"Into each life some rain must fall."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Kung Fu Panda

The Long Night

Chapter XIII: Fall of the Dragon

"Po…Po?...Po where are you?" dad moans.

"I am here dad. Like always." I say. I am still worried.

"Po, can you cook me my soup…with the special ingredient…" he says before chuckling about the joke only he and I know, before coughing right after it. For days his health had not got better.

"I can't. You know what the doctors said…"

"Rubbish! A good noodle soup have never harmed me….cook me one." he coughs again.

I sigh. "I still can't. We have no ingredients left here in the palace."

"Then go buy them."

"I can't." Third time. "Have you forgotten, that I need to protect the Palace….I will send Zeng or one of them…"

"NO!" he yells and coughs after it, "You are the cook. Only you can judge the quality of the ingredients and not a footboy." He became quite direct since this disease started.

"Dad, here in the palace are also cooks, so…"

"No, I said!"

He coughs again and I sigh. Further discussion will worsen his health even more…better I go.

"Okay, I go, but don't you dare leave this bed. Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah…" he mutters.

I leave my room in the Hall of Students and go around in the building. I can see the still snow white outside via an opened window, which I close right away. My Snow Panda has gotten quite hard thanks to the cold and looks like a Statue. I dress in my scarf and leave the building ultimately. Outside I encounter Zeng.

"Master Po, where are you going?"

"To the village. Need to buy ingredients for a soup." I say more cheerful than I am.

"But…that one of the cooks could do…and you need to protect the Palace…"

"I know, I know….will not last long, I promise. Till then you and the others can protect the Palace or not?"

"Eh….maybe…" he stammers.

"Fine! Then see you later." I say and let him behind gawking….I don't feel good to do this, but I have no choice. Since Tigress and the others left I….Darn! I am still not able to forget this. Especially after she began to wear the necklace it became impossible….Darn again!

I reach the stairs down and see the snowy valley in front of me. It would be better when I think about the fact that I need to protect them…all alone now….feel not better….but it is still better than to think about my confession! Darn! I am doing it again.

I don't know how much time passed already, but I feel like quite a while passed since the Furious Five left this place…they heard that Adum and his army – formerly Tian Yi's army – are marauding deep in the south, attack villages, monasteries and local Kung Fu Masters…everywhere they yell that the Warriors of Jade Palace should come….till then they will not stop. Tigress and the others left then, but I needed to stay behind for protection of the Jade Palace…when will Shifu come back, I ask…

….And the Five...especially Tigress…argh! I am doing it again…after my confession she behaved like nothing had happened…but I can't do the same. The hole in my heart is too big…I can't forget it…

I reach one of the shops and begin to buy the needed ingredients.

"I am happy to see you, Po. It has been a while." the garlic merchant Mr. Sado, a sheep, says.

"Yeah…you have travelled to the south isn't that the case?" I respond, while he shows me his garlic – good ones like always. Maybe Mr. Sado has some news from the South.

"Yeah, and there I have heard several bad things: Bandits attacking villages and cities, Imperial Soldiers deserting and going on a rampage, Missing Tigers, Great Hunger and Fear….", what has he said there? "…and I heard you dad is ill. How is he?"

"He is healthier than weeks ago." I reply confidently…although I don't feel like this. The doctors don't know what caused this disease. He collapsed right on the day of my confession after drinking a bit of his soup….another reason why I can't forget this day. The doctors couldn't inspect the bowl itself anymore, because dad had crushed it while collapsing. Only very few drops of the soup remained and they try to check them: they have found nothing odd…a riddle they can't solve…they don't know how to help him, but at least he seems to get really better. When all this started he couldn't even speak.

"I see…I wish that he gets healthy once again." Mr. Sado says smiling. I nod smiling back and remember what he said. Most of it I have heard already, but the one in the middle not.

"You said something about 'missing tigers'?", I remind him sounding more curious than I've expected.

"Yeah, that is a riddle down in the south, where it is happening more often than everywhere else. Tigers, even whole villages of them, get missing."

"Does someone know what is going on?"

"No, there lies the problem. No one has a clue."

When it is happening in the South so Tigress and the others could meet this problem as well. Hope she will be fine. I nod to this before I turn my back to him….and stop in the track.

A black smoke pillar is rising from the palace buildings…I drop the ingredients and begin running upwards.

….

Damn stairs….

….

Hapu, hapu….

….

Finally! ….the gate is destroyed…and I see bodies! I run to them.

"Hey, hey! Wake up!" I yell to a pig with closed eyes, which he opens fortunately.

"Dragon Warrior?" he murmurs weakly.

