The sweat was dripping off her orange and black fur as she jumped forwards and smashed her clenched fist against the crocodile. In an instant he exploded in an explosion of wood. She then turned towards the wolverine that had popped up behind her. She turned around, jumped into the air and performed a powerful kick. When her foot contacted with his face, he exploded as well. Finally she landed on all fours in an almost crawling position, supporting her weight with her right hand and she was about to continue, but suddenly Master Shifu told her to stop.

"That will be enough, Tigress," he told her. Tigress stopped and got up, turned to her Master and bowed for him. As usual he wore his brown robes, but at that moment, he didn't wear his jade green shawl, which he did whenever they weren't training.

Tigress then looked back at all the dummies she had destroyed. There had been at least fifteen when she started, but now there were only splinters back. She didn't really like doing this kind of training; Tigress greatly preferred to spare with my fellow students. Unfortunately some of them were sent on a mission at the moment, and those who stayed behind were training children in Kung Fu down in the village, while Tigress had insisted on staying and training. She had just been having certain… issues lately.

She had kept feeling that something was missing in her life; as if she had forgotten something that she desperately needed to find. Therefore she had been training much more to fight off this feeling. But no matter how hard she was training; no matter how tired she was afterwards, the feeling was always there in the back of her mind.

With a sigh, the Kung Fu Master of the Tiger Style went to take a bath in the bathhouse of the Jade Palace. As Tigress slowly slid into the warm water, she sighed to herself. What had been causing these thoughts lately? It certainly wasn't a person… at least not because of any person she could imagine, so maybe it was someone and not something she had forgotten. Shifu, Po, Monkey, Viper, Crane, Mantis, could it be any of those people? No, when she thought about them, she just didn't feel as nostalgic as when she didn't think about anyone at all. Or maybe it was a place… some kind of location she could remember deep down in her subconscious. Maybe?

Tigress sighed once again and leaned back into the warm water. Maybe she was just fooling herself. She had no past before she came to the Jade Palace, so it couldn't be having anything to do with that time… but even if it had, then what? Regardless, there would only be one place where she could get answers… but even if she went back… the chances of finding anything would be very, very slim.

No, she wasn't going back. Now she had her life and her future here at Jade Palace with her friends… with her family. Hmm… family… something about that word seemed to ring a bell somehow… Could it have anything to do with her biologic family?

"My family…" Tigress whispered to herself… She didn't feel right saying that word out loud; it felt weird, somewhat awkward in fact. But what could she do about it? Her family had disowned her, leaving her at an orphanage, so how would she ever find them? And who even said that they were still alive? Maybe that was why she had ended up in the orphanage… Urgh, the time in the orphanage had been some of the worst years of her life.

Tigress sighed calmly as she looked out on the valley view before her. Viewing the mountains always calmed her down, especially from near the Peachtree of Heavenly Wisdom… Maybe it was the ancient, historical meaning of the place, or maybe it was just the fact that the cold breezes that blew around there weren't the same as elsewhere.

"Tigress?" She turned her face to the left and saw Viper approaching me. The yellow reptile softly slid along the ground towards me and Tigress turned my head back towards the view before her.

"Oh, it's you," Tigress said calmly. "Is there anything you want?"

Viper didn't reply, but simply looked at the view, seizing it alongside Tigress. The two of them just sat there for a minute or so without saying anything. Tigress would usually have repeated her question, wanting an answer right away, but this time she calmly and patiently waited for her reptile friend to speak up for herself.

"Actually there is," Viper replied without looking at Tigress. Tigress kept staring at the view, but she could tell that Viper suddenly turned her face towards her. "Has something been bothering you lately? You just seem so distant…"

"No, what would make you think that?" Viper didn't seem to buy it… typical. She was always so worried about others, even though they didn't need help of any kind. Finally Tigress sighed. "… Maybe kind of…"

"I thought so," Viper said and looked at her feline friend with a smile. "So tell me; what's bothering you?"

Tigress sighed again. She wasn't usually one to tell her feelings openly to others, so receiving such a request was a little challenging. How should she explain it, and still make it make sense? "Well… lately I've been feeling… different…"

"Different? Like what?" Viper asked. "Just tell me how you feel."

