leg. She looked up at him.
"Tai, what is wrong?"
Tai Lung looked down at Tigress and faked a smile.
"Have Master Shifu told you about the Dragon Warrior prophecy?"
Tigress nodded "He told me you were destined to be the warrior, and one day you will be given the legendary dragon scroll"
Tai Lung let out a very long and very loud sigh.
"That he said. Tonight was the night Shifu brought me to Oogway. He judged me and…"
The snow leopard turned silent, his fist clenching into a fist, which scared Tigress a little.
"He judged me not to be the dragon warrior… He said he saw darkness in my hearth. Darkness? Me? I have trained, prepared and devoted my life to Kung Fu. I have defended the Valley from several bandits, where does he see the darkness?"
Tai Lung had kept on speaking and Tigress looked concerned at the snow leopard. She opened her mouth in an attempt to cheer him up.
"To me you are one of the greatest heroes of China! And a hero could never have darkness in their hearths!"
She made her hug around his leg stronger, which the snow leopard noticed. She has a lot of strength for a six-year-old cub.
"Titles don't mean everything Tai"
Tai Lung felt as if he had just been woken up by a bucket of water. He smiled down at Tigress and gave her a hug himself. They stayed like this until Tigress tried to break free.
"Tai! I need air!"
The snow leopard immediately opened his arms and the tiger cub fell to the ground, landing on her tail. She looked up and grinned at him.
"Why do you keep making me fall on my tail?"
With that both felines started laughing. The night would continue with that, laughing and Tai Lung teaching Tigress how to do a powerful punch and how to kick properly. Poor dummy.
Twenty years later, present day, Jade Palace.
Many things has happened in those twenty years. The Jade palace has taken up more students since then. Oogway thought that it was time that Tai Lung and Tigress had other comrades around. Four students had arrived at the Jade palace. A crane, snake, golden langur monkey and a mantis. Just like Tigress, they had the same name as their specie.
It took them a long time to get used to the discipline of the Jade Palace. Tai Lung even saw some of them as unworthy, looking at the monkey and mantis, to learn under the guidance of Master Shifu. With time, his view on them has improved, but after several pranks and other incidences it is a miracle the snow leopard has kept his temper.
The four new students showed potential as a team, and together with the leadership of Tigress turned into a strong peacekeeping force. They were called the furious five by the villagers. Some of the villagers even said that they would best Tai Lung if it came to a duel between them.
In these twenty years, the snow leopard had taken on techniques of the more advanced level. He mastered his own style to masterful execution, he started perfecting the flaws and advancing the fighting style to a new level.
Because the snow leopard had mastered all of the scrolls at such a fast pace, Shifu set him as an training partner for all of his new students. None has so far been close to defeat the snow leopard, but they had landed hits on him. Each time they faced him, he showed them something new.
Last time he and Monkey fought in the courtyard. Other masters from all over China had come to see these new students, but to also observe the skills of the snow leopard. Only one missing was Teemutai of Thi-Dah, reason being trouble with nomadic warriors raiding his lands.
Shifu and Oogway had organized a sparring between Tai Lung and the furious five, but first one in single combat, before they took him on as a group.
Tai Lung and Monkey circled each other in the courtyard. The golden langur is armed with a bamboo stick. The snow leopard had been offered one as well but he decided to throw it aside, making some of the other masters raise their eyebrows in curiosity.
The gong rang and the golden langur attacked. He thrusted the stick forward, trying to hit the snow leopard from afar but missed on every strike. The snow leopard spinned alongside the bamboo stick and when in striking, range attempted to hit the langur. Monkey saw this and jumped into the air just before Tai Lung could deal a blow. Monkey dived down and brought the bamboo stick over his head to smash it down on the snow leopard.
What happened next surprised everyone present, with the exception of Tai Lung and Master Oogway.
Tai Lung stood still on the ground while the monkey dived, until suddenly, when the stick was one and a half meter away, thrusted his open paw forward. He hit the bamboo stick with the middle finger. It was as if time stopped, until a loud crack was heard.
The finger was fine; the same could not be said about the staff. The staff blew up into a million pieces from the middle. The langur, having lost his staff fell forward with his own momentum, only to meet the waiting kick from the snow leopard who had jumped half a meter up into the air and gave him a spin kick to the stomach.
Monkey flew ten meter landing on his back and before he could do anything, the snow leopard pinned him down. Monkey yielded and took the paw Tai Lung offered. They both bowed before walking up to Master Shifu, giving him a bow.
The look of the masters revealed their thought. All of them were shocked at what they had just and their jaws hung open. Never had any of them seen anyone break the bamboo staff with only a finger touch. Shifu looked behind him at their stunned faces and smirked before turning to his students.
"Well done both of you. Now Tai Lung. Are you ready for your next challenge?"
