(A/N) - Welcome to the first chapter of Fallen Phoenix! I must make it clear that this is set BEFORE Kung Fu Panda 2 and will eventually ease into that timeline in future chapters. Please bear in mind that this is my first fanfiction and there may be occasional grammatical errors. I am not a native speaker of the English language thanks to living in Mongolia. - Alright, that's enough chit-chat. Let us begin!

Fallen Phoenix: Chapter 1 – Awakening

A brisk night enveloped a valley known as the Valley of Peace. This place was no stranger to unusual activity, especially regarding criminals and bandits. However, this night felt different for our Dragon Warrior.

It was 3am, the moon loomed above the Jade Palace and everything seemed well, until…

"Gah!" - A cursed dream had just woken up Po, he awoke to be drenched in sweat and was breathing at the speed of an exhausted hound. "The same dream… three nights in a row... Perhaps I should talk to Shifu about this. I know I shouldn't wake the Grandmaster at such an unwarranted time but if there's anyone with a remedy, it has to be Shifu!" Po sharply whispered to himself before exiting his room to attempt his most hated maneuver… stealth mode.

Po gently tip-toed down the corridor of the dormitory, praying internally to whatever higher being that he wouldn't wake the other warriors that were resting peacefully. He eventually ventured into the hall of heroes and made a beline for Shifu's room. Upon making it to his master's room, he was fairly baffled to see Shifu sitting up in his bed, almost as if the elder red panda was expecting the overweight warrior to arrive at any moment.

"Master Shifu- Oh, you're already awake, that's convenient!" Po stuttered as he acknowledged the wakefulness of his master.

"Ah, Po. It's a little unexpected for you to be up at such a late time but that doesn't bother me. Make sure you keep the noise down. It's very late and I don't wish to disturb the sleep of the other, Dragon Warrior." Shifu sharply whispered as Po sheepishly recoiled and lowered his voice. "Apologies Master, I've come to tell you about a… not-so-awesome dream I had."

Shifu raised an eyebrow at this, before responding with "Oh. So a nightmare… Can you remember anything about this particular nightmare, Po?"

"Awh man! Now I have to use my memory, another thing I have yet to fully master... Remembrance." The Panda audibly sighed before beginning his entry into his train of thought.

Shifu rather sharply changed his impression into one of curiosity as he observed the Dragon Warrior calmly and rather… slowly, begin to remember the events of his nightmare. His observation was quickly interrupted with a rather odd realisation. 'Hmm. I am aware Po has had nightmares before, he's even discussed it with the Five whilst serving up the day's breakfast, I wonder what makes this one so diffe-' Shifu was yet again interrupted by the pudgy panda, who rather enthusiastically exclaimed

"Oh, I have it! But I must warn you, it gets rather long, plus I've been having this nightmare...thingy for about 3 days now." 'Well, at least I got my answer.' - Shifu mentally deadpanned as his student began the process of explanation.

Flashback - Po's Nightmare

Po's nightmare began in an unknown location, the place he recalled was unlike any other he had visited before. He was unsure whether or not the concept of time even existed in this world, all he knows is he was placed there for a reason, that reason… was Fenghuang.

Fenghuang had been facing off against Po for what seemed like an age, desperately proving herself to some higher being, a wise tree that Po decided to nickname "Shuyong" for his own sake of remembrance. Fenghuang fought with ferocity, unwilling to back down to this panda that she was hellbent on tormenting. She used her talons of steel to scratch Po countless times, but Po didn't see the typical type of evil that Fenghuang was notorious for possessing… he saw sadness and a lack of hope within her eyes.

After Po had blocked numerous attacks, allowing himself to be scratched and absorb the damage, he decided now was the time to end this and performed his infamous Belly Gong technique on the unsuspecting avian. A booming voice began to echo as Fenghuang fell onto the ground, the Shuyong tree had a voice. "The winner of this showdown is Po, he will be permitted to return to the mortal realm… as for you, Fenghuang, you will be subject to oblivion, and you are destined to reach that location… immediately!"

