The sound of trotting feet echoed through the Legendary Hall of Warriors as a young cub made his way to the moon pool. Upon reaching the location he looked up at the large golden dragon situated on the ceiling. He smiled as he saw the one scroll that greatly sparked his curiosity placed delicately inside the monstrous maw of the beast. Master Shifu was starting to make him long for it more and more these days. It was all he ever seemed to talk about during his training sessions. Tai Lung had been aware that he was training to become the Dragon Warrior, but now he was really starting to get into it. The legends of what the Dragon Scroll contained seemed too awesome to comprehend. Tai Lung believed everything the scroll was rumored to possess and was determined to work harder to get it.
"I'll do my best to have the chance to hold you in my paws one day. Baba will be so proud of me when I am chosen to be the Dragon Warrior."
The cub continued to stare dreamingly at the dragon above him; it almost made him swell with pride. Just thinking about what his future would be like was making him excited. At the age of seven the boy still had other ambitions for his life, but this one was gradually becoming his priority.
It was a rather vigorous training session today that made him eager to look up at the scroll today. Shifu couldn't shut up about it and continued to make him work harder than previous days. In fact it even annoyed Tai Lung a little, but hearing about the grandeurs of his future status was intriguing. All he could do to ease the pain of training so hard was to think of what it was going to be like. Maybe then his father would tell him what a good job he did, instead of telling his to work harder next time. Speaking of his father, Tai Lung soon perked and ear as he heard the red panda laughing outside. The laughter made the boy shake his current thoughts from his mind to remember what today was. Enjoying the stories of the Dragon Warrior or not, Tai Lung did not want to train again today. It was a special day that he knew his father would overlook, but he wasn't about to. It was Shifu's birthday.
Tai Lung clapped his paws together as he giggled happily about the day. He was old enough now to know how to throw his own party, or at least what he thought was a party. It was going to be a surprise too. He had it all planned out and with a little help from Oogway he hoped all would go to plan. Taking one last glance at the scroll he bolted out of the hall and made his way to the Scared Peach Tree. As he had hoped Master Oogway was there balancing himself on his staff. Tai Lung wondered how the old tortoise was able to hold himself up like that with just his neck. Just thinking about doing that made his neck sore. Oogway was quietly mediating before he acknowledged Tai Lung's presence.
"Good afternoon young one." The aging tortoise spoke as he lowered himself to the ground. "You have come later than expected."
Tai Lung placed his fist to his palm and bowed as he replied. "I am sorry Master; I had something to take care of before coming here. Please forgive my tardiness."
Oogway just chuckled, always finding the formality of greeting others humorous. He preferred people to be laid back during peaceful times, but knew it was best to keep Tai Lung well mannered.
"It is not a problem my child, I was just curious as to your whereabouts. You were so keen about meeting me here at noon, I thought it was important."
"Oh, but it is important Master! You see I am trying to keep something from my father." Tai Lung begun.
Oogway looked at the boy with a slight arch in his brow. "Tai Lung I don't think you should be keeping anymore secrets from your father. I don't need to remind you how Shifu gets when you hide your antics from him." Oogway smiled and chuckled once more.
"But this is different Master; you see I want to throw him a surprise party. It's for his birthday and I hate how he always forgets it, but it works in my favor this time." Tai Lung hoped Oogway wouldn't suggest that his plan was a bad idea. He needed someone to be in on it with him, and Oogway was the best choice to keep Shifu away for awhile.
"Hate is a strong word." Oogway contemplated as he gazed up into the sky. Tai Lung blinked as he watched the tortoise scratch his chin. Did he hear anything other than that word?
"Umm…" Tai Lung wasn't sure if he should repeat his thoughts or not. Oogway soon returned his gaze to the snow leopard and smirked.
"You want me to keep him busy I assume?"
Tai Lung sighed in relief and nodded. "Yes Master, if you could that would be great. I was thinking about throwing it in the kitchen."
"Oh I am not sure if I can keep him from the kitchen." Oogway chortled and looked to be daydreaming. "He seems to be growing a bit of a belly. Perhaps you should convince him to join you in your training."
