Oh my gosh, I actually have some time to post this today! I wrote it before and finished it up after school today. No homework (for once) tonight, so here it is! More Shifu awesomeness.
Chapter 11: Going back
"What?" she asked in shock.
"I was planning to go back to that spot. Maybe, you'd come with me," he said. "I'm sure their bodies remain Perhaps we can figure that old mystery out." Tigress was quick to answer that she would and Shifu looked at her again in her father's uniform. He told her to wear it a while longer.
Master Oogway saw the two leave and he knew that it was strictly their own time. He'd make sure no one else went into town. He also noticed Aundrey coming out from the training arena.
"Hey, Master Oogway," she called, coming towards him. When he turned to face her, she asked where Shifu was.
"Stay on the grounds, Miss Aundrey, he'll be back," Oogway instructed. Despite the fact she had more questions, he ignored her.
To Shifu's amazement, Tigress had worn the uniform all the way through the village. He thought her very brave to come with him. They passed Mr. Ping's noodle restaurant.
"Po! What are you doing? You'll be late!" Mr. Ping was yelling.
"Coming Dad!" was the response.
"Heh, six years and nothing's changed much around there," he told himself. They came to the edge of village and the entrance into the forest.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes Master," she replied, but walking a few steps further, Tigress disappeared. Shifu looked around, and he bumped into something smaller. Tigress was crouched over.
"You're Master Shifu right?" she beamed. He smiled as they replayed the scene from when they first met.
They came up to the house that was now in a more rotted state than before, not to mention the stench was still lingering. Shifu opened the door, the stench even worse now. Tigress eyed her parents, and she knelt before them, their bodies still holding onto some flesh (not that Shifu thought she should have touched it nonetheless). Shifu walked around, and discovered how horrible of shape the place really was in. He found her room on accident, but he walked inside. Not much was in it but toys, old clothes and a silver watch that still beamed when the sun hit it. Shifu walked to it, finding that it was made of real silver! Why had she left this behind?
"That thing?" Tigress's voice came from the doorway. Shifu looked up, mentioning it was pure silver and worth something.
"I know, but I didn't want it anymore," she told him.
"I can see that, but you could have sold it for money, or traded it for something you did want," he told her.
"I could've," was all she said about the subject. "Say, do you think I could make it up those rickety stairs?" Shifu followed her back into the main room where there was a set of stairs, and after a quick analyses, he said she could make it if she was cautious enough. She lightly went up the stairs, and Shifu thought to follow her. After seeing her skip some steps, Shifu thought to just climb the stairs one by one. However, he reached the tenth step and he realized that there was no more ground to stand on. He fell through the stairs.
When he looked around, he could only see the light from the hole he'd created himself. He felt for a light switch on the wall and after flipping one on, he glanced to see he'd fallen into a training room. It seemed to be the basement.
This was probably where she trained before, he thought to himself. Everything was dusty and old-looking, but when he gave the punching bag a nice wham, it held out. He eyed a small refrigerator in the corner, daring to go closer to it. There was something wedged between the door. The fridge itself was empty, but he read the note. It said:
Tigress, if you find this note, you'll know that this is the perfect time to tell you the combination to the safe in our room. Finding this means I'm no longer with you, but hopefully, you've found someone to train you properly. Heh, maybe it's that Master Shifu you fancied. You know your own strengths and I'm proud of you, no matter what you've decided to become. I love you, and here's the riddle to the lock upstairs:
-the first number of the date of your first lesson.
-our luck number since you were four.
-The last two digits on that silver watch your uncle gave you.
Shifu was stunned. What was in that safe? This was meant for Tigress and Shifu wanted to give it to her. By the way, he thought to himself. That could have been why she was upstairs now. He looked to his feet, seeing a second note seemed to be attached to his foot, but he heard Tigress's voice.
"Master?" she called out.
"Down here!" Shifu called, putting the second note in his pocket along with the watch he'd been carrying. Tigress found the stair that fell through.
"Master, are you okay?" she asked, a little panicked. She jumped down to see Shifu by the fridge.
"Yes, I'm fine," he told her, seeing she had knives strapped to her belt and a set of throwing stars in her hands. He handed her the first note he found.
