Chapter Thirty-Nine: Necessary Evils
Tigress entered the fray.
The Tenshu Army surged forward like a tidal wave of fury and claws; the first ranks of wolves lunged at her, weapons gleaming. Tigress spun low to the ground, avoiding their slashes and sweeping the legs out from under two wolves before leaping up and delivering a powerful kick to another's chest. She watched as the canine careened into a nearby outcropping and dissipated into a shrouded mist - only to immediately reformulate just moments later.
Great. Probably should have seen that coming.
As she could not hope to defeat warriors who straddled the space between life and death, Tigress realized her only choice was to try and fight through them. Another wolf charged in and launched a thrown javelin; dodging the incoming projectile, she countered with a precise elbow strike to the spirit warrior's jaw. Yet another thrust forward with a qiang spear, the lithe tiger evading to the side and striking at their head. Grabbing her foe's wayward polearm weapon, she used it to vault over a cluster of wolves just as they swarmed in at her, launching high into the air and finding purchase on the uneven rocks some distance up the pathway. Her eyes darted to the stairs leading up to the temple, her ultimate goal still tauntingly far away.
Just need to make it to the top.
The next rank of wolves in her way reformed and lunged again. Tigress met them head-on, her movements a blur of precision and strength. She ducked under an axe swing before deflecting a sword strike with an expertly timed redirection, using the momentum to flip over her attacker to land a crushing blow to his back and propel herself onward. Following up with a swift roundhouse kick, she sent another wolf flying into a group of its comrades.
Having temporarily halted their advance, she used her agility to duck and weave between them, outpacing their attacks as they missed by mere inches. The tiger leapt onto the back of one wolf, leaping over the heads of several others and finding the space to lower to all fours.
Not much further now.
Feeling a surge of energy, she used the terrain to her advantage, pushing the wolves back and creating openings for herself as she darted between them. Every time a wolf rose to attack, she was already moving on, her focus unwavering from the central edifice of the temple.
As she fought her way up the stairway, pausing momentarily here and there to defeat several of the wolves before moving on, she eventually came upon a defensive shieldwall perimeter near the top of the path. With the howling mass of soldiers that she had passed through quickly arriving behind her, Tigress appeared to be trapped.
Knowing better than to try and force her way past them, the veteran warrior instead chose to wait until the very last second as the formation behind her rushed up the stairs. Just before she would have been crushed against the defensive formation, Tigress executed a perfectly timed backflip and the unsuspecting wolves cascaded into their own formation. Right as she landed, numerous different attackers tried to swing and slash at the tiger - some of which came deathly close to maiming her.
But the efforts of the wolves were to be in vain, as Tigress had found a momentary gap in the defensive perimeter which had only been open for a split second. Darting through it unscathed, the tiger master at last found herself at the top of the stairs.
With the Temple of Fei Lian to her back, she raised her arms once more to fight - but the Wolves of Tenshu would come no further, refusing to cross the invisible barrier that marked the entrance to the Wind Lord's sanctum. Acknowledging her prowess, several of the Tenshu warriors bowed in respect.
"If only Po could have seen this…" Tigress mumbled to herself, bowing in return to the spirit warriors.
The panda never could live down the fact that he had been responsible for the destruction of the Urn of Whispering Warriors more than a few times; he would surely have found this encounter with its inhabitants quite amusing. Tigress grinned slightly when thinking of Po at first, only for it to fade as she recalled the unnatural crimson glare she had last seen in his eyes.
"I see you made it to the top." came a familiar voice behind her.
Sabik was sitting not far from the top of the stairs, reading from an unusual amalgamation of scroll pages that had been bound together by some unknown means.
"You mean to tell me I didn't have to fight my way all the way up here just now?" Tigress said with frustration as she approached the fox.
Sabik took her focus away from her reading for a moment, "Oh don't worry, you definitely did - you had to prove you were worthy."
"Then how is it that I last saw you at the base of the stairs, only to find you waiting here? I didn't see you doing any fighting."
The fox smiled, "One of the perks of the job. I may come and go as I please."
Tigress took a step closer to where she could see the inscription of whatever Sabik was reading, but the characters were of a foreign nature and she could not make any sense of it.
"I take it this is the end of our journey then?" Tigress asked.
"For now, yes." the black fox said, standing up. "But our paths may always cross again. I wish you good fortune, warrior of the mortal realm."
Tigress nodded in understanding, "For your assistance - thank you. I won't forget your help."
With that, Tigress left the fox behind and began to walk towards the entrance to the temple. The sheer scale of the place was imposing, dwarfing her upon her approach, and the deathly silence that permeated between the lofty heights only magnified this effect. Coming to the top of a final stretch of marble stairs, great doors emblazoned with the characters representing 'wind' and 'change' opened before she could even touch them, and she entered the foremost pagoda tower.
The tiger master was unsure what she had expected to discover in such a place, but she now found herself at the entry to a massive library. Each and every wall for as far as the great room extended was covered with shelves, each packed with meticulously organized scrolls. The pale stone floor below was so flawless that she could see the reflection of the rafters above, prompting her to look upwards. The shelves continued to ascend the entire height of the tower, surely containing more scrolls than one could ever hope to read in a lifetime.
