17 Tigress

[3rd POV]

"Come on, push harder Po. You have the ability and the potential to achieve anything. You just have to believe in yourself, just like I have come to believe in you." Master Shifu encouraged as Po ran around the training ground.

On his back was a giant boulder bigger than himself and this was the 98th time that he had ran around the training ground. 

His endurance seemed to be his weakest point and with warriors like Tai Lung who could fight an entire army for days, it was a weakness he must overcome quickly.

It has been three weeks since Master Oogway's passing and also the time when he finally accepted Po as his student.

Shifu himself could not believe he was saying this but, Po was blessed. He was a genius in every sense of the word, quite like nothing he had ever seen before.

Po was not like his other students, it almost seemed like Kung Fu was pre-downloaded in his very being. Although unorthodox, Shifu just had to find a way to bring that out of him.

The prophecy was true, the Dragon Warrior was a warrior unlike anything the world had ever seen before. In only a few weeks, Po had become as strong as a member of the Furious Five.

Although it was still not enough to beat Tai Lung, Shifu was hopeful for the future.

Po was not like the other masters, he did not practice one Kung Fu style for years. Instead, he seemed to be able to come up with moves on the fly and replicate any moves he had seen before or at least replicate their effect, implementing them in his fighting style.

His physique too was special. Do not let his fat appearance fool you, his body could take hits better than a muscular buffalo.

He was built like a balloon, and Shifu meant that in every sense of the word. Po's unique body was able to disperse kinetic energy upon contact, reducing the effect of punches and kicks to almost zero.

Master Shifu had even tried to use nerve attacks on him in his preparation to fight Tai Lung, only to realize that it was not working on the Panda.

A nerve attack, which required one to hit a certain point in a body was meaningless to Po as his body disperses the energy and spread throughout his body, making him experience nothing but a 'tickle' as Po said, when a nerve attack was used on him.

Truly, the Panda was the most unorthodox warrior he had ever seen. It was ridiculous. He was sure Tai Lung would have a field day when fighting him as he would try to understand how the Panda works.

*Booom!!*

*Boing!*

The Panda collapsed on the ground with tongue rolling out of his mouth due to exhaustion. Shifu was brought out of his reverie as he gazed fondly at Po who was slowly becoming his favourite student.

It was not only he who was learning but Shifu as well. He learned new things everytime he taught Po.

"I'm- I'm done master." Po heaved up and down, "Now let me die in peace."

"Now, now, don't die on me just yet. You still have strength training to do." Shifu said much to Po's horror.

"But before that, a small reward." Shfiu said and took out a bowl of dumplings from behind him. Po instantly forgot his exhaustion and put his face close to the bowl.

"No way!" Po said and took a big sniff, "It's Mr Han's!!"

"Yes." Shifu said, indeed he bought the dumplings from Mr Han who was renowned as th best dumpling maker in the Valley.

"Can I really take it?"

"You earned it. Enjoy." Shifu said as Po took the bowl from him.

Po sat down on the ground and slowly ate the dumplings as if they were treasures. Usually, he could finish them all in an instant but he dared not do that to Mr Han's dumplings.

These gorgeous babies deserve to be tasted properly and to be cherished.

Shifu shook his head and watched fondly as Po ate his food. On another topic, his thoughts went to his other students whom he had stationed at the Mountain Pass located in the Cliff of Great Awakening.

Their job was to disrupt and slow down Tai Lung while he crossed the bridges of Threads of Hope. If they were successful, they should retreat as quick as possible and bring back the news. 

He also told them to not get into direct confrontation with Tai Lung as that would not end well for them.

The events of Kung Fu Panda 1 have been greatly changed now since Tai Lung took 4 weeks instead of 2 to reach the Valley of Peace. This was one of the changes, the Furious Five left with their master's permission.

Shifu looked to the Sky and wondered how they were doing. Have they confronted Tai Lung? What if they got into a fight and Tai Lung had already killed them all?

Just when he was worrying and deep in thought, a shadow obstructed his view. He focused his eyes and he finally saw Crane carrying his friends through the opposing sun rays.

"No." He said and quickly climbed down the steps and ran to the middle of the training ground where Crane - carrying his friends - crashed.

Shifu immediately ran up to Crane and he checked him and everyone else of their injuries. Luckily, no one was gravely injured and were still breathing.

But there was also something else.

"These.....nerve attacks." Shifu said and he immediately got to work. He reversed the nerve attacks done by Tai Lung as the Furious Five slowly regained their mobility. No longer being paralysed like a statue.

