Dynasty of the Fated and Cursed
Blood of the Earth
-Chapter 1: You are here, We are there-
"I don't have much time, as I am slipping between worlds...
All my eyes can see, is that of the endless void beyond that of the living and it betrays the future …
What is to come is bloodshed… endless bloodshed and death.
I ask myself 'How can a world of peace really be both constructed and razed on a foundation of war, misery and death?' It's beyond my mortal understanding.
But as I slip further away from that previous state, I begin to truly understand.
The hate, the pain, the death, the violence…
It's all necessary…
For one action to occur another must unfold…
It has been said, to experience joy, you must also experience pain…
One without the other isn't how life works, nor is it how the world, which was founded in darkness and chaos, was meant to be experienced.
That is why I, must die…
From here… I can see why…
I can see why all of us will die, but I cannot say how, or when.
It's not my place to say such things…
All I know is that I truly am in a better place…
To experience joy …
One must experience pain…
To… experience joy …
One must… experience pain…
Joy…
To experience… joy …
One …must… experience…pain…
Meiyou tongku meiyou xiyue
Weile you shengming de, Bixu si…
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"In order to have life, we must die. Goodbye lion…"
The Shadow Hunter leader silently whispered as her followers shoveled dirt onto Hou-Xin's grave. It was the only grave being dug and filled here tonight in Sun-Lo, for even though all their hearts were fueled with hate and rage… No one could kill any of the Shadow Hunters who were responsible, and even though their leader had been attacked, bloodied and bruised, she'd refused to have the captured remains of the Furious Five, the mountain cat or the Dragon Warrior executed.
They had lost the fight and all had been captured. The Shou-Lie Yin-Ying didn't harm the Jade Warriors after the battle but the leader commanded that they all be properly restrained and to the Jade Warrior's surprise; they were bound by Elemental Spheres that were very similar to the ones that had been placed on Tai-Lung and Shen-Mao weeks ago. Although the only difference between then and now was that these elemental spheres actually worked… and couldn't be easily destroyed.
Master Viper's body had been bound in at least seven places. Due to her species, she couldn't truly be bound to prevent her movement, but the weight and pressure could at least make moving seven times harder and actually painful to do. Which the pain was very apparent at the dull rage that hung in the back of her seductive eyes. Anyone who didn't know that Viper was in pain would have thought she was trying to resist the urge to sleep, but she was merely tolerating her inconvenient shackling, contemplating her loss and preparing for whatever prison was in store since death wasn't apparently on the menu tonight.
Master Monkey had been bound a lot harder than Viper even though her entire body was shackled. Monkey's arms had been consumed in giant elemental spheres that were large enough to touch his elbows even though the center was based at his palms. However, due to his own chi, the spheres were repelling one another like two equally charged magnets. To make matters even worse, the orbs felt at least seventy pounds, and constantly trying to escape the others magnetic radius. Only once did he say he felt as though he was being 'Drawn and Quartered', but his complaint fell on deaf ears on all sides. Like Viper before him, Monkey wasn't going to complain anymore than he already had. It was true that his tail and legs were completely free of shackling but his jailors knew that if the Monkey exerted force that wasn't dedicated on remaining lying on his back and staring at the sky; his own arms would be torn from his body due to the heavy magnetic charge carried by both spheres.
Master Mantis, at first, managed to stay hidden from the Shadow Hunter's, but his chi eventually gave away his location and in an act of rebellion against the surrender, Mantis attempted to shatter the elemental spheres that bound his allies, however he failed.
In punishment, he was to be trapped inside one of the dreaded spheres. But to keep the warrior alive, the sphere was partially hollow with holes drilled in three areas on the same hemisphere. Air holes for his tomb, but it looked more like a bowling ball than anything else. Master Mantis conceded after he was trapped, he realized that his chi couldn't affect unnatural metals and the sphere was spiritually fused by the Hunter's, effectively locking away control. Occasionally a sigh would escape his bowling ball prison, but that was all the rebellion he had in him. He was conserving his energy for the eventual escape. He was a lot faster than these women were giving him credit for, and his vengeance wasn't gone, not in the least. His surrender was only a prelude to his counter-attack, of course... when he was going to counter attack he… actually didn't know.
