Author's Note: It's so dark. I'm so tired. To lazy to write this... THANKYOU AND ENJOY...
ZZZ...
"So how exactly did you meet those kids?"
Tai Lung groaned. It had been only two days since that night the panda found him in the valley of peace, and already Oogway's Dragon Warrior was engaging him in annoying chatter like a gossiping housewife.
Tai Lung tiredly rubbed his face. He should have known the panda was up to something when he abruptly awoken them and a bit too cheerfully invited them for breakfast. Now here he was, sitting across said panda over a bowl of soup. While the panda sure was taking this opportunity to drill him with questions, Xue and Fang were in the kitchen, probably stealing spoonfuls from Mr. Ping's soup. Tai Lung scowled as he shoved the soup filled spoon into his mouth, ignoring the panda across him.
When Tai Lung didn't respond, Po pouted. "Well?" Tai Lung growled. This panda was not going to leave him alone, was he?
Sighing in defeat, the ex-convict tried to get more comfortable in the small chair he was in. Looking at the soup before him, occasionally taking a sip, he contemplated how to start. He looked up at Po, who looked back expectantly.
"We had something in common, call it what you may. Scars, dejection, privation, perhaps even solitude, that's up to you." Po tilted his head wonderingly. Tai Lung took a deep breath and began.
Flashback.
Black. That was all Tai Lung could see. A seemingly endless world of darkness surrounded him. Soon, though, he started to hear a sound. It seemed to come from distance, the sound of water crashing unto a surface. It gave the impression of coming closer more and more, and with it, a light followed, enveloping him.
Tai Lung slowly opened his eyes. He looked around blinking, trying to clear his eye-sight. He was laying on a bank surrounded by greenery. Next to him, a waterfall thundered down, before peacefully turning into a placid river that flowed near beside him.
He groaned in pain as he tried to sit up. Every bit of his body hurt. For a while he couldn't think, not knowing where he was or what was happening. Suddenly everything came back to him. From when he broke free from his hellish prison to being humiliated by the flabby panda.
Tai Lung growled as he grabbed his throbbing head. He remembered that panda, that false warrior. He had used the Wushi finger hold on him, hadn't he? Then what happened to him? 'Where am I?'
Tai Lung slowly stood up, clutching his right arm as pain shot up through it. Growling in pain, he looked around at where he was. He was in a small clearing in some sort of forest. It all seemed familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. He couldn't understand it however, how was he still alive? Looking around, there was no evidence of anyone else being here before. No tracks or scent, which meant he wasn't dragged here. Tai Lung glared up at the sky, as though a certain deceased master would be there, watching. "So, Master Oogway. Your chosen one was not able to finish me in the end, could he? Ha!" Subsequently Tai Lung soon realized that the arm he was clutching was the one the panda had held in what had had been his last moments. Tai Lung couldn't help but growl even more. 'I am going to kill that panda.'
The snow leopard looked down at himself and hissed. His body was covered entirely in deep cuts and wounds. Swaying a bit as he tried to move his legs, the ex-convict staggered towards the river.
After washing his wounds, Tai Lung started looking for any other signs of civilization. He had found a path that lead out of the small clearing. Before long, he came across a small farmhouse, its residents nowhere to be seen. Washing lines were set up beside it, with numerous garments draping over them.
Tai Lung was about to pass through when he noticed a particular cloak hanging on of the washing lines. It was plain. Simply coloured a dark blue. After a moment's hesitation, he made his way towards it and plucked it from the line.
Tai Lung understood that whether people believed him dead or not, he needed to keep out of sight and away from attention. …Until he killed that panda of course.
The inky cloak served his purpose well. The hood hid his face, and the large garment covered his large figure. Now, to figure out where he was and acquire information about what happened to him.
Tai Lung kept following the path hoping that it would lead him somewhere, anywhere. So far there had been no other signs of life around. Tai Lung was starting to debate whether he really was alive or was dead and in the spirit realm. He would not be surprised if was the latter. Tai Lung surveyed his surroundings. He couldn't but feel… at home, which confused him greatly mind you.
