The Lion and the Leopard

Dorm Rooms

Leo Lung sat on his bed. His head was in his paws. It has been a long day. After the horrific first day of training, Shifu dismissed the panda, and the Furious Five, to their dorms. Training would begin at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. 

Leo had also dismissed himself. Even though he would not be training tomorrow- the bulk of the training would be focused on the panda- Leo valued his rest. Shifu had once offered Leo a room in the actual Jade Palace, right next to his and Master Oogway's, but he declined. He felt like that would make the others think that he thought he was above the rest. And he was not, that's for sure.

Leo also felt empathy for Po. Leo had thought up several of those contraptions, and Po had gotten hurt today because of them. He sighed and stared at the floor.

He heard Tigress and the rest of the Furious Five approach. Because Leo's room was the first in the row of dorms, he could see the Five moving past his screen doors. They moved past his room without saying a word. He could see the dim glow of each room get blown out. They were going to sleep.

Leo, on the other hand, did not blow out his candle. He was not going to sleep yet, so he had no need to. Instead the lion stared at the floor boards. Memories flooded through his head.

Twenty years ago, Tai Lung had burst through the doors of the Sacred Hall of Warriors. He and Leo had clashed in battle. At first, Tai Lung had gotten the upper hand, but Leo had defended himself well. The two cats were evenly matched. Leo was quick and clever, while Tai Lung was strong and powerful.

But when a shoulder injury had caused Leo to hesitate during the deadly battle, Tai Lung had grabbed him by the neck with both of his powerful paws. Leo Lung remembered the terror of those powerful claws digging into his neck. He did not have the bushy mane that protected his neck and shoulders. Tai Lung had almost killed him that day.

But Shifu had stopped him. Tai Lung had crippled the red panda, and Oogway had finally stopped Tai Lung moments before he could reach the scroll. Shifu and Oogway had sent Tai Lung to prison for the rest of his life. But now that Oogway had his vision, it seemed that the snow leopard was destined to escape.

But now the only animal that had access to the coveted scroll was the panda. And, speaking of the panda, Leo could hear him creaking along the floorboards. A crash caused Leo to stand up and walk towards the door, swinging it open.

"What in China's name are you doing?" He asked the panda tiredly, who had crashed through the floorboards.

The panda turned and looked at him. He quickly heaved himself up and swept the boards into the hole he made, trying to fix the mess. He looked innocently at Leo Lung, his eyes wide,

"Oh, you're up." The panda said. Leo gazed at the mess the panda made, "Ok, umm, you might want to get someone to fix that." The panda said, pointing at the messed up floor.

Leo took one last glance at the floorboards and, with a simple flick of his tail, beckoned the panda to his room. The panda looked around and walked excitedly into his room. The lion closed the door behind him, and looked at the panda,

"First of all, panda, you have gotten yourself into a lot of trouble by coming here." Leo said honestly, turning to face him. He softened his voice, trying not to sound rude or unkind. The panda sighed and answered,

"Yeah, I know." He gazed downwards, "I don't think anyone really wants me here. The Furious Five aren't as great as I thought. Monkey said I couldn't even see my toes..." Po said sadly, gazing downward, placing a paw on his large stomach. Leo narrowed his eyes. He would have to have a word with Monkey later about talking behind other's backs.