The Tales of the Dragon Warrior

The Dragon Scroll and Evacuation

Jade looked up at the large jade and gold dragon above the Moon Pool, or more accurately, at the scroll within its mouth. Her face was completely blank, and she was carefully controlling her expressions. She already knew what the secrets the Dragon Scroll contained, but she couldn't tell Shifu and the Five that. She had to get this over with, so she could start properly preparing for Tai-lung's arrival. Looking over at Shifu, who stood beside her, Jade looked at him with hesitance.

"You think I'm ready?", she asked. Shifu smiled at her and nodded. Jade then looked behind her at the Furious Five, who were mobile but still bandaged and injured. They all smiled and nodded at her. There was faith in their eyes, and that gave Jade more power than any blank scroll could. Jade looked at the still smiling Shifu again.

"I do believe you are ready.... My student.", he said, and Jade was surprised by the man's new moniker for her. Since she had arrived in China, all Shifu had called her was 'girl' and 'Jade'. For him to refer to her as his student... It meant he was proud to admit it. It made Jade smile softly at him as the old man slowly walked over to the small altar where Oogway's wooden staff laid.

While Jade and Shifu had been gone, the servants had carried out a few of Shifu's orders regarding Oogway's sudden passing. One of which was to erect a shrine to him in the Palace. A picture had been painted of him doing stances on the peach tree ledge, which had been his favorite place in all the Palace. The picture was then hung up in the Hall of Warriors, with many of Oogway's favorite green, bamboo shaped candles laying under it. They were to always be kept lit. Oogway's staff sat in front of the candles, and rested on a red wooden stand.

Shifu took a deep breath and gingerly picked up his master's staff. Then he walked over to the edge of the Moon Pool, and with another deep breath, he made several rigid and whirling motions with the staff. The motions made the peach blossoms, which floated on the surface of the pool (Oogway sprinkled fresh ones in the water everyday, and Shifu had ordered the tradition to continue even with the old master's passing), start to fly up into the air, as if carried on a breeze.

Shifu continued to make motions with the staff. He did flips and made more motions, making circling motions with the tip of the staff. The peach blossoms floated higher, until they formed a whirlwind around the Dragon Scroll. Jade and the Five watched all of this unfold in awe. Even though she had seen what she was seeing before, Jade had to admit that seeing the events of her favorite childhood movie franchise occur in person was way cooler than watching the events on a screen

Eventually, a single peach blossom petal landed on the left end of the scroll with the gentleness of a feather. Somehow, this made the scroll slip out of the golden dragon's mouth, and it began to fall. Shifu's brow furrowed in extreme concentration, and he held Oogway's staff over the water of the Moon Pool. With a steady hand, he caught the scroll with the staff, carefully balancing it vertically on the tip of the forked end. The staff lowered down and caressed the water in the process, causing a single ripple to appear in the clear depths. Shifu let out a single breath of relief when he realized he had properly retrieved the scroll, and he pulled the staff out from over the water. He took the scroll off of the staff and turned around.

"Behold, the Dragon Scroll.", he whispered, as if speaking any louder would ruin the contents of the scroll. He then held the scroll out to Jade with a smile.

"It is yours.", Shifu said. Jade took it from his hands, her face still blank. The container of the scroll, which was made of rubies and jade, felt cold in her grasp. Jade looked at Shifu questioningly.

"What happens when I read it?", She asked, knowing that she wouldn't be doing any reading. Shifu shook his head and looked at Jade imploringly, subconsciously wanting the girl to read the scroll as soon as possible so that she could stop Tai-lung.