A Sense of Purpose

Chapter 11: Dark secrets

Okay, third time's the charm, Tai Lung thought as he tried to find the kitchen yet again. It should have been easy, really - after all, he had made it to the courtyard just fine, with just one stop along the way to throw up into some bushes. But from there, the buildings somehow kept rearranging themselves. Stupid tea's messing with my mind, he observed and shuddered. While he had managed to empty his stomach, whatever poison his Master had brewed up had already taken its toll on him.

After a few steps in a direction he probably hadn't tried before, he knew he was on the right way. "Crap, crap, crap!" Viper's cursing made him smile, and he used her voice as a guide. Unsurprisingly, the kitchen ended up being where it had always been, and Tai Lung found the snake next to one of the small fireplaces, scrubbing viciously over the giant black patch on her scales. "Come ooooon!"

Not feeling like startling her from close distance, the snow leopard knocked on the door frame, making Viper jump. "Hey."

"Um." Master Viper's eyes darted left and right, obviously trying to find a good escape route. "Hey."

"Mind if I join you?"

She laughed politely to cover up her nervousness. "Well, I'd love to chat, but I was just about to leave, so..."

Oh, fine, if you insist on me being blunt... "I know you've been spying on Master Shifu and me."

"...ah." Her tongue flicked out a few times as she contemplated that.

"And even if Master Shifu hadn't told me, you being covered in Sinner's Ink would have tipped me off."

"Sinner's what?" She gave him a confused look. Then her eyes wandered to her black scales. "This is what?"

Instead of answering immediately, Tai Lung sat down on a chair close to her. Not having to rely on his feet to keep him upright felt reassuring, and it also put him in convenient range of some peaches. He quickly grabbed one and took a bite, praying that it would get rid of the foul taste in his mouth. "Sinner's Ink," he finally told her. "It's a special ink Master Shifu created to catch naughty students who go to places they aren't supposed to."

Viper grimaced at that. "Okay, fine, I spied on you, I got caught. Yay, yay. So how do I wash it off?"

"What if I told you that you can't wash it off and that you'll stay marked like this for a few weeks?"

"I'd tell you that our little chat is over and that I'll go to bed." She gave him an annoyed look. "Oh, and also that you're a jerk, so there."

Tai Lung chuckled at that. "A jerk? You wound me!" He reached for another peach, but a well-aimed soup ladle thrown by Viper knocked it away just before he could grab it. "Fiiiine, put the larger pot on the fireplace and fill it with some water." No sense of humor, that snake!

"I tried warm water already," Viper told him, but still did as he had instructed her.

"It wouldn't be Sinner's Ink if you could just wash it off with plain water." The snow leopard made it over to the rack with the various herbs and spices and took out several of them. "Here, chop those into small bits and put them into the water."

"Oh, gee, please don't help me too much!" she told him when she saw the pile of herbs he had put on the table. "What're we cooking up, anyway? Some sort of broth?"

He slumped down on the chair again. "I can barely stand, Viper. I don't trust myself with a knife right now. And no, we're actually preparing a bath."

Her eyes moved from the pile of herbs to the kettle. "I'll let you know in advance that the Snake Soup gag hadn't been funny the first time somebody tried to pull it on me."

"Duly noted, now get to work..." He grabbed a second peach and took a quick bite. The sweet taste managed to at least briefly make him forget the moment of emptying his cup of tea.

For a few minutes, Viper simply chopped the herbs, holding the large knife with her prehensile body. But finally she paused and gave him a look. "You know, I figured you guys would just talk about Tigress, what with her playing such a central role in this mess." She took a deep breath. "So why did Master Shifu suddenly start talking about me?"

Probably because he heard you sneaking around inside the walls and wanted to punish you by poking your inner peace, Tai Lung silently replied, though he knew that this was only half the truth. "Maybe to warn me about a certain practitioner of the Poison Fang technique who had been close to killing me tonight?"

Much to her credit, Viper didn't react with the outburst he had expected. Instead, the knife just stopped in mid-chop. The snake stared blankly at the board for a few seconds, then she tilted her head slightly to give him a dark look. "What was that?" she hissed, her voice barely above a whisper.

