A Sense of Purpose
Chapter 4: Attitude
Tigress groaned quietly. Never going to drink this much again! she thought and rubbed her head. Her last hangover had been after her twentieth birthday - Master Shifu had allowed her a few strong drinks in celebration of her coming of age, and she had deeply regretted it the following day. Okay, that had actually been a worse headache than the one I got right- She froze. Wait. I didn't have any alcohol yesterday!Moving carefully, Tigress got to her feet. What happened? Last thing I remember was making a mess out of the training hall, and that had been way before noon! She glanced out of her window. It's morning. Did I seriously sleep for almost an entire day? And how did I fall asleep in the first place? I had been full of energy - and rage - until Po came and offered me some- Her eyes widened. "Tea," she muttered. "Po drugged my tea!"
"No," a voice came from the corridor, and moments later, Master Shifu opened the door. "I drugged your tea."
"...what?" she asked and dropped to her knees again. "Why?"
Master Shifu's eyes narrowed slightly, and Tigress immediately knew that she was in trouble. "Where should I begin?" he asked dramatically and started to pace around her. "First of all, you needed the sleep. You had been barely conscious these past few days!" She briefly considered protesting against this, but figured that it would be smarter to let him rant first. "I had tried to look away as much as possible, just like your friends. But when you blindly lashed out at Tai Lung on the courtyard-"
"ARE YOU-" Tigress snapped, but then groaned. Ohhhhhhh, my head... "Are you seriously defending him?" she asked again, this time lowering her voice slightly to avoid worsening her headache.
"No, I'm not," Master Shifu replied calmly. "But I'm also not damning him the way you do. A lot has happened between your first fight with him and his arrival yesterday. Your friends acknowledged this, but you somehow refuse to do the same." He stopped pacing when he was in front of her. "Which brings me to the other reason I let you catch up with your sleep."
"My sleep will help me welcome the guy who was trying to kill us all a month ago?" Tigress asked and gave him a look. A part of her cried out against her lack of respect, but a bigger part was beyond caring.
"I let you sleep because you will need to be at full strength today," Master Shifu replied, seemingly ignoring her attitude.
Oh, good, does that mean he'll let me fight Tai Lung? A smile played over her lips.
"After all, if you fail today's test, I will ask you to leave the Jade Palace."
The smile instantly vanished, and Tigress wheezed quietly, as if a dagger had just been shoved into her chest. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to come up with a response.
Master Shifu looked directly into her eyes. "Your behavior yesterday had been absolutely unacceptable, Tigress. You are holding a grudge, and you let your emotions override your reasoning and your respect for your Master. Such behavior would have been inappropriate even for a child, but you are an adult and one of the most respected Kung Fu Masters in all of China!"
"You... you're throwing me out?" Tigress finally asked, summoning her entire willpower to keep her voice even.
"No," he replied and sighed. "I'm going to give you a test. And I pray that you will pass it."
She gritted her teeth and tried not to snarl. A test! After years of complete loyalty and self-sacrifice, he decides to TEST me? And if I fail, I'm going to be thrown out of the Jade Palace? Oh, and let me guess, Tai Lung is going to take my place then, right? Your favorite student is back, and you immediately try to eliminate the redundancies! Despite her efforts, her claws sprang free. "So that's how it's going to be," she hissed. "Just one day since Tai Lung got-"
"This is not about Tai Lung!" Master Shifu barked angrily, making her jump slightly. "This is about you! Do you honestly think that I have so little love for you that I will throw you out the moment a student potentially returns to the Jade Palace?" He sighed deeply and shook his head. "The mere thought of you failing this test is breaking my heart, but I will not let my emotions cloud my judgment again. You are one of my students, and right now, Tai Lung is a guest and a potential student here. I'm not asking you to hug him, but your behavior was and is unacceptable." He gave her a glare, as if daring her to reply. When she simply looked down, he turned around and left her room. "The courtyard in ten minutes."
It took Tigress a few minutes to calm down enough to think clearly again. She was feeling tempted to trash her room or to cry, but in the end, she decided not to do either of these things. Keep your lessons in mind! she told herself. You're not going to convince him that you're a worthy student by acting like a little girl! Calm down, Tigress. Master Shifu doesn't hate you, and he doesn't really want to replace you. So as long as you get through this test and keep your emotions under control, everything's going to be fine. The Kung Fu Master slipped into the lotus position and closed her eyes. Roughly five minutes until I face the most important test in my life. I can be down at the courtyard in one minute, and I'm going to make the most of the remaining four. With a deep sigh, she began her breathing exercises.
