A/N: Hey guys! There may not be a new chapter for a few weeks as I've got more job applications to do so I hopefully have a job after Christmas :') got a lot on my plate at the moment and I've been too stressed to write a lot. If I get a job though all will be well again! Thank you for reading! I really do appreciate reviews and favourites/follows!
Shifu walked away from Peach Tree Hill, with a much clearer view of The Hunter now. He understood better why he is the way he is. And Shifu was at least somewhat to blame for it. He pushed Tigress incredibly hard as a cub, enough to make her forget the Orphanage. Not so long ago, he might have still considered that a good thing. But now? He knew better than to just try and forget your past. Hunter, nor even perhaps Tigress will likely be able to fully heal without facing their past. But he had promised Hunter not to tell her anything, and he would honour his word. Perhaps there was something else he could do that wouldn't compromise his honour...
Hunter meanwhile looked out at the Valley, thinking about his past, and wondering about the decision he still had to make about staying, about whether he should even still consider it... Things had somewhat changed, but had it had an impact? It could very well set him back even further if he did stay... and yet he found himself considering it...
...
A little bit later, it was approaching nightfall in the Valley of Peace, and the Furious Five and Dragon Warrior were in the Palace kitchens for their evening meal as usual. Master Shifu was meditating today, so he wasn't joining them for their evening meal like he sometimes did. Po, as usual, was of course cooking for the others.
"I know it was a terrible plan in hindsight!"
Tigress was apparently the current target of some light hearted jabbing from the rest of the Five, and Po himself. "'We are the great and fantastic Furious Five! Lay down your arms and we will show mercy!'" Mantis gave an, admittedly terrible, impression of what had happened at the camp earlier yesterday, and what Tigress had said.
Crane then bowed overly deeply to Mantis. "Oh, of course Master Tigress! We've seen the error of our ways, and will immediately change our lives for the better!" he exclaimed, also doing a terrible impression of Makaku.
Tigress scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And with our run-of-the-mill bandits, it would very likely have worked." she pointed out in return, a slight smile on her face showing she was reciprocating the jab.
"Well they weren't your regular bunch of mooks. Even so, lousy planning there, Kitten."
Everyone's eyes shot to the entrance to the kitchen, and there stood Hunter, still wrapped in bandages with one arm cradling his torso wound whilst leaning against the doorway. Everyone still stared at him, unable to speak for a few seconds.
Finally, Po beamed at Hunter being in the kitchen with them. "You actually came! And I didn't need to pester you!" he exclaimed in excitement before sniffing loudly. "Is something burning...?" Looking down, he saw his paw resting near an open flame and quickly pulled it away before dunking it in cool water. "YEOW!" Po exclaimed in a yelp.
Everyone shook their heads at Po's antics while Hunter walked inside the kitchen proper. Tigress actually had a slight smile on her face still, although it was indeed faint it was there. She stood up and moved aside so Hunter could sit where Shifu usually sat at the other end of the table. "I'll be eating my own food, but I figured I may as well see what the fuss is about." Hunter said to the Five and Po. He then took notice of the dried blood on the table, and the two areas where he'd stabbed a knife through said table, and also his hand at one point.
Mantis grinned widely then. "Maybe someone will actually finally say that I'm a good cook now!" he exclaimed and everyone looked at each other and then at him with a blank expression.
Monkey chuckled to Mantis and shook his head. "You're not cooking ever again, my little friend. So he'll never find out." Monkey smirked widely. "Otherwise, one day you'll poison us all." He said while Hunter sat down with his own food and decided to watch the Five interacting.
However, simply observing the group silently was not on the cards today it seems. "So Hunter, what made you decide to become a Bounty Hunter?" Asked Tigress of all people, her brow cocked as she looked at him.
Hunter looked down at the table for a second, either contemplating or because the answer was not one he was keen on sharing. "It's not a particularly glamorous reason. I needed money, and I'm good at fighting. Especially when I returned from my journey overseas, I was... Eager to do something fulfilling. That and, well I'm not good at much else." He gave a rather simple reason for his career choice. "Suppose I could've become a bandit, but I do have some principles." Hunter gave a shrug at that. "Figured I could do some good and feed myself at the same time." His voice was rather solemn, likely there was something else to the whole thing, although no one wanted to poke him for more information.
Po finished up the food he was cooking for the Five and plated their food up and everyone, including Hunter, dug into their meals. Hunter ate slower, at a pace similar to Tigress who also took her time with her food. "So, how did you know Master Oogway?" Po asked Hunter, who once more looked down, this time seeming rather upset.
He took a moment to answer, but did. "He... gave me a chance." Hunter said. "I returned something that had been stolen, so he decided to hire me to track down more things and return them to the Palace." Hunter explained to the group.
Crane chuckled a little. "And then you broke in to steal something years later, which led to this," he pointed out to Hunter.
"Trust me, the irony is not lost on me." Hunter said to Crane, although his tone had a small amount of mirth to it.
