Chapter Twenty-Two: The Most Affected

Shifu didn't feel exhausted at all when he reached the top of the giant staircase. He crossed the arena in a flash and kept running for the barracks. He knew they'd be there.

His heart was threatening to pound out of his chest. Terrible thoughts entered his mind.

First I lost Tai Lung, and now Tigress? No, she's not dead. Viper and Tian will have seen to that... Tigress dead... It couldn't be possible... At least I will have lost her to a much more noble cause... No! She isn't dead!

He almost felt like crying at the thought of possibly losing another child. Now he realized that his exhaustion was beginning to creep up on him. His lungs were burning and his legs were aching. He couldn't stop now. Tigress needed him. If there was ever a time that she needed him as a father rather than a teacher, it would be now.

He stopped at the barracks door and nearly collapsed. As much as he wanted to go inside, he had to rest to keep from fainting. After a few torturous minutes, he finally went inside. He walked toward the bedrooms and stopped.

All his students, with the exception of the tigers, were there. All but Vixey took notice of him right away.

"Master!" Po started. "Jin found you?"

"Yes," Shifu said. "How is she?"

"She almost stopped breathing when the healers came and got her," Viper told him. "They're... working on her now..."

They all looked at the one closed door.

Shifu noticed that Vixey hadn't moved at all. She sat against the wall and hugged her knees to her chest as if she were trapped in a cage. Her wide, frightened eyes were glued on the door.

"Vixey?" he started.

The fox started whimpering. Tears started falling. She buried her face in her arms and started shaking.

Viper tried to comfort her.

"Vixey?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"Nooo," the fox replied in a quiet, teary whimper. "This-this can't be h-happening... First th-them and n-now her... "

The hall turned silent, except for Vixey's quiet sobs. It seemed like forever before the door opened a crack. Tian looked out into the hall.

"Shifu?" she asked. "She was asking for you."

The Masters all lit up. Tigress was awake!

"Yes," Shifu answered. "I'll be in straight away."

He leaned his staff on the wall and walked into the room. His students noticed that his limp was worse than they'd ever seen it.

Viper turned to Vixey.

"See?" she said calmly. "She's awake. She'll be okay, and she won't die that easily."

Vixey rested her chin on her now-soaked sleeves and kept her eyes on the door. An occasional tear fell across her cheeks.

It seemed like an eternity before the door opened again. Shifu emerged, and he looked more tired than ever.

"She will live," he told his students.

They all sighed with relief and were on the verge of celebration. However, Shifu held up his hand for silence.

"But there were complications," he continued. "She will live and she will be able to use Kung Fu again, but the poisoning has done some damage to her that looks irreversible."

Vixey whimpered again.

"Calm down," Shifu said. "It will take some time for her to recover. She will have to be off her feet for maybe a few months. Tian has informed me that the poison could relapse at any point in her future and likely cause a life-threatening situation each time."

The hall fell silent once again. Po hesitated before speaking.

"Can we see her?" he asked.

"Yes," Shifu said. "But do not overwhelm her. This was quite stressful for her. Tian may usher you out of the room when she deems it necessary."

The door then opened and three tired healers came out. They didn't seem to notice the Masters as they walked away. Tian finally stepped into the doorway. She looked as tired as her brother, if not more.

"If you want to see her," she began, "you must do so quickly. She's exhausted."

The Masters, at first hesitantly, then more speedily, filed into Tigress's room. They stopped a foot or two from her bed and gazed down numbly at their friend.

Tigress certainly did not look well. She lay almost unmoving on her bed, covered up to her shoulders by her blanket. Her eyes were closed and her chest was rising and falling with each tired breath. At first, they all thought she was already asleep. Then she opened her eyes.

"Did... did I scare you?" she asked weakly.

No one answered her for a second.

"Sorta," Po said. "I mean, yeah, of course you did."

Tigress breathed a few times.

