A/N: OMG! I am so sorry for the lack of updates the last two weeks. I had midterms and a wedding and I know that's no excuse, but I still feel really bad. Now that things are settling down, I can start writing again. Anyhoo, thanks for being so patient. I love you guys! 3

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The night air was anything but still. Gusts of cool autumn wind shook the tree that she was perched in. She rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension in them. She was thankful that the breeze was blowing against them. It meant their scent would remain downwind and in the opposite direction of the incoming wolves.

Tigress cast her auburn eyes to the tree limb next to her, where Viper perched silently, watching the rising moon with uncertainty.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Her doubt was evident in her voice.

Tigress shrugged. "Po's idea to set a fire and lead them here was a good one. I just hope it work." In all honesty, she was doubtful as well. This entire plan seemed too rushed, and too uncoordinated. When Po mentioned a plan to set a fire and draw them to that point in the woods, things seems to fall into place better, but there was still a chance it wouldn't work.

She and Viper played the role of the lookout. With Tigress still sore and weak, fighting was not on the table. The goal was to ensure that the wolves followed the right path and didn't branch off in different directions before they could be stopped. Once the fire was set, the hope is that the smoke and the noise would draw them right into an ambush. Because of her small size, Viper was tasked with running ahead of the wolves, and drawing them in in case the fires weren't effective.

There was a lot that could go wrong. They could be in larger groups than anticipated, the wind could make starting the fire impossible, the wolves could decide not to investigate, they could send to the palace for reinforcements. All of the uncertainties were filling Tigress' head to the point where it felt like she was bound to implode.

"Ti," Viper's voice was incredibly soft. The snake was looking at a point in the distance over the feline's shoulder. Tigress turned slowly and couldn't help but grin.

A massive column of smoke rose into the sky not too far away from them.

In the distance, the rustling of the undergrowth was unmistakable. Although the wolves may have been cunning, they were not incredibly bright-at least not bright enough to know when to be quiet. Tigress nodded to the snake and the two separated, diving off the branches in opposite directions.

Tigress felt pretty good sprinting from treetop to treetop. The night air felt amazing bracing against her fur as she jumped lightly across the branches. In fact, she was reluctant to stop. However, she was drawing nearer to the source of the rustling.

She slowed until she was creeping along, barely making a sound.

"What the HELL?" A timber wolf, easily twice her size, paced back and forth among a group of at least fifty wolves, all varying in size. "You four, scout it out." He gestured to a few of the larger of his pack and they tore off into the woods. "The rest of you, we are leaving. NOW."

"Where we goin' boss?"

"To meet up with the other scouts."

She waited until the four brutes had left the group before she made any movements. The only thing she dared to do was peek around the side of the tree.

This was what she was worried about. Surely they weren't so stupid to travel in a massive group. It made her wonder just how many scouting parties there were out there. In fact, she suddenly had the distinct feeling they were in over their heads.

Her hesitation was already proving a problem, however, because they were beginning to leave the small clearing. She was alone, and she had to decide.

She rolled her shoulders, loosening her muscles. With a half-hearted leap, she landed in a crouch smack dab in the middle of the pack.

"Hello boys." There was a snide grin on her muzzle that quickly turned to a growl. Before they even registered her sudden appearance, she leapt into action.

She had taken down five before they even began to move.

The sixth lunged at her, teeth bared. She was able to step aside just before he slammed into her, and she used his momentum to swing him around her body and into the seventh, who got a little too close to her throat for comfort. She dodged an attack from the eighth by leaning backwards to avoid his punch to her face and shoving his body backwards over her. However, what she noticed as he flew was the very beautiful sword holster that nearly whacked her head as he went flying.

She skittered back a few steps and yanked the golden hilt from its cover-just in time to parry a strike from wolf number nine. Although she had never been very good with swords, he was still able to dodge and take out ten wolves with it. That is, until one of them grabbed a massive log from seemingly out of nowhere and knock the sword out of her hand. Before she could react, the log was slammed into the side of her head.

