"There's nothing in this world that can replace hard experience…"

Dynasty of the Fated and Cursed : Omen

There was an awkward silence lingering in the air today, the Peace Valley was quiet and there was no apparent danger. Not even an unhealthy omen or threat of war. The valley appeared to be completely without worry, doubt or fear, but it was not as peaceful as it always felt. There was something different in the air today, and everyone could feel it. The Furious Five, Master Shifu, the Palace Guards, towns people, even the animals felt a still emotion in the air, however no one could figure out why. There were no bandits or raiders on approach from any direction and the harvest has been plentiful and even the Jade Palace was just as busy as ever if not a bit more lax than usual.

Shrapnel from exploding stone targets was always seen flying off the great mountain from time to time from training in the tournament yard by the Furious Five. It ofcourse was very dangerous if anyone was ascending the staircase unaware and; if one listened closely, you could hear instruction from the Grand Master Shifu, or the Dragon Warrior Po shouting a mighty command before executing a powerful strike. Although it was always advised that wearing head protection, or at least paying attention was the best course of action when approaching the Palace where constant combat, training and life lessons were taught and absorbed.

But it seemed with all their experience, they couldn't sense the cold hunger in the air, the unpleasant tingle of something sneaking up behind you, the sense that you were in some kind of danger from an unknown source. No one could guess why … but something was amiss…

Crane was stretching his thin, but mighty legs as he called over to his ally Mantis who was in the middle of virtually reliving his past, from being cruelly tortured. Mantis was twitching nervously he was glaring at his current training partner and sister in arms, Master Tigress. She was supposed to hurl a temple door sized target at her small training partner, but she was testing him, testing his patience in a very unfair way. She was inwardly wondering how long she could stall before he dropped his preparation or lost his mind, which this was pay back from earlier when he tormented her during lunch at the prospect of her looking like a female Tai-Lung with noddle hanging from her lips. "Hey, Mantis" Crane chirped again, but was momentarily ignored by Mantis almost bursting a blood vessel in his tiny brain due to waiting. "What-what, errg… What is it Crane?" He asked in haste, keeping both eyes fiercely locked upon Tigress, who was smiling like a well fed vampire, and carelessly balancing the target on one foot and the rest of her weight on another. Clearly, and thoughtlessly torturing Mantis to his limits.

"Does the weather seem … different to you?" Crane asked nonchalantly trying to decide if he was worrying too much.

"No!" Mantis immediately answered, his gaze still locked onto his target, which was hastily becoming Tigress instead of the target which has yet to be projected at him. He wanted to smash it to shards. "That's strange because … usually there's a gentle breeze coming from the Peach Blossom tree around this time of day but … there isn't one" Crane spoke, mostly to himself at this point, watching Mantis still in his ready pose … wondering exactly how long he was willing to await Tigress' action. With a sigh he rose and spoke, "I think I'm going to go check the Peach Blossom, make sure there's nothing strange going on." As he spoke, he left, leaving behind his other brethren to train, including Viper and Monkey who were preoccupied with their own training with Po, making the attempt to get past his improvised kung fu and his obvious meaty defenses. Crane was older than the rest of his friends, and with his age, clearly came wisdom. Which is probably why he could feel something out of place, or seriously out of place in this since… but the uncertainty he was feeling somewhere in his hat, and hadn't been completely realized just yet.

Soaring high, Crane swiftly came upon the pink peach blossom tree where Master Oogway departed. It was still abloom wonderfully, however … not many to any flowers were falling today. Something was definitely wrong, but still very unclear. Crane landed swiftly, and gazed upon the tree, tilting his hat and examining the thin branches, not at all noticing Master Shifu within the area, slowly approaching with a curious look upon his mustache and both of his paws cupped at the end of his back.

"Can you sense it too Crane?" The short Master asked as he stepped toward his thin student, ignoring that Crane's natural mode perception was so heavily stunted, blaming it on the weather.

"Oh! Master!" Crane spoke quickly, clearly surprised but also embarrassed for being so easily distracted by the tree and the clear, dead feel in the air overhead. "Yes … the tree, the weather … something feels different in the Valley of Peace, Master Shifu… something I can't place just yet."

Shifu nodded, as his glance fell upon the petals of the peach blossom tree, which close to all of the bloomed petals were held fast to their buds and branches. "Yes… Something is something wrong, Crane, but I don't know what, and I can't say what just yet… The Blossom can surely feel it as well as the rest of nature I'm sure, and I'm fairly certain the others can too, even Po…" Shifu spoke, turning about face now to completely focus himself on the tree.

