Such Disappointment
"Again? Why?" Asked the Dimension Ripper.
"I asked people for their opinion. It's only fair that I explain to them what I have to say."
"But... You're just out of ideas, aren't you."
"No, not really. I'm just lazy about the ideas I have," I smiled.
"Uh huh, prove it after this one," Demi said.
******F******
Frustration boiled out of my mouth as frost showed its vapor from my nostrils. I hugged my jacket tighter. I hate the cold. I could remember a certain engine that hated the cold just like I did. I loved snow at one point, but a nine-day blizzard cured me of that. I walked on. The pavement under my feet was flat, unforgiving. My blisters punctured me or maybe my feet just ached. I took a deep icy breath and sneezed.
I opened my eyes up again. Deep fog formed all around me. I looked back and forth. No signs of city streets in sight. "Whaaat happened?" I asked, rubbing my jacket more.
But the polyester jacket turned furry. I looked down and saw my shoes covered by familiar shoes and my hands in familiar fur. The fog slowly ebbed away and a bright shining house stood before me, dazzling in a splendid red and jade hue. Its height rose further into the clouds, where only the mountains could gawk at the people below.
Below?
I turned around and saw a sleepy little village down in a plain between the mountain range's feet. "HA! I don't have to climb those stupid stairs HAHA!"
Suddenly, the Jade Palace wobbled. My vision blurred for a second before I collapsed my hand onto the entryway. I'm actually used to high elevations, but the sudden change was still jarring. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about serious problems. "Okay, after that near-miss, time to get moving."
Then I grew cold. "Huh? Why is cold all of a sudden?"
"Hello."
"DAAAHH!" I froze and crumpled into a ball on the floor. Spinning my head around, though not too fast to cause another dizzy spell, I saw a tiger towering before me with her arms crossed, staring down on me.
But I could see that smirk of hers as clear as light itself.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Make the air cold and then scare me into an early grave?" I asked. Tigress simply widened her smirk and helped me up.
"You're just like, Po. Too easily startled."
"I didn't hear you."
"Most people don't."
"Not until you growl or roar at them?"
"I don't roar as often as you might think, Lion."
"Ah, yeah, that's my name," I grumbled. I still hated the nickname.
"What brings you back here?" She asked as she escorted me past the courtyard arena where the great masters would hold large events and where Po fell out of the sky to be chosen, Dragon Warrior. "Are you here to question Master Shifu?"
"Yes... and to get away from the... disappointment of my life," I grumbled. I watched as the tiger rose an eyebrow but made no other emotional indicators I could see.
"What did you do?"
"I did nothing. But... uhhh... how do I explain this?"
"By talking."
"Wow, you're blunt."
"Direct is more like it," She said as we finally made it to the Hall of Heroes first. I stopped, caught my breath, and spoke.
"I'm... from the future."
Tigress simply blinked. "I see."
"Okay, what's going on in your head? Because I think there's a lot I said and you're just sitting there like a blank slate."
"It makes some sense. You seemed very... knowledgeable about some things that most people aren't. Being from the future makes a bit more sense."
Now I blinked. How in the world this woman was able to take something incredible as that without at the very least gasping was beyond me. "Uh... huh. What about Po?"
Tigress made a small snorting sound with a crack of a smile. "I think you already know how that's going to go."
Just then, the doors to the Hall of Heroes opened. "And then I said... hey Tigress. Oh! Oh! Lion! it's so good to see you."
"Ah, the universe seems to have incredible timing," I sighed with a smile. The panda and I shared a hug and then a bow. I glanced at Tigress who only nodded.
"So, what're you doing here? Oh! Did you come to try and get more info out of Tigress, cuz I sure can't," Po groused, glancing back over to Tigress.
"Actually, no," I said. "I actually wanted to talk a bit about something that's going on in my... homeland."
"Hmmm," Tigress grumbled.
"Alright, alright. Geez. Po, I'm from the future."
The panda's mouth dropped and his eyes widened to the size of basketballs. He bounced up and down a bit before belting out, "That's... so... awesome! What's the future like? Do they have machines where you can just stand and go up mountains without using stairs?"
"Of course, you would ask that," I smiled.
"Before Po has another... excitable event," said a voice below our waists, "I would love to get to know you, Mr..."
"Lion. Just Lion. Grandmaster Shifu," I said with a respectful bow. I'm about as tall as Po, and Shifu comes to about my waist. He comes off as an old Asian grandpa, when he's, you know, not talking smack about your training form. Weirdly enough, his ears twitch a lot more than one would think. Several times, during the trip I'd ask if he heard something or if he was just swatting a fly. "It is an honor to finally meet you."
