Dragon Princess

Who Is Kai?

Yuki and Tigress joined the rest of the Five, Kori, and Shifu in the palace scroll room. Shifu was hanging from one of the higher shelves, tossing scrolls haphazardly to the floor.

"Kai..Kai..Where is it?"

Yuki sidestepped to avoid a flying scroll. "Any luck?"

Crane gave a heavy sigh. "Not yet." He shot Yuki a glance. "Shifu is losing his mind!" He hissed quietly to her.

Shifu's ear twitched, "My mind is far from lost." He snatched up another scroll. "Yes!" He turned and flipped down onto the floor. A jade scroll in hand. "Behold." He held it up for all to see.

"How ironic." Kori stated with an eye roll. Yuki smacked him with her uninjured paw to silence him.

Shifu didn't seem to mind the statement, he popped the scroll case open and shook the scroll out. "All the answers will be found within." He opened it to read it, eyes growing wide. "What? It's blank?" He held it up over his head.

Yuki frowned and shared a confused look with Tigress. 

"Blank?" Kori took the scroll to examine it. Yuki leaned over his shoulder to look at it.

"Are you kidding me?" Shifu groaned. "Not again!"

"Wait." Yuki grabbed one side of the scroll. "Hold that side." She instructed her brother, and as he did so, Yuki unfurled the rest of the scroll. 

"Set it here." Shifu patted a table. Yuki and Kori leant down and carefully laid the open scroll down.

Shifu leaned forward to examine it while the Five crowded around.

"It is written in Oogway's hand." Shifu observed. "Long ago, I had a brother." He started.

"Oogway had a brother?" Monkey questioned in awe.

"In arms. In arms. Sorry." He shot Monkey an apologetic look. "He says, "Brother in arms"."

"Maybe you should unroll it all at once?" Mantis suggested. 

Shifu immediately looked annoyed before he continued reading. "I was an ambitious young warrior, leading a great army. And fighting by my side was Kai, my closest friend."

"One day, we were ambushed. I was badly wounded. My friend carried me for days, looking for help, until we came to a secret village, high in the snowy mountains. An ancient place of healing. A village of white tigers."

Both Kori and Yuki gasped before looking at each other.

"Maybe they know about our parents!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Or maybe we're related to some of them!" Kori added in excitement.

The brother and sister grasped paws excitedly and did a little dance, making the Five chuckle.

Shifu cleared his throat before continuing to read. "White tigers who used the power of chi to heal me. They taught me how to give chi. Oh, but Kai wanted the power all to himself. He saw that what could be given could also be taken."

"I had to stop him. Our battle shook the earth. Until, finally, I banished Kai to the Spirit Realm. Should he ever return to the mortal realm, he can only be stopped by a true master of chi."

"True Master of chi?" Yuki turned her head to look at Kori. "Do you know anything about chi?"

Kori hummed in thought before shaking his head. "I think Mother knew about it, but.." he trailed off.

Yuki frowned, "Do you think they're really gone?"

"They would've made contact with us if they were still alive, Yuki. Don't hold such high hopes." With that, Kori turned and left the room.

"Kori, wait!" Yuki went to follow but Tigress grabbed her arm.

"Let him go."

Yuki turned her head towards Tigress, a silent argument flashing through their eyes. Finally, Yuki sighed and nodded.

Shifu turned to look at Yuki, clearly deep in thought. Yuki met his gaze curiously.

"What is it, Master?"

Shifu gave a firm nod, agreeing to his own thoughts. "You and your brother need to find this village and learn chi. It is the only way."

Yuki's eyes grew wide briefly before she contained herself. "But why?"

"You can only master chi by knowing who you really are. You must learn how to be yourself. How to be..a white tigress."

Yuki quickly shook her head before motioning to Tigress. "Surely it's no different than-"

"Tigress knows nothing about surviving and blending in with the snow. You would have better luck with Tai Lung." He shot Tigress a glance. "No offense, Tigress."

Tigress simply crossed her arms and raised a brow.

"You're leaving?" Ping burst into the scroll room, Kori at his heels with an apologetic smile on his face.

Yuki turned to look at her dad and, with a glance at Kori, she smiled. "We have to. I need to learn how to be a white tigress. I can't learn that here, Dad. 

Ping hurried over to Shifu. "Surely Tigress can teach her here?" He motioned to the orange warrior. 

Shifu shook his head, "While they are both tigresses, they are two different species. Yuki's blood is made for the cold weather and her fur blends well with the snow. This is out of Master Tigress' area of expertise."

Ping whined before turning back towards his daughter. "Alright, my beautiful flower. I will go pack some food for the road."

"Thank you, Dad." Yuki patted his shoulder as he walked past before she turned to look at Shifu. "Is anyone else going?" She shot a hopeful glance towards Tigress.

"No." Shifu stated firmly. "This is a journey for you and your brother. You cannot afford any.." he eyed Tigress curiously before looking back at Yuki. "Distractions." He finished.

Yuki pouted before nodding. "Yes, Master." She bowed to him, a tuft of her head fur fell down into her face in the process.

"Come on, Yuki. I'll help you pack." Kori turned and headed out.

Yuki rose, "Goodbye, everyone." She eyed each of the Five as she spoke. "I will do my best to master chi." Her gaze landed on Tigress, who gave her a firm nod of encouragement.

"Take care of yourself!" Viper called out.

"And come back soon!" Crane added.

"Yes, we will miss your soup dearly." Monkey chuckled.

"But we will miss Yuki more than her soup." Mantis scolded, making Monkey roll his eyes.

"It was just a joke.." 

Yuki giggled before she turned and left the room. She didn't want to leave the Five  She didn't want to leave Tigress. But everything depended on her finding the white tiger village and learning how to wield chi.

"Yuki."

The white tigress turned, "Wha-" She was cut off when Tigress suddenly hugged her. Her face flared up instantly.

"I'll miss you." Tigress whispered, just loud enough for Yuki to hear.

Yuki hugged the tigress back with a chuckle. "I'll miss you more."

Tigress pulled back with a scoff. "Impossible." She smiled. 

Yuki returned the smile, and with a nod, she turned and hurried after her brother.