She took in the spectacle of it for a moment, but quickly returned to her objective. The opposite end of the tower atrium featured yet another set of doors which opened just as she walked through them. Above the entryway she had read the inscribed character for 'chronicle.'
This next room was dominated by rows and rows of even more shelves, which effectively became a maze as Tigress endeavored to find her way through them. As she moved around a corner, her foot grazed something.
Woah… What is that?
A bright green scaled appendage laid across her path and trailed all the way around the next corner. The only possibility that made sense to Tigress was that it could perhaps be the body of a snake, but surely it would have been much smaller if this was the case. Perplexed, she followed the appendage around the corner - only to discover this was in fact the tail of something much larger.
Coiled amidst a great pile of scrolls, a green and yellow horned dragon scribbled away at an open document with its claws. The creature at once took notice of her presence, gazing up with a surprised expression that matched her own.
Could this be Fei Lian?
Several moments of tense stillness followed, before it became apparent to Tigress that this beast was not in fact the elusive Wind God. The scaled scribe merely observed her closely and added several more scratches to the scroll it was recording. Gingerly pacing about the room and making doubly sure not to step on the coils of the dragon, she took a glance at what the thing was writing.
Unlike whatever the fox had been reading outside, this record was transcribed in characters Tigress recognized. Picking a random place and following along, she quickly realized that the dragon had been writing about what had just occurred outside on the temple steps and her subsequent entry into the sanctum. The final line was disturbingly surreal for the tiger master to see:
Tigress had read from The Dragon Chronicle.
In catatonic detachment, she backed away as if some unknown force was compelling her to escape this extremely bizarre experience.
What the hell was that?
Finding that she had now backed clear against the wall, she looked around frantically for the doors and quickly found them to her side. As always, they had swung open before she got there. Still shaken up from what had just occurred, she barely noticed her surroundings for the first few moments as she was now amidst yet another expansive space.
Inside the innermost sanctum of Fei Lian, the air was filled with an otherworldly energy. The vast hall was illuminated by soft, ambient light that seemed to emanate from the very floors themselves, which were crafted from polished jade and adorned with intricate carvings of swirling winds and mythical creatures. The inlaid designs appeared to move and shift as if the wind itself was alive within the stone.
Massive columns, each one as wide as a tree trunk, supported the high vaulted ceiling, their surfaces engraved with ancient runes that glowed faintly with a golden hue. The ceiling was a masterpiece of celestial artistry, depicting the constellations and the cycles of the moon and stars, all inlaid with shimmering gemstones that twinkled like the night sky.
At the center of the hall, a large circular platform was raised slightly above the rest of the floor. It was made of pure crystal, reflecting the light in a dazzling array of colors. The platform seemed to pulse with a rhythmic energy, and a gentle breeze swirled around it, carrying the faint scent of blooming flowers and fresh rain.
In the far end of the hall, a grand staircase led up to a massive throne, carved from a single piece of white marble. The throne was draped with silken banners in shades of blue and gold, each one embroidered with symbols of the wind and sky. The back of the throne rose high into the air, resembling the wings of a great bird poised to take flight.
Around the edges of the hall, smaller alcoves held altars and shrines dedicated to various aspects of the Wind God's domain. Offerings of incense, flowers, and small tokens lay scattered upon them, presumably left by wayward spirits who had come to seek Fei Lian's favor. It was impossible to miss an assorted collection of dozens of imperial jade seals that were carefully arranged upon one such altar.
The side walls of the temple were open, allowing her to see the teal sea stretch to the horizon in both directions. Tigress could sense the presence of Fei Lian everywhere, just the same as she had in her nightmares; it was a powerful force that was both inviting and foreboding in equal measure. While she had never once felt the grace of the wind when she was stranded amidst the void, here there was an ever-present breeze.
Looking about and seeing no one there, frustration began to grow within Tigress once more. The tiger had fought her way through the relentless Tenshu Army and ascended the temple steps - and dealt with no small amount of absurdity - only to find an empty hall.
She stepped forward, her voice echoing through the vast space, "Fei Lian! Show yourself!"
Her words were met with silence, save for the gentle rustle of the wind caressing the columns of the temple. Tigress took a deep breath, doing her best to contain her anger.
"I demand that you show yourself, Lord of the Winds."
Still nothing.
The tiger master exhaled slowly. She had come this far; she wasn't about to give up now.
"I know you are here; I can feel your presence. You have poisoned my dreams for too long." Tigress accused with aggressive confidence. "I say it again - reveal yourself."
For a moment, there was once more nothing but the empty sound of the wind. But then, a soft, haunting laugh was carried in on the breeze. Fear threatened to take hold in her heart, but Tigress stood resolute.
"The tempest is my herald, and its fury is my command." came a disembodied whisper that sounded as if it were striking at her very soul.
"I am the unseen zephyr that bends the will of the heavens; I am the current that drowns mountains and extinguishes cities; I am the gale that strips away your flesh and lays bare the bones of your defiance; I am the Winds of Change."
Tigress began looking around frantically, as the voice seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
"Kneel before the harbinger of chaos." it commanded.
At last, the tiger stopped searching and closed her eyes. She did not kneel.
"No." she said defiantly.
There was a pause, followed by more laughter.