"Likewise. Po and the other masters have mentioned a lot about you."
"Really?" I looked at Po and then Tigress and back to Shifu. "I didn't realize they knew so much."
"Well, Tigress mentioned something about you being like Po in mannerisms," He said.
I deadpan glared at the tiger's smirking face. "Uh huh."
"And that you did some interviews with the Furious Five and Po?"
"Ah yes! They're uh... for um... character studies?" I said, cringe-grinning.
"Oof, is that how I look when I do something weird?" Po asked.
"Shut it, Po," I grumbled. Tigress and Shifu hid their chuckles. "Anyways, I guess I'll get some uh... I mean, is it okay if I could talk with you, Master Shifu?"
"Of course."
"I have to warn you. In order to get an understanding of who you are, I have to ask some... personal questions. You can say no if you want."
Shifu rose his eyebrow. "I'd hope I would have that option regardless."
"Hehehe, you're right this does sound like Po's stupid idea," I muttered.
"Hey!"
"But I would like to have the honor, Master Shifu," I said with a bow. The red panda crossed his arms under his robe for a moment and stroked his beard.
"Hmm, then come with me to the barracks kitchen. We'll talk over some food."
"Awesome! I'm hungry," Po said.
"Of course, you are," Tigress, Shifu, and I all groaned.
Shifu's surprisingly difficult to write about, and I'm not just saying that because he wouldn't talk about his past beyond that it was difficult or that it mirrored a lot of his own adopted children. I perked up an eyebrow as Po sat next to me, loudly slurping up some noodles. "Meaning?"
"You've interviewed Tigress and Po, correct?"
"Yes?"
"I think you can figure it out from them."
"Hmmm," I mumbled.
He's stubborn, but I came to expect that. He's kind and respectful most of the time. He reminds me of Tigress sometimes when he points out something or says such an underhanded comment that you can't register it as such unless you're used to it.
And coincidentally, I am used to it.
"Now, for the personal stuff," I sighed.
"Uh, are you sure you want to do that?" Po said, trying to stop me.
I shrugged, "I survived Tigress, I should be good here."
"Excuse me?" Tigress lowly rumbled.
"Moving on! Uhh how old is Zeng?"
Everyone looked at me with confusion.
"Why?" Shifu asked
"Just curious. Cat uhhh it's a 'me' thing," I caught myself.
"He's not that old."
"Ohhhh I don't believe that," I replied.
"Why?" Shifu asked.
"Because either Tai Lung was extremely young. Or Po and Tigress are weirdly old." Po rolled his eyes while the queen of the lowering room temperature glared at me.
"He's not that old," Shifu reiterated.
"Hmm," I shrugged and wrote it down.
"I sense you're dodging a particular question."
"He does that a lot," Tigress commented. I glanced up at the tiger for only a moment.
"Are you afraid of what I'll say?"
"Yes," I answered Master Shifu, still focusing on my writing.
"Why?"
"Because it's a very personal question and I don't want to be thrown down the stairs like Po."
"Would you stop taking shots at me?" Po grumbled.
"Sorry, that's just how my family is. Force of habit," I muttered.
Shifu slightly cocked his head to the side. "Is the question about Tai Lung?"
"Yes," I said without hesitation, "But it's not 'why did you raise Tai Lung the way you did' Or 'why didn't you see how evil he was' That's not what I'm interested in."
Tigress and Shifu shared a small glance of confusion. "Then what is your question?"
I sighed and finally said, "Why did you want Tai Lung to be the Dragon Warrior?"
Everyone perked their heads up and narrowed their eyes at me. "What do you mean?" Shifu asked.
"Yeeeaaahhh, Master Shifu didn't want Tai Lung to be Dragon Warrior."
"I'm sure Lion means during the time Tai Lung was growing up, Po," Tigress explained. "But what makes you think that he wanted Tai Lung to be Dragon Warrior?"
"Being Dragon Warrior means you have to be chosen by the universe, which means there's really nothing you can do to prepare for the job. You can only accept it when it comes." I rested my elbow on the table. "Either Oogway didn't tell you until the end that Tai Lung wasn't the Dragon Warrior or he was trying to tell you and you didn't listen."
Tigress crossed her arms, glaring at me. "That's a bold claim, Lion."
I rose my hands. "I'm not trying to speculate. I'm trying to ask questions. Because it doesn't make sense. It's like trying to work for forgiveness when you've already been forgiven. If Oogway knew that the Dragon Warrior title wasn't something you could physically work for, then why were all of you trying to work for it?"
