Chapter 28

It floated down from the sky, dropping down onto Tigress's paw. Wrenching the lid off the silver parachute was almost the same as a jam-jar lid; it barely budged until a sudden PULL and it all came flying. Inside lay a small earpiece, designed specifically for Tigress's ear. Wearing it, she listened as the almost calming voice of Kunku came through. Having been stranded in this wilderness and almost becoming a suicidal made her realise how much people matter. If that made any sense - she was still on the brink of becoming suicidal, and had so many mental restraints one small object of upset could send her flying over the edge!

"Hello Tigress. As you know, this is pre-recorded, so we can't respond to one another. Anyway, as there is no time to dwadle, straight to the point. The meeting. I know Po will tell you not to, if it wasn't obvious. Ignore him. You are going to go to the meeting. I know you said you didn't want to kill, but I'm pretty sure your need to keep Po alive overrides even that. If you want Po to survive, you're going to have to go and kill as many people as possible, which would be easy if you were at the meeting. Even if you can't kill them, you can injure them so it is easier for Po to defeat them. Maybe he won't have to kill them, if you give them injuries they can't sustain life with. Either way, this is a good oppotunity to eliminate remaining contestants, however sick it sounds. And maybe get some food and drink.

"Obviously, I know Po will outright refuse you leaving, so I have been in discussions with his mentor, who agrees to my plan and has helped fund the amount to send you two a gift. Along with something useful for you, Tigress." There was almost a sneaky grin in his voice as he continued, "Anyway, there will be two bottles. One will be marked with a reb ribbon, the other won't. The box containing the gift will be specifically sent to you. The bottle with the reb ribbon contains a sleeping syrup that replicates the taste, texture and look of water. Take off the ribbon so there is nothing suspicious before giving that to Po. He will be out cold for around twenty-eight hours, but it isn't nearly deadly enough to kill him. Your, non-ribboned bottle contains plain water, though. Again, completely harmless, literally just water. Anyway, I used up all my token points for these liquids, and a special item for you. God knows how I managed to afford it - anything isn't cheap now we're down to the last five. Either way, this message was recorded straight after the most recent death sending you down to five, so it's quite recent. The directions to the meeting place have your location and the whole arena programmed into them, so they can take you to the meeting place wherever you are. Just in case you find a scramble and go off course.

One thing: Don't fear death.

Okay Tigress? Obviously, you aren't, but still... good luck, student." Suddenly a noisy 'BUZZ' came out of the miniscule earpiece, causing Tigress's face to scrunch up in pain as she tore it from her ear and threw it to the ground. Once she was safe in the knowlege the bussing was over, she placed the earpiece back in and listened vaguely to the directions, paying more attention when it told her how to repeat the directions or the mentor's message. Next, she strode up to Po, who had finished listening around the same time she did. There was a silent nod of agreement as Po was under the impression Tigress had been instructed not to go. Another lie to increase the web she was constructing, full of untruths and misconceptions. Such delicate strands were all so dependent on one another that a slight 'twang' and everything would fall to pieces, leaving one tiger very alone and cold in the middle, having lost all her protection.

Her thought trail descended off into nothingness as Po started to try and find flints to make a fire: his reasoning being if they were to die, they might as well die in the warmth. Tigress had no objection to give, as long as he stayed within 50 metres of herself. Meanwhilst, she was finding large rocks they could create a makeshift den from. A fire and shelter... but they still desperately needed food and water.

"Ping." It was somewhere near

"Ping" Above Tigress, probably. She tilted her head backwards, to the ping sound.

"Ping." A rectangular box was just above her head, as if it was dangling from the sky. She grabbed the box, unlocked the lid, and marvelled at the insides.

A-ha! The bottles, in all their glory, sat side-by-side on top of the item that Kunku had been hinting at in his talk. She undid the ribbon around Po's bottle, memorized which contained which liquid, before yelling at the Dragon Warrior.