Tigress looked to Hunter, and now that she was looking properly, could see the pain he felt at Oogway's passing. "We all miss Master Oogway and his wisdom." She said offhandedly.
For his part, Hunter froze for a second and then looked at Tigress before looking back to his food. "Yeah, he was... One of a kind." He agreed with Tigress, nodding slightly as he ate more of his meal.
The others were quick to want to change the topic, since it was getting rather gloomy. "So, Hunter, err... What, err..." Po was trying to come up with a question to ask, but was coming up short. "How many bean buns can you fit in your mouth?" He suddenly and quickly asked as everyone looked to Po with expressions of 'did you seriously just ask that, of all things, to Hunter, of all people?'
"Chewing and swallowing: 12. Just stuffing them in: 18." He answered without hesitation completely seriously, shocking everyone present as they looked at him. "What, did you think I'm deadly serious all of the time?" Hunter asked with a slight smirk on his face. "I've had my moments." he shrugged to them.
Po then noticed him eating his food. "Cool chopsticks. Where'd you get 'em?" he asked Hunter as he slurped down his food.
Hunter regarded his utensils for a second and chuckled a little, although it was rather dark. "Made them myself," he stated to the group. "Out of bone."
Po, and even the others were definitely interested by this point. "Bones? What kind of bones?" he asked curiously.
Hunter looked down at the table once more then. "It's... not a particularly pretty tale." he pointed out to them, but they seemed interested, so he sighed. "It was a good few years ago by now. I was hired by some noble lord to retrieve a family member." Hunter spoke that part nonchalantly with a wave of his hand.
Monkey was intrigued. "This happens often?" he asked The Hunter.
Scoffing, Hunter nodded at that as he poked at his food. "Oh yeah. Some noble girl goes too far from her family's estate, gets taken by bandits or similar people looking for a quick payday via ransom. The smart ones make their demands lower than the price of hiring someone like me, so it's easier to just fork over the Yuan than to go through the trouble. Not this time apparently. So this guy spins a tale 'help, my sister is missing, it's so awful, miss her so much'. It's nothing I haven't heard before." He said and slurped down some more noodles. "With these kinds of missions, private contracts, that is, I take half upfront just to be sure I've got some assurance I'll get at least some money out of it. Sometimes they try to weasel their way out of paying, even though they can clearly afford it. Anyway, I feel something's off about the situation since the guards aren't really dressed like usual noble guards. They're dressed lighter than the normal guards I see. Despite that, I take my half and start to track this girl down." Hunter said, eating some more of his meal. "I find her in an oddly nice house. It's almost as big as the guy's house who hired me for the contract, which is odd. It wasn't that the 'bandits' were squatting there either, they had servants, legit guards with emblems, shiny weapons and armour, all that." He continued the story. "Upon approaching the property, there was a sign outside. 'Dear whoever reads this, the person you are looking for is not here. We planted a false trail to lure you here. Before you make any hasty decisions, please come inside and allow us to explain what you have gotten yourself into. You are welcome to bring any weapons you so wish if it will make you feel better.'"
Everyone was watching and listening with rapt attention. "So, what did you do?" Crane asked Hunter curiously.
He shrugged at that. "I went inside." Hunter stated to them.
The group were all shocked by that response. "What?!" They exclaimed.
He still seemed rather blaise about the decision. "I wasn't exactly bothered if they decided to try and kill me. I figured at worst it'd be a good fight if I did go down." Hunter told them. "Anyway, I went inside,and I was instructed to enter the parlor. I did and was invited for tea. They'd seen me coming since they had scouts in the forest nearby. I sat down, and the guy, who was apparently the girl's father, explained to me that whatever tale I was supposedly told, was completely and utterly fake. This guy wanted his sister back to marry her against her will, something about the family inheritance but he wanted deniability if something went wrong, so he sent me, a contractor, to get her under false pretenses. His sister was a successful businesswoman, owned a few taverns or somesuch very early in life, using the generous allowance their parents gave them to get ahead and become independent and even pay her parents back, while the brother squandered all of his. So the parents had written into their will that everything will go to the sister, but requested that she help her brother to at least have a home and food to eat. The brother had at some point decided to be a rebel, and took over the old family home while forcing the others, those I was talking to, to live in their family vacation home. Somehow he'd become the leader of a band of bandits which forced them out, and kidnapped his sister to make her marry him for the inheritance. He offered me double whatever the brother was paying me to instead drive the bandits out and bring the brother to them." Hunter went further into detail about what had happened. "I decided to not trust either of them. Instead, I asked if I could take the sister back, but I'd hang around, unnoticed, for a time. If anything untoward happened, I would step in, she would not be harmed, upon my word and I would know the truth."
The Fiv and Po were definitely all on the edge of their seats now, still eating of course, but still curious. "And, did they agree?" Mantis asked.