The room grew quiet. Tigress and Po looked at me, then they looked at Master Shifu. The red panda's old eyes were wider than ever.
"That's... actually a great question," Po said.
"You sound surprised," I commented.
Tigress shook her head, possibly trying to dismiss the doubt of her own foster father. "But Tai Lung wanted the Dragon Scroll for power and his own personal gain. He had no right to destroy the village because he wasn't chosen."
"Right, but why was that his ambition in the first place?" I asked. "Tai Lung wasn't angry because he didn't get the Dragon Warrior title. He was angry because he was promised something and didn't get it. It's like a spoiled... uhhh." I had to stop for a moment. Mentioning that Master Shifu spoiled Tai Lung wouldn't help with his already mounting shame over what happened to Tai Lung. "The point is that both you and Tai Lung wanted the Dragon Scroll, for different reasons. But why? It can't be because it's there."
I took a breath. "Think about it like this. If Oogway had told Tai Lung from the moment he got here that he couldn't be the Dragon Warrior because he wasn't chosen, would things still have gone the same way?"
"But Master Oogway didn't know that Master Shifu was training us for that," Tigress spoke.
"Bull," I said.
"No, she's a tiger," Po chimed in with total seriousness. I glared the panda down with a slight deep growl. "Hehe, sorry continue."
I rubbed my muzzle. Sometimes, Po reminded me of a little me. That's probably why my blood pressure was up right now. "My point," I said slowly, "is that if Master Oogway could tell plainly that Shifu was trying to train you to be like him instead of training you to be like you when you took down Boar, then why didn't he do the same with Tai Lung?"
"What are you trying to say?" Tigress asked firmly.
"You and Tai Lung are very similar when it comes to ambition," I said quickly to make sure she didn't kill me. "But to be ambitious about something, there's got to be some value in what you want. Or you have to see that value. And the only thing tying you two together is that you both wanted it because Master Shifu wanted it." I turned to Shifu who had been silent this whole time. The man looked like the whole world eyed him and he was standing trial. "So I ask again. Why did you want Tai Lung to be Dragon Warrior?"
It took a while. A long while. Po nervously fidgeted in his seat while Tigress stared at Shifu with worry and concern. Master Shifu only stared into the table. I waited. It was the only thing I could do in this tense situation. It was a hard question; I knew that. But I wanted to know, and, though it wasn't my first concern at the moment, it was a question that both Tigress and Po deserved to hear the answer to.
Finally, he spoke. "I guess as a father figure... there's your expectations versus reality. I put so much of my expectations on Tai Lung that... I didn't realize what I was turning him into."
"Do you realize what you were turning him into?" I asked.
"Yes... myself."
Now I widened my eyes. "Okay, not the answer I was expecting."
"What were you expecting?"
"I thought you would've said something like, 'I was turning him into my expectations instead of turning him into... him.'"
Shifu offered a small sad smile. "I think both are true." He turned to Po. "I guess that's why Po helped me get inner peace. Because he forced me to acknowledge the reality around me, rather than my expectations for it."
"Is that good or bad?" Po asked.
"Reality is neither good nor evil," I said, "It just is."
"Whooaa, that's some Oogway-level wisdom."
I sighed with a small smile and wrote down what I learned. "Well, that's it."
"Really? You don't have any other questions?" Shifu asked.
"Everything else I managed to get from your characteristics. Annnnnd I can understand where Tigress gets her-"
"My what?" Tigress growled.
"Hehe, you know what. Never mind," I coughed. That seemed to simmer that feline down. "Anyway, thank you so much for letting me interview you, Master Shifu."
"Will it be used to make a 'fuller' character for one of your stories?" Tigress smirked.
I shrugged, "Maybe."
"You mentioned something that disappointed you when you came. What was it?" Tigress asked. I blinked. It was a heck of a transition, but, after ten seconds, I finally figured out what it was.
"OOOhhh ohh," I fell into a low grunt. "Nothing really it's just this... stupid play about you guys. Well, really about Po."
"What's the matter with it?" Po asked.
I took a cup of water that was offered to me when we got to the kitchen, drank it to the bottom, and sighed. "So basically, it takes place after you've fought Kai. You travel the world fighting evil."
"Awesome!"
"But, the only reason why you're doing this is because while you were trying to save the village, you accidentally wrecked it in the process. And now everyone hates you. So you're going on the adventure to redeem yourself and build up your confidence."
Everyone blinked without a single word. My eyes darted between Tigress's strange lifted eyebrow and quirked up corner of her lip to Shifu's intense pensive glare.
