Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Wolf and the Tiger. Enjoy the 3000-word chapter. I do not own Kung Fu Panda; Dream Works and a few others do.
"There…" Kiba stated before sighing.
The last of the sakura plants were planted and he stood up. His blue tunic was replaced with a much more formal blue and black one with a symbol of a wolf, dragon, and tiger on the back. His fur looked much more groomed and he held a wedding band on his left hand.
"I had forgotten, you used to come to this cliff all the time." Kiba heard as he snorted.
"Because I was a child," Kiba said as he stood up.
"All souls are children at heart, Kiba…" Kiba heard as he sighed and shook his hands.
"And all souls are pure like flowers. I am aware." Kiba said, a smile pulling at his lips. "It has been 2 years. You know she is going to kill me when I get back, right?" Kiba asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"You wanted to finish your training," Heiwa stated as he sighed and looked at his bloody hands. "Go… I will still be an old man when you get back," Heiwa stated before he shook his head.
Kiba sighed, turned… Looked… Then leaned down to hug the old master.
"Thank you… For everything, master." Heiwa stated as the antelope chuckled and patted him on the head.
"Thank you for being the son I always wanted… Now go before Tigress decides you need to be humiliated in front of the entire valley. The boats out of our country leave soon." Heiwa stated as Kiba nodded before grabbing his backpack and backflipping down the hill.
He passed dozens of trees… All were planted by hand. His home reminded him of the Jade Palace… However, living atop a mountain left problems.
He fell like a stone, passing hand-carved stairs… Master Heiwa was always the oddest of teachers he had spoken to.
Then again? It surprised him greatly how much one man could teach.
The wolf grabbed a branch and used it to send himself sliding across the pond at the bottom of the steps and into the city.
"Tigress is going to kill me," Kiba muttered, using the flip to pull up his hood.
Since the fall of Kai? The majority of the Five and Kiba had decided to train or focus on other things. There was no war, no massive invasion, a rogue master. Kiba had decided to focus on mastering what he could before coming back to China.
And he knew Tigress would break his teeth in if he was late. The woman had decided to train the Pandas in Kung Fu and saw him off.
And she was also holding him to his promise to come back by the end of the year or she would track him to Japan and haul him back.
Kiba did not take that threat lightly. She was a woman of sheer focus and angering his wife was SO not something the wolf wanted to do.
(In China, 1 and a half weeks later)
"He's going to be late," Tigress stated, sitting at the end of the docks.
"C'mon, he made a promise…" Tigress heard as she snorted.
"Please move!" Kiba yelled as she snickered.
Kiba leaped atop the boat… Then to another, leapt for the docks and rolled along it, fumbling the roll in his haste.
"Told you," Monkey stated before he sighed. "Hey, Kiba. How was your trip?" Monkey asked, pretending to mimic what Tigress was to say.
"I ran… At least 150 miles… Just to get to the stupid boat… Because of a delay." Kiba stated, panting as if he had been out of breath for a year.
"Wow, you barely made it." Tigress joked as Kiba panted, exhausted.
He held up his pointer finger towards her as he sighed to himself.
"Not… A word," Kiba said before he sighed and shook his head.
There were a lot of differences in what was growing in his mind. He seemed to be distracted as the wolf slowly started to think of what to say.
"You ran… Miles just to get to a boat?" Viper asked as Kiba nodded, slowly collapsing to the side. "Tigress… You were not going to chase Kiba to Japan if he did not come back in the 2 years he promised?" Viper asked before she looked to the side.
"Do not ask…. She will." Kiba stated as Tigress nodded, smirking. "Missed you too, Ti. My lungs hurt worse than they did climbing the mountains." Kiba stated before he crashed to the ground.
Tigress only sighed at her husband. She was too much to distract her, it was a long trip back to the Jade Palace and it appeared a LOT of it would be spent with her dealing with Kiba almost dying to come back.
Kiba finally found his breath after almost 10 minutes. She would fault Kiba for this but it was clear something to have to come crashing to the ground.
Kiba looked at his wife, his clothes had changed over the years. His robes had a hood which was the same blue and black as his robes, and a backpack with Kiba's swords hung over his back, she had learned that Kiba had been practicing with weapons over the 2 years.
He sighed to himself as he pulled up the metal mask over his head, she could see a blue wolf on one side, a crimson tiger on the right, and a golden dragon on the middle.
"Spent a lot of time getting new clothes," Tigress stated as Kiba hummed.
"I was busy thinking," Kiba stated before he shook his head and then looked to the side.
"Are you ok?" Tigress asked as Kiba nodded. "You should know I did miss you. So did Po… Just do not ask Shifu to admit it." Tigress stated to which Kiba snorted.
