Kung Fu Panda: The Hunt For The Heir (OC x Tigress fanfic)

Chapter 2: The Hunted

He ran, and ran and ran. The footsteps of his fellows beside him became fewer and fewer as those that were left continued to run. The way they were running was fearful, terrified. Something must be chasing them for them to be running so fast and with such abandon, as if it didn't matter where they were going as long as it was 'away'. Away from whatever was after them.

His second in command, an Alligator running beside him, was beginning to run out of breath by now and turned to the leader, panting heavily as he spoke. "I told you... We shouldn't have... Stolen... That amu-" Suddenly and without warning, the second in command was pulled up into the canvas of leaves and branches above them by a seemingly invisible force. He was taken with barely a yelp, vanishing into the endless green that stretched above and going completely silent.

The apparent leader, also an Alligator, could no longer hear any running footsteps around him besides his own as he continued trying to escape whatever was seemingly coming for him as it had come for his men. While for most this might be a form of comfort, thinking they had gotten away and were safe from the danger. However the leader seemingly knew better than that as he felt himself being watched. He knew he was. The Hunter was above and all around, watching, waiting, stalking... Hunting . He'd descend on him like death itself whenever an opportunity presented itself...

The Alligator slowed to a walk now and looked around, seeing and hearing nothing but the calls of the feral animals that inhabited this jungle and his own heavy breathing both from running like hell and from the panic that was slowly enveloping him in the silence. The Alligator was now on full alert with heightened senses even if he felt like it was a fool's errand to even try and locate his pursuer. If The Hunter didn't want to be seen... he wouldn't be seen. Despite knowing this fact, his self preservation instinct was in full swing as he jumped at even the slightest sound. He turned his head to look behind him as he walked to see if anyone else had made it, or if he was being snuck up on. To both his relief and his horror, he saw nothing. However when he faced forwards once again, suddenly his second in command dropped in front of him, dangling lifelessly from a rope by his neck, lifeless eyes peering into his boss's soul as he hung there.

He screamed. What else could he do at that point? He turned to try and run away, still looking back at the body that had been dropped like a warning in front of him when he ran straight into yet another body of one of his men, this one seemingly placed there purposefully as well... Everywhere he turned to run, more bodies of his men would appear as if by magic. One by one he recognised each of them, until in his panic he turned and ran right into something solid. Something living. Something breathing. Turning his head in dread of what he knew was there, he saw it was him...

The Hunter.

He was peering down at the Alligator with those piercing Arctic blue eyes that were an omen of death itself for those like him while the Alligator's breath stopped in his throat and his eyes widened in fear. The Hunter was dressed all in black, a hood covering his head and a mask covering his face and shadows shrouding his features that would have been otherwise visible, apart from his eyes which could be clearly seen.

You could almost mistake him for a Kung Fu Master at a glance, but the black colours he wore denoted he was otherwise. After all, the Masters usually wore bright clothing of some variation or some kind of armour instead. Not The Hunter. His attire was as black as death, yet rather simple in appearance. Along with the hood and mask, he wore what looked like a black robe of sorts with equally black pants with some kind of wrappings around his feet and black wraps adorning his upper appendages that looked like a kind of mix between a talon and a paw that was clenched in a fist...