A/N : Thanks to The Dragon Chronicle for editing this chapter for me :)

Chapter 45 : Tigress' Cry

Shifu had arrived a little too late.

As he made his way to the gate with Fang Zi, two guards standing sentry welcomed them with a threatening gaze, spears aimed directly at them. Not long ago, some intruders had barged in and tried to dig information about Tigress after they attacked the two guards before. At this moment, the said guards were being taken care of in a tent intended for treating injured soldiers. Now, these substitute guards were determined to not meet the same fate as their predecessors.

Shifu sighed. He could have just sent devastating attacks to both of them, but he tried another, more peaceful method.

"Step aside and just let us in." he said flatly.

The guards were not going to cooperate. Ignoring Fang Zi standing there, one of the guards replied. "It's you who must leave, Old Man, before we beat you up."

"Alright then; as you wish. Try me."

With spears in their grip, the guards charged at him. With a bored face, Shifu hopped, stepped on their heads and jumped down behind them after hitting them in specific parts of their bodies. Within seconds, the guards collapsed, eyes still open.

Fang Zi watched in awe. "What an amazing power..."

Shifu shrugged as if it was nothing. "Nerve strike, it paralyzed them. I didn't want to waste more of my time and my energy on them. Now, let's get inside."

Shifu didn't push the gate open to enter enemy territory.

He kicked it, destroying the gate, causing the sound of a bang that attracted attention from all other guards in the area.

There were a series of exclamations as they shouted to each other.

"Hey!"

"More intruders!"

"Attack!"

A dozen of soldiers marched towards them. Shifu whispered to Fang Zi. "Find a safe place and hide."

The old tigress smiled. "You're so kind," she joked, but as she said this, a soldier leaped at her. Fang Zi gave a kick in the face, knocking him into the ground before she did a somersault and landed gracefully and struck a kung fu pose, "but thanks, I'll fight with you."

Shifu blushed, a bit embarrassed, for he had just greatly underestimated her. "Very well."

Then the fight began.

Easily, the aged duo succeeded in dodging some blows and returning vicious attacks to the various body parts of their enemies. Despite being a humpbacked old woman, Fang Zi's sharp claws managed to cripple five of the well-built soldiers who surrounded her.

The sound of this riot caused more soldiers to come. As all the soldiers initially guarding palace arena were defeated, there was a sound of someone clapping his hands in the brief silence.

"Well done," someone spoke casually.

Fang Zi became pale. Shifu looked above. Up there, right in the terrace of Hall of Warriors on top of the stairs, stood a tiger wearing white silk robe, accompanied with numerous heavily armed soldiers behind him, and dozens more on the roof with fire arrows that were ready to be shot.

Shifu focused on the only tiger who seemed to be in power, who was walking down the stairs toward him with very elegant step like every nobleman did.

"Very impressive," the emperor was still talking, his voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Master Shifu, I presume. Tigress has told me everything about you."

Shifu couldn't hold back his anger. This was him. This was the one who had manipulated Tigress and changed her into what she is now. A heartless person who killed his own wife and deluded Tigress into believing that she had no choice but to follow a destiny she could have just ignored. Between gritted teeth and eyes flashed with anger, Shifu yelled. "Where is she?!"

The emperor laughed the kind of laugh that could send a chill up your spine. Soon, Fang Zi had a very bad feeling about the developing situation. "Master Shifu," she patted his shoulder. "I think we should go…"

"Where is she?!" Shifu yelled, ignoring Fang Zi. "And where are my students?!"

"Relax. You're in no state to threaten me," Emperor Tiger motioned his soldiers, who were at the ready to kill Shifu once they had sensed the emperor was at an unsafe distance.

"You and your soldiers are no match for me. Now I repeat, where is…"

"Tigress? She's dead. Your other students might have found her corpse by now," the emperor said in an unusual tone, as if he'd just given completely insignificant information. "Thanks to me, you don't need to dirty your hand to kill her."

Those words affected Shifu greatly. He was trembling.

Tigress has… died…

No, this had not been one of his plans. Yes, he had mapped out a plan to invade the tigers and take over Jade Palace back. But never in a million years did he think of killing Tigress. She was still his student—his daughter—no matter what.

"Don't listen to him, Master Shifu," Fang Zi tried to reassure him in a serious tone. "He's lying."