I probably could've broached this subject with more tact. "Feels horrible, doesn't it?" he asked, figuring that changing the course now would only make things worse. "Knowing that you could kill a guy just like that. Knowing that there is no force on Earth that could save him once you landed that one hit."

Viper rammed the knife into the chopping board with much more force than necessary. "This discussion is over," she hissed and turned to leave. "You're clearly delusional from whatever Master Shifu made you drink."

"Knowing that it would be utterly wrong to give in to this temptation," Tai Lung pressed on, praying that he was judging Viper's character correctly. "Vowing that you would never, ever use this style... even though that is what your daddy would have wanted."

For long seconds, Viper was frozen in place, her back turned to Tai Lung. "Why did Master Shifu tell you all this?" she finally whispered. "He had promised not to blab."

"Tell me what?" he asked back and only now allowed himself to relax. "That your father had racked up at least a three-digit body count? That your fangs are probably a million times more dangerous than your buddies think? Or that you're a good being who won't use her gift no matter what?" He paused for effect. "He didn't tell me any of those things. All he did was confirming my guesses."

"Your guesses?" Viper echoed and slowly turned back to face him. "What do-" She tried to pull the knife out of the board, with little success. Mildly embarrassed, she tried again with more force. "What... doooo... yoooUUUU- AH THERE WE GO!" The knife was once again free, and Viper had visibly struggled not to accidentally fling it somewhere during the final pull. "Ahem. What do you mean by that?"

Tai Lung withheld his answer until he had confirmed that Viper would use the knife to chop the herbs and not his limbs. "I met your father many years ago, so I know the Poison Fang technique."

She considered this for a moment. "There's a traumatizing story there, isn't it?"

"Yes, but Master Shifu taught me not to speak ill of the dead." He looked down at the floor and hoped that she would leave it at that. Of course, he wasn't quite that lucky.

"Oh, that's okay!" Viper told him and cocked her head. "My father is very much alive."

Under his fur, Tai Lung paled. "The old fangface is still alive? But... he had been old when I met him, and that had been, what, three decades ago?"

She smirked when she heard this nickname. "Trust me, he's alive, though admittedly retired by now. So it's okay to tell me all about it."

"Wonderful." He groaned and massaged his eyes with one hand. "We had traveled across the land, both to expose me to a wider range of fighting styles and to scout for new contacts." When he noticed her expression, he quickly clarified: "Master Oogway, Master Shifu and I. Two of Master Oogway's older students - by then Masters themselves - were taking care of the Jade Palace in the meantime."

"Three decades ago... if we subtract your two decades in prison, that just leaves ten years of training between that meeting and your imprisonment. You must've been very good even back then."

"I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but 'very good' would be an understatement. I had been in full training to become the Dragon Warrior at that point."

"And then you ran into my father." She gave the herbs into the warm water without breaking eye contact.

He gave her a thin smile. "Yes. We came across that cozy little town and decided to rest for a day. Of course, the town's guardian paid us a visit. An old, grumpy snake; he interrogated us for at least half an hour. Master Oogway did most of the talking, thank goodness. Eventually, old fangface left us alone, and we settled into the inn." His claws were scratching over the table without him actually noticing it. "That night, bandits tried to raid the village."

Viper took a deep breath, obviously knowing where this was going. "Oh."

"Oh, yes. By the time the three of us had hit the street, four of the five bandits were already dead. The fifth..." He sighed. "It was over quickly. Almost too quickly for even me to follow. One moment, the two of them are facing each other. The next, your father is already bouncing off of the guy, leaving nothing but a bite mark on his neck."

"That sounds like my father alright."

Tai Lung grimaced. "Master Shifu was furious. While I was still trying to comprehend what I had just witnessed, those two were already bickering. And... then I finally spoke up."

She smiled nervously. "Against my father?"

He barely heard her. "I called him a murderer. Loudly. And... most of my exchange with him is a blur, but it somehow ended with me challenging him to a fight. Master Shifu should have stopped me, but I think his emotions had clouded his judgment."

