Chapter 9
Shifu sat on the steps outside the training hall, his eyes constantly on Tigress, Lei Lei, and Po playing together in the courtyard. The wood was cleared, along with the elder panda's focus on training for the rest of the day. The tea beside Shifu was growing cold, but he still drank it back like water, not matter the taste. Po was giving Tigress a piggyback ride, with Lei Lei laughing, and toddling around after them, just so she didn't look left out.
He spun around, with her squealing and laughing hysterically during the whole thing. He then paused, and then sat her on his shoulders, and then Lei Lei had enough room to leap up and join the fun. Then the two were laughing and squealing joyfully as he made flying noises, and even intimidating Crane's 'Caw caw!'. Luckily the avian wasn't there to scold and defend himself, saying he never made that noise in his life, as he has done before. But this didn't matter to the girls, because they were having too much fun with Po.
It lifted some weight off Shifu's shoulder for now. Lei Lei being a bit clingy to Tigress still, but having them both slightly pulling at him was tiring. The most exhausting thing is the fact that Tigress spoke to Shifu about him.
"Spots always got it right." She spoke in such a way she was in pain, and looking at her now, he could comprehend the look in her eyes; the brightness was still there, and so was her small, loving gleam for all the vibrant things in life. But she was still small when Spots was here. He took a shining to her... Spots, I mean. Strangely enough, Shifu could recall the leopard, who was about eighteen at the time, watching the little cub wander in, and interact with her that day.
"What did you bring home for dinner Master?" He asked. Shifu shook his head with a smile, a paw on the suddenly shy, quiet girl's shoulder. She was staring at him intensely; this guy was huge. Towering over her, and Shifu... and from her perspective, he was probably as high as the ceiling in the Hall of Heroes, where they all were at this point in time. She blinked once, and Tai Lung had his attention on her. Oogway entered the room, but made sure he didn't bring attention to himself. "Is this it?"
She blinked in confusion. "You can't eat me." She insisted this statement like he had no idea. "I don't know what I taste like, but I don't think I'd be delicious..."
"Hmm... I have quite an exotic taste girl..." She swallowed slowly, the spit crawling down her throat very slowly, as Tai Lung raised an eyebrow at the his first movement; he knelt down to be at the same eye level as she was. "I guess you win in that argument small fry." He took a hold on one of her arms, and inspected it like a dumpling speared on a chop stick. "Mmmm, quite right old girl- your far to skinny."
Tigress furrowed her brow, but her heart stopped running; Shifu could see the normal rise and descend of her chest. "You're not going to fatten me up are you?"
"Well we could..." Shifu remembered the look of horror on her face, but Tai Lung just smiled at her and ruffled the fur on the top of her head. "But you're a warrior in the making, starting now... what's your name?" He stood up on the last part of his sentence.
"Tigress..." She said quietly, before adding quickly; "And yours?"
"Soon to be Master Tigress..." he frowned, pretending not to like it at all, but Tigress fell for it, and looked at her new shoes in shame. They were new training shoes that Shifu had bought her, and as soon as she slipped them on, she felt like a master already. They were just like Shifu's, and she noticed Tai-lung had the same too. Seeing him acting so well, she felt like she was only intimidating them. "I guess it'll be a ring to fit the finger once you get better... and me? I'm Tai-Lung..."
"Tai-Lug- Tai, Tai..."
He smiled, bowing to her. "Welcome, little sister. You can call me Spots." He lifted her up and sat her on his shoulders, and gave her an extreme piggy back, and climbed up the nearest pillar. She clung to him out of fear, but once he stopped and coaxed her to open her eyes, and she forced herself to look and wave at Shifu, seeing everything from a new perspective. "Don't worry, you're in the safest of paws now, and I'll always have your back..." She looked down at him, legs dangling, raising and falling every time he leapt from one pillar to the next. Shifu watched with a pride, feeling the sun light on his back. But there was a slight chill crawling along his neck, when he looked up at Oogway...
Who was sombre.
"Master Shifu?"
Shifu turned, and Mr Ping was beside him with a bowl of noodles, and two cups of tea. "May I sit with you?" The older panda just gestured to the space beside him, and the goose sat slowly, the tray close to his chest. The tea cups clattered, and the bowl near slid off. Fixing it all up, Ping took his cup, and then place the tray on Shifu's lap. "I figured you'd be hungry."
