Cloudless Authors

Chapter d

Po swung the Opposing Staff of Fear at the snow leopard who just barely managed to duck out of the way. The Dragon Warrior swung again, this time hitting his target. Tai Lung let out a cry of agony as the bladed staff ripped into his shoulder and left a nasty gash behind. Po then hit the side of the snow leopard's face and then kicked him across the floor before he even had time to yell again. Tai Lung skidded roughly against the ground before ramming his head and back against the side of the raised platform. Before he even had a chance to rest, Po had pulled out the chain he still had and used it to yank the snow leopard back over to him. Exhausted and in tremendous pain, all Tai Lung could do was lay there and hope that the Dragon Warrior would show him some mercy.

"You know, I still don't understand how you do it," Tigress remarked. "There were five of us and yet you defeated him single-pawed."

"He's fat," Tai Lung mumbled from the ground.

Po glared at him before adding, "I think my belly fat absorbs most of the punches, so it doesn't hurt as bad."

"That's what I just said."

"I'm the only one allowed to point out my belly fat. And my friends and family."

Tai Lung groaned, but said nothing else. Tigress glanced at him before looking back at Po. "What do we do with him?" she asked. "Get Shifu? Wuxi Finger him?"

"I'd rather you didn't...." Tai Lung protested weakly. "I like being alive."

"Well, we like a peaceful valley, but you didn't give us that for twenty years!"

Po bent down and grabbed Tai Lung's paw, putting it in a Wuxi Finger Hold. He hesitated for a second and looked down at the snow leopard, seeing him grit his teeth and wince in expectation of the blow. Po hesitated longer in contemplation. Finally, he let out a sigh and put Tai Lung's arm back down. 

"Po, what are you doing?!" Tigress exclaimed. 

"I can't just kill him!" Po cried. "We don't even know what he's here for!"

"The Dragon Scroll! What else could there be?"

"I don't know. He definitely said he wanted something else, so I'm curious to know what it is. He's punished enough for attacking you."

"Seriously?" Tai Lung muttered. He barely managed to to move his head to look up at Po. "She's the one who started it."

"You're not exactly in the best position to be arguing right now," Po told him. 

Tai Lung sighed, but moved his head back to his original position. As annoying as that was, the panda did make a good point. 

"So what do we do with him?" Tigress asked Po. She placed one hand on her hip and gave him a firm questioning look. 

"Well, he's pretty weak," Po told her, putting the chain ans the Opposing Staff of Fear down. "So he won't be that difficult to handle."

"I'd be careful with that line of thought," Tigress warned. "The last time we thought we beat him, he ambushed us with a nerve attack, remember?"

"Of course I remember. But look at him! He's definitely not going anywhere for a while. We can just prop him against a wall or chain him to something and quickly interrogate him before he recovers."

Tigress thought that over briefly. "I suppose it could work," she admitted. "Provided we're careful."

Tai Lung moved his head to look at the two and cast them an irritated look. "What do I look like to you?" he asked tiredly. "A decorative lantern?"

Po's response to that was to grab the snow leopard by the shoulders and lift him into a sitting position. He then, with some slight difficulty, moved him back against the raised floor of the training hall. 

"I'll take that as a yes," the snow leopard joked. 

"How long have you been here?" Po demanded. 

"Not long," Tai Lung assured him. "Just a few days. I decided to look around at a few sights outside the valley. Just in case."

"And you came into the valley's forest last night?"

"Yes...."   Tai Lung focused his eyes over on Tigress. "Sorry for scaring you, Tigress," he apologized. 

Tigress growled threateningly in response, but said nothing else. 

"And you don't want the Dragon Scroll?" Po questioned. 

"No," came Tai Lung's reply. 

"So then what do you want?"

"Well, I wanted to apologize for all of the terrible things I did. And then I was hoping that I'd be forgiven enough to be given a chance to redeem myself."

Po and Tigress stared at him for a second, not expecting that response. 

"That's it?" Po asked him, slightly confused. "No bargains, no underhanded dealings, no revenge Wuxi Finger holds?"

Tai Lung laughed and rolled his eyes. "I don't even know how to do the Wuxi Finger Hold," he assured Po. "I couldn't take revenge even if I wanted to."

"Why come in my room then?" Tigress questioned. "How did you even know where I was sleeping?"

"I noticed I gave you a bit of a scare," Tai Lung explained. "And you ran off in a bit of a hurry, so I thought I'd try to clear the air  before I talked to Shifu. By the time I got to town it was practically light, so I thought I'd wait a day to avoid any unnecessary confrontations."   He managed to sit up a bit, having gotten some of his strength back. "It took me a while to find you though," he added. "What with your room being all the way at the end of the hallway. I'm surprised no one woke up by my checking every room."

The two masters looked at each other and let Tai Lung's words sink in. Tai Lung watched as they rrowned in thought and glanced at him every few seconds. Tigress finally settled her eyes on him and said, "Not exactly how you were expecting everything to go, huh?"

Tai Lung laughed curtly. "No," he admitted. "I mean, I expected some hostility, but not like this."

Po sighed and looked at Tigress. "What do you think?" he asked her, getting her attention. "Should we let him talk to Shifu?"

Tigress hesitated for a second, looked at Tai Lung, looked back at Po, and then groaned in frustration. "I don't know," she admitted. "He seems sincere now, but what about later? Plus, what exactly would we do? Go up to Shifu and say, "Goodnight, Master Shifu. Oh by the way, we left Tai Lung alive so that he can talk to you. We trust you'll still be alive when we get back."?"

Tai Lung laughed again. "Oh you do have a sense of humor in there somewhere," he remarked. 

"We're not in the mood for your antics!" Tigress shot back. 

"Maybe we should just let Shifu decide then," Po suggested, breaking up the conversation. "We'll let him know that Tai Lung's here and that he wants to talk, but he's also completely subdued in the training hall."

"That's fine," Tigress agreed. She relaxed her shoulders a bit and added, "You can keep an eye on Tai Lung since you're stronger. I'll go to the Sacred Hall of Heroes and-"

The door to the training hall suddenly slammed open, creating such a loud noise that it startled all three of the kung fu masters. (Or ex kung fu master in Tai Lung's case). 

Choose what happens next. Skip to chapter:

七- An old foe nearly destroys the valley

八- Tai Lung leaves the valley temporarily.