Emperor Tiger's smirk faded, replaced by unpleasant expression. He didn't seem to be surprised at all by Fang Zi's betrayal. "You know I am right, Fang Zi. You're a seer, after all."

The old tigress hated to admit it, but the emperor was right. She sensed Tigress was in a great trouble. She wasn't dead… yet. But soon…

"Master Shifu. Quick! We've got to find Tigress." Fang Zi begged.

But Shifu was too shocked to hear.

"Please…"

The emperor chuckled. "You think I will let you go that easily?" he gave a signal to his men. "Soldiers!" he shouted. "Attack!"

Whooosh

Whooosh

Whooosh

Dozens of fire arrows were being shot immediately.

Shifu still didn't move from where he was standing at, still frozen in shock.

Fang Zi closed her eyes in despair.

But those arrows never hit them.

Slowly, Fang Zi opened her eyes. Surprised, she saw broken arrows scattered around her legs. A sword that had just been thrown by an ox had deflected away all of the sharp projectiles.

"The reinforcements have just arrived." he said, smiling and picking up his sword.

"Vengeance is served," another voice followed. Shifu and Fang Zi looked behind over their shoulder. Master Croc was there.

'Oh, thank goodness,' never before had Fang Zi felt as relieved as she did now. It seemed like luck was finally on their side.

Master Ox aimed the tip of his sword at the emperor. "You," he called out with a challenging tone, his nostril flared with anger. "Surrender now before it's too late."

The emperor laughed as he shook his head. Four warriors were challenging his hundreds of armed soldiers.

"Do you really think you're a match for my army?" he mocked. "You're still outnumbered."

Master Croc grinned. "No," he replied. He pointed at something behind him. "That's why I brought hundreds of us."

Slowly, the emperor's eyes widened as if he was seeing a ghost. He stared at what Master Croc just pointed at. Alarmed, he saw the thousands of silhouettes of a mercenary army crawling up and filling every inch of the stairs toward Jade Palace.

"Your Majesty," Master Ox called with a gloating smile. "This place is gonna be your and your small army's grave."

.

~0~0~TLoTDaTT~0~0~

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Calm down, Tigress..., she chanted, taking a deep breath. Just relax... everything will be fine.

She was sitting in a lotus position. As long as she didn't move a muscle much, the poison wouldn't spread fast in her body.

But the toxin would reach her heart eventually, sooner or later. At the moment, the only thing she could do was delay her death, not stop it.

What a pity.

Just a few days ago, she was one of a royal family in a palace, respected by the people. Then, after she had decided to embrace her destiny, she was chosen to be the leader to the emperor's army and attack village after village. The downfall of The Great Valley and Valley of Peace had happened within in a single day. Then suddenly, Po came. Not to kill her like what the prophecy had foretold, but to ask her to return. To come back to Shifu, to her friends. To go back to what they used to be, thinking that everything could revert to normal again if she had just stopped.

She didn't listen to Po.

She had killed him instead.

And now, this was how things were, being pursued and hiding, her body becoming weaker and weaker with every passing second.

Her ears twitched as they caught a sound. She became alert. The sound of footsteps was getting closer. Who might that be?

"Well, well, well," said a malicious voice from behind the boulder. "Look what we found here."

Tigress growled. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, someone she'd hoped to never see again had come after her.

"General Luo," Tigress called, trying to sound as calm as she could be. There was no way she would show fear to him. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

There was an outburst of sickening laughter. The general walked around the boulder and stopped right in front of Tigress. He was not alone. Five tigers were behind him. His eyes scanned Tigress from head to toe.

"What a pitiful sight. I never thought I would see you in this condition, Master Tigress," his voice sounded like he felt sorry for her. "I thought I would see you lying down with blood all over your body."

"Too bad the assassins you sent weren't strong enough to do your bidding." Even with her life on the edge, Tigress was still able to stick to her poise.

General Luo smirked. "But they managed to plant deadly poison in your body, didn't they? Isn't it more fun to watch you die slowly, with terrible pain in every passing second?"

Tigress replied it with a hiss of anger.

"You know, Master Tigress?" the general continued with a fake friendly tone, "the tigers in Darknest Land had waited for your arrival for thousand years, hoping that you would bring back our prosperity, take over China and avenge Khan," he paused for a moment. "But not with Emperor Tiger. Even since the beginning when Yuan Sheng brought you back to the palace, the emperor only saw you no more than a lucky charm, an object that should be disposed of once he had no use for it anymore. Don't be surprised! If it wasn't for the empress and me, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill his own son; his only heir. Why do you think the emperor allowed his disabled son to go on a mission and search for you without bodyguards in the first place? He hoped Yuan Sheng would die on his quest so he wouldn't need to deal with that useless prince anymore."

