Ghost City population: ?1?
Right now we're on the verge of drowning in the fact we are humans. Imperfect things.

The wildflowers swayed in the wind softly, the yellow petals flying past them on this wide steppe, the mountains faded into the distance as the bright clear blue sky shimmered above them.

Two figures stood in the middle of that lush field, back turned to one another as the hems of their outfits blew between one another.

Red and blue.

Zhenjin was the one to turn around and take a step forward first as he unsheathed his saber from his side, it shined in the expanse of his orange sash. He smirked her way as he held the hilt tightly, a whirlpool of emotions for the coming battle ahead! "Are you ready, General?"

Tigress lifted her head with a bright smirk as she straightened her back, bringing her fists clad in white fingerless gloves, the cuff mimicking the ends of an eagle's wings, up to her sides. "Mhmm!" She quickly nodded her head before waiting on The Khan's order.

The sounds of metal shifting against metal graced both of their sensitive ears, as the army of the Khanbaliq marched behind them at attention, only now did the distance of the steppe take a darker hue, slowly killing the gleam of yellow and green in the distance, even the sky grew cloudy under the weight of their enemies aura.

Tigress took to Zhenjin's side, the short hem of her blue outfit, fluttering loudly behind them as her amber eyes caught his paws shaking around his blade.

The enemy was closing in. The cloud's shadow washed over them all.

"It's not cowardly to fear for one's life," She whispered despite the fact from this distance no one could hear them, much less her quiet voice. "It just means you know the value in it…so…"

Instead of staying close, she readied her stance, knees bending as she gripped her paws, one high and one low.
Zhenjin braced himself. "I understand, you're enjoying this a little too much you know?"

Tigress merely nodded as she looked head-on at the faceless enemy before them and the roar of Zhenjin echoed over this cloudy field of flowers as metal, arrows, and sabers rushed and clashed head-on!

"Attack!"

Her fists blazed past spears and broke arrows alike, as she played defense and offense surrounding the young tiger clad in red, standing out amongst his army!

Tigress' fists were flying so fast all she could see was a blur of white from her glove not even the orange upon her paw as she struck an enemy in the gut and Zhenjin went in for a clean slash with his saber, downing them in an instant!

The almost unidentifiable body dissolved into the sand, the wind directly blowing it in her face before she could raise her paws to protect her eyes-!

It's dark.

The whistle of the wind is harsh on her ears, as she opens her eyes to find her old gold hanfu, a part of it ripped and stained from the elements and her blood.

"I want something new…"

She blinks and fights to not rub her eyes.

It's surprisingly chilling in the desert.

There's a bag in front of her and she does not hesitate to reach for it, it's covered in strands of sand, beads of it falling away as she opens it.

'It's bright.'

The doors open for her as faceless felines all cheer and call out to her, the sun is out, it's so bright, so very bright it even kills the oppressive walls of this city's shadows for their heroes.

Tigress waves to the sidelines with a bright smile as people exclaim their affection for her.
"Thank you for protecting us again, General!"

Her eyes are sparkling, she's seeing stars in her vision!
"We love you, General Tigress!"

The sounds of soldiers marching behind her are all but silenced under the deafening sounds of love surrounding her! They all reach out to her, paws wanting to reach her as if she was a beacon of warmth.
"LOVE YOU!"

Tigress' smile widens as she looks up to Zhenjin, who is also waving to the crowd of his adoring citizens, they are both adored, loved, and respected. Flower petals and bulbs alike are scattered across them.

When his brown eyes turn to her, she sees a star within his pupil.
"I told you they'd love you."

The star grew brighter as she indulged the faceless populace even more.

"Something new." Tigress threw that small shirt decorated in a vine to the winds.

It burns.

Someone burns another incense stick, adding to the sweet scent she could never decipher when they entered here. She undid the gold sash around her waist as the other tigers and snow leopards within their squadron all got ready for a well-deserved rest and wash after their victory.

Another tall tiger, a little taller than Zhenjin pats her on the back.

She feels no pain.

Tigress lifts her head to see multiple tigers running and laughing toward the pool of warm water, the mist disturbed by their antics. "General's gotta wash all our backs if she's last inside!"

Yet, their laughter rings true, she wants to follow.
She quickly throws her clothes off. "That won't be me this time!"

Her laughter echoes along with them almost melting and mixing together.

"Aha…It feels too good!" Tigress sticks her tongue out playfully as she throws away her brown torn shirt, as the sands hide the shadow of her friends so far away.

The sands can't stop her light glee.

