A Sense of Purpose

Chapter 13: Gentle beginnings

Author's Note:

In the eons between the last chapter and this one (Goodness, it's been a while... I'm sorry...), I also wrote "A Sense of Compassion", a single-chapter story taking place several years before the events of the first KFP movie. It's set in the same continuity as this story, and this chapter briefly references the events of it. It's not required reading to understand this chapter, but if you haven't checked it out yet and like this story, feel free to give it a go. It's probably easiest to find via my author page.

It had been an uneventful trip, and Tigress kept reminding herself that this was a good thing. You've been far too excited about fighting lately. Time to remember your lessons: being a warrior is more than just punching and kicking. That's what Master Shifu always claimed, isn't it? She stopped walking. Huh, that lesson seems oddly familiar. Where did I last hear it?

"Tigress, I know we're close to a highly spiritual place," her Master spoke up behind her, "but could you wait with your meditative trance for the two minutes it'll take us to actually get there?"

"I'm sorry, Master Shifu," Tigress replied automatically and started to move again. "I just remembered something you said a long time ago that somebody told me again recently. But I can't put my finger on who... that had..."

"Well, it surely wasn't me," the red panda replied, apparently oblivious to the way she was trailing off. "I stopped telling my old lectures and anecdotes the day Viper threatened to kill herself with the Iron Fist of Justice if I kept doing it. Sort of a shame, really... I never got around to telling her the story of how I first met her father. Then again, it's probably for the best, all things considered."

"That jerk!" Tigress hissed when she finally remembered who had told her this lesson, and when. She immediately acknowledged that her anger was irrational, but she had been hoping that she would be able to keep Tai Lung out of this sacred place and her personal training.

"Well, yes, he was, but Viper managed to soften him up a bit since then." Master Shifu paused as it dawned on him that Tigress was not talking about Viper's father. "Oh, you mean the other misguided Kung Fu practitioner who had almost killed my favorite student and who only got a shot at becoming a better person after a near-death experience."

"Yes!" Tigress snapped, then did a double-take. "Wait, what?"

Her Master smiled serenely as he completely ignored her outburst. "Do you know why we are here?"

Tigress grimaced. "So that you can practice your Master Oogway impersonation? You got the cryptic subject changes down, at least."

Master Shifu laughed quietly and gestured at parting fog ahead. The Sacred Pool of Tears lay straight ahead, and the scene left Tigress speechless, just as it had all those years ago, during her first visit. The place was a perfectly serene and virtually impossible to stumble upon mountaintop lake, surrounded by moss-covered rocks and patches of grassland. This is where it all began. This is where Master Oogway meditated and founded Kung Fu.

"Do you know why we are here?" Master Shifu repeated.

"I... because..." Tigress still couldn't take her eyes off the pool. "I have no idea."

"We are going to work on correcting two of my greatest mistakes." He picked up one of the many leaves lying on the ground and shook his head in disapproval. "Tai Lung... and you."

The snarl was out even before Tigress could think of maintaining self-control. "I'm a mistake?" she hissed.

Ignoring her outburst (again), Master Shifu retrieved a rake from a chest hidden between two rocks and tossed it her way. "Here, you might as well get started. I have a feeling this will take a while." Then he hopped onto one of the rocks and slipped into an easy lotus position. "Do you know why we are here?"

Tigress inhaled deeply, held her breath for several seconds, and finally exhaled. He's going to keep restarting this conversation unless I keep calm. Easy, girl. You can do this. "I do not, Master Shifu," she played along and started to sweep up the leaves.

"We are going to work on correcting two of my greatest mistakes. Tai Lung... and you." He eyed her expectantly, then frowned mildly when no reaction came. "I spent many years of my life training Tai Lung to be not just the Dragon Warrior, but my legacy. I did nothing to-"

"Your LEGACY?" Tigress snapped, then froze and smacked her forehead when she saw her Master's sadistic grin.

"Do you know why we are here?"

"Because I apparently died, and this is my own, personal Hell?"

A pause. "Do you know why we are here?"

"AAAAAAUUUUUUGH!"

The Sacred Pool of Tears had probably never been this clean before. The sun had set long ago, and now Tigress lay next to the rock her Master was still sitting on, a small fireplace illuminating the scene.

"Do you know why we are here?"