"You... challenged my father to a fight?" Viper blinked. "You picked a fight with a practitioner of the Poison Fang technique?"

"Worse: I picked a fight with a practitioner of the Poison Fang technique right after seeing it in action. Oh, and the whole part where I called him a murderer." He laughed nervously. "Not one of my better ideas, I admit."

"Well, you're still alive, so I gather you... won?" Viper was looking doubtful.

"Ha! Good one. Daddy dearest accepted my challenge and went straight for my throat." He absentmindedly smoothed the fur on his neck. "I didn't even have time to react. The only reason why I didn't die right there and then was Master Oogway intercepting him with his staff and catapulting him away. Still... your father's fangs came within an inch of my neck. I had been this close to death." Viper was watching him carefully, but didn't speak up. "Your father... was absolutely ruthless. The only reason why my Masters didn't stop his methods was because he solely used his powers to defend his town - and even then, they spent most of the night discussing this decision. They... feared the Poison Fang technique, and if it hadn't been a genetic gift, they would have classified it as one of the Forbidden Techniques that only Grand Masters learn from their Masters."

She gave him a long look. "So you know my father. And me being his daughter, it makes sense to assume that I can - probably - use the Poison Fang-"

"Did you ever try?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Viper took a deep breath. "No. I have no idea if I can use it, to be honest. My fangs came in late, long after I had discovered my talent for proper Kung Fu. My father encouraged me to try them, but wisely stopped pushing when I made it clear that I wouldn't." She sighed. "I've seen so many dead bodies over the years... all of them with the same empty look of surprise and shock... I didn't want to carry on that kind of legacy."

"Thus explaining why Master Oogway and Master Shifu welcomed you into the temple?"

"I guess so, yes. They had a long talk with me and my parents, and then they told me to pack my bags." She smiled at the memory, but then frowned. "Still, there are a few missing pieces to this puzzle. For example, how did you figure out whose daughter I am? There are several snake families in the wider area..."

"The eyes. Try as I might, I had never been able to forget your father's eyes. That look when he had been just a few inches away from my neck, ready to end me..." He hesitated, knowing that he had to choose his next words carefully for several reasons. "I saw them again tonight, when you had attacked me to defend Monkey. It's what made me realize whose daughter you are. Before that, on the bridge, you probably had the same look on your face, but I had been somewhat... distracted... back then, so I hadn't noticed it at the time." He idly scratched at the table with one claw. "You had been ready to kill me, hadn't you? The father's instinct to kill clashing with the daughter's willpower not to go down that path." He sighed gravely. "And judging by how they are focusing on Tigress, your friends aren't even aware-"

"Oh, yap, yap, yap," Viper interrupted him, making him blink in confusion. "Stop being so negative!" She lowered her voice and squinted in what she apparently thought was a passable imitation of him: "The father's instinct to kill! The daughter's valiant fight to endure! Rawr rawr rawr!"

...what? Tai Lung blinked in confusion. He was not used to being interrupted or mocked during a dramatic monologue. "Negative? I'd say it's realistic to observe that-"

"You and Crane should hang out, really. Both of you have such a flair for the overly dramatic." While Tai Lung was just giving her a stare of disbelief, she quickly grabbed a large spoon and stirred the hot broth.

This is a ruse. Some kind of trick. Has to be. Either that, or she's even more insane than her father. He licked his lips. "Is that so?"

She smirked. "You have quite a few facts, and your insight in connecting them is remarkable. Caught me off-guard, really. But now your guesses are getting less lucky, so lemme help you out a bit: My friends? They know whose daughter I am, even if I'm rarely in the mood to discuss the details or the implications. The sole difference lies in what they make of it: Tigress refuses to think of what I might be capable of, even if she's not aware of it. Po knows surprisingly much, but he tends to... romanticize my father's action. Really, you should have a talk with him on that. Crane... like I said, he's overly dramatic. The armies my father and I battled rise in number in each retelling. Monkey doesn't care about who I might have become under different circumstances and instead focuses on who I am and who I can be, which is rather sweet. And Mantis..." She grimaced. "Mantis thinks that I'm saving the fangs for my wedding night. He has rather odd ideas about love and romance."