Her red qipao is thrown next, she doesn't even look at them anymore, just throws them to the wayside as they hit something she refuses to look back on.
It's solid but there's no light, she needs more light, it shines in the bag the more she throws away.

"Give it to me-!"

Drinks are shoved into her paws as the cheers of soldiers and high-ranking officials drown out any other thoughts in her head.

She stands beside Zhenjin, The Khan upon his throne as his father walks past with a smile, but his eyes-

"General," She tears her eyes away from the tall snow leopard, and back to Zhenjin, the star in his right eye is so bright, she can't look away, doesn't want to. It doesn't matter if the whole world was faceless.

The once Prince now Khan waved his paw to the side as he drank and leaned back in his seat, gesturing to the table at the very front. "Go on and enjoy yourself this evening, you deserve it."

"Thank you," He was right, she walked away to the table, thin trails of smoke flowing around and filling her senses. But it didn't bother her, if anything she was growing used to it.
She deserved to be celebrated.

"Oh?" A bowl of candy at the table is what catches her eyes as people she doesn't know at all, clad in all sorts of colors, metal, and jewels praise her.
It's a simple hard candy and she adds it to her water without thinking, shaking it a little, as she watches the patrons dance and sing in a language she barely understands.
But it has a good vibe…

There's a familiar presence at her back as she sips on sweet yet not sweet enough water, it hasn't melted enough yet. The young tiger's back stiffens as a paw finds its way to her waist.
Gold and spotted gray paws meet and ride up higher.

Everything feels warmer, even the cool candy water in her hold. Was this her reward? "Yuelen?"
The princess knew she was beneath her, wanting her as a superior-what a thrilling thought.

Yuelen was so close, she could hear her soft breath with the scent of whatever she smoked surrounding her. 'She might even be smoking right now…'

"Do you think this is who you are? Really?"

Yuelen whispers so softly in her ear yet it feels so loud, as that paw, claws tapping against her chin moves her head toward who their foe was.

Shifu's head is down.

The sandstorm continues on between them as her golden hanfu flies past the old red panda and straight into the cracked heart behind him.

"I just…"

She feels something sharp at her neck and gulps.

"I just wanted…"

His eyes are as dull as the Khan's. "We don't care," Shifu says, as he hits the large heart, covered in clothes of her past, she threw away so carelessly.

Tigress' head is forced back up as the sounds of the party still go on, no one is helping her.

It explodes into a red rain.

All she witnesses is a purple star staring right back into her eyes. It's on the left, she notes.

Yuelen smiles as she loses feeling in her body, the pain starts to settle back into her lower back and abdomen. "You're so easily pleased with any attention aren't you?"

She's covered in red.

Nobody cares.

Tigress merely leans back into Yuelen, there's nothing else she can do and drowns in her killer's embrace.

The world melts as she loses consciousness, it's dark once again.

She opens her eyes again, it's surprisingly chilly…

Something bumps into her side as she notes with some confusion, she's floating in the water, streaks of her blood streaming up to the surface in small dots as something, something her size floats with them.

'It's sweet…'

She thinks as pieces of hard candy and lotus flowers float through the water as she sinks further and further downward.
Tigress turns her head slowly, accepting her descent. She was tired of trying to be happy.

She watches herself, her body, with no face float to the surface…
'It's bittersweet…'

The imagery makes her choke, her first instinct is to cover her mouth and look away but faceless versions of herself surround her as the water grows darker yet sweeter.

Tigress closed in on herself, paws and knees close to and around her body as she sunk further and further down, even as a familiar coil wrapped around her body causing bubbles and candy to disperse, turning her around to that darkness away from the light of the surface.

"You may not be the dragon warrior…"

The dragon spoke lightly as a tear faded from her face into the never-ending abyss of water.

"But you can be something else…Why can't you accept that?"

Tigress could no longer hold her breath, it was futile.
All of it was.

"You can't let this star burn out-"

There was a small dim light ahead.

"Time is of the essence-"

She closed her eyes, seeing one small star.

"Stop dreaming! Wake up!"

It was dark.

"Urgh…"

Her head hit something soft, and she slowly opened her eyes, to see out of the highly detailed architecture of the window, that it was still nighttime, yet the stars were slowly fading.

And upside down.

Tigress blinked at the sky for a moment, before tapping her foot on whatever made that noise.
"Ugh…" Po groaned as she tapped his back with her foot about two more times.

The tiger master sat up slowly, attempting to rationalize what had happened but only one thought seemed to break through her mind as she turned to sit on the edge of that far too comfortable bed.

"I'm thirsty…"

Ghost City population: 2

I wanted to see myself in the mirror but instead, I saw someone who looked like they were about to cry. A person full of untold sorrow.

