Chapter posted. Is anyone still reading this? If yes, feel free to review in order to tell me what is good and what is wrong, what could be improved. Thanks!

Chapter 8

Soon after Shifu left, we figured that his talk with Oogway may take a while, to say the least. So, our normal reaction was to walk up to the Training Hall and keep our routine. I decided to work a little on the move I was taught yesterday. Even though I had not achieved Tigress's efficiency, it was quite a good start in my opinion. I concentrated and sent the dummies flying one after the other. Again, I felt the pain in my paws diminish even more, as I started to get used to the impact. Afterwards I got to the fire field, wanting to improve my precision in movement and what could be called 'prediction'.

Viper was already there, so I asked if I could borrow the device for a short while. Of course, my request was accepted because of her kind personality. I got on the field and started dodging the fire. I was helped by Viper who kept shouting "Right! Front! Left! Right! Back! Left!" I followed the instructions and never got burnt. As I kept dodging everything, I soon understood how she was able to predict where the fire was going to rise. You could tell judging on the heat variations of the ground. In the end, she stopped telling me where to go to see if I was able to dodge by myself. I focused on the feelings and successfully predicted the places where the flares were going to take place. I jumped left and right, ran everywhere, did everything I could in order not to get roasted. As I began to feel tired, I swiftly jumped off the training place.

I found a place where I could sit to take back my breath. Viper slithered up to me and said, "I see that you understood how to dodge this." I smiled and said, interrupting by my own heavy breathing, "Yeah, I could feel it. It's just a matter of focus and a bit of intuition too. There's probably room for improvement though; it was quite close sometimes." Viper chuckled and told me, "You judge your own performance just as Shifu would: you never really congratulate yourself, you simply keep telling yourself that you can still do better."

I answered, "I know this. But that's a good way to continue improving, isn't it?"

"If you say so..."

While I was recovering, I remembered the first day I had went through all the obstacles. Of course, I also remembered each and every day that passed by since this first day. The first evening, the first duel against Monkey, the first real battle... The first time I ever spoke about my own past... And all the days on which I trained and fought with these amazing people. There was one thing I had left to do though: spar against Tigress.

I know, I'm crazy, but I just got to find out what I'm worth against another tiger. Moreover, there was not much that could happen to me in there. When fighting against one another, we are told – and in my opinion, it's just normal – not to try and hurt our opponent too much. We don't want bad things to happen, so we have to control ourselves. So I decided I'd just go and ask.

I got up and went by the Swinging Clubs, where Tigress was training, as always. I never asked why, but each of the Five seemed to have their favourite spot. As she saw me coming there, Tigress stopped what she was doing and got off of the device. She didn't even look tired when she asked, "Kai? What do you want?" I answered, "Sorry to interrupt your training, but I was hoping I could spar against you, as we never did since I came here."

She looked thoughtful for a short while, but soon answered, "Okay. I guess it's as good training as anything else anyway." "Thank you."

We walked outside the Training Hall and got in position. Today, no one was going to watch the duel. Was that a good or a bad thing? I couldn't tell. Anyway, I was now standing a few meters away from her. We were both evaluating the possible scenarios. I hoped she would get on the offensive first, because if I was the one who started attacking, I would most likely get defeated extremely fast; she could exploit the openings I might leave. And as I hoped, she ran up to me and delivered fast blows, which I managed to counter. I tried to counter-attack, using the space she left while trying to hit me, but obviously Tigress had predicted my move as she grabbed my arm and twisted it. I moved as fast as I could in some sort of rotation, in order to get my arm free again. It actually worked, and I 'landed' on her right.

I tried to make her lose her balance with a leg sweep, but she jumped and tried to kick me in the abdomen, but that was what I had expected: I caught her leg and threw her to the other side of the arena. She landed on her feet and rushed back to me. What followed was another series of hits and blocks, and we never got to truly hit each other. But as the fight continued, I noticed something change in Tigress's attitude. She was no longer the calm, serious tiger she was at the start of the fight. In her eyes, there was now a form of rage and anger. Was she frustrated that she couldn't land a hit on me? As the duel continued, the frequency of her hits increased progressively, until I was no longer capable to counter-attack and could barely block each blow.

And the time came when I got hit. And of course that was powerful as hell. Her punch sent me a few metres back, and by the time I had regained my balance, I got struck by the technique she had taught me yesterday. This sent me flying through the arena. I stopped as I hit the wall behind me. My eyes were shut and I couldn't hear anything apart from my own breath. It felt like the world was spinning, but I couldn't see what was going on. I lost consciousness.

I opened my eyes slowly. I found myself in my own room. It was night-time, obviously. My whole body hurt, but the worst was still the head. I probably couldn't really move. As I looked around a little (without turning my head), I realized that I was not alone in there. Tigress was sitting in the corner, with her eyes open. I moved my paw a little to get her attention, and that didn't fail. She got up and approached me slowly. I already knew what had happened to her during the fight; she most likely let her anger and frustration lead her actions. I didn't really know if I could blame her for that... I mean, she's the one who knocked me out, but losing concentration and control can happen to anyone.

Tigress established eye contact: all I could see was regret. She said, "I'm sorry. I lost control over myself."

I answered, "You know, things happen. We can't control everything, and if things always go as you wish, then life is just boring."

She sighed, "Maybe you're right, Kai. But I almost killed you there." Her expression darkened even more. "...Maybe the kids in the orphanage were right..."

"Maybe I really am a monster..."

Of course, she had not had a happy childhood, but I didn't like it when people thought so badly of themselves, especially people I know. I replied, "Hey, look at me. We look alike. I probably have the same strength potential as you do. We both had great problems when we were kids. But if I'm not a monster, why would you be one? I know you're going to say that you can't control your actions sometimes. But it doesn't make you a monster by any means."

She didn't answer, so I ended the talk, "Now you'd better go back to sleep. You have a goal to achieve, remember?"

She didn't smile, but that was not too far from it. She answered, "Yes, this is true. I'll let you get back to sleep now. Oh, by the way, Oogway told Master Shifu that the Dragon Warrior will be chosen in two days." I answered, "Oh well, I guess that's good news... Good night."

"Good night."

Tigress stepped out of my room, closed the door, and soon after that I found sleep again.