Return of the Masters

Lovestruck

As the night deepened and time grew later, Tai Ling decided that it was time for Ming-Lei to head back to the Jade Palace. The child wasn't too happy about leaving Tai Lung alone again, but she was getting tired and she needed her rest before she attended Shifu's training sessions the next day. The two quietly headed out of Tai Lung's hideout and began to head back, Ming-Lei trying to talk to the snow leopard as long as she could before she was forced to depart.

"What were you like as a cub?" the young panther asked.

"What was I like as kid?" Tai Lung repeated. "Do you mean how did I act or how was my early kung fu days?"

"Both," Ming-Lei said eagerly.

Tai Lung thought for a moment. "Well," he said. "When I was little, I was very curious, kind of how you are. But I caused more trouble in the Jade Palace rather than outside."

"You didn't explore the village?"

"No, I did. But I always found the Jade Palace more interesting. Plus there were more places to hide and try and scare Master Oogway."

Ming-Lei giggled. "Did you ever scare him?" she asked.

Tai Lung chuckled and shook his head. "No," he admitted. "But he would pretend to be startled sometimes just to play along. Shifu I've scared, but not often."

Ming-Lei grinned. "You scared Master Shifu?" she said. "Can you teach me? I can't sneak up on him."

"The key to scaring Shifu isn't to sneak up on him," Tai Lung told the child. "The trick is to know where he'll be during the day and stay in a hidden spot to startle him."

"How did you scare him?" Ming-Lei questioned.

"The first time I scared Master Shifu, I was hiding behind the pillar right next to the moon pool. I jumped out to scare him and he jumped and fell right into the water."

Ming-Lei started laughing. "I wanna' try that!" she exclaimed.

"Well you'll need to plan it out carefully then."

The two continued to walk down the path, Ming-Lei asking if Tai Lung could give her a piggy back ride. The snow leopard complied accordingly and lifted the child up onto his back, continuing along their trek.

"So you got in trouble a lot?" Ming-Lei asked.

"Not all the time," Tai Lung corrected. "But I had a bad habit of always trying to explore rooms or touch artifacts Shifu told me to avoid or not touch. I couldn't help it; I wanted to learn what all of the weird weapons and objects were."

"Did you ever get in trouble?" Ming-Lei asked.

"For what? Touching things I shouldn't touch?"

"Just...overall...."

"Of course. Not all the time, but yeah, I definitely got in trouble for stuff."

"Did you get spanked?"

"Um..." Tai Lung said, trying to think. "Not that I remember. I know I've gotten grounded a couple times and I've been sentenced to heavy cleaning duty several times, but I don't remember ever getting spanked."

"You're lucky," the child stated. "I got spanked once for trying to help everyone fight off bandits."

"Let me guess," Tai Lung said with a smile. "That was the one time Shifu told you to stay at the Jade Palace and let the masters do the fighting?"

"Yep...."

Tai Lung continued to carry Ming-Lei back to the Jade Palace, slowly approaching the village after a few minutes.