Cloudless Authors

Chapter 八

"I am not clea-AHHH!" Shifu shrieked as he got a good look at who was in the training hall. 

Still startled by Shifu's sudden arrival, neither master involved spoke a word to explain what was happening. After a good two minutes of stunned silence, Shifu found his voice and turned it towards Tai Lung. "You...you can't be in here!" he exclaimed, clearly still in shock. "You're dead!" 

"Um...boo?" Tai Lung offered, finally speaking. "I'm here to haunt you?" 

Tigress gave him a vicious side eye as if to say, Will you shut up?!

Po cleared his throat and finally gave Shifu the run-down of what had just happened within the past ten to twenty minutes. After listening to the whole story and being told that Tai Lung was not back as a threat, Shifu relaxed a little, though not by much. He nodded his head slightly for a moment before dismissing himself for a second, leaving the three warriors in the training hall. Tai Lung took the moment of silence to stretch out his arms and readjust his legs. He still felt weak from the fight, but he was slowly recovering. After a few minutes, Shifu finally returned inside and walked over a bit more in order to see Tai Lung better. 

"I see you survived your previous encounter with Po," he said, a lot more collected now. 

"Afraid so," Tai Lung responded. "But I wouldn't mind talking as opposed to fighting." 

Shifu scoffed. "You certainly have a lot of audacity," he accused. "Waltzing in here and acting like a little conversation will make everything all better." 

"I never said that." 

"No, but you're expecting it." 

"Not even in the slightest." 

Shifu gave him a look of utter confusion while Tigress raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Then why bother coming here?" Shifu demanded. 

"I wanted to speak my peace," Tai Lung explained. "And let you know how sorry I am for everything that happened. I just ask that you please don't kill me." 

"That's a bit of a high demand, isn't it?" 

"You forget that you already had your new favorite Wuxi Finger me. I served all my punishments." 

Shifu frowned and thought for a brief moment. Then he asked, "And where exactly would you go if I told you to get lost?"

Tai Lung looked up in thought. Tapped the side of his pants. Then replied, "I'm not sure. Maybe I'll explore places I haven't been to in a while." 

There was a pause before Shifu resumed speaking. "You still have touches of arrogance, I see," he told Tai Lung. "And that quality is what led to your act of rebellion in the first place." 

"Then let's have Po Wuxi Finger him," Tigress chimed in. 

"No. I'll have none of that." 

All three masters looked at Shifu in surprise. Shifu explained that, while he didn't trust Tai Lung, he didn't feel like a threat that needed to be eliminated. 

"I won't have you roam freely about," he added. "So you can be supervised by the Master's Counsel in Gongmen City. I won't have you under my roof until you've proved yourself worthy to come home. 

"Gongmen City?!" Tigress and Po exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes. Tai Lung 's never been there before, so he'll have a disadvantage if he decides to try anything funny."

Tai Lung's jaw dropped in excitement as Tigress started pointing out every reason in the scroll to not trust Tai Lung, including his stalking techniques. 

"But he said he only wanted to apologize for scaring you," Po reminded her. 

"I'd rather trust the mailman than trust him!" Tigress snapped. 

Po rolled his eyes. "Would you leave poor Mr. Chong alone?!" he exclaimed. "The guy's just doing his job!"

"Enough!" Shifu interrupted. He turned to Tigress and added, "Since you're so concerned, Tigress, why don't you escort him to the Thread of Hope so that U know he's going in the right direction?"

Tigress' jaw dropped open and she started to stutter in protest, but but eventually caved in, knowing Shifu was impossible to argue with. 

A few hours later, her and Tai Lung were making the final stretch towards the Thread of Hope.

"Oh, look at that!" Tai Lung exclaimed when they got there. "They did fix it! I thought it would have taken longer." 

"That bridge is for the functional use of travelers, not as scenic decoration," Tigress grumbled. "It took a while to repair, by the way." 

Tai Lung scoffed. "Don't give me that," he said. "You sliced the ropes while I was running across. Don't think I didn't know what you were trying to do." 

"And what a shame it didn't work." 

The two walked closer towards the fixed bridge with a rise of tension now on their backs. When they got right up to it, Tai Lung turned towards Tigress and raised an eye. "Coming?" he asked. 

"Am I coming?!" Tigress exclaimed. "I agreed to take you to the Thread of Hope. not to guide you across it." 

"The length of the journey wasn't specified. Besides, I don't trust you to just stand here and not cut the bridge on me." 

Tigress stared at him for a second before her face contorted into an incredulous look. "I know those words did not come out of your mouth," she said. "You tried to kill us!" 

"I never had any intentions towards murder. I was perfectly content with crossing the bridge with some minor sparring, but you were so adamant about destroying it you didn't leave me with much choice." 

"Don't give me that! You nearly strangled me with the rope!" 

Tai Lung shrugged casually at the comment. "Well, perhaps so," he admitted. "But you know what they say: the prettiest ones are always the most deadly." 

Tigress blinked, unsure of how to respond for a second. "Did...you just flirt with me?" she stated.

Tai Lung smirked ever-so-slightly. "Depends on how flattered you were by it," he teased.

Tigress didn't answer for a moment but then said, "I'm not going to answer that right now." 

"Suit yourself," Tai Lung told her. He walked backwards onto the bridge and casually leaned to one side. "I'll be here all week." 

"Doubtful, considering where you're going." 

"Well, it is a rather long walk across this bridge.... Seven or eight miles at least.... It'll certainly feel like a week...."

Tigress hesitated before sighing and rolling her eyes. "Fine," she relented. "Since I did promise Shifu I'd assure him you were going to the right location." 

Tai Lung continued to smirk, but said nothing as he walked side-by-side with Tigress, brushing shoulders with her every few yards ahead.

THE END

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