Leo Lung, even at the peak of his training when he was younger, was never a morning cat. When Tai Lung stilled lived at the Jade Palace, Shifu demanded that the two cats be up before sunrise. Both of the brothers wordlessly obeyed, despite still being half asleep when training began. But when Shifu shifted the majority of his attention towards Tigress's training, he became much more lenient on Leo's training schedule. Leo cherished the extra sleep.
So when Shifu gave Tigress the day off of training for her 10th birthday, she simply had to go to Leo and hang out with him. The day was beautiful. The sun was shining and a gentle breeze made it a perfect day for a day off. She smiled as she imagined spending her day off with her brother figure. Maybe Shifu would join them! It would be like a family! The thought made Tigress beam.
Tigress trotted eagerly towards his room and slid open the door. Her amber eyes widened when she saw Leo sleeping in his bed. Tigress had assumed he would be meditating in his room, not sleeping. Tigress would have left well enough alone and waited for him to wake up naturally, but when the idea to scare him awake popped into her head, Tigress could think of nothing better. She silently crept into the sleeping lion's room. Leo was asleep on his stomach, his flank rising and falling every so often. Tigress thought she saw his tail twitch once or twice. Was the Lion Master dreaming? A wild smirk creased the tiger cub's muzzle, and her claws scraped against the wooden floor as she fell on all fours.
Adrenaline rushed through Tigress. It was a predatory feeling. It felt like something she had not felt since her days at the orphanage, when she hunted the other children simply out of pleasure. But this was different. This was a more tame version of that wild rage. Her tail lashed in anticipation. The thought of scaring her brother awake made her giddy.
Tigress crept onto her older brother's bed. She was careful not to rip his cot with her claws. He might not be happy with that. But the cub did not think of how Leo would react to being scared awake. She crept right up next to his head. The young cub got a brilliant idea to roar. She had not roared very much since she left the orphanage, but now the idea seemed genius.
She took the deepest breath she could and felt the roar build up in her throat. Tigress edged forward and roared at the top of her lungs.
Everything was a blur from there. One minute she was on the bed on all fours, the next second she was on the floor on her back, completely winded and terrified for her life.
...
The wind seemed to howl as loud as the wolves of the mountain. The golden and purple light of dusk coated the land like a blanket. Leo's golden eyes narrowed. His muscles quivered and his tail twitched. The mane on the back of his scruff raised in anticipation.
A tall, muscular figure cloaked in all black circled him slowly. Leo had no clue who this creature or whatever was. But the lion had a hint of what his opponent was. Or, more like, who. Leo had not thought of his brother for a while, but the inkling of who this character could be nagged at his mind.
Leo uttered a prayer just as the figure lunged at him. The lion ducked and swerved out of the way. The black figure landed in front of him and turned slowly to face him. The light hit the figure just right, and Leo spied the gleam of sword-sharp claws in the light. Leo did not even dare of think what would happen if those claws came near him.
The lion was about to leap to attack when a roar as loud as the fireworks from Gongmen ravaged his ears. Caught completely off guard, Leo's eyes flew open. {Attack! There is an attack!} Leo whipped around to face whoever had dared attack him in his sleep. Without even seeing who it was, he landed a nasty uppercut to their jaw, sending the smaller figure flying to the floor.
Adrenaline, anger, and surprise led him to leap out of bed and land above the smaller figure. Leo bared his fangs in a snarl, letting the gleam of dawn make his teeth look sharp. Whoever this assassin was, Leo would-
Oh. Oh no.
Leo realized, with horror, that the terrified creature below him was none other than Tigress. Guilt replaced his anger in a heartbeat, and he quickly crawled off of her. Tigress was shaking. Even though she was covering her face, her quiet sobs told him that she was crying. Leo panicked. {What have I done?! I am so stupid! I should have looked before I hit her!} Leo harshly scolded himself.
He prayed that Tigress would not run to Shifu. The red panda would never let him sleep in again for the rest of his life if he knew what just happened. Leo Lung gently lay a large paw on his crying sister.
"Tigress..I.." Leo fought for words. He could go ahead and say he was sorry, but he did not feel that would cut it, "Tigress, I didn't mean to hurt you." He purred gently, moving in close to her, "But you don't go around scaring people like that." He said, trying his best to not sound angry. As Leo listened for a response, he could hear the young cub mutter 'I'm Sorry' over and over underneath her sobs.
Leo's heart cracked into two. He gently picked her up and hugged her close to his body. Tigress hesitantly hugged him back. Leo made a silent vow to never hurt her again. Even though he would never hurt her again, the lion felt that wasn't enough. He gently pushed her off, and smiled weakly at her,
"Do you want me to take you out today?" He prayed she would answer yes. He had to make it up to her somehow. Tigress nodded and hugged his large arm.
