6
Amongst the bland grey and almost blackness of the ominous clouds that hung above, Super-attendant Woo moved briskly under the heavy sky, with nature's tears landing on his back, head, arms, and trailing down the length of his tunic. The meetings went strictly by the schedule, he thought approvingly- it was the way he liked things to be run. No tomfoolery or dilly-dallying. I should be on time to the Valley of Peace if I keep going at this pace... that's exactly one day, and nine hours from now.
It was hard to tell the time of day because the weather was so out of shape today. And when he checked, the last time he ate was just before he entered the meeting. If he could find a dry spot, then he could feast comfortably and be on his way. Many times it was recommended he was to be accompanied on journeys, as his gold painted horns would attract attention, and his lack of self defense skills certainly didn't help any potential threatening situation. But the stubborn Gazelle he was born to be, Woo made sure no one busting their bump over him... if he couldn't help so, anyways.
Before he gave himself to focus on the shiver granted to his body from the cold, he stopped. What is this? A vast red sheet hanging among the broken bamboo sticks; strong and sturdy, the ground was drying, and they seemed to be taking a break from making a fire pit... no danger of burning the shelter thanks to the breeze that was picking up- a marvelous idea!
Woo moved closer, seeing a figure inside, eating away at some peasant mush in a makeshift bowl. "Afternoon good sir." Woo called, his voice faded and almost timid sounding among the fast and fierce raindrops. The figure stopped spooning the food into his mouth, and turned his head to look at Woo slowly. His face couldn't be seen by the black cloak.
"Afternoon to you to." He replied, his voice mild and gruff. Sitting the bowl down, he knelled beside a pit, and proceeded to light a fire, much to Woo's jealously. "Are you travelling alone?"
"Yes."
"Come and sit in from the rain before you perish from a cold." Woo took the opportunity in the blink of an eye. He knelt down cautiously, and crawled in, making sure his antlers didn't hit off the blanket. "Hungry?"
"I have my own food... thank you." He took it out quickly to prove so, trying to mask the crinkled skin around his eyes, and enlarged nostrils peering at the stranger's food more closely; it seemed to be white rice mashed up, mixed with soy sauce (he could smell it) with chunks of peppers. A typical dish for a simpleton to have as a main course when they could barely afford bread once a week, but Woo recalled having to eat it like that once, when he had no choice but to seek accommodation in a paupers house and it was all they prepared. Normally, Woo would have that on the side of his meals, or as a starter...
When his mind moved back into the present moment, he saw that the man's attention was back on the fire pit, focusing on the sharp stones scraping against one another at his command.
"You are generous enough letting me sit with you." He added suddenly.
The stranger chuckled, turning to look outside his shelter- how the bamboo shoots around them, some of which were already broken or shortened, leaned into the mercy of the wind. "I'd be an heartless fool not to let a weary traveler, one such as myself, to have shelter from the rain, or let him starve if he were in the situation where he had no food and I was hogging it all."
He spoke with words of an upper class man, until he reached the word 'hogging'. To Woo, it was too common for him to continue any further conversations, but he tried his level hardest to sound polite. After all- he was given shelter from the rain. "If I asked for some food, that would be too much."
Woo watched as the outline of the man's shoulder's shift upwards, but then down again. "Still, I would be cruel not to offer."
"Which shows your concern for the well being of others..." Woo stirred his chopsticks around the bowl. "So tell me, why must you wear the cloak hood, despite being sheltered from the rain?"
"I'm not a pretty face to look at... I was in an accident," he pulled the hood back, hesitantly. Woo stared with wide eyes at the white sheet wrapped around every curve of the man's face, obscuring his many features, apart from his eyes, whom were a bright, burning gold, "and I don't want the village getting frightened from my mummified state before what my morphing features reveal beneath the bandages. Don't want any kiddies getting nightmares when it's not my duty to do it."
"I shall respect the privacy... I assume you're going to the Valley of Peace?
"Why yes... from what I remember I'll be there in time for the Festival being held for the Novices in the Palace... and yourself?"
"Me?" He picked up the food, and took a dainty bite. The stranger watched him patiently. I'm going to the Jade Palace to see the little ones, and check up on things..." he looked out beyond the shelter, to see the rain still pouring heavily, placing the chopsticks along the center of his hoof, and curling his grip tighter on it. "I suppose... we shall walk along together? For safety purposes of course."