"I do not, Master Shifu," she sighed. This was her own fault, she knew. The story was probably very short, but every repetition had just made her more aggravated until she had devolved into a screaming, emotional mess. Now she felt drained and just wanted rest. Not even being locked in a room with a bound and gagged Tai Lung and the Sword of Heroes sounded enticing at the moment.

"We are going to work on correcting two of my greatest mistakes. Tai Lung... and you. I spent many years of my life training Tai Lung to be not just the Dragon Warrior, but my legacy. I did nothing to hold back his skills or ambitions. Anything he wanted to learn, I taught him. And when he stopped asking questions, I showed him something new that would rouse his interest again. Barring the things one Grand Master teaches to another, Tai Lung knows almost every technique I know."

Tigress's eyes narrowed slightly at this. How do you beat someone like that? ...how were we supposed to beat him? She raised an eyebrow. And yet we almost did, even without the Dragon Warrior.

"After Tai Lung had turned against us, I had been a wreck. In my mind, raising Tai Lung had somehow become my greatest mistake. I was determined not to repeat it, but at the same time I knew that I couldn't just do nothing. Tai Lung's presence was still looming over me, even though he was locked up in a prison literally built around him." He took a deep breath. "And then I found you."

Your second mistake, right? the feline thought, but managed to hold her tongue for the first time after messing it up about three dozen times in a row.

"Even at your young age, you possessed strength and lots of raw talent. I looked at you and saw the snow leopard cub I had found on our doorstep so many years ago. And I took all of your potential and... turned it into a weapon to be wielded against Tai Lung." He paused. "Did you ever wonder why I only taught you Tiger style?" He suddenly asked, and Tigress knew that the sadistic teasing had turned into a mix between a confession and a Master-student discussion.

"Occasionally," she lied.

"Ha!" Her Master shook his head. "Be honest."

"Judging by what you just told me, I'll presume that you did it because you were afraid of what I could become." A good answer. Dodges his actual question, but I don't really feel like going through years of secret doubt right now - not even the rest of the Five know just how deep those waters are.

The red panda sat in silence for nearly a minute, staring straight ahead. "Because I knew what you could become." Suddenly, he got up, and Tigress's eyes flew open in anticipation. "But there was another reason. Tai Lung has studied virtually every style and technique known to me in record time. That is why I made you spend all those years on becoming a Master of one style."

Tigress opened her mouth, then gave her Master a questioning look. When he motioned her to go on, she frowned deeply. "With all due respect, but that makes no sense."

He gave her a thin-lipped smile. "Tai Lung learned almost everything I know. However, age-wise, he is much closer to you than to me, even if you count his years of imprisonment. His strength is the breadth of his knowledge. Your strength is the depth of your knowledge. However, he apparently still has the upper hand in combat, so we need to teach you a few new tricks to help you compensate."

Tricks? "Should I have packed winter clothes? We're going to be here a while if I'm supposed to catch up with Tai Lung's experience."

Her Master laughed. "Not quite. While I do intend to expand your horizon during the coming months and years, I will merely teach you three things while we are here. And we will leave when you have mastered two of them."

Tigress cocked her head. "Why only two?"

"While the two styles share traits, I doubt that you can master Leopard style in the time I intend to stay here."

"You're going to teach me Leopard style?" Tigress asked in disbelief. "As in... Tai Lung's style? That Leopard style?"

"There is only one Leopard style, and I taught it to Tai Lung, so... yes, that Leopard style." Master Shifu was clearly much more amused by this revelation than Tigress was.

Calm down, you're babbling. Tigress forced herself to take a deep breath. "But Master, why would you teach me Leopard style? I doubt I could think of a style that would be more useless against Tai Lung - you can't possibly be thinking that I can beat Tai Lung with his own technique!"

"Ahhh, the tigress shows her style, both on and off the battlefield." He smiled. "You're thinking much too straight-forward - I'm not expecting you to use it against Tai Lung, at least not as the secret weapon to win a fight. But knowing it should help you. The less Tai Lung can surprise you, the better your chances will be when you fight him. Besides, he also knows your style, so this should be an obvious first step towards improving your odds."

Something was bothering Tigress. She thought about it for a moment before cocking her head. "When did we change the subject from your mistakes to you setting up a fight between your two little failures?"

His smile turned into a smirk. "There was no subject change at all, Tigress. I failed in raising Tai Lung, and I failed in raising you. Tai Lung needs to learn the discipline, respect and humility that I neglected to teach him. And you need to step out of Tai Lung's shadow after I put you there. A victory over Tai Lung under controlled conditions should go a long way in helping both of you."

