Y/n laid comfortably in Po's shadow, purple eyes gleaming in his large sillouhette as he sat in Matis's room. He rolled his eyes. Just as Mantis passed by Po's shadow, they hid their face within the dark and shifted to a corner of the room.

"Aaaaowwww.... Ack- OW!!" Yelps Po as Mantis jabs needles into his skin. "I thought you said acupuncture would make me feel-- OUCH!" He winced as Mantis once again places a needle in his skin, "better!"

Y/n grinned and Po frowned at them. She was hidden in the shadows next to the door, in which everyone's back was turned to except Po's. "Trust me, it will. It's just not easy finding the right nerve points under all this..." Begins Mantis.

"Fat?" Asks Po with a huff. "Fur. I was going to say fur." Mantis corrects as he dissapears behind Po's large figure.

◇

"According to legend, there was once a time where Shifu actually smiled." Says the little green insect. "No," Says Po in disbelief.

Y/n nods in the sillouhette, dissapearing when Viper slithered over to grab a few extra needles. The stealthy monkey hid his face, appearing once again when Viper handed them to Mantis.

As footsteps invade Y/n's exceptional hearing, they hide once more. "But that was before..." Viper trails off.

"Before what?" Asks Po. Tigress enters, revealing herself as the culprit of the footsteps Y/n heard earlier. Her face became visible again as she watched Tigress with narrowed eyes.

"Before Tai Lung and the Shadow Warrior." She says with a firm look on her face.

"Uh, yeah, we're not really supposed to talk about them." Says Crane from his room, beak moving in his sillouhette against the wall.

"Well, if he's going to stay here, he should know." Insists Tigress, but not in a good way. "Guys, guys, I know about Tai Lung." Reassures Po.

"Tai Lung and Y/n were students, Tai Lung was the first ever to master the thousand scrolls of kung fu. And Y/n had these cool shadow powers from being the.. last macaque... monkey.." Po trails off, seeing the look on Tigress's face.

"And... then Tai Lung turned bad... and Y/n killed... others... and.. now they're in jail."

"They weren't just students." Says Tigress, recalling vast yet vivid memories. "Tai Lung.. Shifu found him as a cub. And he raised him as a son."

Shifu finds a bundle of blankets at the foot of the Palace, a baby snow leopard inside. A few weeks later, Tai Lung yanks some of Shifu's whiskers off while being fed.

"And when the boy showed an interest and skill in Kung Fu.. Shifu trained him."

Tai Lung walks up to a dummy, kicking it harshly. The dummy flew back, hitting the wall and causing a spear to hit the ground. Shifu walks over with an impressed grin on his muzzle. Tai Lung smiles with pride, nudging his father figure affectionately.

"He believed in him. He told him he was destined for greatness... and then the Six-Eared Macaque, Y/n."

Y/n appears at the foot of the palacem She's young, bruised, and battered. She cries at the sight of Shifu and Tai Lung, pointing at a vague direction.

"Her village, massacred by bounty hunters for their abilities."

Y/n sobbed into Tai Lung's arms, all six of their ears downturned when she hears that her entire village was no more from Shifu. Shifu had adventures towards the macaque monkey village, only finding ashes and no bodies due to bounty hunters.

"They showed great skill. She, her six ears, and her shadow abilities gave her a leverage over Tai Lung. A leverage that he could never pass. Shifu saw this-- He trained her harder, making her better than any other warrior he's taught before."

Tai Lung watches Y/n pant and punch a wooden soldier, using her shadow abilities to weave through fire, using them to teleport short distances. Shifu nods proudly. Tai Lung growls and turns away.

"Tai Lung grew jealous, he was supposed to be the Dragon Warrior. Not his sibling." Y/n listened to the story, eyes narrowed at the little crowd in the room.

Tai Lung trains harder, sparring Y/n until he couldn't pick himself up anymore. But Y/n still kept fighting-- Still kept training with that immense stamina on his side. He growls in frustration, slamming his paw into the ground.

