The Tigress and the Turtle
The lives of children can be difficult to bear. But often, when the burden of life seems to be too much, one good friend can make all the difference in the world.
AN. This is a crossover between Kung Fu Panda and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Disclaimer: Tigress, Master Shifu, and Master Oogway are the property of DreamWorks Animation. The Turtles and all their friends are the property of Mirage Studios. I do not own them, but am grateful for the opportunity to use them in the unleashing of my own imagination.
Rating: This story is rated K+.
"Master Shifu said that the Moon Pool is supposed to be able to give answers to even the most difficult questions…I think it's broken."
The young Tiger cub sat cross-legged in front of the pool in the Jade Palace. She been sitting there for awhile, trying to work through her problems as she'd been taught to do through meditation and finding balance within herself. Unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck.
Her mind was buzzing with questions to which she couldn't find answers. And if the water in front of her had the answers she was looking for it wasn't being very forth-coming.
Only a year into her training, Tigress was already very skilled in the art of Kung Fu. She excelled in her lessons and learned quickly. She loved Kung Fu. She enjoyed the freedom she found in being able to control her strength and put it to good use. She longed for the day that she'd be able to use her strength to help others and so she took to her training with a passion, trying her best at everything and never giving up.
This is why she didn't understand what she was doing wrong.
As hard as she tried and as well as she did, Master Shifu never seemed to notice. She would have done anything to see him smile at her, to hear him say he was proud of her, to have him call her "daughter." And yet, all she received were strict but patient guidance and corrections. Never praising, never approving, he seemed to only see her as his student and nothing more.
But she saw him as her father; the only family she had ever had. And while she tried to brush off the pain as his seeming callousness, there were times when it all became too much. And so, in sorrow, she would turn to the pool, hoping, praying to find the answers to questions that she didn't understand. But they were never there.
Suddenly, she lashed out with a growl, striking ineffectively at the water in front of her. She watched as it flowed back into place, unharmed and soon still once more as the ripples faded away. Then, her eyes filled with tears and she threw herself down at the edge of the pool, sobbing.
Tigress knew what it was like to be unloved. She'd come to accept it as how her life would always be while she was at the orphanage. But then Shifu had come and taken her home and for the first time in her life, she had hoped. Now the thought of not having Shifu's love caused her more pain then any child should have to bear.
She splashed her paw in the water angrily as tears continued to roll down her cheeks, dampening her fur. "Stupid pool… stupid Shifu… stupid me…" She muttered to herself in between hiccups.
She did not notice the figure behind her but the old tortoise saw her pain and heard her words. Without a sound, he lifted his walking stick and pointed it at the pool, waving it slowly around in a circle for a few moments. The stick glowed with a blue-green light which seemed to flow from the wood in a line, over the top of Tigress' unnoticing form and down until it touched the water. Then, Oogway nodded and lowered his stick, leaving in silence.
Tigress finally lifted her head and swiped at her tears, afraid that someone might catch her crying. She was about to get up and leave when she noticed something.
The pool, normally so still, was now swirling about at an ever increasing speed. Strange colors seemed to glow within it and as the water lapped at the edge of the pool Tigress pushed herself backwards away from it. But the water kept rising quickly, too quickly, and it soon surrounded Tigress pulling her into a strong current which swept her into the center of a colorful, glowing whirlpool.
She tried to call out for help but before she could, she was pulled under. She gasped and succeeded in taking in as mouthful of water on which she coughed and sputtered, getting more water into her lungs as she continued her downward spiral. She thought for sure she would die.
And then, quite suddenly, she was thrown from the water in a great spurt. She flew through the air and landed on a ledge that jutted out over the water. The impact forced the water from her lungs along with her breath and she lay there for several minutes gasping for air.
It was only after she had recovered that she realized she was no longer in the Jade Palace.
She looked around, utterly confused as to where she was and how she got there. She was completely surrounded by a circular brick wall. There were several large holes in the wall that she could see, through which water flowed and poured down into a great whirlpool below her. The water roared and spun ferociously and Tigress backed away from the edge of the ledge quickly.
Behind her there was a large round tunnel like the holes she had seen but with only a small stream of water flowing out from it. Wanting to get as far away from the whirlpool as she could, she decided to go down the tunnel and hoped it would lead her someplace from which she could find her way home.
Tigress figured that she'd been traveling for about an hour when she finally decided that she was completely lost. She had no idea where she was or how to get out of these tunnels. She didn't even know how to get back to where she started. The tunnels were like a huge maze and they all looked the same. She was cold and wet and tired and hurting from her fall. All she wanted to do was to go home and crawl into bed. But she couldn't do that. She couldn't do anything.
She sat down against the wall on one side of the tunnel she was currently in and put her head in her hands feeling totally helpless.
That's when she heard it. It was just a tiny sound but it told her right away that she wasn't alone in the sewer. She stood back up and got into a fighting stance, ready for anything and yet afraid because she knew that she wasn't fully trained and wouldn't be able to hold her own against a more skilled opponent. She was strong, but Master Shifu had taught her that strength could only get you so far and there would always be those who were stronger.
She looked around cautiously but even with her cat eyes it was hard for her to see in the darkness of the tunnel. There were several wooden crates beside the opposite wall of the tunnel. She didn't know what they were doing there but she didn't care. She was certain that she'd seen someone dash behind them a moment ago.
"Who's there?" she called and was almost frightened by the sound of her own voice echoing in the tunnels. "Come out. I know you're there." There was no response.
Tigress crept closer to the crates, determined to catch whoever was there. "Stop hiding like a coward. Come out and fight!" She spun on her heal and launched a kick at the crates, sending them crashing onto the floor of the tunnel. Then she looked… only to find that there was no one there.
"Huh?" she looked around, confused.
"I'm no coward." A voice came from behind her.
She spun around quickly only to come face to face with a young turtle. He couldn't have been much older then she was and he wore a strange blue mask which covered the top of his head.
Tigress took several steps backward and once again got into a fighting stance. The turtle did the same to her surprise. For a moment they just stared at each other. Then the Tiger leapt at him with a growl.
She couldn't believe it when the turtle blocked her kick, but she quickly took up the defense against a series of punches. Then she was at him again. They went back and forth, defending against each other's strikes. Tigress was pleased with herself to find that she could block every one of his attacks even when he used moves that she didn't recognize. However, he was also able to block hers as she threw everything she had at him, although she always kept her claws in as she felt that using her claws would give her a dishonorable advantage over her opponent.
They were evenly match and soon they were no longer fighting out of fear but found they were having fun sparring against each other.
"You're good." The turtle said as she blocked on of his kicks.
"So are you." She returned the complement. They sparred for a few more moments before the turtle stopped a few feet away from her. She also paused and watched as he placed both feet together and then put his fist against his palm in front of his chest and bowed to her.
Smiling, she did the same and when they both stood straight again they started laughing.
"That was fun!" She said.
"It was, wasn't it? My name's Leonardo. What's yours?"
"I'm Tigress."