It had been a day since Hunter's outburst in the Kitchen, and things seemed to have cooled down between the Five, Po and Hunter, although he still went about his day without interacting much if at all with any of them unless they approached him first to talk. He had at least stopped glaring at them like he had in the Training Hall after their rather brief apologies. If what happened still bothered him, he didn't let on to any of the group that it was the case.
However, he had seemingly taken extra precautions to avoid Tigress in particular since she and Viper ran into him on the way back from their night out. Both were just glad there were no... 'Incidents' this time around during their night out. They were sure Master Shifu had heard about last time and had let them off, but if it happened again he might instead caution them to bring their alcohol back to the Palace instead.
While that might be nice to do at some point, Viper wanted to actually get Tigress to leave the Palace once in a while for something other than a mission to protect the Valley. Tigress herself was actually warming to the idea of maybe taking weekly or monthly nights out on the town with Viper. It was... Rare that she felt more like a 'lady' and not a badass Kung Fu Master of The Jade Palace. She found she enjoyed the lack of pressure to maintain her image of the stoic warrior, even though she did it on instinct by now. 'Getting in touch with your feminine side' Viper had called it, although she wasn't sure she'd go quite that far. Although, as greasy and gross as those two guys were from the first time they went out, it was oddly refreshing to not be seen as Master Tigress but as just... Tigress. Po still treated the Five with some amount of reverence of course, but he was the first to bring out that side of Tigress that she didn't even know she had.
Tigress shook her head of her thoughts as she was currently running on pure instinct and muscle memory on The Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion. She had completely mastered Shifu's training course by now, as had the rest of the Five, and even Po had much... MUCH less trouble than he did at first with the gauntlet. She turned her head upwards feeling something liquid splash on her head and spotted Hunter once again high up in the rafters, his legs hooked around the ironwood pole with him curling his upper body upwards as far as he could go before dropping and continuing the exercise over and over again. He had the weights strapped around his arms this time, weighing his upper body down much more than it would be.
Tigress wiped her paw over her head quickly, seeing it was blood that had landed on her forehead, quickly jumping to another rope to avoid a club while making sure she got the spot of blood out of her fur before it stained on her. They'd found him in the morning punching the metal-infused Ironwood bark once again, but this time around Hunter had stayed and moved onto his usual workout routine. She knew his exercises were some kind of strength builders and core strengtheners, but she wondered why he never seemed to practise his Martial Arts forms like the Five did. They constantly practised on the gauntlet and even against one another to hone their forms to perfection, while he seemed to simply focus on building up his strength. Tigress, perhaps more than any of the Five and even Po knew the value of strength and the importance it plays, especially in her own Tiger Form. But to her, simply building strength wasn't enough...
"Tigress? You good?" came the voice of Po, which brought her back to reality as she realised she had been staring up at Hunter while still practising on The Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion for a good while now. At this point she didn't even need to look to be able to work on this part of the course as she easily backflipped onto the twisting rope nearest to the door and continued the flip to land on the ground on her feet while facing the training area before turning around to face Po. "It's totally badass the way you do that without even looking!" he exclaimed to her with a wide grin on his face.
Tigress gave a small smile and rolled her eyes at Po's fanboy attitude, but she did find it rather endearing that he still thought of her as a badass even though he himself was no slouch. "Thank you, Po." she nodded to him.
Po then cast his gaze to where she had been staring, then looked back at her and put two and two together fairly quickly it seemed. "You were looking at The Hunter?" he asked her, looking with a slightly amused expression before chuckling. "You'd almost think you were-" he cut off as he noticed Tigress giving him a death glare that dared him to finish that sentence. "-Trying to memorise his moves to copy them later." Po spoke innocently, as if that was going to be what he said all along as he quickly wandered off to avoid her scathing gaze.
Deciding not to push her luck any further, Tigress took a brief glance back up and noticed that he hadn't looked down even once since he had climbed up there. She did rather admire that he wasn't taking it easy at all compared to the Masters. After all, the height presented a very real risk if he fell, and with the added weight always being biased in favour of the long fall, he certainly wasn't lacking in danger like the gauntlet posed...
Meanwhile in the rafters, Hunter was doing sit ups while dangling from the ironwood pole he'd 'requisitioned' for himself along with the weights he'd fashioned. He was doing his damnedest to focus on the burning in his muscles and the task at hand, trying not to let his mind wander from the task at hand in the least as he pushed himself even further and harder...