"A mortal with the audacity to confront a god. Such courage is a rare and precious thing. You must understand, it is exactly what makes you so entertaining."
Tigress growled, "I don't care about your entertainment."
No response followed, only a gust of wind that focused around the central crystalline platform. In the blink of an eye, Tigress saw the unmistakable silhouette of the Dragon Warrior appear upon the center of the glasslike surface.
"Po?" she greeted, an uncertain excitement behind her tone.
He appeared as she had always known him - not the disfigured monster she had last seen. As she quickly approached the platform, it became evident that he was meditating. The panda was seated with his eyes closed, a serene expression across his features.
"Can you hear me, Po?" she tried again, but he did not appear to react at all.
The slight hope that had blossomed within Tigress wilted away; nonetheless, she continued to come towards him.
He looks so peaceful - happy, even.
As Tigress placed a comforting paw on Po's shoulder, she immediately was transported into a vision, similar to how she had done with Sabik. This time, however, it seemed to be taking place within the mind of her friend.
It was the unmistakably cramped but welcoming setting of Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop.
"It's time to add the radishes, son."
"I know, dad. We've done this like a million times - I've got this!" Po answered back with a smile.
"Yes, yes - have to hurry now! Plenty of mouths to feed!" the excitable old goose returned, assembling bowls of noodle soup at a speed that would be the envy of any martial artist.
The father and son duo were grandmasters in their own right in the kitchen of the noodle shop, and before long Po was walking out from behind the counter with arms full of soup bowls. As the vision shifted, it became clear who they had been cooking for.
It was all of them. Li Shan, Shifu, and the Furious Five - the whole family. Numerous denizens of the Valley of Peace and the Panda Village were gathered as well, all eager to have some of Ping's famous secret ingredient soup. In the far corner of the restaurant, a careful observer could even spot Oogway smiling proudly at his former students.
After he had served everyone, Po took his place at the center table. Watching the vision, Tigress saw him choose to sit with his childhood heroes, the Five - particularly right between herself and Crane. Everyone was smiling and laughing, telling jokes and sharing old stories. It was beautiful.
Tigress let go of Po's shoulder, and the vision faded.
She saw that he was still smiling in his sleep, and understood now that despite what he had become on the outside, Po was still at peace in his mind. Heavy tears had begun to well up in the tiger master's eyes.
"And here I thought," interrupted the voice from before, "you didn't care about my entertainment. That was positively touching."
Tigress growled again as Po vanished from her sight, leaving only a single lotus flower of black and white in his place - and revealing that the winged throne at the end of the sanctum hall was now occupied. Facing her now was none other than the likeness of the leopard princess herself, Yuelen. Her characteristic onyx robes fell over the marble throne like a wayward shadow.
"Enough of your tricks, wind-demon!" Tigress demanded, refusing to believe her eyes. "Show me your true form!"
The Yuelen who sat upon the throne tilted her head in slight disappointment, "All things in due time. I wanted to see what sort of appetite you may have had for some revenge."
"I don't care to settle any score with that maniac." Tigress stated as she closed the distance between herself and the enthroned deity.
"Such a shame. The princess is still alive of course - despite her best efforts to the contrary." Fei Lian said, the form of the leopardess fading away and being replaced by the mirror image of Tigress herself.
"Vengeance of that sort is not why I came all this way." Tigress returned, now standing directly before the throne. "I am here because I need to return to the mortal realm and help my friends. But I think you already knew all of that, didn't you?"
"Of course - I know exactly why you are here. But it's simply no fun at all if I don't get to hear you say it yourself."
Tigress did her best to maintain aggression in her bearing when faced with her own identical likeness.
"What have you done with Po? What is the Dagger of Deng-Wa, really? How are you connected to it?"
Fei Lian's Tigress sighed in annoyance, "So many questions. You do know what they say about curiosity and cats, right?"
"I think I am owed some answers."
"As I said before - all things in due time. Right now, there's only one question that really matters."
"And what would that be?"
"Do you wish to see the future, or the past?"
Tigress paused a moment to consider before answering, "The past. Any scholar can tell you that to see the future, you merely need to understand the past."
"Very nice." the dark reflection in the throne said, smirking in satisfaction. "You're far more insightful than one might expect for a warrior of your caliber."
"Strength is nothing without enlightenment." Tigress asserted.
Fei Lian nodded, "So it has been said."
The deity waved an appendage, and the air around Tigress began to shimmer, the walls of the temple fading into a swirling vortex of teal and gold. The wind picked up, lifting her slightly off the ground as if cradling her in its invisible arms.
"Behold the past," Fei Lian continued, voice echoing from every direction, "I grant you the gift of sight - the eyes of a god."
Tigress' whole body tensed up at once, her eyes brightening into white orbs of light as she began to see through the timeless mind of the Wind Lord.
It had been nearly two months since Oogway and his faithful companion, Kai, had arrived at the secret Panda Village in utter desperation. The two had been the most feared of warlords, legends in their own right. But that was before an ambush had left them the only survivors of their once mighty army. The tortoise had been mortally injured, but revived when the pandas of the secret village had healed him with the spiritual energy of chi.
Oogway had not merely been restored… he had been forever changed; he was no longer motivated by discovery and conquest, but instead the desire to pursue harmony and balance. His oldest and closest friend had not shared his change of heart.
