A Different Path

The Green Bug

Tigress ran as fast as she could, heart pounding. Who were those five animals? A mantis, panda, snake, monkey and crane. She glanced back briefly to see if the crane was still following her. 

Thank goodness he's gone now. I better be more careful by now.

She mentally sighed in relief. While she admitted that the crane was fast, Tigress had to be fast enough to escape if she got caught. It proved useful sometimes, like now. She stopped, huffing. 

I wonder who those animals were. She thought. While she was curious about all of them, the panda was the one she was interested in. She hadn't seen a panda in her whole life. She was distracted by a brief flash of green. Freezing, Tigress's ear twitched and she sniffed the air. She froze, slowly turning around. The only warning was her ear twitching before she pounced on a bush that seemed harmless. But, when she stood up she was holding a green bug. 

"Ouch! Okay, I'm caught! Now, can you let me go?" The green bug complained. "Who are you?" Tigress asked emotionless. 

The bug froze. "You... don't know who I am?" He asked disbelievingly. I rolled my eyes. "Nope. But, do you mind telling me why you were following me?" She paused. "Wait. Let me guess. It's because you were with that Crane and wanted to see if you could catch me?" 

The bug looked shocked. "H-how did you know?" He demanded, waving his pinchers in the air. "Fact one: I saw a green dot on the Cranes hat; your colour is too noticeable. Fact two: I thought I was going crazy when I heard a noise but that was you, as it turned out, and fact three is that I just caught you trying to sneak up on me." Tigress deadpanned. 

"B-b-but I made sure that I was hidden!" The little green bug exclaimed. Tigress face-palmed herself. "Yet I saw you." 

The green bug groaned. "So, stealth isn't my best trait"  

"Glad you've figured that out." She replied. The green bug was about to peer up at her face, which was covered by her cloak, but on instinct she slapped him away, making him slam into a tree.

"Oww. Was that really necessary?" The bug complained. 

"Yes, because you were trying to look without my permission. Also, what is your name?" Tigress asked. 

"And here I thought I wouldn't hear that question again," The green bug muttered before answering. "Mantis. What's yours?" He asked. 

Should I trust him? He seems normal, but what if trusting him is a mistake...

Flashback

A young Tigress was walking, two days after she ran from the orphanage. Then, there was a wolf who came up to her. "You like candy, little girl?" He asked. Of course, Tigress knew nothing about strangers. "Whats candy?" She asked, genuinely confused. The wolf gasped. "You don't know candy?? Well, it's really sweet and yummy!" The wolf explained. Tigress thought about it. "Okay... Where will the candy be?" 

"Right over this corner!" The wolf said, taking her hand. If Tigress hadn't been thinking about how good candy might have been, she might have noticed the smile slowly creeping upon his face. 

He suddenly grabbed her wrist and started dragging her, making Tigress yelp in surprise. Then, realizing what he was about to do, Tigress bit his hand. It was the wolves turn to yelp in pain. He let go of her, and Tigress ran for her life.

End of flashback

She almost shivered. By blindly trusting a wolf, it had almost cost her life. 

"You can just call me..." Tigress thought about a new fake name for herself. "Amber." She declared to Mantis. He scratched his head. "Sure, Amber. But are you sure that's your real name?" 

Tigress growled. "Of course its not my real name! I just don't trust you!" She yelled. Mantis put up his pinchers in surrender. "Okay, okay, no need to get feisty." He muttered before getting back to business. "So... you know how to fight?" Mantis asked. "A little" Tigress replied. Mantis seemed to ponder about this. "You wanna try and spar with me?" He asked. "No." Tigress replied sharply. She didn't want him to see her fighting style, just to be safe. 

"Can you go back?" Tigress asked, wanting him gone as fast as possible. Mantis scoffed. "Of course I can! I'm suppose to be defending it! How would I defend if I got lost?" He exclaimed. Tigress seemed confused. "Wait... You defend the Valley of Peace? Do you live at that Jade Palace?" 

The mantis seemed shocked at this. "Of course I live in the Jade Palace! I'm part of the Furious Five, for gods sake!" 

"Furious Five? What kind of name is that? Five animals who are always furious?" Tigress questioned, utterly confused. Mantis's mouth dropped open. 

"Y-y-you don't know the Furious Five?" He exclaimed, only for Tigress to shrug. "Nope. What is that anyway?"

This only seemed to shock poor Mantis more. "HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK OR SOMETHING!!!???!??!!" Mantis screamed too loud for Tigress's sensitive ears. "You could say that." She replied. "Okay. So, the Furious Five is like five kung fu masters, I am part of it and we protect the valley from bandits, thieves or just crazy evil stuff. Also, the Furious Five includes me, Viper, Crane, Po, and Monkey. We're like almost the most known Masters in China. I still don't understand how you don't know this." 

"Oh. Well, I'm not exactly one to talk with." Tigress may have seemed calm, but inside she was panicking if she got found out. She could see that Mantis was already a little suspicious. "Oh well. Anyways, I gotta go now. Bye!" With that, Mantis hopped up into the trees, jumping. When he arrived at the Jade Palace, he was met with his worried comrades and a furious Shifu.  

"Where have you been, Mantis! You're getting a bit too reckless." Shifu said, glaring at the bug who was taking shelter on Cranes hat.

He put up his pinchers. "Hey, I just followed that tiger. She said that her name was Amber, but that's not her real name. AND, you know what was crazy?" No one had a chance to respond before he continued. "SHE DIDN'T KNOWS THE FURIOUS FIVE!!!!!!!" Mantis cried, getting shocked looks. Po was the first one to recover. "H-how?! You guys are like the most awesome group in the world"

Mantis shrugged. "No idea."