Before long, he started to hear distant voices as he came to a crossroad. He looked to his right to see a group of people, consisting of pigs and geese, moving towards his direction. They could not have known who he was already, so he stood his ground.
When they finally got close to him, the pig in the front, who Tai Lung assumed to be the one leading the company, stopped and waved at him.
"Why, hello. You must be new around here. Never seen someone like you about before." Tai Lung hesitated for a moment before inclining his head in response. The pig grinned back. "Well, good meeting you, stranger. You know, if you're new, we're heading towards the nearby village to deliver some supplies. Perhaps you would like to join us for the trip?" After a moment of thought, Tai Lung nodded his head in agreement. Might as well travel with them for a while until he could figure out where he was.
Most of the company tried to make conversation by asking questions about the weather or etc., but Tai Lung would always answer in short worded sentences, never talking much.
After some time they finally reached the village, and as Tai Lung squinted to get better look at it, recognition started to hit him.
Once they entered the village, Tai Lung finally remembered why the surroundings had been so proverbial. This was the Valley of Change. He had come with Shifu here as a young cub to receive training from the master here, many years ago.
Tai Lung cringed at the memory. 'Well look how that has turned out.'
"Hey." Tai Lung snapped out of his darkening thoughts to look at the pig leader. "I suppose this is where we part ways now. So long stranger! Don't get too lost, okay!" The pig laughed as he and company moved off elsewhere. Tai Lung harrumphed before turning and making his way across the village. Whilst he inspected the village, he noticed how much had altered. Years ago, this was a thriving village, popular for their fresh water and vegetation, its inhabitants that were a joyous people. Now, as Tai Lung looked at the majority of villagers wearing beggar clothes and the stench in the air, that no longer seemed to be the case.
As Tai Lung approached the middle of the village, he bent his head in pity. Where a clear, beautiful fountain once flowed, a grimy, dirty pool lay. So much truly have changed, haven't it? Ironic to the valley's name, but why?
Tai Lung turned his head to find a beggar sitting against a wall nearby. "Forgive me," The beggar, a jackal, turned towards Tai Lung tiredly.
"What happened to this place? Where is the master of this valley?"
The jackal laughed coldly before replying. "Don't you know? That 'oh so mighty' Master Boa has all but abandoned this village." Tai Lung narrowed his eyes as he stood before the jackal before asking, "What do you mean?"
The jackal looked up at the cloaked figure before going on. "This used to a prosperous village, Master Boa helped this village grow into a beautiful valley. Heck, she practically created the Valley of Change. Under her care and wisdom, we flourished." The jackal stopped for a moment before going on. "But then, one day, about 4 years from now, around the same time Tai Lung was killed, she disappeared." Tai Lung held back a snarl. He was presumed dead for 4 years? And he has finally just known about it now? 'Whathappened to me? A coma?'
Tai Lung snapped out of his reverie to look back down at the jackal. But Master Boa? Gone? "What happened to her?"
The jackal shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. "No one knows. One day she was up there in her monastery, the next, gone." The jackal took up a more saddened expression before it hardened again. "No one knew why she left, or even what happened to her, but ever since the wench disappeared we've been invaded by bandits ever since. Our waters have turned to filth, crops to dung, this valley is nothing now."
The jackal coughed sickly. "Whatever we had left to go on with are taken by bandits time and time again. I hope that wench of a snake never shows her face here again. Ha, unless she's rotting somewhere more suitable for her right now. Serves the who-"
The beggar yelped as he was suddenly tugged upwards by the front collar of his shirt. Tai Lung glared intensely at the jackal as he held him up with one paw, clutching his collar tightly in his fist. "If I ever…" Tai Lung growled threateningly, the jackal whimpering in fear. "Hear you refer to Master Boa again as some… filth," Tai Lung looked straight at the jackal, his voice a low growl. "I'll make sure to put you out of your misery… understand?" The jackal gulped before bobbing his head up and down. "Good." Tai Lung let the beggar fall back down to the ground.