Since his arrival, the tortoise had been studying under the village elder. The aged panda taught him the properties of chi, the inner workings of the very universe around them. The revelations - coupled with his recent brush with death - had entailed a humbling realization of his own mortality despite his many previous successful conquests.
Oogway had tried to pass on this new wisdom to his companion, showing him that mastery of this power was the key to a higher understanding of the universe. Kai had remained unconvinced, and thought that these techniques would be better applied as weapons of war. Day after day, the bull would watch the tortoise learn with the pandas with skeptical eyes. At times he wanted to tell them what he really thought of all this nonsense, but he respected Oogway too much; he just couldn't bring himself to do it. And so for weeks he went on like this, watching his friend learn new techniques and motions, even overhearing what some of the pandas were teaching him.
On one such occasion, Kai tried to feel the flow of the chi they were giving, just to see if he could. In time, he did sense something - but it wasn't coming from the pandas or his friend. The bull began following the flow of this pervasively strong new feeling, and it led him towards the outskirts of the village. His departure had not gone unnoticed by Oogway.
Kai neared the place where the village met the solid wall of rock formed by the surrounding mountains, and found that the force compelling him was emanating from the recesses of a cave. The damp grotto looked to be the result of something that had impacted at the foot of the mountains long ago. Oogway entered the cave behind Kai, and noticed he was staring intently at a small boulder that had a faint green light escaping between topical fractures in its surface.
Kai was aware of his friend's presence, but did not turn to face Oogway when he spoke.
"This rock… I think there's something inside it."
Before Oogway could speak a word of protest, the fist of the bull drove into the core of the boulder, releasing a viridian mist from the rubble. When Kai removed his arm, he was holding a sinuous shard of bright, pulsating jade. Oogway watched in horror as the thing enraptured his bovine companion, his eyes unable to leave the sinister looking substance. Oogway had no idea what it was, but having been taught how to feel the presence of chi, his instincts told him that it was something ancient and powerful… and extremely dangerous.
"It is pure darkness, Kai. Leave it be." the tortoise cautioned.
"Leave it? I can feel it… It speaks to me!"
The blade was indeed communicating with him, teaching him how to capture the chi of living beings.
"Don't you see, old friend? With this kind of power, we could raise a new army - become unstoppable! Just imagine how different that ambush would have gone with a weapon like this!"
The tortoise behind him was showing a skeptic frown, increasingly afraid of how this shard was consuming Kai.
"It would only lead us to great evil, my friend."
"Evil?"
The bull's eyes widened. Whatever those pandas had done… it had changed his fellow warlord beyond recognition.
"You speak of evil now, after all we have done? We have spent years burning cities to the ground, wiping out entire civilizations, showing no mercy to our enemies! What has happened to you, brother?"
"My eyes have been opened to a greater truth."
"Can't you see that I only want this power so I can protect you? You're the closest thing to a real brother I'll ever have… I love you, Oogway. Everyone else is gone - I cannot lose you!"
The serpentine shard in his grip was glowing ever stronger, feeding off Kai's desperation.
"You can never hope to possess that level of control over fate! Control is an illusion!" the tortoise responded with a guarded tone, but the bull's eyes were still locked on his bewitching prize.
"I thought you were Oogway the warlord," Kai accused, "not Oogway the mystical fool!"
"Don't do this, Kai. The others here can show you the truth - there is another way!"
"No. You have only seen what those pandas want you to see." Kai turned around to face Oogway at last, revealing his eyes that were now a sickening green. "This is the true power that they were hiding from us! They're hoarding it all for themselves!"
"If you refuse to open your heart to the truth, then I must stop you from opening it to evil."
Oogway widened his stance defensively and readied his staff to face his brother in arms.
"You choose to betray me in favor of your newfound morality? So be it. Then the only way to protect you, is to capture your chi!" the bull said, lifting the shard against his oldest friend.
A massive airburst of energy sent Oogway hurtling back out of the cave, landing amongst some of the panda villagers. Still in shock, the tortoise watched as Kai started consuming their chi one by one, collecting their essence into jade totems. With each devouring of chi, Kai seemed to get stronger, and Oogway knew he had to stop this evil that his companion had unleashed upon the world.
Along with the panda chi masters, he did battle with the jade warrior; the ensuing melee was truly the stuff of legends. For hours and hours, the near-identical fighting styles of the two brothers in arms clashed with the thunder of a thousand storms. Oogway would nearly be defeated again and again, only to be rescued by pandas' use of a chi ward to protect him - it seemed the only way to counter the bull's enhanced abilities. Kai eventually grew tired of this, and over time he had gradually assimilated the life force of nearly all the panda fighters - but he was unable to consume the elder's chi.
At the climax of the battle, the bull used the serpentine shard as a throwing weapon to strike down the village elder. Seeing him fall, Oogway rushed to the side of the mortally wounded panda, his last remaining ally.
"No one had to die, Oogway! Your foolishness has killed him!" the bull taunted.
The tortoise was not listening to Kai's raging, only trying to console his doomed ally. The elder did not look fearful of his impending death, and started to reach for the shard embedded in his chest; the bleeding from between his ribs, unstoppable.