"Your dad never admits anything, Ti," Kiba stated before he sighed to himself. "We have plenty of work to do… How is Po?" Kiba stated, a smile pulling at the lips of the wolf master.
(With Po)
Po was tired, distracted by each and everything now… Well, getting to have one last fight.
He had just explained the problem of why the Five were busy… And now he was clocked on the head with a scroll that they would be back within a day or so.
"Oh… Guess I was wrong about them all having adventures, guess they got done with them faster than I thought." Po said as he hummed.
Fighting off Zhen had unbalanced his mind, that, and the fact that Shifu wanted him to retire.
"Huh, wonder how they're going to take it," Po stated, wondering if they would help in explaining to Shifu why he could not retire.
That and explaining the new adventure they had to deal with for now.
(1 day later)
"WHAT!?" The Five and Kiba yelled.
"What do you mean, 'retire?!' I get back from 2 years of training and you want Po to stop being the guy who defends all of China?!" Kiba yelled as he looked at Po. "Why!?" Kiba yelled.
He looked over to Po who was nodding.
"Po must become the spiritual leader, it is the next step of his journey," Shifu stated as Kiba snorted.
"No, it is not. You did not ask him to be a spiritual leader when Shen was an issue when Kai was an issue." Kiba stated as Tigress sighed.
"He also has not mastered anything spiritually. None of us have." Tigress stated as Po nodded.
"Thank you, he thinks because I have the staff…" Po said as Kiba snorted.
"Oh, you mean the jade staff I was in the spirit realm with you when Master Oogway handed it to you? Yeah, that means Po should retire from saving people." Kiba stated as Shifu sighed.
"It is his destiny," Shifu said as Tigress hummed.
"Why don't you become a spiritual leader, master?" Tigress asked as Po nodded.
"Because Master Oogway did not entrust the staff to me," Shifu responded as Kiba snorted.
"Hey, Po? Did Master Oogway tell you to retire so you can sit on the mountain and do nothing? No? Hmm…" Kiba asked as he turned. "What is Po even going to do as a spiritual leader? You did not even explain what his new role is or WHY we need it." Kiba said as Monkey hummed.
"Plus, Master Shifu is retired, you did make Po the master of the Jade Palace before Kai attacked, and told him to train all of US," Monkey said as Shifu sighed and left, realizing his students would continue to ask questions.
"So… What is the mission, Po?" Kiba stated as Po started to lay it out.
(10 minutes later)
"Ok… Sounds like Shen all over." Kiba stated before he sighed. "Also? We are going to be gone for a WHILE… Going to need to pack." Kiba said as Po nodded.
"Hmm…" Po said as he left.
"Seriously. Why would Po retire? He cannot retire, then who is going to be annoying us?" Monkey joked as Kiba snorted.
"I'm just happy to have something to do besides training until my arms and legs break," Kiba muttered with a sigh. "Ok… I will be back after I grab my stuff… And food." Kiba said before walking down the stairs.
"So… You seem fine," Crane stated as Tigress shrugged. "You missed him, admit it. You missed Po talking about things like food and you missed Kiba because he wanted to finish his training in case anything else came up."
"Nope," Tigress said as Viper hummed.
"She did, she missed them… She talked every day about missing Kiba and wanting to come home after her mission was done." Viper stated as Tigress sighed. "You promised to be honest with your feelings after Kai," Viper stated as Tigress hummed.
"Don't tell Po, he'd never let me hear the end of it," Tigress said as Kiba slowly started up the stairs.
"I hate… These stupid steps." Kiba muttered as Tigress snickered. "Po? You ready?" Kiba asked as the Panda sighed.
"Looking for my back… Nope, that isn't it, that isn't either… Kiba did I leave it on top of the room of 1000 mirrors or…?" Po asked as Monkey sighed.
"On top of the training door, Po…" Monkey said as Kiba sighed.
"This is going to be a LONG day," Kiba stated, collapsing from exhaustion again.
"Dorks," Tigress stated, a smirk pulling at her lips as her husband sighed and waited at the base of the thousand steps for them.
He knew this was going to be an adventure for the books and he was going to have a lot more to deal with.
But he did not care, he had enjoyed coming back home. He would be able to relax alongside the Five and Po, he was content with what was going to happen.
Plus? It would get him some time to talk with his friends as he relaxed, cracking his fingers, and waiting for them to come down the stairs.
He was tired now and he had been tired now since he had a lot more to distract them for now.
Tigress sighed, looking at her husband and then her friend. She did not want to admit she had missed them and then distracted herself by throwing herself into work once more.
It had been distracting to them as Tigress thought of what was growing on her mind now and she thought of what was occurring on her mind.
