Hey guys!
Happy Easter!
I really didn't expect several people commenting on my story and being glad since I updated. It motivates me to continue, which I intend to do, especially now when there's people wanting to actually read it!
Unfortunately life is getting in the way as always, so I won't be updating as quickly. But be patient! I want to finish Tigress and Master Proelio.
I do not own Kung Fu Panda
Chapter 17 – To trust the untrusted
The basement wasn't a place they usually would go. Tigress wasn't even completely sure if it was allowed to go there, since they barely even mentioned it and the door was locked. It was mostly used as a storage room but in rare cases criminals were held captured in one of the three cells down there until they could be transported to a proper prison. The cells weren't very humane either – they weren't meant for long-term sentences. Just the smell that haunted the basement almost made Tigress regret going down there.
She walked towards the prison cells and tried to figure out which one it was that the crocodile was in. The first two were empty but in the last cell, on the bench that was meant for sleeping, lay the crocodile. Whether it was sleeping or awake, Tigress couldn't tell. Tigress didn't want to disturb him right away but spend the first minutes examining him. He was in bad shape and looked very undernourished. You could tell by the visible bones threatening to poke through his dark scale. Tigress knew that Master Shifu wouldn't let a prisoner starve, so she believed that the croc himself had refused eating the food being served. That would explain the horrible smell of rotten meat.
Tigress focused on looking after a scar. If she remembered correctly, Master Proelio recognized Xi as a member of West after seeing the scar across his left eye. Finding a scar on the crocodile's face would be a clear sign that he was what Tigress feared – A member of the Rulers of the Four Winds.
But Tigress couldn't find any scar and didn't have much time to search for it before the crocodile muttered something incomprehensible and sat up with an exhausted groan.
"Why are you here? What do you want?" he growled. He barely looked at her. It was as if he couldn't see her through the darkness. He was slightly shaking and placed his hands on each side to support him and prevent him from lying back down. Tigress couldn't help but wonder how long he had been starving himself. Even though days without proper food can tear you down, his condition was worse, barely even letting him speak without having to fight for breath.
"I'm here to talk. I need to have some questions answered," Tigress said with a firm voice. She wanted it to sound objective and professional and had already in mind not to tell the crocodile that these questions was for her own private reasons.
A laughter was heard. It was barely a breath but it was a laughter coming from the crocodile whose bony shoulders jumped up and down. Tigress was surprised but kept her authoritarian behavior and continued: "Was the purse with the notch a stolen object from a citizen of the Valley of Peace?"
The prisoner laughed once again. "Did you really just ask me that question, knowing that my condition makes me incapable of stealing anything?"
Tigress knew that he was right. The crocodile could barely sit without support, how could he have been able to steal something even when it was from an old woman? Of course Tigress didn't show her doubt. She shook her head. "You could have stolen it without her noticing or took it to her surprise. No matter what, I want you to answer the question plainly."
"I didn't steal it. I'm not a thief. Even though I'm in this disgusting prison cell, I still have my dignity," he growled, now seeming annoyed over Tigress' insistence, "Why are you even asking? It doesn't change the fact that I'm going to prison and it doesn't give you any information for further crime."
Tigress quickly came up with a lie: "We need to find the woman, whose purse has been stolen and give it back to her. Master Proelio focused on capturing you and didn't get her name or her address."
The crocodile's scrawny body stiffened by the sound of the male-tiger's name, which caught Tigress' attention. "What is your relation to Master Proelio?" she asked.
"Proelio, that bastard," the crocodile mumbled, "I don't understand how you can stand working with him."
"I can't. Answer the question." Tigress didn't show her surprise or satisfaction with the fact that she wasn't the only one who had problems with Master Proelio. With many years of experience, the feline was not only a master of the tiger-style but also a master at hiding her feelings.
"As you already suspected, I dislike Proelio. I'd rather say, I despise him," the crocodile almost spat out 'Proelio' and then he shook his head, "He's not a man to be trusted. He's selfish, treacherous and all his choices are for his good and other's misfortune."
For a few weeks ago, Tigress would have believed him without a doubt. But after Master Proelio saved her life time after time, told her honestly about his life and insecurities and looked at her the way he did not long ago, she couldn't let herself trust the croc's words.
"That's big words coming from a man sitting in prison," she simply said. She could not trust a prisoner. Master Proelio was annoying but he was a man of his word.
