Tai Lung woke as the sun rose.
"Did I pass out at my own party?" he blearily asked Tigress, who hadn't slept, choosing instead to drink tea and people watch all night, deep in thought.
"You passed out not even an hour into your own party," Tigress replied.
He tried to sit up, wincing. "How rude of me."
"No one seemed to hold it against you," Tigress said.
That wasn't true. People made fun of him the entire night.
"Good to know," he muttered. "Nice folks, the Mongolians." He tried to get up off the bench and remembered his knee was damaged. He moved his leg experimentally.
"How is it?" Tigress asked.
"Ugh." He made a sick face. "Fine, I think, if I rest it for a day or two."
"How is it fine? You were hit with an axe."
"A very blunt axe. It's a tournament, not death match. Broke the skin but I don't believe there's any lasting damage." He gingerly felt the wound. "Everything is in place."
"How does it feel?'
"Hurts! Hurts a lot. So does my head." He groaned softly, looking miserable. "Be nice and get me some water, Tigress, please."
o
During the previous evening Tigress used some of the money to secure accommodation for the two of them.
"Here it is," she said, helping him into a very well appointed yurt close to the tournament tent. She deposited him onto a large pile of multicolored cushions beneath a gaudy fake chandelier. It smelled like herbs and perfume. Silk scarves with suggestive themes hung from the rafters.
"This is for us?" he said, raising an eyebrow at her.
Tigress rolled her eyes. "It's not for us, it's for you. Mine is a few doors down. I know they're … tawdry, but they're all that was left."
"No no, I like it." He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, then relaxed on the cushions with a contended look. His eyes went heavy-lidded as he regarded her. It made her entire body snap to attention. "I'm all for a dirty yurt."
"Good," she said shortly, looking away. Her heart pounded. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
He smiled slyly. She gave him a warning look and he chuckled.
"Water. Food. The basics will do. Thank you."
"No, thank you," she said. "You've provided well for us, though I can't say I approve of the method."
He shrugged. "Of course not. You're your father's daughter."
"Shifu is my master. He is not my father."
"He adopted you, didn't he?"
"Yes."
He tilted his head. "Then what does that make you, exactly?"
"That is between my Master and I."
He tutted, rolling his eyes. "Fine, fine fine. On your way then."
"You said you wanted food, what do you want?"
He shrugged. "Something in a bun. Something on a stick. Surprise me. And while you're out buy yourself a coat. It will be very cold soon. You're small and you've only your summer fur, you will definitely need a coat. Thick one, good one."
She nodded and turned to leave.
"But before you go, would you prop my leg up please?" he asked sweetly.
Tigress sighed and rolled her eyes. She gingerly lifted his leg and shoved some pillows beneath it.
"Thank you! Now could you kiss it and make it better?"
She scowled at him then lightly slapped his kneecap. They both cried out in pain.
"I forgot about that," Tigress said, wincing and rubbing her knee.
"Serves you right! Now go get me some food!" Tai Lung hooted. He reached out and pushed her towards to door by her behind. She gasped and slapped his paw away, flushing hot at the contact.
"Touch me again and I'll feed you your hand," she growled.
"Yes, yes," he said, grinning with amusement. He waved her off. "Happy shopping, darling, with all that money I won you."
She clenched her fists and strode out of the tent seething.
o
They remained in the city for a few days, during which Tai Lung rested his knee and she went about purchasing supplies. She avoided his yurt as much as possible. She thought only of returning home. Once they reached China - however long that would be - she could she could send a message back to the Jade Palace letting them know her situation. They very likely thought her dead. Were they at this moment lighting incense and candles, ringing bells to usher her spirit on it's way? Her heart crumpled at the thought of her friends grieving before her empty grave.
She shook it off, collected herself, and slapped the canvas of Tai Lung's yurt with the flat of her hand.
"Come in," he sang.
She entered and heaved her shopping onto the floor. He lolled lazily on his cushions. It looked like he hadn't moved in hours. He was surrounded by empty food bowls and whatever of interest he pawed out of the supplies she'd been gradually bringing to tent.
She looked at him with disgust.