And as if on cue, approached the remaining 4 Masters of Kung Fu and the Dragon Warrior, Master Monkey and Master Viper looked confident in themselves, they'd of had to bested Po. It was two on one, but at least they succeeded in taking the Dragon Warrior for once instead of being rifled off his mighty belly into one of the palace walls. Master Tigress, who had eventually flung the target at Master Mantis, who was looking a bit larger than normal from how hard the blood must have been coursing through him, which was only more apparent at how bloodshot his eyes were. Even though the test was completely over, he was still in full fledged action mode, which didn't make any difference to Tigress. She'd gotten her payback and felt fantastic; however this distracted her completely from the matter at hand, and Po who had somehow managed to magic a snack from thin air and had devoured it before he even crested the hill with the rest of his allies. Shifu could hear the Panda licking his paws and in the back of his mind, wondered how he managed to allow a snack to survive the duration of training with the rest of the Masters. Tigress glanced over to see the Panda eating, and she began to wonder where in the hell he'd been hiding a snack from everyone else, he who was originally so generous to share.

Being the most outspoken, Po stepped forward before the others, who were still catching their breath and bowing in respect to their master. "Master Shifu? What's up? Crane isn't in trouble is he?"

Shifu shook his head slowly, almost disappointed in the clear ignorance and innocence of Po, hoping he'd of taken some pride in his new title, and with that title, better judgment and vocabulary. "No Po, we may all be in trouble however … Do you not feel it?" He spoke, now turning to glare over his shoulder at his large and dopey student. An almost dead glare resting in his azure eyes, the other students looked into the air, all of their necks turning about trying to find something, as if searching for the perfect cloud that looked like a dragon.

Po glanced back down at his Master slightly puzzled, then up at the sky. "You mean that weird fat feeling in the air? Like it's a lazy slow day or somethin?"

Shifu wasn't very impressed, actually Shifu was never impressed with his lax vocabulary, however he did agree, today did feel lazy … and fat. "Yes … Yes, Po. That lazy feeling your ancestors would have called an omen in the years long past… But never the less, there's something," Master Shifu paused for a long moment, making his other Master level students think up their own words similar to 'large', or 'scary', however Shifu clarified their thoughts by completing his sentence with, "Dark. Something very foreboding and malicious is on approach. I can almost guarantee it."

The other Furious Five had finally regained their lost fatigue from the extensive training, not taking a snack break and, rushing to the blossom, however they all gained their composure swiftly. Monkey spoke first, "So are you saying we may have another disaster on our hands Master?"

Then Tigress stepped forward, "Surely we can handle whatever the hell may come our way… Right, Master?" Tigress then bowed with respect, forgetting she lets her mouth get ahead of her mind sometimes.

Shifu's gaze was low and stern, he didn't know what to think but he knew worrying about it and not knowing exactly what he, or his students were facing, was the worst option to consider. "I'll be able to inform you properly after much meditation but for now my students" He glanced over all of them, sweaty, exhausted and fatigued. "Please, take a bath and relax for the remainder of the day … I might have to intensify your training so please relax for now. You will all need to be at your peak if you are to combat a threat that could be more malevolent than m- … than Tai-Lung."

"Master?" Mantis questioned, inching forward, inwardly questing if his Master was going to say 'My Son' instead of his name but directed his focus towards the second thought he had on his mind. "You rarely, if ever give us a 'day off', tell us, please tell us what's going on" He was almost demanding to know what everyone was so concerned about. Viper, at this moment, also chimed in feeling concerned and wishing she could soothe someone's troubled mind or spirit. "Master, whatever it is, we can handle it, all six of us!"

"Mantis, Viper… all of you" Shifu said with a frown on his face, as he sat and began to meditate. "You will know, with time …" And with that closing statement, the Five all bowed in respect, then turned and began back towards the Jade Palace, leaving Po where he was.

The Panda was still on the mountain before his master and the tree even after the Furious Five were out of eyesight, but he couldn't work anything out of his mouth. He was very confused, but at the same time concerned. Danger was looming and no one knew what to do about it. "I don't get it…" He spoke to himself, with no reply. "Why is the world always gettin' in trouble?" Po sighed and turned to run back to the Jade Palace, leaving Shifu alone on the mountain to meditate in peace, and try to clear his own mind, centering his chi, centering his focus, directing his mind to the heavens and spiritually projecting his image, and at the same time scanning the surrounding providence.

