Deadline

Author's note: I don't own anything, don't sue. Also warning: Character death

When she opened her eyes she was in an open field, her fellow masters around her as they fought a group of outlaws. She didn't remember how she got there and given the urgency of the situation she was in, now wasn't the time to make questions.

Tigress went after the biggest of the group, a huge muscular boar armed with a battle axe. He wasn't the smartest one, but given his strength and the power of his strikes it was obvious she would be the better match against him, being the largest and strongest of the five. The boar was slow and clunky on his movements, but should his heavy weapon ever strike her she'll be split in half, there were several close calls as they fought one another and her own hanfu had been sliced off in a few places. Then she got lucky as her enemy tried to cut her head off, the axe fell above her at great speed but she dodged the attack at the last second causing it to fall on a tree nearby, instead of hitting its target the metal was stuck into the strong wood.

Now deprived of his weapon her foe was no match against her quick agile strikes, sure her ribs might have cracked a little whenever his huge fists managed to make contact on her torso but she had been worse. Taking a few steps back to gain distance and momentum she hit him with a powerful back spin kick right on his muzzle, breaking his nose and incapacitating him.

Meanwhile Po was facing off with their leader, a tall horse dressed in fine golden silk that didn't signify the high status of a warrior but someone with tons of material wealth. The horse was a decent fighter, some of his kicks and blows managed to land on the dragon warrior, but compared to the now high master of Kung Fu the equine really was no match.

-"Hy-yaaa!"- Po squealed smiling after hitting the horse with an open palm strike that pushed his contender at least six feet away, the foe was stunned for a while but quickly regained his wits and charged right back at him. When his enemy closed the distance the panda took a defensive stance so he could block any incoming attack, but he didn't know what the horse had hidden below his sleeve.

Po expected to get hit or punched, instead he just heard an explosion and all of the sudden there was a burning pain in his chest, looking down all he saw was a red dot the size of a walnut situated on the left side of his sternum, then his vision went blurry and he fell down.

After hearing the explosion the fiver turned towards the source of the sound, the horse was standing over Po while holding a very strange weapon on his hoof, it looked like a very small cannon, there was smoke coming out of its muzzle. The dragon warrior laid on the ground unconscious while a large pool of blood was quickly forming below him.

Tigress ordered the other masters to keep fighting while she ran towards her friend, as she ran closer she could see that the horse seemed to be putting a metal pebble inside the mini cannon and aiming the bizarre weapon this time at the panda's head. She tackled the horse and the weapon shot into her side, she felt a fleeting burn but it wasn't a deep wound. Withdrawing her long sharp claws she hit the horse on the face with a slashing blow that left deep bleeding scars on him and permanent damage on his right eye, howling in pain he dropped the weapon. Seeing her opponent crying in agony on the ground she regained enough self control to growl at him instead breaking his skull.

Turning towards Po she tried to asses the damage, the wound on his chest looked like a tiny little scratch, but the amount of blood that accumulated below him proved the damage was serious, too serious in fact. By the time she was able to be by his side he wasn't breathing anymore, she tried to put pressure on the wound and poured her chi over him but it was no use, her life force cannot heal the dead.

It didn't make sense, he had been fighting and goofing around like always just a few minutes ago, how could a weapon cause such catastrophic damage in such little time. Po is the dragon warrior, he learned the wuxi finger hold by himself and cracked the secret code in the ancient scroll, he dodged and manipulated even the most powerful cannon ball, he traveled in and out of the spirit realm like it was no big deal and he died because of a tiny pebble?

No, it doesn't make sense. Po cannot die like this, she won't let him die, it's just not possible. Once again she shone her chi on him trying to sear the wound, but the life force passed right through him like he was an inanimate object and dripped into the soil beneath, still she kept trying.

-"Tigress stop it! You'll drain yourself!"- She heard the voice of Crane like he were many miles away even when he was standing right beside her.

Monkey made the bold move of slapping her on the face, forcing her out of the trance, when he looked at her she could see tears on his eyes -"He's dead, there's nothing you can do about it"- He told her between sobs.

Then it hit her, reality that is, and she screamed.

Her eyes closed, there was nothing but darkness, she opened them up and found herself back in her room

The jarring emotion of seeing Po die washed over her, shaking in fear she curled in on herself and wept, that wasn't a nightmare, nightmares fade shortly after waking up yet the images in her head were still vivid.

-"No Master Tigress, that wasn't a dream."- Said a voice right next to her

As soon as sensed somebody in her chamber she quickly got out of bed and struck a combat pose.

-"Who are you?"- She said scanning her room, the spartan furniture and its tidy disposition left little place for an intruder to hide, yet all she saw were shadows.

-"Show yourself!"- She said a bit more loudly, hoping to put the other masters on alert

-"There's no need to raise your voice young lady, I mean no harm"- A soft deep voice spoke from behind her, turning around what she saw made her scream once more, but the sound was ripped out of her throat as soon as she made it.

The creature in front of her was not an animal like she had ever known, it had a flat pale face with no snout, only a round mouth. His eyes could be somewhat recognizable as something that might belong to a living being, but they were deep black and even when there was a strong glimmer in them, they looked empty. He wore tight fitting dark roves on a body too slim and long to survive according to the basic rules of nature, even a skeleton would have more bulk. Hands protruded from it's sleeves in freakishly long fingers that ended up with sharp nails, yet what creeped her out the most was his lack of fur, bluish white bare skin was exposed revealing the purple veins pulsing beneath.

In an effort to regain her wits she tried to speak again, this time she was successful in producing a sound -"Who are you?"- Her voice was so meek and frail, you could swear that tone would never come out of her mouth

-"I am the grim reaper"- The thing said with a small bow

-"Why are you here?"-

-"To ask for your help"- The reaper said while holding out his hand towards her, as if asking her to take it.

With a trembling paw she did as told and soon felt mesmerized, the panic that had invaded her earlier faded away, she now understood the creature before her meant no harm.

-"What you just saw was a vision of the future, the dragon warrior is supposed to die within three days. But his death will bring so many consequences that the balance between life and death could be shifted beyond repair. The weapon his murderer used will become so powerful entire armies will use it causing many more kills than they should, and when a new powerful foe arrives to brandish it, the only warrior strong enough to defeat him won't be alive to do so"-

-"We have to stop this then, save him from death"- She said determined

-"Yes, but the balance is quite delicate, in order for his life to be spared, yours has to be taken"-

-"What? Why me?"-

The reaper shrugged -"The life of one noble warrior for another. That is the only way to achieve the balance"-

-"Can't you just not take him? You are death after all, YOU are the one that could stop this"- The feline claimed outraged

Shaking its head he responded patiently -"I am to death what an accountant is to money, I don't own it or dictate its rules, I merely manage it. For every life that is given, another one must take its place"-

She grumbled. It's the story of her life really, always at the shadow of the great dragon, first it was Tai Lung and now its Po, she will never be the chosen one that leads the final battle.

But she loved Po, as much as he loved her and the rest of his friends and family.

-"I'll do it"- She said defeated, Po wouldn't hesitate to risk or sacrifice his life for her had he been in the same place. As a noble warrior she had been taught the importance of self sacrifice, especially if it was for the greater good.

The reaper gave her a sand clock, as soon as she touched it the sand begun to slowly drip from one compartment to another. It was evident that once the final particle of sand fell, her time would be over -"You have three days to settle your issues before your vision takes place, use them wisely"- then she looked up and it was gone, only a cold wind was left in her room.

Turning around she looked out her window and saw the rising sun, it's meager warmth would never be enough to heat up her chilled bones.