Hunter nodded to the Five. "They saw no other option. They knew most people in my position wouldn't have even read their sign, much less made them an offer to see if they were being truthful. They agreed, seeing no other choice in the matter. The Imperial Guard at the time had been called back to The Forbidden City, so they couldn't help either." He stated to the group. "They pointed me in the direction of where she was hiding. I made my way there, but when I got there, the brother had found her. His 'guards' were everywhere. I got past them unnoticed rather easily, they were only dumb bandits after all. I found the two siblings in the bedchambers, with him gloating that he'd distracted the guards with my arrival, using me as bait to lure the guards away and she was all alone with him now." Hunter said to them. "He was trying to... ahem, get frisky, but she was having none of it. He apparently wanted an 'heir' with her or something along those lines to force a relationship as well as giving him a claim on the inheritance. Knowing that the family had indeed told me the truth, I dropped down, and told him his game was over. He begged and pleaded that if I let it go ahead, he could pay me whatever I wanted. Instead of verbally answering, I used my sword to, ahem... liberate him of a few things he wasn't using correctly. I gave him his money back and told him I would decline the contract and subsequent offer, thank you. Then, I took the girl quickly and got out of there before anyone else was any the wiser." Hunter explained to them with another shrug.
Viper shook her head. "By the Ancestors. What happened after that?"
Hunter shrugged then. "When they were told what happened, the father ordered his guards over there. They made short work of the smaller force of bandits guarding the place, since many were left at the main estate to keep up appearances, and brought the brother back for... Punishment . I declined payment for the whole thing, but when they told me they were executing the brother for what he tried to do, I asked for his tibia instead. They were confused by the request, but his body wasn't being treated with respect for his actions, so they agreed. Made chopsticks out of the bone since I needed a personal pair, and so the prick could actually be of use to someone for once." He made a point of scooping up some noodles and slurping them down happily. ONce he had chewed and swallowed, he added. "I'm no angel or hero, but there are things I won't do for any amount of coin. These remind me of that." He shrugged to the others, holding said chopsticks up.
Po was stunned by the story. "Wow." he stated with a shake of his head.
Tigress turned her attention back to her food, contemplating the story she had been told. "No matter what you think you are or aren't, you did something truly good for someone else, where others may not have. That is deserving of merit." She nodded matter-of-factly to Hunter. "You made sure to know all the facts before dealing out any form of judgement on the situation, and even declined substantial payment from both sides. A wise and kind thing indeed." Tigress said, turning to him with a slight smile, and he, albeit hesitantly, smiled back a little as well.
Hunter quickly turned back to the others. "Anyway, there's the story of the chopsticks." he shrugged to the group of Masters.
Crane, however, was curious. "Do you often take strange rewards such as that?" he asked Hunter.
"Mostly, I take various bones, teeth, talons and such from targets. I string them together into necklaces, bracelets and such." He shrugged to all of them.
Viper nodded. "Ahh, that's why you took the Badger's tooth?" she asked, receiving a nod in response. "That makes more sense."
Hunter also nodded to the group, putting his bowl down for now. "It's a hobby. Trophies I take and make some use out of. Sometimes I make more practical items, like chopsticks." He clacked the two he held towards the Five and Po. "I also make quills from avian feathers and such." He mentioned offhandedly. Crane's wings twitched reflexively at him saying that. "Don't worry Crane, your wings are safe." Hunter told the Master without even looking at him, knowing what his reaction would be.
Crane chuckled slightly nervously at Hunter's assurance. "Good to know." he nodded cautiously. Hunter then seemed to realise something as he looked down. His other hand that wasn't holding his chopsticks was resting on the table, and now Tigress' paw was, albeit barely, touching it. A flash of something passed through his eyes before he quickly yanked his hand away and placed it on his bowl, picking it up to quickly resume eating, hoping no one saw what he did. Tigress did indeed notice something, but assumed he simply wanted to finish his food before it got cold, not paying the sudden action much mind.
He indeed had no food left after a few more bites, and stood up carefully. "Thank you for the conversation." Hunter nodded to the group and bowed slightly, being extra careful not to disturb his wounds. He then turned to leave the room with his bowl and chopsticks in hand.
Everyone looked at the empty space a bit longer then. "Well, that was... surprisingly normal." Mantis commented with a small shrug.
Viper nodded in agreement with Mantis. "Yes, he was... less intense than usual. Amicable almost."
While Crane and Monkey also nodded to the two Masters, Tigress seemed thoughtful. "He was still on edge. It may take some time for him to become comfortable here at the Palace." she said, remembering how she once felt much the same, specifically avoiding thinking about anything before her arrival at the Palace.
Po shrugged as he collected the dishes and put them in the sink. "Well, it's a start." he pointed out optimistically.
Hunter had returned to Peach Tree Hill and once more looked at his hand like a traitor. "Spiritdamn it all." he cursed bitterly and discarded his bowl, putting his chopsticks away and preparing to sleep before he thought on anything too much.