I turned my head and looked sternly at her. "Viper, you know that..."

"Yes, I know that you don't talk about what you feel, Tigress," Viper sighed. There was a few seconds of silence between the two. Tigress didn't want to talk, and Viper knew that. Yet Viper still asked.

Tigress sighed. "Fine, I've just… I've just been feeling like something's missing…"

"Like, you've lost something important?" Viper asked.

Instead of answering, Tigress asked: "Am I getting weak?"

"Weak?" Viper asked surprised. The two women sat there for a while without speaking. Viper knew that strength was one of Tigress' greatest attributes, but could it really affect her this bad? Could her strength really end up feeling like an item or belonging of hers? "I don't think you're getting weak… Maybe you just need to take a break… you've been doing nothing but training lately."

"Maybe..." Tigress thought about it… Maybe Viper was right… Maybe… No, deep inside, Tigress herself knew it wasn't just tiredness. Suddenly a dash of feathers landed beside the two.

"Tigress, Viper, we have a few problems downtown," Crane told the two. The white and black bird had seemingly hurried in order to get to the two and he pushed his straw-hat a little backwards, so that it didn't fall into his eyes. "Someone's trying to steal all the metal in the village."

"Again?" Viper asked annoyed. Yes, someone had tried to steal all the metal of Artisan Village a few years ago. Artisan Village was a little village a little away from the Valley of Peace, which had its name because there were many musicians living there.

"Alright, let's go," Tigress said calmly. Great, just what she needed to get her mind to focus on something else. As Tigress and her two friends left, Tigress decided to let her thoughts rest – if they kept bothering her like that, they could only pull her down and make her weaker.

Upon arriving in the village, Tigress and the others found Monkey, Mantis and Po fighting off a group of bandits. They were all small felines with light brown fur all over and spots and stripes here and there. They also had pointy ears, a black fluff at each tip and a very short tail… Lynxes. They all wore the same outfits – black Kung Fu jackets and pants with white trims. As Crane had told them, they were seemingly scattering the entire village, looking for metal. They had brought an enormous wagon, which already seemed loaded with various stuff – woks, kettles, spades, lots of metal.

Tigress saw that Po, Mantis and Monkey were already fighting the small felines, and soon she joined them along with Viper and Crane. Tigress jumped forwards and landed in front of a lynx that tried to attack a villager. The smaller feline took on a battle stance and so did Tigress.

Tigress suddenly noticed that the lynx wielded a dagger and he jumped towards her, swinging the dagger about towards Tigress. Tigress jumped backwards, dodging her attacker's dagger. The lynx ultimately failed to hit Tigress, but Tigress hit him in the chest with a double punch, knocking him backwards.

Next Tigress jumped forwards and kicked the lynx away, but was soon attacked by several others. Tigress bowed to dodge another dagger, then countered by punching the lynx in the stomach. Tigress slid her foot forwards towards the next foe, spun around and kicked him in the head, sending him flying into one of the wagons, which caused it to tip over. The metallic items that the lynxes had stolen fell onto the ground, but there were still two more wagons.

Tigress hit another lynx in the chest with a powerful punch, then another one and finally kicked another in the stomach with her entire shin. One last lynx tried to stab her from behind, but a punch to his head, even without turning around, was enough for Tigress to knock him out. Tigress was about to take on another squad of lynxes, but unexpectedly they ran over to one of the wagons and started to push and pull it away. Amazingly enough, despite how small they were, they managed to get the wagon to drive pretty fast, and they didn't seem to struggle much in order to keep up with it.

Having no need for waiting for the others, Tigress started chasing after the wagon. On all fours Tigress raced after the wagon, ignoring her friends calling for her to wait up.

But Tigress didn't listen – she had to do this to get her mind off her own problems; she had to focus on the problems of others… she had to get the stolen items back. Tigress pushed the pedal to the metal and picked up even more speed.

But suddenly the wagon stopped. Tigress made a small jump and extended her claws right before she landed. She slid forwards for a few seconds, then she finally stopped. The lynxes appeared from behind the wagon and joined those that were already behind it. The smaller felines walked up to face Tigress, but suddenly Tigress noticed something: she was surrounded.

