Chapter 10 : Who Are You?

Tell her now

Don't tell her

Tell her

Don't

Now

Never

If Shifu had an ability to divide his mind into two, the both of them would fight and brawled over what's the wisest thing he was supposed to do right now.

Yes, he had determined to follow Master Oogway's advice to tell the truth to Tigress despite of the fact that he didn't want to. But doing so definitely feels harder than it looks.

His eyes glanced at his student with a million of different feelings mixed into one without stopping his step.

"Master?"

"Hm?"

"Where are we going?"

Shifu came to a halt in a sudden realization. Behind him, Tigress did the same. The red panda hadn't thought of a place he would lead Tigress to.

"If there's something you want to inform me," the female tiger continued. "You can tell me now."

Shifu shook his head. "It's too important to tell in such a place like this."

"I don't see any sign of eavesdropper around here at all." She gestured to the desolate palace arena, the place where they were at.

"It's not the eavesdropper I'm worried about."

"So?"

I'm worried that you'd spring into a rage once you hear the news.Thought Shifu. I'm afraid you'd turn into a monster and did the same thing as Tai Lung did.

"It's about your scroll." Shifu said without turning to Tigress. "Anything that has to do with the scroll shall be very secretive and no stranger allowed to listen to it even accidently."

Hearing about the scroll, Tigress' suspicious expression gradually melted into bright.

"Master! You … you're serious?!" She bent down, grinning like a predator finding its prey. "Did Master Oogway just told you the hidden secret of the scroll?"

"Probably…"

Tigress squinted. Her happy expression quickly changed. "Probably …?"

"This could be either the answer or not the answer you're looking for."

The student raised an eyebrow, waiting for a further explanation.

"The answer you're waiting for may not the answer you want to hear."

Soon, Tigress sensed something wasn't right. Well, thing hadn't been right since yesterday for sure. What exactly is he trying to say?

"Is this the reason why you and Master Oogway acted strange recently?" She demanded, lifting up her head. "And does this news involve that stupid panda as well?"

"Don't call him stupid!" Shifu somewhat snapped, almost losing his temper which caused his student to shock. But immediately, he returned to be fairly soft. "I never teach you to call anybody with any offensive word. You do it again and I'll have you apologise once again to that panda."

Tigress bowed her head, pretending to be sorry. "Yes, Master."

Since the incident occurred yesterday, Tigress couldn't remove that black and white furred bear out of her mind. At first, she assumed that panda just as a reguler commoner, an ordinary fan that happened to peek on her training.

Now she wasn't so sure with that thought as she noticed the way Master Oogway spoke of the panda. Why on earth The Grand Master put his attention to such a commoner like him? Is it nothing else but something called empathy?

That panda first showed at the same day when she was chosen the dragon warrior. Is it just a coincidence?

Wait. What if the presence of the dragon warrior Master Oogway sensed that day didn't come from her? What if the presence he sensed came from one of the villagers that was watching the tournament instead?

From that panda, perhaps.

Did he come as the tournament was happening?

"I always say looks can be deceiving, Tigress. That panda may look like … like what you said and yes, I had the same thought about him once as you did until I found out that he's …" The master trailed off, doubting to continue.

"That he's actually a great warrior destined to save China."

Shifu's eyes went wide, a bit surprised.

"And he," the student opened her arms wide with a raised voice like a professional storyteller as she proceed. "has a hidden power within that fat body. The whole China will bow to him, respecting him and praising him as the great warrior because he's the real dragon warrior. And I…," here, she pointed at herself with a thumb, slowly decreased her tone. "I'm just a poor student chosen by accident. Never meant to be the one." She turned to Shifu. "Is that what you're trying to tell, Master?"

Shifu was silent. For a moment, he presumed that Tigress had figured out the truth all by herself.

"And what if it was right?" Shifu asked calmly, emphasizing on what if. It might sound like he was challenging Tigress but the truth is, that question was one of his trick to discover how Tigress would react before he decided to reveal the shocking news he was keeping.

"You told me yesterday not to worry about it." Tigress reminded him. "Now why did you ask me that question?"