Tai Lung giggled at Oogway's crack at his father. It was true, Shifu was starting to fill out his robes more than he used to.
"I am sure you can convince him to stay away from the kitchen." The cub smiled. "I need to get it prepared before dinner, when he is sure to arrive."
"I will grant your wish my boy." Oogway crossed his heart and held up his claws. "Shifu will not enter that kitchen until dinner."
"Thank you so much Master!" Tai Lung gleamed as he hugged the tortoise. "Be sure you make it there too, you are on the guest list of course."
"Nothing could keep me away." Oogway rubbed between the cub's ears. "Unless all hell broke loose." He added nonchalantly.
Tai Lung laughed and bowed once more before he turned to depart.
"Don't you go using that word now!" Oogway called out as the boy left. "Your father will have a fit if he caught you saying it."
"I won't!" Tai Lung agreed as he scampered down the steps.
As Tai Lung soon approached the kitchen he listened out for any signs of his father. For some reason he felt if he were to be seen, Shifu would send him out to train again. Probably because that is what he was supposed to be doing, instead of preparing a surprise party. Shifu had sent him to work out in the outdoor training grounds after their morning session. Instead of that however, Tai Lung was more dedicated on setting up his surprise. Sensing that the coast was clear Tai Lung entered the kitchen and looked around.
"Lots to do, lots to do…" He murmured as he got to work. "I hope Huiliang got everything I needed." He had asked his father's messenger goose to go down to the valley and pick up supplies. There wasn't much on his list, but he did ask for a lot of streamers. To his relief he was happy to see that the goose did indeed go shopping for him. Hidden in a cabinet, behind a bunch of vegetables, were Tai Lung's party supplies. Streamers, candles, party poppers and four birthday hats, all tucked nicely in a large sack. The party hats were for him, his father, Oogway and Huiliang. The cub would have liked to invite more people, but those were really the only people he knew well enough.
Soon the cub got to decorate the kitchen with the streamers, in two different colors. Red and brown, since those seemed to be Shifu's favorite colors. Or close enough to what his favorite colors might be, he did ask once, but got no answer. He was surprised that they even had brown streamers; it was such a dowdy color he thought.
"Looking good!" Huiliang exclaimed as he entered the kitchen.
"Huiliang!" Tai Lung jumped excitedly as he saw what the goose was carrying. "You got the cake!"
"Of course, what is a birthday without a cake?" The goose placed the item on the table. "I would have been here sooner to help you decorate, but it's hard avoiding Shifu. Luckily Oogway's got him busy." The goose double checked the cake to make sure it was still in good shape. It was a small cake, but it was big enough to feed four people. It was coated delicately in a sweet frosting and adorned with strawberries on top.
"It looks so good…" Tai Lung said almost mesmerized by the sweet dessert.
"Control yourself Tai, that is for later." Huiliang scolded as he smacked the cubs approaching paw away. "You don't want to present it to your father with a huge chunk of it missing do you?"
"Heh, no you're right." Tai Lung responded sheepishly. "It just looks so yummy, I couldn't help it."
"No harm done, but keep those paws away from this cake." Huiliang smiled, even though his own eyes seemed to be glued to the cake as well. Tai Lung giggled and shook his finger in front of the goose. "And you're telling me not to take a bite. You look like you want to dive into it face first." The cub giggled as the goose just blushed and scoffed lightly.
"Ahem, well let's finish up decorating shall we?" Huiliang said as he grabbed a roll of streamer. "It will be dinner time before you know it." Tai Lung agreed and got back to work. He couldn't wait for tonight, it was going to be his first real party. All of Shifu's previous birthdays were normal days, with the exception of the cub giving him some homemade present and a happy birthday. Even Tai Lung's birthdays weren't celebrated like this, not that they weren't special. Shifu usually took him out to do some fun activity; his previous birthday activity was fishing. It was more fun to swim and splash about in the river, as opposed to catching fish, from what the cub could remember. This one was going to be special though, and lots of fun.
The two conversed as they continued to get things ready. Soon enough all the streamers were up, the candles were lit and the poppers were set on the table. The kitchen was transformed into a heavily decorated party area.