"I'm flattered my name was in there," he said. Tigress read the note, smirking at the part where his name came in. After she finished, a tear fell from her face.
"We've one more thing to do," she said. "Come on." This time, Shifu let Tigress lead him around.
"By the way, why'd you come after me?" she asked when they reached the stairs again.
"I was curious but I fell through," he answered.
"I asked you if I could make it, Master. The trick to the stairs is to skip the tenth, the thirteenth and twentieth stair," she told him. He counted the stairs, seeing it was indeed the tenth stair he fell through. They made it upstairs, coming into a room where Tigress set her things on the bed. Shifu looked around again as Tigress felt the wall. She pushed a section of it, making her master look as the combination lock was revealed to them.
"Okay, the date of my first lesson. That was in July, so..." Tigress turned the knob to a seven after rotating it three times.
"Do you remember the exact date?" Shifu asked.
"Of course, July 17th, my birthday," she told him. "Alright, our lucky number...26...now for that silly watch. Oh, what was the number? Dang it!"
"Need this?" he asked, taking it out of his pocket. Tigress looked at him, surprised he kept it. She took it, looking at the back.
"42, right," she said, laughing at a memory. The safe made a clicking noise and she handed her watch back to Shifu, pushing the safe open. It was large enough for her to walk in and she did so.
"You can come," she informed him. At the end of the small room, there was a case. Tigress took a deep breath and opened that case. Her body blocked his view to seeing what it was, but it was answered when a sharp sound filled the air. Shifu finally saw what his student was holding, a sword. It was practically brand new, and she turned around, looking at Shifu.
"The blade is pure steel, the handle has a dragon on it, and the flames on the side serve a purpose," she explained. Shifu saw the handle and the flames were gold with rubies deep inside them. The blade was incredible.
"Your birthstone," he noted and she nodded, telling him that her father had one too. Shifu asked of her mother, for she never talked of her.
"She...had a disease," Tigress said. "We would have lost her a week after if that guy hadn't come." Shifu didn't want to open old wounds now though. Tigress said she had the things she remembered were still here and that were salvageable to use for training, and Shifu asked if she was sure that she wanted to head back.
"I'm sure," she said. "They'll be here next time too. As a matter of fact..." She went downstairs, setting her things down on the table, including her sword. She went out into the backyard and began digging a large pit.
"Why don't we bury them here?" Tigress suggested when Shifu came out after her. "They wouldn't be suited anywhere else." Shifu agreed to this, knowing the stench might calm down if the source was removed. When she dug the first pit, Shifu carried her father outside and she began working on the second pit.
After she'd finished both, they put both tigers into the ground. Tigress planted a bunch of wildflowers as the head of her mother's grave and she placed her father's staffs into the ground so they would stay firmly. There were three of them, but that's how she'd remember him.
She grabbed her things, going into her dad's other room and taking his sword with a topaz inside of its handle. They came to the edge of the forest once more, and Shifu remembered the other note he'd picked up. The one he didn't shoe Tigress. He opened it, finding it wasn't the least bit friendly as the other:
That's right, little one. I took this all out on you, mum and dad. Since you won't even be around to read this, I'll say this freely: It was all your doing. Because of you, father quiet spending time with me. He stopped hunting and you are the only one to blame for that. After your precious birthday, father gave you your first Kung Fu lesson. Kung Fu, what a disgrace compared to hunting.
You knew how we used to spend time with each other, me and dad out in the woods, sneaking up on pray and then catching it to come home where we'd have a great feast. Then it all stopped because dad wanted to teach you Kung Fu! You were clever, I must admit, to do such a thing to me. You are nothing but a wicked little girl and that's how you always will be. Now I will almost guarantee you won't get everything you want out of life.
I've practically destroyed your foolish dreams to train with what'shisname... Shofoo or something like that. So, you can forget it! That's what you get for being a sneaky, hateful, wicked little sister. Don't think I'm stopping here, oh no. I will have my revenge...oh wait, I just did!
the best of all hunters and regrettable your brother,
Leon
A/N: Well, that's not too friendly, now is it? Sorry if the second notes seems a little cheesy. Wrote it today and am eager to finish this one up so I can work on another I've practically abandoned in the E.S. department.