"Oh, okay, I didn't know-"

"Now, you..." Viper batted her eyelashes at him. "You are a surprise. You actually met my father, you've seen the Poison Fang, and you recognized me as his daughter. Rather impressive so far, though I can't help but wonder how you knew that I wouldn't use the Poison Fang against you." Her fangs slid out of their hiding spots, and it took Tai Lung a great deal of self-control to remain seated. "Really, I had been hoping to scare you into behaving with these. You know, appear all menacing and tell you that I could kill you with one bite. OOOooooOOOoooo, I'm a scary snake, leave my friends alone!" The fangs disappeared again. "So, how'd you figure this one out?"

It took him a few seconds to process all that. Quite the schemer, though a little bit naive of her to think that I'd really be stopped by such a threat if push came to shove. These one-hit-kill techniques rarely work if you're properly prepared for them. "Oh, you gave me two chances to figure that one out, Viper," he calmly replied. "The first time was on the bridge, and the second time the fight tonight. In both situations, you had been ready to strike with your fangs. In both situations, it would have saved your friends from harm." He allowed himself a smile. "And in both situations, you refused to bite me." Though tonight was a bit too close for comfort, I'll admit. "Especially on the bridge, with so much to lose, you stuck to your principles, your... codex. You risked the lives of your friends and the fate of the Valley of Peace, and you turned down the chance to be hailed as China's biggest hero... all because you are not your father."

"Well, when you put it like that..." The snake laughed, and Tai Lung couldn't tell if she was nervous, flustered or embarrassed. "Ah, well, still a pity that I now have less leverage over you."

"You're one of the most talented Kung Fu Masters in all of China; you don't have to rely on a cheap instant-death technique to keep me from rampaging all over the place."

"Oh yeah, because regular Kung Fu worked out so well the last time we tried it on you." She took the pot off the fireplace, anticipating that she probably wasn't supposed to take a bath in boiling water. "We may be some of the most skilled Masters in all of China, but you are the most skilled Master."

"I like to think that I changed, so this shouldn't be an issue anymore," Tai Lung told her firmly, "and from what I saw tonight, you five still have quite a few tricks up your sleeves, so give yourself some credit. I'm hardly invincible." Then, on a whim, he muttered, "Besides, if you want to be strict, then I'd say that Tigress is the most skilled Master right now."

"Oh, please. She's good, and probably the most skilled Master of us five, but you're way beyond her level. Which means that-" Viper froze, and Tai Lung immediately knew that he had given away too much. "Wait. Could you elaborate on that a bit?"

He gritted his teeth. "No."

She squinted at him. "It's obvious that you're more skilled than Tigress. So that would make you the more skilled Master, unless..."

"I'm practically a Grand Master! That's what I meant there! I mean, we also didn't count Master Shifu, right? So there. I'm outside your league. That's it."

That clearly hadn't been enough to satisfy her, and he was already considering to just leave when the realization hit her. "Did you ever take the exam for the title of Master for your natural style?"

"Of course I mastered my style!" The urge to leave was getting stronger.

A grin was spreading over her face. "You never took that stupid exam, did you? You..." The grin was growing wider. "You... aren't a Kung Fu Master..."

Tea poisoning or not, Tai Lung quickly got up and turned towards the door. "This is absurd!" he hissed, hoping to somehow shame her into stopping.

"If you leave, I'll tell the others..."

"IT'S JUST A TECHNICALITY!" he roared, desperation taking over now. "I never bothered to take the exam because I was training to become the Dragon Warrior!"

"Oh, I'm sure Tigress will be absolutely understanding of that!" Viper nodded almost sincerely, but then the grin was back.

Tai Lung twitched. "What do you want, snake?" he finally hissed.

Viper batted her eyes at him. "Oh, I'm a girl with simple needs, Tai Lung..."

What. The snow leopard squinted. "Wow, I know that living far away from others of your kind can make you feel lonely and unfulfilled, but I wouldn't have thought you to be so craving for affection..."

