A/N: Promised you they would have the original Kung Fu Panda characters in this and here they are! Hope you enjoy and thank's for reading!
Tigress shifted in her sleep. The dirt and grass scraped at her back yet she did not feel it. Her arm shot up, the palm facing up, as if to strike at an enemy. It fell loosely to the ground and lazily stroked the patch of grass beside her. She tossed and turned. Finally, she was on her side. Her tail swished back and forth, creating distinct patterns in the dirt. She extended her claws and scraped at the ground, digging up the loose grass and dry soil. Her leg extended upward, forming a ninety degree angle with her other. She moved it forward and back, almost like she was deflecting some invisible enemy. Tigress turned over to her opposite side. Her tail seemed to have a mind of its own and began to created different shapes in the dirt. Tigress's paw shot out to grasp what she thought was in front of her. Her paws closed around a long, thin thing. It seemed to be pure muscle and wriggled in her grasp. She groped for its head, if it had one, and readied herself to strike and block. "Tigress," the thing hissed. Tigress's eyes snapped open and she let out a silent yelp. Her breathing was heavy, but it soon returned to normal. Tigress's eyes adjusted to the dark quickly and she saw the familiar shape of Viper next to her.
"I'm sorry for whatever I did," she mumbled. Tigress felt groggy and a bit shaken. Those red eyes haunted her still. They followed her around. Only on day's Xiaofang, and another dragon, Senlin-Mu, allowed for her to rest in peace, were the days she got any true sleep. Already she could feel the zeal for the chase being to fade. How long had it been since she had slept in her bed with her own blankets? When did she last visit the Hall of Warriors and train on the Adversary. Was the Moon Pool's reflection of herself fading to the back of her memory. Her heart was broken and yet to be fixed. Nothing could even dare to replace Shifu. Nothing could or ever would. Po and his comforting words had helped placed a salve on the wound, but she doubted it would heal. Tigress looked at Viper, still staring at her intently. She looked around and a ghost of a smile appeared when she saw Po's rotund belly heaving upwards and then downwards as he slept. Suddenly, the red eyes flashed in front of her. With them, they brought the almost too vivid remembrance of Shifu. She buried her face in her paws. Her salty tears dampened her fur. What was she doing out here? Oogway had warned about this, yet she failed to see. It seems like Oogway was talking more about just her anger. No, he had been talking about revenge in whole. Revenge had a infamy of turning back on the beholder. And betraying her it was. Giving her over to those dreadful red eyes.
More questions to ask. Why were those red eyes frightening? She, Master Tigress, wasn't afraid of anything. Even when standing up to Shen's cannons, with all their hope seeming lost, she fought. In spite of...her Master's warnings, she had gone to confront Tai Lung. She fought. At the Battle of Weeping River. She fought. But here she was, shrinking away like a newborn cub. Not even that. They were just eyes, nothing else. But those eyes behold something greater. An evil and a despairing that had long been forgotten and ignored. Those eyes seemed to hold secrets, terrible secrets, that only it knew and had been forged in the fires of the past. It seemed to hold the power of her life and her death in her hands. It plagued her sleep and even haunted her in the daylight. They laughed, that cold, eerie laugh. They laughed at her pitiful form that lay there in the darkness. They tore her apart and they took pleasure in learning her deepest secrets, fears, and desires. Physically she was whole, yet on the inside, one would find a book with the pages eaten and torn out. She wept silently and was unashamed. Words from the past rising up from their graves. Monster, whispered the darkness. Unwanted; orphan. Her temper flared. She was wanted! Her friends were there for her. She could see it in their actions. Po's kind words and even his antics, Viper's kind actions, Mantis's dry humor, Crane's logic, Monkey's mischievousness. They were there for her. No they're not, came the darkness again. She felt Viper's long body drape compassionately around her shoulders. The darkness and the red eyes retreated, hissing their contempt at her until they faded away.
"What's wrong, Tigress?" asked Viper. Tigress tried to regain her composure somewhat. Her eyes were still a bit red, but she wiped away the tears. She looked Viper straight in the eyes. Viper was almost taken aback by the intensity of the stare. The snake almost struggled to keep herself from looking away.
