Naidvar's TiPo Oneshot Collection!

Blaze of Empathy

Nightfall. A time in which heroes felt vulnerable and villains felt invincible. An atmosphere which provided solstice to those living within the walls of their homes whilst striking fear into those who were unfortunate to have themselves caught on the road before they reached their destination. The rising of the night was typically viewed as favourable to those making up the Furious Five alongside the Dragon Warrior for it provided an opportunity to rest with the intermittent defending of the Valley of Peace being required on occasion which broke this slumber.

Yet, on this night, they found themselves in a land unfamiliar to their eyes and one that irked their souls from within. Despite the bustling city of Gongmen seemingly being on the horizon, everyone had been marching for roughly two days straight without much rest other than setting up small outposts in the forests. This was without mentioning the dystopian energy which came from the settlements surrounding the city itself.

With the moonlight kissing the fur of a familiar black and white panda all the while everyone else lurked within their makeshift tents crafted from sticks and leaves, these dangers of the night alongside the past were left to be pondered as wispy wind passed by his colossal form as well as rustled his miniscule ears.

Although the darkness of night was relatively eerie, Po found solstice within sleeping by the fire, insisting that he needed not to cover himself when the leaves above would provide cover from the elements and that his own fur was strong enough to hold against the windchill offered by the night. On the other hand, there was one question which plagued Tigress' mind more than anyone and that was Po's seemingly shrinking enthusiasm accompanied by his erratic attitude.

As Po's most faithful friend, she found herself with her eyes wide open whilst peering out of a crack in her tent which led directly up to the cold alongside the forsaken blue haze of the moonlight. It was rare for Tigress to ponder the secrets of her comrades, yet the secrets of the Dragon Warrior for she gave his privacy the utmost of respect and sought not to question his mere demeanour.

The more she thought about the circumstances under the spell cast by the cloak of darkness as well as the light-blue haze filling her tent provided thanks to the moonlight above, the more dots were connected inside of her head which provided some insight to Po's seemingly erratic behaviour. The need for light and warmth most likely reminded the Dragon Warrior of home as well as the hugs he would receive from his avian father whilst the light reminded him of sunrise alongside starting a new day.

Not to mention the amount of social withdrawal the usually bubbly, friendly as well as humble panda had experienced since he got closer to Gongmen City and noticed the decline of some of the structures nearby. Tigress even found it eerie that after remaining silent for a solid hour, one of the only comments Po had to offer was the fact that the land looked like it had been looted and it was slightly unsettling.

"It's just part of the mission, Po. The closer we get to settlements, the likelihood of them being plundered increases. In other words, bandits like to raid areas outside of cities because they can make money whilst avoiding the guards inside."

"Why did I have to say that?"

Tigress found herself wandering within the hurricane spawned by her own mind as she turned her attention away from the moonlight, instead to the sticks as well as leaves making up the infrastructure of her loosely constructed tent.

"Why couldn't I just be more direct and honest with him? Gongmen City is in danger. It is my duty to enforce the notion that we're going there to bring down Lord Shen and defend the people. That these raids aren't just random and most likely have something to do with his Wolf Army. Why do I feel the sudden urge to protect him when he should be handling himself... Unless he can't. But why am I so worried to begin with? I used to be so judgemental of those who can't carry their own weight but... Something seems wrong with Po."

The striped feline's mind further ventured through the tsunami of thoughts filling her mind, soon turning back around to face the moonlight once again to look up to her own symbol of hope alongside wishing to gain some sense of solstice to aid her thought process. It was a shame that she felt herself becoming more pensive and unable to sleep by the second, not wishing to be alone to struggle like she had been left to do so many times beforehand.

"The Wolf Boss that raided the Musician's Village... Something's up with him. I can't explain why Po would freeze like that, like an animal stricken by a curse forsaking one to the fate of a statue or a Terracotta Warrior. I just... Don't understand why. Was it the weapon, the attitude? The lack of an eye, perhaps? Was it the insignia the Wolf Boss wore?"

At that moment, Tigress briefly felt her own heart stop as well as her stomach churn, her nerves being rattled by her own independent discovery. She may have silently cursed her curiosity previously but she was not going to let her own curious assumptions regarding herself stray in the way of her new objective of the night and that was merely to humbly check on Po. For Tigress to ensure that Po was getting the sleep he so desperately needed.

"Spiritual Shellshock."

The eager feline soon brought herself onto her backside after spending too long pondering, realising she had most likely stumbled across the answer she was desperately searching for as she soon found herself emerging from the tent. Ensuring not to make a sound that could startle any of the Furious Five members that were sleeping in their humble makeshift tents as well as to avoid disturbing Crane, she soon tip-toed past everyone and made her way to a small dirt path in the forest which would lead to the glow emitted by Po's comforting blaze.

"Po is travelling to Gongmen City to confront an invader that most likely has some link to his past. Although it is not my responsibility nor business to ask about it on this night, I need to ensure that he is getting a peaceful night's sleep as opposed to remaining awake whilst pondering everything. He experienced a nightmare last night and I heard him take a breather next to the fire, there's no doubt he gains a sense of confidence from being near light amidst the darkness when it's spreading like a plague amongst the populace of Gongmen."

Tigress suddenly came to an abrupt stop after venturing down the trail leading to the campfire for some time with her accidentally snapping a stick with her right paw as she was walking towards her destination. Even the best of her eyesight and her senses couldn't assist her with straying away from obstacles planted by nature itself. The pensive and uncharacteristically empathetic feline soon lifted her paw from the stick which she had reduced to splinters and sent out an appeal to the Spirit Realm, hoping she didn't disrupt Po's sleep or alert the rest of the Furious Five.

