Hello everyone, I'm back! I know this probably doesn't count for much by now, but I'm REALLY sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. I don't really have an excuse, but I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope to start adding chapters regularly.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except my characters and the plot.

Chapter three

Common Ground

The sun had risen to its peak in the heavenly mansion of the stars, shining down through the clouds on a lone figure that walked up the path to the Pool of Sacred Tears. Ever since Tigress was young, this had been a favorite spot of hers. She came here whenever she needed to clear her mind, or calm down. And right now, she had a lot to think about, so she felt it necessary to excuse herself from the company of the others. She also wasn't in the welcoming mood.

By now she had arrived at the Pool of Sacred Tears, and closed her eyes as the gentle fingers of the wind brushed her fur. Her ears perked up as the song of the birds floated to them, and, after half opening her eyes, beheld the Vibrant blue sky accentuated by fluffy ivory clouds which she thought would be quite ideal to take a long nap on. The Pool of Sacred Tears had always managed to bring about a welcome, albeit rare, moment of ataraxia in her life.

Tigress took a deep breath of the fresh air and held it for a few seconds before releasing it and walking over to the Pools edge to sit, legs crossed, and begin her meditation. Just then the image of Xanders face appeared in her mind and she was once again struck with the feeling that she had seen him before, but where remained a mystery. Why do I feel like I know him? She thought, searching her memory in an attempt to identify him. Did I fight him at a tournament? No, thats not it, I think I would remember fighting him.

This was beginning to annoy her, and her lips curled in a slight snarl. Maybe if I clear my mind I'll be able to remember She thought as she took a deep breath and the storm in her mind began to calm and she set her mind upon attaining inner peace and perhaps revealing those seldom trod pathways in the forest of her memory. As the serene feline meditated, her mind entered a trance-like state, there was a flash of light and several screams reached her ears which, as suddenly as they started, were drowned out by the blood chilling howl of the Kara'ton.

The Kara'ton were a race of wolves whose entire existence revolved around battle and conquest, she then found herself surrounded by burning buildings in an area of the Valley of Peace. Tigress looked around in stunned disbelief until her eyes fell upon the silhouette of a young wolf just fifteen feet in front of her, dragging, with apparent effort, one much bigger then him and she could feel an air of desperation as well as panic emanating from him so Tigress tried to run over to him to help, but found that her feet felt as though they were made of granite, making it a struggle just to take a few steps. "Hold on, I'm coming!" She yelled.

Alas, she had barely finished her sentence when the young wolf and he that was being carried were engulfed in a malevolent wall of flame. "No!" she cried straining even harder to get to them. Just then her eyes snapped open and she beheld the Pool of Sacred Tears before her once again. Her heart was racing in her chest and she had broken out into a cold sweat, thus she proceeded to take a deep breath and let the familiar sounds of her surroundings calm her. Once she felt her heart rate slow to it's normal pace she began to ponder the things she had seen.

Could that young wolf have been Xander?

If so, what had happened to him?

And why couldn't she remember?

The answers to these burning questions eluded her for some time, until suddenly her keen ears picked up the faint sound of a tree limb creaking, followed by the rapid fluttering wings of a bird who has been scared away from it's nest. An eerie silence had settled upon her surroundings as she listened for any kind of sound that could reveal to her the location of the intruder.

"I thought I might find you here." She heard a voice say, one which made her eyes widen in surprise. Surprise that someone had found her as well as surprise at who it was. Tigress got to her feet and turned around to see a large silhouette and gleaming silver eyes watching her and attempted to hide her shock behind a glare. "What do you want?" she asked in a disinterested tone as she watched him jump from the tree, temporarily flattening the grass where he landed. A smile appeared on his muzzle as he stood and walked silently toward her.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that your little disappearing act after our sparring match had everyone, including me, wondering where you went." He replied, stopping in front of her. he seemed to tower over her, and it was apparent that he trained constantly, perhaps as much as she did. "Well," Tigress began in a cold tone, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him to indicate she wanted to be left alone "now that you've found me, you can leave." "Ouch." Xander said, wincing as if her words had caused him actual pain.

Inspite of Tigress' cold words, Xander did the opposite and walked past her to sit at the waters edge. This most unpredictable response caused a look of bewilderment to momentarily replace her glare. Any of the others would take the hint and leave. Once she regained her composure, she walked up beside him and said, "What are you doing?" Xander gestured toward the lake and the enclosing scenery and replied "What? I can't enjoy the scenery?" This only served to make Tigress's tail twitch in annoyance. "Fine." she muttered under her breath as she turned her back to him and sat down to resume her meditation.