"Don't ask back. Just answer it." The master said with his usual stern voice.

.

A pause moment.

.

For a couple of second, nobody made any sound.

.

The tiger clenched her right paw, attempting to hide her actual feeling as she looked away. "I …" she said, rather stuttering. "I don't know."

Shifu tacitly observed the expression pictured on Tigress' face. She sure felt disappointed and slightly dejected but the master knew that she was concealing it.

"I don't know, Master." She repeated. "I don't know. Being the dragon warrior is what you trained me for and it's my goal to train and live. My pride." She added, looking Shifu in the eye and faking a smile with a face full of hope. "But that won't happen, will it? Master Oogway is the wisest warrior. He has chosen me and he's never wrong in choosing something or someone."

Shifu hadn't stopped watching at his student.I wish he was wrong just this time.

He admitted that he almost desperate to keep the secret from Tigress. If he didn't tell her right now, he would betray her faith in him.

But of course he already knew that Tigress herself hadn't been ready for it. If he told her now, one problem would be solved but the next result would only break his favorite student's heart or even worse, cause her to commit suicide. Who knows?

"Is there something else you want to tell me?"

Shifu was snapped out of his reverie. He stared at the tiger with a frown. "Huh?"

Shifu absolutely didn't forget. Several hours ago after a short discussion he had with Master Oogway, he had made up his mind to get through with this falseness and set things right. Yet everytime he looked at his student in the eye, he became unsure.

"I've decided and changed my mind," Shifu placed his arms behind his back, puffing out his chest with an authoritative attitude. "that you are yet ready to understand this news."

"I am ready." Tigress insisted. She couldn't stand to be put in this unconvincing situation any longer.

"No, you're not."

"Just tell me now and I'll listen."

"It's not as simple as you think."

"So when are you going to tell me." The tiger nearly screamed, tired of his master for being so secretive towards her.

"Until we – you're ready."

"How do you know? You can't tell if I'm ready or not."

"Because I'm your master."

"Master. Please – "

Tigress was about to say something but Shifu quickly interrupted her as he raised his hand. "I'm afraid this conversation will only bring us to a fight. You won't be told about that secret," He lowered it. "Until you can let the thing you're very proud of be taken away from you. And that's final."

The red panda gave his last wry smile before leaving Tigress hurriedly. Practically, he ran away from her, which hurted the tiger most.

His master called her to speak about something she might want to know but eventually, he left her offhand. How nice!

Tigress soon did the same like what Shifu did ; leaving the palace arena as she gritted her teeth out of anger.

Find the panda now. That's what she was thinking. Shifu had advised her to not have any case with that panda but Tigress wouldn't obey him. She would do her business without anyone aware of it. Beside, her teacher didn't say anything about the scroll, nor the secret so why wouldn't she do the same thing?

TTW

The day was getting hot. Yet the rush and activity wouldn't stop.

Especially for Mr. Ping and Po. They had to work hard or else a hungry customer would go bersek because the orders hadn't come yet.

"Move fast, Po." His dad said from the kitchen when Po was taking a tray with three bowls of noodle on it to a table.

"Hey, Panda. Hurry up. My stomach is grumbling."

With his fat body, Po found a great difficulty as he tried to pass some tables, geese and pigs getting in the way. His dad's restaurant was small yet it had much visitors which made that place became crowded, filled with some noises and complains from the impatient customers.

"Panda. Where's my food…"

"And my drink…"

"I want a bigger size…"

"I ordered noodle, not soup…"

"It's too salty…"

"This is not my order …"

Po covered his ears. Enough. He almost didn't have time for himself to breath.

"Don't just stand there. Bring me my food..."

Po inhaled deeply, trying to not yell back. On any condition, this was his only destiny he sincerely had to fulfill ; being a noodle seller. Moreover, he had promised his dad that he would never let him down anymore.

"Okay, sir. Here you go." He responded tiredly.

.

Right in the entrance, a mysterious figure wearing a black cloak with a hood covering almost his entire head walked into restaurant. His eyes looked down at his feet but occasionally inspected his surroundings carefully as if he was terrified of being caught.

