The sky was covered in darkness, with no moon or stars in sight as they were all enshrouded by dark clouds, a result of a particularly unsettling downpour. The wind blew the rain relentlessly against the trees, causing them to sway, and the occasional tree branch to break as a result of the torrential rain. The ground was drenched beyond absorption, resulting in puddles of rain that were scattered across the forest floor. The pouring rain and raging winds were the only sounds that could be heard, until the sound of frantic footsteps splashing in the puddles, and hard, heavy breathing accompanied the stormy night. Enveloped in the shadows, two figures were racing down the forest path in a frenzied manner, despite the heavy wind and rain.
Danger was fast approaching, and turning back was no longer an option.
Doing so would only mean death, with this in mind, the two figures hurried on, stopping in seldom to catch their breath and then continue on. Adorned in golden robes that have long since been soaked with rain, their exhaustion from their extended trek was apparent, but they were determined to keep running, intending to get to safety.
The two figures running together consisted of a male figure who possessed a strong, buff-like build and the other with a slimmer, more feminine build, yet still strong—a female, who appears to be clutching a bundle tightly to her chest, as if it were a precious treasure, swaddled in cloth—an infant.
Determination and fear were surging through their veins, pressing them to keep up the pace. Up ahead, they reach an area surrounded by hills, realizing this, they gradually slowed their pace. Naturally, their kind possessed the strength and speed to traverse across hills and rough terrain with ease, and were strong climbers by nature, however, with little time they had to escape, they had picked only up small portions of food, enough for them to carry as it was the last things on their minds.
Their top priority was to get to safety.
After much effort, they eventually reach the top of the hill. On the other side, sits a towering, round structure silhouetted in the blackness of night. A stroke of pure white lightning illuminated the sky briefly, revealing this structure to be a huge house that was several stories high.
They proceeded to the entrance of the structure until they reached up to the foot of the door. A sign at the top of the door read:
'Bao Gu Orphanage.'
Just one day ago, they had everything that they could have ever wanted; a home, where they could safely raise their daughter, where they could watch her grow and blossom into the woman that she was meant to be. Just yesterday, they had waited for the night to turn into a new day, where they could watch their daughter open her eyes and look up at them, her parents, and remind her that she was safe, and that she would be loved.
Who could have predicted that this young family would lose everything in one night?
They have nothing left.
They no longer had the means to care for their daughter, who is only but a few weeks old, leading them to make a decision that no parent would even think of making; letting their daughter go, and leaving her behind.
By doing this, they hope that she could live a normal life, by having a normal childhood, and, eventually getting adopted into a nice, warm, loving home where she could grow and flourish into the woman that she was meant to be.
Having made their final decision, albeit with reluctance, they had set their daughter down on the doorsteps of the orphanage with their hearts heavy, and tears from a grieving mother as mother and daughter shared one last long look, knowing well that this would possibly be the last time that she would see her daughter, today, she was saying goodbye to her. What mother could ever stand to have to say goodbye to their child? Especially since that she had only got to know her daughter for a few short weeks.
Leaving her with no other choice, she turned around in the opposite direction, joining her husband, this time without their daughter tow.
After tonight, they would not know what would become of their daughter, and who she would be. Had they found out that their daughter was alright, they would have sighed with great relief, but carry sadness and regret in their hearts, knowing that they would never get to see what kind of a woman that their daughter would blossom into.
'Tigress.'
That was the name that was bestowed to the female cub—a tiger. Whoever her parents were did not leave any indication as to what the cub was named, instead, the matron of the orphanage had chosen to name her for who she was.
As the cub got older, her natural strength had started to show, as was expected for a tiger cub, she could have easily picked up most, if not all of her peers effortlessly as the orphanage had consisted mainly of bunnies, pigs, geese, and ducks. However, with the cub being as young as she was, and possibly one of the few, if not the only tiger that resided in the orphanage, she was not aware of how strong she truly was.
Through no fault of her own, the cub also possessed a natural fiery temper, as a result, the other cubs of the orphanage were afraid to play with or befriend the cub. She couldn't place to reason why the others were so afraid to play with her, or be her friend, after all, like any other cub at her age, she just wanted a friend. In these instances where she wanted to play with the others, only for them to scream in fear of her, often resulted in angry fits, frustrated at her own inability to play with or interact with the other cubs.
Soon after, this fear would soon turn into a perception that was placed on the cub—a monster. In fear, the other cubs would taunt and bully her for what she had that the others did not, claws and fangs. They often told each other to be weary of the "monster" of the orphanage.
Despite this, the cub still attempted to play and interact with the others, only for them to disperse in panic in fear of being attacked by the "monster". The caretakers then started to fear for the lives of the other children and as a precaution, they separated her from the other children, by not allowing her to join them at meal times or other gathering times. They even had her moved to a separate bedroom that was far from the others, with a door made of metal that would bolt shut to prevent her from escaping.