"Tai-Lung …" Shifu murmured as he began to slowly float off the ground and shimmer with a brilliant jade-blue aura that wasn't even causing air flow. "…My son."

Back at the Jade Palace, the Furious Five were all enjoying a collective soak in their bath tubs. They were giant sturdy wooden bowls suspended above the ground with a built in furnace attached to the bottom meant to heat the waters to a soothing degree or even a boiling one if necessary, which still in some magical way wasn't hot enough for Tigress. The tubs were clearly visible from one to the other, nothing concealing anything or anyone from one to the next unless someone intended for it to be, Shifu didn't think it necessary for there to be secrets between his students and, at the time, he didn't detect any open emotion between any of them. Tigress and Viper shared a tub on one side of the bath hall while, Monkey, Po, Crane and Mantis were in theirs on the other possibly a good 30 feet from one another. Sometimes Po and Mantis would kick a ball from tub to tub if they were bored when they actually got free time.

Mantis however was on the edge of the man's bowl instead of in the water like everyone else, simply cleaning himself off naturally, and not wanting to drown in the tsunami from Po constantly needing to stand and rock the boat while telling one of his clearly memorized kung fu legends that he'd manually carved into his brain when he was younger.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, either loving the soothing sting of the steaming hot water against their aching and fatigued muscles, or with Po's jokes which actually were funny instead of plain stupid. The Furious Five never normally got time to themselves during the day, and especially not during the morning, but they were going to use this time effectively and rejuvenate if not completely pamper their bodies with taking advantage of such things as, 'Relaxing'. Even Po knew how to properly spend his free time when he wasn't eating, because somehow he always knew how to liven the mood when there was something amiss in the air.

"Oh, Po! That's a funny one!" Monkey laughed out loud, being joined by Crane who was almost ready to pass out from the heat, now wondering why he agreed to take a hot steam bath with his friends.

Po laughed and out, feeling tall from making his friends laugh. "I just thought that one up." He said with a sly wink. "But here's another good one-" However his next joke was interrupted by Tigress from across the hall.

"Po, why are you always so loud. We're supposed to be relaxing?" Tigress' muscles always seemed to tense up when in the presence of Po, and more importantly his loud voice. It was always capable of jarring her from any relaxing activity or thought she may have had with the thought of a large panda, eating nearby, getting crumbs on anything she might have been thinking about.

The Panda stopped, and blinked for a moment. "Oh, uh … sorry Tigress, was just … ya know, joking around with the guys."

"Yes, I know …" Tigress replied drudgingly hating the term 'the guys', "I just wish you knew how to exercise some digression being the Dragon Warrior and all. Something serious is happening out there in the world, and all you can do is tell jokes and pretend nothing is happening…"

The other guys glanced over at Po, wondering what he was going to say, wondering if he was really going to get into a shouting match with Tigress again, the few they've had have always fell in Tigress' favor and at the same time, had been her fault in the first place, she was just a faster talker and a quicker thinker and more intimidating. "Hey," Panda began, "If I spent every minute wondering, watching, waiting and worrying. I wouldn't have the energy to fight, or even the patience to go on after whatever was happening … was over!"

Monkey nodded somehow making sense of the Panda's nonsense, "Yeah he's right Tigress, besides Master Shifu said we should relax, we'll get stronger training tomorrow. So I think we should just relax for the time we've got before it hits the paper fan."

"Yeah," Crane said, panting. "We should … relax, and enjoy free time" Crane was clearly speaking out of discomfort and sarcasm. However, he didn't want to show he somehow wasn't as manly as Po or Monkey because neither of them happened to notice the heat, however Crane felt like the main flavor in a rich broth due to the temperature, which to his small limbs and hand held frame, was quite hot.

Viper giggled, looking at the basting Crane. "Then how about we get out of the tubs, and have something to eat, lets start that way."

Po and the other guys all nodded, including Mantis who was trying to maintain balance on the wooden tub even as Po was rocking it like a raft.

"Hey, last one to the kitchen cleans the up the mess!" Monkey said laughing, and back flipping out of the bath bucket slinging water off his tail, which set off the rest of the Furious Five in a torrent of fur and hunger.