"I scared me, too," she answered. "I honestly thought... Are you okay, Vixey?"

The fox jumped a little at the mention of her name. She nodded.

"I'm... I'm fine," she said.

"I'm sorry this happened," Tigress told her. "Especially after what happened to you."

Vixey looked at her feet and nodded again.

"I'm sure Shifu told you guys most of it," Tigress said. "That I can't use Kung Fu or even sit up right now. So you know what must happen for now."

Po grew alarmed.

"What must happen?" he asked.

"I can't be part of the Furious Five while I'm in this condition," Tigress told him. "I'm temporarily resigning. Viper will take my place as leader and you, Po, will join the Five for now."

"Wh-what?!" Po started. "Whaddyou mean?! I mean, being one of you guys was my ultimate dream, but... It can't happen this way!"

"It has to, Po," Tigress told him. "I hate to say it, but it has to."

"We all knew about this plan when we teamed up," Viper said. "We know we can't live forever, and even an event like this one could happen. Haven't you noticed that I step up whenever Tigress has been knocked unconscious or when she isn't even here? We've been preparing for this for a long time. And I don't like it either. It isn't the same without all of us. But I accept this position and will do what I can to fill it until I'm relieved or the day I die."

The rest of the Five nodded. Po looked at his friends in disbelief and shock. It hurt to say anything, but he knew he had to.

"I will, too," he answered, his voice a little croaky. "It's my job to protect everyone as the Dragon Warrior, so I accept the position with honor and humility."

"Thank you, Po," Tigress said. "I'll be back to normal in no time. Don't you worry."

Po could only nod. He couldn't say anything else.

They all heard Tian clear her throat and turned to look at her.

"It's getting late," she said. "Tigress will need her rest. A rested group of healers has just come to check on all of you and help you clean up. Have a good meal and retire early, all of you."

A quiet chorus of "Yes'm" and "Yes, ma'am" answered her as the boys all left Tigress's room. Viper was about to leave when she noticed that Vixey hadn't moved.

"Um... Tigress?" the fox asked. "I was... I was wondering..."

Tigress had closed her eyes, but opened them when Vixey began speaking.

"Yes?" she asked.

Vixey looked reluctant to speak her mind.

"I was wondering if... if you needed either of us to stay here, in your room for the night," she said at last. "You know, just in case you relapsed. Viper and me, I mean."

"That isn't a bad idea," Viper added. "Then Tian wouldn't have to stick around this area as much."

Tian seemed to want to argue, but then stopped herself and began to think about it.

"I can't see why not," Tigress said wearily. "You know how I hate feeling like I have a bodyguard. But I'd rather have you here than have something terrible happen when I'm alone. Thank you, Vixey."

"I will take the first watch," Tian told the girls. "You two need your sleep."

"Mm-hm," Vixey said quietly, nodding.

She and Viper left the room without a sound.

The Masters all sat quietly in the totaled barracks kitchen. Mr. Ping was quietly humming to himself as he finished making soup and served it out to everyone.

"All of you eat it all up," he told them. "You'll need your strength if we're going to clean all this mess up! Oy yoy..."

He picked up a broom and started sweeping up around the Masters, who were now eating without a sound. Vixey looked up and around at the others.

"Master?" she started. "Where's Jin? Didn't he come back?"

Shifu stopped eating for a moment, thinking over his words.

"He won't be coming back," he answered. "Not for some time."

The others grew alert.

"Why isn't he?" Monkey asked.

Shifu paused again.

"He's going back to Miao Zhen to... recover from a loss," he said gently. "We lost Xinli."

His students became distraught.

"What?" Viper asked. "Xinli died?"

"She and Guai Hu took each other's lives," Shifu answered.

Silence fell again, except for Mr. Ping, who was clearly not paying attention as he was humming to himself. They continued eating, very shaken by the events of today. They all knew it would be different from here on out.

Depressing chapter, I know, but at least Tigress is alive!