I do not own Kung Fu Panda. I only own my OCs.

I didn't realize my Scar was similar to Scar from the Lion King. I can't believe I didn't catch that. Maybe it was subconscious...but it's pure coincidence. Sorry about that.

Punishment

Jadyn rubbed her sore knuckles and sighed in irritation. She was already working her way through the punishment Shifu set for her earlier, but there was no doubt in her mind that he was thinking of adding onto her sentence. Kneeling in the middle of the wooden corridor, a wooden bucket by her side that was sloshing with warm water and soap, she regarded the wet floors with a sense of satisfaction.

Cleaning floors was not a foreign concept to her. Miss Woolworth normally gave her double the amount of chores just to get her out of the way. Jadyn wiped her soap-covered paws on her brown slacks and went to pick up the bucket when a squishing sound seemed to be coming closer to her.

Jadyn frowned and peered around the corner, jaw dropping. She quickly snapped it back up and scowled when Tigress walked past, trailing muddy footprints behind her. She met Jadyn's glower with a glare of her own. "Sorry. Didn't see you there."

She disappeared down the corridor and Jadyn slapped her soaked rag to the floor and gritted her teeth.

She is so asking for it.

With a resigned sigh, the cub reluctantly picked up the rag once more and began scrubbing violently, thinking threatening thoughts the whole time.

...

Tigress felt the tiniest hint of guilt worming in her stomach, but ignored it. The extra work would be good for the cub. It would teach her discipline and character and patience.

All of them are qualities you didn't have when you were her age.

"Oh, shut up," Tigress muttered. Her inner-voice was getting rather annoying these days. She went to her quarters and used a cloth to wipe the mud from her feet. After Viper's little visit she decided to go for a long run. While her mind was free from thoughts, her body was not free from the ache and pain.

She walked back outside and sat on the stone steps, her yellow eyes studying the black sky and twinkling stars. Everyone else was fast asleep, but the peaceful atmosphere did not settle her increasing nerves.

A shadow was flying through the night air, and seemed to be coming closer. Tigress tensed and went on alert, but relaxed her posture slightly when she realized it was just Zeng, the palace messenger.

The goose fluttered to a stop by her paws. He bowed respectfully, "Master Tigress."

"Zeng. News for Master Shifu?"

"Yes. Is he-?"

"I'm here."

Tigress jumped and turned around. Shifu was standing in the threshold, and he seemed to have been watching her. Tigress turned her attention to the night sky once more, blushing slightly. It did not matter how much she practiced in stealth. Shifu would always be able to sneak up on her in that silent way of his.

"Master Shifu," Zeng said, bowing again. "I bring news from the prison."

"And?"

"The wolf called Scar is locked up and the guards are patrolling constantly. But there has been no sign of his three cohorts. But there was a break in at the crystal shop in the village; we are sure the remaining members of the Wolf Pack are responsible."

"Any deaths?"

"I am afraid so. The owner had caught them as they were clearing the place out. We found him this morning-"

"This morning? Why were we not informed?" Shifu demanded.

Zeng winced. "I do not know Master. This is the information I am bringing you from Commander Vachir."

Shifu frowned at the mention of the guard that had let Tai Lung escape. He quickly banished the memory, as that was all in the past and Chohr-Gom Prison had been rebuilt and modified to fit some of the higher security prisoners, though not to the extent of Tai Lung, of course. "Hmm. The Furious Five shall patrol the village tomorrow. Thank you, Zeng."

Zeng bowed once more and flew off to bed. Tigress frowned slightly. The Wolf Pack was known throughout China to be ruthless, cunning and wicked. Capturing the leader had been a fluke. If it had not been for a burglar trap set up at an expensive jewellers and cowardice of the three lackeys, all four of them would be on the loose.

"Tigress."

Tigress glanced behind her. "Master."

"Is there a particular reason you're out here this late instead of resting for training tomorrow?"

"I thought we were patrolling." The smart remark left her mouth before she could stop it.

Shifu arched an eyebrow. Tigress blushed and glanced back at the stars. "Sorry. I'm not tired, that's all."

"I hear you've done nothing but training today."

Tigress shrugged. "You've always told me to train until my bones creak."

"Avoiding Jadyn is not going to help anything. Neither will running away from your past," Shifu commented, still watching her.

Tigress sighed and ran a paw down the side of her face. It did not help that Shifu was the one that basically raised her and rescued her from that...that...place. She simply could think of a word worse enough to describe it. It also didn't help that Jadyn came from the exact same orphanage.

"She doesn't know anything of my past, right?" She didn't put it past the cub to dig for information.

"No, she does not. But I am sure she'll find out eventually."

"I've no doubt," Tigress said flatly. "It's just...hard."

Oh, I did not just say that…

She knew Shifu didn't really deal with emotions and feelings well. Her childhood had been...mostly work and training. True, he had gotten her to being a Master, but she never got the love he had given to Tai Lung.

I wouldn't bring that up if I were you.

I wasn't going to!

It took a moment to realize that Shifu had sat down beside her. He didn't say anything, but there seemed to be some sort of understanding between the two of them. So they just sat, enjoying the peace of the night, together.

...

Jadyn peered around the door frame and noticed that the two masters had stopped talking. She quickly moved back down the corridor, silently dragging the bucket with her. It didn't help matters that the Furious Five were going to hunt the remaining members down. They wouldn't be able to catch all three at once, and she would be in major trouble if the remaining members of the Wolf Pack found out she knew they were being hunted and didn't tell them.

Shifu would not leave her here alone. So he would definitely be staying. No doubt he would give her the rest of her punishment as well.

Nothing I can do about it now.

Jadyn would just have go with whatever the Wolf Pack wanted her to do (how she shuddered at the thought) and try not to get herself killed or arrested in the process.

It sounded a lot easier than it really was…