"He's too strong," Monkey said as he lay tiredly on the ground.

"And fast." Matis commented.

"His techniques were also lethal and ruthless." Viper said as she soothed her injured body which had a clear bite mark on it.

"Sorry, we lost Master." Crane said sadly, lowering his head.

"No need to be sorry. It was to be expected. It is already a miracle that he didn't kill you." Shifu said. 

Now that begs the question, why did he not kill them and instead let them come back? His first thought was to scare them but he already did that by destroying Mielin City and killing Master Bear.

Did he look down on them that much? To the point that he thinks it makes no difference if he spared them. That he believed a future conflict with them wouldn't even prove to be an annoyance. 

Shifu shook his head, now is not the time to get lost in thought.

"Po, bring water for them," Shifu said as Po, who had been standing behind him, ran inside the Jade Palace to fetch water for the Furious Five.

"Crane, tell me exactly what happened." He said seriously, "Starting with, where the hell is Tigress?"

---__---__---__---__---__---__---__---

[Tai Lung's POV]

"How long are you going to follow me?" I asked Tigress who was dragging her body behind me as I walked along the roads of the Valley of Peace.

I was already in the Valley, there were few villages to cross and I would reach my destination in a day or so.

"I can't- I won't let you destroy my home." She said stubbornly while clutching her abdomen as she followed me. Each step she took seemed to hurt her greatly but she persisted.

Admirable. But utterly foolish.

"You have been repeating that for a long time now. Don't you have any other dialogue in you or does your character end there?" I asked and turned back to look at her.

Broken hand, ribs, a bruise on her abdomen, blood near her lips and she was also limping. Overall, she looks like she just fought the most dangerous warrior in China.

"I don't care what becomes of me. I won't let you-"

"Destroy your home blah blah blah, I know. You only said that around a thousand times." I said and stopped walking and fully turned towards her.

I could just sprint away and leave her alone here but she would inevitably try to catch up even if she had to crawl all the way and there was a big chance that she could die in the process or run into bandits.

Although called the Valley of Peace, it was only peaceful in terms of wars. The Valley was a neutral ground so there were no armies of any empires who are stationed here to patrol the place. Therefore, bandits and other crooks made this place their home.

It was the duty of the Jade Palace to protect the Valley and one of the main jobs of being the Dragon Warrior.

Chances are, if she didn't succumb to her wounds, she would pass out and a bandit would come and kill her off. Not only do they bore hatred toward the Furious Five but there was fame and bounty in killing Tigress of the Furious Five.

"You should have left with the bird kitty." I said, "Think about how your lack of better judgement led to your defeat. Although you'd still lose even if you didn't attack me by yourself, you wouldn't lose as hard. Try to learn from it."

Tigress growled at my comment but her eyes told me that she felt guilt and shame. But she was just too stubborn to admit it, especially to her enemy.

She is annoying. Should I just leave her to die?

Hah~ who am I kidding? I wouldn't be able to bring myself to kill two Kung Fu masters in the span of one week. I was already feeling guilty for having to kill Wubao but to also kill Tigress, who was an important character in the movies and a powerful master? I couldn't bring myself to do it.

It was not exactly that I value her life but I value her Kung Fu and skills. As a Kung Fu and martial arts enthusiasts, it would be wrong of me to cut down on the future and knowledge of Kung Fu.

I wouldn't bat an eye if it was a normal soldier who attacked me and left them to rot on the side of the road, but Tigress had the knowledge and potential to become someone great. She had the seed of Kung Fu inside of her.

And I value that.

I shot towards her and pushed her to the ground. Her eyes widen in shock as her back hit the ground. She roared and tried to bite me but I pushed her head on the ground.

"Don't move." I said but she didn't listen and struggled with all her might. I gave her a strong bonk on her head and after a pained scream, she put her hand on her head.

I used the chance to grab both of her arms and push them on top of her head. I also pinned her legs with my leg and ripped her clothes.

Then I was greeted with her toned abdomen and the purple bruise she had on her abs. It was an injury she sustained from my last hammer kick.

I hit her the nerves on her abdomen and the acupuncture points to both numb the pain and to also fasten her natural healing.

"There you go." I said and pulled away from her, "That should be enough until we reach the closest village. It should at least give your brain the illusion that you are fine." 

Tigress moved and her eyes sparked in surprise as she touched her wound. She stood up and noticed that the pain was significantly lessened.

She looked at me quizzically, asking me a silent question but I ignored her and continued walking on the road.

She stayed rooted in her spot for a long time before she eventually ran behind me, trying to catch up.

.

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[Image]

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