Children of Shifu
I don't own Kung Fu Panda
They agreed to spar. To release some steam, Po suggested. Really, it was to get rid of some of the tension everyone felt around the two. Tigress jumped into the air and landed a crushing kick on his gray fur. He jumped back and ducked her flying kick. Striking at her side, Tai Lung punched her leg.
She grunted, sticking the landing on all fours. Though not as hard, the strike landed right near her joint. She had to be careful. Tai Lung readied his pose. His smug smile made the tiger growl. She stormed up, charging him with every punch and kick she could. The snow leopard nimbly ducked and dodged each one and threw a punch into her stomach.
But the tiger blocked just in time. She jumped and floored both feet straight into Tai Lung's face. He tumbled back, though he didn't fall. Opening his eyes, he growled at the tiger's smirk. The two ran straight at each other. Their roars spilled out. Tigress threw her double-handed strike only for Tai Lung to jump and kick her to the end of the pit. Before she had time to get up, Tai Lung towered over her, making simply getting up impossible.
"That's enough," Said a tired voice. The two felines turned their heads to a familiar red panda holding his master's staff. "I thought Po's suggestion would help you two, but I see that it's only made Tai Lung more emboldened and Tigress more reckless."
"Master Shifu, I-"
"That's enough," Shifu interrupted Tigress. "It's late, both of you are done fighting. I don't want to hear anything else in this Hall, understand?"
"Yes, Master," Tigress replied. The snow leopard simply glared at his old master and father. Shifu shook his head and left the hall. Tai Lung grinned to himself. Though revived by Po, the snow leopard made things difficult for the warriors of the Jade Palace, especially and unsurprisingly Shifu. While Po seemed to handle the two well enough, the others always seemed anxious whenever Shifu and Tai Lung were in the same room. It only elevated when Tigress was involved.
"I brought him back for a reason," Po told the others.
"And that is?"
"To heal some wounds. Besides, I don't think Master Shifu is the only one that needs to make peace," Po explained.
"You can show some respect," Grunted the striped feline.
The snow leopard scoffed, "I'm not under any obligation to do so. I'm here for the safety of the Valley of Peace. Not for Shifu."
"It's dishonorable."
"It's dishonorable to build up your student for greatness only to deny it."
"What's the first thing about inner peace?" Tigress asked. Tai Lung grumbled softly. She didn't say this as aggressively as she could've, but it still felt impactful.
"This isn't something I can simply let go. He knows what he's done."
"And how will that help you?"
"Much better than your Kung Fu. Hm. And I thought the panda was the one who needed training."
The grin on his face only hardened Tigress's glare. She crossed her striped arms. It was all she could do to keep from striking him; she knew that it wouldn't help. And knowing Shifu, he would blame her for getting riled up because of him. Something about letting the enemy take advantage of her or some nonsense.
Tigress took a breath. No, she couldn't start taking her anger out on Shifu. Not right now, at least. "So then, are you sure you're doing what your master is telling you? Since you can't defeat me," Tai Lung smirked.
Tigress growled, "Shut up."
"Admit it, you know that he's a controlling teacher and a worse fa-"
"I said shut up! Stop telling me stuff I already know!" Tigress roared. Tai Lung's head jerked back. The tiger's heavy breathing echoed in the wooden hall while her fists clenched in an attempt to hold herself back.
But he still grinned, "Ah so you admit it. You and I aren't so different, you know. Both orphans, raised by Shifu with dreams of being the Dragon Warrior, only for the panda to take it away from us."
Tigress rose a narrowed eyelid. "If this is an attempt to turn me against Po, then you're sadly mistaken."
"Oh I wouldn't dream of such a thing," He smirked in a strangely sincere way. "But still, I am curious. Your skills are lacking and not because of age and experience. Yet you've obeyed your master to the T while your fighting is incredibly predictable. It makes me wonder what is keeping you back where the panda has flourished. I highly doubt that it's because Shifu loved Po more than you."
Though he still held his smug look, Tigress squinted her eyes, lowering her crossed arms. "What do you mean?"
"I just wonder. What did Shifu teach you that made your Kung Fu suffer? What? Did he not love you as much as me?" Tai Lung grinned.
There's a tactic in the school of manipulation that involves targeting the weak emotional points of a person. If someone pokes at these points, two reactions follow: Rage, which is surprisingly predictable and almost always leads to recklessness. Or despair, which can cause permanent more long-lasting damage. Knowing Tigress's hot temper, the snow leopard was sure that-
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Laughter. The smug smile on Tai Lung's face vanished. She was laughing. She gripped her face while she laughed, clutching her belly in the process. He gasped quietly as he saw a trickling tear drip down her cheek.
