Matriarch

By corset-rebellion-follower

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

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Chapter 14- Evil Pork

The moon quietly started to rise into the sky. It was full, which might give her away if she wasn't careful. Perched silently in a tree, a pair of fiery eyes looked down on the groups of tents and fires burning.

There were boars sitting around, laughing harshly at vulgar jokes in between scuffles and impromptu arm wrestling matches. At first glance they may not have seemed that dangerous, but the piles of money and weapons they had surrounded by a tight circle of guards gave away their devious ways. It made Tigress want to throw up. It also made her want to rip each one of their heads off one by one and hear their screams of agony coming from their disembodied heads.

She could clearly see the tent where the leader probably was. It was nestled near the back of the camp, near the tree line. Clearly it the most lavish, made of red cloth that was illuminated by the light coming from inside.

Her eyes moved to a more quiet part of the camp, where a lone woman scrubbed clothes in a huge black kettle. The woman was dressed very poorly, in a simple homespun dress that was dirty and slightly wrinkled. She was frowning and her eyes looked lost and sad. The sight made Tigress feel sad, too.

But she shook her head. Focus. You're on a mission. She soundlessly leapt from tree to tree, over to the red tent. Now a figure was visible moving inside the tent. Whoever it was was very large. She dropped down from the trees and snuck up to some nearby bushes that were close enough so she could hear, but giving her enough cover so she wouldn't be found.

"LIN!"

Tigress jumped. She didn't need to be close to hear that. She peeked around the side of the tent and saw the woman from before coming towards the tent and through the doorway. As quickly as possible, Tigress hit the ground and lifted up the bottom of the tent carefully, so that she wouldn't be detected. She was right about the leader being large. He was fat, sweaty, and completely gross.

The woman looked so out of place standing in front of him. "You called?" she asked in a timid voice.

"Is my laundry done yet?" the boar asked.

"Almost. I just have a few more—" He cut her off.

"Lin, do you realize what I have done for you? I took you in, out of the pure kindness of my heart, and made you my bride. Is it so much to ask for you to have the few tasks I ask of you DONE ON TIME?"

She flinched. "I-I'm sorry! I'm just very tired…"

"AND YOU THINK THAT'S AN EXCUSE? NOW GET TO WORK!" She nodded and started out of the tent, but before she could completely leave, the pig reached out and slapped her butt. She cried out in surprise, and he roared with laughter. "Still scared like a little kitten! You amuse me to no end, Lin."

She just left the tent as quickly as she could. Tigress stood up and went back to hiding in between the trees. The son of a bitch. But instead of going towards where the woman was doing the wash, she disappeared into the forest.

It was dark and hard to see, but after a few minutes' walk Tigress was guided by the light of a small fire. She came upon her friends sitting around a campfire. "Hey, Tigress! How close do you think we are?" Mantis asked.

"Very close. But we need to hurry. There's so much more to this than just defeating a gang of bandits," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Crane asked.

Tigress sighed and closed her eyes. "Jiang's mother is here."

They all stared at her with wide eyes. "Wha… What? Are you sure?" Viper asked.

She nodded. "I could tell by the color of her eyes and her markings. She and Jiang look a lot alike."

"So what are we going to do?" Crane asked.

"We can't just leave her here. She might be worried about Jiang, and since we have him, it's our duty to reunite them," Monkey said.

"How can you be so sure? She might not remember him at all or ever want to see him again," Tigress snapped.

The rest of the Five exchanged glances. "Well, if she doesn't want to see him, then we can send her on her merry way. But at least she deserves to know that her son is alright and to have her freedom. Something tells me that she's not here because she wants to be," Mantis hypothesized.

"She's not. In the picture Jiang painted, she was kidnapped by the bandits. And the leader apparently married her and is working her to death. I just saw her—she looks like she hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in a long time," she reported.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's bust her out of this joint!" Po cheered, heading towards the campsite.

