A Sense of Purpose
Chapter 9: Nocturnal training
For Tigress, the major downside of a no-training phase was that she used far less energy than normal. Which means that I also seem to need less sleep, she thought, turning this way and that on her thin mattress. And the worst part is that my foot is actually fine! But Master Shifu insisted on two more weeks of rest! This is insane! She growled angrily. I could totally train. Right now, even.
She blinked, then smirked. Indeed. I could train right now. And nobody would know... Her eyes moved towards the window. She had never snuck out of her room before - I'm a model student, after all! - but Monkey and Crane had quite likely pulled it off, so she figured that it couldn't be that hard.
Without making any noise, she unwrapped her bandages and lightly massaged her ankle. Yep, good as new. Now... let's see just how well Master Shifu trained me... She got dressed and moved towards the window. It opened without making a sound, and Tigress jumped out after taking a quick look at her landing zone. "That was easy," she muttered looked over her shoulder to make sure that nobody had seen her. It took her a few minutes to sneak around the house and down the stairs to the courtyard, but Tigress estimated that she had at least two hours before she'd have to worry about going back.
Now what? she thought and gave the courtyard a look. I guess I should warm up first. Gotta start out slow after a few weeks of no training. She was about to start stretching her legs when a faint noise made her twitch. That came from the training hall, didn't it? She grinned. Could it be? Burglars? Is it my birthday already?
Somebody breaking into the Jade Palace was always a special occasion for the Furious Five; after all, it was the one thing where their Masters had given them permission to deal with the situation as they saw fit. Or, as Master Oogway had put it in his infinite wisdom: "If somebody decides to rob this place, he is either very desperate or very foolish. I trust you to do the right thing in either case." Thankfully, Tigress only ever got the stupid ones while Monkey or Crane got the ones who would instantly give them some sob story and a cry for help.
She snuck up to the heavy door and placed her ear against it. Yep, someone's in there. Odd, though; there is little to steal other than maybe the Jade Tortoise, and you'd need a small army to move that. The thought of her actually walking in on such a group made her smile, but then she decided that this was a pretty unlikely scenario. "Well, let's find out who is looting the training hall and what they consider worth taking," she whispered to herself and tightened her grip on the door handle.
Years of training building up on her feline agility allowed her to open the door, slip into the hall, close the door and perform a quick somersault into a dark spot within just a few heartbeats. So far, so good, she thought when she didn't hear any startled cries or quiet curses. In fact, she didn't hear anything. Damn, did I alert them after all?
She gave the room a once-over, relying on her ability to see better in the dark than most other species. Not that it helps me right now since I apparently sent everybody into hiding- The sudden movement of one of the Wooden Warriors in the Gauntlet made her jump. -or the intruder was just standing out of sight, completely oblivious to my presence. Tigress moved silently across the deactivated obstacle course until she reached the area where all the spike-covered training dummies were standing.
This makes no sense, though, she mused as she inched through rows of wooden dummies. The Wooden Warriors are bolted to the floor, so you can't steal them! It also didn't sound like anybody was training. No further noises after that one move. She frowned. Almost as if somebody was- Her eyes widened, and she finished the thought just as the intruder put his hand on her shoulder: As if somebody was luring me into a trap!
Tigress instantly dropped to her right knee to prevent the intruder from grabbing her properly. Then, without wasting another breath, she pushed herself up again, bringing her left elbow around for a strike at the ribcage. What the- she thought when her strike failed to connect. He dodged? The Kung Fu Master finished her turn and brought her right fist forward to either hit the intruder or to make sure he was out of range to buy her some time.
"Easy now!" the intruder snapped even as he grabbed her wrist with both hands and deflected the blow. "Same side!"
Tigress noticed the spotted fur on the intruder's hands. "...Tai Lung?" She looked up at the smug snow leopard and quickly yanked her hand out of his grip. "What are you doing here?"
"Probably the same thing you wanted to do," he replied and shrugged. "Train while nobody was around."
"Pah," she crossed her arms. "I just heard some noise and wanted to check it out to make sure it wasn't a burglar."
