A/N: Sorry! I didn't mean to wait so long with updating this story! But I had my exams, my play, then there has been a lot of technically problems with my play, then I was on vacation and at last I have started writing my own Danish novel.
Well, I can say that I am impressed by have many 'Please Update' reviews and pm's I have gotten! You guys must really like this story!
Oh and thank you so much for your reviews! This story has now reached over hundred! Woohoo!
I do not own Kung Fu Panda.
The Search For Golden Times, Falling
The two tigers ran as fast as they could through the quiet forest. Tigress knew exactly where she was going; Enlai on the other hand just followed her while trying to figure out what she was thinking. She still hadn't revealed what her plan was, and the male tiger was getting more and more frustrated.
"And how exactly are we going to find the dragons?"
"You'll see."
"But didn't the dragons kill your parents? If they see you wouldn't they…?"
"I don't know, Enlai. But so far, it's the only plan I have."
"What are we going to say to them?"
"I…" Suddenly she stopped and turned her head around in different directions. "They are coming," she told him. The two got battle stances, waiting for the soldiers from one of the armies, maybe from both, to come. "Enlai, I only have to sunrise before I have to meet the masters. I don't have the time to get distracted by fighting them now."
"And what exactly are you suggesting?" He caught her glance, but then forcefully shook his head, "No, no, no. Not happening. Tigress, facing the dragons was already a dangerous idea. You facing them alone is just crazy."
The female tiger shrugged, "You wouldn't have been able to meet them anyway. Just fight them off, so I can go without them noticing it."
"Please tell me you aren't serious."
"Enlai, just…"
He grabbed her shoulders, "Don't 'just' me. Tigress, no matter how fantastic you are, there are something you can't be able to do. They are dragons, Tigress. Dragons! Creatures that killed your parents, two people that have scared the crap out of me. And you, Tigress, you are one person. They are immortal dragons. Please, don't go."
Her eyes became soft while he begged, but she gently shoved his paws of her, "Enlai, I can't give up. It's not my thing." She smiled to him, but he didn't return it.
"But sometimes it can be the right to do."
"No, it can't. And you know that."
"Tigress, if you knew how much I have done to protect you…"
"I know, but right now you need to let go of me, Enlai."
Their eyes met, but finally Enlai moved his glance to the ground. "Fine. Go. I'll take care of things here."
"Thank you," she whispered, but he didn't answer. Sighing, she turned around to continue her run towards whatever place she had in mind. Enlai watched her disappear, but then focused on the noises that was becoming louder and louder.
"Took you time," he growled as a boar and a bear entered the scene.
"The coward has fled!"
Enlai took one step closer, "How dare you call her coward? I shall show you coward, you stupid…" He didn't get the time to finish as the warriors leapt at him. Gracefully avoiding the boars attack, plus shoving his elbow into his stomach, he made himself ready for the bear.
Avoiding its claws, he kicked it in the head, only to barely jump back as it snapped at him with its sharp teeth. Enlai landed on all fours, just in time to roll away as the bear leapt at him with an enormous roar. Out of his eye he saw the boar slowly getting up. As the bear stood in front of him, Enlai grabbed its paw when it swung it at him, and soon he found himself on the bear's back. The soldier of the Dragon Palace sneered and tried to shake him off, but the tiger just jumped down and kicked his feet so it fell.
The tiger waited for an attack from behind, but as he turned around he saw that the boar was running towards the place where Tigress had disappeared. In the next moment Enlai had to duck when the bear had decided to leap at him. But the attack failed, and instead the bear flew over him. When it turned around Enlai kicked it in the stomach as hard as he could, sending it into a nearby tree. By the pressure of the hit, the tree started to crack and fell down just in front of the boar, blocking him from the way towards Tigress.
Enlai knocked him out before he could react. Straightening up, Enlai muttered to himself, "I bet Shadow Warriors could have lasted longer." Even though he no longer had the right to be one of the masked warriors, he still couldn't help but be offended when people thought they were better than them.