"Well, let's just hope that I don't lose, then. No pressure."

Master Shifu gave her a look. "What's this? The great Master Tigress is suddenly doubting herself?"

This was her chance to get away with being cocky. To boast to her Master that of course there was no doubt. Instead, Tigress sighed. "You weren't there. I mean, on the bridge." When Master Shifu didn't say anything, she shook her head. "He was facing five foes he had never seen before, the bridge he had been crossing had been cut off from right under his feet, his desperate leap to the cliff was cut short in mid-air by me. And still, the moment he and I landed on the bridge again, with the rest of the Five struggling to keep the thing from completely collapsing, he was completely at ease and in control of the situation. Not a hint of doubt or fear on his face." She gave the red panda a look. "Deep down, I knew then that the fight was over. I had landed one solid kick, he had landed nothing, and still I knew I had lost the fight."

"Mh, I had forgotten - or maybe just repressed - that Tai Lung employs theatrics to great effect." Master Shifu sighed quietly.

"Theatrics?"

A low chuckle. "I'll break my promise to Viper because it really is appropriate right now to repeat an old lesson: Being a warrior is more than just punching and kicking." Master Shifu probably couldn't see Tigress's claws springing free for a second before she willed them back. "When Tai Lung arrived at the Jade Palace to fight me, he didn't just walk up to me to issue his challenge. No, he used the thunderstorm to make a grand entrance by jumping out of his hiding place the moment I closed my eyes during a lighting strike, making it look as if he had just appeared out of thin air. The advantage - small as it may have seemed - was on his side."

"So he likes to use cheap mind games and intimidation." Tigress wasn't convinced that she liked this way of being a warrior. But I only need to learn how to beat it, not how to do it, right?

Master Shifu was silent for a moment. "Tigress, do you remember our trip to the Lee Da Academy?"

Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? Again with the cryptic subject changes. "Of course I do," she replied. "It's where we picked up Crane." Instead of Mei Ling, she added quietly, wondering briefly how the mountain cat was doing these days.

"Indeed. And you remember your fight with the wolf?"

"I fought probably half the Academy on that day," Tigress replied airily, making her Master chuckle. "There was probably a wolf involved at some point, too, I guess?"

"Very funny," Master Shifu commented, "but you know who I mean."

"I do. He gave up once I disrupted the flow of the fight." She paused and searched her memories. "Ohhh, you're talking about how I convinced him to give up."

"You 'convinced' him by blocking his strongest attack without even fully acknowledging it. But yes, this is what I'm talking about - from subtle displays of superior skills to openly taunting your opponent, there are several ways you can steer a fight before even throwing the first punch. Tai Lung has a knack for knowing which strings to pull to get a reaction from his opponents; you... mostly just intimidate people with your strength and skill."

She huffed. "I merely... emphasize my presence. I don't aim to intimidate, and I don't do mind-games."

"Oh, believe me, I know." She could almost hear Master Shifu rolling his eyes. "Which is why you will also dedicate some of your time to meditate. If we can't change your stance on conscious theatrics, the least we can do is to fortify your emotional balance. It may just be enough, even if this is something where Tai Lung has the clear advantage over you and me both."

I suppose I can use every advantage I can get, and not flying into a hissy fit the moment he opens his stupid mouth sounds like a big one. "Okay, so you will teach me some Leopard style and how to focus more. What's the third item on the list?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Her Master laughed quietly. "The meditation is just the basis - once you calmed down a bit, I will teach you the three things I intended."

Tigress raised an eyebrow. So there are two more techniques he will teach me aside from Leopard style? "And what will the other two be?"

"I could tell you, but you won't like either one of them, so let's delay the big reveal until later. For now, get some sleep."

"How very reassuring," Tigress muttered, got up and went to her tent. I already don't like Leopard style, and he told me about that one. So how much worse are the other two going to be?

The next couple of days were slow and boring, though Tigress didn't exactly mind. Master Shifu and she spent most of their time meditating, interrupted only by a few basic exercises. Then, finally, one day after lunch, Master Shifu waved her over to an area a bit away from her usual training spot.

There we go! she silently cheered, but maintained her calm and detached mask. "Master?" she asked politely and bowed.

