The evening went by merrily. At some point, the kids conspired and started pestering me with requests to "show a cool move" or "teach us how to hit that cool," though obviously, none of them knew exactly how I hit. But I practiced a bit on the air, demonstrating to the little ones how to properly make a fist and hold a stance.
The finale of my demonstration was the "Leopard's Steel Claws" technique. When I told the kid I had claws of steel, I was hinting at this move.
Kung Fu techniques themselves are divided into three levels by execution: student, master, and Chi user. If a student can punch a hole in a wall or leave a large dent in a steel shield with "Steel Claws," a master can punch right through that shield, along with the warrior holding it. But if you add a drop of Chi to all this (actually, a hell of a lot goes into it), something incredible happens—a projection of a leopard forms, flying into the target, destroying it and piercing it through. Thus, the attack transforms from a normal close-range strike into a mid-range projectile attack.
Anyway, I launched a couple of blue ghostly leopards into the night sky. With a hiss resembling the sound of tearing silk, they rushed into the darkness, leaving a faint scent of ozone in the frosty air. All this happened to the delighted cries of the kids and the stunned, awe-filled gazes of the adults. The demonstration of power was a success. Satisfied, I trudged off to my den to sleep.
During these couple of days of freedom (counting the sleep in Chorh-Gom), I hadn't managed to decide on any plans at all: okay, I get to the Jade Palace, but what then?
Follow the path of the cartoon Tai Lung?
I'll kill the panda somehow, Shifu is no opponent for me either, and I won't even mention the Five, but what next? Take the scroll and seize the Jade Palace, making excuses to the Emperor that I'll raise the next Five to replace the murdered one?
Sounds like some villain path in a game—killing for the sake of killing, evil for the sake of evil...
I doubt an agreement can be reached, although... What if I try to talk honestly with Shifu, without withholding anything or accusations? Will it be possible to convince him that twenty years were more than enough for me?
They imprisoned me for a hundred...
Ah yes, an important fact—I was imprisoned for a hundred years, which, in reality, is far from the oldest age. And if we discard the two-thousand-year-old turtle because they are long-lived, what do we do with the other characters? Shifu is about three hundred, his former teammates from the "Furious Five" are around five hundred years old, so even now, at forty, I am quite young by master standards. But will I manage to convince the old man that I deserve a "second chance" right now?
Alright, over these twenty years, as far as I remember the cartoon, he managed to change a lot himself, so making assumptions is stupid; I'll have to act according to circumstances, as usual...
With such thoughts, I fell asleep on a bed for the first time in two decades...
Third-person view
In the empty training hall, candles with incense burned today, and Master Shifu, who had lived quite a while, just like many years ago, was still trying to awaken the conscious use of Chi within himself.
To use this energy consciously, one needs to know harmony within oneself and find one's path in the world.
Being a capable and even in some sense a genius master, Shifu could not cross this line for many years, could not accept himself and know that very harmony.
"Inner peace... Inner... In-in-inner peace..." the master quietly uttered, recalling the words of his teacher Oogway.
Old traumas made themselves felt—the loss of his family, years on the street, and even joining a gang... He hated those years of his youth even now, and this is exactly what prevented him from knowing true inner peace, as Master Oogway taught him—the one thanks to whom Shifu became who he was, and the one who pulled young Shifu out of the darkness, allowing him to become his student and help people.
Suddenly, the master's ears began to twitch. Even without the awakening of Chi, as this stage was called, Master Shifu was an experienced warrior who had been through many battles, and right now the nervous flapping of wings from outside gave him no peace.
"Mm?"
At first, he thought it was Crane, but he would have recognized the sounds made by his student. Then Shifu couldn't stand it.
"Who is flapping their wings out there? Maybe enough already?" The man shouted toward the hole in the roof, and when the sound stopped... "... Peace..."
"Ouch!" At that second, a person who had indeed stopped flapping his wings fell into the hole, smacking onto the soft floor.
"Oh, Zeng!" An angry Shifu turned around, ready to yell at the fool who decided to disturb him, but recognized his buddy who worked as a messenger and had only recently been sent by him to Chorh-Gom prison, where Tai Lung has been sitting for twenty years now... "Excellent," Shifu smiled at his friend. "Heh, I could use some good news right now."
Zeng, who had opened his mouth to speak, faltered. He was covered in sweat, feathers in many places seemed to be smoking from speed, and his eyes bulged with horror.
"Uhh," he grunted, trying to find words and involuntarily starting to scratch the back of his head. "Shifu, the thing is... How to put it..."