Po noticed the owl's eyes light up with fear and sadness, as she knew that this was her consequence for losing, she had picked a fight that she was unable to win. Before the tree could even begin the process of sending her into oblivion, Po took it upon himself to speak up.

"Wait!" he shrieked. "What is it, young warrior? - You won, do you have any objections to your opponents punishment?" Shuyong responded with a hint of annoyance.

"Yes! - Why should you send someone into oblivion for merely losing a match, this makes no sense. Everybody is deserving of a second chance… including someone such as Fenghuang." This took the timeless tree by surprise, the tree mentally quivered at the thought of the Dragon Warrior, the very protector of China, wishing for him to spare such an evil villain.

"What sort of sick game is this, Panda?" Fenghuang spat, before continuing with "Why should you spare me? I've done nothing but commit horrible crimes, I dishonoured Oogway purposefully for my own self-interest, and now this is your chance to make me pay for my actions, so why are you so willing to spare my life?" Po gave a sharp look into Fenghuang's eyes, gently assessing the situation, he was mentally stressing whilst he crafted his answer.

He eventually found the correct words and began to verbally acknowledge Fenghuangs concerns. "Because I do not see as much evil within you compared to when we first met. This experience has taught you the basic principle of acknowledging your own faults, am I right?" Fenghuang was completely taken aback by this statement. 'Who knew such a pudgy and honestly dumb-looking panda could come up with such wisdom? Then again, he is the successor to the Great Master Oogway' she mentally barfed at her mind's last sentence.

Po decided to use the silence to his advantage, it was clear that the avian was impressed but couldn't find the words to respond, so he decided to continue with his speech.

"The only reason you abandoned your old family is because your own self-interest blinded you, the will to harness your power for your own good above others ate away at you, especially considering that Oogway… in your mind, stood in your own way. When you finally clashed with the Grandmaster, it symbolised that you were willing to use your own strength for your own type of good, and that was your big mistake. You put yourself above others, especially your family, although you were powerful, you looked down upon them instead of helping them reach your level. Your lack of a family ate away at you whilst you were on that mountain, you were too scared to return or apologise thanks to Oogway's presence in the Valley of Peace, your regrets turned into rage and an undying urge to redeem yourself, but the only thing you did was make your conditions worse."

Fenghuang visibly shed a tear at this, even Po was amazed that the great and 'evil' Fenghuang was capable of showing emotions, although he was undeterred to continue with his speech. "The only reason you've done all of this is because you wish to make up for the past, you're just lost as to how you're going to achieve that. I'm willing to spare your life, and give you a chance to begin something new, maybe not in the Valley of Peace, maybe not in the Northern Mountains, but I want you to experience a life in where you don't regret the actions you made a vast amount of time ago." Po paused to think about his next statement... he decided to plead to the suspecting avian.

"Please, Fenghuang, hear me out and take my paw so we can show the Shuyong that you are worthy of a second chance. I am very confident that you've yet to abandon your heart!" Fenghuang was yet again by the panda's tenacity and persistence when it comes to kindness, Po's last sentence and gesture getting to her the most. She had never known someone who was willing to put out their paw (or wing) for her, to show that they cared. No one had ever told her that she still had a heart, especially after all of the atrocities she had committed. This was all coming from a panda who she saw as an enemy, a foe she had yet to defeat, yet she wasn't about to blow that chance due to her own ego. She was hesitant at first, almost jumping into oblivion due to sheer shock and awe of the Panda, but she took Po's paw and stood up to the Shuyong.

"I think I have proven that your sentencing and treatment of Fenghuang is unfair, and that she's worthy of a shot at redemption, now all I need is for you to display as much hope as I do for Fenghuang." Shuyong put a lot of thought into Po's statement, although his thoughts were quickly overridden with anger towards the Panda. 'How dare he come here and attempt to dictate and change my rules? What sort of warrior would want to do such a thing? - I must sentence this criminal in order to keep our timeline safe… the panda must go to'

Po was impressed with the amount of time (or lack thereof) the tree took before responding, but his awe was swiftly replaced with a grand depression, for the tree spoke back with rage. "No. I don't think I will. In fact, you've proven to me that you're too dimwitted to respect the rules of the Shuyong. You first win a battle against a foe, and then withhold her rightful punishment? I will not be taking that. For your act of defiance, yourself AND Fenghuang will be sent to oblivion. Farewell."