Although it wasn't nearly as easy as usual for him to do. He just couldn't push that encounter the other day from his mind, where his and Tigress' eyes had met and he felt... Something. Hunter knew it was best to not dwell on it too much. That was a dangerous and slippery slope. And yet... His mind had been racing since then, and he was trying to ignore the thoughts invading his mind, doing his best to avoid even looking at Master Tigress since then. But he couldn't help the speedy thoughts that were there one second and gone the next. He was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did he hesitate when helping her? 'Should've just taken the opportunity to help and left it at that. But you paused, you fucking idiot. Oh, but those those... Strikingly entrancing amber eyes... It was so worth it... No, no no! Stop you fucking moron!' Realising that the earlier punishment and the current gruelling exercise wasn't enough to rid himself of the thoughts, he decided to increase the tempo so he couldn't focus on anything else or else fall to his death.
Below him, Tigress was jumping back to the Clubs after having had a good spar with Monkey on the Jade Tortoise, she looked up once again and saw Hunter then lift himself up again and rest in a sitting position on the shockingly sturdy ironwood pole. He removed the weights from his arms, and instead tied them to his legs. He once more moved, this time grabbing the ironwood pole and sliding himself off of it while holding on, leaving him dangling by his arms now.
Monkey's voice spoke next as he also noticed his shifting position into one far more perilous. "Po, you might have to stand under him buddy." he spoke in slight amusement. Everyone gathered to see what he was planning to do. Crane looked ready to take off and catch him at any moment, although with those weights strapped to him, Tigress had doubts as to whether Crane could even manage to hold him for more than a second...
Hunter then swung his legs, letting the weights gain some momentum... Once they had enough swing, he lifted his body up with them and pulled the weights up along with his body itself. He then held himself up on the ironwood pole, the weights draped near his face as he held his position and began pulling his body closer to the pole before extending his arms again in a kind of handstand push up. "Maybe this guy could give you a run for your yuan, huh Tigress?" Mantis chuckled as he jumped on her shoulder and nudged her face.
Looking at the bug on her shoulder, she scoffed at that. "Hmph. In strength perhaps." Tigress conceded that he did possess exceptional strength to possibly rival even her own. "But in a true fight? That remains to be seen." She cast a scowl towards Hunter as she doubted that he could best her in paw-to-paw... Or talon. Or whatever he had.
Viper then gasped as they saw him beginning to move once again. "Oh my Ancestors, is he...?" She stopped mid sentence as they saw him lift and hold one of his hands away from the pole and continue the exercise with only one appendage gripping the pole now, holding his body with the weights trying to drag him down while he simultaneously lifting both while raising and lowering his body.
"He continues to impress." came the voice of Master Shifu from next to the group as they all quickly turned and bowed to their Master who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Has he mentioned changing his mind to any of you?" he asked the group, all of whom gave answers in the negative.
Po then spoke up. "He hasn't really... Engaged with us... At all." he admitted to Shifu, who looked down in disappointment, although they weren't sure if it was towards them, Hunter, or himself. "It's my fault. I'm the one who complained about him not eating with us, which led to... Well, you remember." Po then looked down at the ground as well. "If I hadn't, he might be at least a bit more open to possibly staying." He shrugged his shoulders and slumped his posture defeatedly.
Looking up at him one again, Tigress seemed thoughtful. "Perhaps..." She wasn't so sure of that. She'd seen it in his eyes the moment Master Shifu had suggested staying to Hunter. He'd already decided to leave before the question was even asked. Although she did find herself wondering... Why? What made him want to leave so badly that he didn't even seem to give the offer much, if any, consideration at all? There had to be a reason he wanted to leave so badly, yet he hadn't mentioned anything important he needed to do. It was probably the prophecy Shifu had mentioned that had him looking like a deer in lantern lights. He didn't seem too keen on the idea of having his destiny decided for him...
Craning her head up again to see if he was still there, she could have sworn she saw him pause and look at her, but when she blinked he was back to looking straight down at the floor and continuing with his exercise. "Well, no matter. There is yet still a chance." Shifu smiled a little bit and nodded to them all. "You're dismissed for the day, students. Excellent work." he bowed to them, and they to him as they began to leave as usual, although Crane didn't move from his position.