"Leave it, my friend. This will only increase your suffering." Oogway pleaded.
The ancient leader shook his head and continued reaching anyway. When his paws made contact with the shard they started to glow with a strong golden light. Both Kai and Oogway were now watching with curiosity at the dying panda's actions. He seemed to be pushing the blade deeper into himself, a choice that, outwardly, made little sense. As he continued to bleed out, something else started to flow out with the blood – pure golden chi.
The gilded energy emerged completely from the panda's body and spiraled around the full length of the blade, starting to eat away at the verdigris within. The shard flickered gold, returned to green, then back again and again. At last, the metallic yellow prevailed with a flare of resounding light that made the two warriors shield their vision for fear of blindness. Kai was stunned at first, but quickly regained his smug composure when he found his own power undiminished.
"So this old fool, with the greatest of chi, spends it all just to keep a little blade from me? I'm afraid it was a waste, Oogway." the bull said as he readied himself to continue the fight.
For the first time since being transformed by the pandas' chi healing, Oogway felt true rage boil up inside him. He looked down to see an understanding look in his teacher's eyes. He gestured to the golden shiv still protruding from his body.
"Take it. Do what you must." the panda commanded.
The tortoise complied, and the panda cringed in pain as the weapon was removed. Now holding the blade of radiating gold, Oogway turned back to his oldest friend with death in his eyes.
"Continue to fight me, brother, and I'll be forced to kill you!" the bull barked, defiant at the sight of the clearly powerful object in his adversary's claws.
"I could say the very same to you." Oogway replied with equal ice in his tone.
Just as he had said this, anger got the better of the tortoise, and he hardly noticed as the radiant blade had begun to liquify in his grasp. Before he knew it, he looked down to see the mysterious substance vanish between the scales of his appendage - having been subsumed directly into his body.
Oogway felt an inexplicable surge of limitless power come over him, and the world itself seemed to slow to a crawl before his eyes.
He watched as the bull charged at him on all fours and started to throw heavy strikes, even one of which would have killed Oogway had they connected. Like it was second nature, the tortoise recoiled his arm and then struck his adversary with otherworldly precision - each touch of his claws producing a tiny shockwave of gold light.
Kai was stopped in his tracks, staggering backwards. He was shocked by the power that his friend now wielded.
"Perhaps now you understand…" Kai mused, panting. "Power like that - nothing quite like it, no?"
The tortoise had to look away in shame, because he knew Kai was right. Every part of his body and mind felt newly enhanced, as if every injury he had ever sustained was now somehow erased.
"Indeed." he agreed at last, returning his glare to meet with Kai's.
"Face it Oogway - neither of us are innocent." the bull coerced. "We had a dream of ruling this land as equals… and we were so close. With powers such as these, we can avenge the brethren we lost and finish what we started! Forget this philosophical nonsense!"
Oogway shook his head, "I have tasted enlightenment, brother, and I refuse to spit it back out. It appears that dream is yours alone."
"Then this shall be the end of you." Kai said with a grim resolve. "You shall taste nothing more than your own blood!"
The veteran warriors entered into one final clash against one another, the enraged spite of the bovine warrior crashing against the staggering defensive technique of his adversary. Deep verdant jade contended with bright auric yellow. It was to be in vain though, as whatever the weapon had done to Oogway, it had rendered him nigh-untouchable. Exhausted, Kai eventually surrendered an opening in his form, and the tortoise exploited it to devastating effect.
"Goodbye, my brother." Oogway said, striking Kai and releasing a golden dart of energy that pierced cleanly through his chest.
The bull stumbled backward at the impact. Surprisingly, instead of bleeding him dry, the cavernous wound caused his essence to start to dissipate into golden beams of light. For just a brief moment, Kai's eyes started to turn back to their natural color.
"A curse on you, traitor! I don't care how long it takes - even if it means waiting a thousand years! I will show you the true power of chi!"
In another second, a blinding shockwave swept over the village, taking Kai with it and returning the chi-consumed villagers back to normal. After a few minutes, the cloud of gold dust settled and revealed the village elder on the ground, still clinging on stubbornly to his life. Oogway's face held a thousand questions on its features, which the elder could never hope to answer with the limited time he had left.
"You have banished him to the Spirit Realm." he said calmly, despite the blood pooling up in his throat.
"I… I had to." the young warrior replied. "Does this mean Kai is-"
"You have sent him, body and soul, to another realm. He will lie in wait for you there, no doubt."
It was certainly a grim revelation, but Oogway knew time was running out to make any kind of sense from what had just occurred.
"What was it – the weapon?" he asked the doomed elder panda.
"Do you recall when I first taught you that if there is light, there must also be darkness?"
Oogway nodded, as the panda's breathing became increasingly labored.
"Your friend found a piece of that necessary darkness… There are many of them throughout the world - Shards of Chaos. Twisted gifts from the heavens. Their nature is to bring pain and suffering, and they can do no true good, only undo whatever evil they have wrought."
Oogway hesitated before speaking, "Then they must be destroyed."
"They cannot be. You have merely assimilated this one within yourself - it will never truly cease to exist."
The tortoise appeared disconsolate, at a loss for what he was to do; the panda seemed to sense this in him.
