A/N: Finally here's an update! ^^ I decided to let this chapter focus around Hui Dao, since I think that a good OC also needs some content - even when this is a Tigress story. ^^; Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy!

P.S. I haven't forgotten about Po and the others - they'll return soon!

Tigress woke up early the next day. The break of dawn hadn't even come yet. But what had woken her up was a light tapping-sound on the floor. Listening, Tigress stayed in her bed.

It sounded like Mantis, but she knew that Mantis wasn't at the palace. Getting out of bed, she soundlessly opened her door, looking out at the corridor of the barracks.

She eventually came to the kitchen where she found Hui Dao sitting by the table, pouring up some tea.

"Is something wrong?" Tigress asked, sitting down next to him.

"No, just can't sleep," he said. "Figured I might as well just get up."

"Good idea," Tigress said, smiling faintly at her student. Just looking at him, she could tell that he was thinking about a lot. But Tigress wasn't sure if it would actually be a good idea to ask, since Hui Dao had seemed like a very enclosed type of person.

Hui Dao had also said that he would tell her if something was wrong, so Tigress figured that she'd just have to wait for him to do it. But Tigress just smiled at Hui Dao, which caused the young cheetah to shyly look down at his cup of tea.

Eventually Tigress went over to grab a cup for herself and poured herself some tea. She was somewhat surprised to find that it was her favorite flavor of tea, given that Viper had commented on how she didn't like it.

"You seem troubled," Tigress said. "Have you been thinking a lot lately?"

Hui Dao nodded. "Yeah… ever since you picked me up at that one orphanage… I have thought a lot about… stuff."

"Such as?" Tigress asked softly and took a sip of her tea.

"Well… just… I've always wondered who I am," Hui Dao said, taking a sip of his tea as well. "But now… I have a name – I'm someone."

"So you like your name?"

"I love it," Hui Dao said, making Tigress smile. "It reminds me of a poem I once read.

In a time where the dark covers all

At the end of the darkest days

In the name of the sacred blade

All the causes of sorrow shalt fall."

"Beautiful," Tigress said. "But it sounds more like a prophecy."

"I guess," Hui Dao said with a shrug. "But if it is, maybe it is my prophecy."

At first Tigress thought that he was serious, but soon she saw that the young cheetah was smiling. Tigress smiled as well. So he did own humor after all.

But nonetheless, he seemed like he was truly grateful for what Tigress had done for him this far. Tigress could only understand him. She had spent a few years of her life in the Bao Gu Orphanage and she knew just how Hui Dao had felt before she got him. But he had been there longer than she had, given his age, so he had gone through what Tigress had, but for a longer time.

Looking out the kitchen's window, Tigress saw that the sun was starting to rise, sending its first beams down on the Valley of Peace. For a while Tigress and Hui Dao just sat in the kitchen, drinking their tea slowly.

Tigress felt content, just sitting there with her student. For some reason, Tigress already felt like Hui Dao was her student alone. She knew that the others for sure would teach him a thing or two as well, but for the most part, he would be hers.

Soon the morning bell was heard and Tigress knew that Monkey and Viper would be awake by then.

"We better prepare some breakfast," Tigress told Hui Dao, who only nodded and together the two felines started making some breakfast. Hui Dao didn't seem to have ever cooked before in his life, but with Tigress' guidance, it went easily enough.

The young cheetah seemed to fit awkwardly into a kitchen, causing Tigress to lightly chuckle by seeing him. But despite this, his hands moved securely and even when holding lightly onto stuff, Hui Dao seemed to have a firm grip. The only thing that somewhat hindered him was his claws; due to not being able to retract them, he had to be careful not to scratch anything.

"Good morning, you two," Monkey said joyously as he entered.

"Good morning, Tigress said, smiling.

"'Morning," Hui Dao said, smiling faintly also, as he placed some cups for them to drink of as well as some soya milk.

"How long have you two been up?" Viper asked as she sat down, watching the two.

"A few hours," Tigress replied and placed some bean buns on four plates. The bean buns were some that Po had brought from his father's restaurant and of course they were of as high quality as the rest of the dishes that could be bought from Mr. Ping.

Tigress also found some various other things, such as already-fried bread sticks and pre-prepared noodles. Soon Hui Dao and Tigress placed the plates on the table. And at last the two felines sat down with the others.

"Looks great," Monkey said with a smile as the four started eating. For a moment the three Masters and the lone student sat without speaking. Tigress actually liked this – it made them all look like the family that she had never had.

"So, are you ready to start training?" Monkey asked Hui Dao after a minute or so.

The black cheetah nodded. "I have looked forwards to it. So what do we start with?"

"We'll see," Viper said with a smile. "Firstly we need to see what your strong and weak points are."

"Firstly, I will have to request you to hit my palm," Tigress said, holding out her hand.

"Really?" Hui Dao asked skeptically.

Tigress nodded determinedly. She knew for sure that no matter how hard Hui Dao would hit her palm, it wouldn't hurt her. "I need to feel how strong you are."

"But we both know that I'm pathetic," Hui Dao said, crossing his arms, looking away for a moment.