"You heard some noise," he repeated and smirked, "all the way from your room?" Then he looked down at her feet. "And hey, just in time for your ankle to miraculously heal!"
"Okay, fine, you were right; happy now?" she hissed and rolled her eyes. "At least I'm actually allowed to," she added quietly and smirked when she noticed his annoyed expression.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. Finally, Tai Lung sighed. "Okay, it's pretty obvious that neither of us is supposed to be here, right? So why don't we declare a sort of truce for the time being?"
"Truce?" She cocked her head.
"You know. A length of time during which we won't try to needle and blackmail each other?"
Granted, he this would make sense, but that doesn't mean I like it. "Sure, fine," she muttered. "Just don't get in my way, okay?"
"I'll be over there, then," he readily offered and pointed at the Adversary.
It took some willpower, but Tigress managed not to crack a silly remark about him training with an inflatable dummy made for children who just got started with Kung Fu. "Fine by me," she answered instead and went to the opposite wall to start with some warm-up exercises.
For almost half an hour, Tigress trained in relative silence. But despite her best efforts to ignore Tai Lung, she had to resist the urge to look at him over her shoulder. Just to make sure he's still there and not trying to sneak up on me, she would tell herself, but it was a transparent lie. In reality, Tigress wanted to know what the snow leopard's training routine looked like. How does a guy train who knows as many styles as he does?
Finally, she gave in to her urges. Just one quick peek. It'll be fine, he won't notice. She sighed quietly. Curious glances normally weren't her style, but this was the one time she felt like making an exception. Just when her current set was done, she turned her head and looked over at the Adversary. "What the-" she muttered when she saw what Tai Lung was doing. Or rather, what he was not doing. Tai Lung coughed sheepishly and rose from his lotus position, but it was too late. "You were watching me!" Tigress shouted across the hall, as if to fully confirm that she had noticed him.
He shrugged and gestured vaguely at nobody in particular, looking a lot like Monkey whenever he had been caught with one hand in the cookie jar. "Well... yes," he finally admitted, giving her an apologetic smile.
"And you did that... why?" Tigress wasn't sure why she was so irritated by this, but she still made her way across the obstacle course to confront him.
"Maybe I did it," he said when she was standing right in front of him with her arms crossed, "because I wanted to see some Tiger style."
She growled quietly. "Yeah, right, like you had never seen-"
"Natural Tiger style," he quickly clarified, looking a lot less intimidated than she had hoped he would.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She studied his features closely, trying to find the smallest clue that he was somehow messing with her.
"It means that it's refreshing to see Tiger style the way it's supposed to look, instead of just taking the word of a red panda for it," he replied calmly.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me! And to think that I kinda didn't completely hate him when he helped me out with that test a few weeks ago! "So you're saying that Master Shifu is a bad teacher?" Just give me an excuse to strike you down... I dare you...
Tai Lung blinked and frowned, apparently sensing what she was about to do. "Master Shifu is the greatest Kung Fu master currently alive," he told her flatly and rolled his eyes. "But there is a difference between practicing your natural style of Kung Fu and one tailored after the natural movements of another species. Master Shifu's Tiger style will look different than mine, and that will look slightly different than yours."
Tigress's whiskers twitched lightly when she realized that Tai Lung - of course - knew her style. Actually kinda curious how that'd look, come to think of it... "Well, then," she said, trying to buy some time while she decided where to go from here, "you watched me. Happy?"
He shrugged lazily. "Reasonably, yeah."
Why do I get the feeling that he got along with Master Oogway more than with Master Shifu? There is NO way Master Shifu would have enjoyed this vague and smarmy style. She gave him a closer look. Or maybe he's just doing it to annoy me. Yeah, that actually sounds likely. Whatever. See if it works. Jerk. "Reasonably, huh?" she finally echoed. "Well, would you like to watch it from a closer distance?"
"There is no need to go out of your way just to-" he started to reply, but froze when he realized that she was assuming her base stance. "Oh. You mean this close?"
"Unless you're afraid..." She gave him a smirk.