"Bedrolls," she said, pointing at the pile. "Rice for four weeks. Flint. Bandages. Dried fruit, dried tofu, soy beans. Firewood. They had the hard tack today. What have you been doing?"
Tai Lung gave a brief, indulgent sigh of ennui. He gazed up at the ceiling. "You know there's exactly two hundred sixty two fake crystals hanging on that chandelier?" He chuckled. "But I wonder how many women have swung from it."
"I don't think you'll entice many women to swing from your chandelier if you can't even keep your yurt clean. It's shocking in here."
He chuckled. "Not the prissy ones, anyway. Your highness." He flicked his tail, sending the empty bowls into the air, then quickly kicked them again so he could use his tail to guide them gently into a pile at his feet. "Happy?"
"Nice trick," Tigress muttered. She picked the pile of bowls up and placed them just outside the yurt door.
"What have you been up to all day?" he asked
"Buying supplies," she said, gesturing at the pile. She picked up a small round bamboo steam basket and placed it before him. "Your dinner is in here. Is there anything else you require?"
"No, this is fine. Thank you. Tell me, are you - where are you going?"
"To my yurt, to sleep."
He blinked. "Oh. You aren't going to join me for dinner?"
"I already ate. Goodnight, Tai Lung."
The disappointment in his face was so raw and unguarded it almost made her want to relent. But she hardened her heart and turned towards the door.
"All right then," Tai Lung sighed. "Goodnight. Enjoy your yurt. By yourself. Alone."
"That's the idea," she said.
o
They set out as soon as he could properly walk. She offered to take the pack but he insisted on carrying it.
"I won't hear of it. This is barely a burden to me. You're small, this is too heavy for you."
"I've carried packs far heavier." She shrugged. "But if you insist."
The pack and his knee slowed him down. That was good. The longer it took to get to the Valley of Peace, the longer her Master and friends had to live. She would gladly find more things for him to carry if it kept him at this glacial pace. It also allowed her her freedom of him, which she took liberally, at times walking a mile ahead. She found relief in the space. She spent most of the day at a comfortable distance, doing drills as she walked. It felt good to exert herself.
They spent days in this silence. She only interacted with him when she needed something from the pack, studiously avoiding his eyes, giving one word responses to any attempt at communication. And he did attempt.
"What have you been up to all day?" he asked.
"Meditating."
"You meditate more than Oogway."
She nodded. He put the pack down before her but did not allow her to open it, choosing instead to lean on it casually.
"So Tigress," he began.
She bristled. She was tired of his constant attempts a conversation.
"Just give me the pack," she seethed, her voice dripping with acid.
He reared back. "Good lord, I just want to talk to you! Person to person! I've just spent twenty damned years in silence and you're a steel wall. I cannot bear it any longer, come down off your damned tower and have mercy on a poor man!"
He stood so straight as he asked, not pleading at all. His chin was held high. He looked down his nose at her. His haughtiness sparked something within her, like an ember tossed onto a trail of gunpowder.
Have mercy on a poor man?" Tigress asked slowly."Is that how you see yourself?"
"I-"
"You shattered my Master," Tigress said.
Tai Lung looked taken aback. "I meant-"
"Shattered him," Tigress hissed. "His heart has not stopped aching for you for a single day in twenty years. Every day I watch him and see the limp in his soul and know there is nothing - nothing - I can ever do to heal it. Shifu spent the best of his youth and the best of his love on you and in return you left him with ashes. You left me with ashes."
"Tigress - "
"Quiet!" she commanded. "I came after you to protect him, even if it meant my death, because he is my Master and I love him. What little I've had of him. What little you left of him. But you had all of him, Tai Lung. You had him and the Valley of Peace and the Jade Palace. You had your incredible talent, years of glory ahead of you - and you threw them away. Everything I stand for, you squandered. When you are so much." She lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eye. "You are offensive to me."
Tai Lung was still. His eyes were wide, his ears back. He took a very long, very deep breath.
"Thank you for laying that out," he said flatly. He handed the bag over to her. "Here's the pack."
He slowly stepped away. She opened the pack and began digging through it furiously, unable to remember what it was she was looking for in the first place. Her heart pounded.
