New ally
I do not own Kiro or Kung Fu Panda
Huge thanks to Jweaks2016 for helping me with this chapter and letting me use Kiro.
**In the Capitol a few days before Freefall**
"Kiro!" The Emperor roared, and a young white tiger rushed into the throne room.
"Yes Your Magistrate?" Kiro joked.
"I have a mission for you. These enemies of mine have proved more difficult to defeat than I thought." The Emperor said. "One of them has a weakness, though; a young cub he considers his brother. I want you to kidnap this cub and bring him here, and his brother will follow."
"You want me to kidnap someone?" Kiro asked.
"You dare question me!?" The Emperor said getting up off his throne.
"This is wrong." Kiro said, shaking his head. "I won't do it."
"What?" The Emperor said.
"That Samurai was right. Something's wrong here." Kiro continued.
"You talked to the Samurai?" The Emperor asked, becoming a little worried.
**Two days ago in the holding cells**
Kiro stood in front of a cell that held a white tiger named Takashi; a Samurai warrior from Japan.
What does the Emperor want with him? Kiro wondered.
Takashi noticed Kiro standing there and walked over to the bars.
"What does the Emperor want with you?" Kiro asked.
"Revenge I guess." Takashi replied. "And that's not the emperor, it's an imposter."
"How do you know?" Kiro asked, drawn back a little by the sudden statement.
"I can tell." Takashi responded, leaning against the bars. "Let me guess, you've suspected something's been wrong for a while, right? That's why you're here."
"Yeah." Kiro said. "But how'd you know?"
"You've got the same look on your face my brother used to get when something bothered him. You even look a bit like him, what's your name?"
"Kiro Takimuro."
"That's interesting." Takeshi murmured.
"What's interesting?" Kiro asked.
"That name, 'Takimuro', it's my brother's, and my brother….is Emperor of Japan." "So like I said, interesting."
Ha! That'd be funny is we were somehow related! Kiro thought, chuckling to himself.
**Present day**
Kiro stood in the throne room his hand hovering over his staffs, and suddenly he drew and sparked them before rushing forward towards the Emperor. He never got close. Two guards grabbed him from behind and forced him to his knees.
"Let go of me!" Kiro shouted fighting against the guards.
Then one of then hit him on the head and he blacked out.
When Kiro woke up, the very first thing he noticed was how cold he was. At first he thought he might be in Chorh Gom Prison, but when he looked around and he saw he was actually outside. Someone had dumped him in a snow bank in the middle of a blizzard.
"Well that was a FROSTY thing to do!" Kiro joked, rubbing his hands together. "Those guards are pretty COLD HEARTED."
At least he still had his staffs, though. Just as he was starting to wonder what was going on, he heard a shout for help in the distance. Kiro got up and raced toward the cries.
Eventually he came across a White Tiger buried in the snow; Kiro looked and saw a foot prints and a blood trail leading to the tiger. He looked to be about the same age as him, being around 18 years old. He knelt down, rolled the tiger over, and saw a knife sticking in his stomach. Kiro thought about pulling it out, but stopped when he heard someone shouting.
"Dai! Dai!" A voice called out in the snow storm.
"Over here." Kiro shouted back, and a moment later a snow covered orange and black Tigress appeared with a wolf by her side.
Tigress saw a strange tiger crouching next to Dai; it looked like he'd stabbed him. She rushed forward and spin kicked the tiger in the head knocking him away from Dai.
"Who are you!?" She demanded, pinning the tiger to the ground and bringing her claws out.
"Let me up, please, and I'll explain." Kiro replied, grinning painfully.
Tigress only growled.
"Wow. Aren't we an angry kitty? Okay…" Kiro began. "My name is Kiro Takimuro."
Tigress growled again. "Impossible you died!"
"Can we do this later?" Kiro said. "You're friend needs help. I mean, if you want to keep me pinned down and question me like a crook while your friend bleeds out, then go right ahead, but I frown upon those sorts of things."
Tigress growled again but let Kiro up. "If you try anything…"
Tigress said making a cutting motion across her neck and Kiro gulped. Tigress and Arizona picked up Dai, and holding him between them, carried him to a cave nearby with Kiro following. As soon as they got inside Tigress grabbed one of Dai's staffs and pinned Kiro to the wall sparking the staff in his face.
"Explain yourself, now!" She demanded.
"You ever think of asking someone nicely? Huh? Just say, 'Hey, Kiro, I know you've thought to have been dead for many years, and I'm so glad to see you again, but could you please tell me where you've been?' You want me to tell you my life story, huh? First tell me where you got that." Kiro exclaimed.
He'd never seen staffs like his.
"Tigress calm down." Arizona soothed. "Wait…where's Max?"
"Who Max?" Kiro asked.
"A White Tiger cub about five years old." Arizona replied, looking around. "MAX?"
"I didn't see him." Kiro stated, and Tigress growled in Kiro's face again. "Would you STOP with the growling? I'm beginning to think you just like getting close to me."
This remark got Kiro a hard punch in the stomach from the tigress.
"I'll go look for him." Arizona said before rushing out of the cave and into the storm, leaving Kiro and Tigress alone with Dai.
"DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HER! SHE'S NUTTY!" Kiro called out, but sighed when Arizona didn't return.
"What are you doing here Kiro?" Tigress asked.
"Honestly? I don't know." Kiro replied. "I attacked the Emperor, though."
"You WHAT?!" Tigress screamed, causing Kiro to flinch back a little.
"Let me finish! He's an imposter." Kiro quickly explained.
"How do you know?" Tigress asked, still keeping the white tiger pined to the wall.
"A Samurai warrior named Takashi Nakamura told me." Kiro replied, grinning fearfully. "Please let me go now."