Chapter 02: Despair

"Po! PO! Get up!"

The elder voice touched his ears, and when he slowly opened his eyes, he could see some blur figures surrounding him. On gaining complete consciousness, he found those blur figures as his own friends of the Jade Palace, along with Shifu. All of them were in the Hall of Heroes. Everyone seemed tensed and depressed for one of their friends was missing!

Suddenly, the panda got up, calling, "Tigress!"

Standing beside him, his grand master asked solemnly, "Po, what happened, and where is Tigress?"

Hearing her name, Po recalled the memory of her best friend's death where the claw went right through her chest, and her eyes faded away! Suddenly, all the pain came back, and a lonely tear dripped his cheek, leaving his eyes hazy.

"Tigress..." the panda unwillingly murmured, "Tigress... She is no more!"

Just a single sentence was enough to shock everyone! All of them were left open-mouthed!

"This... Th-This cannot be true!" yelled Shifu at once "Tell me, where is she, Po?!" Just as a father has a hard time believing such a fact, she was going on with Shifu for he was not only her master, but her father as well. Viper, at once, started shedding tears while Crane was comforting her, but everyone around was sad just as much as Po and Shifu.

"It was him," cried Po "covered in black, with golden eyes. We were sneaking on them that they caught us. He talked about taking revenge from you and me. Then he took Tigress, and then... and then..." but before the poor panda could tell furthermore, he, at once, burst into tears. Standing beside, monkey started patting and rubbing his back, comforting him, but it had no healing effect.

Shifu, on hearing such harsh words, could hold himself no longer and then he shattered on the ground, thinking how all of that could turn like this! The father had lost her daughter forever! Not a single tear trickled but his expressions were telling that he was going through so much!

"It... It's all my fault!" "No, Master," spoke Mantis, "What are you saying?!" but the grand master would take all the guilt to himself. "No! It IS my fault! I knew how dangerous it could be but still I... I..." and the poor father sobbed!

Days passed, full of sorrows, regrets, miseries, grieves, and pains. Soon, like a forest fire, the news spread about Tigress' death. It was not just the Jade Palace, but the whole valley along with the whole Panda village, was drowning in sorrows.

The funeral was held in the tournament ground where once was showed the inhabitants the fighting style of the five; how Tigress would defeat a giant, and how everyone cheered while learning Kung Fu but now, those cheers turned into cries! As there was no body, the only thing that could be seen was golden, heroic dress of the deceased, that was once the hardcore master. Everyone close to the one was covered in black, while the rest were covered on blue and white.

Little Lei Lei, being as near as a daughter to her, was crying her heart out, holding her little 'Stripey Baby' to her little chest, cuddling and hugging it again and over again, but the tears, no matter how much she'd shed, would never stop! Standing beside, with a face drenched in tears, Mei Mei would hug her and gently rub her back, as her elder sister, but more and more tears would come out of those cute, wide eyes made for happiness! Little Bao would try to hide his tears, but a few would twinkle, coming down his fluffy cheeks.

Just like before, Shifu and his students were the saddest of all for they had spent much time with her as brother and sister, and as a father figure as well. The cheerful days were gone! There were cries and sorrows everywhere! The dark clouds of grief were thundering upon the valley showing that soon, it was going to rain; the rain filled with tears.

Everyone was there, showing grief, but the most important one was missing! It was her dearest friend Po. Unlike the rest, he was alone all to himself under the shade of the Peach tree of heavenly wisdom. His sorrow and his relation were different from the rest. He had not only lost a good friend, but a very important part of his life, a part irreplaceable.

He was silent, looking at his most favorite action figure, that of her friend, with his dead, puffy eyes for it was really difficult for him to cling over such a horrible fact. His silence was enough to tell how much broken he was, how much shaken up he was on the inside. The puffiness of his eyes was clearly telling that the poor panda had cried for hours, cried so much that his eyes turned red!

Now, towards that wooden figure, his trembling, fury paw moved, touching gently the face of the beloved, wishing to bring her back to life but how could he? He had no way to do that. While he was having that hope in the broken heart, a tear suddenly fell on that wooden figure. His puffy eyes turned hazy again.

In that dark and gloomy situation, a broken giggle escaped, "I trained for years. From a mere student, I became a master, a teacher, and above all, the Dragon Warrior. I won different battles, faced death many times, saved people, and yet I... I..." but the despaired panda could hold no longer and at once, he let all of his inner burden flow into the stream of tears once again. Touching the action figure with his forehead, he cried, "I couldn't save you! YOU PROTECTED ME, BUT I COULDN'T SAVE YOU! I had the power of the Dragon Warrior. I had the power to save you, and yet I watched you dying!"

Suddenly, the heartbroken panda started beating that fury chest with his fist, taking all of the guilt to himself. "I'm coward. I AM A COWARD! I LET YOU DIE! I DIDN'T EVEN BRING YOU BACK! Please, forgive me! Please... Please..." but then, he shattered. His face was all drenched in tears, and the poor one was sobbing. That figure fell from his hand, and then with his hands cupping his face, he cried even more!

Those little, unseen steps appeared, and those tiny hands picked up that action figure drenched with panda's tears. It was Shifu but Po didn't realize his presence for he was lost in his own pain.

"Po..." the little red panda caught his attention.

"Master?!"

"Looking at the figure, Shifu continued, "It's not your fault. There's a saying that the death is written before the birth of a person. We can do nothing about what we have lost. But we can always tend to the future and can make it better with what we still have."

The panda, with those wise words, stopped crying as he realized the truth.

The red panda continued, "She was not only a great warrior, but a great daughter to me as well."

The sentence really surprised Po for this was his first time hearing the word 'Daughter' out of Shifu's tongue for Tigress.

"You are not the only one who have lost someone special, but…" looking at the same action figure with a dim smile, "I also am the one who lost someone special too. Also, at times like this, she'd want you to be stronger, don't you think?"

"You're… You're right. She'd want me to be stronger." Wiping the haziness of his eyes, a prolonged sigh he took, as he got up, for the preparation of what was about to come next.

"Thanks, Shifu. Thanks for the help."

"Clenching the action figure handed by Shifu, Po was now ready; prepared for forthcomings. He had himself now prepared mentally to face the difficulties.

As that happened, both Po and Shifu then left for the funeral. There, everyone was waiting for the rest of the rituals that were about to take place. The rest of the days were spent in anguish, distress, and pain. Not only were there tears shedding from the eyes, but the sky covered with the clouds of distress was shedding all its tears as well.

In the honor of such a great master was built a statue, reflecting her glory, and her memories. Now, the past was gone, but the one had to take those steps into the present that would make his future. The rest of the days went dead. Some broken hearts healed with time but some, even though mended, still remained broken.

Far away, from where the whole valley could be perceived in the form of a bowl, was standing on the cliff of a high mountain the dark soul, gazing the valley with those evil eyes. An evil giggle escaped the mouth that would threaten the fate of the whole valley!