The desolate atmosphere that surrounded the Shuyong was replaced with an ever-growing cloud of darkness as both Fenghuang and Po were shot into the void, screaming in pure unadulterated horror as both felt their very soul and body be ripped apart from them, eventually losing sight of each other.

End of flashback.

"And that..." Po paused with audible dread within his voice "was when I woke up." Shifu took a moment to fully comprehend what Po had told him before finally crafting a formidable response.

"Po. I am very proud of you for sharing this information with me, I believe I may have an answer to why you are experiencing these nightmares." "Master, what would that answer be?" The elder red panda cleared his throat and with it, began clearing the air for the Dragon Warrior too.

"What I believe you have experienced is not a set of nightmares, but a set of memories, memories that have been created from an alternate universe." - "Alternate Universe? WOAH-HO-HO!" Po excitedly shouted. "Panda, focus. I'm sure you've heard of the Shuyong before, from legend. With the involvement of Fenghuang, it makes me believe she was after something in your nightmare, the Shuyong seeds to be correct… I'm not one for altering the course of the universe, but I feel as if we must take precautionary steps" Shifu said as he began reaching below a cracked floorboard.

"This, Po, is the pouch that contains all of the Shuyong seeds, with your vision, it would also be the creator of extreme consequences." Shifu slammed Oogway's staff into the ground, which summoned a small ball of fire atop the staff, Shifu gently placed the Shuyong seeds onto the fire and watched as the seeds burned until the only trace of them left was the departing air.

"I mentioned Fenghuang… do you believe this non-evil side of her exists somewhere?" Po questioned. "It is unknown, although with your Hero's Chi, you are destined to see light within those with darkened souls that others cannot see. Your Chi is also somewhat responsible for these visions, for the person who possesses such high amounts of power can reach within accidentally and those visions can manifest themselves under strange circumstances… all I know now is we just tested fate and we should hope that the consequences aren't as severe as those seen in your dream." Po was shocked at his Master's explanation, he worryingly nodded whilst a saddened voice exited him. "I-I understand, Master Shifu."

"Panda, I can tell this has been weighing on your mind quite heavily as of late, I can tell with those bags under your eyes that this has disrupted your sleep… I will allow you to have the day off, although I ask of you to think further upon your vision, it doesn't have to be now or within the next hour, I just ask of you to do this sometime today." Shifu told the Panda, with a mild hint of concern being heard from within his voice.

"Yes Master… and thank you. Now I'm going to begin packing some supplies and visit my dad, it's been a while since I tasted his delicious noodles!" Po enthusiastically replied as he scurried out of the room. Shifu let out a rough chuckle as his student left the room. 'No matter how terrified that Panda may be, even of his own thoughts, anything involving food or his father will instantly lighten his mood. I just hope he can see the importance of the situation he's been placed in.'

Meanwhile, in the Northern Mountains...

Fenghuang was swinging her talons in a pure fit of rage, breaking any small pebble she could find within the grasp of her wing as she tried desperately to find any resolve for her recent dilemma. She had her sleep disturbed by the same nightmare, yet again. 'It always involves that stinking Panda… and that unforgiving tree!' she mentally shouted at herself. 'This isn't any regular nightmare, if it persists, it must be a vision. I hate how Oogway drilled that information into my head whilst I was under his training… I can't help but feel the Panda was right somewhere though. I felt empty, I felt lost, I tried to use my power to impress others but it ended up leading to me imploding, eventually trying to face Oogway before being locked up (then escaping) thanks to my actions.' She dove further down this rabbit hole she had opened up for herself mentally, before snapping. "Damnit, Fenghuang! You know better than this. You shouldn't be letting your nightmares get to you… even if they are visions." Her voice turning from a fiery rage to unresolved worry within two sentences.