Though, he soon regretted his words as an owl landed in front of him. The bird was covered by black fabric. The owl let out a high shriek, calling its fellow warriors. Enlai took a battle stance, preparing himself for his next fights.
This morning the students weren't awakened by the morning gong. But none of the warriors had truly been able to sleep, and when they heard their master's footsteps they had all greeted him. All, except Tigress. Master Shifu didn't hesitate a second with opening the door to her room, but he already had the feeling that she wasn't there. Of course the feeling was right.
"Where is she?" Viper asked while looking into the empty room.
"Her being together with Enlai could be an option," Crane suggested, "Last time I saw him, he was outside."
As soon as he finished his last word, Master Shifu hurried away from his students that just watch him disappear.
"Where is he going?" Po asked.
Mantis jumped onto his shoulder telling him, "Isn't it obvious?"
Suddenly, Master Shifu appeared again, his eyes darting, "She wasn't outside. Neither of them were." He looked at his student, hoping they could give him some answers.
"Tigress wouldn't just run away like that, would she?" Monkey asked, looking around.
"Of course not," Viper hissed at him, "She must have gotten a plan or something like that. I am sure she is soon back, the same with Enlai."
"How long is it until sunrise?" Crane said.
"Less than two hours," Master Shifu answered, and tried not to become nervous. Tigress must know what she was doing. She had to know that if she ran away she would only get more troubles. But she wouldn't have run way; it would be so unlike her. The red panda cleared his throat to get his students' attention, "We must prepare ourselves for the meeting with Master Lynx and Master Wang."
Mantis jumped to the floor, "And what about Tigress?"
Shifu looked away, "We must believe that she knows what she is doing. If she doesn't show up to the meeting, then we must take it from there."
"You mean we'll have to fight?" Po asked, and suddenly all eyes lay on Shifu.
Taking in a deep breath before answering, Shifu nodded, "Yes, but hopefully it won't happen. Make yourselves ready," he said again before limping away. When he was gone silence hang in the air, until Crane decided to break it.
"This is bad."
"Ah, come on, guys! We have taken out a lot of bad guys before; why is this time so different?" Po asked, trying to cheer them up.
"Po, have you ever fought an army before?" Viper asked him.
The panda thought over it a minute, "Well… No." He shook his head, "No, not really."
"Have you ever fought two armies before?" Mantis asked him.
"Uhm… No…"
"Well, it's twice as bad as fighting one," Monkey told him.
Po widened his eyes, "So we're screwed?"
Viper tried to calm him, "I wouldn't say…."
Mantis cut her off, "Yes, we're screwed."
Sending the bug a sharp glance, Viper said, "But as Master Shifu said, it isn't sure if we are going to fight, Po. So relax."
And again there was silence.
Tigress ran as fast as she could. It was long time since she had been able to hear the noise from Enlai's battle, and she knew that she was safe. Enlai wouldn't let anyone come past him. Finally she found what she was looking for.
She was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down to try and see the bottom. The only thing she could see was the fog. She kept her breathing in check; she couldn't let herself become nervous now. She couldn't let the panic take her now.
This was her only plan. No point of backing down on.
Tigress made a silence wish and thought for a last time about a friends and... And family.
Then she let herself fall over the edge.
Lu Chu sent him another smile. He tried to smile back, but it looked more like a grimace. The female mountain cat sighed, "I am sorry if you feel like you are babysitting."
Jie looked up shortly, "It's alright."
"Do you think Master Tigress is okay?"
He snorted, "You asked that question one minute ago."
"Yes, but do you think she is okay now?"
"That tiger can take care of herself. The question is if we are going to be fine."
"You don't think so?"
Jie sighed, "That depends on what the tiger is going do."
"She actually has a name. It's Tigress."
"Isn't it like the same of what I am saying? Never mind."