Sometimes, she wondered why reality felt the same as her dreams.

Tigress shook that small bag of candy she'd been holding onto. 'There isn't much left.' Despite that, she added another piece to her water canteen, shaking it as she walked down the riverside.

Clack!

She kicked a stray rock to the side as she shook that canteen, up and down, up and down…

The rock only skipped two times.

The scenery started to blend, trees here and there along with the short and almost too tall grass of the area mixed into one beautiful moving picture as the breeze pushed them all along.

The sound of the waterfall made her ears perk up, she looked around the area for Zhenjin considering he'd disappeared after his meeting with his sister, at the center of Khanbaliq.
'Come to think of it, he never sticks around where she is…' She couldn't blame him if it was up to her, she'd also avoid Yuelen.

She turned from the river connecting to the rushing water falling into the lake far below and squinted to look up the hills where they had sat last.

No one was there.

She stopped shaking her canteen, and a stray leaf falling from above caught her attention.

A familiar scraping sound she'd usually heard from Crane's talons in the dorms sat a scruffy old golden eagle clad in rusted metal, aged and tarnished with time and battle.
Tigress leaned on her left leg to look up at the bird, and the avian merely raised his brow, the tainted tint of yellow in his eyes piercing past her amber ones before ultimately sighing and tilting his head toward the red waterfall's crater.

"Thanks, General Altan." The tiger master waved farewell to the old eagle, hoping he'd be calmer with the title tacked on.

Considering today's earlier events, upon the rooftops of Khanbaliq, they witnessed a gruesome turn for the worse and they could do little about it. They were helpless.
She was helpless.

Tigress walked past the wooden benches, the two tigers had sat upon not but a few days ago, it had all seemed so normal and novel. Down the dirt path, she went, leading her to the edge of the crater that led down a short lush stretch of a path downward.

No, she knew exactly what she was doing. 'I decided on this path, to settle back instead of ahead and…no one else is to blame…'

The flat dirt started to become rocky and she found Zhenjin, sitting on one of the large rocks surrounding the edge of the lake, he was clad in light blue with patches of gold that reminded her of Zeng's outfit.

The rocks became slippery but it was manageable to move around on, as the male tiger's ear merely twitched her way, which was the only acknowledgment she got out of him.
The sound of the water crashing into the lake below made her head turn to the other side along with the prince as she kneeled on a nearby rock, holding her canteen lazily. She wasn't sure what to say or do, so much had happened in so little time and she was afraid this would be it.

'This would no longer be a safe place…' She clearly remembered how the Prince had flinched away from Yuelen's actions, maybe he was disturbed by it but had to accept it. As they all had to about the real world because they are the unlucky few.

"Here," Tigress raised her canteen to Zhenjin without looking away from the sight before them, as water trickled between the rocks they rested on below. "You need to drink something."

Splash!

"You didn't drink off of that already did you?" Zhenjin asked after throwing a stone into the water randomly.
She threw the canteen right into his lap without a second thought. "Just drink it…"

The prince chuffed with a sigh, it wasn't laughter but it was better than nothing she supposed. In a sense, he was happier for a moment because of something she did.
Somehow, it didn't feel as fulfilling as she thought it would be…

She spared him a glance, noting he was pouring the water down into his mouth rather than sipping on it.
The reaction was instant, he spilled a few drops of that sweet water into the riverbed below his shoes with another chuff and the obvious smile he was hiding behind his mouth. "What did you do to this?"

Despite that comment, he took another gulp of it down as he leaned back on the rock.
Tigress shrugged, wanting to forget and be happy for a moment. "Just a little magic trick."

Taking what this short lapse in time had to give before it faded away.
"You mean that chi, my father's been raving about?" Zhenjin's tone turned serious for a moment as he reluctantly gave her back the canteen. "That would be beneficial for the farmers…"
"Yes…" She lied quietly.

Lies taste sweet.

She wasn't entirely sure what to talk about after that, they both seemed stuck in front of an ever-moving scenery. "Prince Zhenjin…"

But the aftertaste is rather bitter.

He raised his paw her way. "Just Zhenjin…For today." And then just as swiftly reached into his pockets. "Today might be our last patrol if you can even call it that anymore and I have a reward for you though, as small as it may seem."

Zhenjin turned to regard her this time, the blue and gold of his outfit shining in the afternoon light as he handed her one small piece of paper, it was crumbled as if he'd opened, closed, and folded it many times over.

She took it with both paws respectfully.