Of everyone shackled Mei-Ling was enjoying it the least. She was bound by her wrists, by one large elemental sphere that she held in front of her legs while she kept her head hanging between her knees. The mountain cat was sitting on the ground, wallowing in self guilt and probably thinking the worst about herself with every passing second. She hadn't muttered a word after Hou-Xin fell and the fight started. But when she saw the others being knocked flat and captured, she attempted to fight harder to somehow redeem herself. She wanted them to die, all of them, to pay for Hou-Xin's death. However there wasn't that much hate in Mei-Ling's heart, and she knew revenge couldn't beget revenge. So her strikes didn't puncture and tear like they could have, and she was overwhelmed and was forced to surrender when Crane did. Afterwards, she sat down, placed her head between her raised knees and kept quiet.
But of all the Masters trapped and bound by the Shadow Hunters, unsurprisingly, Po was enjoying it the most. Po had been bound by his feet and his mouth, although it wasn't with elemental bounds… His Force chi, dissolved the painful tingling of the material meeting with flesh and fur so instead of continuing to use stronger and stronger compounds; The Shou-Lie Yin-Ying bound him with rope and cloth. And when the Dragon Warrior ceased to quit asking questions even against the threat of death; he was gagged with elemental spheres… then later, more cloth, because he managed to eat the elemental spheres placed in his mouth to keep him quiet.
The Shadow Hunter's weren't very impressed with the Dragon Warrior at first since he, had been put down just as swiftly as the 'Furious Four' however the main reason for their continued existence surely wasn't for their combat abilities. They had been defeated too quickly to be considered valuable in that sense. The army of cloaked assassin's were still in place; Which most would find strange because their enemies were captured and bound. It was true that the Jade Warriors had been quickly defeated, however the wounded assassin count was nearly 200 in only thirty-five, or so, minutes of actual combat with no fatalities on either side except for the fallen lion that stared the entire battle, but that wasn't the reason the legion remained. The captured warriors, even when they escape, weren't the problem.
The Assassin's were still poised because of one man, the self appointed leader, Master Crane.
The Dragon Warrior and his allies wouldn't attack unless he gave the signal, it was his call… and that was reason enough to stay. As a unit, the Jade Warriors were far too dangerous, but once one of them fell to capture in combat, the fight tipped back into the hands of the Shadow Hunters.
.
Master Crane was the only of the Jade Warriors that was unbound by the Shadow Hunters, and it wasn't by choice. He was singled out to remain unbound as some sort of example. He didn't completely understand it yet, but that was the only reason he hadn't declared a counter attack yet. He, and his allies, were praised for their combat prowess, regardless of how swiftly they were dismantled. The rune baring leader of the Shou-Lie Yin-Ying had praised them personally, while her minions merely chortle and snicker from their shifting shadows. The leader saw exactly what potential all of them were harboring and desperately wanted it, but there would have to be some diplomacy before any conditions could be discussed. Master Crane wasn't badly wounded, nor were his allies which aided her case, but Hou-Xin's death would hinder it more.
The only visible wounds were the ones that had been stabbed into their pride. The Five had been reduced to four and stomped out, it was a shameful defeat.
Mind you, the Dragon Warrior didn't feel as much anguish in his defeat as the others did, because the innocent whimsy in his brain couldn't be smothered out by 'death' and 'dishonor', or at least not completely. Po was in the presence of fighting styles, deadly weapons, extraordinary chi's and legendary murderers from ages and ages ago… He was in 'Butt Whup Heaven' and could apologize about his behavior later. But he was snapped out of his day dreaming by diplomatic words.