"It is time for your first lesson - and no, we're not getting started with Leopard style just yet." Master Shifu was standing next to a pile of rectangular wooden boards, each roughly cut to a size of about half a foot by one foot. There was also a smaller pile of wooden spacers next to it. "Can you imagine what I have in mind?"

Tigress frowned deeply - she was pretty sure she recognized these boards. Breaking. We're doing breaking tests? She picked up one of the boards, forcing herself not to answer hastily. This is something new. A special lesson. One of three reasons why he apparently took me here. There is more to this than meets the eye... but what is it? Tigress knew that her Master was not fond of breaking - the act of shattering a stack of wooden boards or stone slabs, usually with a hand or foot - because he regarded it as pure flashiness with a slight risk of injuring one's limb. Sure, he did occasionally use wooden boards as targets, but those were usually cases where he would hang one or two boards at precise spots instead of just building a visually impressive stack, and even then, he tended to encourage touching instead of breaking. And yet here we are, with a suspiciously large pile of boards that look just the right size for breaking. Color me confused - we both know I can break a stack of pretty much any size, even one made of stone slabs. I have strength and speed on my side, so this seems extremely pointless! "...I give up," she finally conceded and threw the board back onto the pile.

"We're doing breaking tests!" Master Shifu announced and smiled. The smile widened when he saw her expression of disbelief. "Questions so far?"

Don't do it, girl. He's baiting you. Don't say it. Don't say it. It's a trap. "Yes, Master. I can already do breaking tests, so what's the point?" Drat.

"Wonderful, then this will only take a few minutes!" her Master cheered and rapidly built a small stack of seven boards, with two spacers underneath each. "Let's just do two quick tests and then we can move on to the next technique. Break these, please."

Really? Just those? I could break those with just my pinkie if I had to. Is it a trick? Tigress raised an eyebrow and eyed the stack. Only one way to find out. She stood in front of it and took a deep breath. It was a simple exercise, sure, but that was no reason for her to just jump at the task like a rookie. Knowing my luck, these things are reinforced, and Master Shifu is waiting for me to break my hand like a cocky idiot. She brought her hand above the stack and spent a few seconds visualizing the strike. Another deep breath... and then, with one short shout and little fanfare, her hand broke through the seven boards with practiced ease. There. Easy. She stood up straight and gave her Master a short bow, trying hard not to look smug.

"Ahh, splendid, nothing to criticize!" Master Shifu praised her. Then he swept the broken boards aside and assembled another stack of seven boards. "Again, please?"

Sure, I can do this all day. Tigress could barely contain her smirk as she stepped up to the stack again.

"Oh," the red panda interrupted her and chuckled as he tapped the side of his head, "almost forgot - just break the third board this time."

Tigress froze. ...what? "What?" WHAT? She leaned down and looked at the stack of seemingly identical boards. "Break... just... the third board?" She stood up again and gave her Master a look. "Really?"

"You told me you can already do breaking tests, Tigress," Master Shifu told her, his mischievous smile only visible in his eyes. "Are you telling me you aren't even capable of breaking a single board?"

Her mind was racing. This is a set-up. A trick. This isn't about breaking. It's about thinking outside the box. Right? "Am I allowed to take it out of the pile and-"

The red panda gasped in feigned shock. "Tigress, that would cheating!" After exchanging looks with his student, he wagged his finger and smiled. "No, you're not allowed to disturb the stack like that. Cute idea, though."

Was worth a shot. Tigress slowly scratched her chin as she assessed the problem. Panic gave way to cool calculations, and she started to see the outlines of her lesson. Can't smash through it, so I have to stop on the first board, unless I go with- She looked up. "Do I have to do this in a breaking strike? Top to bottom?" When her Master nodded, she frowned. Okay, so no precision striking from the side. So if I stop at the first board... then what? That board either breaks, or it doesn't. If it does, I lose. If it doesn't... then nothing else is going to happen, and I lose. This doesn't make sense. "I... don't see the solution, Master," she finally admitted before an idea struck her: Is this even possible? What if it's not? "Could you maybe show me what you had in mind?" Yeah, let's see him do it!

Master Shifu shook his head and sighed dramatically, but Tigress could tell it was an act. "Oh well, I suppose I can show you how to break a simple wooden board." He positioned himself in front of the pile, jumped up to even see the top the pile, then brought down the side of his hand in a rather soft strike while in mid-air.

The third board cracked in half.