"Oogway, your soul is pure, and your chi is strong. Be a warlord no longer; become my successor in the pursuit of honor, harmony, and balance. Use the chi that exists in all living things to guide you."
The other villagers had since begun to gather around the two of them. Seeing the look in his teacher's eyes, Oogway did not need long to make his decision.
"I understand… I will do as you have asked."
Oogway's answer had made the elder smile. He took the paw that had been covering his wound and took Oogway's hand into his own.
"The universe brought you here for a reason, my friend. There are no accidents."
And with that, the panda surrendered the last of his willpower to death.
Oogway honored his word, leaving the village in search of his new life's purpose. When he eventually achieved enlightenment, the tortoise had not forgotten the lessons he had learned in the panda village. In the ten-thousand days he spent trying to perfect his fledgling art of Kung Fu, he spent many years seeking out the other shards of darkness in the world. Sometimes he would find them by following the guiding flow of the natural world, other times he would have to defeat a great evil in order to capture its source - though Oogway never again banished the body and soul of an enemy to the Spirit Realm like he had done to Kai.
In time, he discovered that each shard would offer the holder a great power, but manipulate their deepest desires into evil; the one that had possessed Kai had taught him how to take chi, and twisted the bull's desire to protect Oogway into darker motives. The tortoise buried many of these necessary evils, along with a number of other dark weapons and knowledge, deep within the foundations of the Jade Palace.
The grandmaster had long since assumed that attempting to contain the entirety of such otherworldly forces was an impossible task, but one such shard in particular had persistently eluded him.
Over the centuries of the tortoise's long life, what came to be known as the Dagger of Deng-Wa changed hands many times, building upon its legend with each new wielder. In the last of his many great battles, Oogway and the Jade Palace Masters fought a feral horde of warriors and the wielder of the mythic weapon near the ancient city of Xiangyang. On that day, two hundred years before the coming of the Dragon Warrior, Oogway defeated the last of the Deng-Wa Warlords and rendered the blade dormant upon the death of its wielder - but he had failed to recover it, and assumed it had been lost forever.
Oogway had assumed wrong.
The vision dissipated like smoke in the wind.
The currents which had been suspending Tigress above the temple floor subsided, leaving her kneeling on the cold floor of the temple, her heart racing and her mind reeling. She braced herself with her paws, the echo of the past still vivid in her thoughts. The sight of Oogway and Kai, the raw power of the Chaos Shard, the unearthly violence - it all churned within her, a storm of emotions she struggled to calm.
Her breathing remained heavy, each inhale and exhale grounding her in the present as the moments passed. Slowly, she lifted her gaze, the lingering effects of the vision leaving her disoriented. As her eyes focused, she saw what could only have been Fei Lian before her, his form shifting and undulating like a mirage.
Just then, Tigress' breath caught in her throat as the Wind God's true form at last began to solidify.
Fei Lian, the elusive ruler of this accursed realm, was equal parts majestic and intimidating; a being of exquisite beauty and overwhelming presence. His body was serpentine, akin to a dragon, but more fluid and graceful, as if crafted from the very winds he commanded. His scales shimmered with a silver-blue iridescence, reflecting the teal sea and golden sky of the ethereal plane. His four large limbs resembled that of a powerful bovine, and appeared to be more than capable of supporting his form - if for some reason the deity felt the passing temptations of gravity.
The Wind Lord's head was adorned with long, flowing tendrils that danced in the air like ribbons caught in a perpetual breeze - all of which were accentuated by a pair of towering lyre-curved horns. His eyes were a deep, swirling mix of blues and greens that seemed to hold the secrets of the universe within them; his expression an enigmatic blend of saturnine wisdom and mischievous apathy resting upon the sharpness of his eagle-like beak.
Large, translucent wings extended from his back, each feathered appendage catching the light and refracting it into a thousand different hues. Everything about Fei Lian emphasized that the very essence of the wind was imbued into his being.
"Now you see. All things in due time." the Wind God said, his voice no longer disembodied; despite its sonorous depth, the deity's tone had an almost hypnotic quality.
Tigress slowly rose to her feet, unsure where to even start. What she had been shown offered some much-needed answers, but far too many new questions as well.
"What have you done to Po?" she demanded, one question having won out over the others.
The Wind Lord's serpentine body swayed ever so slightly, weightless.
"Ah, the Dragon Warrior." he began. "Po has merely heralded the turning of the age; his chi is now a pure manifestation of the will of the winds. The Winds of Change."
"The Winds of Change… You've said that before."
Fei Lian's eyes glinted with amusement, "I have many names. Your people call me Fei Lian. To your enemies the Mongols, I am Tengri. To the Japanese, Fūjin. Others call me Vayu, Thần Gió, Matuu, and on and on. It makes no difference to me. I know myself as the Winds of Change."
Tigress's eyes narrowed as she recalled the vision of the past, how the evil in Kai had been summoned from so small a thing; something identical to what she had seen consume the Dragon Warrior.
"The Shards of Chaos," she said slowly, piecing together her thoughts. "I see now that the Dagger of Deng-Wa is one of them. What are they really? Why did the panda elder call them necessary evils?"