"It's been decades since I've done this, but fine. Would you like to take turns, or do you want a sparring match?" He held up his hands, but Tigress wasn't quite sure if the gesture was supposed to mean 'hit here' or 'not going to hurt you'.
Sparring match, all-out! her inner voice instantly suggested, but she willed herself not to say it. No. I may be itching for a rematch after the bridge fight, but this is NOT the time or place for it. Besides, Master Shifu is definitely going to realize what happened if both of us are bandaged in the morning. "Let's take turns," she suggested instead. "Not going to go full out, don't worry."
"Got it," he replied and took a step back. Then he frowned lightly, as if in thought.
"Are you ready?" she asked, lowering her center of gravity a little bit to ready herself for her opening move.
The snow leopard gave her a quick look before spreading his arms out wide. "Sure, go ahead."
Tigress had to reign back her instinct to strike. Something's wrong! This doesn't look like any stance he used on the bridge. He's still standing upright, he didn't clech his fists, and the position of his arms almost reminds me of... wings? Her eyes widened when she realized that the pose looked extremely familiar. Oh, you think you're so funny, huh? She quickly moved forward and fired off her first two punches. As expected, her arms brushed along his, but instead of blocking her attack, he merely deflected it by moving his arms in a wide circle.
"You see what I meant about styles looking slightly different when it's not the natural user performing it?" he asked even as he deflected a kick aimed at his head.
"Crane is going to get mad if he sees you imitating his style!" she snapped between two attacks, reminding herself to hold back a bit even if Tai Lung's chosen style should make power a moot point. He may be able to deflect most regular attacks with Crane style, but it would be fairly awkward if I accidentally got lucky and broke his arm...
"He should feel honored that I decided that his style is a good counter to yours," he replied even while he was deflecting another two blows.
Tigress allowed herself a rare smile. "Tell me about it. Master Shifu loves to pair us up when he wants to aggravate me." As if to compensate for the smile, she slightly increased the speed on her last few strikes, forcing Tai Lung to fall back.
"Well, it's good training, I suppose..." Tai Lung managed to reply as he blindly navigated backwards.
"Could!" A left-handed strike faster and stronger than the others smacked away his right hand. "Be!" Her right leg came up to prevent his left hand from covering his front. "Worse!" Before he had any chance to react, her right fist stopped an inch away from his chest, almost close enough for her fur to touch his.
For several moments neither of them spoke or move. Tai Lung - much to Tigress's pleasure - seemed to be genuinely shocked, looking down at her outstretched arm and then back into her eyes. "Not going to go full out, huh?" he finally asked, taking a short step back and smoothing his fur.
"You're still standing, aren't you?" she asked back and gave him a calm smile. On the inside however, she was kicking herself for this stunt: What was that all about? That was way beyond the normal taking-turns training! Not really all-out, but still. She took a deep breath, hoping that he would just assume that it was some sort of post-training exercise. But... no, no. This was just me blowing off some steam. Two weeks without training just made me overcompensate. No harm done. Now I'm balanced again. Yeah.
"Do I get a turn, then?" Tai Lung finally asked, either not realizing that Tigress had briefly crossed the line or accepting that she had needed to vent.
She hesitated briefly, but then nodded. "Go right ahead," she told him, trying to mask her excitement. A chance to see his fighting style in action? A chance to actually study it without having to worry about falling to death? Yes, please!
Both of them moved into position: Tigress raised one hand above her head while keeping the other in front of her, while Tai Lung dropped into a crouching position, his arms wide. Tigress quickly reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to attack beyond token movements to cue defending stances and gave him a short nod.
The first thing she noticed was that Tai Lung was a lot faster than she had expected. Not faster in terms of moving his arms or legs, but in the way he performed strike after strike after strike at close distance while moving around her. Tigress realized that the style looked like an odd cross between Crane and Tiger style, deflecting and circling like a crane, but then using the deflecting arm or leg to attack like a tiger. The strikes - elbows, knees, fists, nothing was off-limit - were fast, but even though Tai Lung of course held back, Tigress estimated that they wouldn't be as powerful as her own. Still, impressive. And then another thought hit her. This isn't the style he used on the bridge!
