Cloudless Authors

Chapter 1

"Anything go on last night?" Shifu asked Tigress as she came into the kitchen the next morning.

"No," the master lied, not wanting to bring Tai Lung up. She still couldn't believe that he had survived the Wuxi Finger. She didn't understand how that was possible.

"Are you sure?"

"Mmhmm."

Tigress grabbed a bowl of peach oatmeal and sat down at the table. She tried not to look Shifu in the eyes since she had a bad habit of admitting things while doing that. And it was only around Shifu which she didn't understand.

"Did you see anything, Crane?" Shifu asked his student.

Crane shook his head. "Nothing to cause alarm," he answered. "Just a tiny rabbit who wandered away from home."

Tigress almost let out a sigh of relief. As long as no one knew that Tai Lung was alive, no one would freak out. (She was a bit freaked out herself knowing that her sworn enemy was still breathing). The master tried to take her mind off of the matter and set to the task of eating her oatmeal. She heard her friends discuss various things, including the chocolate flavor of the month, (as mentioned by Po), the upcoming festival that Viper was excited to go to, and how the villagers in the north were grateful for the master's assistance.

After breakfast was finished, Shifu led everyone into the training hall so that they could spar and work on a new move: a double fisted swoop dive. It involved leaping as high as you could into the air and diving down in a quick swoop to knock out an opponent with two fists. The similarity of the move to a leopard-style one reminded Tigress about Tai Lung being back in the valley which reminded her about the nerve attack he had used on her and her friends. She asked Shifu about the move they never learned after a long day of training- no lunch. Shifu had answered the question by informing her that the nerve attack was very powerful and potentially dangerous and he didn't want them to learn the move until they were ready.

After training was over, the masters went into the kitchen to eat and talk, turning into bed afterwards. Tigress laid back on her futon, trying to fall asleep but failing in every possible way. She closed her eyes and sighed. The main reason was because she was worried about Tai Lung being back in town and wandering around unsupervised.

As if he read her mind, the master heard, "Hello, princess."

Alarmed, Tigress sprang up from her bed, coming face to face with a pair of golden eyes that were attached to a tall, muscular leopard who was leaning against her wall.

"Sleeping trouble?" Tai Lung asked her.

Tigress, still in a bit of shock, took her lone pillow and hurled it at the snow leopard. Because it wasn't anything too dangerous or heavy, Tai Lung easily caught it and tossed it to the side. "Yep, still alive," he told her with a hint of a chuckle.

"What are you doing in here?!" Tigress demanded in a half whisper.

"I wanted to talk to you," was the simple answer to that. "I mean, I would have went to Shifu, but you seemed so concerned last night that I thought I'd stop by to make sure you were okay."

"Get out of my room!" the master snapped, getting out of her bed so that she could get in his face.

"Or what?" Tai Lung asked.

Tigress' response was to grab her bed and hurl it at the snow leopard's face. This time, he quickly slid her window open and almost instantly slipped outside. Tigress jumped out after him and looked about so as to follow him, but there was no trace of him anywhere. Infuriated, the master stormed over to the training hall so that she could take her frustration out on the alligator limbs. How dare he come into the Jade Palace as if he still lives here! she thought to herself. That monster has some nerve!

The master finally reached the training hall where she entered it and immediately headed over to the training equipment. She began to violently spar with the alligator limbs, trying to keep her anger in check. She sparred with the limbs for a few minutes before she finally settled down and took a breath. The master felt someone tapping her shoulder and she spun around to see Tai Lung standing right behind her. Startled, Tigress jumped back and tripped over one of the gauntlets, getting knocked around the field.

"Tigress!" Tai Lung exclaimed, trying to maneuver his way through in order to reach her.

The master got whacked by another limb and was sent sailing backwards where she collided into Tai Lung and made them both collide onto safer ground. Under their dog pile, Tai Lung let out a laugh. "Well," he noted. "That's one way to end a warm-up."

Tigress snarled and went to scratch his face, but the snow leopard grabbed her wrist and managed to throw her off.

"Hey, come on!" Tai Lung growled. "I came here to check on you, not to be your scratching post."

"What are you doing here?!" Tigress demanded. "Why couldn't you just disappear after you left the barracks?!"

"I was asking if you were okay," Tai Lung responded, getting to his feet. "You didn't answer my question."

The master got into a fighting stance. "You're alive and roaming freely around the valley. No! I'm not okay!"

"If you're that concerned, then why aren't you on patrol with the rest of the masters?" the snow leopard questioned. He eyed her. "You did tell Shifu I was here, right?"

Tigress snarled and lunged at him, hoping to pin him to the ground. However, Tai Lung grabbed her arm and hurled her at the wall nearby. The tiger ricocheted off it and came running back to engage her opponent in a fight. Tai Lung considered running to avoid an unnecessary confrontation, but kung fu was liked a drug to him; he couldn't resist it.

The two warriors began to battle each other, Tai Lung having the upper hand since he was stronger and more skilled. A few minutes of kicks and punches resulted with Tigress wearily being knocked into the side of the training arena. She growled. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she snarled at him.

Tai Lung grinned and cracked his knuckles. "I don't enjoy beating you senseless," he admitted. "But I do enjoy a nice victory."

Tigress narrowed her eyes at him. "YOU-!!!!!" she screamed, lunging at him.

The snow leopard blocked her attack and grabbed a hold of her wrists which put them in a battle lock. As the two wrestled for dominance in the fight, the training doors flew open and startled them. Tigress' foot locked with Tai Lung's, causing the two felines to trip and crash onto the floor. The master looked at the door, freezing in shock and alarm when she saw who it was.

Choose what happens next. Skip to chapter:

A- The figure in the doorway is Shifu

B- The figure in the doorway is Po

C- The figure in the doorway is Monkey

D- The figure in the doorway is Lord Shen