"Nightmares," Tigress finally admitted. Tigress was expecting for Viper to say something about how they were just dreams and nothing else. Instead, she looked away and murmured in agreement.
"Funny, I have been having nightmares too. Really bad dreams. I'm constantly lost in them and don't have anyone to turn to."
"You've been having dreams too? Where there any...uh...any red eyes in your dreams?"
Viper shook her head.
"Never have been. But at the end of every dream, a mist comes up from the ground. It turns my dream dark. I can't see anything after that."
Darkness. She too had that familiar theme in her dreams, that darkness overcame her every time. She suddenly got a horrible thought, but she kept her thoughts from Viper. But Viper had been thinking about the same thing; the snake voiced her opinion.
"Is it possible that they are happening because of the shrine?"
Tigress snorted. "The Shiluo were just a bunch of extremists. There is no way this is happening because of that."
"Still...you never know."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Streaks of red began to appear on the horizon. The first rays of light touched the peaks of the mountains far from them and they settled on the tips of the towering trees in the forest that they now tracked the assassins in. Warmth already began to chase away the cool of the night, bringing a wakening call to the early risers in the forest. Those early risers being the Furious Five and, to some extent, Po. Viper slithered away from her place next to Tigress and began to prepare the quick breakfast. As she moved away, she left Tigress with one last thought.
"You know, some things don't want to be seen."
This struck Tigress as funny. From the history she had read on the Shiluo, she knew that the spirits were supposed to be lost on their way to the Heavens. If they got lost, they made it known. Animals would know if they were truly here. Lost spirits – they wanted to be seen.
The rest of the Five and Po rose, each less ready for the arduous period of running they would be doing. Too long had passed since they saw their rooms in the barracks at the Jade Palace. The trail was hot, yes, but it had been hot for as long as they could remember and there were still no signs of the assassins. The identities and looks of the assassins had even begun to fade. They knew that Zeng, the traitorous messenger, was part of the group, but they knew little of their true quarries. They knew they were a rabbit, a crocodile, and a fox. Other than that meager amount of information, they didn't know a lot.
Still, they pressed on. Each face was grim as they began running again. They felt weak at heart, but wouldn't let it show. Their teeth were set together, locked in determination. Their feet flew – or they slithered like lightening – underneath them as they ran as swift as the wind. In some cases, they ran even faster than the wind.
Such was the day. They didn't expect much too happen besides sore feet and an aching back at the end of the day. Their expectations were so little, that they barely even noticed the town, camouflaged cleverly in the forest. So focused was Tigress on paying attention to her surroundings and not being driven by anger, that she didn't see the pig and his produce cart walking across the road. The pig, though, noticed the speeding tiger. Waving his arms frantically, he got the attention of Tigress. An astonished cry went up from the pig as Tigress flew effortlessly over the cart, clearing it and several feet beyond. She skidded to a halt. Dust flew up as her feet dug into the ground. Po, having greater, lets say inertia, took longer to slow down. His stomach wobbled a bit as he turned around.
"Why'd we stop?" he asked. He reached casually down to pick up an apple and replace it with the appropriate coinage. He munched on the apple happily. "Wow, this is a good apple." He wiped the juice from his mouth and took another bite.
Tigress smiled.
"Exactly Po."
Po looked at the apple in his hand and an understanding expression plastered itself on his face. They needed provisions.
"Then I would seriously recommend these apples. No joke, they are almost as good as dumplings."
"Alright, get some supplies, spend the money we have wisely. Monkey, Mantis, go with Po."
As the three went off to the market that now surrounded them, they were stopped by Tigress one last time.
"And no Fire Pepper!"
Mantis snickered but quickly stopped under Tigress's withering glare.
"So. What are we going to do?" asked Crane, ruffling his feathers. It felt good to rest his wings. Walking would be fine for now.
"I'm going to see if we can get any information we can on whatever we can."
"I see. Knowledge is power."
"Unless you don't know how to put it to use."
