AN: It's a hot, humid summer in Canada and I am sticky and sweaty... and I want an iceberg in my big house. Air conditioners and fans are not sufficient enough to slaughter the heat. Recently learned that there's an ongoing draught spreading throughout North America; not too surprised by it either.
At least, I am on a great summer holiday where I go do something fun everyday. :3 Trying to stay cool and happy.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Tai Lung kept his eyes closed and his body as relaxed as possible while enhancing his ability extract and contract all of his muscles. It wasn't necessarily possible for him to move his body, but he continued to practice the art of meditation and his breathing exercises in order to maintain his muscle strength and size. Every once in a while, he would nearly interrupt his steady breathing patterns as the needles inside the tortoise shell would pinch and nab at his nerves. It was excruciating, but after inhaling deeper breaths, the pain would ebb away very slowly. In a way, the tortoise shell was an effective tool which was painfully regulated his respiratory rate.
Nevertheless, the snow leopard maintained his composure as he tried to find and maintain some significant amount of inner peace. His long tail and his black ears flickered in great agitation as he felt another scorching pain shooting down his back. Tai Lung exhaled deeply again and attempted to soothe the aching pain.
Empty my mind. Relax my body. Focus on my breathing. Relax and let go of everything. Inner peace.
His broad, muscular shoulders which were tense became more relaxed while his white coated chest rose and fell evenly, and his rich, gold eyes glowed dimly in the darkness. Meanwhile, all of the other guards slowly succumbed to their needed sleep and their dull snoring was the only sound in the dark prison.
In his relaxed state, Tai Lung allowed his thoughts to drift much like the river in the bamboo forest near the Jade Palace. He was a man, considered as one of the most notorious fugitive, but he was still was the top kung fu master- no. The Dragon Warrior. It meant he couldn't afford to lose his body weight and grow weak within the cell. Additionally, Tai Lung was aware of the fact that he was one of the best Kung Fu Master, inarguably the youngest one in the nation, but despite of his youthful age, he had his handful of loyal, talented, well-selected pupils.
He almost laughed as he recalled how he once hated the idea of having disciples and being responsible for them. He considered the idea of stepping-up to the role of being someone's Master. The task was far too much of a drag to do as he wished to train his techniques to perfection. Yet he found himself his first student in the most unexpected way.
It was a cloudy day which was no shock considering the fact that dark, grey clouds plagued the Valley of Peace for the last few weeks. However, not a single speck of rain was to be seen. Nevertheless, Tai Lung continued to do complete sets of hanging sit-ups from the roof of the Jade Palace and droplets of sweat dripped down his face.
He stopped midway as the door opened and Tigress walked out of the building. To his surprise, she looked up at him and he smiled a crooked grin as she said, "Master Oogway and Master Shifu are going to get mad at you for climbing the Jade Palace and exercising on the roof again..."
Tai Lung chuckled mildly because he knew that she was correct. They disliked it when he used his claws to climb up onto the top of the palace, but in his defence, it was a great area to train. Maybe it was due to his instinctive need to be on top where he had a good look on everything- figuaratively and literally. The sense of great height always provided him a good sense of peace and made him feel very safe.
Then he cocked his head as the sun light hit Tigress's fur. Even if she was scolding him, she looked very pretty... Tai Lung had been noticing how she's been changing after the few years she had lived with him and his father. Her fur had always been a beautiful coat of orange and black, but now her black stripes were thickening and becoming more vivid. Meanwhile her orange fur darkened slightly and her white areas became more pronounced. Then there were her beautiful eyes, which glowed much brighter. He liked everything about her transformation... except her new height ; now she could reach his chin with the tip of her ears.
Just then, one of the workers- a young goose who cleaned the Jade Palace whose name was Xiao Li (although Tai Lung personally called: Xiao Fen- little turd), gawked at Tigress while sweeping the entrance. The leopard growled darkly as the servant continued to stare at Tigress and bared his teeth. That was another thing he was starting to hate, other guys were noticing her changes too and their perverted glances really made him want to knock them out... but as a Kung Fu Master, there was no way that he could fulfill his wishes.