Off in the distance however the scene was completely different, not one of joy, excitement or happiness, but of pain and loss…

Shifu was still upon the mountain before the blossom. The petals had begun falling again, along with the Master's spirit. A small tear was visible resting on the end of his nose, but only a single drop. He was too strong to show his emotions openly, however in the presence of no one but his ancestors and the wind, he could allow to lower his defense for a single moment … and remember …

Oogway had just cast his judgment on his students son. Tai-Lung stood before the both of them, the pool and the Dragon Scroll the lay above, out of distance but in plain sight. It was taunting, evil and seductive, but at the same time, demanding, dependant and screaming for Tai-Lung. The Snow Leopard could always feel the desire that was resting within that Scroll. He'd laid his eyes on millions of parchments, but this particular one was the only he'd actually wanted greater than he did the pleasures of the flesh, alcohol, or even money. He knew within that scroll was ultimate power, to magnify his own phenomenal might, speed, and intellect. There was nothing else in this world that held his interest as much as that. That is why he was here. He was before his father, and his father's master. The greatest Kung Fu Master alive, despite his overbearing age. He was prepared to receive what his life had been completely sacrificed to receive. He'd broken bones, lost teeth, suffered, at one point what he thought, permanent wounds to strive to be stronger, to be smarter, to become greater than anyone else in history, all for that scroll. All for his father, for the glory of gaining the title that he'd been dying for 18 years to achieve and to bring honor and glory to his father's name, Tai-Lung was willing to sacrifice. He only knew Master Shifu as his father, and Shifu loved Tai-Lung as his only son, and over time trained Tai-Lung like he was the only thing standing in between peace and complete anarchy.

Now the time of judgment was upon him, and when it was passed, Shifu could feel Tai-Lung's soul being torn from both their grasps as Oogway turned away from the both of them. Shifu was confused, deeply confused, hurt … ashamed of his short comings and falling rapidly into depression. He'd spent years, teaching his son how to properly strike a solid punch, how to avoid a bone snapping from receiving a powerful counter-strike, and how to control his anger. Promising him every day and every night that he would be the Dragon Warrior and ascend to the stairway of the gods with such power he would possess. But all that was gone now, the only man that stood between Tai-Lung and glory had turned on the both of them. Denying Shifu's only, his birthright, the look in Shifu's eyes as he cast them upon his son were that almost as pathetic as Tai-Lung's was when he was only an infant no more than four hours in his company. The infant was crying from hunger, and Shifu was now feeling the same way. He'd not known how to react to this. He apologized in a single word, "Sorry." And he turned away from his annihilated son to follow Oogway, not trying to protest against his Master's decision, completely accepting that 18 years of work was wasted. Shifu never felt lower on that day, and the injury was only multiplied upon when his son returned, this time demanding the scroll with force instead of waiting to be rewarded what he rightfully had bled for.

There was nothing Shifu could do to stop his son, the fire in his son's golden eyes was on fire with a glare that somehow even managed to pierce his stiff heart. Being deflected like weak bamboo Shifu fell to the floor, rising quickly to witness his son falling to the ground after being attacked with a flawless series of nerve attacks from the creator of Kung Fu. Shifu knew his son would lose that fight, it was the equivalent of an infant attempting to shave, and Tai-Lung had suffered and utter defeat. Not just in this brief altercation with his father and Oogway, but in life in itself. Losing your youth, and chance at a future in a single day was clearly the reason why Tai-Lung had charged in with a complete lack of his own safety. He'd wanted to die that day…

Shifu had to stop himself from dropping another tear as he remembered who he'd cherished so deeply, and lost. There was never going to be anything or anyone who could fill the void of his lost son, but it wasn't the pain of Tai-Lung's death that had him worried … because, he knew deep inside his heart, and in his mind that his tyrannical son. The Master of the thousand scrolls of kung fu. The destroyer of Chor Ghom Prison, and the only warrior alive who was actually able to best him in fierce hand to hand combat. Shifu knew that Tai-Lung wasn't dead and he knew it fully … he was simply missing, and Shifu knew his lost son better than he knew himself. He knew Tai-Lung's darkness and malice would just multiply and return at full force, if not undeniably greater than he can even envision.

"Please, my students … Be prepared for the worst…" Shifu whispered to himself, his chi still glowing brightly around him, keeping him suspended within the air. "Be prepared…"

--End of Omen--

Well this is my first story submitted here, and I want to apologize for the short intro. The chapters that follow will be longer, I promise, and a bit is going to have to happen before I get to the meat of the story, this is just the introduction. And let me know if there's anything that doesn't make any since or just sounds false. I can only get better through trial and error, and if left up to me, I'd rewrite this completely, I'm never satisfied with my work .; Ah well, Thanks for reading :3