"You don't think we got a little too carried away do you?" Huiliang whispered as he stared at the decorations.
Tai Lung just smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I think it looks really festive."
"Well it is a celebratory occasion, so I guess it's just right." The goose exhaled and clapped his feathers together. "The cook should be here momentarily to prepare dinner. I'll put the cake away to keep it safe."
Tai Lung nodded and stretched out. His sore muscles from his work out this morning were catching up with him. "The cook will have enough space to do what he needs to do right?"
Huiliang looked around the room once more. "Hmm…well he'll just need to be extra careful today. It's for Shifu so there shouldn't be any complaints. At least not tonight…heheh."
The two laughed as they got settled, but soon were on their feet again as they heard someone running toward the kitchen. "Who's coming?" Tai Lung whispered worriedly. "I am not sure." Huiliang replied just as nervous.
"Tai Lung!" A panting pig called out. "Tai Lung, Master Oogway told me to tell you Shifu is on his way here."
"What? But dinner isn't going to be ready for a little while longer; I thought Oogway was going to keep him busy?" Tai Lung fidgeted at the news.
"Master Oogway says Shifu was quite upset when he didn't find you in the outdoor training grounds. So he's been looking for you for the last couple of minutes."
"Didn't you tell Master Oogway that you were skipping training today?" Huiliang was trying not to panic. "No…it totally skipped my mind. There was no way he would have known not to let Master Shifu look for me there." Tai Lung smacked his forehead.
"But it's ok! We can just surprise him now, and he'll forget being upset. Everything is ready anyway, except for dinner, but nothing wrong with starting early."
"Yes, that is a good idea." Huiliang replied as he took a seat. Shifu always made him nervous when he was in a bad mood.
The pig wasn't about to stick around just in case so he hastily made an exit. Tai Lung did his best to relax, he was sure everything was going to be ok. He even managed to smile as his excitement began to build again. He stood firm and stared in anticipation at the door, looking like he was ready to pounce the first person who walked in.
"Don't forget to yell, Surprise, even if he looks really angry." Tai Lung whispered with much more joy than the goose could muster.
"Yes…of course…" Huiliang just didn't want to get yelled at.
As the two awaited Shifu's inevitable arrival the candles burned brightly on the table and counters. Its captivating flicker and glow seemed to attract the streamers like ants to sugar. Or perhaps it was just that the adhesive used to stick the paper chain to the wall loosened. You would think that someone would have invented non-flammable streamers by now, but unfortunately no one has. As the adhesive finally gave out, the paper decoration floated down gracefully. Even as it touched the flame the rest of it came down just as effortlessly.
The streamers lit up like a fuse, the fire eating up the thin paper like a hungry beast. Huiliang was the first to notice as his nose caught a whiff of smoke. As he turned to look he saw that a good portion of the party decorations was on fire. His beak opened for a silent shout and he struggled to call out any warning.
"Fff…ff…Fire!" He blurted out as he jumped up to try and put it out.
"Wh…what?" Tai Lung asked softly, turning slowly to see if what he heard was as bad as it sounded. To his dismay and shock, it was. Huiliang was frantically trying to put out the flames by smothering them.
"No!" Tai Lung cried out as he grabbed onto his ears. There was no time for pouting though; he had to help the goose extinguish the flames before it got really bad. The last thing he wanted to do was burn down the entire palace. Tai Lung was soon stomping out flaming paper and splashing water on various areas. Even though the fire itself wasn't life threatening, yet, it sure looked that way to the two. With enough effort on both parts they finally managed to put it out. The smell of smoke and burnt paper filled the room while black ashes floated around peacefully as if nothing happened. Tai Lung and Huiliang just looked at each other silently, not knowing what to do now.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Shifu yelled from the kitchen door. Master Oogway was next to him, but unlike Shifu's infuriated scowl the tortoise looked bewildered. Tai Lung and Huiliang's gaze shot to the door and both winced as they looked upon Shifu's anger.
"Inventive…I've never seen decorating like this." Master Oogway spoke as he scratched his head.
Tai Lung looked around sheepishly and tossed up some burnt streamer from his paws.
"Happy Birthday, Baba…"