Tigress's open-palm strike came out of nowhere, hitting Tai Lung's upper body and sending the more muscular cat straight to the floor. "What the-" he shouted, but then coughed violently. The strike hadn't been too strong, but still strong enough to rattle him.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Tigress roared at him, not caring at this point about who might hear them.
Tai Lung slowly got back to his feet, rubbing his chest. "So much for taking turns then," he muttered and gave her a dark look.
"That wasn't Leopard style!" she snapped, ignoring his words and her feelings of guilt for the moment. I can apologize for shoving him around later, once he stopped playing his little games!
"You hit me because you think you know Leopard style better than the guy who practiced it for a few decades?" He gave her a smirk. "Really, Stripey, you disappoint me."
Okay, when you put it like that... "Don't call me 'Stripey'," she tried to sound serious, but a tiny smile still made it through.
"Or else what?" he asked playfully even as he lowered himself into his base position again.
The question is whether he will fight the way he did on the bridge or with what he just claimed to be Leopard style. Ah well, I bet I can make him fall back to the more powerful style... "Or else I'm going to make you crawl back to your little cave."
"I'd like to see you try... Stripey." He was openly grinning now, and she gave him a brief smirk in return before pushing herself off the ground.
Just like the fight on the bridge, this sparring session was a close-range brawl. Except that he's still not showing his true style! Tigress thought and pushed him away after he had landed yet another surprise blow to an unprotected spot. Though I'll give him that: Whatever this style is, it's annoying! Acrobatics I'd expect from Monkey, deflecting blows in a way that would make Crane proud, but when he strikes, he's almost rivaling my own power.
"Heh..." Tai Lung was panting by now, but still looked slightly amused. "I think we should stop now, or Master Shifu will definitely notice signs of fatigue tomorrow morning."
"You can give up if this weird style exhausts you so much," Tigress offered and slipped into her base stance again.
"It's called Leopard style, you know?" he tried to convince her again and gave her a desperate look.
"It's not what you used on the bridge."
The good mood was almost instantly driven out of the room the moment she had finished the sentence. "...so what?"
Well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one who prefers not to think too much about that particular fight... But if this is really Leopard style, then what did he use back then? It was similar, but more powerful... "Nothing... just noting..."
Tai Lung growled, baring his teeth. "Fine," he hissed before launching a new attack.
Now what? Tigress thought when she realized that she was falling back. The snow leopard's attacks still used the same basic movements, but somehow, there was more force behind them now. Well, what do you know, this is a lot more like his style on the bridge! She pushed back against his attacks, trading an elbow strike into her side against the opportunity to launch her counterattack. I'll have to research these style variations later.
It was, overall, an even battle. Aside from a few throws or leaps, neither fighter gave in more than a few steps at a time. Of course, it was also slightly beyond the boundaries of regular sparring, and Tigress knew that she'd have to explain a few cuts and bruises to Master Shifu in the morning, but this was doing more for her inner balance than-
"GAH!" Tai Lung went down hard, and Tigress blinked because he instantly clutched his left leg, which she hadn't targeted.
"Got him!" someone cried, and Tigress finally noticed Monkey standing slightly behind Tai Lung, staff in hand. "Mantis!" Before she could react, Tai Lung hit the nearby wall after the smallest of the Furios Five had grabbed him by his ankle.
"You okay?" Crane quietly asked as he made his way past her, as if to shield her against some stray attack.
As if - his wing's getting better, but he's not in fighting condition yet! "What are you guys doing?" she hissed, still unable to take her eyes off the combined efforts of Monkey and Mantis.
"We can talk later," Crane replied, "but now let's just get out here before Tai Lung-" His reply was cut off by the very thing he had been hoping to avoid: Tai Lung let out a furious roar as he prepared to strike back against this sneak attack.
Much to his credit, Monkey didn't flinch or jump away. Instead, he swung his staff at the snow leopard, who was now back on his feet in something vaguely resembling the Leopard base stance Tigress had seen earlier. However, he didn't move in a way Tigress would have expected of his style at this point - instead of a deflecting movement, he just struck out against the staff, pointing his index finger straight at it. Tigress's hand had once been on the receiving end of Monkey's staff, and even today, the memory made her cringe. And he's going to hit it with just one finger? Ouch.