Tigress removed her hand and stared at the snow leopard, still chuckling. Tears dripped down her face. "You really don't know what you did, do you?" She wiped her eyes and smiled brazenly at him. "Tell me, Tai Lung. What exactly do you think Shifu taught us? What do you think happened when you left? Do you think he just started all over and decided to teach the next students who walked in the hall? To replace you? Hm?"
"I... uh..."
"You got to experience the warmth and embrace of Shifu's pride," Tigress's smile slowly vanished. "Shifu never loved anyone the way he loved you. He never loved me the way he loved you. I can only recall him saying he was proud of me twice. You've had his pride since the day you were born because you've only ever known Shifu. Me? I was picked out from an orphanage. When you were gone, I worked tirelessly to make Shifu feel better. And nothing I did worked."
Her amber eyes stared deep into the snow leopard. No growl exited her mouth. No tension lived in her body. Yet Tai Lung couldn't touch her. Couldn't stop her. Something else was an invisible shield to anything that Tai Lung could ever dream of fighting against.
"I was never... given dream or hopes from him. I never knew what he was training me for. Dragon Warrior? Master of the Jade Palace? To this day, I don't know. He told me to train past the point that my bones would break. You were denied a destiny?" Tigress chuckled, shaking her head. "I don't think he ever had a destiny for me after you left. Everything I did... I did to make him proud."
Tai Lung's eyes widened. A sharp pain in his chest caused his throat to tighten. Tigress sagged her arms, legs, and entire body. Any form of rage or despair that Tai Lung planned to exploit wasn't anywhere to be found. She simply held a sad smile with rebel tears streaming down her face.
"And so," She spoke softly, "You don't need to tell me how Shifu is. I already know."
"Then... why do you stay here? Why keep doing this? Why don't you just leave and go somewhere else? Somewhere where you feel appreciated the way you should?"
Tigress smiled wider. She had to. For some reason, Tai Lung's voice held a bit of child-like ignorance to it. "Because Shifu is the first one who showed me I wasn't a monster. For that, I will always be in his debt until he dies." The snow leopard watched the tiger slowly walk to the door.
"I... didn't know," he practically whispered. "I'm sorry."
Tigress paused. She looked back for a moment but said nothing. She simply opened the door and left. The snow leopard stood alone and silent in the Training Hall.
The next day, bandits attacked the village. Tigress found herself pinned under two gorilla's fists, growling to get them off. "Ha ha! Looks like this kitten is all roar and no claw," Said the gorillas.
"I'm not!" A foot slammed across the gorillas, knocking them off of Tigress. She looked up and saw Tai Lung offering a hand.
"Why help me?"
"Why not?"
"You usually don't."
"Like I said, you and I aren't so different. And I didn't realize how hypocritical I was about you being Shifu's pet," Tai Lung smiled. That smile was different. So different that Tigress gasped at the sight. There was... happiness in his smile?
"WAHHHHH!" Both cats spun their head around. A flying panda flopped onto them. "Whoops sorry!"
"Po!" Tai Lung and Tigress grunted. They got the panda off before a boar bandit could slice off their heads with an axe.
"Hey! I got this cool new move, you want to try it?" Po asked them.
Tai Lung glanced at Tigress, worried. The tiger sighed with a smirk. "He was technically trained by Shifu too."
"Oh that says so much about Shifu," Tai Lung laughed pitifully. Po grabbed Tigress's and Tai Lung's hands, swung them back and threw them together. The felines bashed the boar's face and knees in a scissoring body slam move.
"HA! It actually worked!"
"You weren't sure!" Tai Lung growled.
"Am I ever?"
"I...! Urrrgh!"
With the battle done and the bandits arrested, they went to Mr. Ping's shop for food. On the way, Tigress and Tai Lung stood by each other's side in the back. The tiger stopped and sighed, "I still don't understand."
"Like I said-"
"But what's the same?" Tigress asked.
Tai Lung sighed, "We both wanted to make Shifu proud. We both sacrificed being great warriors to do that. It's time we stopped chasing for someone else's admiration. We need to be better than Shifu."
Tigress gave a small nod and followed the others to the shop.
Time changed the seasons and some people. The Jade Palace became much quieter, though nobody could pinpoint the day or hour. The felines seemed to tolerate each others' presence increasingly. It impressed even Shifu. "Maybe you've been a good example to them, Po."
"I... don't think this is because of me," the giant panda chuckled. A year passed. They fought together, they ate together, and they stood side-by-side together. But they never really spoke directly to each other. It unsettled Po.