"Well Master Crane… You have the floor, and the jury is ready to hear what you have to say." The leader of the Shou-Lie Yin-Ying spoke and stepped up to the White Crane. His hat lightly rolled from one shoulder to the center of his back as a cold gust came rolling by the two of them. Master Crane's eyes were cold and full of disgust. She could tell that there would be no easy way to get what she wanted from the crane and the alternative always yielded bad results.
"You have done your part of our bargain… and I'm grateful … Even though you killed my brother Hou-Xin. You fulfilled my wish and gave him an honorable burial… I have no further demands and we will submit to capture with the condition that the women aren't harmed." Crane spoke clearly and strong, showing that he was a true leader.
"Oh, we don't harm women, never have. Our master would be furious." She said with a sinister smile on her fangs, clearly showing every intention of treachery, the exact opposite of what Crane was doing.
"Why are you smiling…?" Crane muttered, his feathers ruffled by this woman's audacity. "I'm not telling jokes, so be serious about this engagement, because I'm not going to lose my focus like you'd hope."
"Hmm perceptive? I'm starting to admire that wonderful White Crane Kung Fu. It's taught you a lot, hasn't it Master Crane?" The leader said, stepping closer to the bird, holding out her gloved hand to touch the tip of Crane's beak. He responded with a sudden peck that her hand barely managed to avoid.
The horde of Shadow Hunter's shifted slightly, all the women assassins preparing to leap upon Master Crane and tear him apart, but the Shadow Hunter leader didn't command them to attack, and the horde held their ground.
"…" Crane didn't need to speak to reveal the heat and fury that was raging in his heart and was continuing to grow.
"My my… touchy." Responded the leader as she returned her paw to her side, but only to attempt to touch Crane for a second time which this instance wasn't met with retaliation. Not at all to the surprise of the Shadow Hunter leader.
"Hmm, you are well trained aren't you? I would have broken your neck if you had attempted to peck at me again."
"I could perceive that much…" Crane said with a huff in his voice, hating the fact that a murderer's paws felt both soft and corrosive at the same time. He wanted to preen his feathers and bathe until his bones were sparkling clean.
"Well if you're so observant Master Crane, then tell me… Why haven't we killed you yet?" The Hunter questioned him, with a clear tone of interest and deceit in her voice.
"You won't kill us because you need us."
"You are correct, we do. But why? Can you tell me that?"
Crane closed his eyes as the both the Hunter's paws rose to his beak, and he let his neck go limp. Slowly, the Hunter turned his head to one side then again to the other, slowly simulating breaking his neck again, although without stiffness and resistance present, Crane came to no harm, causing the Shadow Hunter to laugh.
"You're starting to scare me Master Crane, how did you know?"
"That you were going to paralyze me?" Crane's limp head spoke, "Your hands are soft, but they're the hands of a killer… I can feel the malice coursing through them, I bet Hou-Xin could feel it too right before you slit his throat."
The Hunter backed away, properly feeling insulted, and Crane returned his neck to an upright position.
"…I see. So answer my previous question. Why do we need you –alive-?"
"To get back Ryoko Yatogi … our Master Tigress, because I expected to see her here."
"What?" The Hunter paused, then began to laugh. "So you mean Ryoko isn't waiting in ambush??"
"No." Crane responded mildly, now feeling nervous that his guess was wrong.
"Well then, I suppose we should just kill you now then, huh?"
"Wait…" Crane paused, "What about Tai-Lung, aren't you after him? Or Shen-Mao?"
"They are not of my concern Crane… and you're too smart to not know what we want from you and your friends."
Master Crane paused for a moment, thinking about it or possibly what they could want… but nothing came to mind immediately until Mei-Ling finally decided to speak.
She didn't lift her head when she did, but everyone could hear her clearly.
"Crane… they didn't kill me or Viper because we're your bargaining chips. Without us, they couldn't persuade you into giving up your seed to preserve their dark way of life."
