I admit it... I wrote this on my phone. So the format's a little screwy... hopefully the content will make up for that :). Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.
2: Till Dawn Does Darkness Reign
Tigress woke before the gong as usual and glanced out of her window at the fading darkness of the night sky. She threw aside her blankets and quietly exited her room, sliding the rice paper door closed behind her. After carefully avoiding all of the creaks in the floorboards throughout the barracks hall, she ran briskly through the courtyard to the training hall, listening cautiously to the night sounds around her.
Her ears pricked as the familiar noise of fists on wood interrupted the serenity of the darkness.
"Who would be up now?" She frowned and ran up to one of the few windows along the training hall, her eyes widening in surprise.
Po was in the midst of the second to last leg of the obstacle course, fists and legs flying in furious kicks and punches.
As she watched, he kicked the head off of a wooden warrior and vaulted it around into another behind him, knocking that one into a third dummy. His arms flew as he blocked the various spiked limbs of other wooden warriors, determination and anger obvious in his movements.
The panda didn't notice when she came through the giant training hall doors, or, if he did, he didn't make any move to greet her. Tigress stepped off to the side and leaned up against a column to watch her friend as he demolished the rest of the obstacle.
Finally he stopped, his body motionless in the midst of the broken, scattered limbs and splinters that littered the floor around him. Tigress watched as he stood in place, breathing hard, eyes closed and, eventually, when she deemed it the appropriate time to go near him, she walked over.
"Po?" She asked as she approached him, her arms crossed. The panda just kept breathing, the small bursts of air becoming more even as the seconds passed.
"Po." Tigress said again, harder this time, but still her friend didn't answer. His angry expression was beginning to fade, his features becoming peaceful as usual.
"Po!" She yelled angrily, stepping up on a piece of wood in front of him, her face mere inches from his.
"Huh..." The panda murmured and his eyes opened slightly, focused on something far away from her... or even the Jade Palace.
"Po..." She said again, tilting her head so their eyes met. Almost as soon as she'd done so, he seemed to snap back into his surroundings, his pupils connecting with hers in surprise. Only then did Tigress realize how close they were. Glad for her orange fur, she quickly backed away so the piece of wood she'd been standing on rested between them.
After a few seconds of semi-awkward silence, the tiger cleared her throat.
"Well... You've destroyed all the wooden warriors." She commented. Po looked around and turned back to her, a sheepish smile curling his lips.
"Um... Yeah, I guess I did... Well, I'll go get the replacements..."
"I'll help."
"Really, Tigress, you should probably get back to bed..."
"No, it's fine." She gazed at her friend calmly, earning a shy smile before they continued on to the storage room.
"So, what really happened on your master's journey?" Beside her, she could practically feel a solid wall building up between her and Po.
"Oh, uh, nothing. Just traveled around China, helped villages and cities and stuff. Pretty much like any other master's journey."
"Why are you lying about this?" She turned to him and thrust out an arm to stop him from walking any further.
"I'm not lying about anything." He answered bluntly, pushing her arm out of the way as he continued on to the storage building.
"Po," Tigress smoothly flipped over his head and landed with her paw on his chest.
"What. Happened?" She asked, locking her stare with his turbulent gaze. The panda finally focused on her, his eyes hard as steel, and once again, he tried to push past the tiger.
"Stop doing that." She growled, frustrated, quickly sidestepping so she was in front of him again.
"Would you- we need to replace the wooden warriors before everyone gets up. Could we just... Do that?" Po's voice was anxious, desperate even, as he looked away from Tigress, around the dark palace courtyard.
"No. I want answers, panda. Why are you avoiding the subject? What happened that's so terrible, even you can't talk about it?"
He sucked in his lips and turned his eyes, again, from his friend, up to the starry night sky. Still, she waited.
"Po-"
"Look," he sighed," I just... I..." He sighed again and looked over at the sacred peach tree, its branches swaying softly in the wind, petals gliding gently to rest on the ground.
"Let's... Go over there." He started toward the cliff and Tigress followed, her eyes narrowed and focused on his downtrodden expression. Once in the presence of the blooming tree, the air around them seemed to settle. It became easier to breath, and, for Po, easier to begin his story.
Sorry for taking so long to get this up, by the way- holiday season and all, you know :/ :) you gotta love it anyway, though.