Tai lung raised his punched his paw and bowed before Shifu "Master"
Before Shifu could announce the next challenge, were he stopped by one of the masters behind him. It was a black ox.
"We have seen enough of what your students can do between themselves, Master Shifu, and we are to say the least impressed"
"Why th-" Shifu was interrupted by the ox one more time.
"I am not done yet. So impressed, that we would like to test their skills. I, Master Storming Ox of the southlands challenge Master Tai Lung, student of the Jade Palace to a duel"
Shifu looked at Tai Lung before looking back. He nodded at the Ox.
"Then so be it"
The ox nodded and he walked into the courtyard where Tai Lung waited. They both looked at their opponent before looking to Shifu. The masters bowed and the gong ranged.
Tai Lung knew his opponent. He was the student of Master Thundering Rhino. He liked quick but heavy attacks; he likes to end battles quickly.
Master Storming Ox had seen enough of Tai Lungs fighting style to know how to fight the leopard. I need to be strong and precise, not leave any opening for him to use.
What Master Storming Ox did not expect was the fact that Tai Lung knew all the different styles of Kung Fu. This meant the snow leopard could change to a new style on the spot.
The snow leopard took a stance resembling that of the crane. The ox charged, trying to punch the leopard with a quick blow, but never got to hit. Tai Lung swung to the left, ducked under the Ox's arms, and elbowed him in the chest and armpit before delivering a hard punch to his exposed back. Master Storming Ox was send forward, but did not fall.
The Ox laughed as he turned around to look at the snow leopard.
"That was a mixture of Crane and Tiger style. Shifu I am impressed even more by your Student skills"
The ox returned to a defensive stance. The two of them circled each other slowly walking to the right. Tai Lung went on the offensive, sending quick attack at the ox, who caught all of the blows, deflecting and retaliating all of the snow leopard's moves.
The battle dragged on for hours. Sweat began to form on both Master's head but they kept on the fighting. Every time the Ox seemed to get the advantage, Tai Lung found a new exploit, which pushed the Ox backwards. Right now, the two of them stood in a test of strength as they both tried to push the other forward.
"Ha, is that all you got?" Storming Ox laughed.
Tai Lung growled. He smirked which surprised the Ox. Before the ox said anything, did the snow leopard move. He jumped into the air, which forced the ox forward, in that moment he walked forward Tai Lung grabbed his right horn, and swung the master around before throwing the ox several meters before he hit the walls of the Courtyard. He left an ox shaped mark before falling to the ground.
Tai Lung bolted up to the Ox who was laughing. He raised his hands and yelled out.
"I yield"
Tai Lung offered the Ox a paw to aid him get up. The Ox took it and they both bowed.
"Never before have I had such a great opponent. Continue like that and you will be a grandmaster like the rest of us in no time!" the Ox literally yelled at the snow leopard.
Tai Lung just stood there and bowed one more time.
"You honor me Master Storming Ox"
After that battle, the masters decided to meditate at the moon pool inside the palace. The students were told to clean up the courtyard as they usually were. Monkey kept looking at Tai Lung as he remembered how he had broken his stick.
"That was some high advanced shit he did there"
"Who, you mean Tai Lung who broke your stick like it was a grass straw?"
Monkey nodded at Mantis. They both now looked at Leopard who was busy cowering the impact area of Master storming Ox with some makeshift stone mixture. Viper and Crane joined them.
"Do you guys think we can beat him in a battle?" Viper asked as she looked at the snow leopard working.
"Thirty cobber coins on Tai Lung" Mantis said immediately.
Monkey and Mantis immediately broke into laughter but stopped as they heard a voice next to them.
"We were told to clean up, not make stupid statements"
It was Tigress who were gathering dust and broken pieces of wood. She had shook her head as she heard their conversation.
"Well, Tigress Do you think we can defeat him?" Mantis asked.
Tigress sighed. She honestly did not know. They were strong, but Tai Lung defeated a grand master, and he knew all of their tricks. How could they win against him.
Before she could answer, did the gate leading to the Valley of Peace burst open. They all were shocked and looked ready to battle, until they saw it was an imperial messenger. A cheetah in gold leather armor. He looked exhausted.
"I… I bring news… I bring news from the Emperor! I need to see Master Oogway immediately!"
The messenger collapsed as he said so. Before he hit the ground, he were caught by two paws. It was Tai Lung.
"Easy now, what has happened?"
The cheetah looked at the snow leopard. Sweat all over his face he inhaled a lot of air before speaking.
"Temujin has destroyed Thi-Dah"
With that I end chapter 2 of Clash of Warriors. Hope you liked it and if you did Write so in the review. Please do tell me if I did well on that battle scene, first time I write a battle between two Kung fu fighters.