The Lion and the Leopard

Field of Fiery Death

Leo Lung awoke before the sun rose. He was about to get out of bed when he realized there was something- or more like, someone- clinging to his arm. He glanced over and saw Tigress, who was sleeping soundly.

The lion debated on whether he should take her back to her own room. He decided on yes, and he gently picked up Tigress and carried her back to her room. She felt heavy with sleep. {She had an exciting day yesterday.} The asian lion thought to himself and he slid open her room door and slid her onto her bed. He hoped she wouldn't be angry or upset about it when she woke up.

But Leo shook that thought away and made his way to the Training Hall. He had not trained at all yesterday, he had spent time with Tigress instead; but that was no excuse to miss training this morning.

Leo hauled open the doors to the training hall and made his way over to the wooden warriors. There was one that caught his attention. This one had no weapons or spikes on it's hands and was tiny, only reaching a bit higher than Leo's knees. Did Tigress make this? Leo gingerly picked it up and set it out of the way. He didn't want to mess with Tigress's equipment, even though it would be so easy to destroy.

The lion trained for several more hours. He loved training with the wooden warriors, as they were almost as formidable as any opponent and presented him with a challenge. If he wasn't careful he could get-

"LEO LUNG!" The doors to the hall flew open and Leo flinched, causing one of the wooden arms of one of the warriors to slap him across the muzzle and another to whack his spine. Leo gently placed his paws on the warriors to stop them from moving, and he looked to see who was making such a ruckus.

Shifu stood in the doorway, and Tigress came up behind a few heartbeats later, and Leo's gaze flicked between them. What was this about? Shifu was leaning heavily on his cane. Leo thought Shifu looked like he was about to kill somebody, and poor Tigress looked pretty scared or worried.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Shifu marched up to Leo, his limp suddenly evident now.

"Hello Master Shifu." Leo tried to sound polite and keep his formalities, even though he had no clue what was going on, "Um..let what happen?" His tail flicked nervously.

"Tigress! She almost got kidnapped! And you didn't tell me?!" Shifu pointed to Tigress for emphasis, who was slowly making her way into the training hall. Leo sighed on the inside. Tigress must've ratted him out.

"Yes, I admit, I took my eyes off of her for about 4 seconds-"

"And 4 seconds is all it takes-" Shifu interrupted.

"But I saved her! And she was not hurt or anything. Yes, it was a close call, but-"

"Why did I ever let you do this?!" Shifu muttered, pacing back and forth, his tail bushed in what Leo could only guess was anger.

"The wolf would have to be stupider than a baby goose to try to snatch someone up now. The Valley is safe now!" Leo argued,

Shifu paced back and forth, leaning on his cane. Leo could clearly see that Shifu was debating on whether he should punish the lion or not.

"I don't want you taking Tigress out of the Palace again, you hear me?" The red panda said, glaring at Leo. The lion sighed.

"Yes Master."

"Get out. It's time for Tigress's training." Shifu said.

Leo's eyes widened at that. Shifu usually always let him watch the cub's training. But he was angry, and he respected that. Leo trudged out of the hall. As he passed Tigress, she muttered an apology, but he ignored it.

The lion walked into his room and sat down on his bed. He held his head in his paws and flicked his tail in anger. Of course Shifu would find out; he always did. But Leo tried to not beat himself up. Tigress still had a mostly fun birthday. She got to get out of the palace, which did not happen very often. Leo just decided to spend the rest of the day in the palace and not bothering Shifu.

Three Months Later

Leo stared wide-eyed at the floor in front of him. Shifu and Tigress stood beside him. Pipes lined the floor and Leo could smell the gasoline in the air.

"Leo, Tigress, this is the Field of Fiery Death." The red panda said, pride lacing his voice. Shifu raised on of his paws and snapped his fingers.

Fire erupted from several of the pipes. Tigress inhaled sharply. Leo's fur bristled.

"You will need perception, flexibility, and balance. Remember that even a supposedly safe surface can turn on you in an instant." Shifu lectured, "You go first, Leo. Start on this side of the field, and make it to the other side without getting burned. Good luck."

The lion winced. Whose idea was it to put this into the training hall? But he did not dare disobey his master. He didn't know what would be worse to deal with: a field full of unpredictable fiery explosions or an angry Master Shifu.

Leo descended onto the pipes. He had to be careful. Getting his fur scorched for the sake of training did not sound like his idea of a good time. A flame burst into the air about three pipes in front of him and Leo's tail quivered. His heart pounded in his chest. He knew Tigress and Shifu were both watching.

The lion took a few steps forward once the flame in front of him died down. Since the pipe was just used, it would be safe, right? Leo prayed his guess was correct. He heard a dull hissing sound to his right. Leo glanced over and smelled gasoline. Just a heartbeat later, fire shot into the air, barely a whisker-length away from his nose. If he were one pipe closer his muzzle would have been scorched.

But Leo slowly advanced forward, listening for the hissing sound or the gasoline smell that meant fire was nearby. On several occasions he almost got burnt, but his feline reflexes saved his fur- literally.

The hissing noise and gasoline smell easily aided Leo, and he began to increase his pace to a slow jog. He was about halfway through the field and making good progress. A smile creased his muzzle.

He stopped worrying about Shifu and Tigress, and started worrying about all the pipes around him. Even though his body only covered about four of the pipes, his tail stretched out behind him two more pipes. That increased the chance of some part of him getting burned, and Leo didn't like that too much. He curled his tail around his body, and kept moving forward.

Soon, the lion had reached the end of the field with no burn or scorch marks. Leo smiled. He gazed back over to Shifu and Tigress. Tigress was beaming.

"Good work, Leo!" Shifu called, "Now, Tigress, it is your turn."

Leo shifted on his paws. Would Tigress be able to complete this challenge? She was only 10 years old. It would be horrible if she was in the infirmary for a week because of training gone wrong.

But his doubts were easily proven wrong. Tigress apparently caught on with the hissing and gasoline, as she easily leapt out of the way of the flames before they even appeared. A grin creased Leo's muzzle as she finished the Field. Shifu, seeing both his students complete the Field with apparent ease, leapt onto the array of pipes and began crossing with skill and ease. He finished quickly.

Shifu proceeded to congratulate the two felines on their work, talking about how they could improve and how he had ideas for plenty of more training obstacles and courses.

Leo didn't talk much. He simply gazed onto the Field of Fiery Death, wondering how much he could train on it. Tigress seemed to like it, as she was able to leap gracefully and use her senses to her advantage.

He did not mind the additions to the Training Hall. But, if Shifu got his way, then the Training Hall had a lot of renovations to go through.