A Different Path

Valley of Peace

EXCLAIMER: I do not own Kung Fu Panda!

Seven Years later

Tigress skidded to a stop, panting. She looked up to the sign that read:

Valley of Peace

Tigress looked at the Valley of Peace. There were gooses, ducks, pigs, bunnies everywhere. She caught a glimpse of a small child hugging her parents. She felt sadness rise at never having her own family, but she pushed it down. 

Arriving at the valley, Tigress put on her hood. She was, as far as she knew, the only tiger in China so she didn't want to attract unwanted attention. When she had run from the orphanage, Tigress had stolen some money to buy a black to cover her. Even if there wasn't much of a difference between stealing the cloak and buying the cloak with stolen money, it made Tigress feel slightly better. Looking into the small bag that she had purchased years ago, Tigress saw that it was almost full.  She almost sighed in relief at not having to steal again for at least two weeks. Though stealing was like a house chore for Tigress now, it still didn't mean she liked doing it. 

Looking down she saw a small goose waddling up to her. He reminded her of Bao. "Hi! You wanna play with me?" He asked happily. "Sorry, but I can't," Tigress responded, trying to sound as nice as possible. "Why not?" The goose asked again. "I have somewhere to go." While it was technically a lie, Tigress didn't want the goose to feel bad. "Okay, then." To Tigress's relief, he spotted what she guessed was his mom and walked to her. Just then, there was a big crash followed by a loud shout that sounded like, "Hey! What happened to stealth mode??!?!!" to Tigress it sounded like bandits. In the past, Tigress had come across bandits who tried to steal her stolen money, but she managed to scare them away with her strength. As she hurried over to the noise, she found that she was right; there were croc bandits. 

Even if she was stealing money, she felt less guilty(though not by much) by scaring away other bandits. 

As she skidded to a halt across a food store, she almost tripped on a carrot on the ground before she realized that the ground covered in vegetables and fruits. In the middle of the mess, were crocs that kept tripping and landing of each other. 

Just as half of them were about to leave with sacks filled with food, Tigress said, "Hey! Don't move." 

One of the crocs, what Tigress presumed was the leader, eyed her. "And who are you? Don't tell me you're some kind of new student at the Jade Palace! We have enough problems, to begin with." 

Jade Palace? What kind of name is that?  Is that a palace that's made of jade?

"Uh, well, because I don't even know what the 'Jade Palace' is then I think the answer is no," Tigress replied, slightly confused. 

At this, all the crocs gasped. Even the ones who seemed unconscious. "You don't know the Jade Palace?!!??" They all shouted in unison. 

What's so important about Jade Palace?  Tigress thought. "No. Now, back to business, please go away." She asked politely, even though she perfectly knew that they wouldn't listen. "The only reason we're no leaving is that you're not some kind of warrior and you don't even know the Jade Palace so we have a chance of finally stealing with success." The leader croc exclaimed, and everyone went what they were doing before Tigress found them which was back to shoving fruit into bags. 

Annoyed that they wouldn't take her seriously, Tigress calmly walked over to one of the crocs and kicked him. He fell on another croc. "Hey! Watch it, Wong!" A muffled yell came. " It wasn't me!"

"Yes, it wa-" Wong was interrupted by Tigress, who decided that she was bored by now. "-sn't. I kicked him."

The crocs head turned. "Huh? Oh! Fung, that cloaked figure that came and just kicked Wong!" He said. "And it hurt!" Wong added. 

"WHAT!!??! Just get her away!" The leader, Fung, shouted without even turning to look. Tigress sighed. This is too easy. She grabbed one of the crocs, swinging him to knock the rest of the bandits like bowling pins. 

At the Jade Palace

In the middle of training, all the masters stopped at hearing the gong and the usually wheezing of Zeng. "What is it? Bandits?" Po excitedly said, punching the air. "because we can handle anything!" 

Wheezing, Zeng answered, "Yes! Bandits in the food sh-!" But he was almost knocked to the ground from a gust of wind coming from the five masters rushing down the Thousand Stairs, Crane carrying Po. "-op." Zeng muttered to himself. 

With Viper, Crane, Monkey, Mantis and Po, they stopped in the food shop only to find the croc bandits running and a cloaked figure standing while Fung yelled, "Retreat! Retreat!" 

"Woah, woah, wait! Who are you?" Po being the first to recover from shock, exclaimed, pointing a the cloaked figure who seemed feminine. At this, the cloaked animal gasped, spinning around. Seeing them, she tensed, then ran. The masters prepared to fight, thinking she was going to them but she leapt from the ground and onto the roofs running at a great speed. "I'll try and spot her!" Crane shouted, already flapping his wings. He flew into the sky, already spotting the mysterious cloaked figure. 

But even with flying, the Crane was slowly losing the cloaked figure. And Crane's wings were starting to tire out. 

She's so fast! I can't even keep up. Crane thought. But his determination fueled him. It would be worth it if he caught her. But even with that thought, the cloaked figure disappeared and didn't repeat. Crane desperately flapped his wings, only to find himself slowly descending. 

He crashed into a rather ungrateful landing. "Ouch," Crane mumbled. "who knew that chasing a cloaked animal could be this hard? Well, I better get back to hear Shifu scold me again." He muttered the last sentence slightly sarcastic. 

Landing to the stairs of the Thousand Steps, he was met by Shifu, Po, Viper, Monkey. If it were any other occasion, Crane might have noticed that Mantis was missing. But he was too distracted to notice. "Couldn't. Catch her. Was too fast." Crane huffed, out of breath. As expected, Shifu sighed. "Well, I don't know to be angry at you for failing or relieved that the cloaked figure at least chased away the bandits. Or whether cautious about her."

"How did she get away? Because, Crane, you're like super fast!" Po exclaimed. Crane sighed, saying, "Well, I have no idea, but she was just like really really fast, even faster than me." 

"How fast wa-" But before Po could finish his question, Crane cut him off. "I'll be in my room if you need me." He knew that if he let it, Po would ask like a hundred questions. And so he slowly walked to the student barracks. 

Suddenly, Shifu asked, "Where is Mantis now?"