"I don't want to open it yet." She whispered, the sound of crinkling paper causing both of their ears to flicker.
"Then don't. It's up to you when to open it." Zhenjin turned toward her fully, putting all of his attention on her once again, as his paws fiddled about in his lap. "After this, you'll be free to fly as much as you want again."

"I'm not free…" Tigress commented as she mirrored his movements, the waterfall becoming background noise. "I came here by order, I'll leave her by one too and gain another order until-"

It ends.

Her eyes caught sight of Altan in the distance, flying high in a circle. "I thought about what you said…about being a general." The tiger master pocketed the note, so she wouldn't have to think about what was inside of it, it could be whatever was on that scroll or something else incriminating in the face of the empire of her country. It could be nothing good. "I thought about leaving it all behind."

Since it seems everyone else has.

Zhenjin merely sighed and shook his head. "Now, you're making me look bad when I have to admit I was just musing…but I would decline you."
Tigress cringed at his casual answer. "But you said-"

He pointed at her mimicking and tapping her face from his view. "If things were different, is the key phrase you're missing there, my guard," Zhenjin smirked. "You aren't meant to be a General though, you're meant to bring hope to people…to protect them…" His digit started tracing a sign, one she knew all too well at this point, it was creating a diamond shape. "To save the smiles of people beneath heaven from people like me."

Her amber eye made the middle of that sigil for unity.
She stood up straight from that shape. "You don't know me. Or what I'm meant to be."

No one does. It's why Po was chosen, promoted, and she wasn't.

Zhenjin smiled wide with his sharp fangs at large. "I know you aren't Tigress,"

She swayed on that flat rock, looking back into the red waterfall and the sky far above them, soon she would have to go and face the harsh reality waiting ahead. 'When all I want to do is escape.'

The prince continued. "You don't have a birthright as I do, I will die in these lands by my own people's hands most likely…or even my flesh and blood as my father once did. But…"
She walked away from him, stepping over rocks of all sizes and lightly stepping into the rising and receding water.
"I know somewhere out there, you'll still be shining, flying, no matter what comes your way."

She wanted to tell him to be quiet, but by all means, he was right. No matter what she would still stand because that was what she had trained her body for, to be there as a sturdy column. Because she could not lean on anyone else.

"Zhenjin…"

It would make her unworthy.

"Yes?" She couldn't see him anymore with her back turned and didn't want to anymore, she wanted this moment to be as clear as the water beneath their feet.
"Sing that tune one more time…"

Unworthiness also tasted sweet.

But I like knocking at a hopeless door

Did that dream unsettle you? Just kidding! It was cool right!? I hope you thought so cause
I wanted to go that EXTRA MILE for this one considering how many cool dream sequences Drags has on his belt! So, you know I had to join in,
plus who doesn't love a little faceless enemy action! And Po cameos again, I had to do that to him, I'm sorry it was too funny in my head.
Now, let's dip into something sweet, like fun facts segway~

- Let's start with the outfit/designs I used for this dream sequence, for Zhenjin it was merely a more flashy and traditional deel outfit that would befit a Prince such as himself.
As for Tigress, I took alot of inspiration from "Liberation Muimi" a unit from Princess Connect: redive.
I didn't pick this randomly as it was meant to portray the freedom and flying aspects Zhenjin spoke of, and her embracing it.
You can't simply click a link on ffn but if you look the unit up, it's a duo unit with Muimi's partner, Otto who I mirrored for our MCs.
Partners stuck in a world torn asunder by forces beyond their reach and yet Muimi never gives up in her search for the truth and a way out. Slight spoilers but hey I love the game and Muimi herself too much!
She's just so cool! Although the eagle ends were moreso a small tribute to my friend's OC, Altan.

- Speaking of Altan, we gotta thank TheGreatYing for that guy!

- Something new was heavily inspired by well "Something new" by Taeyeon. Def check it out!

- The latter half was also heavily inspired by "Idol" or better known as "Oshi no Ko Idol" opening theme,
someone probably caught that with the star eyes mention but also I've always loved that sort of character design within the eyes so it was a cherry on top for me.
I wanted to use it as a precursor to how Drags writes Tigress, it was a nice contrast compared to my own. Because she really is an "Idol", not in a musical sense but in the original definition which isn't too different now, is it?
Someone wanting to be loved yet knowing it will never come so they have to make it for themselves or simply lie? What a theme right?

Well, I believe that's everything! so, let's hurry onto the preview for the final chapter!: Chapter 4 - Just cry
"Who are you?"
"Maybe you had a point, asking if that monk was right."
"You can still see the stars…"
"Good."
Until next time, I'll send you a true farewell with love! 3