Tigress, I need you

Chapter 8

Huo's pov:

I watched from above as my friends attacked Taotie's machine, but all failed and ended up getting defeated. If you were wondering how I knew Taotie would attack the Valley of Peace today, well... I may have spied on him a little bit before coming here. What? How can I defeat my enemy if I don't know my enemy?

I watched as my mate, Po, and the others get beaten by their own moves or their own body parts. It was pretty ironic that they got beaten up by their own abilities and moves if you ask me. Thinking that I'd had enough stalling, I jumped in front of the machine.

"Huo? Where were you? Being chased by the guards again!", I growled as he laughed. "Doesn't matter. I have your moves here in this baby too. You'll never defeat me now!"

I bring out Lin's staff and pushed myself at m heel to bring me forward and break the machine's legs. Then I threw two shrink bombs at it after it tried to swipe me, making it become as tall as Mantis' size. After that I stepped on it like crushing a bug. I hear Taotie yelp in fear, seeing that I can still beat him. I then turned to him and growled, "Get out of here before I kill you myself...," he then fled using one of his flying machines.

I turned again to my friends and see that they were brushing the dust from themselves and smiling gladly at me. Tigress wouldn't meet my eyes and that saddened me, making me remember what had happened between us. I frowned. I shifted my staff on my back and walked towards her. She still wasn't meeting my eyes and so I stopped before her at a distance. 'I needed to make this right,' I thought.

"Do I always have to save you guys whenever you get in trouble with Taotie?", I asked, making Tigress let out a chuckle, but still not meeting my eye. "Tigress-"

"Huo-"

"...,"

"You go first," she said after a few seconds of silence.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you, Tigres, you didn't deserve to be yelled at. It was my fault for loosing control and... I'm sorry," I said.

"You're not the one at fault too, Huo. I... I'm sorry too," she said, slowly lifting up her face so her lucky cat eyes meet my gold ones. "I didn't take to account that the place had been a reminder of what happened to your parents, your brother, sister."

"Yes, but it still wasn't my place to yell at you for not knowing anything about me.", I said, still feeling guilty.

I hear her sigh, "Just tell me everything and I forgive you."

I smile. I could agree with that.

"Deal."

~ time skip ~

We got back after cleaning up after the destruction from Taotie's machine. Everyone else had went to the dormitories to either eat or get some sleep. It was late afternoon and Tigress and I were at a spot in the mountain where you could just take in the view of the Valley of Peace as the sun starts to set. I was very reluctant to begin, didn't even know where to start.

"So," I hear Tigress' voice from behind me. "Are you going to tell me who you really are or do I have to break up with you again?"

I just gave a hearty laugh. She sat beside me at the cliff as we continued to watch the sun make the sky turn orange and pink, setting in between the two hills of the valley.

"Long ago," I started. "There were two black tigers ever known in China. They fell in love seeing as that they were the only two tigers who were the same. They had a child and that child grew up and met another black tiger that came from across China. This process repeated until the black tiger population grew. At the time black tigers were considered as a disgrace so they made the black tigers' lives a living hell. The first black tiger then decided to make a clan called the Black Tiger Clan wherein all the black tigers who were outcasted get to stay there. Immediately every black tiger in China was in the Black Tiger Clan that was placed in a land now called the Black Tiger Land.

"The Black Tiger Clan thrived and was a happy community. We owned the greatest treasure that was the pride off our clan, the Star of Eternal Wishing. The Star was protected by the royal family. My mother, Queen Feng Ying Yue, and my father, King Feng Chang, protected the Star with their all. They had three children; the eldest, my sister, Princess Feng Lin, then my brother, Prince Feng Bingling, and then me, Prince Feng Huo.

"One day a group called the Lin Kuei had stumbled upon our clan, looking injured and defeated. My mother and father took them in with open arms, but that turned out to be the biggest mistake. Before we knew it, guards were coming into the palace and had beheaded my mother and father because the Lin Kuei framed them for killing one of their own. The guards believed it and the Lin Kuei stoll the Star of Eternal Wishing. After that our clan had the reputation of a clan full of murderers. Lin was fifteen when the guards beheaded my mother and father, Bingling thirteen, and me only a year old.

"Lin vowed to bring our clan back to its rightful glory and took the throne at the age of fifteen. We got the Star back, fortunately, along with making ourselves knows for having the most advanced kung fu techniques. I was four years old then, Lin was eighteen, and Bingling was sixteen. Taotie's family had something against us black tigers and decided to wipe us out with their machines. I watched them as Lin and Bingling tried to fight them back, but failed. I watched my whole clan die right before my eyes.

"I ran away for my life, but they knew I was missing and lied to the guards so that they would have them after me. The guards have been after me for twenty-one years."

"...," she didn't say anything as I finished, she only hugged me. I turned to my side and kissed her. She kissed me back before we pulled away for air. "Tigress, I need you. I don't want anything to separate us from being together, not Taotie, not the guards. I love you."

She smiled and connected foreheads withe me, and said, "I love you too. We'll figure out a way to stop the guards from chasing you and clear your family name, I promise."

"Thank you, Tigress," I smiled, a tear slipping down my face. She just wiped it away and kissed me again.