Elegant, Graceful, and Clumsy
Disclaimer: Kung Fu Panda is © 2008 DreamWorks Animation SKG
A/N: I wanted to take a break from the usual slap-stick comedy I usually put these two into and tried my hand at a more sobering subject. This quickie was partially based off of a segment of a one-shot I did some months ago, 'Fifty TiPo's', if you feel like you have an extra minute or two, you have my full permission to go ahead and take a look if you like…and just a quick note to recent reviewer Roldemin: I got your PM and I'm currently mulling around ideas in my head for you. Thanks for the suggestions!
But at any rate, please enjoy, and don't forget to leave a comment!
Quickie Twenty-Five
Hardest Part
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Under a deep red sky, illuminated by the ever shrinking presence of a fading sun that seemed to burn through everything that its light touched, Tigress sat alone, trapped in deep thought over the events that had come to pass over the last several days.
There had been a call of distress from a nearby province; the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were called into action to intercept a throng of warlords threatening to extinguish all life in the surrounding villages and countryside, unless their demands were met. So they had left, traveled for days over expansive tracts of countryside, crossed impressively large rivers, and crossed over the chasm of the Devil's Mouth in order to reach a remote settlement over five days away from the outermost reaches of the Valley of Peace. It was supposed to be nothing more than a routine mission, or at least, that's what the leader of the Five tersely expected.
Unfortunately for all involved, that wasn't the case. It was all a ruse, a deceptive call made by one of the most feared assassins in the country. The problem was, it wasn't the Five he was after—it was the Dragon Warrior. The leader, Rong Li—a wolf—knew very well that the panda wouldn't be able to handle his own against him, and the bounty hanging over the Dragon Warrior's head was too tempting not to take.
The trap was simple: to hire trained mercenaries to lure the Five away from the Dragon Warrior just long enough so that he could get the panda alone.
And just as Rong had planned, the Five and Po had been split up to cover the seemingly abandoned mountainside settlement, a myriad of caverns and hidden pathways that had been constructed to ward off thieves and robbers. But after decades of falling into misuse, it had become exactly what it had been built to prevent itself from being.
Po wasn't ready to face him alone.
She should have stayed with him; she should have been there to protect him.
…and that's why she had beaten herself over her failure to be there for him like she promised herself she would. The tiger clenched her fists. This had all been her fault…if she had just gotten to him a moment sooner; he wouldn't be in the predicament he was in right now.
By the time she had found them, Po was already face down in the dirt; the soft ground around his unmoving form stained with his blood. She remembered the rage, the unmistakable fire that burned in her soul, and she remembered the frightened expression on the wolf's face—the last image she was able to evoke before coming to her senses moments later, covered from ear to toe in the wolf's blood, the rest of the Five rushing up behind her. They didn't know what happened, and truthfully, neither did she.
It all had happened so quickly.
And that anger…she had never felt it before. Never had there been anything like it, through the countless battles or the skirmishes she had experienced in her lifetime. It was such a blind fury, her conscious mind overtaken and shattered to pieces, riding on the fear that Po was dead. But just like the damned panda, his stubbornness to never quit kept him alive.
Monkey and Mantis did their best to staunch the blood-loss from his wounds; Viper and Crane located a nearby village, which thankfully had its own local infirmary—the panda, still unconscious from his injuries, had been under intense medical watch since then…and that was hours ago.
"Tigress?"
The feline looked up and smiled sadly. Viper always knew just the right moment to make an appearance. Tigress took a deep, albeit shaky breath and stood up, shaking her head and attempted to whisk the darker thoughts away.
"How is he?" She asked, her voice as even and cold as the breeze that evening.
Viper gave her friend a reassuring smile, "The physician said it was touch and go for a little while, but they're taking him off the more potent medication…they think he's going to be fine." If Viper believed that by revealing the latest news on Po's well being would make Tigress feel any better, it wasn't working. The feline seemed even more miserable now than before.
"Tigress?"
"They think?" She turned on her heel and glared at the serpent. "I don't care if they think he's going to make it, Viper! They need to know! I need to know!"
The tiger took a few steps away from the tree viper and hunched over the railing, crossing her arms and resting her head on top of them. Tigress hadn't noticed that the others had come out from the waiting room, alerted by her sudden outburst, all four sets of eyes setting themselves on the distressed feline.
"Tigress," Viper began, "You have to understand that…" she stopped as she felt Crane put a wing against her side.
"Viper, let me handle this."
The bird ruffled his talons and cautiously approached the striped cat; while Viper was undoubtedly closer to Tigress in some respects, Crane had been at the Jade Palace longer than Viper had, and knew first-hand how emotional she could get when someone close to her got hurt. It had been that way since the very beginning. She kept her emotions buried in a way that when they did finally decide to surface, all of the pent-up feelings would just unleash themselves like a floodgate. He had to treat this with the utmost care and sensitivity; he could sense her rage smoldering like a volcano, ready to erupt at a moment's notice. Crane stopped just a few feet from the feline and took a deep breath, clearing his throat to make sure Tigress acknowledged his presence.
"Tigress, I know you're in hell right now, but the doctor gave us his word that he would do everything in his power to make sure Po would make it through this."
"And what if that isn't enough!?" She snapped, "What if they can't help him!?" Tears came so suddenly to her eyes that she didn't even acknowledge their existence until they fell on her still crossed arms. "How do we explain that he died on what was supposed to be a routine mission to Master Shifu, or the Valley, or…or to…" She trailed off.
Crane took a firm hold of the tiger's shoulders, "Listen to me; he's going to be fine. For all we know Po could be—"
"Could be what!? All I know is that he's still in there on a table with his chest cut open! I'm sorry if I can't handle this as well as the rest of you, but I'm terrified!"
"Tigress its okay, just calm down…" Monkey voiced softly, "I mean, when all of this is over we can just—"
"NO! There is no 'when all of this is over'!" She cried, glaring at the simian, "There's no tomorrow, no next week, no next year…there is nothing until he comes out of there and I know he's okay!" She started shaking, so ashamed by her outburst that she wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. The others all exchanged glances, having never seen this side of her before. The uneasiness and fear in her tone of voice startled even Mantis, who was more than used to seeing her fits of rage.
"Look, nobody meant anything." The insect said, "It's hard as hell for all of us to be here."
"I know…" Tigress whispered. She looked up at Crane, who had a small hopeful smile on his face. "It's just that, I hate hospitals, I hate them! I hate all of this." The feline closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath, wondering how much longer it would take until she could see him again…
She knew it as surely as the rest of them did.
Waiting is the hardest part.