The rest barely registered. She drank, to make it obvious it was safe. He drank, too. They looked at each other, before he started to feel woozy... woozy... the world is s-s-swaaaaying.

"Tiiiiiiiiiigresssss... why you dooooo thisss? Yooooou kneewww..." He had a betrayed look on his face, as she took his arm and dragged him towards the little den she had constructed from rocks. Chances are, no-one would be around to find him. The pack of dogs would obviously be at the meeting, and there was a likely possibility people would've been driven so insane they would be there in the meagre hopes of food, or something like that. Tigress's reasoning wasn't ordinary. She suspected the dogs wanted her dead now, along with Po, as there is a good chance now 'they are by far the most dangerous competitors left in this game'. Po was asleep now, with a frown on his face. To convince everyone she was still 'in-deep-love' she kissed his forehead, with a half-sad look on her face, before leaving the cave to inspect the remainder of her box. Taking another swig of water, she pulled out her 'item' from the bow.

A bow.

It was pristine and simplistic, a long bow. It was almost identical to the one she had been earlier practicing with, before she had been drawn into the arena. Tigress mused over the reasoning she had been gifted with a bow. Sure, she was alright with it as a weapon, but it wasn't like she had immense talent for it or anything. A more useful weapon for her current circumstances, going into hand-to-hand combat, would've been battle-claws or another knife. Unless... oh, Tigress almost yelled out of glee, it was genius! A long-range weapon! If she hid on a rock, she could easily pick off contestants, and then killing them would be easier...

How utterly horrible that sounds. She fears she will become deranged, a psychopath, feel nothing at killing.

No. That was just her emotions playing up. She wasn't doing it out of will, she was being forced to, for a better future. If they understood Po like she did...

Yes. It was fine for her to kill people. No, it wasn't. But she was going to have to. Better to try and lose any emotions so she wouldn't be killed.

It wasn't selfish, was it? Killing for someone?

Of course it was. They too had friends and family. Someone who loved them. Maybe many.

But those people would be helped if Po got out alive. Because Po would never let their deaths go unsung. He would use words so it didn't seem so bad. Sure, people would still loathe them, but they is never light without a darkness.

Back to the thought on hand... a long range weapon, so she could injure before kill, making the job easier in the end. Less painful? Hopefully.

With that thought in mind, Tigress hauled the bow over a shoulder, took the ribbon and tied her knife to the bow with in, before attatching the quiver to her waist. There were twelve identical arrows, all ready to string up and shoot. Replaying the directions, she set off on a long hike towards the 'meeting place', as dubbed. Along the way, she had only the voices in her head as company. By midnight, she was within a mile's radius of others. Silently, so attention wouldn't be drawn to herself, she readied the bow and strung an arrow. Now was not a time of attack, nor was it a time of sleep. Finding a small crater with a few rocks covering it, but still leaving her many easy exits come worse scenarios, she crouched down and allowed her body time to rest. Somehow, she didn't think she'd see another night,especially one like this. Allowing herself to wonder, she found a star and, as childish as it is, made a wish.

a/n: *(From last chapter, sorry I completely forgot) I am going of wikipedia, and using it as a generalized number. Sorry if it's wrong (I'm not counting evil villains or psychos like Pain). Okay, hello, please review because it makes me SOOO happy! It would seriously cheer me up as I actually wrote pretty much this whole chapter then lost it in a computer crash whilst I was eating lunch, which devastated me. Sadly, I preferred the old version, but it's lost forever. :( So please review to tell me what you think of this. Thank you to all my reviewers, I cannot name you all but extra big thanks to numbah435spiritsong, im Richtofen kool 116, Phoenix King and Starrynight77. You have all been reviewing for as long as you've been reading, and you really encourage me (Also, I've read a story from each of you who have accounts, and I love them! All of you, go read/write now!) so thank you again. (In cheesy thank-you mode) Anyway, reviews are LOVE and goodnight!