What. Tigress's eyes went wide, and she bowed down to inspect the stack. True enough, no other board showed any sign of damage. "I-... What-..." she stammered in her best Po impression, gesturing between the wooden boards and the smug red panda. He transferred force... somehow... through several identical boards and thin air? ...no, wait. There is no way this is possible. This is a trick. Right? "Is there a trick?" she heard herself ask, her mouth once again working when it really wasn't supposed to.

Master Shifu chuckled. "A trick? You mean that the third board had been rigged? Fascinating, but easily disproven. You can assemble the stack yourself and point to any board you want to see broken."

Of course it's no trick. Let's not make yourself look like a complete dork. She forced herself not to grab boards from the pile. But then... how does it work?

Realizing that there would be no further protest for the time being, Master Shifu casually jumped onto the stack to address Tigress at eye level. "I know you have questions, so let me address a few of them before outlining your training plan for the next few days." Tigress stood straight, hands clasped behind her back. "This technique is not about strength or speed. You are a natural master of those, and there are not too many techniques I can teach that would improve them."

Then what is this technique about? she asked silently, even though she had a vague hunch by now.

"I won't go into details before you have given this some thought yourself, but I will tell you the story behind it." He ignored her quiet groan - it was no secret that Tigress was no fan of the lore... and maybe of stories in general. "A long time ago, there was a Master who is nowadays known simply as the Master of Gentleness." He paused to read her expression. When he saw that she apparently had never heard the name, he smiled. "The Master of Gentleness was a Kung Fu practitioner with his own school. Highly talented, and one of the few foxes to learn the art, though many criticized him for being too focused on winning tournaments and challenges."

A fox not just learning, but apparently even mastering Kung Fu? Tigress raised an eyebrow. Curious.

"They say that, after a spectacular tournament defeat, he retreated into his room for fifty years to meditate." When he noticed Tigress's look, he simply shrugged. "It's a legend; some exaggeration is to be expected. Anyway, when he returned to the public eye, he had altered his style a little bit. Nothing major, to everybody's surprise, just a few gentle strikes and a couple of equally gentle flips and throws. If anything, it seemed that his style had become much weaker than before, bordering on light sparring."

"But he started to win again?"

"He went undefeated for years." Master Shifu smiled when he caught her looking from him to the pile of boards and then back to him. "Go ahead and ask," he encouraged her.

"He won... because of this?" His smile widened, and Tigress knew that she had perfectly played along with her Master's script. Which means that there will be no simple, straightforward answer.

"When you grasp the answer to that question, you will know you have fully mastered the technique."

Well, that was even more cryptic than expected. Tigress frowned. And shouldn't it be the other way around? When I master the technique, I can probably answer the question. ...right? "So you are giving me a pile of wood and fifty years in the hopes that I will master a technique that I have seen once?"

"As I said when we arrived here, I don't intend our stay to be quite so long." Master Shifu tilted his head, as if in thought. "Knowing my luck, Tai Lung would declare me dead after a year or two and take over as Grand Master of the Jade Palace."

"As if he'd wait that long." Tigress replied coolly, but then decided not to push the issue further than that. "So you will let me meditate and figure out the fundamental concept before you elaborate?"

"This is going to be your first lesson in the truly advanced techniques. These techniques will often challenge your perception of how the world operates on a fundamental level. Things like the Wuxi Finger Hold work on different principles than the mere physicality of your own style, and you need to embrace the more spiritual side of Kung Fu if you intend to master them."

She gave him an amused smile. "A simple yes would have sufficed."

"Tigress." He sighed dramatically, though she could see a hint of a smile. "There will come the time when you will have students of your own. And then you will realize that being allowed to give fancy speeches is one of the few perks of the job."

"So you just like to hear yourself talk. And here I thought that you were doing this for the greater good. Preserving the art, blah, blah, blah." She crossed her arms and smirked.

"Lying to bratty and naive students is another perk," Master Shifu informed her with a wide grin. It had probably been a long time since he had been able to freely engage in banter. "Besides, everybody knows that I'm only in it for the money."

"The great Grand Master Shifu shows his true colors!" Tigress exclaimed in mock outrage, then chuckled. "You weren't kidding when you said my perception of how the world works would be challenged..."

He waved her along with a smile. "Well see how much you'll be laughing once you realize what I intend to teach you here." The smile widened when he saw her frown. "Now get started - you have a lot of thinking and meditating to do."