'You know what. Tonight, I shall get my answer… It's not wise for me to go back to the Valley of Peace but I must confront the Panda. From what I know about the Hero's Chi, he could be the only one that could help me with my visions, or at the very least, he could relate to them.'

Day began to break in the Northern Mountains, Fenghuang acknowledging that a whole day must pass until she confronts the Panda, for she doesn't want to be caught in the daylight casually cruising through the Valley of Peace. "Another sunrise, another day in which I will wallow until sunset" Fenghuang melancholically said to herself.

A few hours later - Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop.

"Oh, Po! Can you hand me that bowl, we have many customers today and I don't want to be left out of business due to some uncleaned plates, do we?" Mr. Ping spoke to Po with a fair amount of cheer in his voice, which was quickly evaporated when he noticed that Po was in a deep train of thought.

"Son, is everything alright?" - "Yes Dad…" "Oh come on Son, I'm your father, you know I can pick up on bad attitude better than most of your friends, right?" Mr. Ping deadpanned.

"Alright, fine. I had a not-so-awesome dream last night, it's actually been happening for a few nights now, and I haven't been getting the best of sleep." (Cue Po retelling the story he told Shifu to his father)

"Son, I understand your concern, and if you need any help whenever you're not in that fancy palace that you sleep in, you know where to find me!" Mr. Ping took his son's words of sadness and responded with a positive attitude, which wasn't an unknown concept to the grey goose. "I'm glad you understand… Now here, we gotta make these noodles, I'm not going to let you give up your AWESOME business reputation because of my funny dream!"

Po and his father worked through the day, making double the income they usually would thanks to Po's help, speaking of Po, it turns out spending some quality time with his father… away from the palace, had a positive effect on his emotions! "One Dragon Warrior dumpling to-go, please!" - The last bunny dictated to Mr. Ping as he reached under the counter and grabbed an absolutely gigantic dumpling. "3 Yuan, please!" Mr. Ping barked. After being handed the Yuan, Mr. Ping and Po began the process of shutting down the shop for today, with darkness quickly approaching, Po hugged his father and said goodbye as he headed for the steps of the Jade Palace.

Meanwhile, inside of the Jade Palace.

"Where's the big guy? I'm getting hungry!" Mantis shouted whilst emphasising with his "claw-thingies" as his belly rumbled on cue, you wouldn't expect a little guy like Mantis to be that hungry huh?

"Oh come on Mantis, I'm sure the Dragon Warrior has a good reason to be gone, maybe he's gone to visit his father… I heard it's been a while!" Viper responded with a cheer.

"Wherever he is, his lack of presence is worrying" Crane nervously stated.

"Maybe he got his head stuck in between some bars and Master Shifu has to free him, which by the way, we haven't seen much of him today either!" Monkey chuckled at the idea of Po being stuck somewhere, before getting a slap behind the head from Tigress.

"Master Shifu is on a business trip, he will be back in no more than a few hours, as for Po, I overheard Shifu telling him he had the day off and Po was absolutely ecstatic as he had a chance to visit his father. I don't understand why Shifu would give him the day off without reason, although he has been working quite hard" Tigress blankly stated, although she earned some surprised looks from the rest of the Five.

"What? It's not okay to be concerned about my sparring partner?" She retaliated.

"More like crush." Monkey deadpanned, which earned a slap from Viper's tail and a slight growl from Tigress.

"I am NOT interested in Po- Hmm, why can I smell noodles?" Tigress said as she looked down and discovered the entire table had been covered with bowls of noodle soup, her bowl being placed above a note that Po left for her. She began to read the note to the rest of the five, not before slurping down some noodle soup, that is.