The figure went across some tables and throngs to the kitchen where Mr. Ping was at. Some customers took a glance at the new comer for a second but it was too hard to see his face so then they ignored him.

"Oh," Mr. Ping was startled once the black hooded figure stood in front of him. "Can I help you, Sir?" He asked politely.

Po's eyes watched his father talk with the stranger, yet he couldn't hear anything when that new comer whispered something. His father looked surprised and rather worried but slowly he nodded in agreement.

"Po." His dad called him. "You got a visitor."

"Me?" Po asked, looking at the so-called visitor.

That guy didn't only look mysterious but also dangerous. What if he had an evil intent? It's not like the Valley of Peace was the most peaceful valley in the whole China.

The mysterious figure said good bye to Mr. Ping and waved his hand to Po, motioning to the panda to follow him. Afraid and wondering, the panda put the empty bowls he was holding on a table next to him and went with the stranger out of the restaurant.

.

It had been thirty minutes since the mysterious figure and Po walked leaving the restaurant. The stranger led Po. Po had been thinking more than twice to turn around and run away from him. What feared him was the black hooded figure could've stopped and lunged him without giving any warning before he could even shout for help.

The mysterious figure and Po finally came to a stop as they reached the silent bamboo forest.

But the stranger had yet said any single word for a moment. His back facing Po.

"So…" Po started as he played with his fingers nervously. "You want something from me?"

There was a sigh coming from the black hooded man. "Yes."

"And it's about …"

"About you."

"Me… me, Sir?" Po asked again, placing his right paw on his chest.

The man nodded.

Uh…. This feels awkward, thought Po. Horror stories of some villagers being dragged and abducted by mysterious unknown person and their dead bodies being found the next day floating in the river suddenly ran through Po's mind. This guy could be a hitman sent to kill him. "Well, sir. I'd love to help you. No, seriously. But … you know … I'm sort of worried about talking with a stranger, I mean," he gulped. "There are many villains in this valley and it's very a lot ; murderers, bandits and … thieves. Oh, no offense, Man in black but …" he took a back step. "You could've been one of them so … if you wouldn't mind, I'll just turn around and go homeee…."

Po, all of a sudden, became speechless at the time when the one he called man in black turned to him as he opened his hood.

He blinked. That guy wasn't a man.

"You… you … Master Tigress." He gasped and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Could it be?" He rubbed his eyes once again. "Is it real? *gasps*" His mouth dropped open, excited. And within only few seconds, he had transformed from an apprehensive panda into a fan boy, jumping and throwing his fist in the air. "Oh my gosh! It's you, it's you! I am not dreaming, right?! It's really you!"

"Stop!" Tigess ordered him, annoyed. She had seen enough of the fan boyish side of that panda and it made her sick. "I don't have much time so let's get this over soon. Now calm down and quiet."

In point of fact, it was hard for Po to be good-tempered, mostly when he was facing his idol but eventually he tried. "Okay, okay," he said, taking a deep breath as he tried hiding the exciment. "Okay. Oh, wait. Did I just say okay thrice?"

Tigress shot him a glare, making the panda shudder. "O…okay…" Staring at such a serious face of Master Tigress was enough to make him eerie.

"Fine. Now." Tigress folded her arms with a cocky manner. He observed Po starting from the head to the toes, acting like she was studying him. She went around the panda without removing her gaze from him at all.

But seen from any angle, Tigress couldn't find something special from this panda.

She halted and contemplated at his face in depth, eyes narrowing.

Po bit his lip, sweatdropping. "Is there something on my face?"

Tigress replied it with a grunt. "No. Nothing at all."

Po wasn't aware if 'Nothing' Tigress just meant was his face, or him. "So… why did you look at me that way? It kind of makes me … afraid."

"Most people is afraid of me." Tigress told him, recalling her past when she was a child. "But don't worry, I came and drag you all the way here not to scare you." She stepped forward. Po stepped backward. "I just need to ask you some questions and I suspect that you may know the answers."

"Okay. But please don't ask me difficult questions because well… I'm not the most genius person in this valley." He smiled sheepishly.

