Disclaimer: I own no Kung Fu Panda as it is owned by Dreamwork

Author's Note: Well, it's been a while I haven't post anything up. I've been working on this for fun for quite a long time... A year maybe? I don't know if you find it to your liking or not, but this story is pretty much inspired by the writing of Da Vinci Code, and Angel's and Demon, or Deception. Good fast action paced books. Remember to try them out. And In case you're wondering, White Cross has nothing to do with religion. Although I know the name will probably remind you of the cross in Christianity. But it's not in this case. I called it 'White' because the story is set in Winter. And the cross... well... You might find out along the story. It's not very complicated. In either way, enjoy.

WHITE CROSS

"Legend has it, that 1000 years ago, five sages from around the world would gather every 200 years to document the very history into one single book. The book, by far was concealed because of its priceless memory of every war, every policies, and every history throughout the era. The gathering where each chapter is written would last for one month.

During that month none of them will leave the area, until the chapter of the time was completed. Once the book was sealed and stored in a safe place, the sages would once again leave the gathering, and return to their normal lives as the book shall never fall into the hand of the outsiders. Still, the power of knowledge had driven the hungers to the book, to which they seek to scourge the philosophies of the world into just one purpose – power and conquer.

"But you know what? That's all just make up beliefs," said Mantis.

"Really?" Crane raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit offended by the choice of word.

"Ya," Mantis reassured. "Who would ever live for such a long time? Every 200 years? Oh, pl-lease."

"I-I don't know, what about Oogway?" Po protested. "He lived for a thousands years right?"

Mantis rolled his eyes. "Okay, put Oogway as one of the five. What will be the other four then?"

"Urrmmm…" Po scratched his chin. "That's a hard one."

"Try four more tortoises," Tigress smirked. "That will get you somewhere."

"Tortoise from around the world?" Monkey laughed. "Brilliant."

"I presume there is some sarcasm in those words, Monkey?" grinned Tigress.

"I don't know, guys," Viper frowned. "I thought I heard about this legend before when I was a kid. And after all, China is one of the oldest countries that ever built. Anything that happened way back in this country might be possible."

Silence swept the room, but Crane broke it with a deep breath. "Whatever it is, let's just keep it there, okay guys? Mantis, would you mind putting that old scroll back, we still got cleaning to do, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Mantis frowned at Po, "cleaning the bookshelf in the morning.."

"What?" the panda barked innocently, "All I did was just asked 'Hey Master Shifu, can I get a peak at the thousand scrolls of kung fu?'. And then he was like.."

Po started to mimic a hunched person. "Hmmmm…." He massaged his invisible beard. "This place looked dusty…. should to be cleaned."

The gang laughed.

"Yeah, I gotta hand it to ya, you would've been a perfect decoy for 'trouble'."

"I will take that as a complement," Po smiled wryly.

"Anyway," Tigress sighed, "where is the grand master?"

Crane put the newly cleaned scrolls back into the shelf. "I believe I heard him mentioned something about going down to town, then he just hurried off. He seemed a bit rushed."

"Something happened down there?" Mantis asked. "You know Master Shifu rarely take a step outside of the Jade Palace, right?"

"Maybe," Viper dusted off the scrolls, "the town nowadays wasn't going very well."

"What do you mean?"

Viper dropped her jaw at Mantis, "Didn't you noticed? The wares are getting fewer and fewer lately. Something must've happened."

"Wares? You mean make-ups?" teased Mantis sarcastically.

"No, I was thinking about food actually," Viper huffed. "But since I myself wasn't very sure of what is happening now, I don't think I can say anything more. So let's keep it that way as well."

"Guys," Crane called, getting all the members attention back, "Can we just… continue cleaning up the chores here? Master Shifu won't be happy if he sees us chattering over our work."

"Okay, okay," Mantis sighed, "you the boss."

Time seemed to be passed almost as quick as unnoticed. It was now almost reaches the mid of the day. and since it was winter, the sun is still far from visible. Under the thick gloomy sky, the Grand Master can be seen paced slowly towards the Jade Palace, gripping a scroll in his hand as he plodded across the yard. Something had happened in the village this morning. And it seemed many villagers had been bear witnesses to the scene. The incident, as they speak, was not a light one. It rarely happened.

Correction, it never happened. Not in this peaceful village anyway.

Before dawn, he was woken up by an alarming knock on the door, hearing his name being whispered slightly out of tone. It turned out, was none other than the messenger he had in the palace, Zheng. The news he got, quickly driven him down into the village, leaving his students unattended for the morning greeting. Doing so, he would expect an idiotic laughs from his students when the six found out that they had just greeted nothing in unison.

So much of a morning, he sighed.

When he got down into the village, the settings he saw before him was gruesome beyond words. Piles of blood and broken pieces of armors scattered across the middle street of the market alley. He saw blood in his life, of course, but not this plenty. With the red trails splattered from the floor to the wall, he could depict that a massacre had just happened overnight, on that very icy ground he stood. Sadly, and weirdly, nobody heard a thing during the night. No reports of missing personals from the night guards, or even some villagers came screaming that they had suffered losses in properties. The scene leaves no trail to whom had been there, but there is definitely signs of many. At the least, there was ten of them..

That was not all. Something else also presented on the scene- a fragment of a relic.

"Morning, master!"