"Nothing against Po," Tigress finally spoke up, "But how is that any different from the other times the village has gotten destroyed by Po's actions."
Po huffed, "I'm not that-"
"Po, everyone including you, knows that what you're about to say isn't true," I quickly interrupted. Po grumbled and huffed an invisible fume of highly annoyed air. "But Tigress is right. With the countless number of times you've saved the village either from your own actions or the actions of others, it wouldn't make sense to get angry at you."
"Do they take away his Dragon Warrior Title in this play?" Shifu asked.
"No, but they take away a title the emperor gave him. The Dragon Master title."
Everyone looked at each other.
"Which means?" Po, Tigress, and Shifu asked.
"Exactly. Nothing! And since you lose that title, you're on this quest to redeem yourself," I explained.
"But... but that makes no sense. If he's still Dragon Warrior, then why would he go after this weird title?" Tigress asked. I simply shrugged.
"I personally think it's just a plot device, but then Po goes on the quest because of another warrior that is supposed to mirror Tigress. She's a bear-"
"I'm liking where this is going," Po grinned.
"Why?" Tigress glared.
"No reason."
"Anyway," I grumbled. "She's a warrior from a faraway land trying to exact vengeance on the people who killed her brother. And she's mean to Po all the way."
"Why?" Tigress asked. I looked up at the ceiling for a moment to try and explain.
"I guess writers saw your character and figured that you were just a mean person and figured that's all they really needed to be an awesome fighter and mean-looking like Tigress."
"Oh," She said, drooping her ears a bit. To be honest, it's quite sadder than you'd expect.
"But that's not Tigress," Po chimed in. "Tigress isn't mean."
"It's not the meanness that bothers me. It's the fact that it doesn't make sense for her, the bear character, to be mean. When Po first came here, Tigress's anger made perfect sense."
Shifu's ear twitched as he rose an eyebrow. "How would you know that?"
"A panda literally falls out of the sky to steal your goals and dreams away? Yeah, it makes perfect sense for her to be angry and mean to Po because Po was directly responsible for those feelings." I had a sudden awakening and realized that both Po and Tigress were frowning sadly. "Uhhh, but that's all in the past. Sorry, I didn't mean... uhhh. Dang it."
"It's okay, Lion," Tigress sighed with a small smile. "We're past that." Po perked up some, smiling back at her.
"But this... what exactly is this character's name?" Shifu asked.
"We'll call her Lu-Lu," I smirked. "But Lu-Lu doesn't have a reason to be angry at Po. Po just follows her around and they save each other a couple of times. But she's still upset and slightly abusive to Po being around her. Probably because Po is clumsy but still. Not only that, she's very quick to just drop and leave Po when the going gets tough or when he's in a jam."
"Which is often," Shifu murmured.
"I heard that," Po grumbled.
"It seems," Tigress said, "That this Lu-Lu seems very... flat."
"And she's supposed to be based on you. Not only that, the reason why she's supposedly like this is that her brother was killed, but two problems. One, if your brother is killed, that doesn't mean you're unkind to everyone around you. You wouldn't push away children just because you lost your own. Two, SHE is the reason her brother got killed in the first place because she didn't listen and she's been masquerading as a warrior. She's just on a path for revenge. And Po in this story has the unfortunate pleasure of being with her through this quest. It's like-"
"It's like if Tai Lung and Po were paired together to fight against evil?" Shifu guessed.
I moved my hand around a bit in a so-so manner. "Yes, and no. That would actually make more sense. I can see Oogway promising Tai Lung something in return for some good deed. The problem I have is that Lu-Lu's hatred makes no sense. Even with Po's mannerisms, he's not overly frustrating or annoying in the play; he's actually more in character than the other characters. In contrast, even with you and Tigress's treatment of him when Po first came here, it made sense. It wasn't the right reason but there was still a reason. Lu-Lu has no reason to hate or abuse Po. Po has not done anything directly to hinder her, stop her, or mess her up. It's like being mad at a child that follows you around. If the kid isn't getting involved in the fights or is actually helping you during the fights, why would you be upset or mean?"
"Because they're a kid and they should stay away from danger?" Tigress guessed.
"That would make sense for a kid, but even with Po being a man-child... and a great man-child to be honest-"
"Just forget it," Po grumbled.
"There's no cause for mistreating him, especially like that."
Shifu stroked his beard. "It seems like you know a lot about this play."
"Oh, I just watch it on periphery," I explained.
"Periphery?"
"I ask around if people like it or dislike it. I look at reviews. I see the plotline of the story-"
"So you... didn't actually look at the play at all?" Po asked, flabbergasted. "Why?"