"Hold on," Tigress warned, pulling him back, "This has to be handled with finesse, not raw power. So here's what we're going to do. Viper and I will go and find her and get her out of harm's way. We'll signal you, and you'll spring the attack."

"So… no skadoosh?" Po asked with a little whimper.

Tigress cracked a smile and shook her head. "No skadoosh. Let's go." Viper nodded and followed her through the trees and to some bushes where they could see Lin washing a pair of disgusting-looking pants.

"That poor woman. You couldn't pay me to look at those," Viper whispered. Tigress shushed her and crept closer to the wash pot. She was taken by surprise when her forehead was partially covered by one of the wet legs of the pants, which had been draped over the bush to dry.

Okay… I'm going to do this before I get slapped with his gross wet underwear.

She wet her lips and took a deep breath, then shook the bush that she was hiding behind. She saw Lin freeze. "W-who's there?" she called shakily.

Tigress quickly stood up and put a paw over her mouth. "Don't scream unless you want to get caught. We're here to help you."

"We?" Lin whispered, removing her paw.

Viper came through the bushes. "Hello there."

"Do you know who we are?" Tigress asked.

Lin's eyes flickered between the two warriors. "Master Viper and Master Tigress of the Furious Five. Everyone knows who you are."

"Then you're able to trust us?"

She nodded. "I suppose so. Unless you have reason to harm me…"

"We might, if you decide not to cooperate. We're going to take you away from here and to the Valley of Peace," Tigress explained. Lin shook her head.

"Oh, no, I can't leave here. My husband…"

"We know he isn't your real husband. You were stolen from your husband and child, weren't you?"

She looked Tigress over. "How do you know that? Has Hao been in contact with you? Has he been looking for me?" she asked hopefully. Tigress dug into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. It was the picture Jiang had drawn for her of his mother.

"Your son made this for me."

Lin looked up at Tigress. Tears were forming on her eyelids. She took the drawing from her paw. "J-Jiang? You know where my baby is? Hao must be with him—my gods, my little baby is okay!" Viper and Tigress exchanged glances, both of them thinking the same thing.

Hao must be the abusive sonofabitch father.

"Please—" Lin begged, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I have to see my baby. I haven't seen him since he was just shy of two years. He's probably grown a foot taller since I've last laid eyes on him. He probably thinks I've abandoned him. I need to see him!"

Viper sniffled a little, and Tigress stepped toward Lin, taking her paws and smiling a watery smile. "He doesn't think you've abandoned him. He misses you though. Whenever he's sad he always cries for his Mama. I just want to be able to make him happy again."

Lin nodded. "I will go with you. But we'll have to be quiet about it, my 'husband' posts lookouts everywhere along the camp so he can't be snuck up on." Viper and Tigress looked at each other.

"Lookouts?"

A loud yell came from inside the camp. Both Masters immediately recognized it as Po. "Get her out of here, I'll go help the boys!" Tigress ordered, jumping out of the bushes. Viper nodded and led Lin towards the forest.

Two boars came for her with swords, but they both swung at once and she easily jumped over the blades and knocked them both out. She saw Monkey and Crane fighting a large group of the bandits, and she headed that way, taking out several more boars along the way.

"Did you find her?" Crane asked, using a spin kick to stop one hog from jumping on Monkey's back.

"Viper is taking her back towards the Valley! How did you get caught?"

"How do you think?" Monkey asked, pointing to Po before using the hand to punch a bandit in the face. Tigress grit her teeth, but instead used the anger out on the bandits. I'll take care of him later.

"What about Mantis?" she asked.

"He's back in the forest, waiting for you two! You were taking a really long time for that signal!" Crane replied.

"Well we can't just hog-tie her! I'm so sorry I failed my rodeo class!" she snapped.

"LIN!" Something grabbed her by that back of her shirt and pulled her away from battle. Before she could utter a word of protest, she was swiftly slapped across the cheek. "How dare you fight against my forces!" the leader bellowed.