But instead of the expected sound of a finger being broken mercilessly, there was just a split-second glow at the spot where Tai Lung's finger hit the staff, followed by Monkey's weapon exploding in a shower of shrapnel.
WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL GREAT MASTERS WAS THAT? Tigress had ducked instinctively, avoding most of the splinters flying her way. When she dared to look up again, Tai Lung and Monkey were already circling each other in their respective base stances. Mantis, oddly enough, had vanished from the fight. This can't end well...
"Anybody see what hit me?" Mantis's voice finally came from somewhere close to her feet. "Felt as if the air itself pushed me away, but I don't think it was related to that explosion..."
"It must've been some advanced technique, in league with that paralyzing strike he used back then," Crane speculated before giving her a look. "What were you thinking, taking him on all by yourself?"
"It wasn't... I mean..." Tigress's answer trailed off when she took a closer look at the fight between Monkey and Tai Lung. This... this is it! she suddenly realized. That's the style he used on the bridge! And now, observing it from the outside after having seen what Tai Lung had called Leopard style, she also realized what exactly it was. It's... Leopard style... driven entirely by anger. A lot less technique, a lot more rage. A completely bastardized style of Kung Fu... and I had actually asked for it! Stupid! "That can wait; we need to stop this!" she hissed and tried to push Crane out of the way.
Tai Lung of course hadn't idled while Tigresss analyzed his style. And while Monkey was one of the best Kung Fu warriors in all of China, fighting an enraged master of all styles all by himself just couldn't end well. Minor miracle that there is still a fight I can stop! Tigress told herself even while Tai Lung grabbed Monkey by the back of his neck in an apparent attempt to drive him into the ground. Ten steps, Tigress quickly estimated her distance to the two warriors even as she started her dash. Not going to work! Hesitated way too long!
Tigress knew that there was nothing she could do to save Monkey, but she still felt that she had to try. Just like I had to try and fight Tai Lung on the bridge. A fight I deep down knew I couldn't win, and yet... yet... Nine steps. She wouldn't even make it halfway to them before the impact. So much anger in his eyes... Why did I have to egg him on? Why did I have to scream at him? Why did the others have to intervene? If this had remained a one-on-one, maybe... maybe... Eight steps. Oh, who am I kidding? I wasn't as balanced as I had told myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I could win a rematch. And I was doing all I could to get it. It would've been merely a question of time before our sparring had escalated by itself. Seven steps. Master Shifu is going to be damn lonely after he kicks us all out.
"NO!" It was what Tigress should have shouted, but thankfully, somebody else had both the presence of mind to do it as well as the speed and agility to further interrupt Tai Lung's movement during the resulting split second of hesitation. Just like on the bridge, Viper had leapt at Tai Lung and quickly wrapped herself around his arm. "LET HIM GO!" the snake screamed even as she bent the arm backwards using just her body as leverage.
Tai Lung let go of Monkey, who quickly dragged himself away. Okay, now to save Viper from being- Tigress thought, but then realized that neither Tai Lung nor Viper were moving. Instead they were apparently trying to stare each other down, Tai Lung baring his teeth and Viper brandishing her fangs.
If she bites him... Tigress shuddered. She had heard rumors about Viper's family, but any attempt to bring this up during their conversations had resulted in Viper rapidly changing the subject. Still, I'm willing to bet that there is at least some substance to those rumors. Which means that we'd have to explain a feverish Tai Lung to Master Shifu in the best case.
"That'll be quite enough."
Behind her, Crane, Mantis and Monkey groaned in unison, and Tigress had to fight the urge to scream. Of all the things that could go wrong tonight! She gritted her teeth and slowly turned around. "Master Shifu, I can-"
Her laughable attempt at an excuse was cut short when the red panda simply whacked her shin with his flute as he walked past her. "You two," he calmly addressed Tai Lung and Viper, who were still locked in their stare down, "cut it out."