Crane was silent, thinking about how true Tigress's statement was.
The townsfolk were nice enough. Nicer when they realized they were standing in the presence of the Furious Five. They would bow politely, but would rarely speak any other words. Sharp glances were cast at them from a few characters that seemed out of place in this cozy nook of the woods. They would then slip away in some unknown area until another appeared further ahead in the other parts of town. Even with the niceness of the town, despite the shady figures, Tigress was disappointed. They had learned nothing. Not one word about three dressed in black that had gone through here. In fact, the roads looked as if they had been swept just recently – not a day before. Suspicion rose between the three of them, but were immediately squashed when they spotted the telltale prints of the rabbit. The sound of Monkey swinging in the branches marked the end of their search for any information.
"C'mon guys, we've got the food!" shouted Monkey down at them. Whooping, Monkey leapt from branch to branch, leading them back to the center of the open air market. Po was already raiding the new provisions, munching away on some sort of cookie. Mantis rubbed his pincer-like claws together. Viper inspected the contents of the bag.
"No Fire Pepper!" she exclaimed. Tigress eating the Fire Pepper dumpling was still funny to them. Not a day had gone by when they hadn't made a jibe or commented on it. At first, it irked her beyond no end, but in the end, Tigress learned to ignore it. It had begun to become an old, beaten joke. Still, it brought weak smiles. Even at her expense, Tigress smiled slightly too.
"Did you guys get anything?" asked Po. Cookie crumbs clung to his facial fur. He scrubbed them off and they promptly transferred from his face to his wrist.
Crane shook his head.
"We got something. It is nothing."
"Cool," said Po. The panda was sincere, his mind drifting off somewhere. Daydreaming no doubt. Crane gave Po a deadpan stare.
"What?"
Crane huffed.
"Nothing."
"Since you three got nothing and we've got something, lets go!"
"Off running again, hope we stop early," commented Mantis. Being the littlest, this had been strenuous.
"You know Tigress. Tough luck!" shot back Monkey as he started to run in that awkward fashion that primates run.
Not much time passed before they were stopped again. Tigress was getting annoyed. She wanted to get as far as she could today, they weren't getting any younger. An old rabbit sat on a branch high above them and called down for help. He wore an eye patch over his right eye and a cane rested in the crook of his arm. The tree he was stuck in had a door cut into the large trunk. A ladder lay on the ground.
"Hey, you animals down there! Help?"
Po started to climb the tree, but Monkey beat him to it. With the swiftness and agility granted by his kind, Monkey scaled the tree and alighted on the branch of the old rabbit within seconds. Po was still struggling to reach the first branch. Po wasn't the best jumper around. Dragon Warrior or not, he couldn't reach the first branch. A mere twelve feet of the ground. In kung fu terms, an easy feat. Carrying the aged rabbit down, Monkey set the rabbit down on his large feet.
"How'd you get up there?"
The rabbit motioned to the ladder.
"Climbed up, the ladder got loose and fell. I was stuck in that tree for about I'd say three hours. Nice view, but I am old so I got sore. Anything I can do for you six? Don't have much to give, but I can do what is in my limits."
"We don't need any payment," said Tigress.
The rabbit bowed in gratitude.
"A thousand thanks then. Make it ten thousand."
"That's a lot of thanks," whispered Po to Viper. "If he did say all of them, we would be here for a while." Viper smiled.
"You welcome. Now, we must be off," said Tigress, turning from the rabbit.
"Hold on. Can I ask were you are going? You all look beat."
Tigress sighed and her face drooped.
"We've been running for a while now. Months. Haven't caught sight of what we're looking for in a while."
"I understand. What you looking for?"
"Three animals, dressed in black."
"These wouldn't happen to be a fox, rabbit, and crocodile?"
Monkey's eyebrows rose. Po looked at the rabbit dumbfounded. Crane's beak dropped, much like that time in Gongmen Jail. Mantis chirped. Viper's smile faded, replaced by pinched lips.
"How'd you know?"
"Saw 'em pass by here. Working in my garden. Saw them rush past. Like demons chasing them."