Master Viper's eyes flared and she began to terribly slither towards the leader of the Shou-Lie Yin-Ying and Master Crane shouting, "No! NO! NO! That is… NOT happening!!"
Master Monkey and Master Mantis began laughing from their shackled positions. "What?!" The both of them said in unison.
"Oh that's gold!" Monkey began laughing hard. "Oh I'd better stop laughing, the vibrations are moving the balls and if they move too much-haha- I'll be torn in half."
Mantis laughed from inside his orb prison. "Oh no don't damage those balls Monkey, it's what these crazy women want, after all."
Po laughed from where he was sitting, but rather weakly. "So wait, we're not dying??"
Monkey chuckled, "No we probably will. You see all these girls? I need a mint…" Monkey paused to laugh again, but suddenly turned to Po noticing that he could speak. "Hey wait, did you eat your gag again?"
Mantis' orb rolled in one direction from the movement inside, clearly the Master falling over from hilarity. "Yeah, and there's probably more back at home Po. It's surely our death, death by Snu-Snu."
Po wanted to scratch his head. "What the hell is snu-snu? And I eat when I get nervous… sorry."
Crane shook his head, slightly feeling better knowing that everyone on his team still had vitality and their personalities still in check… well at least everyone but Mei-Ling, she would need time.
"Your friend is well educated in the Shou-Lie Yin-Ying's way of life. But she's correct." The Shadow Hunter spoke with a smile, "Not killing any of my women, and surviving our attacks is impressive. You men would serve as perfect hosts for future breeding."
"Hey, I like the sound of that." Monkey laughed.
"Monkey…" Viper hissed while attempting to move to bite him.
"If you refuse, we'll kill all of you on the spot. I've already killed your brother… I have no gripes about killing the rest of you." Spoke the Shadow Hunter, giving Crane and his friends the ultimatum.
"Do it for the football team Crane!" Mantis shouted from inside his orb.
Master Crane, however was oddly silent. He'd dedicated his entire life to Kung Fu after he left Sun-Lo to study. Mei-Ling inspired him to make a proper man of himself and take up the art so he could better his life and completely redeem himself for being a push over and a janitor. Sweeping up teeth, mopping away blood and constantly bowing to the phrase 'Dirt-bag' and 'Maid' never pleased him, and when he discovered his natural talent for 'kickin butt' he embraced it like it was a golden apple straight from the palm of heaven. All his life, even while he was a Kung Fu Master, he was always a second behind … A minute late … The 'Go To' Guy instead of 'Head Man In Charge' … But with his training came patience, a humble feature that most men learned after being bested by their seniors and superiors…
All those years he was always obeying orders instead of making his own, developing himself and straining his thin bones to better undertake the unrealistically difficult and taxing missions from Shifu and Master Tigress. But here he was, the man, the law, he was number one now… and he had to now deal with the difficult choices that a leader is frequently faced with. His entire life of Kung Fu was now standing on a ledge, a thin plank dangling over an endless life of servitude to assassins, or sudden death.
Not really a hard choice…
"What will you do with Mei-Ling and Master Viper if we submit to you."
"We're submitting? We can still fight Crane! We can beat these gals!" Po shouted from the back, but the Mantis ball swiftly shot into Po's face from a kick by Master Monkey.
"Keep it quiet Monochrome, we're not actually in that great of a position where we could survive, even IF we broke out." Monkey sighed deeply, a bit disappointed in the Dragon Warrior.
Mantis merely groaned from inside the orb, not prepared to be an actual bowling ball.
"We won't harm them." The Hunter said, politely and disrespectfully curtseying before Master Crane.
Crane frowned for a moment but Mei-Ling interrupted again. "Crane… just do it. They'll pamper us and squeeze you men for everything you've got… It's how they live. Nurture the women, kill the men."