"Hello, all! Your bodaciously awesome Dragon Warrior speaking here! - Sorry if I've been gone for the majority of today, I awoke early thanks to Master Shifu, who gave me some totally awesome praise and then a well earned break. I've spent most of today working with and bonding with my father. I've made my trademark noodle soup for you all, don't burn your mouth again, Mantis! Anyways, if you need anything, you can find me at the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. Shifu has been telling me to meditate more and I decided now would be a great time to do so. I hope you enjoy your meals and I shall see you all in the morning. - Sincerely… no, I don't do that. - From Po." Tigress finished reading out the note as curiosity began to envelop her striped face.

"I wonder what's so important to him that he had to meditate, he doesn't take this seriously, even during training!" Tigress nonchalantly stated. "Maybe I should go and ask hi-" - She was interrupted by Master Shifu's entrance.

"I know you may share concerns about the Dragon Warrior's whereabouts, which you have completely justifiable reasons to do so. I ask of you to leave the Panda alone, at least for tonight. He's had quite a long day and he hasn't been sleeping the best recently. If you have any questions, please ask them before I head to my room." Shifu announced to the five.

The room fell silent, nobody was really willing to prod at the Dragon Warriors business, Mantis eventually spoke up, stating "Understood, Master. If we need to ask the big guy anything then we will ask tomorrow morning."

"That is acceptable, now please, finish your meals and head to your rooms, we're going to be sleeping early tonight as tomorrow will be an eventful day."

"Yes, Master Shifu!" The Five responded in sync.

'Po isn't sleeping properly? That's almost impossible. Even though this Panda can be one of my biggest problems at times, I also acknowledge that he's given me a lesson in friendship, and thus I must care for others. I-I just hope he's okay.' Tigress began to mentally stir, wishing to find an answer to the Panda's strange behaviour of today...

Meanwhile, At the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.

Po was peacefully meditating, thinking about his day with his father, and silently figuring out the meaning of his previous nightmares, although he chose to not focus all of his energy on such a thing, for it would ruin the point of meditating.

Almost on cue as to when he thought of Fenghuang's potential light side, his ears could pick up on a distant flapping. 'Perhaps Crane has come to check on me, that nervous avian always likes to talk me through any problems' Po thought.

The Black and White Panda could pick up on something landing behind him, assuming Crane had landed, he spoke up, still with his eyes closed and remaining in Lotus position. "Hey Crane, it's very generous of you to check up on me."

"I see your innocent intentions haven't changed one bit, Panda" Fenghuang bellowed from behind him. She expected the Panda to flinch, to assume a defending position, but he did… nothing.

"Panda? Aren't you going to… fight me, or something, considering I'm so evil and honourless?" she continued.

"Why would I do that when it's clear you haven't come to attack me. I'm meditating because I seek answers, if anything, I encourage you to join me… wouldn't that be awesome?!" Although a little confused to Fenghuangs appearance, Po chose to calmly interact with Fenghuang, as he had a slight suspicion as to why she had arrived at such a late time.

"Dragon Warrior! What sort of game do you think you're playing? You should be defending yourself, I could kill you at any moment!" Fenghuang rather angrily stated.

Po took in Fenghuangs words, still eyes closed and facing away from her… his mind went back to his nightmare, and how he gave Fenghuang a second chance. 'If she's back for no reason, then she must be experiencing something similar to what I'm going through, if so, I could potentially help her a lot sooner than I planned.' he mentally pondered before eventually giving the impatient avian her desired response.

"If you were here to kill me, you would've done it long ago. I'm sure you seek the same answers to the questions that I myself am asking... Now please take a seat. I know it's unconventional for the Dragon Warrior to speak to 'villains' such as yourself, but we must talk."

To be continued…

I hope you guys enjoyed the first Chapter of Fallen Phoenix! Apologies if I made any mistakes, this is my first time writing a fanfiction and I'm quite excited about it!

Future chapters will most likely be of the same length or slightly longer, I personally think it's easier to manage longer chapters so I can keep my story consistent. I also plan on updating this fanfic somewhat weekly, although I'm not making any formidable promises.

Also yes I acknowledge how evil I am by ending on a cliffhanger... MUAHAHAHA!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! - Dashishen