It took long seconds, but finally, gradually, Tai Lung relaxed while Viper retracted her fangs. Only when both warriors had taken a deep breath did they break their eye contact to look at Master Shifu.
"Good," their Master commented drily, and Tigress braced herself for the inevitable rant.
Anything under eternal banishment will be a very good outcome, all things considered, she thought and tried to compose herself. Though I should shoulder most of the blame. The others were just trying to defend me, and it would be unfair to have them get in trouble because I let unauthorized sparring get out of hand. "Master Shifu, please allow me to-"
This time, her explanation attempt was cut short not by his flute, but by something far more unexpected, and somewhat more terrifying: Master Shifu was laughing quietly. "Oh, Tigress... do you think that you would still be standing there if you were in as much trouble as you think you are?"
"...I'm not?" she asked timidly, not used to this side of the man who raised her without ever cracking a smile like that. In the background, Tai Lung crouched slightly to let Viper jump onto the ground more easily, and Tigress couldn't help but notice that he too was concerned about this unexpected mood.
"Oh, no, no, no..." The red panda's chuckle was slightly unnerving at this point. "Sure, I could punish you by our regular standards, but what would that achieve, other than everybody but Po having to look for a new home?" He hesitated. "...where is Po, actually?"
Her friends were coughing sheepishly. "We... kinda let him sleep," Monkey finally admitted. "You know... to cover for our absence."
Master Shifu actually forgot to keep up his mysterious smile as he just stared at Monkey, trying to derive sense from his words. Monkey grinned nervously and looked at the others.
"We... left a note with him," Crane finally spoke up. "It's..." He slowly moved his wings from left to right and back again, but then just shook his head. "Nevermind."
"It's a confession that he ate us," Monkey finally admitted, covering his face with one hand.
"So you woke up," Master Shifu said, "realized that Tigress was gone, figured that she was in trouble..." He frowned deeply. "But then not only decided to come to her rescue without the Dragon Warrior, but also to take the time and write down the most ridiculous lie ever since that time Crane tried to convince me he couldn't hear the morning gong because he wasn't wearing his hat?"
"Would you believe that it made sense at the time?" Mantis asked from his usual spot on Monkey's shoulder.
Instead of answering, Master Shifu just rubbed his temples. "We will talk about your behavior under pressure at some later point. For now, I will only focus on two of you." He looked from Tigress to Tai Lung. "You know what's coming, don't you?" he asked the snow leopard in his sweetest voice. Tai Lung frowned briefly, but then groaned loudly, making his old Master chuckle again. "I see you do remember the good old times. And because I'm sure that Tigress and the others have some catching up to do, you can even go first!"
"Yes, Master Shifu," Tai Lung intoned lifelessly and shook his head in defeat before slouching towards the exit.
"Excellent, we will meet in the sitting room in five minutes," Master Shifu announced and started to lead the way. "Tigress, you're next, so do stay close. Everybody else is free to go."
"Hold on." Tigress stopped Tai Lung when he was walking past her and quickly checked to make sure that her Master was already out of the training hall. "What's going to happen?" If even the former model student looks absolutely crushed by what's about to happen, then I'd like to at least have a hint before I go in there!
He gave her a look and grinned drily. "Tea time, Stripey."
Author notes:
Man, these delays are getting ridiculous. I sincerely apologize for making you wait so long for this.
Just like the last chapter, this one went through quite a few rewrites as I tried out several versions that don't use a timeskip. But in the end I decided to fast-forward to the action, leaving some questions to be addressed in the next chapters.
Some semi-obscure canon influence in this chapter:
Tai Lung's style in the movie being a corrupted version of his natural style is mentioned both on the official site and I think in the artbook. Leopard style does exist (I actually hadn't known that before!), and while I have to rely on summaries and YouTube videos for it, I hope I didn't mess up the descriptions too badly. (This is a general problem I also faced for example in my Tigress/Crane fic... which I also haven't updated in a long time...)
The other thing is Viper's fangs. They are (very) briefly shown in the movie, but this information seems to clash with the "Secrets of the Furious Five" special, so this of course raises some questions that make for good flesh-out material.
Assuming that I'll manage to write more than one chapter per YEAR...