A Sense of Purpose

Chapter 1: Haunted

It was the most horrible pain she had felt in her entire life. Tigress, Master of her own, powerful, style of Kung Fu, gritted her teeth, trying not to scream. Tai Lung's last punch had been different than the blows they had just exchanged on the bridge; it had done something to her, immobilizing her almost completely and rendering her helpless. No! She struggled to get up, to move at least some part of her body. I will NOT put myself at the mercy of this killer! Then, footsteps. She tried to look up, but, lying on her stomach and being unable to move her head, she could only see two feet. Still, that was enough to let her know that it was him. "Nghhhh..."

"Impressive, you're still conscious!" Tai Lung's smooth, arrogant voice came from somewhere above her. One of his feet moved towards her, but not to kick. Instead, it just nudged her slightly, causing her to roll onto her back. Now she was at least able to get a better look at the guy who would soon take her life. "Your friends went down after only one hit, but you... you keep fighting, even when you're unable to move anything but a single finger." He squatted next to her head and gently stroked her hand. Then he gave her a long look. "Don't worry too much. Your friends are alive, and you will live, too. I figure the crane is going to recover first, and he will most likely return you and the others to Master Shifu. And when you recover, do me a favor..." Tai Lung brought his muzzle close to her ear. "Stay out of my way." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Please."

"Ghhhhhh?" Tigress tried in vain to user her mouth, and her opponent merely sighed. Then he got up, cracked his knuckles and-

"NO!" Tigress gasped and brought up her fist to meet... nothing. She blinked, trying to figure out where she was and why she wasn't at the cliff anymore. It's just your room, her inner voice told her. Just your room at night. "Bad dream," Tigress whispered and tried to steady her breathing. "Just a bad dream." She tried to leave it at that, tried not to think about the fact that it had been a memory she had been recalling almost every night since Tai Lung's defeat a month ago. A memory that had made her practically afraid to go to bed, even though she would never admit this to anybody.

She yawned and shook her head, knowing that she should at least try to get some more sleep. However, a quick glance out of her window told her that it was almost time to get up again. Great. Another night with too little sleep. I only fall asleep late at night, and I wake up too early. At this rate, I'm going to- Another yawn. Damn. How long until the others will start to notice something's up? The feline rolled her eyes. Even if they hadn't heard her groans and startled gasps almost every night, they knew her well enough to notice even the slightest change in her behavior. And this one's becoming quite obvious. Maybe even Po knows! She got up to her feet and nervously groomed her fur. Steady, girl. Your teammates are pretending that nothing is up. They're giving you the chance to get your life back in order yourself. Don't disappoint them!

Half an hour later, after some breakfast - which Tigress barely even touched - the group around Master Shifu went to the Jade Palace's courtyard. "Training as usual," Master Shifu announced and waved at the training hall. "Crane? I want you to practice one-on-one combat with Po. You need to improve your technique when it comes to heavier targets, and your mobility will be a good challenge for Po. Mantis, Monkey and Viper? Full obstacle course. Learn from each other! Tigress?" The red panda gave her a look, and Tigress stiffened slightly. "Sweep the courtyard. It's your turn this week."

Crane cocked his head slightly - everybody knew that it was his turn. He gave her a look, then lowered his head a little bit, letting his giant hat hide his features from her. Tigress bit her lip, fighting hard to maintain a neutral expression. "Yes, Master Shifu," she finally whispered.

The chores of the Jade Palace were officially part of the training. It would have been trivial to hire somebody from the village to handle them, but Master Shifu - and before him, Master Oogway - had insisted that the students should keep their temple clean themselves. The Furious Five - and now the Dragon Warrior - didn't complain about this. After all, it meant that there would be a calmer phase in their training plans every couple of weeks. However, for as long as Tigress had been here - and having lived in the Temple for more than a decade, that was saying something - nobody had ever been ordered to do the chores out of the normal order.

"This is ridiculous," Tigress muttered, sweeping a few more leaves towards the small pile in the center of the courtyard. "He's treating me as if I'm crippled! I can run the obstacle course blindly and with both hands behind my back! I may be a bit tired, but that doesn't mean I'm any less capable of doing whatever needs to be done! So why is he making me sweep up a few leaves?"

"Master Shifu always claimed that being a warrior is more than just punching and kicking," somebody behind her commented quietly. "Easy, repetitive and monotonous tasks help greatly in clearing your mind and achieving inner balance. Or so he said, at least." A quiet chuckle.

Tigress's claws dug into the broom handle. That voice... Gritting her teeth, she slowly turned around. "You!" She glared at the feline who had been standing behind her. And even though his cape, hood and walking stick had apparently provided enough of a disguise for him to get this far, she instantly recognized his face. It was the face she had seen almost every night during the last month. "YOU!" she repeated, her voice close to a roar.

"Master Tigress," Tai Lung greeted her and bowed slightly. "May I speak with Mast-" Tigress's punch hit his face before he got to finish his request. The snow leopard stumbled backwards and held up a hand. "Wait, I don't-" This time, a solid kick connected with his stomach, sending him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Tigress's mind was racing. He haunted my dreams, and now he's beginning to haunt my waking hours, too? How did he survive, anyway? Everybody thought Po's attack had turned him into fine mist! And what does he want? She flexed her claws.

"Tigress, what is going on here?" Master Shifu asked sharply as he came out of the training hall, followed by her fellow warriors. Only then did he take a look at the fallen form and gasped. "Tai Lung!"

"What?" Po instantly asked. "Aw, man! How'd he survive? He should be busy sticking to the walls of half the houses in the village!" The panda groaned, and for once, Tigress fully agreed with him.

Normally, Master Shifu rarely showed any emotion other than slight annoyance. Things had improved a good bit after the defeat of Tai Lung, but most of the time, the small red panda was hard to read. At the moment, however, Tigress could clearly see a wild mix of shock, relief and surprise on his face. "You... you're alive," the Master whispered.

The snow leopard lowered his eyes. "No, Master Shifu, I am not."

Po and Viper exchanged glances. The panda mouthed the word "Zombie?" clearly enough for even Tigress to see. Crane idly slapped the back of Po's head with his right wing.

The only ones who apparently missed the brief burst of silliness were Tai Lung and Master Shifu. When the latter remained silent, his former student continued, "I did survive the Wuxi Finger Hold, but my life had already been over before that."

For what felt like an eternity, nobody spoke. Finally, Master Shifu nodded briefly. "I see." He turned towards one of the temple's buildings. "Come with me, Tai Lung. Let us talk."

"Okay, does anybody have any idea what just happened?" Mantis asked when the red panda and the snow leopard were out of sight.

"I'm a lot more interested in what is going to happen next," Viper told him and flicked her tongue nervously.

Tigress crossed her arms and frowned. "Nothing good, that's for sure."