Instead of throwing the goose down the long flight of stairs, he leapt down the roof and shrugged at Tigress's response. Tai Lung asked, "So what are you up to?"
Tigress answered, "Oh, Master Oogway and Master Shifu asked me to go buy them some of their favourite teas and some sweets to go with them."
He shot a sharp glare at Xiao Li which made the bird waddle away quickly and remarked, "You're going alone?"
She confidently stated, "Of course, I am twelve years old now. I can go to the market place by now."
Tai Lung knew it was logically safe for her to go to the village market on her own, but considering the fact that there were other teenage boys, he really didn't want her to go alone. It just made him feel... he didn't know what- perhaps he was simply bothered. He didn't really want to focus on the reasoning, otherwise he would be getting a horrible headache.
He stretched his sore muscles and said, "Well I have spare time, maybe I can go to the market with you."
Tigress arched her brows and looked at him as if he was challenging her independency. She retorted, "You hate shopping..."
The male leopard cringed and replied, "That's not..." He stopped breathing as the tigress before him looked at him knowingly and he continued, "Untrue. I do hate shopping. It's overcrowded, noisy, and often stinky."
Tigress cocked her head and peered into his golden eyes with a very coy grin smeared on her face. Then she asked, "Then why do you want to go to the mall?"
Tai Lung sighed and looked at the sky, waiting for an answer from the heavens. His father had always told him that he was destined to be the Dragon Warrior and his father once told him that the universe would guide the warrior to the righteous path. So he was hoping the universe could send him the correct answer to her question.
He slowly replied, "I am a guy... and um... I am strong. And on top of it, I also happen to be a Kung Fu Master. So I am supposed to be very helpful and benevolent. So I could come along and help you carry things."
Satisfied by his own reasoning, he smiled smugly and crossed his arms. Tigress looked as if she could start bursting into laughter as she said, "I am only going out to buy some tea and sweets. It's not so heavy that I need your help Tai."
Tai Lung smiled crookedly while he realized that his answer was greatly flawed. He still wanted to go with her, but then his father, Master Shifu, came out to the spot where they were chatting and stoically said, "You aren't going anywhere, Tai Lung. You have your competition to train for. It's only one day away."
The snow leopard's smile turned into a thin, black line and he grew silent and straightened his back. Master Shifu stared at Tigress and said, "Tigress, you should be on your way. You wouldn't want to keep Master Oogway waiting too long."
She replied, "Of course, Master Shifu."
Next his father turned on him and ordered, "And you need to train."
Tai Lung watched Tigress step down towards the market and turned to his father to argue, "I've been training for the last two months for this competition and it won't be a problem. I always come out first anyway. This one won't be different."
A quick strong blow was defended by Tai Lung's muscular arm as Master Shifu tried to strike him. Then the small, but fierce red panda used the leopard's arm which shielded him a moment ago and twisted it to his advantage. The bigger warrior reacted quickly and flipped back onto his four paws, then also landed a punch against his opponent.
Master Shifu quickly stopped his attack and returned to his natural state as he spoke, "That's why this year, you will be competing with the adults. Master Oogway and I were able to bend the competition's rules because you became a Kung Fu Master in your own right. You will be the youngest competitor and the adults will not be pleased to see you. Most of them will offended to have a child compete with them. They will use any means to destroy you tomorrow- even by breaking the rules. Not every Kung Fu Master is honourable or righteous in this world. So until this competition is over, you will not rest or play around."
Tai Lung glared at his father and growled, "And I won't go easy on them either and I will make them regret underestimate me. For I am the destined Dragon Warrior and I will have no one stop my path."
His father smiled proudly at that bold comment and said, "Indeed. You will place first this year as well. I know you will. But still you cannot neglect your training."
