The Tales of the Dragon Warrior

Oogway Ascends and Things that Need to be Said

(the image above is Master Oogway)

Shifu rushed up the stairs to the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. He had gone to the barracks earlier that morning to wake up his students for training, only to find every bed except Laofu's empty, and Laofu wasn't even in it! He searched the entire palace, but the only one of his students he could find was Jade, who still laid asleep in Laofu's bed. The Furious Five had fled for reasons unknown, leaving the Valley more vulnerable than it had been in years.

Once he reached the top of the stairs, he saw who he had been looking for; Master Oogway, meditating under the falling blossoms of the tree. Shifu grabbed the trunk of the tree, taking a moment to catch his breath as Oogway turned around, a welcoming smile on his face.

"Master Oogway, I have terrible news!", Shifu cried. Oogway chuckled.

"Ah Shifu, there is just news. There is no good or bad.", Oogway told him casually. Shifu took a few seconds to take some gasping breaths, before speaking once more.

"Master, the Five! The Five are gone! They went missing in the dead of night! You and I are the only masters that stand between Tai-lung and the Dragon Scroll now!", Shifu told him. Oogway's smile fell and he began to look a bit worried.

"That is bad news...", the old master relented, before smiling knowingly.

"... If you don't believe you do not believe that the Dragon Warrior can stop him.", Oogway finished. Shifu looked at him in shock and confusion, releasing the tree trunk to use his hands, making motions to help get his point across.

"Jade?! With all due respect Master, Jade is a prodigy, but she still has much to learn! She is strong, perhaps even stronger than the Five, but she can't defeat Tai-lung! Not yet, she isn't ready! We're lucky she arrived to us even remotely skilled, since this whole situation was an accident!", Shifu protested. He believed in Jade, he really did, but he knew first hand what Tai-lung could do. And with his arrival looming closer and closer with every passing day, it was making him have doubts. Oogway kept smiling at him.

"There are no accidents.", he reminded. Shifu deflated at his words.

"Yes, I know. You've said that already. Multiple times.", Shifu admitted. Oogway chuckled.

"Well, that was no accident either.", he chimed, before giving Shifu an imploring look.

"My old friend, Jade will never fulfill her destiny, nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control.", Oogway told him. Shifu looked at him, confused.

"Illusion?", he echoed. Oogway nodded and looked up at the peach tree contemplatively.

"Yes. Look at this tree, Shifu. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, nor can I make it bear fruit before it's time.", Oogway said wisely. Shifu, desperately trying to argue against Oogway's philosophy, straightened his back and looked at his master with a small challenge in his eyes.

"But there are things we can control.", the short old man refuted. Then he quickly kicked the trunk of the tree, causing several peaches to fall to the ground.

"I can control when the fruit will fall.", Shifu told him. Then a peach fell on his head, causing him to look annoyed. Oogway was amused by the scene. It was the universe subtly telling his friend that he was looking at things in the wrong way.

"And I can control- ", Shifu started to say, grabbing a peach off the ground and throwing it up in the air. He jumped up and cut it in half with nothing but his hand. He let the flesh of the peach fall to the ground, but grabbed the pit. Once he landed, he pointedly looked his master in the eyes and jabbed a hole in the ground with his hand.