Crane turned back towards the Shadow Hunter and held up a wing. "One moment…"
"You don't have much time, bird… decide swiftly."
Crane approached Mei-Ling and Master Viper, the both of them glanced up at the bird together. Viper's eyes were filled with both worry and rage, but Mei-Ling had been crying. The soft fur under her cheeks were soaked with tears and her heart was clearly broken, anyone with eyes could see that. She was a mess and all she wanted was to somehow make things better, so the most she could do was use what knowledge she had to save everyone else.
"Crane… y-you can't do this… I thought you-" Viper began to stammer but Crane cut her off, placing the tip of his beak to the tip of her slightly upturned lips.
"I have to… If it means keeping you safe, I'll do it without thinking."
Viper was speechless for a long moment, but she suddenly frowned and flexed all the muscles of her length as hard as possible to gently slap Master Crane in the crotch.
Crane, Po, and Monkey all were silent afterwards, or at least Crane attempted to be past coughing and panting from being blasted in the jewels.
"SEE THAT?!" Viper then shouted to all the Assassin's, "I TOUCHED HIM FIRST! HE'LL ALWAYS BE MINE!"
Po tried to look another direction. "Uh… wow… ok."
Mantis' bowling ball shook, "What-what-WHAT? What happened? Viper touched what? His Johnson? Way to go Crane!"
"Amusing stunt…" The Shadow Leader spoke, as Crane returned. "So I'm assuming we're in agreement?"
"Heh… uh, yeah. Yes… I mean, we are." Crane said, lightly wiping sweat from his brow, but he straightened up for negotiation one more time. "On two conditions."
"More complications??" The Hunter sighed deeply.
"Yes, One, you already know. If at any point, Viper OR Mei-Ling is harmed. We'll retaliate."
"Interesting, I'll have to keep that in mind… Although I've never seen a man actually argue wh-" The Hunter paused. "Never mind, what's your second condition?"
"Show me your face, and tell me your name."
"Now I'm flattered." The Hunter Leader chuckled, "Alright then Mr. Perceptive. Here I am…"
Slowly the Shadow Hunter Leader peeled away her mask. The Shadow Hunter's robes are meant to conceal the wearer and provide a ghostly gate for weapons. As long as the Hunter wore the cape, they had access to an unlimited arsenal of whatever melee weapon they could comfortably imagine existed. But their appearances weren't hidden without the mask. A Shadow Hunter's mask would hide the complexion and eat the pigmentation from the wearer's fur, down to their feet, and the mask naturally absorbed light within. Therefore as long as the robes were worn, a Shadow Hunter was anonymous and infinitely armed. But once the mask is removed, the affect ends, and if the cape is destroyed, their armory is affectively cut off.
This woman, however, was different. The mask and cape were still the same, but to the knowledge of those who fear the Shadow Hunters, there has never been trademark features about a hidden hunter that would allow you to distinguish one hunter from the next, aside from the marking lying on the cape themselves. This woman was different… Her hands took a hold of the hood and pulled away her disguise, burning off the affects of the being hidden. Her grey fur immediately bled into a bright orange shine, revealing her soft, yet sinister expressions. She was a Corgi with black tipped ears and black spots on each side of her muzzle like that of a fox. Although the most distinguishing feature about the Corgi was her eyes. Like most Corgi's hers were completely black, but the pupil in the center was huge and at times, it appeared to be smoking like that of a Chinese firework or fog machine… none the less, she was beautiful like mostly all of the Shadow Hunters but with that beauty came infinite ruthlessness and lies.
"Well, here I am? Impressed?" She laughed.
"You didn't tell me your name…" Crane mouthed, barely able to speak for a moment.
"Oh, I suppose I didn't… You may call me Yoshi… Ai-Yori Yoshi. Now come along, it's a long way back to the Sanctuary, and our master should be very pleased with you four."
"Are you coming home...?" A ghostly voice wisped through Shen-Mao's ears, to stroke his brain.