He silently began to circle her. His gaze weighed a ton, so thick she could have pulled it around her shoulders like a cloak. He kept circling as she took a container of dumplings from the pack and tied it shut. She lifted the pack and swung it over her shoulder to carry it, but Tai Lung stopped her, growling. He tore the pack from her grasp, slung it onto his back, and walked off ahead of her, leaving Tigress in a perfect circle of his snowy footprints.
o
She didn't want dumplings out of the pack. She wanted her coat. Now she was freezing and carrying dumplings.
He walked ahead of her the entire afternoon, stealing a glance back every so often. He was too far off for her to see what was in his eyes and she didn't want to. She wished there were trees she could jump into. She enjoyed traveling by hopping from branch to branch when she could. But no, there were no trees out here in flat, freezing, stupid, stupid, stupid Mongolia.
She chided herself for her outburst. But everything about him offended her. He was intrinsically offensive, right down to the desire he sparked in her. He was an insult to her universe and she couldn't hold it in any longer. Though she should have, for the sake of peace. Now she wasn't sure if there would be peace to be had with him again.
He put the pack down as the sun started to fall behind the horizon. He bent on one knee and punched a huge divot in the ground in order to build a fire. He was very good at building fires, she noticed, both at lighting and keeping them going. Her fire tended to puff out in the middle of the night, leaving her looking longingly in the distance at his still going strong. But she would not let herself creep over, opting instead of remain huddled beneath her blanket in the cold.
She caught up with Tai Lung and went directly for the pack to gather her share of firewood, trying to be quick about it.
"You're staying here tonight," Tai Lung commanded.
"Oh am I?" she replied archly.
"You are. There isn't enough wood left for two fires, look for yourself. Wood is scarce. If we don't run across any traders tomorrow we're in for a very cold night."
"There's been plenty of traders on the road."
He shook his head. "Don't take that for granted. There will only be one fire tonight, and it's right here. But you're welcome to sleep out in the cold if you prefer. You didn't even eat those, give me those." He gestured to her container of uneaten dumplings.
She handed them over. He retrieved a pot and water and put them on the fire, then settled back and looked at her. It was not quite a leer, but he had a way of making clear he felt welcome to look at her as thoroughly and for as long as he pleased.
"Yes?" she said in response to his insolent gaze.
He shifted his focus to his claws. "Tell me something," he said.
Tigress held her breath. Here it comes.
"I have a hard time believing Shifu would send you and your team to protect him. Not when he is fully aware of what I can do. I'd imagine he'd have ordered you not to pursue me. And your teammates, they are not nearly so hot-headed and reckless as you. They wouldn't have run to face me if not for you, would they? You're their leader so they followed. But Shifu - Shifu did not order this."
"You're assuming quite a lot," Tigress huffed.
"I assume nothing. When you fight a person you know a person, and I fought the five of you. So, Tigress, are you here at your master's bidding or your own?"
She looked at the fire. Sighed. There was no use in denying it. "Shifu wanted to follow Oogway's plan, which was…not a good plan."
The corner of Tai Lung's mouth curled. "His judgement can't be trusted about anything," he growled darkly.
"You no longer have to worry about his judgement. He's gone."
Tai Lung's eyebrows rose. "Hm." He gave the dumplings a stir. "So, as we've established that Shifu did not send you here - " he glanced up at her for confirmation - "has it occurred to you that you are sticking your little nose into matters that are none of your concern?"
"How is the safety of my Master and my home none of my concern?"
"When you are powerless to do anything about it," he growled. "You cannot defeat me, Shifu knows that. You should have obeyed your Master. But you did not, so now here we are. And seeing as find ourselves here, let me make one thing clear to you: the score I have to settle with Shifu is between him and I alone. I have no quarrel with you unless you make one."
There was a hiss as water met fire.
"The dumplings are boiling over," Tigress said. "Wether it was my business or not is irrelevant. It's my business now," Tigress said. "And I will stop you."
He smirked. "How do you propose to do that, I wonder?"
"I don't know, but when I see my chance I will take it."
"Hm," Tai Lung said. "And what until then?"
She was silent.
He pushed the dumplings towards her. "Eat these."
o