They had a lot more to deal with and she thought of it all now and it had been too much to distract themselves.
Tigress seemed to be distracted for a few seconds before Po slowly started to walk down the steps, the cape he had talked up the entire time of his tenure with them and straw hat atop his head.
Kiba sighed and sat at the bottom of the steps, his metallic mask pulled up and hood pulled down as he looked downwards at the ground, tired.
Something about it all made Kiba snort at the time as he cracked his fingers once more, yawning as he did so.
There was something to be said about the fact he was tired and yet it was not due to training but due to the simple fact he had upheld his promise.
Kiba patiently waited, Po holding up his hand for a high five as Kiba snorted and rolled his eyes before giving his friend one as he walked by. He slowly stood up, yawning as he did so, and began to walk forward.
They had a lot more to talk about anyway when it came down to it now and would continue to remain that way until it was discussed.
"So…" Kiba stated as he stood to his feet. "What has the great Dragon Warrior been up to since Kai? You have not talked to us in years and I had to reach out to Monkey to get anything." Kiba stated before he sighed to himself.
Po shrugged as he looked over and around.
"Had a lot of weird dreams, 1 where I taught kids with spirit powers, 1 where I ended up becoming a criminal and forced to run off and visit other countries…" Po said as Kiba snorted.
"And we were not included? Thanks, Po, thanks a lot for all of that." Kiba stated as he sighed to himself. "Heard you defeated a lot of villains while we were gone," Kiba stated as Po chuckled.
"Yeah, Valley of Peace has been in a lot of trouble since you guys went to handle other things," Po said as Kiba sighed.
"Don't tell Tigress but I'd rather have dealt with those guys than train… 2 years was SO boring," Kiba stated as he sighed, eager to focus on anything other than this.
They had plenty of things to deal with. Something about it all had been too much and it had hurt now as he wanted to relax once more and paused once more.
Kiba followed, his backpack covered by his swords and several ideas for now. It had been too much to distract themselves for now and it had been too much.
He was bored. He had been bored back in Japan, training was all he did and he had almost wanted to go home at the end of the day.
There was something to distract him and he would take it for now. Tigress made him happy and he had spent the entire time relaxing for now, until he had gotten back to the Valley of Palace.
They had a lot more on their minds. A lot of questions now and good which had yet to be made apparent.
Kiba sighed to himself. He was bored with every single little move now as he paused to try and think of it all had been dealt with.
They had a lot more to deal with, something about it all had. They had a lot more to deal with at the end of the day, there was something to understand it for now as he cracked his fingers once.
They had a lot more to try and think of this before he thought of the next move. Kiba sighed before he cracked his fingers once more, paused, in his world as he wanted to try and relax himself.
They had a lot more to do anyway. They thought of something else to focus on now when it was said and done.
Kiba yawned, a sentiment shared by Po as both realized more and more that there was going to be no freaking end to their adventure.
He looked to the side, something about today was bugging him… It had gone from day to night in a matter of seconds, had they been off on their journey that long?
He did not know; he did not know what to say or even do as they walked.
"So… The person is kinda a thief." Kiba heard as he shrugged. "Who tried breaking into the Jade Palace," Po stated as Kiba hummed and sighed to himself.
There was something to be said about that as Tigress raised an eyebrow.
"Someone tried to ROB the Jade Palace?" Tigress stated to which Po nodded. "And you DIDN'T tell us?" Tigress asked, tapping her foot on the ground.
"You guys were busy, I didn't think you'd all be back anytime soon, Mantis being married, Viper talking to the Mongooses, Kiba in another country," Po said as Kiba sighed.
"Po? You know we can handle anything, right? We were not going to be stopped by a few problems… I had to run miles just to get to a boat home, it was not easy but I managed to get home. Nothing was going to slow us down." Kiba said as he sighed.
"Yeah… Good, we can head out, find the town, come back and relax." Po said as Kiba shook his head.
"This is relaxing to me… Sides, it isn't like you can do everything solo, Po." Kiba stated before he smiled.
Po sighed as he realized this was probably the end of him as Dragon Warrior. Well, at least with his friends? He would have one last journey when it came to it all.
Little did they notice that their master had his issues… And would be involved whether he wanted to or not.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! A few things.
This story will have spoilers towards KP4, please do not read it unless you do not care or have seen it.
I was just going to have it be Kiba and Tigress joining Po but decided it would not be the same without the Five… Which are not IN KP4 to my disappointment.
Some of the ideas here are based on the ideas NOT used in the film which the co-director wanted but was shut down at every chance.
The next chapter will be in 2-10 months, be 900-6500 words, showing Kiba, Po, Zhen, and the Five at the Happy Bunny and starting their trip to Juniper City. Until then? Lighting Wolf out!