"Hey, let go of her!" Po yelled, kicking a boar out of his way. The leader snickered. "Well, if it isn't the illustrious Dragon Warrior. If I had known you were coming, I would have had my wife prepare some tea," he sneered, tightening his grip on Tigress' arm.

She kicked him in the place where a male does not want to be kicked, and he fell to his knees. "I AM NOT YOUR WIFE YOU SELFISH, NAUSEATING, CRUEL IDIOT! I am MASTER Tigress of the Furious Five, and don't you ever, ever lay your hands on me again as if I was your property."

She picked him up by the front of his shirt, a little hindered by his immense weight. "It's because of you that my little brother lost his mother and was left to his abusive father. And I'll kill you myself if I have to," she hissed.

He laughed. "You don't have the guts, little girl."

Tigress narrowed her eyes and unsheathed her claws. She never used her claws in battle before, but something inside of her ticked when she was faced with the man who had ruined Jiang's life. If it hadn't been for this beast, then Jiang's mother would never have been kidnapped and his father might not have gotten drunk, and Jiang would be safe and sound. She swiftly dug her claws into the boar's thick throat.

He rasped and clawed at the air, but it was a fruitless effort. His struggle only made her dig in farther and more blood seep out. "Tigress!" Po yelled, trying to pull her away. She pushed him to the ground.

"NO! This has to be done."

"Tigress, don't do it! You're not a murderer," Crane persuaded.

Once Tigress had gotten hold of their leader, the battle had completely frozen, the rest of the bandits silently watching. "M-mercy," the leader sputtered out.

"No. Not for you," she whispered, tightening her grip further.

"Tigress, don't. What if Jiang was standing here, watching you? What would he think?" Crane asked. Tigress loosened a little and looked to the ground. "You're better than this, Tigress, you don't have to kill him. You'll just be stooping to his level, or worse, beneath his level."

Tigress glanced at the bird. He had a comforting smile on his face. "Let him go, Tigress. Something tells me he's learned his lesson." She looked up at the boar, whose eyes were beginning to roll into the back of his head. She took her claws out of his flesh, and he dropped to the ground.

"If I ever catch you around here, or ever catch word of you terrorizing anyone else ever again, then I swear on my mother's grave that I will come find you and kill you," she spat, turning away from him.

She looked at the rest of the bandits. "That goes for the rest of you too!"

Immediately after she finished her sentence, the boars scattered in every direction, scared out of their wits by the sight of her bloody claws. She turned away from the battle scene and headed into the forest.

Along the way, Crane caught up to her. "I knew you would make the right decision."

She sighed. "Then why do I feel like I've been cheated. Why am I still angry?" she asked.

"I think it's because you weren't there to protect Jiang when he was first getting hurt, rather than just now. You've grown attached to him, and you feel like you've failed him by sparing the leader's life. But come on Tigress, you're bringing his mother back to him. I can already see the huge grin on his face when he sees her again for the first time," he said.

She nodded, but said nothing. He glanced at her. "You know you're going to have to share him now that his mother is back."

"I know it," she growled.

"You did a really good thing, Tigress. Mother and child belong together." They came upon Mantis, Viper, and Lin. Lin was shaking and fidgeting.

"So, how'd it go?" Mantis asked cheerily.

"We won't have to worry about them hurting people anymore," Tigress said.

"Great! So… back to the Valley?" Viper asked. Tigress didn't answer; she just started walking in the direction of the Jade Palace. Lin quickly caught up with her.

"You're absolutely sure that this child you have is Jiang? And that he painted that picture?" she asked frantically. Tigress glanced at her. It was almost like looking in a mirror. They both had the same fiery eyes and deep orange fur. Lin couldn't have been that much older than her, it just looked that way because of how hard she had been worked by the bandits.

Mother and child belong together.

"Yes. It's him."

A small glimmer of hope appeared in the corner of Lin's formerly dead eyes.

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. It's not so much writer's block anymore as it is that I'm too lazy to pick up my laptop and write. But if I get a review from every person who reads, I might update faster...

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