This was not a new story for Tigress. Even from the start, she knew Yuan Sheng just wanted recognition from his father. Since the first time she stepped her foot in the palace, she had already felt there was something the emperor hid behind his welcoming attitude.

What was new for her was the part of the story regarding the emperor's attempt to kill his own son just because he had lost his leg.

At least, Yuan Sheng was safe now in Darknest Land.

"Oh, you know what? That poor prince is here."

What?!

But how?!

"Considering that you'll be dead soon anyway, I think now it's time to tell you all the secrets we've kept from you," here, he lowered his voice as he looked Tigress in the eyes. "Yuan Sheng was in The Jade Palace. He tried to attack the emperor…," he bent down and whispered to hear ear, "...for it was the emperor who killed the empress."

Tigress gasped in surprise. Time seemed to stop. A quick vision flashed across her mind; an image of the dying empress on her deathbed played in her head.

That can't be…

The emperor… killed the empress…?

She clenched her first and roared in anger

Why did he do that? The empress was kind and innocent. She never deserved to be killed.

"It's Emperor Tiger who killed his own wife, and took an advantage from it to instill anger in you and blind your heart from seeing the truth."

Tigress suddenly sprang to her feet. Her hand stretched out to reach for the general's neck, but Luo grabbed her hand and twisted it. Tigress winced in pain and fell on her knee. She was really hurting.

"I'm telling you all of this so you can die with regret; a regret for you have killed the innocent warrior of black and white."

Tigress wanted to release her wrath upon the general. How much she wanted to grab his neck and snap it, if only her body still had the energy to do it. She was at a loss.

She breathed heavily.

It was because of her the empress died…

If only she had never showed up…

If only she was never born…

Po's voice played again in her head.

'The destiny may dictate your path but the choice is always in your hand'

'Po', she thought. An image of that panda smiling returned to her mind. 'What have I done? Why didn't I listen to you?'

She lowered her head. Tears of regret rolled down her cheek. She had let herself be manipulated by the emperor. She had let herself be trapped in her own destiny. She had let her anger blind her and driven her to do terrible things; she had invaded The Great Valley, destroyed The Valley of Peace... imprisoned Shifu... killed Po…

This was her own fault. What a fool she was for letting herself be the emperor's puppet and his initial step to take over China. And because of her ignorance, the empress had died. Po died. And Yuan Sheng? He might be in danger now, too.

She couldn't hold this guilt any longer. She could never fix what she had destroyed. She was a monster.

"Oh, look at you now," General Luo mocked her. "You're crying – how pathetic!"

Tigress didn't pay attention with that insult.

She didn't care about anything anymore.

She had been too tired with all of these lies, too tired with herself.

She wished she could just die. That way, she might be able to see Po in nirvana. She knew she didn't deserve to be forgiven. Po might hate her in spirit world, but at least, it would be better than continuing her life in this world full of lies.

She didn't even deserve to live.

There was a sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard. Tigress didn't need to look to see what the general was doing.

"Don't worry, Master Tigress," the general said. "I'll help you ease your pain."

Tigress closed her eyes. She was ready for the execution.

.

~0~0~TLoTDaTT~0~0~

.

Po and the other four kept a quick pace as they got into the dark bamboo forest. And since Yuan Sheng was never trained to run fast, Po had to carry him on his back.

"I hope we can catch up with her."

"Why couldn't she just stay put in one place for just a few minutes? Every time we get a lead where she is, she's gone again!" Mantis whined. "I am sick of this tag game."

Since Crane was able to fly, he got a much broader view than his friends. From above, he spotted a bunch of tigers gathering around a defenseless tigress.

"That's her!"

Something long, sharp and shiny gripped by one of the tigers was raised, and then it lowered and met its target.

There was a scream of pain heard not far from there. Soon after that, the forest became silent again.

The warriors were horrified as they found what they were looking for.

Tigress… lying motionless on the ground… with blood covering her entire body.

A/N : KFP fanfiction is seemingly a bit dead so I want to thank you to few people who still read and review my story.