A man and a beast

[TaI Lung's POV]

I was on top of a hill where it was still warmly wrapped in an orange glow of the setting sunlight. The breeze blew softly on my fur, whispering to me about the secrets of the earth.

The smell of nature filled my nose. I could smell our camp a few kilometres away along with Mei who was eating her food while pulling her knee up to her chest.

My ears twitched and I heard every flutter of the leaves and every snap of twigs. I let myself become one with the world as I entered the state of deep inner peace.

The feeling was intoxicating. It made me want to turn into a stone and stay like this forever, calm and undisturbed. It was absolute serenity.

But then I felt a deep prickling sensation on my skin. The world experienced a change which I could not put into word exactly, but it felt like chains were being broken.

But since the world hates me for not only defying her but also being a foreigner, she did not allow me to know anything. I wondered how it would be like to be Oogway, to be so connected with the world that it calls to you when she needs help.

Nevertheless, I shrugged off the feeling as the sky released a faint glow of green. A foreboding scene but one I was unable to comprehend.

I took a deep breath and then returned my focus to what was important, me. I looked deep into my spirit and at the two chi which were now constantly moving like two fish trying to eat each other's tail.

I felt a sense of pride when I looked at the inner workings of my chi. It was the most basic essence of my being, it was what made Tai Lung, Tai Lung. And it was beautiful and powerful.

It was infinite.

If God was infinite then so was I.

God.

A big word, a staggering title. But one I always seem to come back to when I look at myself. Was it arrogance, delusion or was it the turth?

Anywho, I focused on my moving chi and willed to stop. Then I observed as my chi slowly tried to revert back to its original form.

There were two chi, white and blue. The blue chi was always in the inner part of my being while it was encased by my white chit. They were the chi of one being but of different origins. They were also quite different in nature with the white chi being attuned to fueling techniques while my blue chi was better at healing or strengthening myself.

But this time, I did something different. As my chi tried to revert to thier resting form, I interfered and directed my white chi to be inside the blue chi, changing thier position.

It seemed like a tall task at first but when I did it, after the initial struggle, my chi became what I wanted. My blue chi was on the outside while the white was inside. An exact opposite of what it should be.

After everything snapped into place, I immediately felt the change happening in my very being.

I felt my body rearrange and contract. I had to push down a scream of pain down my throat. But the pain was gone when a bright light wahsed over my bosy. Then I was my own witnessed as I became something other than a snow leopard.

I looked at my hands. My giant paw and deadly claws thinned and then shifted into thin digits of five. Then the fur on my hand receded to reveal pale skin, the colour of ash.

"Interesting." I said and I watched my paws which now became a human hand.

Of course, this would happen. It kind of made sense since I changed what chi was on the outermost part of my being.

The light died down and everything settled in place. I checked my body which was visibly smaller and weaker than my animal body.

A sense of vulnerability I haven't felt since I was a cub washed over me. I definitely did not like this human body of mine.

"Let's get a closer look." I said and stood up before jumping up and down in my place to get used to the feeling of my human body.

The weirdest thing I noticed was the lack of tail which made my balance slightly off and the loss of my powerful senses. Other than the loss of stregth of course.

Then I pushed myself off the hill and started running down. My body was unfamiliar but such things could easily be overcome by a kung fu master such as I.

Old instincts I thought I had forgotten emerged and I remembered my past world. I would often run down hills like his to train my reaction speed and agility.

The trees looked like they were rushing at me with the speed I was descending but I swiftly maneuvered them. My eyes were always on the openings and the path, never for a moment did my eyes go astray to look at the obstacles, less I would crash.

I ran down the hill with surprising speed, it was miles slower than my animal form but I was still faster than when I used to be human.

I ran till I reached the pond from which I caught fish for dinner. By then, I got accustomed to my new body and I also found out the extent of this my current capabilities.

I stood at the edge of the pond and looked at my reflection before it got dark. The face that greeted me was a pleasant surprise because I knew exactly who it was.

It was me, the face from my past life.

Other than the ash-like skin and the leopard marks in some places, it was exactly what I looked like in the past. I stared at my reflection for a long time, it would be a lie to say I did not miss how I looked.

"But my voice remains the same." I said. It was still the deep and smooth voice of Ian McShane.

Good.

I looked at my hands and touched my own body to feel the tightly packed muscle on my frame. I was weaker now but there must be something in exchange for that weakness.

"Let's see what I can do." I said with a grin then I looked at the sky. I raised my hand up and then I gave the world an order.

I summoned a storm.

My chi flooded out of my body and I noticed that it acted in a similar way to Mei's chi. They spread throughout the surroundings like colour in water and they command everything they covered.

The sky darkened as a storm blew above. They were black clouds, carrying thunderstorms and they appeared seemingly from nothing. A crack of lighting slipped passed the dark clouds and that began the chaos.

Thick dark smoke looked to be more than gas in the sky as they built up to be huge structures in the shape of a tornado. The world thundered as the natural order of the world was disturbed.

I changed the weather.

The storm continued brewing but not a single drop of rain fell because I did not allow so. And without my permission, nothing was.

For only that moment, I ruled over the world. I ruled over everything like I was always meant to.

I was the image of God.

But it did not last long as my chi took a big dip and I was almost empty. It took quite a huge amount just to change the wether but it was to be expected, I was inexperienced.

I relaxed my arm which was reaching towards the sky and the thunder clouds dispersed until they became nothing and the night sky which was littered with starts and a giant moon ws revealed.

Now I knew what this form was capable of doing.

In exchange for physical strength, I got the power to command the world.

If this was a game, my snow leopard form would be a fighter and this human form would be a mage.

I was a warrior so I was not fond of being in the weak body of a human but it could come in handy. I could think of many ways to utilize it, especially in the case of ruling a Kingdom or Empire. I could call forth rainwater during drought, stop the spread of disease or maybe even bless the earth.

I crouched down and took a moment to fill up my chi reserves again. Although I alwasy boast about how I had infinite chi, it still took some time and effort to fill them up which might not be viable during mid-battle.

I needed to fix that, I made a mental note.

After I was done, a new idea popped into my head. A smile tugged my face and I ran towards the camp.

Mei should still be there.

I wonder how she would react to this?

..

..

..

[Tai Lung human form]

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Author : And how is Tai Lung's human form? He is rarely going to be in that state since as mentioned, it is weaker but just wanted to know your thoughts.

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