Lu Chu watched him silently. The two mountain cats were sitting in the kitchen while the others were somewhere else, discussing plans. Jie had kind of gotten the responsibility for the maid, but hadn't been too mad about it. Lu Chu tilted her head, "You aren't that grumpy today."
Jie looked at her, surprised, "Grumpy?" She nodded. "Well, that's a new word for it," he said, then chuckled quietly.
"And you are remarkable talkative."
"You must have been watching me a lot."
"You are an interesting person, so I don't mind." After that, he chuckled again. Lu Chu blinked, "I like it when you laugh."
"And why that?"
She thought about it for a moment, before answering "Because it's a part of the side of you that you don't want to show."
"Side of me?"
Lu Chu nodded, "One minute you are angry, the next you are saving people."
"I am not…"
She cut him off, "You saved me that time at the river."
"Pulling someone up from the water is exactly 'saving people'."
"It is if that someone is drowning."
"You weren't exactly…"
"I can't swim."
"I kinda figured that out."
"I have never learned how to swim. While being a maid you don't have time to such kind of things."
"Life as a maid must be boring."
"Not exactly. I don't think you can call the last couple of weeks for boring." She sighed again and changed subject, "I wonder how Piao is doing."
Jie rolled his eyes, "Probably better than us."
The first thing she felt was the heat. It was started out nice, as a warm summer wind that met her cheek. But then it grew stronger, so strong that Tigress was fearing that her fur would burst into flames by any second.
It was getting hard to breathe, but Tigress forced herself to stand. At least her plan had worked. Making herself ready, she started walking towards the creatures she had been searching for.
They were magnificent. Their long snake-like bodies were filling the fire-red room, sparkling in every color. Their eyes, wise of age, were looking at her, not glancing away for a second. Tigress had to lower her own glance as she walked straight towards the middle of the room.
An albino dragon placed itself in front of her, and Tigress bowed. Its breath was warm against her skin. "Little warrior," it chuckled, "You have come far." Its red eyes looked at her, curiosity in them. Tigress nodded, still unable to find words. "What is it that you seek?"
Its white body glittered like snow crystals, so unreal in the hot room. "I need help," Tigress said, her tongue sticking to her dry palate.
She became surprised when she heard a loud chuckling coming from the dragon's throat, "You are brave, little warrior. Coming here isn't easy. And you are one who have the right to fear us."
And as its words were the thing that lit her hate like a fire, Tigress spat, "You killed them. Why?"
The others dragons slowly came closer, gathering around her. "They would become a threat. Not to us, but to your world. Two persons, both so powerful… Those two combined would only bring disaster."
"I don't understand."
"They could not live together without leaving their power. If they had done that, many lives would be lost at the rage that would come. A leader is always needed, and when that person suddenly is gone, rage, jealousy and desire can be free to rule. The Dragon Palace would have your mother's head if she left them, and at the Shadow Warriors there would be chaos."
"There still is, even with my parents dead."
"If your father still was there people would search for him, either to try and convince him to come back or to kill him so there would be no doubt if he was coming back or not. He would never get peace, nor would your mother."
"But killing them…"
"Was the only way for them to be together. If the Dragon Palace or the Shadow Warriors had found out, a war would have been started. A war against their own leaders."
Tigress shook her head, "I'll never be able to understand you. But I'll try and believe that their fate was the only way for them. I wish to think that it was their happy ending. But that doesn't change what is happening now."
She lifted her head to look at all the dragons, "Even though my parents' deaths may could have brought peace, then why is a war just about to start? Why aren't you doing anything now?"
"Because we waited for you."
"Then help me."
A/N: Done, done, done! Finally done! So here it is, people! The explanation about how Tigress came to the dragons will be revealed in the next chapter, if not you have already figured it out ;) Again, sorry for the wait. And sorry for the cliffhanger.
And for those who is an author in here: If you are interested in when I am going to update a certain story, then pm me about it. I will be happy to answer you as good as I can. Information on my profile.
Thank you for reading.