"Well, speak, don't be shy," Shifu encouraged him.
"Tai Lung has escaped!" The messenger blurted out in panic. "Chorh-Gom is destroyed! Everyone who was there, I am sure, is already dead! I miraculously managed to fly away! Tai Lung told me to tell you that 'the true Dragon Warrior is coming'!" By the end, the breathless messenger almost broke into a scream. He had flown sparing no effort, not stopping for rest or sleep, just to warn his friend about the impending danger as soon as possible.
"What?!?" Shifu's eyes widened in surprise, and when Zeng, at Shifu's command, told him in detail what had happened, Shifu broke into a run, heading to the only living being capable of defeating his son in battle...
Mentally, Shifu cursed; he had sworn to himself many times not to call Tai Lung his son anymore, and not because he hated him, but because he HIMSELF believed he was unworthy to be his father.
Years of training, Shifu's guidance... and when he, as a father, should have been there, he just followed principles and renounced the idea of making his heir the Dragon Warrior... But Tai Lung did not renounce his father's fixed idea...
"Master! Master!" Shifu called out to his teacher in advance. "I have very... Bad news."
"Ah, Shifu... Hehe..." Oogway said smiling, stopping his practice and turning around. "News is news... Good or bad..."
"Master, your vision... It turned out to be true!" At first, Shifu managed to hold back his emotions, but in the end, they spilled out: "Tai Lung has broken out of prison! And he is coming here!!!"
"News... Bad..." The playful tone disappeared from Oogway's voice for a moment. "If one does not believe that the Dragon Warrior will stop Tai Lung..."
"The panda?" Shifu stared at the master with disbelief. "Master! The p-panda cannot be the Dragon Warrior! He shouldn't have been here at all! It is an accident!"
"There are no accidents..." Oogway repeated his favorite phrase, causing the student to exhale in disappointment.
"Yes, I know... You already said that. Twice."
"Well, and that is no accident either," Oogway continued, keeping a smile on his face.
"Thrice."
"My old friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control."
"The illusion?" Shifu asked uncomprehendingly, squinting.
"Yes!" Oogway confirmed, and then continued: "Look at this tree, Shifu. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, nor make it bear fruit before its time."
"But there are things we can control!" Shifu interrupted his master, then sharply kicked the tree trunk, and when peaches began to fall from it, continued: "I can control when the fruit will fall!" Shifu explained, after which one of the peaches bonked him lightly on the forehead.
"Hohoho..." Oogway laughed quietly, looking at his student.
"And I can control," Shifu tossed the peach into the sky, then jumped up and with a masterful strike split the fruit into two parts, snatching the pit and planting it into the ground. "... Where to plant the seed! And that is no illusion, Master."
"Ah, yes..." Oogway agreed enigmatically. "But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach."
"Can a peach tree defeat Tai Lung?" Shifu snapped, unable to restrain himself. The very thought of his student's possible return terrified Shifu.
"Maybe it can," Oogway uttered, sitting down and covering the hole in the ground, thereby giving the planted seed a better chance to grow. "If you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it!"
"But how?" Shifu asked, his cheek twitching. "How? I need your help, Master!"
"No! You just need to believe," Master Turtle said quietly. "Promise me, Shifu. Promise me you will believe!"
"I... I promise..." Shifu agreed under the pressure of the teacher.
"Mmm... Good..." Oogway stood up, looking into the distance. "My time has come. You must continue your journey without me..." Saying these words, the most ancient of masters placed his staff into the hands of his most devoted student, who accepted it silently in surprise.
"What? What? What? Wait! What?" Even starting to stutter, Shifu looked with shock at the great master who brought the philosophy and teaching of Kung Fu to China, but he did not listen, walking to the cliff edge. "Master! Do not leave me!"
"You must believe!" Pink peach blossom petals rose into the air and followed Oogway, who turned to his student and, bowing, dissolved into the flow.
"Master!.."
Thus ended the story of the oldest Kung Fu master in China... Or not yet?
POV Tai Lung
The morning did not start with coffee...
Although it couldn't start with coffee, for there is none here, at least Tai Lung hadn't heard of such a drink.
Someone was knocking furiously on the door, whereas a light tap would have been enough—I would have woken up.
"Yes?" I shout in a disgruntled voice, kneading my neck.
"Respected Master!" Mei literally bursts into the house with tears in her eyes. Oh, what is it now? "The village is under attack and... and... My husband is there! They seized him and demand that Master Xue come out alone to fight!"
