Strong

Progress

"Hiya!" Their feet smashed together before jumping back. The panda crouched into his fighting stance while the tiger readied hers. They stood still, each itching for movement. The slightest sound could trigger their reflexes. Amber eyes bore into Jade. Smirk harmonized grin. The sand between them shifted a grain, and the two clashed again, the tiger striking his forearm, the panda grabbing her shoulder.

Crane and Viper watched from the sidelines, over where the pillars held up the Training Hall. Tigress jumped and extended her foot. Po ducked right, rolling out of the way. He bounced back up, struck Tigress's side. She blocked but skidded several feet. Her smirk widened into a grin as she rammed her fists into Po's pudgy gut. Po flew back, bounced off a pillar, and belly bumped the tiger back. She stumbled. Po roundhouse kicked her back. She triple backflipped, sticking the landing. Her grin grew wider. 

"Whoa, those two are really going at it," Crane said.

"Well, at least they're not fighting each other."

"Well..."

"Oh Crane," Viper smiled, slapping the tip of her tail against his leg. "You know what I mean."

"Right, right." Crane chuckled. The bird's chest grew tight, making him cough into his wings.

"Crane? Is something wrong? You seem on edge?"

"What? No, no, no, I'm fine."

"Crane," That voice could turn stern at any time. It wasn't as scary as Tigress's but it was enough to stiffen him.

"It... it's a dumb question."

"Hm?"

"I was wondering," Crane began, "Would you ever, you know... see yourself with... someone else?"

"Oh!" Crane whipped his head down to her. Her shocked face was a little too noticeable. Viper quickly recovered and snapped her head away, but Crane focused on her harder. It wasn't like the snake to hide things. Especially from him. "I... I don't know. But... I have had someone on... my sights."

"What?! Who?"

"I... I can't say."

"Oh," Crane muttered darkly. He turned his head back to the fighting tiger and bear. His eyes narrowed unnaturally. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he was this upset.

"It's just," Viper continued, "I don't think he would notice me."

"You're kidding right?" Viper looked up at Crane whose head was still "focused" on the spar. "You're Master Viper of the Jade Palace. One of the Furious Five. Trained under Grandmaster Shifu. Who wouldn't want to be with you?" Crane winced internally. It probably sounded more vexed than he intended. Knowing Viper, she probably felt hurt, but she could also feel flattered.

But when the bird looked down at the snake to see which face she bore, he found a face he wasn't prepared to see. Her eyes shrunk into a scowl, not too scary, but highly annoyed. As she spoke, her tongue flickered dangerously at him. "I don't know, Crane. He seems to avoid me a lot. Maybe he doesn't believe any of those titles are impressive enough."

"Then he's an idiot."

"Maybe he is," She hissed. Crane rose an eyebrow. Why was she directing her anger at him?

Suddenly, Crane eyes went wide. His face of realization shooked the snake out of her small rage, and she hid into her snake body.

"Viper... do you-"

"HIYA!" A hard punch and a strong block sent wind tumbling over to the sidelines. Crane held his hat in place.

"Oooookay, those two are starting to scare me. Why don't we finish up somewhere else?" Crane asked. Viper quickly nodded. As the two left, Po jumped back into a pillar as Tigress charged forward. The panda ducked, letting Tigress's hand punch the pillar, leaving a large hole. Po swept her legs. She fell to the ground and rolled out of the way of Po's body slam. Tigress jumped back up, stormed him with a fury of punches until they got into a locked stalemate. The two pushed each other, struggling to pin the other to the ground. Tigress's smirk grew wider and wider until she was outright grinning. Though he kept pushing back with all his might, the grin unnerved Po a bit.