Now it was Viper's turn to squint. "Affection? Own kind? What are you even-" Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, wow! You were thinking I wanted a KISS? Or MORE?" She gave him a genuine, lighthearted laugh. "Oh my! Ha!" Her laughter was turning out to be contagious, as Tai Lung rapidly found himself laughing along with her. Which in turn only egged her on even more: "Oh, oh! I can see it now! You, holding me in a passionate embrace!" They giggled together. "On a cliff, with the surf splashing up against it!"

"My sweetest Viper, you're the only one I ever loved!" Tai Lung played along, striking the pose she had just described. Of course, his weakened body wasn't too thrilled by this, and he quickly stumbled and fell to the floor. Still, he was having a good time, laughing together with Viper for a few minutes.

"Ahhhhhh, thanks, I needed that," she finally wheezed, coming down from her laughing flash.

"Heh, welcome." He smiled politely. "So anyway, once the water cooled down, hop in and the ink will wash-"

"Ohhhhh no you don't!" Viper quickly interrupted him. "You're not getting off the hook that easily!"

Crap. His smile turned into a scowl. "So what do you want?"

"Nothing much, really. Just a piece of your dignity." She smirked. "Greet me. Properly."

"...what?" He gave her a puzzled frown. Not sure what she was expecting, he got up and gave her a quick salute, bowing slightly with his fist in his palm. "I... greet you? Good morning?"

Viper gave him a look that told him that this wasn't quite what she was waiting for. "Aaaaaand?"

And what? Seriously, why is she getting so hooked up on this whole business where she's a Master and I'm not? It's just a formali- He froze. Oh. That. Of course. He took a deep breath, making Viper grin. With his fist meeting the palm of the other hand, Tai Lung bowed deeply. "Good morning, Master Viper."

"Eeeeeee!" Viper was bouncing up and down excitedly. "Do it again!"

"No." He crossed his arms firmly.

"Oh come oooooon! Pretty please?" She batted her eyes at him again.

"I swear, if word of this gets out, not even the Poison Fang technique will protect you," he hissed before repeating the gesture. "Good morning, Maaaster Viper."

"I could do this all day." Viper sighed dreamily. "Oh well. Maybe I'll make you do it again in a few weeks." She ignored his twitch. "So... yeah, I guess you can understand my struggle?"

"The struggle of trying to get away with continuous blackmailing?"

"Knowing a deadly technique and then swearing to yourself that you'll never use it. I mean, you obviously play by those rules, too."

"Obviously?" he asked, though she was of course right.

"You've engaged us twice now. Once was a fight in which we almost killed you, and the other time, we pretty much ambushed you. You probably know a dozen techniques to kill somebody quickly, and yet the most advanced technique you used merely stunned us."

"All just part of my master plan to get Master Shifu to accept me back into the temple," Tai Lung countered, trying to look as sincere as possible.

"Careful with those jokes, Tigress might actually believe you." She slowly dipped the tail end of her body into the water, considered it for a moment, and then slipped into it all the way until only her head was above the surface. "Ahhhhhhhhh..."

He shrugged lazily. "Tigress isn't going to be around for a while, and I'm sure she'll be full of love for me once she comes back."

Viper snickered at the last part, but then gave him a curious look. "What's that all about, anyway? Master Shifu hasn't taken any of us to the Sacred Pool of Tears in years, and now he's suddenly willing to take Tigress there and leave you here without supervision?"

"I'd say that the Dragon Warrior and four members of the Furious Five are more than enough supervision," he commented. "And maybe he feels that Tigress is ready for the next step of her-"

"She has been ready for years!" Viper snapped, her sudden anger startling the bigger fighter. "Sorry, sorry... it's just been sort of a sore spot for us."

"That Master Shifu has been holding all of you back?"

She gave him a look. "Thanks to you, yes."

"I'm willing to shoulder half the blame for this one, but not more." He narrowed his eyes. "But returning to your original question, I'm not sure what made him change his mind now." As much as I'd like to give myself credit for this one, I doubt he did it just because I blurted out the accusation way back...

