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

Chapter 30: The Ring of Fire

Pressing this newfound advantage, Hunter continued striking first, his now aggressive style and his more dexterous form pushing the Demon's blade aside and allowing for several strikes on it. He eventually pushed the Demon back to the statue. Not watching its footing due to the onslaught, the Demon fell down onto its back. However, after somewhat getting its bearings and looking where Hunter should have been standing, there was no one...

However, it yelled out as a sharp pain came from its left. Looking, it watched as the arm holding its blade fell away from its body, severed. Looking at the wound in shock, it turned back and saw Hunter now where he should have been before. Hunter then pressed his foot on the Demon's chest and raised his blade pointed downwards at it. Holding a hand up in a futile defence, the Demon surged forwards as Hunter's blade sliced straight through its hand and embedded into its chest. Cobra's Strike began to glow blue then as the Demon felt its life force ebbing away, the blade delivering a killing blow to it. "Well played... Slayer..." It breathed out its final words before the flames all began to dissipate and fade away, revealing no scorch marks or anything else marking their presence.

All illusions, only holding power while the Demon lived, it seemed. Hunter took a deep breath as the Demon crumbled to ashes, meaning he didn't have to pull his blade free of the body. Convenient for him.

When the flames had finally died down fully, the Five all ran over to Hunter as he stepped down from the ruined statue, holding a hand to his wounded side. "Are you okay?" Tigress was the first to ask him, clearly resisting the urge to do... something as she stood oddly close to him, her fists tensing slightly due to her not knowing what to do.

"I'm fine." Hunter nodded to her as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Grand Master Viper?" he inquired about Viper's father.

Viper nodded to him. "He's fine. That... thing drained Chi, but it will replenish in time. He'll be exhausted, but alive." She breathed a sigh of relief at that, and Hunter also seemed relieved at being told he would indeed live after everything that had happened to get to this point, and because there were no casualties on their side.

The Dragon Warrior was in awe at everything. "Woah! You just... totally kicked Demon butt! That was mega-super-awesome!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Man, if only Shifu saw that! And Grand Master Viper! Sooo epic!"

As if on cue, Fangsu slithered over to the group as well. "Well, not only did you save my husband, you saved the entire village." she said to him with a smile and a chuckle. Hunter was almost afraid she was going to hug him again, although that didn't happen. "You all must be exhausted, especially you Hunter. Come, me and the girls will cook you a feast."

Holding up her tail Viper was unsure. "Umm... does that include me?" she asked.

Her mother rolled her eyes at that question. "You're one of the girls aren't you? You and your sisters? Or are you too good for your own family now?" She asked her daughter teasingly, clearly only poking fun at her, once more in good spirits.

Sighing at that, Viper shook her head. "I warn you, my cooking is a bit rusty. Po mostly does all of it at the Palace now." She gestured to the panda in question.

Nodding enthusiastically, Po agreed. "Oh, yeah! I love cooking! And not to brag, but my noodle soup is pretty sweet!" he said as the group began to walk to the Viper household.

Tigress held back a little with Hunter as the two walked. "That fight looked tough. How are you, really?" she asked Hunter, actual concern in her voice as she felt somewhat guilty about joining the others in running away from the fire at first as her nostrils flared. Her enhanced olfactory senses picked up the scent of battle, fading adrenaline in his sweat, even the blood from the slash he'd gotten. It sent shivers down her spine, although she guessed that was due to her own body's fighting instincts reacting to the fact that he was still in fight mode rather than it being... Anything else. At all.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Hunter answered her question. "I'm okay, Tigress. Really." he answered her. "Are you okay?" Hunter asked her with his own concern. "I noticed how yourself and the others reacted to the fire rather... strongly." he pointed out to Tigress.

"Yes. It's... I don't know. Something deep within. I'm supposed to be in harmony with my body and mind as a Kung Fu Master, but..."

Hunter interjected. "We can't always fight our nature." He said to her, glancing over to Tigress as she looked at him, seeming to agree with the sentiment.

The two of them walked in silence, seemingly content in each other's company as Po was discussing cooking with Fangsu up ahead. His hand brushed against her paw every so often, but neither of them seemed to mind, almost seemingly making an effort to do so but not showing it in any way. The group soon reached the Viper household, and Viper's sisters all came rushing out and asking if their father was okay.

After reassurances from Fangsu and the Five, Viper went off with her mother and sisters to cook while Grand Master Viper was taken to his room to rest. Unfortunately, her sisters couldn't stay as they all had made plans before their father went missing, and now he was safe, they all left to attend to said plans. Hunter had also retrieved a spare tunic he had in his pack, although noticeably he left his hood and mask down for now.

The Five, Po, Hunter and Fangsu all ate while discussing the battle and what had happened, and then the conversation turned to jobs. "Obviously the Five and Dragon Warrior are Kung Fu Warriors, but what do you do, Hunter?" asked Fangsu as she ate some of a fish and noodle dish that they had cooked.

Looking at his dish a little, he chuckled nervously. "Actually, I'm a Bounty Hunter by trade." Hunter told her. "But I've been staying at the Jade Palace for a while now, so I'm also a part time Kung Fu Warrior, I suppose. I used to be a masseuse on the side if the work dried up though." He shrugged at that.

The Five and Po all stopped when he said that and looked at him. "A masseuse!?" they all asked at once, shocked by the admission.

Nodding to them, he continued. "Yes. I'm apparently good at releasing the Chi chakras or something like that. All I know is that it apparently feels really good." he said to them. The group all looked rather curious about it, even Tigress seemed to have her interest piqued. "You all do look really tense. Maybe one day I'll show you." He smirked a little bit. Hunter knew he was good, his dexterous digits able to relieve pressure just right, if his clients were to be believed. That, and... well... the idea of touching Tigress, even non-sexually, made him actually feel rather giddy. He felt like a teenager or something.

Seeming to agree with him, the Five and Po all nodded in response to his suggestion, advocating the idea. Even Tigress, but he put that down to her liking the idea of her Chi being able to flow better. The majority of the group continued to make small talk, with Tigress and Hunter being quieter and more reserved, delegating themselves to a more observatory role in the proceedings as they usually did. Po was regaling the group with a story, as he usually tended to do. Hunter had been wounded in the fight, but was playing it off as if nothing was wrong.

But Tigress could smell the blood, and noticed that he was definitely concealing a slightly more serious wound. Maybe not life threatening, but still... She also had to admire the way he fearlessly stood against the demon. He didn't even flinch. He was willing to fight it, to the death if necessary, although Tigress and the others were all glad that he didn't have to. They did prefer him alive after all.

Eventually, the group were all shown to their rooms for the night. Hunter would've maybe preferred his tent only because it was a familiar space to him, but he wouldn't want to be rude, and Fangsu and Grand Master Viper were opening their home to the group of warriors, so he only felt it right to agree to spend the night inside the house.

But first things first, he had to attend to his wound. It had mostly stopped bleeding due to the pressure, and he had bandaged it earlier while the food was being prepared, but now he needed to change the bandage. Unwrapping the bandage, he saw that luckily the wound seemed to be clean. His skin was very red from the flames that had engulfed him, but luckily there were no severe burns as he removed the clothing quickly enough to avoid it. Putting a new bandage on so he could sleep without worrying about it, he finally lay down and closed his eyes, finally able to rest after a very long day...