Fei Lian's expression shifted, a hint of pride passing across his visage. The deity turned to the side, revealing at last his tail. Tigress could not contain her shock as she saw that it was a great collective mass of luminous shards, each one glimmering with every color of the rainbow. As Fei Lian moved, they made an eerie sound, like chimes in the wind - it sounded just as it had in her dreams.
"These shards," Fei Lian explained, "are pieces of myself. They are the pure essence of chaos, the very core of my being. For I am the Lord of Chaos, the embodiment of change. Without chaos, there can be no true life - no growth, no evolution. I am a necessary evil, just as Po has become."
Tigress stared at the shimmering lights, the realization dawning upon her, "So, the Dagger of Deng-Wa and the other shards… they're all part of you?"
Fei Lian nodded slowly, delighting in the tiger's shocked confusion.
"Indeed. They were scattered across the mortal realm in the before-times; sought by many, feared by more. Each shard holds a fragment of myself, a sliver of the chaos that fuels the Winds of Change. What you call the 'Dagger of Deng-Wa' is merely one such vessel, a tool to harness and direct that chaos. To possess one of them is to become part-god; an allure that mortals such as yourself can seldom resist."
Tigress found this aspect to be particularly interesting, "So when Oogway absorbed the power of Kai's shard, he gained a piece of godhood? Is that why he was blessed with such a long life?"
Fei Lian bowed his head slightly in confirmation, "Though the tortoise blessed with magic powers lives long, its days have their allotted span."
The tiger did not outwardly show it, but she was humored by the timely reference, having enjoyed reading the poems of Cao Cao as a child.
"You called Po a necessary evil…" Tigress' mind raced once more, the weight of Fei Lian's words sinking in. "Well that's not what he is to me. I don't care what you say - I will find a way to bring him back."
"Mortals always assume they have an outsized role in the comings and goings of fate." the Wind Lord chuckled to himself. "What you want is infeasible, and yet - here you are."
Tigress did not have the patience to be belittled any longer.
"I know you have the power to return me to the mortal realm. You already know this is what I want. The only question I have left is: what do you want?"
"I am a god. I want for nothing."
"Not so." Tigress asserted. "You speak with these grand pretenses of change and fate, as if ambivalent to the whims and passions of mortals. But I see through you, Lord of the Winds."
Fei Lian turned about now, intrigued by her challenge, closing the distance between them even more.
"Oh do you now?" he challenged maliciously.
"Yes. What I have seen - both past and present, in my dreams and nightmares - tells me otherwise. Everything has happened for a reason. You do want something."
The eyes of the Wind God narrowed slightly.
"Look out to the horizon. What do you see?" he commanded with a gesture to the open panorama of the inner sanctum.
Approaching the vista, Tigress quickly identified a mass of bodies rapidly approaching the rocky terrain beneath the temple pagodas. She recognized them - it was the feral horde she had seen consumed when Po wielded the Dagger of Deng-Wa for the first time. The hapless souls reached the water margin, and the Tenshu Army of spirit warriors began cutting them down in droves. It was a pointless effort, and Tigress felt only pity for the prophetically cursed.
"You see," Fei Lian started, "being felled by a Shard of Chaos is but one of many ways to end up in this realm. You are only here by chance - by accident."
Tigress turned back to the Wind Lord.
"There are no accidents."
Fei Lian smiled at her, as if he had been hoping she would say this.
"That's the spirit." he mocked.
The tiger master growled, "Enough! What has this all been for?"
"A means to an end." the Wind Lord answered directly, as if that had even remotely approached an adequate response.
"Fine." Tigress answered, conceding that he would not reveal any grander motives. "Whatever it is, I still wish to return to the mortal realm."
"Then let us agree to terms. You would hardly be the first to have been granted passage back to the mortal realm - but everything has a price." Fei Lian said. "As you have seen already, the currency of this place is memory."
"You want my memory? Sabik, the guide who brought me here, desired just the same."
The deity shook its head, "The fox only wishes to see. You will have no further recollection of that which I choose to take from you."
The notion of losing her recollection of something in the past caused Tigress to hesitate for a moment. It was an existential sort of fear, and in that moment, she fully understood why memory was the last valuable thing a person ever possessed. Nonetheless, she had come too far to back away now.
"Which memory will you take from me?" she asked after an extended silence.
Fei Lian looked back towards the crystalline platform in the center of the room, contemplating as he examined the black and white lotus that still remained upon it.
"You certainly seem to value your friendship with the Dragon Warrior." he observed, looking back at the tiger. "Something nostalgic, perhaps."
As had happened far too many times lately, Tigress now found her consciousness pulled away from herself. She closed her eyes against the force of the sensation, and when she opened them again she was no longer in the temple.
Instead, she found herself on the deck of a boat, the soft sounds of night surrounding her. The river shimmered under the moonlight, casting a serene glow. Tigress watched herself as she knelt across from Po, seeing the moment as if for the first time. She had just asked the Dragon Warrior why he was really out there.
"I just found out that my dad… isn't really my dad." the panda said with a sincere undertone of disappointment.
"Your dad, the goose?"
Po nodded.
"That must have been quite a shock." she consoled, trying to choose her words carefully despite how painfully obvious the revelation had been.
Tigress could certainly relate to his disposition, after all.
"And this bothers you?" she continued.
