Strong

Fight for the Bear Title

Sho punched and swung his hammer at Po again. The panda ducked, striking Sho straight at his arm. "DAH!"

"Haha!"

"GRRR!" Sho growled. He struggled to lift his hammer but blocked the panda's next hit. But Po wasn't done. He jumped over Sho, landed behind him, and swept his feet. The bear tumbled onto his hands and knees.

"The bigger they are," Po shielded his eyes. "The more you get to see their underpants. Geez man, cover up."

"GRRRR!" Sho took one swing and clobbered the panda across the face. Po stumbled back and blocked the brown bear's next punch to his gut. "What the heck is going on?!"

"What's wrong?" Po smirked. "Getting nervous?"

A sound punch to the gut silenced him. Po huddled over as Sho lifted his hammer high and smashed it right at the panda's back. "HA!"

"NOPE!" Po rolled out of the way and flung to his feet.

"How are you this fast and alive?!"

"Ugh," Po coughed, "Between you, Tigress, and fighting a bunch of bandits all the time, I think my skeleton is made out of rocks now." Sho shook off his shock and swung his hammer again. Po jumped over it and swung his foot across Sho's face.

The kick drove the brown bear straight onto his side, causing a cloud of dirt and rock to soar into the air. "HA! I did it!"

"Grrr," Sho growled. "You're gonna regret that."

"Uh oh NYAHH!" 

While Sho and Po fought, Wolf, Mantis, and Monkey tended to the others' injuries. Wolf knelt by Tigress's side as he lifted her head to help her drink water. She coughed up some of it. Wolf scanned her over to make sure there weren't any bruises. "I'm fine, Wolf."

He didn't seem convinced. A weak smile crossed Tigress's lips, but the shame came rolling over out of her mouth.

"I'm not in that much pain. I just...I failed."

"Hm?"

"I failed. I... I wasn't strong enough to defeat Sho by myself." Her head turned to the fight. "Why is it that Po can fight him... but I can't?"

Wolf sighed and shook his head. He gently moved Tigress's head back to him and touched her forehead. "What?"

"Hmm."

"My... my head?"

Wolf flexed his biceps and pointed to her head again. "Strength... mind... I... I hold myself back because of... what I think?" Wolf nodded and directed his attention to her legs. It made sense. For so long she had seen her full strength as something to be restrained and suppressed. The strength was there, but the mind wouldn't allow it. "It didn't seem to make a difference."

"Hmm," Wolf grumbled, annoyed. While he worked on making sure her legs were okay, his tail started to swipe at Tigress's face. Fur and dust wafted the tiger's nose.

"Achoo! Wolf, your tail," Tigress said, but the wolf was too focused to pay attention. His tail dusted her nose again and again. She couldn't move her arms; the pain was too great, but there was something the tiger could use to stop the dog's tail. Tigress finally chomped down on Wolf's tail. "Hmph!"

She wasn't biting hard on it, just enough to get his attention, but the wolf jumped at the sensation.

"YIIIIPE!" Wolf yelped.

The yelp echoed in Tigress's mind. A migraine shut her eyes. She couldn't see Wolf but something younger stood before her. And the yelp rang again and again as she saw herself picked up in a red-walled bedroom. She saw two feline figures behind the person picking her up. But the person, the animal carrying her, with bits of his fur still caught in her mouth, was a red-eyed wolf, grumbling yet smiling with a boyish grin while she heard the two figures behind him laugh.