"Maybe he feels she's still not over the whole bridge fiasco?" Viper suddenly asked after a few seconds of silence.

Tai Lung huffed. "We all know she's not. But what I don't know is why she's not. All of you have the same reasons to hate me; I had been your nemesis, and you tried to fight me to the death. Yet you all managed to give me another chance while she keeps going back to that fight. This is more than just a competitive streak, and even if this was just her griping about a lost fight, that wouldn't explain why Master Shifu would reward her for it by teaching her something new."

"Heh, reward." Viper laughed quietly and shook her head. "I shouldn't laugh, really. It's kinda mean. It just amuses me to see you being unable to grasp just how messed-up the relationship between Tigress, Master Shifu and you is." She briefly rose out of the water. "Oh hey, look, the paint's starting to coming off!"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "I believe it's now your turn to elaborate." Then, after a moment: "Not on the paint, I mean."

"It's a funny story, really; you're going to love it," Viper told him, not even trying to mask her sarcasm at this point. "At age eight, young Tigress did her first backflip from the roof of the Hall of Warriors. Master Shifu took her aside to praise this achievement, and he did so by assuring her that she was destined for greatness. That later on, it would be up to her to defend the Jade Palace and the Valley of Peace from all threats. You know, like bandits." She gave him a crooked grin. "Or you. And yes, that's what he totally did back then: he flat out told her that it would be her destiny to fight for all that is dear to her if that crazy evil Master of all styles ever came back."

Tai Lung's eyes were so wide, he was mildly afraid they'd fall out of their sockets. "He told her that it would be her destiny to stop me? Seriously?" Then he replayed Viper's narration in his head. "At age eight?"

"Tigress told me so, and she did it in her weird matter-of-fact voice where you can tell she doesn't even see anything particularly wrong with it." Viper sighed deeply. "Ever since then, Tigress has been training. Her life since childhood has been dedicated to defending the Valley of Peace against you at all cost. That had been her sole mission in life." She narrowed her eyes. "So tell me, Tai Lung, can you see why she might not be over the fight at the bridge?"

He gave her a blank look. "I'm sorry, but I'm still at the whole age-eight part. This is terribly irresponsible parenting. Didn't her orphanage ever ask for a refund?"

"Orphanages don't work that way, you idiot," Viper replied slowly and with a slightly exasperated expression. Then she relaxed a bit. "Tigress went into that fight, feeling that it was her destiny to either kill you or to die trying. And then she failed on both counts, and I guess this is still nagging at her despite all that has happened since then."

"Are you saying I rather should've killed her?" Or, more conveniently, that I should've let her kill me?

"I don't think anybody would put it in such drastic terms, no," Viper admitted and rolled her eyes. "But before you broke out, Tigress felt that she had a purpose. Now she's faced with both of you being alive and - we all hope - on the same side. She needs to find her inner balance again. And maybe Master Shifu feels responsible for putting her in this situation."

Tai Lung took a deep breath. What is it with Master Shifu and promises about destiny? Didn't he learn his lesson after my screw-up? So now there are two people at the Jade Palace unsure of their place in life? Brilliant. He gave Viper a look. "Assuming that your analysis so far is correct, how do you think will he restore Tigress's inner balance?"

Viper tilted her head this way and that as she considered this question. "Well, I suppose one way is to let her meditate over the meaning of life until she has matured enough to surpass-"

"Yes, that sounds likely," Tai Lung interrupted her and crossed his arms. "And then we hug and kiss and go for a long walk along the beach until we finally reach the magnificent castle of the Fairytale Kingdom."

"Spoilsport." The snake laughed quietly. "Fine, so we both know that Tigress will be training for a fight with you. And that Master Shifu will teach her something nice and advanced that won't be too hard for her to pick up... and that hopefully won't force us to mop up your remains afterwards."

"Yes, mopping would be... bad," he admitted. Especially since I'm speaking from experience there by now. "But tell me, if we're having that fight, and if I end up beating her again..."

Viper's smile froze. "Then there will be mopping. Lots and lots of mopping."