Chapter 11 : Take You Home

Master Shifu sat on the wooden floor in Tigress' room. It had been five hours since he opened the scroll and he hadn't moved an inch. His expression was one of intense sorrow, but there were no tears to been seen.

"This is my fault," he whispered.

Behind him, Po and remaining of the Furious Five were watching him outside the opened door. They could feel literally the sadness that was emanating from their master. Of the remaining five, Po was the most affected. It shocked him the most when Shifu told them that Tigress had left.

"This is my fault," he whispered again.

"No, Master," Crane said. "It's not your fault, it's ours."

"He's right, Master," Mantis agreed. "This is their fault."

Viper hissed at that bug.

"And... also my fault," he mumbled.

"She's gone because of how we treated her recently." Po explained. "We treated her like a criminal, like a pest that has to be removed."

The sound a sob was heard.

Po and his friends looked at Shifu with surprise when they heard that sob. Is their master... crying? No, their master had too much pride to let out such a expression.

Or … did he?

"Are you alright?" Monkey asked.

"My daughter is gone. How could I be alright?" he replied bitterly.

"But I thought you tried to send her to Gongmen City?"

"That's my biggest mistake. What kind of parent am I? I was attempting to banish my own daughter."

Po couldn't bear to see his master this way. He walked into the room, stopping next to Shifu.

"I'm going out to look for her."

"How? We don't even know where she went."

"She shouldn't have gone far. Come on Master, we have to try."

Shifu stood up. "Okay. I'll go with you."

"We're coming too." said Viper.

They had been to almost every corner of the Valley of Peace. From bamboo forests and noodle shops to taverns and boarding houses, there was not a single clue or even the faintest scent of her. Enquires made with the local villages turned up empty as well.

Night had fallen, and therefore the six decided to continue the search tomorrow. As they were about to walk pass a large building, Po saw five wolves hiding in the shadows, counting a large bundle of money. Initially the warriors weren't interest in what they were doing, but when they overheard one of the wolves mentioning 'The Prince', it piqued their curiosity. They hid behind a wall, unseen by the wolves and their warrior sharpened hearing allowed them to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"My God. We're rich." They heard one of the wolves say.

"That prince is right. With all these money, we don't have to work for two... no, three months," came another voice.

The Prince? They must meant Prince Yuan Sheng.

"I love working for that guy. If only we could meet a guy like him frequently, like once a week. We would be the richest gang in this valley."

Those words made Shifu concluded that these bandits had assisted the prince with something. Whatever it is, he was sure that they were involved with Tigress' disappearance.

Without any warning, the six warriors pounced on the bandits. From behind the wall, the sound of punches, kicks, groans and moans were heard for almost twenty minutes. It seemed as if the warriors were roughing up the bandits.

The bandits laid down on the ground, their beaten bodies pinned by Shifu's students. He himself led the interrogation.

"Now," Shifu said dangerously as he shook the bundle of money in front of them. "Tell me, how did you get 'this'?!"

"You think you can make me talk?" a wolf whose body was pinned by Po sneered.

"Tell him!" the panda snarled as he increased the pressure on the wolf.

"Okay...okay... We got it from someone. Why? We didn't steal it."

"How did you get it?"

"We worked."

"For?"

"A prince. He paid us to be his bodyguards."

"This prince. Who is he?"

"No idea. The only thing we know is that he is a tiger with a lot of money."

"Was he wearing a silk robe?"

"Yes."

"And his name is?"

"He didn't mention his name."

"Why would you work for someone when you don't even know his name?"

"Name is not important to us so long as everything goes well."

Shifu came closer to the wolf and leaned towards him till their faces were just inches apart. "Now, for the last three question. First, does your job of protecting your boss have anything to do with Master Tigress? Second, if yes, for the love of China, what did you do to her?"

"Okay. But first, keep your face away from me," He replied, attempting to pull away. Shifu then did as requested. "For the first question, yes. And for the second, we attacked Master Tigress last night to protect the prince."

Shifu held his breath after hearing the second answer, but continued the interrogation.

"The last question. Where is Master Tigress? Answer that and we'll let you go."

"Honestly? We have no idea. The prince took her."

"To?"

"Hey. You said there would be only three questions. That's the fourth."

"Tell us!"

"The north? He said he would take Master Tigress home. We thought it would be The Jade Palace."

Shifu's heart almost stopped.

"Home?"

"Yes."

Oh my God. Shifu knew where the prince referred to as 'home'. Darknest Land. That Tiger was taking his daughter there. He couldn't imagine what would happen if Tigress fell into evil's grasp.

"Erm... can we go now?" the wolf asked.

Shifu didn't reply, but his students had loosened their grip on the wolves. They manage to break free and ran off.

"Darknest Land," Po whispered in shock. "Master Shifu. We can't just let this happen. We must go after her."

"Of course we must," Shifu squared his shoulders. "We're moving on."

"I'm ready, Master. You can count on me to complete this mission."

"No. This journey is too dangerous for you alone. You will need someone to go with you."