"I don't see how you can invite me… after what I've done." Shen-Mao fearlessly replied, knowing exactly who it was.
"It can be forg-"
"No it cant!" The snow leopard shouted in his mind.
"It can."
"How? Why?"
"Because I still love you… You re-taught me to love… You taught me how to be happy."
"I can't believe that… Your life was perfect before I got there…Yue was happy. You weren't vomiting or constantly checking over your shoulder before I arrived. How many times did you have to lie to your followers about my presence? I did all I could to hide but I sometimes made things worse… and after I was gone I…"
"No. When you left, things got worse than you could imagine… I know my sister has been after you, wanting to kill you. She wants to present me with your head… I love my sister, but I love you more. You were my husband once Shen-Mao…" Xue's voice gently stroked Shen-Mao's brain, her presence introducing a cold chill to anyone nearby.
"Xue I'm sorry… I…"
"Don't apologize, just please come back to me… I miss you… I love you."
"But how? I ran from you, I thought you were going to kill me, and Setsuna. That's why I fled… I had no idea you would have left me to live, and you revived our son Mitsurugi."
"How could you? You wouldn't talk to me for the entire week after the kittens were conceived and I was too exhausted to do anymore than breast feed them and sleep."
"Xue…" Shen-Mao sighed.
"Shen-Mao, please, I need you." The distant snow leopard pleaded, slowly invigorating her mate's unconscious figure.
"I can't… Adamesk has my heart…"
"You gave me your heart long ago… Why won't you return to me?"
"Because I would die again, and only bring more pain Xue… Adamesk has my life in his hands, and I've been abusing the time he's given me to live… He wants Vekka dead and is only giving me one more chance… I have to take it."
"Shen…"
"I'm sorry Xue. I love you, but … I can't forgive myself for what I've done to you, and our kittens…They're taking me to your sister but-"
"No! Not Yue, she'll kill you Shen..."
"I know Xue… I wish I could see you… but I'd be dead by the time I got to you…"
"Shen…"
"Xue… I'm sorry… I can't."
"…Shen…"
.
.
.
.
"I'm sorry…" Shen-Mao muttered, he wasn't very audible however it was enough for someone to hear him.
"Wha?? Awake finally?" One of the Wu sister's spoke rising from a titami mat that had been set out earlier. "Hey, dad's up." The hooded leopardess spoke, prodding one of her siblings who merely mumbled in her sleep without waking up.
"Apple core… mhhrr hhmmrrr… Who's your friend…" The sleeping sister muttered.
The first sister laughed lightly and prodded her other sleeping sister. "Hey, Fu. Dad's up, want to talk to him?"
And like the first, she mumbled in her sleep as well. "This…is my road… when I'm in it… murr…"
"You girls are impossible." The eldest sister laughed to herself. She gave up on trying to wake anyone else. Asuka and Mitsurugi had gone to sleep long ago in the back of the cave and like Shen-Mao; Tai-Lung was also in a deep sleep almost something like a trance. Although the Shen-Mao was at least showing signs of waking, Tai-Lung gave no such indication.
Sai-Yue, the oldest, Wu Sister rose to her feet and analyzed the cave, while glancing over her fidgeting father lying on the other side of the small fire they had constructed in this new hiding place. Like before, this new hiding place was another cave a lot like the last one. Caves were common for the Shou-Lie Yin-Ying to hide in when they needed to rest and ever sense she was a little girl, Sai-Yue loved caves and the mountains, so whenever possible she would find an abandoned cave or an actual Shadow Hunter alcove to hide in. She enjoyed the dark, damp, smelly caves, and she especially enjoyed the cold. But not everyone else, Shen-Mao and Tai-Lung, despite being Snow Leopards, didn't live in Mongolia, and instead became conditioned to a warmer and regularly shifting climate aside from the normal low temperatures of their home land. So to keep her missing father and brother warm, she constructed a fire in the cave and tore a small hole in the ceiling of the cave to provide a vent. This was done so no one would inhale too much smoke from the open flame since none of the children had fire chi.