"Are you kiddin me? We're warriors, right? Nerves of steel, souls of platinum!" Po said nonchalantly, clearly afraid of her judgment. "Like you! So hardcore you don't feel anything."
That last bit gave Tigress pause - so much so that she did not notice as Po jokingly punched her in the arm. Part of her did not like that this was how the Dragon Warrior really saw her. Maybe she had misjudged him… maybe he really did understand what it was like.
"I was-" she began, but was immediately cut off as the others joined them.
The vision began to fade.
Although Tigress could think of worse memories to lose, this one would still hurt. They never really did finish that conversation, but it was the first moment that the tiger master had truly begun to understand her friend - and it would be dearly missed.
Fei Lian remained before her, awaiting her decision.
"Very well - I accept." she said. "Take the memory."
Tigress at once felt a sharp pain as a small wave of golden energy was siphoned away from herself and absorbed by the deity. Fei Lian seemed to enjoy watching her in pain more than whatever menial increase in power he gained from the transaction. Before she had even recovered from this, however, blue flames combusted from thin air, forming an entryway of fire. The reflective center of the portal shimmered, its edges flickering brightly - but giving off no heat.
"You may walk amongst the living once more. Our contract is complete." Fei Lian said as his fiendish eyes bore into her own. "Be sure to put on a good show."
Tigress met the glare of the Wind God a final time, but did not speak. The look on her face had said everything. More than ready to be rid of this place, she stepped forward and broke the plane of the portal, and all things turned to darkness once more.
Tigress felt a sudden gasp of breath as life surged back into her lungs. Her eyes flew open and she found herself in complete blackness, save for several thin streaks of moonlight that pierced through to where she lay beneath the ashen ruins of the Black Lotus of Hēishén. The world around her became real once more as she regained her senses amidst the heap of charred debris.
The stench hit her first; the acrid smell of burned wood mingling with the sickening odor of decaying corpses. Her heart pounded as she realized where she was - the exact place where Yuelen had left her for dead. The bodies of the Mongolian elite tiger warriors lay scattered in the rubble around her, their lifeless forms a grim testament to the battle that had taken place there.
Instinct took over as Tigress began to desperately force her way out from under the putrid wreckage. The debris was heavy, pressing down on her with a suffocating weight. She gritted her teeth, muscles straining as she pushed and clawed at the charred beams. The splinters of wood and shards of stone cut into her paws, but she pressed on, driven by a fierce determination to escape.
Minutes passed like hours as she struggled, the oppressive darkness around her seeming to close in with every passing second. Finally, with a burst of strength, her fist drove upwards, puncturing through the collapsed temple roof. A rush of cool night air greeted her, invigorating and sharp against her skin.
With one final push, Tigress emerged from the ruined heap, standing at last. She embraced the fresh air, her chest heaving as she took deep, grateful breaths.
She was alive again.
The sensation was altogether surreal after inhabiting the ethereal plane just a short time beforehand. Relief washed over her as she stared up into the sky, the celestial canopy of innumerable distant stars shimmering in the velvet darkness.
The place was just as she remembered it. The temple ruins lay at the edge of a mighty gorge, the sheer drop down the cliff face obscured by thick, heavy fog that swirled below. The night was still, the silence broken only by the whistling of the wind as it passed through the remnants of the Black Lotus of Hēishén.
As Tigress gazed into the sky, letting the reality of her return sink in, her ears suddenly perked up at a distant sound. It was subtle at first, but it grew louder with each passing second. She turned her head, eyes narrowing as she peered into the thick mist that obscured the pathway winding along the gorge.
From the fog, several shadowed figures began to emerge, their forms becoming clearer as they approached. They were leopards, their armored bodies moving with the grace and precision of trained soldiers. Tigress' keen eyes quickly noted that while they were clearly Mongol in origin, they did not bear the emblem of Khasar Khan.
One of the soldiers stepped forward, his eyes scanning the ruined temple before settling on Tigress.
"Lord Boragal," he announced, his voice carrying an edge of surprise and reverence, "it seems the vision from your dreams was correct."
At his words, the other leopard soldiers stepped aside, making way for their leader. As the figure emerged from the fog, Tigress felt an innate jolt of recognition. She nearly gasped in shock as the leader came closer, his features unmistakable.
"Hello, sister." Tai Lung said with a smug grin. "It's been far too long."
Author's Notes:
- I'm really glad this update did not take nearly as long as the last one! Coming in at well over eight thousand words, this is easily my longest chapter to date!
- Those of you who have been following this fic from day one will recognize the "Necessary Evils" Oogway and Kai sequence as the return of what was originally the first chapter of the story; I don't regret the decision to move it this far forward, as it keeps the Dagger of Deng-Wa much more mysterious
- This chapter also features a cameo from yours truly! I have been contemplating including something like that for a long time, so I hope you got a bit of amusement out of it!
- After so much buildup, it was very fun to write Fei Lian; the reason for the title of this fic has finally been revealed!
- And Tai Lung returns at last! I have been working towards this reveal for a long time, hoping that the hints were not too obvious
- Special shoutout to Ying for being willing to beta read this massive chapter on short notice!
- Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers! You guys make keeping this fic going absolutely worth it!
- Until next time!