AN: This little piece of work was inspired by konako from tumblr with her fanart (konako-tumblr-com/post/35367860973) as well as a question asked by an anon: "I don't know about soul sharing, I don't share well. Sometimes, when Tigress and the other five are sparring, she probably avoids fighting Viper, because she doesn't want to lose control and hurt her, and when she does have to fight her, Tigress goes easy on her, which pisses Viper off, it's probably one of things that they bicker about, because Tigress treats Viper like a porcelain doll, but then splits her hands open punching Iron Wood Trees. It confuses Viper to no end."
Warnings: Femslash content - Tiper(Tigress/Viper). Human!KFP Characters. OOC. AU. Unbeta-ed. Switching POVs. Maybe graphic fighting scenes but definitely no gore.
If you are queasy with the above mentioned warnings, click on the back button or hit on the backspare key RIGHT NOW. Otherwise, please continue.
/o/~/o/
Fists and feet pounded harshly onto iron bark as she lets out her frustration. Iron wood splintered in various directions as her right foot connected with one tree. Today's training session drained her. It didn't help that she was somehow partially distracted. Observing the numerous cuts and bruises prominent on her arms, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She released a heavy sigh and opened her blazing eyes. Letting out a fierce cry, she continued sending a flurry of punches and kicks at the iron wood tree.
/o/~/o/
The title of Dragon Warrior bore more disadvantages than what Po liked to think. Earlier, Master Shifu informed his students of their training regime for the morning. "While I have no doubt about your skills both as an individual and as a team, you have recently been fighting people whose caliber is a lot lower than yours. I know you usually spar one on one but you can never ask your opponents to fall in line and wait for their turn. No. Today, you will fight against one another. There are no teams. There are no partnerships. You will only stop either when the sun is directly about your heads of if there is only one person upright."
Against all five together, what's a Dragon Warrior supposed to do when he knows he will be the primary target? And he hadn't even had breakfast yet! Po was really looking forward to eating the fresh dumplings his father made.
"Less time daydreaming, more time training." the voice behind him growled. Po turned around to see Master Tigress' armed pulled back and ready to deliver an undoubtedly powerful punch. He barely dodged the fist headed his way and inwardly groaned. He was jolted from his thoughts when a leg swept beneath him. Great, just what he needed, Tigress hot on his trail. His senses kicked in when he heard a wheezing sound right past his left ear and dodge another, rather thinner fist.
Master Mantis knew how to exploit his small stature. He weaved in and out of the mess that is Tigress and Po, occasionally trying to land a hit on the former. He pulled pack his left arm and swung at Tigress, barely missing Po. If he wanted to put out the strongest of them, he knew he needed Po's help. Tigress seemed particularly hot-blooded with Po these past few days. Knowing her temper, he wouldn't put it past her to beat Po into an inch of the bigger guy's life. Dodging Po's huge flailing arm, he charged at Tigress, intent on knocking her down with a tackle. He realized to late that a staff had already swung towards his midsection.
Master Monkey swung his staff towards Mantis in an attempt to take down the small guy. He retracted his staff and fell into a defensive stance. He observed how Tigress crouched low, poised to lunge at him. He tightened his grip on the staff. He needed to hit the quickly approaching Tigress really hard so he wouldn't have a tough time later on. What he didn't account for is the green blur of Viper's clothes as she charged head first to Tigress' side.
Master Viper didn't understand what is wrong with the only other female of the group within the last few days. One minute, Tigress was quietly training with her and the next minute, she was angrily stomping away. Too deep within her thoughts, Viper failed to notice a backhanded swing from Tigress. She flew a good few meters from the other female but that left her wondering how come Tigress held back.
Master Crane surveyed the situation from atop a nearby pole. He resisted the urge to laugh at Po, who is trying so hard to channel his inner Dragon Warrior but failing miserably because he hasn't eaten his most important meal of the day. A thud to the left caught his attention. From their positions, he concluded that Tigress had backhanded Viper. The fact that Viper did not hit the far wall had him wondering but he quickly dismissed the idea. Pulling out his metal fans out from their sheath, he jumped from the pole and swooped down towards Viper, expecting to take her out easily. He did not expect a very powerful kick to the side of his face though.
Tigress noticed Crane approaching Viper and growled. She knew he thought she would be easy to take out so she sprang into action and delivered a kick to his face as soon as he was within distance. She watch as his thin body came crashing into Po. Her mouth twitched upward at the sight but returned to its usual scowl within a split second. She briefly glanced at Viper to check if the latter is alright then turned away to charge at Monkey.
Mantis and Monkey reared their head when they heard a distinctive growl to the side. Tigress is headed towards them. Both men pulled away from each other and faced the fast approaching figure. Mantis maneuvered to his left when Tigress swiped down at him. Monkey swerved to his right. A silver gleam caught their attention. Tigress pulled out her claws. They stared disbelievingly as she gripped the ground with her clawed hand, slightly curled her body and let out a fast kick to Monkey's hands. The action startled Monkey and his staff flew from his hands. With quick reflexes, he tried to jump and reach out for his weapon but Tigress held onto his foot and slammed him down to the ground. He let out a groan from the impact then wheezed when one end of his pole hit his stomach.