"Thank you Mr. Ping." Shifu replied tiredly, dragging his paw along his eye tiredly.
"How're things?" Mr. Ping took a sip of tea, his wings wrapped gently around the cup, welcoming the warmth that bounced off the rim.
"Fine. It's just a re-run of teaching her moves and tactics..." More was going to roll off her tongue, but his stomach twisted at the minor thought of what she had said. "Spots..."
Mr. Ping blinked in confusion. "'Spots'?" He chuckled, which triggered Shifu to shift his attention from his paws to him. "Is that what she used to call you when she was little? You know, because you have the rings around your eyes...?" Mr Ping didn't sound so sure at the end of that sentence, but he kept on smiling, almost enough to force Shifu to copy him.
"No... it was what she called... Tai Lung, when she was little." Shifu spoke softly, making the Goose behind him almost have a dramatic double take, however he sat tight as if to sense the Master had more to add on. "She had trouble saying his name... it wasn't a speech defect... but didn't we all have a name or word that we had trouble saying?"
Mr. Ping laughed. "That's true! Mine was 'noodle'." Shifu paused mid-sip, and blinked at the old goose beside him in disbelief. "What? I had a lisp!"
"A lisp only occurs with the letter 's'... not with a word such as, 'noodle'."
The goose frowned. "I'm must be mixed up... but there was a word for this thing I had. But still, I couldn't say it til I was ten... but that's beside the point!" She leaned towards Shifu. "I didn't know Tigress was around when he was here too."
"She was, only a few days before everything unfolded." Shifu's eyes ascended to the darkening sky, before calling out to Po. "You'll have to bring Lei Lei home soon."
Po stopped spinning around, clumping slowly to a halt, when the two girls expressed their inner emotions with a saddened 'aw'. "Will do Master, is Tigress allowed come?"
The little cub looked at the panda pleadingly. "Please Master! I promise I'll do better in practice tomorrow..."
Shifu smiled. "Alright... she can go."
"Yes!" Po and Tigress said in unison.
"But you both must be back quickly."
Po frowned. "Of course there's a catch to each dealing..." He chuckled after. "But it has to be done! Right little Masters! AWAY!" And he galloped out of the gates, with Tigress and Lei Lei clinging on for deal life.
"Don't bring her back late!" Shifu reminded him.
"I won't!" Said the mighty Dragon Warrior's faint voice, before his equally as mighty footsteps galloped out of both Shifu and Mr. Ping's hearing reach. The old good waited a few seconds in the silent, light breeze that floated around them, before turning back to Shifu.
"How was she after the turns of events?" His mind was still wrapped thickly around the situation with Tai Lung.
"At first she was unsettled, waking up in the middle of the night, screaming that he was in the bunkhouse. At first I did believe her, and sat outside her room for two nights after that. After nothing happened, I left it at that, and she seemed to leave it too, because she tried to act like nothing ever happened after that... but after she mentioned Spots? That's something I missed."
"Emotionally?"
"No- never." The panda replied stiffly. "I was blind... there's a chance she's been comparing herself to him for years... probably telling herself all the imperfections she thinks she has, only because he was somewhat perfect..." Shifu lifted his paw to hold his heavy head, thinking of any time he walked away, and left her to train alone. Would she have said anything to tear down her walls of courage? It may have built her confidence, but her mind was damaged to the point that she has to look at her herself everyday, with the shadow of Tai-Lung growing larger as the years passed. She was so small and frail when it happened.
"Maybe..." Mr Ping whispered softly after a few moments of unflavored silence. "You can discuss this with her?"
Shifu turned to him, but said nothing, while Tigress and Po came back in. She was looking a little worn out as Po held her in a piggy back ride. One arm was lolling limply over his shoulder, and the other was tucked under his neck, with her head against the back of his. He was smiling while walking slowly towards Shifu and his father.
I should've done that a long time ago...
Sorrrry so so so sorrry!
I've had so much going on lately school is going to kill me with stress... I can feel it '_'
My school gives me monthly tests now and it's not necessary for my year- we are sitting big exams and they're stressing us over these supposed 'little' ones every month now too?
Anyways, I hope you like it guys!
Review!
