Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. This applies to all the stories.

About this one-shot… I've always wondered what went on in Tai Lung's head during all those years in prison. This is my imagination of his thoughts during his first appearance in the first film.

My ears prick at the sound of the many doors of my prison opening one by one.

"Oh my…" I hear the faint, distant voice of a man in fear.

I keep my eyes closed as the last door opens and the drawbridge falls. I feel the ground quake slightly beneath my knees as the heavy bridge falls.

"Behold… Tai Lung."

I hear the voice of that cursed warden, the one they call Vachir. Mongolian for 'thunderbolt'.

'Thunderbolt' indeed!

For twenty years, my sensitive ears have listened to that wrinkly old rhino brag about how his prison was inescapable, how I was completely at his mercy. For a leader of the Anvil of Heaven, Commander 'Thunderbolt' sure did a lot more talking than fighting. In my opinion, Vachir is just thunder. The kind of thunder that rumbles all day yet never flashes its lightning.

"Uh… I'll just wait here." Says the voice full of fear.

I open my eyes very slightly, and see that the person standing next to 'Thunder' was a goose. A palace goose from the Jade Palace, judging from his glossy attire.

I am surprised. What was a palace goose doing here after all these years? The prison is 'inescapable', and everyone at the palace, even Shifu, has surely forgotten all about me by now. To them, I am just a bad memory. A memory of someone who was betrayed twice in one day and was imprisoned for trying to obtain justice.

My thoughts are interrupted when Vachir laughs at the goose's cowardice.

"Hehehe… it's nothing to worry about. It's perfectly safe."

I hear a 'whack' and an 'oof' as the goose is smacked forward.

I close my eyes again as the near-silent steps of the goose and the thundering footfalls of the warden traverse the drawbridge and approach my island.

"Crossbows, at the ready!" Vachir yells.

I hear clunking and scraping as the large crossbows surrounding my island all train their spears in my direction.

I hear the sound of the footsteps change slightly as the goose and the warden step from wood to stone.

"Hey, tough guy?"

There he goes again, I think, anger building in my stomach but unnoticeable from the outside. Every now and then, in his arrogance and brutality, he comes down here and torments me. I despise those times, as they serve to remind me of my downfall at the Jade Palace. I never hated anyone more than Vachir and the times he comes down here, with the obvious exception of my former master and his silence when Oogway had refused me what was rightfully mine.

"Did you hear?" I feel the heat from the torch he's holding as he walks past me and stops right behind. "Oogway's finally going to give someone the Dragon Scroll… and it's not going to be you!"

My heart skips a beat.

My breathing stops.

And then a rage that I haven't felt since my denial fills my entire body, burning my mind and searing in my chest.

How dare he?

How dare that wrinkly, scaly old fool give away the secret to limitless power to someone who did not deserve it?

How DARE he?

"What are you doing, don't get him mad!" The goose yells.

Too late for that, I think.

"What's he going to do about it?" Vachir asks. I feel his eyes gazing at me with contempt. A feeling that is more than mutual. "I've got him completely immobilized."

And he stomps on my tail.

The pain is indescribable, but the paralyzing tortoise shell prevents me from doing anything other than breathing just a little harder.

The goose jumps back, expecting a much more violent reaction. Vachir laughs, but I think, yes, goose. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Vachir leans down, and I feel his foul, hot breath graze my cheek.

"Awww, did I step on the witty kitty's tail? Awwwww…"
What I wouldn't have given to have been able to rip his throat out at that very moment.

"Okay… I've seen enough!" says the goose. Vachir seems to silently agree, and he stands up and leads the goose back across the drawbridge, once again leaving me alone on the island.

"I'll just tell Shifu that he's got nothing to worry about…"

"No he doesn't!" Vachir says coldly.

Again, I am surprised. So it was Shifu who had sent the goose. And after all these years, he's started to worry about my potential escape. I wonder why.

"Okay, I'll tell him… can we please go now?" Is the last thing I hear before the drawbridge rises back up and the many doors slide shut with echoing bangs.

For a moment, all is once again silent… and that's when the feather comes fluttering down.

My eyes snap wide open a second after the feather lands silently on the stone right in front of me.

At long last, an opportunity has risen.

Quick as a flash, I whip out my tail, the only part of my body I can move, and snatch the feather before anyone can see it.

Just you wait, 'Thunder'… I think, my smile hidden by the darkness. Just you wait…

Not my best work, I know. It's just a warm up. Don't worry, the next one's going to be better.

I'm also taking requests for story ideas. As long as they're not inappropriate (M-rated) just send me your request through reviews and/or private messaging. Thanks.