"Why would I subject myself to torture?"
"How do you know if it's really that bad? Didn't you say reality-"
"That doesn't apply to something that is INVENTED to be good or bad. We're talking about design here."
"But still."
"Would you honestly want to relive going through the first time you came here?"
"Well, not really."
"Exactly."
"But how do you know if it's good or bad for yourself? Don't knock it till you try it."
"Do you know if Viper's venom would kill you?"
"Viper doesn't have fangs."
"But how do you know her venom wouldn't kill you if you don't try it?"
"All the same," Shifu finally chimed in to stop our arguing. "There is value in both of your views. Certain things can only be experienced, but we do make the decision on whether or not we want to experience it."
I sighed, "I guess. It's just... with the amount of good fan-written stories and ideas that I see about you guys, you would think that writers of a professional level would be able to make something more... engaging."
"Maybe you should work on your expectations of others, Lion," Tigress smirked. Though I glared at the tiger, I had to agree with what she was saying.
"Anyway, that's the disappointment I'm dealing with. But you're right. Good and bad stories don't mean that we can't enjoy both of them."
"And that is a lesson to take with you on your way home," Master Shifu smiled. I stood up with the others and bowed to Master Shifu with a kind smile.
"I'm sorry if I asked too many questions," I said, shrugging my head into my shoulders.
"Actually, I think you've managed to ask some great questions. They were hard, but they also helped with some... questions I've had of my own," Shifu said.
"Hehe, yeah," I said rubbing my arm.
"And we thank you for your time here. I hope your 'studies' go well."
"Hehe, let's hope they do," I sighed. We walked back to the courtyard. Po talked about the Furious Five, who weren't there because of some mission they were called to. Tigress asked about my stories and how they were doing. "Fine. I'm hitting a few blocks here and there."
"I must ask why you're so invested in these fictional stories. They must take up a lot of your time."
"Heh, not when I'm not distracted. I'm pretty good at being in the moment... now... recently," I griped to myself.
"Still, what about your real life?" Tigress asked.
"Well, a good story is supposed to distract you from the real world. A great story teaches you how to deal with the real world."
"So you use the fake world to help people in the real world?" Po asked. "How does that work?"
I smiled widely at the panda as we reached the top of the mountain's steps to the village. I rested my hand on his shoulder. "More than you think."
"But being connected so much in a fictional world doesn't help you with the real world if you're not living in the real world," Tigress cautioned, "There's only so much training can do. At some point, you have to fight real people."
I rose my eyebrow and smirked. "Doesn't that also apply to relationships?" The tiger silently stared until it felt like the clouds were practically shivering. "Hehe, nevermind."
"What I mean," She said slowly, "Is that books about life are fine. But don't neglect to live your life."
"True words to live by," I smirked. "Just make sure you live by them."
Po glanced between the both of us. Tigress stared at me with a slightly annoyed frown while I probably had a cocky smirk on my face. "Uhhhh is there something we're missing here?"
"I think it's just some... friendly competition between the two of them," Shifu said. "It may be a feline thing."
"No, it's not," Tigress and I said.
"Anyway," I sighed, "It's best I get going. Maybe the next time I come, I'll talk with Tigress some more."
"Why? You already have enough information about me."
"I need your opinion about emotions and how to express them. There's a lot of people who think you don't have any emotions, but I suspect that isn't true."
"More things to flesh out your characterization of me?" Tigress sighed with a small smile. I offered a wide cheesy grin.
"I can't help that."
"Goodbye, Lion," Tigress said.
"Yeah! It was great meeting you! Come back with some food from the future next time."
I slightly grimaced. "Trust me, Po, you do not want any of the food from my world."
"Aww man," Po grumbled.
"It was great of you to come, Lion," Shifu bowed. I bowed back and started my way down the steps, waving off to them.
The foggy clouds rolled in and shut my vision off from them. Was I climbing or descending? I walked on what felt like stairs. Further and further, until I could hear the loud metal clanging and busy street sounds whistling and honking in my ears. I looked back. White smoke came from a ground vent. The cold whipped my jacket and shoulders.
I whined to myself. "I feel like Narnia has such better travel service. Why can't I be transported back to Hawaii?"
Sighing, I walked back to my house where I could write another story.
The end
A/N: From what I heard and what people have told me, Dragon Knight isn't really worth watching. But I'm not gonna a critic about anything because if you like it, great! If not, I don't think whining about it to others is a good idea. What I'm doing here is more of a character analysis rather than whining although there is some whining there.
