The "Where Two Characters Hate Each Other But would be Absolutely Devastated if Something Happened to the Other" Part 1 AU
Boat Scene
Aprox. 4:25 a.m.
Location: Boat deck, on the river, heading towards city in the far distance
Characters: Tigress and Po
Theme: Mutual Friend Hate
Humanization Alternate Universe Setting
What if….Tigress never really stopped hating Po….?
—
Tigress had a nasty habit of being a light sleeper. This she regretted most severely, especially with a traveling companion who had been waking up with frequently recurring nightmares.
She opened her startlingly crimson-amber eyes to the sound of Po stumbling out to the quarterdeck, breathing shallowly. It was hard to make out through the fuzzy darkness of previous sleep, but she swore he was muttering, "Radish, radish, radish, radishradishradish…"
The master blinked heavily and hoisted herself up on her palms, then stretched out her arms and cracked her knuckles with a quiet, cat-like yawn. Outside came the sound of fists pounding against wood, followed by a string of aggressively forceful 'Inner peaces".
Tigress really, really wanted to sleep. Po really, really would not shut up.
Sure, the fellow warrior had gained a state of respect in her eyes, but the little beating fire still pulsed annoyingly against the walls of her mind every waking hour. Urging, nagging, fueling the last drops of hatred she had felt at first to spark and grind every now and then. She couldn't really say she outright despised him. After all, hate was a very strong word.
No, she was…still not quite used to him, and his boyish character, the untidiness of the peasant he had initially been not wearing off even when the mantle of a master befell him. Maybe some of that was her fault. She really hadn't encouraged him that much after that smile. She had tried her best, in fact, to not adapt to him, but to channel around him. Ignore the poor guy, if you will. He had taken away her destiny. Her last chance to make her father proud. Everything she had strived to-
BANG
Never mind. That mast sounded like it needed help. There was no way she would be able to doze off again, leastways.
With a dreary half-groan, Tigress pushed herself up and clambered out to the foredeck. Between her and the quarterdeck where the conveniently levitated barracks, structured as a half circle with the mast poking out behind it. Said mast was vibrating from a flurry of loud strikes.
The female warrior let herself stare at the stars for a comfortable moment; the pale crescent moon was shining just enough to make her vest turn purple. It's wavering moonlight shafted down at the front of the bobbing dinghy, yet allowed enough shadowy cover for her to sneak up on the fellow warrior running around in frustration on the quarterdeck.
She crossed the wooden roof of the ship's quarters nimbly, and her footsteps weren't even heard.
Po was apparently too busy pounding his head against the mast. Half of his shirt was soaked, and his fists were beginning to bruise slightly. Tigress raised an eyebrow in silent question. Why was a dream about a radish upsetting him to this extent?
After a few more head-poundings, Po resorted to dancing around the deck, yelling wildly and slamming his fist into the wooden beam. Teeth clenched, growling, over and over, "Inner peace, innerpeaceinnerpeacepeacepeacepeaaaccee—!"
"Ahem," Tigress scowled sourly, glaring at the back of his black-haired head.
He froze. Looked up. Cringed pathetically.
"Oh. Tigress. I mean, Master, uh. Tigress. Forgive me for waking you. I was just…training." His eyebrows pinched up and paired with a cowardly smile.
Tigress rolled her eyes in hidden distaste. "And you deem your mast as a worthy opponent, Dragon Warrior?"
Po wanted to take it as sarcasm, but having lived with the warrioress, he knew by now that witty remarks didn't fit in her book. One look at the serious, narrow-eyed gaze on her otherwise nonchalant face, and it was enough to keep him in line.
"Uh. I guess." He shrugged and lifted his palms up.
Tigress sighed and flipped onto the desk gracefully. Po slumped into a sheepish pose, then glanced at her briefly, curiosity betraying his wariness in his green eyes. "So, you gonna chi-block me again?"
She shook her head slowly and stretched out her arm, gloved hand poised in a palm-strike. "If one's training, the opponent must have at least some minuscule way of countering."
"Is that a metaphor, or—"
"With all due respect, Dragon Warrior, quiet yourself and face your opponent." Tigress smirked faintly, and slit her eyes in challenge. "She is ready."
Po blinked at her, scanning her face, then her hand. "So, you want me to punch you."
"Yes, Master Po, now—"
"But wouldn't that be, y'know, action without sufficiently harming cause or whatever?"