Somehow she had actually failed to notice the little army of lynxes that had now formed a large circle around her. Tigress took on her usual battle stance and prepared herself to fight against the lynxes. But before she could even do that, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eyes – one from the right and one from the left.

Tigress turned her head to look at whatever it had been from one of the sides, but suddenly a few lynxes on either side were knocked aside. Tigress looked to her right and saw a stranger. He was tall, taller than her, and he was a wolf of some sort. His fur was gray with a brownish, his eyes were amber orange and he wore a white Kung Fu vest, which was similar to Tigress', though it had golden trims, and he didn't wear an additional robe around his waist. He also wore a pair of pants, which seemed to be made of a different material than Tigress, which gave them a more solid look.

From the left came a snow leopard. He had gray fur all over with black spots and his eyes were light blue – just like ice. He wore a black Kung Fu jacket and a pair of black pants. His jacket had a thick, silvery trim at the end of each sleeve and there were silver-colored metal fasteners all the way down his torso.

The duo made their way towards Tigress and formed a human shield around her as if they protected her; as if she couldn't fight by herself. The snow leopard flicked his hand and tigress just barely saw the shine from a silver ring on his middle finger. "Don't worry, Miss, we're here to save you."

Wait, what did he just say? Who were they and why were they…?

"Three…" the wolf started with a somewhat devious smile.

"… Two…" the snow leopard continued.

"… One…" the wolf counted, sounding more beat up now. The two had gotten into an almost sitting stand, ready to jump up at any second.

"… Showtime!" Without further warning, the two leaped up in each direction. Tigress just stood there and watched them take on the lynxes on both of her sides. Who were these people? Didn't they know that she was Master Tigress herself? She was a Master of Kung Fu – she didn't need to be saved!

The snow leopard jumped forwards with a backflip and kicked the first lynx in the chest, then spun around in a circle and hit another in the mid-section, while punching another in the face. He blocked the incoming attack from one of them and delivered a solid punch to his face. The snow leopard then jumped forwards and made a spin kick and hit two lynxes in the head. As one lynx came from behind him, he smashed his elbow backwards against his chest, then moved his hand upwards, hitting him in the face with the back of his hand. "What a nuisance."

"Well said." Tigress turned her head towards the wolf. He was also fighting with Kung Fu, but he seemed to use a more earth-bound style, since he didn't jump around as much as the snow leopard did. The wolf spun around, blocked an attack by putting his arms into an X-formation, then punched his attacker in the face. One of the lynxes then tried to slash the wolf with his dagger. The wolf had his arms in front of him in a defensive position. As the dagger's blade came towards his hands, the wolf moved the right arm upwards and the left one downwards, dodging completely. Before the lynx knew it, he was kicked in the chest.

"Pull back, pull back!" one of the lynxes shouted. Soon the little army of felines had disappeared entirely.

"Enemy: Showtimized," the snow leopard said slowly and flicked his hand again. Tigress just stood there for a second, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She had just been surrounded by the lynxes, yes that wasn't so hard. But then she had been 'saved' by these two strangers. What was up with that?

"Don't worry miss, you're in no danger now," the wolf told Tigress as the two approached her. She didn't quite trust them, so she kept her guard up – if they would try anything, she would be ready.

"Who are you?" Tigress asked in a suspicious tone of voice. The two seemed to know who she was… though they somehow didn't seem to know at the same time; they hadn't known that she knew Kung Fu, since they had fought the fight for her. Still, the way they had made sure that none of the lynxes even got close to her was more careful than any normal rescuer would be.

"Don't worry miss," the wolf started. "We're…"

"Allow me to explain!" the snow leopard said loudly and pushed the wolf out of the way. Before even the snow leopard got to explain the older wolf got him into a chokehold. "What's your problem?"

"My problem is you standing in front of me!" the wolf growled as the snow leopard struggled to get free. Tigress raised her eyebrow and watched the duo for a moment. For a second, Tigress would have thought that the two were siblings.

"Tigress, where…! Who are they?" Po asked as he and the others joined Tigress. The scene before them sure was weird, but no one asked any questions… they simply watched the two fight and argue for a moment.