Tai Lung turned around to leave to see he had attracted a number of attention. Ignoring them, the snow leopard moved elsewhere.
As Tai Lung's feet moved to a familiar location, his mind wandered back when he had first arrived here.
"Now, Tai Lung. This is Master Boa. One of the strongest masters in China. Say your greetings," instructed Shifu as the small cub by his side hesitated to come out from behind him. They had arrive in the Valley of Change so that he may receive some training from the master here. Tai Lung and Master Shifu stood in front of the master's residence, the said master before them.
Tai Lung peeked out from behind Shifu, clearly intimidated by the large snake in front of him.
Master Boa was the biggest snake- animal he had ever seen. She had to be about 40 feet long, with a brown large body that was wider than… than Oogway's shell!
When Shifu received no response from the cub, he nudged Tai Lung forward. As Tai Lung came face to face with the large snake, he immediately froze with fear. He couldn't move his legs or his arms. Master Boa, sensing the cub's predicament, chuckled. Tai Lung whimpered.
He was paralyzed with fear.
"Well, what have we here?" Master Boa leaned down towards the cub. For a moment the boy flinched, thinking he was going to be eaten. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes. Master Boa simply smiled warmly at him, amusement twinkling in her eyes. "Oh, are you well, dear? I know I'm scary, but you'll get used to me. I am to be your new teacher after all, hmm." The boa smiled.
Tai Lung instantly relaxed. Something about the giant seemed to make him feel welcome. He found himself returning the snake's smile. Now that he was closer, Tai Lung noticed strange lighter brown patterns going down the snake's backside. What was odd though, was the fact that they seemed foreign, nothing similar to anything Chinese.
Master Boa smiled more at the cub's change in perception. "I am Master Boa, protector of this Valley, and you must be?" Tai Lung perked up and struggled for words for the nice snake lady. "Well, I, um… am,"
An 'ahem' from Shifu knocked the cub back into his senses, to master Boa's amusement. "Um, Tai Lung, ma'am. My name is Tai Lung." Tai Lung bowed in respect to the larger master.
Master Boa smiled warmly and nodded her large head in return. "Greetings, Tai Lung. Today, you are my student."
…
Tai Lung stopped abruptly as he stared ahead. Where Master Boa's monastery usually stood on a hill just outside of the village, with its simple domed shape structure made simply of leaves and wood, now lay burnt ruins, ashes blackening the once green grass around it.
A passing villager saw the cloaked stranger's shock and thought she should explain. "The bandits brought that place down when they attacked. They took everything in it and even spoke against lady Boa, mocking her as a coward."
Tai Lung's paw tightened into a fist. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Where did they come from?" The sheep looked up at him with widened eyes. It seemed more of an order than a question, but was he really thinking of going after them? "They are a vicious band," she said stammering. "Other masters tried to fight them and failed, they show no mercy-"
"Where."
The sheep gulped. "They… they are a group of wolves, sir, called the Moon Clan." She pointed a hoof towards a path farther behind the broken monastery that lead into a forest. "They appeared from the Silent Forest, it will be difficult to track them down…" The sheep trailed off as the stranger was no longer by her side. She looked back to see that he had already started making his way into the forest. No preparations, no other questions, who was he?
Tai Lung stormed in long strides towards the forest, body tense with anger. Anyone to dare curse Master Boa… He glared ahead, eyes blazing intensely. Will not live another day.
THE END. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT. NO ONE KNOWS. LOL. Anyways if any of you are wondering what Master Boa looks like please follow this link here /d9yiicl NOW GIVE ME SEVEN REVIEWS FOR THE NEXT INSTALLATION! XD Lol. Sorry for the rushed notes, but thankyou to all for reviewing and faving. Happy days to you. ^^