The bandages shifted along the man's mouth, the flat line of his mouth changing to a visible smile. "I was starting to enjoy your company... sure why not?"
Meanwhile...
"Any signs of improvement?"
"There's always improvements Master Shifu."
Shifu stood in front of the door, watching intently as Tigress stepped off the small platform a few feet away from him. The feline was protected by a thick white screening set up around her, that stopped just below her shoulder level. Her shoulders were bare until she quickly put her tunic back on; she was starting to feel the chill lingering around them. "I'm not talking about the baby Doctor Shang."
"Why not?" Shang looked up from his charts in surprise.
Her flicks flicked at his words, and her eyes soon grew heavy at the sound of his voice, and her tongue took control, refusing to let her brain to think harmoniously. "It's not his main concern."
The fragility of the silence came almost instantly, to a point so quiet even Shifu's ears couldn't pick up the lively atmosphere down in the village. "What was that Master Tigress?" He spoke almost venomously. At first he thought she was ignoring him, and after a tapping of the staff against the floor, she turned her attention onto him calmly.
Shang swallowed nervously, hoping... just hoping with his all, that he won't be unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire. For the amount of time he's visited, and moved himself and his wife to the Valley, he has learnt about Shifu, and some of his ever revolving mood shifts. Making sure he said nothing, he lifted the charted higher to press it against his mouth, eyes nervously darting back and forth between the two as he felt the parchment touch his lips.
"Tigress? If you're smart enough, you'd answer my question to save any arguments from spilling." His grip tightened on the board so tightly his knuckles were starting to go white.
Tigress, miraculously didn't flinch. "You heard me." She replied, before she looked back out the window. The sun shone brightly upon the garden that she found herself watching Po teach the boys basic Tai Chi. But many of her thoughts, ones that she doesn't bother to keep note of, were nothing to compared to the recent.
Sapphire and the others have come. She thought happily, smiling to herself. At last everything is starting to fall into place. It always was in the right place... until recent months... and everything will go smoothly from here... Her brows furrowed together slightly without herself realizing. That's what is hoped to go on even when...
While she was in her own thoughts, her increasingly vexed Master narrowed his eyes at her briefly, before leaning forward slightly, and spoke again, but more sternly, to Shang, who stood to attention quickly. "I'm talking about her weight, doctor." He continued.
Once she was fully clothed, the doctor had finished calculating the results the red panda was looking for as patiently as he could manage. "She's getting back to the normal weight..."
"Of what? The normal to match her stamina before, or the average for a pregnant woman?"
Doctor Lu looked at the charts. "More of her normal weight before..." he turned to see a concerned look begin to plaster the feline's face. He smiled and placed a paw on her shoulder. "But we've checked the baby, no need to worry Tigress... all is good... getting all the nutrients it needs. You hasn't been skipping meals or vitamin potions, so everything is going fine..." The worry melted away, and he saw her smiling again, the way he wanted her to stay...
"So what's wrong with her?" Shifu persisted. If only Shifu didn't seem to annoy her so much.
"I won't have exact reasons why until another 24 hours or so Master. I have other patients to take care of-"
"That's fine Shang," Tigress walked over to the arm chair by the window, settling against the white plastered wall the chair was up against, feeling the light land on the paw she had sitting on her lap. Both Shifu and the Doctor watched as the other rested on her stomach. "I understand your schedule. As long as there is nothing wrong with the baby... that's all I want the focus to be on..."
"However, your weight is going to be a concern in the future." She looked up at him; only a small ounce of worry was written on her face. "Presently I can't put a claw on a cause why you're losing weight, instead of gaining it. Lose anymore you'll barely have any energy walk around, sit up, or even feed yourself, which may have certain... complications." Shang started writing on the chart quickly. "Don't take my word for it at the moment Masters. I'll ask my wife to send me some of her special dishes. This baby of yours may just be hogging all the nutrition, as you are eating for two..."
"So it's not twins this time?" Shifu came in behind him inquisitively.
"Not at all. If that was the case, she stomach would have been a whole lot bigger than it is now." Tigress nodded once, before her attention fell to her stomach again, with so much more on her mind. Zeng had left ages ago, after dropping in to see if Shifu needed a lend of a wing. Stubborn as the man is, at the moment he needed no help, but received word Super Attendant Woo was on his way back from Gongmen City, from a meeting Shifu refused to attend. If he went, he couldn't hover over Tigress' own affairs, over something so simple like the monthly check ups.