Sai-Yue had placed Shen-Mao and Tai-Lung on one side of the flame while her and her sisters rested on the other so everyone would be comfortable and close to the fire's warm glow. Mitsurugi and Asuka however were further back in the cave, warming each other with their own bodies. Asuka, being a lynx, was clearly not one of Shen-Mao's children and she wasn't originally apart of Xue's army, instead she was an operative with Yue's forces, but after a few encounters with Mitsurugi, she began to fall in love with the only living male within the Shou-Lie Yin-Ying, and as a condition of being with him, she betrayed Yue's army and began working with the Wu Sisters.
Sai knelt down beside her father who was still apologizing to the wind.
"What are you sorry about baba…? Leaving us? Leaving Mama? Or something else…?"
"Xue…" Shen-Mao muttered.
"Our entire family talks in their sleep," Yue nervously laughed, then turned to one side, thinking about what Shen-Mao had just said. "He's talking about Mama…"
Was what Shen saying true? 'Could he be talking to our mother right now?' If it were true, then she knew she probably shouldn't wake Shen-Mao right now, for fear that he'd miss something important and try to take it out on her… and she would hate to kill her father so soon.
So instead of waking her newly discovered baba, she sat next to him on his mat and began stroking the black hair on the back of his head, but the minute her paw touched his head she felt the cold presence of a paw grabbing her own, and another wrapping around her head to press down against her mouth, effectively muffling her nervous gasp.
'Who the hell?!' Sai-Yue thought and glanced down to see Shen-Mao had completely gone missing, and black hands attacking her. She quickly put two and two together and decided that her father was pissing her off.
She seamlessly pulled free of both his hands and rolled onto her back, supporting her head with her hands and kicked her feet upward to take the black panther's head in a tight hold between her shin's and throw him to the floor.
The panther came down to the cave floor and was immediately pounced by all three Wu's sisters quickly waking up and attacking the infiltrator. Although Sai-Yue backed away and commanded that her sisters back down.
"Chill out girls, chill… It's just baba. He's not a lurker." Sai spoke with a half disbelieving sigh.
"Wha??" Reika growled, holding Tai-Shen by two braids and chewing on one of his ears.
"It is?" Fu-Mai mumbled, wiping sleep from her eyes with one paw and holding her two of her fingers over his eyes prepared to poke them from the sockets.
"Yeah, it's him, he's just… strange now. I hope you can explain this father…"
Tai-Shen, the black panther in question, began to chuckle. "S-sorry girls. I didn't mean to attack you Sai, I just woke up."
Reika spit out her father's ear, "Yeah so did we… and you don't taste like make up, when did you get so black and old, weren't you like … 49 the last time we saw you?"
"Something like that." Shen-Mao said, cringing with Fu-Mai's clawed fingers still resting infront of his eyes. "Um, Fu? Can you not do that?"
"Huh?" She spoke and accidentally poked the black panther.
"Gah!"
"Sorry baba." She said with a ditzy smile.
"It's… ok… sorry for waking all of you."
"Yeah yeah," Reika grunted, "You can start the apology with explaining why you attacked Sai, and why you're dark as night. What is that called anyway 'Black Magic'?"
"Shh, Reika… Let him explain himself." Sai-Yue said as she cautiously took a seat on the other end of the flame, glaring at her father with fierce green teal eyes.
"Well I was talking to your mother… She decided to contact me sense you've all found me. With you all being so close by, the connection to my chi must have been magnified enough for her to find me and invade my sleep."
Sai-Yue, didn't speak but she was listening. Fu-Mai yawned and placed her head on Tai-Shen's shoulder, clearly showing no worry or caution and Reika on the other side of the black panther did the same thing, being a lot bolder than her sisters as where Fu-Mai just didn't care.