Therefore, Tai Lung continued to train in the humid temperature. He continued to exercise and tone his well developed muscles by completing his 20 kilometer run. Once he returned back to the Jade Palace, he walked towards his favourite training equipment, the iron wood trees, but he instinctively growled darkly as he smelled an unknown scent- an intruder. Someone had dared to trespass into his training area.
Then he noticed a white parchment paper which was folded neatly and pressed onto the ground with a medium sized rock. He frowned as he removed the rock and read the content of the message. The fur around his neck rose and his golden eyes widened in horror. Tai Lung crumpled the note and raced into the palace while shouting, "Tigress! Tigress!"
To his wild screams, Master Oogway and Master Shifu rushed into the corridor where the panicked warrior slammed opened every doors. His father cried, "What's wrong, Tai Lung?"
The teen furiously tossed the piece of paper towards him and Tai Lung growled, "You haven't seen her since she went to the market, did you?"
Master Oogway calmly replied, "No, we haven't."
Tai Lung growled, "I am going to find her."
Master Shifu loudly shouted and his voice rang across the empty hallway, "No, you will not. You have your battles tomorrow. So you will stay and rest while Master Oogway and I go to find Tigress."
The leopard ground his sharp teeth and said, "Fine."
He angrily slammed the door behind him as he went to go punch his training equipment. He roared his bubbling frustrations while pummeling the wooden crocodiles and shattering them easily in the process. He huffed in short breaths and kicked the shard of wood into the bush. Normally, he was rational, confident, but that note was making him want to break everything and abandon everything in order to go find his friend.
His breathing kept increasing and he could not stand still. He scratched the back of his ear and looked around, feeling furious. This was probably the first time he truly felt that he had no idea what to do. It made his skin crawl and it wasn't a sensation which he could stand.
Master Shifu calmly walked out onto the field where his son was fuming. He understood why this was agitating the teenager so much. The Kung Fu Master was aware how often he pushed Tai Lung when it came to the boy's training. He also knew that his own master disapproved the way he taught his son.
Perhaps it was wrong of him. But he saw so much potential in his son and he knew that Tai Lung could go far and break past countless limitations. As his teacher, no, as his father, his only desire was to see his son stand at the top. Because he knew that his son could be the Dragon Warrior.
The red-panda sighed as he watched the snow leopard angrily beat down the innocent piece of equipment. That boy had quite the temper and he would need to learn how to reel it back in. He knew that his son would be outside fuming because of the note. It had told Tai Lung that 'they', whoever they could be, had snatched Tigress and they were keeping her as a hostage. They were demanding the young talented kung fu master to step away from the match. They found the boy to be an unworthy opponent and if they were to fight the lad, they would look like a joke. Thus, their final request was for him to come and remain imprisoned until the end of the tournament.
Shifu could imagine how much those words could wound Tai Lung's pride and then the fools had the guts or sheer stupidity to take the boy's closest friend. However, that letter did not only dent his son's pride, but also his. His son was a genius and had every right to challenge any other kung fu masters. Maybe that was the true underlying reason why he didn't want Tai Lung to accept their conditions.
He had boldly declared that he would go find Tigress for his son... but that was much more easy to say than do. Perhaps it would be best if he went to investigate the village and gather information. And so he stared at his son one more time before descending down the long flight of stairs.
Then before Master Shifu knew it, the blazing sun had disappeared and he hated to admit how disappointed he was with himself. But he was even more disappointed and horrified when he arrived home. There was no sign of his son.
He could have never imagine, but far away from the temple, a large snow leopard was stealthily leaping across tiled roofs and cutting through the night skies like a flash of lightening.
Damn, I wrote this in summer and I finally sat down and finished the last bits. Thanks for being patient with me. You guys are awesome! Please leave a review so I am reminded more often to post (o_o)/... Cheers everyone and Happy Halloween!