"First." Tigress began. "Who are you?"

Po grinned. It was an easy question and he would give the most complete answer.

"Po Ping. Species, panda. Gender, male. Age, 27. Occupation –"

Tigress stomped her feet angrily. Po was upset.

"What? My answers are wrong?"

"They're not the answers I expect. I already knew who you are. What I'm asking is, who are you exactly?!"

Po thought for a while. Didn't know what the exact answer the tiger wanted.

"A noodle seller."

"And?"

"And … I don't know." Po wished the tiger wouldn't pounce on him for not able to give the answer correctly.

But Tigress went on. "You know Kung Fu?"

Po shook his head.

"The history of Kung Fu?"

A shake of the head again.

"The secret of dragon scroll?"

"Nope."

"Has a kind of connection with Master Oogway?"

Po had no idea at all the direction of the questions. "Of course not."

"Then why would Master Oogway proudly talked about you?"

Po was a bit surprised. "He what? But how come? I just met him once and it was yesterday."

"He keeps saying that you're the one. Does it ring any bell?"

"Huh?"

"You don't know or just pretend to not know?!"

"I really don't know."

"Don't lie!" she roared, unleashing her fangs.

"No, I swear." He raised his paws, covering his face and protecting himself from the angry tiger. "Please don't show that face to me because now … I'm really afraid."

"This is serious, Panda. My master is hiding a secret from me since yesterday's tournament and I believe it has something to do with you and the dragon scroll!" She yelled. "How come did you not know?!"

"I'm sorry, Master Tigress. But… you're asking the wrong person." He gulped again, trembling. "I'm just a common villager, not a master. If … if you asked your master, he would give you the answers."

"I wouldn't come down to the village here if he gave me the answer." A frustration was pictured on her stripped face. "Argh!"

"Uh … you're okay, Master Tigress?" The panda asked, rather worried. "You still have more questions?"

"Don't ask me anything!"

Po shut his mouth closed. He just cared for the tiger. That's all. He didn't know that asking question to a frustrating tiger would only aggravate the situation.

"Did you attend my tournament yesterday?" Tigress continued her questions, slightly hoping the panda would say no this time.

"No."

Yes!

"If I had come to your tournament, I would have given you my best rousing applause when Master Oogway chose you." The panda smiled, not telling the embarrassing effort he had yesterday.

That panda didn't come to the tournament and so, it was obvious that the dragon warrior's presence Master Oogway felt yesterday really came from her. She was truly the dragon warrior.

Tigress suddenly laughed. "What am I thinking?! Fool." She cursed herself. "Of course you know nothing. Master Shifu's right. I shouldn't bother myself to think of this problem. Stupid." She stopped laughing. "You know what? I had a thought that you were the real dragon warrior. But sure enough I was wrong, wasn't I?"

"What? Me? The dragon warrior? Pff …." Po bursted into laughter.

"Silly, isn't it? Now at least, I found that my concern has no compelling reasons. Someone like you will never be able to become a warrior." She said it with expression of disgust on her face.

"Hehe … yeah, you're right…." Po faked a smile though Tigress' recent statement felt like getting stabbed in the heart by a knife. Still, he was curious on what Master Oogway probably had said about him.

.

There was a sound of a flapping wing.

.

Tigress and Po looked up at the sky.

Crane? Whispered Tigress.

"You're getting yourself into trouble, Tigress." Crane groused as he landed right in front of his friend. "What if master found out?"

"I'll be fine as long as you don't tell him."

"I won't tell anyone."

"Then what worries you?"

"Shifu realized that you're not in the palace and now he's looking for you."

"What?!"

"We told him that you were meditating right now in somewhere place. You know it's not easy to make a good excuse to convince master."

"But he hasn't known, right?"

"He will soon if you don't come back right now. Now hurry."

Tigress set up her hood and immediately ran on with his comrade to return to the Jade Palace ….

… without saying "good bye" or "see you later" or even "sorry for wasting your time" to Po like he was never there.

"Good bye." The panda waved his hand to the two Kung Fu Masters that would never wave back.