Tigress stopped in her tracks at the exit and looked to him. "Crane? Are you coming?" she asked the avian Kung Fu Master, cocking her brow in question.
Crane looked at her and shook his head. "I better not. Just in case. Don't really want to come in here tomorrow and find his body if he ends up falling. Trust me, it's not a pretty thing." he said, a slight joking tone on his part. Tigress nodded in respect to his decision, also hesitating herself for a second and looking back at Hunter hanging precariously above the ground before she continued on outside...
Not too long after, maybe ten minutes or so, Hunter let his body hang from the pole after holding it up as he dangled below the pole once again. He then reached over and grabbed the pillar next to said pole, kicking out and dislodging the pole from it's position, catching it in one hand as it fell before he climbed back town to the training area. Once he reached the ground, he set to untying the weights from his legs and rested the pole in the corner of the training area. "Is there a reason you're standing there like a lemon?" Hunter asked Crane, who jumped as he was still staring where Hunter had been hanging up near the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.
He chuckled slightly nervously. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't end up as a stain on the training room floor." Crane said to him, rubbing one of his legs with the other slightly awkwardly. "That, and... Well... I still feel bad for the other day." he admitted sheepishly, not looking into Hunter's eyes.
Hunter cast a suspicious glance to Crane then. "Is this going to become a trend? One of you stays behind after training to personally apologise for talking shit behind my back, one at a time?" he asked, his voice actually sounding slightly amused by the thought of it.
Crane actually gave a laugh at that. "That might be a good idea. An ambush, but not one that involves combat!" he exclaimed with a smirk on his beak, although he was still slightly nervous at engaging in banter with Hunter, considering he hasn't really been receptive before. "One at a time!"
Hunter actually chuckled a tiny bit then, which made Crane ease up a little. "A battle of the wits. Truly one for the history books." he said, his voice taking on a small dramatic tone. "Although I don't think you can match Viper's adorably crushing look she gets when you let her down." Hunter pointed out to Crane as he walked over to the door and opened it for Crane, who stepped outside into the cool air with Hunter.
Crane gave another good chuckle at that. "I could try, but probably not, no. She does have that 'wounded cub' look that makes you feel absolutely terrible for whatever you've done or said." He agreed with Hunter on that. "Doesn't help that she's like everyone's mother or big sister here at the same time." Crane added amusedly with a nod. "Don't worry, I'm not here to ask you to join us or anything. Just feel I owe you for wronging you, and making sure you don't splatter yourself on the training equipment is the least I can do." he shrugged casually at that.
Hunter nodded to Crane, his face going back to a more blank look but not completely... Was this some kind of progress on his part? "Well, thank you for making sure I don't mess up the training equipment, Master Crane." Hunter spoke and bowed to the Master, who bowed in return as Hunter walked down the steps away from the Kitchen and the Palace in general...
Hunter made sure to clean up a little before walking down to the bar that he'd been frequenting since he arrived in the Valley of Peace. He'd never drank an excessive amount, but now... It was almost like the drink was calling to him. It helped him to forget. To forget about... No, no, no, that's the point. Out of sight, out of mind and such. Just a few drinks to numb the pain, to help keep the feelings at bay, the memories pushed back...
Or so he told himself.
It did help a bit with forgetting, but he was coming to rely on it a bit too much for his own liking. But training alone wasn't doing it anymore. He knew what Oogway would say, something about getting it together and confronting your feelings and demons. But it wasn't that simple... Hell, was it ever? Oogway had a way of making things sound so simple, because in essence the solution was usually a simple one. But that wasn't accounting for people's emotions and feelings.
But wasn't that the point? For Hunter at least. To feel nothing, to be a ghost, a shadow? It was a much harder task than he'd anticipated when he first decided to not feel anything anymore... Hunter grunted and shook his head, trying to get these thoughts to just go away. He quickly downed his current drink and instantly stood up to get more.
...
After Hunter had walked away and down the Palace steps, Crane continued on and entered the kitchen with a smile on his beak, which instantly caught everyone's attention. "What has you grinning like an idiot?" Viper asked, nudging Crane with her tail amusedly.
He rolled his eyes and chuckled at that. "I think I made some progress with Hunter..." Crane said and proceeded to explain the conversation he'd had with The Hunter not 5 minutes prior...