With all this, the cub didn't understand at first why the other cubs her age were afraid to play with her or be her friend, why didn't the caretakers let her be with the others? However, as time passed, she had begun to form the motion within herself that others had placed on her, she believed that she was a monster. No one wanted to play with her, to be friends with her, or even to be close to her, no one would want to be anywhere close to a monster like her. Who would want to adopt someone like her? Even the adults were afraid of her.
The caretakers within the orphanage had no idea with what they were going to do with or how to deal with her, how to help her.
They needed help.
One day, the cub was locked in her room when she had overheard the voice of the matron. Curious, she went to the door and had taken a peek through the lock hole to get a better idea of what she was saying.
Outside, she could make out the familiar shadow of the matron, who appears to be with a smaller shadow of someone she didn't recognize. It appeared that the two were conversing about something.
"Nobody will come here to adopt a child because they're afraid of her. She's a monster…a monster!"
The cub let out a gasp after hearing what the matron had said to the other figure. Feeling distraught at what was just said, she retreated to a poorly lit corner on the other side of the room and settled down on the floor with her body facing the door.
Eventually, she hears the metal door open behind her and someone stepping into the room.
"Tigress?"
Tigress turned around to the figure behind her at the sound of his voice, despite the poorly lit room, she could make out the outline of the smaller figure in front of her—a red panda. She looked at him with her eyes narrowed.
"I am Shifu, I am…"
"Afraid?" she asked bitterly.
Shifu closed the door behind him. "No."
"Well you should be! I am Tigress! Tigress the Monster!" Her expression had turned into one of sorrow, "A monster that no one wants."
"You are not a monster."
Surprised by this, Tigress turned her head towards Shifu and let out a soft gasp. Did she hear that right?
"You're just a little girl." He stated in a firm, but gentle voice.
Lost in thought, she was not aware that a set of wooden tiles had been placed in a semi-circle on the floor, until she had heard the sound of one of them, does she regain her awareness. Shifu picked up a wooden tile to present to her.
"Let us play."
Tigress tentatively reached out for the wooden tile presented to her and grabbed a hold of it, however, due to a lack of control over her strength, she shatters the tile in her grip, causing half of it to fly across the room, to which Shifu managed to skillfully catch in mid-air.
"You must learn to control your strength."
The two of them were in another room at the orphanage where the training started. Shifu began making slow, graceful arm movements, much like flowing water, while Tigress tries to mimic his movements.
"This game requires discipline, precision, a still hand, and a steady heart."
In the process, though, Tigress accidentally punches through a wall, forming a hole. Terrified screams could be heard behind the wall from where some spectators had been scared off while watching her train from behind the door.
"Focus."
The training continued on for days. Which turned into weeks.
Eventually, it turned into months.
However long it would take, the cub was determined to push through. If the training succeeded, in her mind, she could finally be like the other kids. She could participate in the games they often play, she could sit with them in the large dinning hall and eat with them, while they played games, told stories or jokes, while she would consume a warm meal, compared to the often cold meals she would be provided while she was isolated. While they kept her full, by no means did it taste pleasant. She could join them in the courtyard, where they would not be afraid to come up to her and ask her to join them. She could join them by the large bonfire where stories of legends were told, the children looking on with looks of awe as the caretakers or storytellers that were hired would avidly describe how the hero with unparalleled skill singlehandedly defeated an entire army, saving the village, or how the lone hero traveled from one village to another, turning chaos into peace, and asking nothing in return. While they heard these exhilarating tales, bowels of congee, hot dumplings and rolls would be passed around, filling both their stomachs and their hearts. She would no longer be the monster that the other cubs often whispered of behind her back.
She would finally be a normal cub, just like those around her.
No matter what, she had to try.
The training itself was not of skill, strength, or prowess. It was a training of the mind. When Tigress first woke up in the morning, she would eat breakfast like she normally would. The training would then start off with a series of Tai-Chi moves that were meant to calm the mind and steady the heart, and, like before, she would attempt to place the tiles in a pattern that was specified of her, a tree, a turtle, just about anything that comes to mind. After setting up the tiles, she had to knock them over to reveal the pattern that she had created. As the tiles were very fragile in nature, she had to be careful to not shatter the tiles. If she did, she had to start the exercise over. Another exercise she would perform was that the tiles were tossed into the air, and she had to catch the tiles mid-air without accidentally crushing them in her grip.
She was not always successful.
"Again" Shifu would announce every time she messed up.
However, as time went on, she started to make progress. When she was arranging the wooden tiles into various patterns, she would not break the tiles as often as she did when she first started. When she had to catch the tiles, they would not break as often in her grip as it first did.
Through time, patience, and persistence, she had finally got enough control of her strength to where she could handle the tiles without shattering them. She could arrange them in various patterns effortlessly, while managing to not shatter them in her grip.
In the end, it was through persistence and discipline that allowed her to finally get in control of her fiery temper and explosive strength.