"Why?" Tigress asked.
Po shrugged, "It just feels like you two are... I don't know... angry but not angry at each other. Like you two went through some major issue and agreed not to talk about it."
"It's... something like that," Tigress smiled.
Slowly, it wasn't too weird to see Tai Lung with Tigress on their walks with Po. The panda liked 'patrolling' as he called it.
"You know patrolling is about looking out for danger, not talking with a bunch of strangers," Tai Lung pointed out as the panda talked with one of the vendors.
Po rolled his eyes. "Come on, Tai Lung. Patrolling in the village can be fun. And these guys aren't strangers."
"To you."
"But they're still my people," Po smiled. Tai Lung groaned while Tigress snuck in a small laugh. The three of them walked down the lively winter streets. Tai Lung stood in the middle with Tigress on his left and Po on his right. Tigress had a red scarf around her neck that wasn't 'large' enough for Po since his father gave him his old green vest for the winter.
Tigress glanced down at the red scarf. She worriedly stared at Po who would shiver a bit now and then. "Are you sure you don't need this scarf, Po?"
"I told you, Tigress. It's fine. Besides, it's too... small for me?"
"How does a scarf get too small for someone?" Tai Lung asked, sporting his purple scarf by Viper.
Po scratched the back of his head, "Uhh... shrinks in the wash?" He grinned anxiously. The snow leopard groaned under his breath.
A group of goats and geese walked past them, greeting Tigress and Po, but they quickly sped along when they noticed Tai Lung. "What are they doing with that strange breed? I thought he was a vicious crook. Why would they have him here? Maybe they're taking him back to prison? Yeah, like he'll be anything useful out here," They whispered.
Each of the three warriors could hear them. The snow leopard frowned.
A loud splat to the back of Tai Lung's head alarmed the three of them. Egg yolk trickled down the back of the snow leopard's head. He simply sighed as he picked up some snow on the ground and rubbed some of the yolk off.
A large furry hand rested on his shoulder. Po grabbed a cloth from his vest and wiped off the yolk. "Don't worry about them," he said.
"I guess I deserve that. And they're right. My actions here years ago have-"
The panda and snow leopard stopped. They heard a growl. Suddenly, Tigress was chasing after the group. "Hey! Get back here!"
"Tigress! Wait!" Po shot over and grabbed the tiger while she flailed and snarled, scaring the goats and geese away. While Po held the raging tiger back by picking her up by the waist, Tai Lung stared on in shock.
And with a little smile.
The next moment was different. Tigress knelt at a red panda's disapproving stare while he held his staff. Pieces of goose feathers and goat fur still stuck on her fur after Po 'accidentally' let go of her. She shivered as Shifu hurled his scowling remarks. "Tigress, I can not believe you would do something like this. How could you lose control so easily to mere-"
"It's not her fault." Tai Lung stood in between Shifu and Tigress. The red panda rose a bushy eyebrow. The spotted cat took a calming breath and spoke, "Those people were jeering at me and... as a defense to my dwindling honor... Tigress reacted the way she did."
Both Tigress's and Shifu's eyes widened. The red panda looked past Tai Lung's form, staring puzzledly at the striped feline. "Is this true, Tigress?"
"Y-Yes, Master Shifu."
Shifu glanced between the two felines. He gave a great sigh and smiled, motioning the tiger up to her feet. "Well then, I'm glad that you defended someone with a... less than ideal status. I'm pleased that you two are... more respectful of each other. But next time, try to be more... level-headed about these things."
"Yes, Master Shifu," Tai Lung and Tigress bowed. Standing at the open door of the Hall of Heroes, Po smiled as he watched the scene. He glanced out the door and saw more of the Peach Tree from this spot.
A dark memory filled his head but he smiled as he glanced back at the two felines smiling and joking with each other in front of their pleased master.
Just two kids joking with their father.
Continued...
A/N: I have... no idea where I'm going with these stories, but usually I never do soooo XD This was admittedly hard to do realistically. Each Tai Vs Ti trope I try my best to make it as realistic as possible. The reason is because it's hard to keep Tigress Or Tai Lung in character. This is my best RECENT attempt at that.
I'll be honest, I was scared to put this one out. I've started noticing that the stories I put more effort into have less interactions than lighter chapter ones, but this is fine. I think it's because when we don't care about doing something, we're more general and more creative. We don't overthink it. Whereas if we put more effort into it, we run the risk of overthinking, putting stuff in that shouldn't be there, removing some stuff, not making any sense, or isolating other audiences because of something we really like. So the question is how do you get out of your own way when you write?