The crocodile, who had been looking down during most of the conversation, suddenly stared at her. His glance was gloomy as if a shadow from the dark lay over his eyes. His lips pulled back, showing off his teeth, as he laughed dryly.
"And who do you think put me in here?"
Tigress didn't spend much time down there after the croc's last sentence. She thanked him for answering her questions and then she turned around and hurried out of the basement, barely even closing the door behind her. She was upstairs and on her way to the training hall while her thoughts were filled with confusion. Of course she shouldn't trust the crocodile, but he was right about Master Proelio being the one giving him to Master Shifu for him to put him in prison and the crocodile was also right about him not being capable to steal anything with his condition. However, when getting to know Master Proelio, Tigress didn't think it could be possible for him to be bad. Simply mean.
Lost in thought Tigress was about to miss noticing the red panda walking past her. She quickly stopped, walking towards him. Ever since the male-tiger returned, their master had been absent. Tigress had barely seen him since his talk with Madam Jun. "Master Shifu!"
Master Shifu stopped as well and turned around. "Tigress. You should be on your way to training," he said as if everything was completely normal even though it wasn't normal cancelling training.
"Yes, I'm on my way, Master," Tigress said and was about to continue walking. Then she realized that this was the perfect time for asking an important question. She didn't know when she would be able to speak to her master in private again. "Master Shifu. I apologize for my improper curiosity, but why did you cancel training yesterday? And why is Master Proelio's former nurse staying here in the palace?"
"I would usually say that it shouldn't concern you, but since you and Master Proelio seem to have grown close, I will make an exception," Master Shifu answered, "I cancelled training to visit Master Proelio's old orphanage and have a look at his files, though there aren't many of them. I asked Madam Jun to visit us to have her tell us about Master Proelio's childhood. And since you know about her being his former nurse, I suspect that you have talked with her too."
Tigress avoided telling Master Shifu about the conversation between him and Madam Jun, that she overheard, and convinced herself that not telling the truth about something of no relevance was not the same as lying to her Master.
"Master Proelio was raised in an orphanage with her and never got adopted. That's what she told me," she said, which wasn't a lie. Madam Jun had just told her about an orphan tiger-cub, and the feline knew that it was Master Proelio.
"Yes, he was. But it's his story before the orphanage, that I'm interested in," Master Shifu said and continued after seeing Tigress' confused glance, "Master Proelio's parents stand as unknown in his files. I suspect that they somehow was involved with the Rulers of the Four Winds. It would explain Master Proelio's knowledge about the groups, that he even showed interest in from a young age."
Tigress was about to be surprised and ask why he talked to her about the Ruler of the Four Winds as if it was a common subject but he spoke before her: "I also suspect that you've been informed about the groups by Master Proelio himself. I noticed how you reacted to the bag with their notch and no, it is not a stolen object. Just an indirect way for Master Proelio to tell me that the crocodile was a member of the Ruler of the Four Winds."
The crocodile couldn't be trusted and therefor his words against Master Proelio had to be wrong. Tigress held back a sigh of relief just as she remembered something. Something she knew was private information, but had to tell Master Shifu. This was the necessary information he was looking for, and even though she didn't want to break Master Proelio's trust, the trust of her master was more important.
"Master Proelio's parents were killed by the Ruler of the Four Winds," she told Master Shifu and he looked at her with a surprised glance, "He told me the other night. But he didn't tell me why. I think it's a sensitive subject for him."
"That is not to be wondered," Master Shifu reacted and nodded, comprehending the new material, "It's a traumatic event, that can haunt a man forever. Thank you, Tigress, for telling me. I had to make sure if Master Proelio was acting on behalf of the Valley of Peace or for his own private reasons. It can affect his actions in a way that I cannot risk."
Tigress felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off her shoulders. She wasn't the only one being suspicious about Proelio's reasons, and she did no longer have to figure out what his reasons were. Master Shifu had been suspicious as well and that meant that Tigress wasn't going crazy. And it also meant that if Master Shifu trusted Master Proelio around, then so should she.
"I think I've given you more information than necessary," Master Shifu then said while continuing walking, "And as said before: You should be on your way to training."
Tigress nodded. She couldn't hold back a small smile. "On my way, Master Shifu."
But she never had the chance to actually walk away, before a loud shout made her turn her head. Three crocodiles, all armed with nothing but their bare hands, ran towards them. They yelled and without questioning the situation, Tigress got ready to fight. She clenched her fists while glancing over at her master. He frowned as he good into a fighting position as well. However, he didn't say anything and then the crocodiles attacked.