Some of the children of the orphanage, along with some of the caretakers had been watching Tigress as she had progressed through the exercises. At first running in fear when she accidentally punched through the wall, or broke an object during training. But as time grew, they were in awe of how she was eventually gaining control of her strength. The way that the tiles were placed, or how she caught them with grace was simply beautiful to watch.
There are some, though, that did not get to watch how Tigress progressed in her training. They did not fully believe that she had reigned in her strength and temper.
All of the children and caretakers were gathered in the courtyard. Surrounding Tigress in a circle as one by one, she gently and effortlessly placed the tiles on the ground below her, without managing to break them in any way, placing them with careful and practiced steps. The crowd watched in anticipation as Tigress continued placing the tiles, not once loosing her patience, or her grace.
When she finally placed the last few tiles on the ground below, she gave it a gentle tap with the tip of her claw. One by one, each of the tiles tumbled into the other in a quick, synchronized succession, as it formed a beautiful image of the Yin and Yang symbol that was colored in gold and bronze as the sunlight hit the reflective surface of the tiles.
In front of her, Shifu gave her a small nod of approval, and closed his eyes in understanding. She had successfully completed her training.
From behind her, she could hear the cheers from the crowd behind her, as they all went in to embrace her in a large group huddle. The caretakers even gave her some encouraging pats on the back, head, or shoulder, indicating that everything is going to be okay.
Sometime after the crowd had long dispersed themselves, Tigress sat herself at a nearby table where she had some of the tiles in hand, unexpectantly, a couple of bunnies came up to her with no fear in their expressions.
"Can we play with you?" One of them asked
"Yeah, we want to know what the game is." Piped in the other.
"Wait. You're not afraid of me?" Tigress questioned; nervousness still laced in her tone.
"No, of course not!" The first bunny said.
"You were never a monster, you are just like the rest of us." The second one finished.
"Yeah!" Another gooseling added from behind.
One by one, the children started to gather around Tigress in a show of interest.
"And we want to say, we're really sorry for the way we've treated you." Another duck piped up from behind.
"Yeah, we're really sorry." Another added in.
Finally, a piglet come to the front.
"Will you forgive us Tigress?" The piglet questioned, a hopeful look in his expression.
Despite the way she was treated, hurt as she was, she did not fully blame them for cowering away from her. Instead, her heart felt full and her spirit was raised as she finally interacted with the cubs, who were not afraid of her, no longer running away in fright. Instead, they approached her, asking if she wanted to be their friend, play a game, or sit with them during dinner.
She had finally gained the trust of the children and the other caretakers of the orphanage.
However, there will still the adults that were still not willing to adopt her.
After all, she was still someone with fangs and claws.
As she was playing with two other cubs who took turns placing the tiles on the table, intending to create a picture. From behind her, she heard the soft ringing of a bell, signaling the beginning of the next adoption day. As she looked at the wooden door behind her, it opened slowly to reveal a group of adults who were willing to adopt.
Joining the other cubs, she rushed out to the front of the orphanage in high hopes of finally finding a family.
By the days end, no one was willing to adopt her.
As the sun was setting, she stood alone at the front of the orphanage with her head down, and her ears flattened against her head.
This was not the first time that she had failed to get adopted into a family, and while it was not something new to her, it still did not hurt any less than all of the other times.
She had gained the trust of the children and caretakers of the orphanage, but the adults were still afraid of her, and were still not willing to adopt her. Despite many attempts to prove to them that she was not the monster that they painted her to be.
Would she ever find a family?
From behind her, she felt a hove gently touching her shoulder in a comforting manner, pulling her out of her musings. Behind her, the matron gave her a look of understanding
"Come dear. There's always next time." The matron attempted to reassure her, as she gently guided Tigress back inside the orphanage.
Left alone to her own thoughts, she found a table with chairs situated under a shady tree, despite the receding sunlight. In her paw, she still held one of the many tiles that she had used in the game just days before. Earlier today, she had high hopes in finally getting a family of her own, only for those hopes to be dashed as soon as they got a look at her. They always told her that there would be another chance for her next month, and the months that followed ahead.
'Was she ever not meant to go to a family of her own? Like all of the other orphans often described of when they talk about how their new parents or grandparents will treat them once they're adopted.'
In front of her eyes, a second tile joined the one she had stood up previously, before a small hand came into view did she look up to find a familiar red panda standing before her.
Instantly, her features brightened up in hope.
"Shifu!" She exclaimed with elation.
"Come." He simply told her.
Not needing to think twice, she bounded across the other side of the table, before racing up to the side of the receding figure, walking in step with him, before the two finally stepped out through the door that lead them outside of the orphanage.
The two walked together in a comfortable silence before Tigress looked over to the side, to see the red panda had given her a brief smile, before returning to the usual calm expression he normally held.
Tigress, however, could not help her curiosity.
"Where are we going?" She finally asked with a hopeful light in her eyes.
"To the Jade Palace."