Tigress sat in her window, staring out into the streets.
Mei Ling was gone. Her desire to dance was gone. Her smile was gone.
And as Mr. Ping watched from the doorway to her room, he was worried it would never come back.
He had watched his little tigress's heart crack when Mei Ling left. She had been her only friend in this valley. Feline's were rare in this part of China, and the ones that were known, were not known for their good hearts and friendly spirits.
No, the valley of peace was not a feline accepting village.
"Tigress, please come down from there, I don't want you falling."
Tigress sighed and dropped from the window into her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Why couldn't we both go?"
"I don't know sweet heart. They wouldn't tell me." And Mr. Ping had indeed tried to find out why, but his old friend would not budge on his silence. "That old turtle is nearly as stubborn as I am. I wonder if he is almost as good at noodles…"
"What am I going to do now? " Tigress asked softly, shaking her father from his thought.
Mr. Ping waddled into the room and jumped up on the bed, sitting next to his daughter. "Well, I know where you can start." Tigress looked at him questioningly. "Noodles!"
Tigress rolled her eyes, but she could not hide a hint of a smile. Her father always knew how to cheer her up.
*1 year later, Tigress age 8*
"Table four needs bean buns!"
"On it!"
"Noodles to take to tables two, five, seven and twelve!"
"Already there!"
Tigress was working at full speed today. She didn't know why, but she was extremely energized. Everything seemed to be moving slowly around her, as if giving her an edge over, well, life.
So when she turned around and found two rabbits standing directly behind her, she somehow found time to leap in the air, doing a complete flip, and landing on the other side of them, completely balanced.
The patrons around her were amazed.
"She's the best dancer in the valley!"
"I was there at her and Mei Ling's last performance!"
"I can't believe they chose Mei Ling, Tigress is obviously the better dancer."
That was the praise Tigress lived for, though as far as she could tell, no one knew she could hear them when they spoke of her. Another one of the many benefits of being a tiger, her hearing was far advanced than those around her.
And as soon as she entered the kitchen, she got to put to use another of her recent skills. Strength. Mr. Ping was trying to lift a large iron pot onto the oven, and Tigress was more than happy to help.
"My my Tigress. Look at you! So strong! Obviously the noodles. Very good for you." Mr. Ping began to fill the pot with water. "Special guests coming today. Heard from villagers a group of wolves were going to stop by."
"Wolves! Father, wolves are bad news! You've heard the reports! They're hunting for someone! What if they cause trouble!"
"Yes yes, I've also been told the moon controls the tides. If they pay, I have no problems. Besides, I've yet to have anyone stand against my knives without running away." To secure the point, he threw three of his vegetable slicers, leaving them quivering in the wooden post. "Pff, wolves."
Tigress sighed and shook her head, a bad feeling creeping up from her toes. She went about her duties regardless, her previous speed and joy with work sapped from her body.
The wolves arrived just after the giant pot of noodles had been completed. And as soon as the first one entered the courtyard, the local inhabitants deserted it.
There were four in total. Three of them looked normal to Tigress, at least as normal as a wolf could look. The fourth was what caught her attention. His back was more hunched, and his fur was longer. He was bigger than the others, wore more armor, with a strange symbol painted on a shoulder piece, and had a nasty looking hammer on his back. A patch covered one eye, a scar peeking out the top and the bottom.
All four sat without saying anything, and Mr. Ping attended to them personally while Tigress stayed in the kitchen.