"Alright. Go get some comfortable clothes on, we are going to go get breakfast." Leo smiled and gently ruffled the fur on top of her head. The cub giggled quietly and ran out of the room.
Leo stood up and frowned. How could he have attacked her like that? He shook his head and ran a paw through his brown mane. It was in the past now. But Leo called for a palace assistant. If he was going to take Tigress out all day, he might as well tell Shifu so he wouldn't have a heart attack searching for the two cats.
As Leo sent the goose away with instructions on what to tell Shifu, Tigress slid the door open. She was wearing a red top with a white belt and dark pants. It suited her.
"Alright, kitten, let's go. Don't be afraid to be yourself, this is your day." Said Leo as he threw on a green robe with golden tips. He walked out the door and Tigress followed, occasionally trying to pounce on his tufted tail.
Leo smirked. Yes, this would be a good way to make it up to her.
Throughout the entire day, the pair of cats visited plenty of stores and merchants. Leo counted his lucky stars that he was a Kung Fu Master- some of the store owners recognized him and offered to give him what he wanted for free. Of course, he got Tigress whatever she wanted. It was her birthday. He already scared the living daylights out of her, no need to withhold gifts.
Tigress, even though it was her 10th birthday, didn't seem to want anything big. Just being outside the Jade Palace for once and not in an orphanage was a gift enough for her. Her older brother was kind enough to get her whatever she wanted though, provided it was either free or costed less than 25 silver coins.
But Tigress was lucky. Her older brother apparently was a local celebrity, and the store merchants usually let him get whatever he wanted for free. Tigress used this to her advantage. In a store selling jade trinkets, she saw a beautiful necklace with a small jade dragon hanging from the thread.
"I like that necklace.." She smiled toothily as she touched the dragon on the end of the thread.
"You want that one, kitten?" Leo picked it up and walked to the store clerk, who was an aged rabbit with white and grey fur. The rabbit looked up at the large lion and took the necklace.
"Ah, this necklace. It is believed this necklace brings luck to the wearer." Leo nodded. The rabbit continued to go on and on as Leo kept on eye on the necklace and the other on Tigress, who was examining everything in the Jade shop.
"This necklace will cost..hmm..about 15 coins? Silver coins maybe? Or was it 20?" The rabbit mused. The lion let out a quiet sigh. He didn't have to use up all of his coins on this one gift, but he did not want to spend all morning in here with a rabbit who forgot the prices of his own wares. Eventually, the rabbit decided on a price of 17 coins.
As Leo counted out his money, he was forced to take his eyes off of his little sister. But Leo didn't worry. She was well disciplined, she knew to not leave the store without her older brother.
But Shifu had never warned Tigress about strangers. He never thought he would have to, as she never left the Palace before this day. Tigress was looking inside a jade pot when a grey wolf approached her. Tigress turned to look up at him. He was at least 3 times her size.
"Hi there." Tigress said, her tail flicking. She nearly gawked at the size of the canine in front of her.
"Hello. Do you like, say, candy, little tiger?" The wolf asked, his red eyes glittering in the light.
Tigress pondered the question. Had she ever eaten candy before? Tigress looked at him and responded, "I've never tried candy before."
"You haven't!?" The wolf gasped quietly, "Come with me, and I will give you lots of free candy! I know someone who can give you lots of candy!" He said. Tigress smiled. Maybe when she was finished she could ask Leo to buy her lots of candy that this wolf would give her!
But before she could go to her brother the wolf grabbed her buy her wrist and began dragging her towards the door. Tigress winced. This wolf had a very harsh grip. She tried to ask him to not be so rough, but he ignored her. He dragged her out of the store into an alleyway. Tigress didn't see any candy, just a hooded cart.
But as the two approached the cart, she could smell the faint scent of something metallic. That didn't smell like the sweet scent of candy Tigress remembered from the orphanage. Tigress' eyes widened. There was no candy here! Horror dawned on her. She tried to break the wolf's grip, but he was incredibly powerful. Tigress attempted to use one of Shifu's methods to escape but pinching a pressure point, but the wolf had a very large paw with what seemed like an iron grip. The wolf fiddled with one of the locks on the cart with one paw and held onto Tigress's scruff with the other paw. Growing desperate, Tigress let out a pained cry, and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Leo!"
Back in the jade shop, Leo's head shot up. Did he hear Tigress call his name? He glanced around the store, wondering if she was hurt. But she was no where to be seen! Leo left the money and the dragon necklace on the counter and looked around the store. The tiger was not in the store.