"Yeah in flesh and blood. What happened here?"

"Attackers…came from nothing…" he mutters and then faints again. Darn!

I look up and see that the gate to the Sacred Hall of Warriors is opened. I run upwards till I reach the entrance: Inside the hall are bears. Many of them….and white ones additionally to this. They are throwing grapples with attached ropes upwards right at the Moon Pool….the golden Dragon?

"And don't forget the Urn of Whispering Warriors.", I hear a voice. I look to its direction and see a black wolf dressed in similar clothes like Tigress, but the shirt is grey instead of red.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" I yell to him and he hears me. He turns around to me slowly…Iiikks!

First of all this is a dog similar to a wolf and second…he has a third eye on his forehead!

"Well, when this isn't the Dragon Warrior in person." he says with a confident smile. I get in battle posture.

"Who are you and what are your thugs doing there?!" I yell at him. He chuckles.

"You can call me the Player….and the second question is wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Yeah, these are not my thugs."

"Whose then?"

"His.", he says and points to the back of me. I turn around and look into the belly of the biggest white bear I have ever seen. He bows down to me and roars directly into my face….Iikksss! He needs to wash this more often….I take one or two steps back holding my nose. I see a scar, which begins at his head and ends at his neck….NO!

CRASH!

….

Ow….have not seen this paw coming at me….OW!...my whole body hurts after crashing against the palace walls…urghh…

"This is enough, Temujin. I'll handle him from here." the dog says and I hear a loud growl, before loud paw steps march away. I get up again – still staggering – and look at the dog, before glancing back to the Moon Pool…this guys are pulling at the ropes….are they insane?! They don't want to…no…

"I will not allow you to take the Golden Dragon Statue!" I yell at the dog pointing my finger at him. First he seems surprised but then he chuckles.

"I see…but when you want to stop us, you will need to pass me, Dragon Warrior.", he says and gets into a battle posture. I copy this…can't allow to be stopped by this guy for too long…need to stop the bears….

I charge him.

One punch at the head from the left side, one from the right side and a whirling kick….he dodges them all. Another punch at his head, but he dodges it by bowing…Darn! …I stepped back in time to dodge the uppercut. He jumps at me, fist raised, but I block it with my arm. Next comes a kick at my chin….OWWW!

….

Ow again…! He storms at me another, but this time I can dodge his initial attack and grab his arm in this way. I begin to whirl with him. Faster and faster before I let him go and he flies outside of the palace…fare well. I turn around to the bears, when I feel a tapping at my shoulder…

I turn around and see….Ow! Landed on my back only to see through the pain in my nose the three-eyed dog again. I am able to get on my feet after this hard punch.

"How is this possible, that you are back here?"

He chuckles. "Easy like breathing…but see for yourself." he disappears...I know this!

A punch at my shoulder! …Ow! ….he is gone again. Where is he? Where is he? ….I know…

In time I bend down below a swung punched at my head, turn around immediately and hit him hard in his face. He flies one or two steps back, but stays at his feet. He touches his face.

"Impressive…seems that you have learned something from Tian Yi…" he mutters.

Tian Yi! I knew it! "Are you an underling of Tian Yi…I thought he is defeated…" I say, while this new thought crosses my mind.

"He is and I am not his underling…I am the guy behind him."

"What?!"

He chuckles. I hear and see like the huge bear comes closer to the dog. He growls at me…Will I need to face both now?

"Master, we are almost ready….you wanted that he sees…"

The dog nods. "Correct….it seems Dragon Warrior that we will need to postpone our battle for a next time….if there will be a next time…" he says adding the last words whispering, while he turns around. "Hey stop!" I yell, but he turns back already fast punching into the air….not into air!

Arrhghh! Not again this thing! This black…shadowy…thing what Tian Yi used back then has chained my whole body….somehow its touch feels different than Tian Yi's. I look up at the dog and see like his third eye closes and he collapses into one paw of the bear.

I feel hot below me….I look down and see the third eye there now…looking straightly at me….What is going on?!

Before I get an answer on this the bear grabs me – not gently – and carries me to the Moon Pool. I look up…there are cracks around the golden Dragon already and they get bigger the more these guy pull their ropes.

"Nooo!" I yell but it is useless. They pull and the Dragon falls.

Next chapter...took some while :) Had some issues to handle...can't guarantee that they have ended...
When you like this story, I would be happy, if you would review it.

"Kung Fu Panda" (c) DreamWorks Animation

I own nothing except for the written word.
Characters you don't know are from me. The Idea is also from me.

Ah forgot to add: Happy Valentine's Day :)