She was knocked onto the dust, head pounding and screaming. She blinked a few times, trying to erase the blurriness from her vision. Instead of feeling hopeless, it only made her feel incredibly pissed off. She stood slowly, staggering a little bit. Tigress swiped a paw across her muzzle, and she noticed that blood stained her fur.

"NO!"

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There was a moment of complete silence, and an uneasiness fell on the quiet clearing.

Why was her heart pounding so loudly in her ears? And what was that ringing?

She remembered once, as a child, standing in the courtyard of the Jade palace. For some reason, there was ash in the air. It reminded her of snow.

How old was she? Four?

And that ringing. It was making her cry.

Why?

When she looked up with tear stained cheeks, the world was blurry. Everything was coated in fuzz. Except for his fur.

There was a paw on her cheeks, brushing away the tears. Piercing blue orbs looked down on her with kindness, and maybe even regret.

"Tigress?" Tai Lung's voice was quiet. "TIGRESS!" Suddenly it wasn't him calling. Who was that? Who was yelling her name? Tai never yelled at her. Never.

"TIGRESS!" The feline was shivering. Why was she shivering?

Emerald eyes watched her with concern. Two paws sat on her shoulders, gripping them tightly. She was propped up on a tree, legs spread out in front of her. Why was she shivering? Why were her ears ringing?

"Hey, look at me." Po was pleading with her, but she was ignoring him. What she saw over his shoulder was grabbing her attention.

How many wolves had she killed? And when did she kill them?

He moved to block her view, staring intently at her. "Tigress?"

"I d-don't remember." Her voice. It was the closest to breaking he had ever heard.

"What? What don't you remember?"

"I-I don't remember k-killing them." Her voice was a strained whisper, her eyes wide. She looked terrified, and confused. It was such a 360 from what he knew her to be that he wondered briefly if she had snapped.

"Tigress, take a breath." He placed his thumb on her chin and forced her to look at him. She seemed to grow slowly more and more calm. "You reacted instinctively. I know you don't remember, but we have to get moving."

She nodded hesitantly and he wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her to her feet. She let out a sharp gasp, suddenly feeling bracing pain in her side. Several large claw marks had been carved into her fur. She braced her paw on her side and encouraged him to keep moving.

"What happened?" She asked as they hustled along.

"The plan worked, mostly."

"Mostly?" She raised an eyebrow. Finally, her shivering was subsiding.

"There were two scout troops that managed to escape. Mantis and Crane are tracking them now."

"Mantis? But-"

"Oh, you missed it! We were in full on battle mode and Mantis showed up with rebels from the other camp. If not for them, we probably would have been killed." Po shrugged nonchalantly. "It was kind of epic."

"Where are the others?" Although she was happy that Mantis had been able to come to their aid, she was worried that someone had been hurt in her negligence. If she hadn't confronted the pack, maybe she could have helped the others.

"We were able to take a whole lot of prisoners. Viper and Monkey are with them now. Oh, and Shifu returned to the camp." He was really trying to avoid the subject of the dead wolves. She appreciated him for that.

"Do they know?" Her question halted his footsteps. He sighed and looked at the ground, avoiding her gaze.

"No. I volunteered to come find you…alone." His jaw clenched and unclenched. "You really don't remember anything?"

"I remember knocking the first few out. Then I saw blood and everything just went black." Try as she might to remember, her mind just went blank. She didn't dare mention her vision of Tai Lung. Before that moment, she had forgotten that it had happened completely.

"Tigress, are you okay?" His voice was so quiet and innocent. It was hard to believe sometimes that he was an adult, much less a warrior. However, considering that his proximity was calming for her and that he really did care, she could forgive his unintentional immaturity.

'No." she was being honest, not just to him, but to herself. "But I will be."

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A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't too choppy or lacking in action. I couldn't figure out a good way to write out what I wanted to happen so I just went with it. It just makes sense to me that Tigress would have some kind of trauma from ten years of hell.

Hope you enjoyed

-Boomie out