Mantis ran towards Po as soon as he noticed Tigress' attention on Monkey. The resounding crack of cement made him cringe and pity the poor fellow. Boy, oh boy, she's all fired up alright. He was almost within arm's length of Po when a shadow loomed over him. The sound of metal fans alerted him of their lean friend. He curled up like a ball and pushed towards the side so Crane would need leverage to turn. He uncurled himself once he realized the threat isn't immediate, not bothering to check behind him.
Viper was silently stalking her way to Po when an obstacle in the form of Mantis arrived. She had hoped Crane would take care of him but she thought wrong. She crept nearer to the small guy until he was within striking distance. Her hand quickly shot out and hit Mantis' left shoulder blade and the back of his left upper arm. She was about to deliver a third strike when a big mass bumped into her. The forced knocked her back to a pole. She closed her eyes and hissed. So Tigress really didn't go all out on her earlier. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Po's lumbering body running towards her with stick in hand. Her reflexes were fast enough to grab the stick and make a quick jab at Po's stomach. The action caused Po to giggle slightly though. She tried to make multiple jabs at his stomach but it only resulted to his louder giggling. One particular jab caused Po to swing the stick towards Viper's right ribs and crack in two. The large guy was ready to spout apologies when she held up her right hand and told him she's out of the survival match.
Po only nodded as he observed her walk away silently. He didn't mean to hurt her that much, it was an accident. She was tickling him! He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind when cold metal hit him flat on his face. He clutched at his nose and readied himself to fight, only to realize that he didn't have someone to face. He looked to the side and saw Crane against Tigress.
Tigress really needed to keep her temper in check. It is not a good idea as of the moment though, not when she's rampaging on the training grounds. When she saw Po hit Viper, she flinched. And then she saw red. She was about to rush over to Viper's side when Mantis blocked her way. She growled low and charged at him. She knew Mantis is very thankful for his speed right now, or else she would have caught up to him within a few seconds. She willed herself to keep calm for a few seconds for Mantis to slip up. They have all been at each other's throats for quite some time now. Mantis was bound to make a mistake sooner or later. And a mistake he made. He accidentally stepped on his long robes, causing him to trip and almost fall forward. This isn't going to be nice, he thought. And he was right. Before Mantis is able to regain his footing, he received an uppercut to his guts.
Crane held tightly to his fan, the other one already went flying to Po's face when Tigress disarmed him. He was getting tired and not being at an elevated place was making him feel tired. Honestly speaking, he wanted to just sheath his metal fan and raise both arms in surrender. But he knew Tigress would take that as an insult. He resolved to at least give Tigress a good fight. Metal fan firmly in his hand, he charged towards the female. He let his lean body be loose in an intricate dance, swiping the metal fan at shoulder height, then knee height, then waist height, all while rapidly turning in circles. He was banking on making Tigress dizzy with his movements. He felt the sharp metal shallowly tear at the other's skin as he continues his dance. The level ground eventually got the best of him and his rapid turning slowed. Tigress took a chance and hit in between his shoulder blades with both of her open palms. Crane's body jerked then spun wildly for a few seconds before falling to the floor and muttered about the world spinning.
Po gulped. It was only him and Tigress now. He really didn't want to deal with her. She glanced at him with furious eyes and was about to stalk towards Po when Master Shifu stopped her with his staff. "The sun is right above your heads. Go clean yourselves up. I believe we could use the rest of the day for leisure." He said as he surveyed the outcome of their training session. He made a mental note not to do it again if Tigress is in one of her moods.
/o/~/o/
She really hated losing control over her temper. She decided to apologize to Monkey, Mantis, and Crane once she gets back. She walked towards the temple, not paying attention to the various cuts and bruises she received from training and from releasing her frustration. She liked to think that she has successfully crept to her room until she saw Viper sitting right outside her door. "Tigress, you disappeared right after training and we still haven't attended to your wounds." Viper looked up to her then noticed her arms. "Oh, what did you do to your hand? — Tigress! You shouldn't be punching those iron-wood trees that hard. You're already strong enough…"
"It is not for training anymore." Tigress replied. Her cheeked felt hot and she looked away.
"Come and sit here. I'll clean them up for you; just let me get some things." Tigress sat down by her door as Viper left to retrieve a basin full of warm water, clean cloth, bandages and ointment. Tigress absent-mindedly picked at the few splinters that managed to pierce her skin. Viper came back and when she saw what the other was doing, she swatted the latter's hand away. "I don't want you getting any infection with your dirty hands." She set the basin to the other's right and proceeded to clean and put ointment on the wounds. She securely wrapped bandages around the other's arm and placed light kisses on each one.
Tigress' face flared and a deep red blush adorned her cheeks. Viper let go of her arm and she jumped up. "I… I'm going to rest in my room now. Thank you!" She hurriedly opened the door to her room then slammed it shut.
Outside, Viper giggled. "Take good care of yourself." She whispered then gathered the things and walked away.
On the other side of the door, Tigress smiled.
/o/~/o/
AN: There you go! This was fun to write. I promised myself just a thousand words. But my Faberry-through-Tiper feels hounded me so yeah... I wanted the dialogue limited to only Tigress and Viper hence the ending.
If any of you are wondering what they appear as humans, konako drew them (konako-tumblr-com/post/34945917871).
About Po, it's not as if i hate him or something. Wiki described him as a martial arts appreciator. And he really likes to eat. So watching the others fight plus not being able to eat really doesn't bring out his kung fu-ey self.
About Tigress, I made her pretty brutal here, with Monkey and Mantis in particular.