"We just need to build up your strength. But I need to know how strong you really are," Tigress said calmly, waving her palm a little back and forth. "Come on."

Hui Dao sighed at first, but eventually pulled his fist back, then smashed his fist forwards. It contacted with Tigress' palm and actually managed to make her hand move a bit, much to Hui Dao's own surprise.

"It seems that we have a bit less to build up than you think," Tigress said. Tigress walked over to the middle of the floor. "We will start with push-ups."

"Push-ups?" Hui Dao asked, sounding like he had never heard of such thing. At first Tigress thought that he was lying, just so that he wouldn't have to do it. But in the end, Tigress actually had to show the young cheetah how it was done.

Soon she told him to start with thirty – which eventually got cut down to twenty – and Tigress watched as the cheetah did so. As he reached ten, Tigress could already tell that the cheetah was getting tired. He was only halfway there, but she could tell by the way his arms shook; by the way that he seemed to grit his teeth that he was getting tired.

To Tigress this wasn't god news. That meant that there was far more to work on… but nonetheless, she knew that she would have to guide her student through it no matter what.

Once Hui Dao was done, Tigress told him to get up. He seemed exhausted already, but Tigress quickly moved on to the next part of the training session. She told Hui Dao to get into the starting position of Kung Fu, which she had showed him the day before.

Doing a quick series of punches and kicks, Tigress was impressed by how well Hui Dao learned. It was as if he completely copied her movements. Nonetheless it was impressive. He seemed to learn much faster than Tigress or any of the others had.

But in a sense, it could also be a bad thing; Tigress feared that the other students wouldn't be able to keep up with Hui Dao if he learned this quickly. Tigress decided that she would have to teach him what was suitable for the first level of Kung Fu – for now.

Tigress eventually showed him a few stances, defensive and offensive techniques that were pretty basic.

After this, Tigress taught him how to use the Gauntlets of Wooden Warriors. At first Hui Dao was somewhat confused, but after a few failing tries, the young cheetah seemed to figure out how they worked.

Patiently, Tigress watched him all the while. She felt incredibly proud – almost like a mother. It was satisfying to see a student – her student – doing so well. It touched her to feel like this. She could only wonder, was this how Shifu felt when he had trained Tai Lung? If so, had he felt any different when training Tigress?

Tigress sighed to herself, which Hui Dao noticed, incredibly enough. Even without looking at her, continuing to train with the Gauntlet before him, he asked, "Is something wrong, Master?"

Tigress simply shook it off. "No, nothing…"

"So how am I doing?" Hui Dao asked. Just the second after he asked, he also got his feet into working with the Gauntlet, kicking the wooden dummy. Soon he had found a completely different rhythm from the one he used earlier, impressing Tigress.

"You're doing great, Hui Dao," Tigress said proudly.

"Alright, Hui Dao," Monkey said. "Tigress said that you aren't well-developed in the strength department."

Hui Dao just shrugged. The two were outside, sitting on the tiles of the palace courtyard. Hui Dao had finished a rather challenging training session of strength with Tigress and now it was Monkey's turn to help him train some of his other aspects.

"But I suppose you're pretty fast, hmm?" Monkey asked. Hui Dao just shrugged once again. "Come on, Tigress stole your tongue?"

"No… I just… don't know," Hui Dao said.

"Why don't we find out then?" Monkey asked. Monkey then pointed. "See the gate over there?"

Hui Dao nodded.

"Let's see who gets there first and then back again!" Monkey said in a jolly tone of voice.

"Wait, wha-?"

"Ready, set; go!" Before Hui Dao could even prepare himself before Monkey had started running. Groaning to himself, Hui Dao quickly let the claws on his feet gently scrape against the tiles beneath, then he made a run for it.

Monkey was already far ahead, having almost reached the gate. Quickly looking back, he saw that Hui Dao had started running. Once Monkey reached the gate, he jumped up and used it to bounce himself in the opposite direction.

Meeting Hui Dao on the way back, Monkey just barely managed to wave cockily at him. Continuing further, Monkey was almost back
at the starting position. But just then, a dash of black fur surpassed him.

Before Monkey could even comprehend it, Hui Dao was back at the starting position while Monkey got there about ten seconds later. Standing as if nothing had happened, Hui Dao had almost been a blur seconds ago.

"Whew, that was impressive," Monkey said joyously. "You're pretty fast!"

Hui Dao didn't reply, but suddenly he fell. Monkey hurried over to him, helping him from hitting the ground. Grabbing onto the feline, Monkey found that he was amazingly hot – literally! It was like touching a frying pan!

"I'm not… used to running," Hui Dao gasped. Monkey helped him to his feet.

"Come on, we better go get something for you to drink." It was with a lot of trouble that Monkey managed to get the young cheetah into the kitchen and get him a cup of water.

"I think I know where we begin," Monkey said.

"Where?" Hui Dao asked, still panting.

"With stamina," Monkey replied.

"Now what, more push-ups?"

"Hmm… not quite, but we'll see," Monkey thought for a moment. "But I think you need a break first."