Reality came screeching into his head like a violent nudge. He was a bit numbed when he saw his students' eyes on him.

Master Tigress, ever so attentive to his expression, certainly noticed it. "Is something wrong, Master?"

The gang's eyes switched from his face to the scroll in his hands like a bunch of cats happened to spot a living mouse.

"What's that, Master Shifu?" Viper hastily asked. By that time, her voice stung like a needle to him.

Something needed to be done first. He thought. I need explanation.

Seeing the tension building up on Shifu's face, Po tried to change the topic. "Hey, urrrh... The scrolls you told us to clean up? Yeah, we've done that.

"Well, in case you're wondering."

"That's... very good, students." Shifu finally spoke up, taking a breath. "Well, I... will be in my room if you need me."

Before the grand master trailed off, he added again, "Only when it is serious, okay?"

When their grand master had walked over the hearing distance, the gang began to settled down. "Something's wrong?" Mantis scratched his head.

"Definitely." Tigress's eyes narrowed, trying to focus her eyes on the paper held in Shifu's hand. Her master disappeared as soon as he made a turn around the corner. And her eyes were left hovering over the entrance.

Po and the others remained silence, as her words dragged them into a series of wild guesses inside their head.

Miles away from the Valley of Peace, deep inside the heart of the swampy rivers, Lou was swimming across the icy water on his crocodile skin. Behind him trailed two of his brethrens, both of which are the best in his rank. Boosted skills, sharpened sense, and hardened will across each battle they fought, they were, nonetheless his most trustful, and fearsome guards.

The snow had covered most of the lands on both sides of the river. The water would have been chilling on winter, but being the toughest of their own kind, it feels just like taking a morning walk in the breeze.

When it comes to killing, Lou is a dangerous person, a bounty hunter with a lot of henchmen under his control. His ears will only listened on money, while his weapons will fight for his own thrill. Things went very easy for him. Being the toughest opponent in the swamp, taking over an entire route of cargos was like taking candy from a baby. The tasks were no different for him, wether they are large scale village raiding, to a small assassination, he would merely break a sweat. Worse, for those who happened to be in the swamps, they were under his net.

But he never would have known that today was a bump in his life.

It started when a hunched, hooded person came to him - cocky as Lou described him, offering the croc a preposition that would "scourge the past for unlimited gold", as it was described. At first, Lou sees it as a joke, and dismissed him with a flick of his hands. However, his opinion soon changed rapidly when he was informed by few of his henchmen, that the thing the stranger speaks of, is based on an old tale, passed down by generations. The place the stranger seeks, holds true for its name. But, none ever trespassed, for they are afraid of paying up with their own lives, but in a luxurious exchange of endless wealth.

But Lou wasn't like anyone, his lust for wealth often plunge him into the eyes of the authorities. He doesn't care, as long as the rewards paid off, the danger he met, he likes to describe them as "child's play".

All he needed to do is to obtain some old relic – 'outdated old fart' as he preferred to describe the thing. The money the client offered, is definitely over the rate. Many bandits and mercenaries will be dying to take up the job. However, there is something about this promise that made him unsure. Will he really ended up with unlimited wealth, or all this is just a fraud…

Travelling down the river, he spotted the promised meeting area, and his client was already standing there under the grooves alongside the river. The moment he reached the shore, the eyes were on him. Apparently, whoever this guy is, it didn't bother him that he is dealing with a dangerous criminal.

He came alone? Thought Lou as he saw no one else except for the client himself. Good….

Leaping his way onto the watery earth, Lou tore open the silence with a loud, angry snare. "You didn't tell me I was facing a group of assassins! I lost three men in that fight!"

His client remained calm even though Lou's teeth were staring at him. "I am sorry to hear that. But I must say, I never would had expected another group of people being there by night."

"They were expecting us!" The crocodile roared. "We were ambushed!"

"Really?"

"You didn't set us up, did you?" Lou challenged, finger pointing at him.

"Ridiculous," his client snorted, "I only wished to get my hand on that fragment. Never will I send another group to stop you. That makes no different in stopping myself, would I?"

The croc remained silence. He didn't seem to buy it. Even if the fiery eyes were on him, the client standing in front of him still remained as calm as a cucumber. He's impressed, to say the least.

"Speaking of which," his client continued. "Did you get it?"

"No," Lou shifted his stares into the nearby river. "We lost it in the middle of the fight. My men were interrupted before they could get to me."

The figure in front of him nodded. "Well then, I suppose you might want to give it another try."

Being a demanding mercenary himself, Lou was not an easy going person. "That will only cost you more," said the croc with a wicked grin. "Doubled if the risk is high."

What he received was a wave in the air. "Fine, fine." The client said. "But right now, someone else might have picked it up. I heard about the wreckage at the market alley this morning. Stop the other progress, and focus on getting back this fragment first. I will pay you double this time. Kill anyone if necessary. Just get the fragment for me."

Damn.. Lou raised an eyebrow. This guy is a walking money bag!

CHAPTER END

Okay, comparing to my previous work, The Masters of Claws is humor based, while The Eclipse is downright emotional. This story will be the balance between this two. lol. Personally, I believe you all can get what the story is going to be. Yep. It's pretty much relic hunting. The old game never dies. On further note, Lou is a new character I specially make up for this story. He is my OC, but he is as new to me as it is to you.

ANd Happy New Year to all of you.