"Then, when Y/n was given the name, Shadow Warrior- the Protector of the Dragon Warrior, he took the title seriously. Tai Lung saw hope. He was skilled in Kung Fu, he had the ability to become the chosen one.

..But it was never enough."

Tai Lung demolishes a wooden warrior. Y/n claps and Shifu looks on, prideful of his student. Oogway, on the other hand, looks on with a frown on his face.

"He wanted the scroll, but Oogway saw more dark than good in his heart. And so, he refused."

Beyond angry, Tai Lung rampages through an innocent village. Y/n looks on, eyes wide.

"Outraged, Tai Lung laid waste to the Valley."

The snow leopard approaches the Jade Palace with a glare on his face. Shifu, Oogway, and Y/n stood there, revealing they've been waiting on them.

Y/n had told Oogway and Shifu of Tai Lung's rampage, telling them that he had heard his brother's angry cries.

"He tried to take the scroll by force. Shifu had to destroy what he had created, and Y/n... had to fight her sworn brother."

Shifu is the one that charges first at Tai Lung, but could only see the baby version of his son fighting him. He pulls back, and is knocked away.

Shifu lands on the ground with a broken leg, and Y/n gasps. She quickly summons her Shadow Beast, fighting with Tai Lung. Tears fall from her e/c eyes as they fight, but Y/n pulls her punches.

The Shadow Beast dissipates and is replaced with a shadow staff in Y/n's hands. He and Tai Lung fight valiantly.

"But how could they hurt their family?"

Y/n's shriek rips through the air as Tai Lung's claw rips across and through her left eye. She falls next to Shifu. For a moment, she hoped she would see regret in Tai Lung's eyes, but she only saw the sickeningly prideful look of victory.

Tai Lung leaps for the scroll, but is stopped by Oogway hitting his pressure points. Shifu reaches for his student, but can't exactly touch him. In a show of comfort, Y/n places a trembling hand on Shifu's shoulder as they lay on the ground, injured.

"Y/n became a fierce warrior in Tai Lung's absence."

Y/n watched a few criminals with horrid crimes attack a family.

"..Too fierce."

Y/n sunk into the shadows, and the criminals begged for the mercy they would never receive.

"She killed off murderers and other bad people. People who hadn't been punished for their crimes."

"But killing like that was against the law, and so she was taken away, too. Locked and sealed."

Y/n roars angrily, slamming against the thick, stone door in anger with her Shadow Beast.

"Shifu loved those two more than anything he's ever loved before."

Later on, a baby Tigress strikes a stance, looking at her teacher excitedly.

"..Or since."

The master simple corrects her stance. Nothing more, nothing less. Tigress looks to the side, downcast.

Y/n huffs silently, crossing her arms. He had bent the law, maybe broken a few more, and that's what landed him in that prison in the first place.

"And now he has a chance to make things right, to train the true Dragon Warrior. And he's stuck with you..." Tigress glares at Po, her sharp yellow eyes making him tense up under her gaze, "A big, fat panda who treats it like a joke."

Suddenly, Po tenses up, creating a stupid face with his tongue sticking out. "Doieeeeeeey..." He drags out. Y/n face palms as she hides furthur into the shadows when Tigress snarls.

"Oh, that is it!" She shouts, raising an angry claw. Y/n narrows her eyes, prepared to make a move when Mantis pops around his shoulders.

"Wait! My fault! I accidentally tweaked his facial nerve." Po falls forward, revealing a back full of needles.

"..And.. maybe stopped his heart." He adds.

Y/n smirks, amused.

◇

"Will whoever is making that noise stop that!?" Demands Shifu, trying to meditate.

He sighs in relief when the flapping sound ceases. "Inner--" He's unable to finish his mantra when a loud FLOMP sounds in front of him. He scowls, standing up, but smiles when he sees who it is, relieved.

"Oh, Zeng. Excellent, I could use some good news." Says Shifu with a sigh.

"Oh-" Zeng sputters before hesitating greatly. "Uh...." He trails off nervously, unsure how to phrase that fact that two of the most dangerous criminals were now on the loose.