Cloudless Authors

Chapter m

Both Tai Lung and Shifu paused as they heard footsteps approach the door. Then they paused. Shifu let out a sigh of relief and called out, "You can intrude, Tigress." 

Silence answered the grandmaster. Then the door creaked open to reveal Tigress looking rather startled. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at this point," she said. Her eyes then trailed over to Tai Lung. She paused in the doorway. Looked back at Shifu. Then at Tai Lung. 

Seeing her eyes narrowing, Shifu quickly explained, "Tai Lung didn't do this to me. We had a sudden attack by some shadowy figure."

"Shadowy figure?"

"He caused a seriously massive explosion and nearly buried the both of us in debris," Tai Lung added. "I didn't have time to chase him down." 

"I'm fine," Shifu assured the master, pressing his sleeve to his head wound. "This isn't the worst I've been through."

Tigress seemed to relax a bit after hearing this, but she still kept her eyes focused on the snow leopard. "So...what's he doing up here then?" she questioned. 

"I'm just here to talk," Tai Lung promised.  

"Tai Lung wishes to fully redeem himself," Shifu explained. "And while I don't feel comfortable with him roaming around the Jade Palace just yet, his attitude and humility have definitely improved from what I can tell. It's just a matter of passing the time and witnessing more positive action on his part." 

Tigress' gaze was still tightly fixed on the snow leopard. "And the Dragon Scroll?" she prodded. 

Tai Lung chuckled. "If that panda can understand the concept of power without reading words or needing it knocked into his skull, then he's more worthy of having that scroll than anyone. Even me."

There was a tense pause before Tigress finally relaxed a bit. The look on her face was still one of distrust, but she wasn't in attack mode, so Tai Lung felt a lot safer. Seeing she was calmer, Shifu turned back to his former student and winced at the pain from the earlier attack. "What exactly were you planning on doing now that you're here?" he asked. 

"Well, I didn't think it would be a good idea to stay right here in the valley due to the last two times," Tai Lung told him. "But I thought I'd hide out in nearby forests or mountain ranges and then pop by every so often to say hello."

Shifu grunted in agreement, trying his best to not move his head. "That sounds wise," he said. "We'll also inform the rest of the masters about your positive return. We don't want any accidental Wuxi Fingers."

Tai Lung grimaced. "Yeah. That sounds like a good plan. I don't feel like going through that again."

"How did you even survive the first Wuxi Finger?" Tigress asked him. She was still standing by the front of the temple, though the doors behind her were now closed. 

"Honestly, I don't know. I was in pretty bad shape for weeks." 

"My guess would be strong chi," Shifu interjected, "The Wuxi Finger is designed to corrupt and destabilize one's chi, so if yours is strong enough, you may survive to tell tales another day. Bleeding wounds aside, of course." 

"Should I go get them now?" Tigress asked. 

"No," said Shifu. "We can wait until morning. It'll give Tai Lung time to-"  The grandmaster suddenly clutched his head and sharply inhaled. 

Looking at the gash, Tigress said in a worried tone, "Master, I should go fetch a doctor. Or Mantis." 

"Mantis...would be...preferable...." Shifu mumbled. No sooner did the words leave his mouth than he collapsed on the floor. Tai Lung was relieved he had missed a sharp bit of debris close by, but that wouldn't rouse the now unconscious master. The two warriors dashed forward to check on Master Shifu, though as Tai Lung was much closer than Tigress, he was able to inspect the damage first.

"He's still breathing," he assured Tigress. "But I guess the ceiling debris did a lot more damage than we both thought." 

Tigress looked over the various wounds and then quickly stood up. "I'm going to get Mantis," she announced. "You get Shifu to bed." 

She quickly made her way back over to the doors as Tai Lung called out, "I take it he's sleeping in Oogway's room now?" 

"Yes. He moved in there almost right after your defeat." 

The master threw the doors open and disappeared down the stairs to run to the barracks. Tai Lung, in the meantime, had carefully picked up Shifu and was making his way over to the lone bedroom in the Sacred Hall of Warriors. He honestly never understood why Oogway had eve had a bedroom. All the times he had been awake training or taking a midnight stroll, Oogway was always seen meditating, doing Tai Chi, or practicing some mystical kung fu moves Tai Lung couldn't even name. 

The snow leopard finally entered the room and immediately took inventory of the dozens of scrolls laying open on the floor. 

Well, he's definitely made himself at home.

Tai Lung carefully stepped over the paper sprawled across the floor and carefully placed Shifu down in his bed. He then sat on the other end and waited for Tigress to return, which didn't take very long. Not even a minute after he sat down did he hear tiny pricks on the floor alongside Tigress' footsteps and soon both masters appeared in the doorway. Mantis briefly stopped to look at Tai Lung in shock.

"Oh my gosh, you ARE alive!" he exclaimed. He took a second to recover before heading over to Shifu's bed and asking how he was. 

"Besides unconscious and alive I'm not too sure," Tai Lung stated. "We got attacked and he was buried by the ceiling debris." 

Mantis hopped onto the bed with a medical kit and began to take a look at Shifu's gash. "Who attacked you?" he asked. 

"No idea. I only got a glimpse of them and they were wearing a dark cloak." 

Mantis began to dress Shifu's wounds as Tigress began to clean and organize Shifu's scrolls so that they didn't get stepped on. Tai Lung advised her against it, but the master assured him that she had done this other times before. When she finished, she sat down against the wall and silently watched Mantis. The bug finally finished bandaging the damage done by the debris and covered Shifu with a blanket to let him rest. He then looked back at Tai Lung who had been quietly sitting on the edge of the bed with a slight look of nervousness on his face. 

"So...you survived the Wuxi Finger," Mantis stated, glancing at the aged scars across Tai Lung's body. "How'd you manage to get all the way over here?"

"You're not going to accuse me of working with a guy exploding the ceiling?" Tai Lung tested. 

"We can find assassins easily, and Shifu said you've changed. Or that's what Tigress said." 

"I said Shifu says you're trustworthy," Tigress corrected. 

Tai Lung smiled. 

"We've got all the time in the world," Mantis told him. "Care to tell?"

Tai Lung nodded. "Sure," he replied.

THE END

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