"Don't interrupt me," Tigress snapped hesitantly, then folded one hand behind her back and nodded at him. "Begin."
"But—"
"I'm threatening to chi-block you. That should be a sufficient enough warning." She grumbled. "And stand up straight."
Po sighed uneasily, then cleared his throat and stood erect. "Okay, here goes…"
He drew his fist back, let out a fierce, short shout and slammed it into her open palm as hard as he could.
BOOM
The impact sent cold shudders up his arm. Sharp, concise pain snatched his breath away and he stood there with in his rigid stance, staring in terrified awe at the unaffected person in front of him.
"AOW-HOW-owhowwooowww…" he yelped, a bit late. He sucked in the last dignity he could muster and mumbled squeakily, "I think I prefer the mast, M-Master Tigress."
Her hand had been tense and slightly withdrawn to greet the attack, but now she slipped it away and held it lightly in her other hand. "I…have trained severely at times." She closed her eyes as if caught on the cloud of a distant, hurtful memory. "Perhaps…too severely. But no matter."
She looked up and stared at him, chin jutting out defiantly, and spoke quickly to cover her mistake. "What matters is that you, Dragon Warrior, have awoken several of the Furious Five members, including myself, to a number of interesting circumstances, supposedly assumed dreams, that have you muttering the strangest incantations about vegetables and.." She looked away, wondering whether to poke so far and add that she'd heard him sniffling about his mother.
"And that's all."
It took Po a whole 39 seconds to process what she's said, and another 4 to understand it. "So, you know I've had nightmares?"
Leave it to him to simplify the obvious. "Yes."
Tigress lifted her palm up invitingly, and Po continued to punch, though with much less heart.
"And?"
"And I want to know what's bothering you." she stated coolly, her teeth secretly gritting together. "It is not highly recommended to wake up half-way before dawn."
Po took her vague discomfort and managed to understand the message. "Oh. So I've woken you up before? A lot…"
Nod.
He winced. "Uhm…I apologize." He cleared his throat and sighed sharply. "And it's nothing to worry about, really. Just stupid dreams."
"They're not stupid if they can awake a warrior. Dreams are nothing to be ashamed of." Tigress muttered gruffly. "Now, pray tell." She caught his punch and dug her fingers into his knuckles to pause their little sparring session.
The strange, softly serious tone of her voice made Po feel painfully…closer, to the fellow warrior. More accepted than he had ever been before, except for possibly that even weirder after-battle smile she'd granted him a few months ago.
He felt…remotely cared for.
The sensation washed away quickly as the nightmare seeped back into his conscious. Slumping down onto a crate, he finally responded, "It wasn't just about vegetables, Master Tigress. It's that, well…I just found out that my dad…isn't really my dad."
Tigress sat down next to him and squinted, her ears pricking up to verify what she'd heard. After an awkward stall of conversation, she looked at him with a mask over her incredulousness and echoed, "Your dad. The one who's four feet tall?" And looks absolutely nothing like you...?
He bobbed his head up and down in pouty affirmation, looking off at the horizon solemnly. "Yeah."
"That…okay." She coughed and blinked several times. All this let-out of emotion was confusing her. "And this is what's bothering you, Dragon Warrior? Causes the nightmares?"
"Well. Yes. Well, no. It's just…nah. We're warriors, right? Nerves of steel! Souls of platinum!" He grinned nervously at her, his attempts at friendliness having absolutely no effect on her stoic demeanor. "Like you, Master Tigress. So..hardcore, y'know, ya…don't really feel anything."
The words stung like acid. Her face remained blank, but inside her breath hitched with unknown pain. She had just let leak some of her own feelings to him, and yet he treated her like…like she was heartless.
The flame inside her increased, roaring, and the walls began to crumble. But it felt wrong. It wasn't hate she felt.
It was desire.
The strangest, most choking want for the idiot beside her to accept the small ray of her soft side she'd just exposed. But involuntarily, he had just pushed that over a cliff.
"I…" she began, staring down at the planks of wood between her feet. "I was…?"
No. Her forsaken destiny screamed. Don't even try.
Honor won again. She zipped her mouth shut, saved by the sudden appearance of the rest of the Five, and let her emotions suffocate her words dry.
So, new chapter! And tis very short! But, umm, make sure to leave a review...Not really my fault that Big Hero 6 and LEGEND OF FREAKING KORRA have destroyed my life.