A few minutes of silence passed and Xander began to scrape a claw on the ground in random patterns and Tigress could feel the awkward silence laying heavily on the air. "That was some match. You're the strongest opponent I've faced in a long time." Tigress muttered a thank you and remained silent. It was one of my more challenging matches She thought as, unbeknownst to her, a grudging respect for him had begun to form. "So tell me," Xander began, prying his eyes from the glittering water to look over at her "What was that move you used on me to end it?"

A smile spread across Tigress's muzzle "It was one i've been working on for a while" she said before looking over her shoulder at him to add "Thanks for being the guinea pig, by the way." "A pleasure, M'lady" Xander said, bowing as best he could from his position on the grass. his response caused the smallest of giggles to escape the felines muzzle whilest she turned back around, then it suddenly struck her Since when do I feel so open with him? I even giggled! Tigress mentaly kicked herself for being so talkative with the wolf, but as luck would have it, another thought soon struck her. He had been nice enough to compliment her, so she now felt obligated to return the kindness.

Unfortunatly, compliments were not her strong point. "umm..You did pretty good, too." Tigress' cheeks suddenly felt warm, so she glued her amber eyes to a nearby rock as if it had got up and moved. Xander arched an eyebrow, amazement etched into his features as he stared at the usaully taciturn feline "Do my ears decieve me? Or did I just recieve a compliment from the cold Master Tigress?" Tigress could almost feel the sarcasm in his voice. He's mocking me! "Well, fine, see if I compliment you again" She said with a 'hmph'. Xanders keen ears picked up on the urked tone in her reply and then mentally kicked himself for his sarcastic response to her praise. He had a tendency to do that whenever he was caught off guard to hide his surprise, so he got up and moved to sit in front of her in order to apologize. "A thousand pardons, Lady Tigress, It was never my intention to make you feel unappreciated."

Though Tigress wouldn't admit it, she kind of liked being addressed as 'Lady Tigress" but she was still urked at him "Then why did you?" she queried, looking him full in the face. In that moment Xanders mind went blank Wow, her eyes are beautiful! Then it occured to him what just passed through his mind, Wait, did I really just think that? "Well?" Inturrupted the irritated voice of Tigress before he could think about it any longer. The flustered canine raised a hand to the back of his head and, as he looked away from her amber gaze, stuttered "U-umm.. I tend to do that to hide my embarassment"

Once Tigress heard that, her anger was slowly replaced with curiosity. That answer struck her as a bit odd. "Why is that?" she asked. Xander glanced at her and muttered "I don't know" He's lying Tigress thought, it was easy to tell He obviously doesn't want to say, so I won't press it. The embarrassed wolf in front of her was avoiding eye contact as he stared at the ground. It must be pretty embarrassing she thought, noting the pink tinge on his cheeks. A grin slowly spread across her muzzle He looks kind of cute when he's embarrassed. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, the smile vanished, her eyes became like unto saucers and she almost fell over from shock. What! she yelled to herself Cute? I've never thought of anything as cute in my life! Her face was growing steadily warmer as she stared intently at her paws. Xander, noticing the looming awkward silence, raised his eyes once more to the quiet feline in front of him.

Is she still mad at me? he thought and, deciding to find out, leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. When Tigress felt something touch her shoulder it brought her back to the present and she quickly looked up to find that Xander was looking directly into her eyes. Luckily her orange fur did a good job of hiding the blush that rested upon her cheeks. "I am sorry" He stated sincerly, and Tigresses gaze flickered away from his briefly before she mumbled "It's ok"

Satisfied with this response, Xander nodded and sat back. After a bit of silence between the two companions, Xander had an idea and asked "How about a rematch?" this suggestion caught Tigress off guard, though she was glad for a break in the quiet, and readily agree, so both wolf and tigress walked a few feet away from each other, as well as from the water. Tigress got into her stance and Xander adopted his own, "Fair warning, though," Tigress began, "I'm won't be holding back" Xander just smiled confidentaly and replied "I wouldn't want you to"

So, what sis you think? The next chapter is alot shorter then this one, so I look to have it up in a few days. Again i'm very sorry about the delay.

TheWulfWriter singing off.