"Uh... What does that have to do with me?" No, I'm not against participating in a brawl, but if these are buddies of that toothy guy, their strength isn't much greater than his, so screw it. I'd still have to dirty my hands on this filth, and the snow leopard is very strong, judging by my senses, and will slaughter them without problems.
"Uh... But the leader is a famous bandit, for whose head a huge reward has been announced by the Emperor personally!" The elder's wife blurted out. "Golden Tooth Ace! A wolf mastering Kung Fu, and under his command are almost a hundred cutthroats! Respected Xue will not cope with all of them!"
"..." I had nothing to say to this, and I'm not talking about the situation, but about the names of these idiots. Now, in contrast, I remembered what that jackal was called—Sabo, and here is his "bro" named Ace... With a golden tooth, yeah... I'm afraid that judging by everything, some "copper" or, conversely, "diamond tooth" named Luffy will come to avenge this wolf...
"Master, please, help her!" This goat started giving me a quest... And that's not an insult, although I want to say something like that. "I understand that I am asking a lot, you have already helped us, and we are in unpaid debt, but I beg you, intervene, do not let another follower of the Kung Fu path die."
"Hr... Fine," I corrected myself at the end. Swearing is uncultured, even Shifu knows that; he taught me this, which is why Tai Lung in the cartoon didn't swear like a sailor, although he should have. "I'll save your hubby, you know the drill."
"Yes, thank you so much, they are not far from the village entrance, near the stairs!" Mei nodded, running to that same barn which is apparently used as a shelter here.
Damn, what a problematic village this turned out to be. I wonder how it all ended in the cartoon universe; I doubt that Tai Lung even stopped here, rather than rushing headlong to take revenge on everyone possible...
I leave "Old Li's house," noting that the morning is just breaking. The air is cold, fresh, but there is a smell of smoke from the bonfire due to yesterday's celebration. I head towards the village exit, to that very staircase Mei spoke of. And, of course, the snow leopard is already there.
Xue Xia stands on the edge of the cliff, back to me, looking down at the bandits. She is wearing her travel clothes again, and she looks collected. The girl hears my steps—a master of her level couldn't fail to hear—and turns around.
"Lucky you're still here," she says without preamble. Her voice is calm, but I hear steel notes in it; apparently, there really are quite a few bandits. "I..." she suddenly seemed to come to her senses, knocking down her combat mood. "We didn't really introduce ourselves yesterday. You know my name, but what is yours, Master?"
I think for a second. Should I tell my real name? I came to this village to get news and recover a bit after the forced starvation. I'm sure she's not a fool and will immediately understand exactly which Tai Lung saved this village—even if news of my escape isn't widely known yet, there aren't two Tai Lungs with a snow leopard bloodline masterfully wielding Kung Fu in China.
I look calmly into her eyes.
"Tai Lung."
Her reaction... is quite unexpected. Xue only closes her eyes for a moment and exhales quietly.
"So, I didn't imagine it..." The snow leopard whispers this so quietly that an ordinary person wouldn't have heard, but my hearing allowed me to make out her words. She opens her eyes again, frowning. "Tai Lung," there is determination in her eyes. "I don't know how you got out of Chorh-Gom, but right now it doesn't matter. There are a hundred cutthroats down there. Their leader, Ace, holds Elder Chen captive and demands that I come down, otherwise they will kill him. I am sure it is a trap, and these bastards will demand I do nothing, otherwise an innocent will die."
At these words, the girl frowns even more. If I weren't here, she would have had to disregard the guy's life, but since I am here after all...
"You..." she hesitates, "Can you save the prisoner while they are distracted?"
I chuckle.
"I was just about to propose the same thing."
Xue Xia nods.
"Good. I don't know why you are here, but right now we need to save them. I will go down the stairs, thereby attracting all their attention," the girl says, and then points to the mountain slope to the side of the village, covered with forest. "Can you go down the slope? It's a sheer cliff, but..."
"I can," I cut her off. A cliff? After escaping from Chorh-Gom, this is a cakewalk.
"Then let's act," she throws out and, without wasting another second, steps onto the platform before the stairs, takes a deep breath, and begins to descend.
I hear joyful, predatory cries from below as they notice her, but I have a task.
I approach the edge of the cliff, where the dense forest clinging to the rocks begins. I look down, estimating the approximate distance. About a hundred meters of almost sheer descent. If this task didn't require stealth, I would have just jumped and that's it, but now it's important to be unnoticed.
I jump and land on a rock ledge ten meters below without making a sound. I push off, fly again, my claws digging into the stone, slowing the fall. I move like a shadow, from ledge to ledge, from tree to tree, descending into the forest that grows at the foot of the mountain.