New Chap. I apologize for the mistakes
" Suki." She gave a sad sigh. Ever since she had brought the white tiger home, the old man was acting abnormally annoying.
She slid calm piercing eyes in his direction. "Shut the hell up or die old man," was her curt reply. The old Panther turned his grey unseeing eyes at her. This was the lecherous curse she was stuck with, how an old blind guy could get into so much trouble was beyond her comprehension.
He gave a soft sniff, voicing his displeasure. "Is this any way to treat your dear old uncle that went through all the trouble of bringing you in, and taking care of you. I would expect a bit more gratitude, but of course not. Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions, and you seem to have none of it for your family."
The young lioness rolled her eyes. "Quit being so melodramatic, you may be old, but you're not decrepit…yet. I have a job as a healer. This tiger is in bad shape. He's suffering from malnutrition, blood loss, infections, and he's needs stitches, his shoulder wound is way too deep. I need to help him, and taking a break to help you scratch yourself is not an option."
She heard the Panther hermit give an annoyed huff, and pointedly ignored him, turning back to her work. Seeing as he was unconscious, dulling the pain was unnecessary, but when he woke up…Well, that's a totally different story.
She carefully wrapped her had around the spear's broken handle, trying not to brush against the wound by accident. She slid the weapon out with practiced ease. Eyeing the wound carefully, as a fountain of blood came out. Shit. She'd have to work fast. This was going to be a long day.
Crane flew mechanically working with the grace he had as a master of his style. He banked a sharp left taking a swipe at Shifu's side, and winced as a well placed kick connected, knocking the wind out of him.
Viper flowed in with the attack coiling, and then snapping out, in hopes the red panda would be caught off guard. No such luck . The staff hit her scales, with a resounding clack, and she was sent flying.
Mantis took this as his cue to attack, and did so with steely determination. He didn't even come close. He was sent sprawling, when he got within hitting distance.
Monkey flew out from the trees, flipping sideways in the air, and maneuvering his tail so he was in a position to try a kick. He kicked, and then there was that whole gravity thing, and Shifu using his force against him. He hit the ground…in a not so soft way.
Shifu's ear twitched, as he narrowly dodged a swipe from Tigress' paw. He twisted, and planted his feet, kicking out. She growled, and blocked with her left paw while rotating her right, in an attempt brain him. He jumped, and twirled in midair landing gracefully on his staff.
He looked down at the defeated five. "Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress, and thus it tones the spirit, just as exercise conditions the body. However too much training is costly. So use this time to rest, and meditate. We will pick up where we left off two moons from now."
Tigress breathed, taking in her surroundings, listening quietly to the way the leaves moved, and the grass swayed, how the cherry blossoms fell, and how the wind followed an unseen pattern, always moving, never hindered.
She closed her eyes reveling in the sense of balance this short moment had created. The morning sun rose, lightly caressing her ruffled fur, and she shivered.
Her eyes opened, glinting, as the world zoomed into perspective. It was time.
Suki woke with a start. She had passed out earlier. She had been working all day, and she was tired, damnit. She had cleaned out the white tiger's shoulder wound repeatedly, being careful to remove all traces of dirt or grime. Then she had to stitch the broken skin together. The fur on that spot was all but nonexistent, and a pretty scar was gonna show up later. She couldn't do much about food, but she forced him to swallow water every twenty minutes or so.
It had taken all day to do all of this, and by the time she was done she was dead tired.
She stumbled to her feet. She was going to have to check the stitches, and make sure they were still clean, and intact. She grabbed a damp cloth, and was about to work, and froze as a pair of ice blue eyes stared back at her. The tiger was up.
Po woke up, and the pain he felt was immediate, and completely unexpected. He flinched, and almost cried out , but bit it back as best he could. He turned to glare at the spear in his shoulder, and was surprised to find it wasn't there. In its place were stitches holding his skin together. What the hell?
He shook his head, and scanned the room. It didn't look very big. There was a door, encompassed with a wooden frame ten feet away, and there was….His ear right ear swiveled, and he turned to look in the direction the sound came from.
A hazel colored feline stood in front of him, staring at him. It was a lioness. Noticeably of the female persuasion. She looked to be about Tigress' size, maybe a bit smaller. She had deep amber eyes, bright with intelligence, and mischief, and she was holding a small cloth dripping with water.