On the contrary, Po couldn't have been awoken for he was already conscious and alert, staring into the blaze of the flame as his back rested against one of the logs which had been set up and moved purely by him to give him an extra sense of security. A chill strummed his spine like an oriental instrument as he merely hoped it was just someone taking a leak or perhaps a random stick that had fallen from the trees above.

A disturbing silence fell over the pair of warriors, with Tigress attempting to catch a glance of Po from a distance without getting too close as to wake them all the while the only thing filling the air happened to be the crackling of the firewood and their own cold breaths. As Tigress manoeuvred herself around the campfire, eventually catching sight of Po's jade eyes for he was wide awake, she subtly sprinted closer until she took a seat next to him in silence.

"Tigress? What are you doing awake?" Po humbly asked, soon bringing himself onto his own butt as he sat before the striped feline, of whom appeared extremely pensive and somewhat tense.

"I could ask the same thing, Dragon Warrior. Yet, you asked first. I simply can't sleep," Tigress quietly stated, taking in a deep breath of fresh air to mask her true intentions of ensuring the panda was asleep or doing well. "Why are you awake?" She inquired, sending Po into a still silence.

"Same reason. I can't get comfortable with all of this glow from the campfire... But I feel too cold when I'm far away from it," Po quietly answered whilst one of his ears rustled around, which was his subtle tell that indicated he had told a lie; a rarity for the panda yet Tigress understood he was protecting the true reason from her.

"I see," Tigress briefly answered. "I haven't been able to get much sleep thanks to the exhaustion of the journey. It would be foolish of me to ignore the fact that Gongmen City has to be one of my more... Mightier triumphs in the making," The striped feline attempted to make some ground by building up some smalltalk, something she notoriously fell flat in when it comes to her own social skills.

"What? No way! Surely you've come across scarier things than, you know, a city that's a little far from home and taken over by a deranged peacock, right?" Tigress noted how Po seemingly shuddered thanks to mentioning even a brief fragment of Lord Shen's identity, indicating he was more disturbed than she initially thought. "I mean, I first saw you take down Boar and he was pretty big and scary, Ti!" Po's enthusiasm somehow stoked the flame in front of him as the waving around of his paws brought the flames to life. This greatly amused Tigress, who was proud to see that some simple small-talk was seemingly helping Po with his thoughts.

"Believe it or not, Boar wasn't the scariest bandit or bad guy I've fought. I do think it is... Awesome that you see that as one of my greater triumphs, though," Although Tigress maintained her gaze into the forest, she couldn't help but dart her eyes over to Po to see that he was left in a state of subtle shock. "What? I've fought scarier villains in my time. You don't just train at the Jade Palace for upwards of twenty years without developing a taste for ridding China of evil," Despite it going against her usual attitude, Tigress was already enjoying this little bonding session she was having with the panda.

"It's not that... You just used the word awesome whilst talking to me for the first time ever!" Po's excitement brought a subtle smile on Tigress' face which she had to turn to hide, it turns out sleep exhaustion made that difficult for her. "You've fought bad guys and gals before but I wonder... Does Gongmen City, uh, worry you a little bit?" Unfortunately, that smile would be wiped off Tigress' face as she realised her answer or perhaps her discussion about the city would come sooner rather than later.

"Truth be told, Po... And I'm only telling you this in confidence. I worry about every mission, even if it is a slight worry. I am leaving home to fight an invader or a bandit, a criminal, even. If you put the Furious Five inside of that equation and the Dragon Warrior into that equation? I've got a lot to worry about. Fortunately, there's a remedy for that," Tigress turned to Po with the most sincere of expressions possible and placed a paw around his shoulder. "Gongmen or a bandit in the Valley of Peace? I will always worry, but that worry is extinguished because I know you as well as the Furious Five have my back. If you have my back and the rest of the Furious Five have my back... What is there to fear?" She raised a confounding question that soon hung above Po's mind like bait on the end of a fishing rod as Tigress gently brought her paw away from Po's shoulder.

"I guess you're right. I have nothing to fear, at least when I have your awesomeness to protect me!" Po exclaimed slightly too loud and Tigress gestured to him by lowering her paws whilst pointing at his mouth to keep it down. "Sorry! I just wish sleeping wasn't so hard. I know you and the rest of the Five have my back but- I can't stay sleeping for too long. It's like- well- it's like a nightmare that plagues my mind. I know it's not real but it follows me everywhere I go, it doesn't help that this nightmare has become a little more ooky spooky ever since I left the Jade Palace for Gongmen," At that moment, Tigress realised that what she had initially assumed was true. Po was most likely reliving a memory of some sort, yet she knew she wasn't on the inside to communicate this message.

"Well, Po. My way of dealing with nightmares- and trust me, I've had them before... Is to confront them. If you can remember them, you need to use your own Kung Fu but mentally challenge the opponent in your mind. Study it, learn from it, maybe you will find some meaning behind it. However, the most important remedy of all is sleep, especially when you don't feel alone," Tigress soon stepped down from the log she was sitting on, placing her back against the soil of the ground next to Po. "Lie down. You're not sleeping alone tonight," She instructed with sincerity, prompting Po to lie down by her side.

"But what if I have another nightmare?" Po felt himself panicking internally as he was soon soothed by Tigress placing her arm around his shoulder whilst on the ground, using her arm to create a makeshift pillow for him to remind him of her warmth and presence.

"Then I will be here for you to help you confront your nightmare."

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[The End!]