The lion began to panic. The one time he took his sister out, and she goes missing. Shifu would certainly kill him and hang his pelt on the front gate if he lost Tigress. He hastily grabbed the necklace he got her and ran out of the store. He scanned the street, but he still could not find her. Leo looked up and down the street. He ran into the nearby stores, but he could not see the orange and black cat. Leo called out: "Tigress! Where are you?"
When he did not get an answer, Leo began panicking. He tried to follow the scent of the young cub, but there were other people in the street and her scent was hard to find. Suddenly he heard a shriek coming from the street behind him, "Leo! Help me!" The lion ran down the street and looked down an alleyway.
There was Tigress! Leo was about to sigh in relief when he saw the wolf that was holding her. His eyes widened. Tigress had not wandered off. She had been taken!
Not even bothering to ask questions, Leo roared and, in two bounds, leapt into the alleyway and rammed into the wolf. The wolf growled in retaliation, but Leo began pummeling the wolf before it could hit him. The wolf fell to the ground, and Leo kneeled on his elbows, pinning him down.
Bystanders in the entrance of the alleyway gaped in horror and, some in awe, as the lion defended his sister. Shifu had always told Leo that Kung Fu was never meant to be used out of anger, but only in defense, but Leo cast that lesson away. This wolf tried to kidnap Tigress. Who knew what he would do to her if he managed to get away.
Leo landed blow after blow on the creature. Some of the punches clearly missed as the wolf tried to evade the blows, but every so often Leo would slash the wolf across the muzzle or ear. However, the wolf shifted under Leo's knees and freed one arm. The wolf slashed Leo clean across the face. The lion snarled in pain. With the rage obvious in his eyes, Leo raised a clawed paw and raked his claws across the wolf's eye.
The canine howled in pain. He pushed Leo off and, grabbing his cart, hared out of the alley. Leo galloped a few paces after him to make sure he left: "Never, ever come back to the Valley of Peace!" He roared.
Tigress was speechless. She watched as Leo landed punch and punch on the wolf. But once the evil wolf ran away, and Leo had made sure he was gone, he sheathed his claws and turned slowly towards her.
"Are you alright, kitten?" He asked, approaching her and gently running a big paw over her to check for injuries.
"I'm fine. He said he had candy, but he tried to stuff me in that cart he had!" Tigress said. Leo's eyes narrowed. The wolf was a criminal, no doubt about that.
"Tigress, let me tell you something." Leo started, "If an animal you don't know ever approaches you and asks you to follow them, don't ever go anywhere with them ok? Always stay with me or Shifu or Oogway."
"Ok. I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise." Tigress said, casting her eyes to the ground. But, instead of reprimanding her more, Leo simply smiled,
"It's alright. But don't ever go anywhere with strangers. I'll get you some candy from the candy store, ok?" The lion smiled and picked up Tigress, placing her on his shoulders. Tigress smiled, the horror and fear of the prior minutes forgotten.
As Leo approached a candy store, he set Tigress down and let her browse through the candy. But he never let the cub out of his sight. Even though all the adults in here didn't look like criminals, he couldn't trust anyone; especially after the fiasco that just happened.
Tigress picked out two handfuls of different varieties of candies and gave them to Leo, who could hold them in one paw. He took Tigress in the other paw and walked her to the counter to pay. As Leo made the transaction, he never let go of Tigress. He didn't want her wandering around and getting taken away for good this time, even though he would much rather count out his coins with two paws.
When Leo finished and put the candies in a sack, he handed the bag to Tigress, "Don't eat them all in one sitting, kitten!" He teased. The tiger cub giggled and Leo lead her to the exit.
The two arrived at the Jade Palace and they were both greeted by Shifu. He smiled and asked how the day went. Before Tigress could tell Shifu she was almost kidnapped, Leo told him that he got her a necklace, some candies and other small trinkets, including some candles for meditation and a new purple robe.
Leo could tell simply by his facial expression that Shifu was happy he was spending time with his sister, and Leo wondered if he could do this every year with her. Shifu dismissed them to go to their rooms and rest- they had training tomorrow.
The two trudged to their rooms and Leo lay on his bed. He nestled under the lone cover and fell asleep almost instantly. It was a long and eventful day, especially for young Tigress. But, in all honesty, that's how birthdays are.
Authors Note: Updated and fixed a few things. I hope you guys like this chapter! Leo is, honestly, brother goals. If you liked this story, be sure to favorite it! If you have a comment, be sure to leave a comment. I really appreciate everything!
"L-Leo?"
"Hmm? Is that you, kitten?"
"Can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?"
"What's wrong with your bed?"
"I had a nightmare about that wolf."
"Alright. Come here, you can sleep on that side of the bed."
"Hey, Leo?"
"What is it, Tigress?"
"Goodnight."
"G'night, kitten."