He tilted his head quizzically to the side. Who was this cat? He watched in amazement as she walked directly up to him. His lip curled, and he gave a short warning growl. She took another step, and he tensed, issuing a more menacing growl. As of now she-cats are evil, and cannot be trusted.
The lioness frowned. "I need to check your stitches to make sure you heal right, or do you want to me cut off your arm now?"
He blinked, and slowly shook his head no.
"Good, now lean on your side, so I can get a better look." She looked fairly pleased with herself, probably congratulating herself on getting his cooperation. Whoop-de-freakin-doo.
He grudgingly obliged, depositing his weight on the left portion of his body.
"My name is Suki by the way." When he didn't answer she looked at him expectantly.
His gaze narrowed. " And the other one?"
"Other one?" She shook her head, obviously confused.
His cerulean eyes turned into slanted chips. "The other person here, who is it?"
She gaped at him. Yeah, her uncle had been here, but he left earlier for an errand of some kind. The scent was there, but usually you could almost feel the person's presence, and she couldn't feel the panther's at all.
"What are you talking about? No one's here but us."
The tiger didn't reply. He wasn't even looking at her, His eyes were fixed on the door. She turned, and there in the entry way was the Panther's small bulk.
"This is intriguing."
Po stared at the Panther, his pale eyes looked so empty, like an endless void that he was afraid to fall into. The Panther was old, splashes of grey blotched his fur, and everything looked wrinkled and...loose.
"You have keen senses… for a tiger from an almost extinct species."
Po cocked his head to the side, remaining silent.
The Panther continued. "My name is Sage…and you? What is your name Tiger?"
Po looked uncertain for a second, would giving his real name be a good idea? Ah, Screw the apples and dumplings.
"Po, that's my name."
Sage gave a slight nod. " And your purpose-"
Po scoffed, and laid his head down on his paws. "Hell if I know."
Suki looked on at the exchange in amusement. She had expected the white tiger to be some kind of regal princely figure, when in reality, he's um, not. He was down to earth, cynical, and apparently gave the old man an excuse to be serious, for whatever reason. Thank god. If Sage hadn't started acting right, soon she was gonna trade him. Sell him on ebay. That sort of thing.
She went back to listening to the converstion;.
"Where do you come from?"
"None of your business."
"Where are you going?"
Po looked away sadly. "Not where I've been."
"What is your chosen profession?"
"Does it matter?"
"It should."
"It doesn't. Not that it's any of your concern."
"Do you have a plan?"
Po's face twisted into an angry scowl, and he turned to look at Suki. "Good lord is he always this freakin annoying, and nosy?"
She gave a sad smile. "Nope, usually he's worse. This is a good day."
Po groaned, and rolled his eyes. He took a deep breath and growled, and stumbling wobbily to his feet. He shoved past Sage, and limped out of the door, stopping when he came outside.
Po's widened as he made a dive to his left, and a claw point sliced his cheek. Sage had just attacked him.
Po clumsily got to his feet, trying to anticipate the next move. How could this guy even fight? He was freakin blind. That didn't seem to matter though he was moving with the skill, and the grace of a master. So when it all came down to it Po was screwed.
Po tried to step back as paw grazed his chest, but reacted a second to late, and landed flat on his ass. He scowled at the smirking Panther.
"You move as someone who knows battle Po, but what I think and what you do don't match up. You seem to be able to read what I'm going to do, but it's like you don't know you're own body, your own strength."
Po struggled to a standing position. "You're one to talk, you're blind, but you fight like you have hawk eyes."
Sage chuckled, enjoying the look of exasperation Po gave him. "You're right I cannot see, I never will be able to see, but I have other senses besides sight. I trained myself to the point where, even though the world is black to me. I'll be able to function the same way if I did have sight. However what I said before holds true. You don't know yourself."
Po's ears fell against his skull, and a flat expression took on his face. "I don't want to know myself. This isn't me."
Po turned on his heel, ready to simply walk away.
"Would you like to learn about yourself? I can teach you control?"
Damn manipulative furball.
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Look i hope you liked it. I might not be updating for a while. I have to help my mom move, and im not moving with her , and this is her comp, I dont get my labtop back till later this month, maybe sooner who the hell knos shit happens. Anyways, I'll update as soon as I can.