Giving credits, she was looking thinner then she should be for her condition. She honestly wasn't expecting to be carrying her third child in the period of a panda, from what it looked like... maybe that was the reason? She carried the twins for 3 months, and two weeks- the average for a tiger. She was currently on her fourth term, and should've had number three by now.
She pointed this out when Shifu stepped out of the room. By then she looked more calm and collected than she made herself out to be. "Could it be that?"
Shang thought about it as he settled the chart on a near-by table, and stripped his shoulders bare of the his white coat. Beneath he bared a green tunic to sit tight against his muscles. "Maybe... seeing the boys were 3 months..." He brushed the fur on his arms back into place. "You're on month 4... either that, or the term is a mix of both." He exhaled tiredly, but with a smile. "You could easily go through to eight months, and have him or her then..." Tigress rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes, and took in a deep breath, and letting it out with a soft 'hmmm'. He chuckled. "Hungry?"
She did the same. "I'm not," she opened her eyes, and and shifted them towards the bump.
"I'll send forth a request for his or her majesties' order." He gave his own respective curtsy, with the last few words transferring from his native tongue to a french one, adding a wink once he stood straight, and leaning against the wall beside her, folding his arms. Silence rained over them briefly. "Exciting isn't it?"
"Absolutely." Tigress shifted her glance towards him slowly. "The boys are so excited, they argue who gets to help wash the baby, feed the baby... that kind of stuff."
Shang grinned almost devilishly. "What about changing the baby?"
"No comment."
"Always..." Shang gave a low grunt as he shifted position, letting his arms unhook from each other and scratch his head. His gaze sat on the floor, then the wall beside him, then at her again. "Me and Mei were the same... when you came along... before everything happened." Tigress' smile weakened to a close resemblance of a flat line, apart from the corners of her mouth taking the weight and remained standing up. Shang saw this and turned his head away, his teeth lightly clamping onto the inside of his mouth nervously. This made Tigress stand up, and stare at him with a softened expression. She was a lot shorter than Shang; he towered over her, and was a walking swing for two certain cubs when they were a lot smaller.
"Is there something on your mind... close to that topic?"
"Yes... we've been waiting a while since we sent our letter to Mei Long. She said she would do everything in her power to get the records... and find out." Tigress reached out to place a paw on his shoulder, but he pulled her into a hug. "I already lost one sister... and I need to know if my baby sister... is here, carrying my first niece, or another nephew..."
"Shang..." she pulled away from him, placing a paw against his cheek. He allowed the paw to gently turn his face to the near-by mirror, and from there he watched her form look at him from another angle. "Look at us... notes on paper gonna change the way you feel towards me, my husband, or my sons?"
"I won't allow it... but it would still break my heart. I've come to really care for you Tigress. Deeply, despite your husbands suspicions I had other sorts of feelings towards you... " She could only laugh at the memory. "When I first saw you that day at Bao Gu, I thought no less on who you were than your occupation. Looking at pictures I was left with, reminiscing on what I could've done to keep you close and by my side... I don't want to lose you." He held her paws in a ball like motion, holding them lightly against her lips as he looked down at her. He laughed quietly.
"What?" She asked, a laugh of her own woven into her words.
"Look at us indeed... you're just as ugly as I am!" She punched him, 'lightly' smirking evilly when he held his now dead arm, attempting to rub the spot she packed the force. "Okay, that was uncalled for!"
She raised an eyebrow slowly. "Was it?"
"Well... maybe a little?" They grinned, their smiling close to mirroring off one another. Alas, their moment was interrupted, by a gentle tapping against the door. "Yes?"
"It's just us." They could identify Crane's voice from miles away. "Is the check up done?"
"Yep." Shang placed a paw on Tigress' shoulder. "You can come in Masters." And they did, followed by Chang settling on his Mono's shoulders, Lotus and Tigro, and the beloved visitors. Chang leapt off Monkey's shoulders, and raced over to Tigress, who bent down low enough in time to catch him. Once he latched his arms around her neck, she smiled into the embrace.
The smile that Sapphire, Lok, Jun, Yuki and Yumi were craving to see in person once again.
ELLLLO! Itsa me again!
Sorry about the delay!
As you can see, this chapter took me a while... because of those DAMN SCHOOL EXAMS!
I've 3 months of school left... before I sit more exams... and then I start college ;-;
Anywho, please review and let me know what you think is going to happen next!
Ciao!