A/N: Chapter's finally up! Sorry it's so short, I had no good ideas. It's a bit of a filler. ;) Like always, please review!

Tigress winced as she rolled her stiff shoulders. Her entire body ached and it was completely awful. In this condition, how was she supposed to help the Orange Tigers? She couldn't stand idly on the sidelines — she'd probably rip her fur out. And there was no way she was going to rest. She'd had enough of that.

The journey back to Orange territory had been uneventful, but if anything, Tara's warriors had seemed more nervous once out of the hostile area. They had been jumpy, like they expected someone to jump out of the trees and attack them. The behavior had startled Tigress. Shouldn't the Orange Tigers be more confident, now that they were in their own turf?

Ren had helped her sort it out. "We aren't used to peace," the big tiger had explained before the warriors settled down for the night.

"And?" Po had asked.

Ren had bared his teeth at the panda. The tiger had immediately taken a disliking to Po and he had been suspicious of the rest of the Five since their arrival. Nothing she had said in their defense seemed to shatter the warrior's wall of ice. "Peace makes us nervous. It brings evil," he had admitted.

"Evil?" Viper had queried.

"There are always those who seek to take advantage of peace." Ren's eyes had flicked unconsciously to the strangers, including Tigress. She knew she had won Ren's respect, but that was a far cry from earning his trust. "Those who attack mothers and snatch their babies in the dead of the night."

"Tribes have taken children?" Tigress had asked.

Ren had sighed as if annoyed with all the questions. "Yes. They are brainwashed and returned to their tribes as…as lost cubs."

"If the threat is there, why take in the cubs at all?" Tigress had pressed.

"We are not so heartless as to turn away children. And there is no way of knowing if the cub has been brainwashed. Besides, not all cubs are turned traitor against their own tribe." Ren had ground his teeth together. "I know that you will ask this of me, Tigress, so I will answer now. Yes, we have taken children." And with that the big warrior had left and gone to lay down.

Normally, Tigress could fall asleep within minutes. But that particular night, she had tossed and turned and hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.

Ren passed by just as Tigress stretched her forearms, biting back a gasp of pain. "You okay?" he asked.

"Fine," Tigress replied shortly. "Are we going to head out soon?"

Ren nodded. "Tara's calling a meeting. You should be there."

Tigress dipped her head in acknowledgement, expecting the big warrior to move off. When he didn't, she glanced up, more than a little surprised. "You don't need to wait for me," she said.

"Just hurry up." Ren gave Po a sharp little tap on his side. The others had already gotten up, watching amusedly as the Orange Tiger tried to wake the big panda. Even Tigress couldn't hold back a smile, although she really did want to find Tara. She still didn't have a clue where they were going; and she needed to talk with her friends from the Jade Palace. How long did they plan on staying? That was a question Tigress herself did not have the answer to.

"You should just leave him," Mantis offered after a minute or two. "He'll come along soon enough."

Ren gave an ill-disguised growl of annoyance, but managed to remain cordial as he guided Tigress and her friends towards Tara.

The sky is gray and cloudy, the air thick with humidity. Tigress flicked her ear, annoyed, as a fat raindrop landed on top of her head. Beside her, Ren spared a glance at the sky and began to move a little faster. The rest of the Five followed, Tigress trailing a little as her muscles protested. She shook herself, ignored the pain, and bounded to catch up with Ren.

By the time they reached the clearing where Tara was waiting, the rain still hadn't come down hard. The sky spat down big balls of water, but other than that, there was no sign of a rainstorm. However, when Tigress and the others approached the clearing, she saw Tara glance at the sky nervously and unconsciously mimicked the motion herself. It set off a burst of horrible pain through her neck and she dropped her head, breathing hard.

Viper stopped and began to say something, but Ren urged her forwards. "I will stay," the big warrior said.

"No, you should go on," Tigress said as she struggled to lift her head.

"You should have told me you were in pain." She felt Ren's impatience radiate off of him in waves. "You're no good injured."

"I'm not injured," countered Tigress hotly. "Just sore. And I'm not going to complain about that."

"I meant no offense…"

"None is taken," said Tigress hotly. "Let's just get this over with." And with that, she plunged into the dense gathering of tigers.

By the time Tigress made her way to the front, Tara was deep into her speech: "…suffered losses along the way, I know. And we'll hold vigil for them when we return to camp. Right now, we need our minds on the present. Lìguî lost one battle, but she got her son back and she is far from defeated. We need everyone on their guard." The Orange Tiger's eyes seemed to search the small gathering, alighting on each of the Five before coming to a rest on Tigress. "We need everyone to help," Tara finished softly.

There was quiet for a time, broken only when something big, fuzzy, and black-and-white stumbled into one of the tigers, who yelped loudly. "Sorry, what'd I miss?" Po asked.