I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter but my mind is slowly breaking appart by the thousands of ideas i am getting for this next chapter. The story is going to get very dark from now on so you better be ready to crawls into a safe corner where nothing can get to your sanity…

A Scratch At Your Sanity

Chapter 11

Childish laughter filled the Jade Palace courtyard. Jin and the Five cubs were playing with eachother. Crane, Monkey and Mantis were playing hide and seek with Tigress, while Viper and Jin were playing tag.

"Tag you're it!" Jin yelled playfully as he tapped Viper on the head and ran off.

"Come back here Jin!" Viper replied with as much joy in her voice as Jin.

The cubs were playing happily, passing the time. But in the Hall of Warriors, Master Shifu and Grandmaster Oogway were talking about a cub. A tiger cub in particular.

"Shifu I have had a vision… When the time comes she will be the only thing keeping him sane… He is fragile and i fear something bad will happen.

Heavy drops were falling from the heavens. Each of them leaving behing nothing but water. The sky had darkened by now and not even the slightest light penetrated through the thick forest.

The ground was hard…. Hard and wet. These were the only things his mind registered right now. He slowly managed to sit up, tears steadily flowing from his eyes. From the darkness in which he sat a soft green light appeared. A cold yet warm breeze blew over his crushed form, carrying distinctive petals in its course.

"What is troubling you young one?" The old turtle asked with softness in his voice.

"Why would she…" Jin asked in a depressed tone while looking up to the deceased master.

"Leave you?" The once soft voice was now dark and accompanied by a sinister laugh. Yes it was the lioness. She appeared behind them and was looking rather amused by the pain and suffering she had caused to the dragon.

"You have no business here!" Master Oogway stepped towards her in a threatening way.

"Oh really? He is mine now old man! You were right you know… he is fragile. And now there is no going back. Well there won't be after Shanxi kills the snake" The female lion now laughed maniacally and dissapeared in a flash.

"What…?" Jin asked weakly and looked into Oogways eyes hoping to find an answer.

"Jin… Viper did not leave on her own will… She was forced by that… that thing pretending to be a god." Oogway explained a hint of sadness and regret lingering in his voice.

"Jin… Shanxi has Viper prisoner…" As soon as those words left the old masters mouth, Jin was gone. Faster then lightning, his love and determination propelled him further towards the one place that seemed to be worse than hell. Hua Ru.

It seemed to him like the world was moving in slow motion. Every step he took an eerie feeling inside his stomach told him that he might be too late. That this was the one thing that he couldn't prevent.

'NO!' Jin thought to himself. 'I'm not losing you… Not again…' His mind went silent for a brief moment. *THUD!* His world turned black. The first thing he could see was… nothing. It was pitch black around him. Wait... there's something up ahead. Jin slowly took a few steps but then froze in his tracks. Fear now creeping its way into his bones. Despair, dread and fear. Those were the only things he felt each time he was dragged into his subconseous.

A few feet from where he was standing was a bridge of pure white light. All around it were dead corpses, rotting flesh and bones sticking from the ground. He wanted to run, wanted to get out, to escape from this hideous place.

"Why hello… Decided to visit me again have you?" A cold shiver went down Jins spine as this ragged demonic voice echoed all around him.

Jin was too frightened to reply. "Haha, the little tiger is still afraid… FACE IT TIGER CUB! You're a monster, a demon. Nobody loves you. They all look at you with unbound fear in their eyes. But you already know that don't you."

"Stop… please stop…" Was the only thing that the dragon managed to choke out.

"Why do you think your father kicked you out? Because he was mad at you? No. He threw you out because he saw the true you. He saw the killer, the blood red eyes, the fangs and claws that only a bloodthirsty demon could have. He saw the thing that killed his wife."

"You're lying!" Jin yelled to nowhere in particular as the voice seemed to come from all around him.

"What about that snake you fancy so much? Do you think she loves you? Oh no. She is terrified of you. Everytime she looks at you she only sees a monster. A killer. She sees the real you. That's why she left isn't it. Not because she cares about you. But because she wants you dead, just like the panda and tiger that you're traveling with. They all want you dead."

Jin was curled up on the ground by now his mind slowly being torn apart by the voice. The demon was succeeding. Soon there would be nothing of him left. Only the killer. The pure rage that dwells in his subconseous mind. The thing that came to this world when he was born.

"Jin wake up!" A familiar voice yelled at him as something blunt poked at his sides. He cracked one eye open and saw the young tiger looking at him with a funny expression.

"Tigress, leave me alone… it's too early for training" The young tiger groaned at her and turned around.

"You're no fun." She pouted and walked away, hoping that one of the rest of the five would be up for some training. And then the gong rang.

"Good morning Master." Was the simultaneous greeting that Tigress, Viper, Monkey, Mantis and Crane gave their Master that morning.

Shifu groaned and walked towards Jin's room.

"Jin wake up!" he said in the usual stern voice. A loud rustle and a resonating thud accompanied with some yelps of pain were heard coming from his room. When the door finally opened, the five were holding back laughter and Shifus' right eye was twitching in annoyance.

Before them stood the sleepy tiger. His fur was a mess, his vest was turned inside out, his pants were hanging loose and one of his sandals was missing.

"Good-" He tried to greet Master Shifu but was cut off by the grumpy red panda.

"Don't even think about it." Shifu stated. He then turned around and walked out of the barracks, eye still twitching in annoyance.

"What?" Jin asked the snickering five. When they left, only Viper stayed behind.

"Jin you're a mess." She said in a playfully obvious tone.

"So what's new? I'm always a mess in the morning" He said and kissed Viper on the cheek softly.

And then all froze. Time seemingly stopped at that moment and Jin was looking at himself through the eyes of someone… no something else. This memory was now like a photograph, still and grey. Unmoving and yet at the same time telling a 1000 words. That was until it all burned up. Like a piece of parchment lit on fire the memory slowly burned away. The once dark and terrifying world was gone. A splitting headache was taking it's toll as the green dragon slowly lifted his head. When he tried to move he found out that he was unable to do so. His arms and legs were chained with a cold chain. And the scent of his former subordinates wafted through the stale air.

He was being dragged by a few wolves. His body scraping over the ground leaving a bloody trail, from the wound he got when he was hit on the back of the head in the forest.

"Welcome home… General Jin…"

Jin growled ferociously at the sight of the traitorous mutt that walked before him. They slowly dragged the semi – conseus dragon through the forest towards the entrance to Hua Ru.