"Don't worry, Master," Crane replied confindently. "We're ready to help Po."

Shifu looked at the avian. "I was talking about myself."

"Oh."

"But Master, if you go with Po, what about Jade Palace? Who will be in charge?" Viper asked.

"One of you four."

"We can't. We're not leaders. That responsibility is too big for us to handle."

"That's right," Mantis chimed in. "Let us go with Po. We'll be fine."

"But I can't just sit in the Palace while my daughter is out there?" Shifu protested.

"We understand. But this valley needs you. Trust us, Master. We promise to bring Tigress back. After all we always make a good team."

Shifu stared at his students one by one. "Now I can see that it's not only Tigress and I who are the stubborn ones. Very well, I'll leave this task to the five of you. But remember to always be careful."

"Yes, Master." They said unison.

"Especially you, Po. I'm expecting a lot from you. You can take this as one of your duties as the Dragon Warrior."

"Don't worry, Master," said Po. "I won't let you down."

Suddenly, one of the wolves came again and approached them. He stopped in front of Shifu.

"Sorry," he said, panting. "Can we have our money back?"

Shifu realized that he was still holding on to the bundle. The money however, wasn't his. "Here."

"Thanks."

The wolf took it and fled after his comrades.

.

~0~0~TLoDDaTT~0~0~

.

The same day,

Tigress moaned in pain as she opened her eyes. When she scanned her surroundings, she found herself lying on a mattress in a very small room which could only fit less than five people.

"Where am I?" was the first question that popped into her mind.

She winced as she tried to stand up. Pain radiated from every inch of her injured body. Both her arms and legs were bandaged by someone unknown. Soon, she began to feel a little nauseous and dizzy. The room itself seemed to be bobbing and shaking gently in random directions.

It was then where she realized that she was on a sampan boat. But how did she get there? She was in the Valley of Peace last night until—

Prince Yuan Sheng

Yes. She met him last night. He had five wolves as his body guards. They attacked her and she lost.

Annoyed, Tigress walked out. As she pushed aside the curtain, she saw a certain tiger, standing calmly on the edge of the deck, staring at the river that was taking the boat away.

Anger overcame Tigress.

"Can you explain what this is all about?!"

Prince Yuan Sheng turned around in surprise. "Hey. You're up."

"Explain!" she snarled. "Where are you taking me?!"

"Where?" The prince replied. "Taking you home of course. To Darknest Land."

"What?! You...you..."

"We've been travelling for almost eight hours straight ever since you fainted."

"You...you...you... Do you know what you're doing? You're kidnapping me!"

"I don't kidnap you in the way you think I am. As I said before, 'I'm taking you home'."

"My home is at the Valley of Peace."

Prince Yuan Sheng chuckled. "You think so? Don't the people there hate you and want you to leave? How can you even call a place like that 'home'?"

"I—" Tigress then remembered the way the villages looked at her. Not as a hero but like a criminal that has to be removed. For the first time, she admitted to herself that the prince was right.

"I am right, aren't I?" Prince Yuan Sheng interrupted her. It was as if he knew what was on her mind.

"It's none of your business. Now turn around."

"Or?"

"Or you'll regret it."

"How? You're in pain. Look at yourself. You're too weak to attack me."

Once again, the prince was right. Tigress could still feel the pain in her body. It would slow her down when she's giving the prince a piece of her mind.

"No turning around," Prince Yuan Sheng continued. "And you can't swim back to the valley. This is the Chojiang River, one of the longest rivers in the world."

Tigress took a few steps forward and stopped right in front of the prince.

"Turn around," she threatened him.

"No."

"Turn around."

"I won't."

"The place you call 'Darknest Land' will never be my home."

"Where will you go then? Remember. We are tigers. Our ancestors have been living in there since over a thousand years ago. It's where you were born and that's where your real home is."

Tigress was sick of talking to him. She totally hated that tiger. Frustrated, she aimed a punch at his face.

But Prince Yuan Sheng ducked before the punch reached its mark.

"Ha...ha... missed me."

With her other paw, she shoved the prince into the river. The prince struggled against the waves as he tried to keep his head above the water.

"HEELLPP..." he screamed, flailing his arms in attempt to keep himself afloat. "HELPP... I CAN'T SWIM."

Tigress watched the prince as she folded her arms. She had no thoughts of helping. The fact that the prince could not swim made her feel pity on him, like he's hopeless.

"HELLPP... HELP ME..." The prince had choked on a lot of water and was drowning. "PLEASE..." He was cut off as his head disappeared beneath the waters.

'Just let him drown Tigress,' she told herself. 'Don't even think of helping him'.

She turned away.

'But he can't swim'.

Tigress looked back at the river. She didn't see any sign of the drowning tiger.

'He'll die'.

Tigress bit her lip. She wasn't used to killing someone or letting them die.

'Who cares'.

She shrugged and started towards the room. But again, something within her kept telling her to turn around.

The prince still didn't show any signs of emerging from the waters.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and jumped into the Chojiang River.

There was no way she would let herself to be a murderer.