Because of Shifu's size, the crocodiles underestimated him and attacked straight on, without worrying about blocking his attacks as well. They barely managed to touch him before one of them flew up in the air and the other straight to the ground.
With Tigress, they were more cautious. Fast-paced they hit out at her, but they kept their distance, making it harder for her to actually hit them herself and not just block them. She managed to kick one of them, before other two arrived from a place she didn't have time to acknowledge. She kept on fighting with Master Shifu on her side, matching her moves to his. When he blocked, she hit, when she kicked, he jumped up to attack. It seemed to work out great, but Tigress was not just fighting the crocodiles – she was fighting the unpleasant energy growing inside of her. Spreading up her arms and towards her fists and she knew that if she let it grow any further it would take over, and she couldn't let that happen. She hadn't been in a fight since the attack on West and the terror she made hadn't left her mind or her dreams.
The energy shot through her fingers as she planted a fist on one of the crocodile's jaw. She gasped and jumped backwards, panting. Black spots blurred her visions, but she was able to see Master Shifu turn around to check on her before having to defend himself again. A sharp pain shot through her spine as someone kicked her from behind and she fell to the ground, only barely managing to soften the landing with her palms. She could just fight back. She could stand up and knock them all out. But she feared herself more than she feared them.
No one touched her after the kick and the only thing she could focus on was feet moving around in circles, sometimes lifting off the ground. That's when she noticed, that the crocodile's wasn't just attacking randomly – they were pushing them towards the forest, away from the Jade Palace.
Quickly she got up, now seeing why no one had made a move on her. Master Proelio had joined the fight, working with Master Shifu as if they could read each other's mind. However when focused on the battle, they failed to notice an important detail. Behind them were two other crocodile's, who never joined the attack, and in the middle of them hang the prisoner from the basement. A guilt rushed through Tigress. She had forgotten to lock the door.
Still with a blurry vision, she pushed her way through the fighters with worrying glances from her allies and hurried towards the escaped prisoner. His helpers were getting ready to attack, but still with the uncontrollable strength inside of her, they were no problem. She barely noticed how they ended up on the ground, but at least they were still breathing. She stopped yet again and gasped for air, trying to keep her head cold and her body controlled. The prisoner hissed at her, though he didn't threaten to move towards her. Instead he leaned towards the forest behind them. Tigress greeted him with a snarl of her own, but she never got to attack before someone pushed her away. The person held her arms on her back and she screamed in fury, trying to push herself and the person behind her towards the prisoner who slowly disappeared behind the trees and gone he was. The anger inside of her was like fuel for her strength as she detangled her arms and turned around to punish however held her back. Her palm stopped midair when she realized she was aiming after Master Proelio's face.
The male-tiger looked at her with an almost disappointed look. All the anger was gone and so was the strength as Tigress felt weak and guilty by her actions. Slowly she lowered her hands.
"What did you do that for," she almost whispered, looking into Master Proelio's golden and almost worried glance.
"Didn't you notice the throwing knife behind his back?" he said and then looked away while shaking his head, "of course you didn't. You were too blinded by anger and lack of control… I feared this would happen."
The last thing was mumbled and then he faced Master Shifu who now joined them. The red panda opened his mouth to question Tigress' behavior but Master Proelio interrupted him: "The crocodiles will tell Bei and warn him about the upcoming attack. We don't have time to get back-up. We need to leave immediately or North will move from their current location and we will have to start over."
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Master Proelio?" Master Shifu doubted, "Without back-up this is a very dangerous mission, if what you tell me about Bei is true."
"I think Master Proelio is right," Tigress finally said and both men looked at her, "We can't afford to lose this chance if Bei is as dangerous as you suggest he is. And even when back-up would be helpful, we can do it without it. We've done it before, and we're stronger now. I am stronger now."
Master Shifu looked at her with a worried glance but then he nodded, agreeing to the plan. "Fine then. Inform the others and make sure they're ready to fight."
"We'll do that immediately, Master Shifu," Master Proelio said in a serious manner, but as soon as the red panda left them, the male-tiger sent Tigress a smile, which she returned. Master Proelio had yet again saved her life. He could be trusted. And now she didn't fear to fight by his side.
A/N: So this was the end of chapter 17, which included one of my favorite scenes I've ever written (the prisoner-interview-scene). I hoped you guys liked it, let me know in the reviews what you did like and what you think will happen in the next episode.