Almost exactly ten minutes after Master Shifu's announcement, Tigress landed in the middle of the courtyard with a soft thud. She had opted for the more flashy route across the roof of the training hall, if only to show that she was indeed ready for anything. Her Master was standing just a few feet away and nodded briefly. "Are you ready to begin your test?" he asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Master Shifu," she replied quietly and bowed slightly.
"Good." He walked over to the stairs leading down the the Valley of Peace and pointed at an empty basket that had been placed near the stairs. "This is your test," he announced.
Tigress frowned lightly. "It's... empty." What am I supposed to do? Fight it? If the situation hadn't been so grave, she would have chuckled at the mental image.
"Correct, and your task is to fill it."
"...my test is to go shopping?"
"There is a catch, of course," the red panda admitted. "Your task is to fill this basket with apples. I believe only one saleswoman on the market still sells them at this time of the year."
Tigress's ear twitched. She knew that there was only supplier; after all, she had bought apples from there just a few days ago. "And...?" she asked, trying not to sound overly anxious.
Master Shifu calmly reached into his pocket and fished out a few coins. "That should be enough money," he mused, throwing the coins into the basket. When he noticed Tigress's tail twitching wildly, he smiled. "Ah yes, of course. The real catch. There are three rules you will have to obey."
Here we go, Tigress thought and rolled her eyes.
"One: You are not allowed to move the basket. It will stay up here all the time."
Great. That means I'll have to go back and forth a few times. Maybe, if I grab an armful of apples and-
"Two: At any time, you are only allowed to carry one apple on your person. Including pockets and other bags."
Tigress groaned. An endurance test! She quickly glanced at the basket again and guessed that it would take at least twenty or thirty apples to fill it. And I have to run down and up these stairs for every single one!
"Three: If you drop an apple for any reason, you will have to get a new one. Are the rules clear?"
She sighed. "Yes, Master Shifu. What is the time limit?"
"I will be here again at sundown. If the basket is full of apples by then, I will completely forget about your behavior of these past few days."
That's... it?I have more than eight hours to fill a stupid basket? Tigress raised an eyebrow, but didn't complain. The third rule was a major hint that it wouldn't be quite as trivial as it sounded, but she had faith in her skills. "Anything else I need to know before I begin?" she asked and dropped to one knee.
"You can take as many breaks as you want. Po will be here, should you need anything." He shrugged lightly. "That would be all."
Tigress nodded and immediately started to dash down the stairs. Within minutes, she had reached the market. "Apples... apples..." She took a quick look around, trying not to pay any attention to the sight and smell of the tasty food all around her. I shouldn't have skipped breakfast, she thought and shook her head. But Po is there! He can whip up something nice! Once I got my first apple, I'll tell him to pack a few meatballs into a bag so I can eat them on the way. She quickly found the saleswoman and noticed that she had two large baskets with apples. More than enough. Even if she sells a few during the next few hours, I won't have any trouble filling my basket. After buying one of the apples, she hurried back to the temple and placed it into the basket.
"Po!" she snapped loudly, jogging to the kitchen.
"He's in the garden, gathering some herbs or something for his soup."
Tigress's claws sprang free even before she could think about controlling herself. "You," she snarled, glaring at the snow leopard who was sitting at the kitchen table.
"Did Master Shifu send you to check up on me?" Tai Lung asked and raised an eyebrow. "I told him I'd start working on the roof of the Hall of Warriors in a few!"
Control yourself! It's just a coincidence that he's here. Master Shifu didn't place him here as an obstacle. She took a deep breath. Just finish your test. Then you can deal with him. "Never mind," she hissed and started to check the various bowls. "Anything edible in here?"
"Check the oven," Tai Lung muttered. "We were having 'Marinated Crane with Eight-Treasure Stuffing'." He rolled his eyes when she gave him a wide-eyed glare. "Oh, come on," he groaned. "Can't you take a joke? Just a few meatballs in there, seriously. We figured you'd be hungry."
"You are sick," she hissed and began to fill the warm meatballs into a cloth bag. Just give me one good reason, and... no. Calm down, Tigress!
"And you need to lighten up," the snow leopard replied. "Barely any meat on the guy, anyway," he added just as she was dashing out again.
As she was running down the stairs for the second time today, Tigress allowed herself a smirk. Perfect, I won't even have to raise a finger! With this attitude, Tai Lung will get himself killed in no time at all! All I have to do is grab a few more apples, and my life will be back on track!