Tigress practically shook to rabbit she was so excited about the news.
"How long ago," she practically shouted.
"I'd say about just the tiniest bit less than a day's journey from here. You could catch 'em even faster if you run like they do."
Jubilation soared through the Furious Five and Po. It lifted their spirits high on its wings. They truly were close.
"Thank you. Anything else?"
"Not that I know of. Wait, yes. There are rumors of three black and white cloaked figures running around here. Nobody knows who they are or what they mean to do. Their faces are covered and they are armed. Quick and agile too. I don't know what they are. I think their bandits. Hell, I don't want 'em at my place. Say they're headed to the Valley of Peace."
Dread clutched at Tigress. Po gasped. His father was still there and the citizens weren't prepared for anything.
"Again thank you," said Tigress. To the other five, "C'mon; we need to talk privately."
They walked some distance away before they got into a huddle.
"They are headed toward home, Tigress," began Crane. "Nobody knows who they are and they sound like bandits enough. Armed too. Not to mention they cover their faces. I think we have to go back."
Tigress clenched her fists. As much as she hated it, Crane had a point. Those three could be anybody or anything. If they wanted to cause harm to the Valley of Peace, they could very easily without them there. Innocents could be killed. But what about Master Shifu? Going back would mean they would loose this trail and never would they be able to avenge his death. The assassins would go on, living a life with the damned pride of being able to say they killed a Grandmaster and got away with it. Her internal tumult was easy to see. Po felt pity for her. But he dare not say it. Nobody pities Master Tigress. She was trapped. She swore to protect those in the Valley of Peace, but Master Shifu was her adopted father. Abandoning this was like abandoning him. Tough didn't even describe the decision Tigress was being forced to make.
"Tigress, I know how much this means to you, but we need to go back," pleaded Viper. "Then maybe we can resume the search."
"But what if this is all just some mess up," said Tigress. The hurt in her voice was crystal clear. "What if they are just travelers or not even real at all. You know what kind of rumors merchants will make up."
Her argument was valid but weak. As brusque as it was to say, Master Shifu was dead, his spirit gone to the Heavens. The animals of the Valley of Peace were not. They were alive and well. The breathe of life still living within them; their hearts still beat to the music of life.
"What if your wrong," said Po. He hated seeing Tigress like this. This was the first time anyone had probably seen Tigress like this. "What if they do kill animals in the Valley? What if my father is killed?"
That cut Tigress to the core. She had just had her adoptive father killed and she knew how much it stung and burned. Sometimes, it even ate away her being. But she couldn't have stopped that. She had never known. There had been no warning. Here in front of her though, there was warning. How great would the grief be if Po returned home to see his father lying dead, his noodle shop vacant and he had had the power to stop it. Tigress looked at her clenched paws. It was like one decisions was in each separate paw. She looked at each paw desperately, as if weighing the options would help her decide. Tigress knew her friends depended on her for guidance, but that was what she needed right now.
Xiaofang, she begged. Here my plea. Guide me!
Instead of the rumbling voice of Xiaofang, the voice of Shifu rang through her head. The suddenness of his aged voice set Tigress reeling to the nearest tree. Her friends lunged forward, supporting her.
"Do not act in anger, Tigress. How many times did I tell you that? Act with the harmony of heart and mind. Of logic and emotion. Together they form wisdom."
The irony of it all struck Tigress. Oogway had said those same sort of words months ago. Here she was again, being reprimanded by Master Shifu, like usually, about her temper. Tigress longed for more of Master Shifu's guiding teachings, but the words echoed and bounced around her mind, giving no more than what was said. It was clear now. Anger drove her to avenge her master's death. Logic told her that she must return to the Valley of Peace. What of emotions? Yes, other's emotions. Love for his father, from Po. Tigress steadied herself.
"If it is okay with you, I would like one more day of the chase. Then, if we find nothing, we go back."
Po let his breath whoosh out in relief. Tigress was both okay and they were going to go back. Tigress hadn't lost her mind completely.
Even though this was going to be the last day of the chase, success or failure, Tigress knew she had picked the right choice.