"She never explained it to us, but we found it out. Yue can't contact us when we get too far away, and Mama can't contact us if we're not collected as a family. Well, as long as I'm with Fu, Reika, or Mitsurugi, Mama can talk to me, but it's rare she does."
"Do you know where your mother is?" Tai-Shen questioned, turning to his two daughters sleeping on each of his shoulders and gently hugged them and began stroking their heads and ears. "Your sisters don't seem to fear me."
"None of us fear you, baba. Mitsurugi loves you even though he only met you yesterday… I barely remember you but… I think I can trust you. Mother never said anything horrible about you, she was just sad that you left."
"…I know… I'm sorry Sai, I would have never left if I'd of known that she wasn't going to execute me and my so-… your brother."
"You mean Setsuna? No … Mama wasn't going to do anything like that but, after you left. Aunt Yue left too, with a lot of the family."
"The family? You mean the other assassin's, right?"
"Yeah…" Sai-Yue said silently, as if the memory was painful for her.
"Well… don't talk about it if it upsets you Sai… I never meant to hurt any of you either, I was stupid back then. I'm probably still stupid."
"You were stupid for attacking me. Now tell me why you're black and old, is that apart of your camouflage?"
"Something like that…" Tai-Shen said, holding up an arm and rolling it to take a quick glance at the integrity of his bandages and the condition of his black, unkempt fur. "Adamesk gave it to me."
"You mean the deity? He grants you gifts?" Sai spoke with some shock in her voice at the realization that something so material could be bestowed on someone by a blood god. "I … didn't know they did that. All Vekka does is possess your mind over time... and make you go completely…"
"Insane. Yeah, I saw it once when I was with your mother… But, I had this disguise not so much given to me, but made… It's a full body chi scar, and retaining most of the rapid aging that Yue had put on me. It allows me to completely simulate an aged version of myself, complete with altered abilities and personality."
"Rapid aging??" Sai-Yue said with a confused blink in her eyes. "How is that?? Yue?? Why would… … oh…"
"Yeah… Ji-Ju Shou-Xian Chi, She used it on me to kill me without actually hurting me. I'm sure Xue didn't want me harmed, but it was the perfect way to kill me, although I was already following under Adamesk when it happened, and because I'd gone for too long without drinking blood in tribute to my lord… I was automatically killed and my heart was brought to him as punishment."
"… Wow, I see… Well then, he sent you back?"
"Yeah, he did."
"Why?"
"To kill his wife."
"His wife…? Who, here?? In this realm?"
"No. God's aren't able to fight one another, to kill a god, you have to kill their followers, all of them…"
"A God …Baba? You can't mean..."
"No… I'm not going to kill your aunt, but I am going to kill Vekka. Adamesk gave me the task of killing a god, and if I complete it, I get my heart back. But when Setsuna died, I had to revive him… it took a lot out of me, and the time I have left…" Tai-Shen sighed deeply.
"Baba… You can't leave." Sai-Yue said with a growl in her voice.
"Baby… even if I didn't want to, I'd have to go anyway… I have to kill Vekka, and I can't do it alone, or easily."
"Well how ARE you going to do it? Man can't kill gods! And you can't kill Aunt Yue, there's too many of her followers and they're better trained than you are… no offense baba."
"None taken, hell you three out match me easily. Even one on one, I can see the strength in you." Tai-Shen said, leaning forward and past the flame to stoke Sai-Yue's cheek.
"I wish you would have been around when I was a kitten baba…" Sai spoke, leaning into Tai-Shen's paw, enjoying the caress of her father's hand. It did feel strange to feel his paw against her cheek for the first time in forty years but there was no mistaking that the snow leopard hiding under a panther's fur was indeed; her father.
"Me too, Sai… me too. I regret running away, every day. I know I could never make it up to you, your brothers or your sisters. I don't deserve your love."
"It's hard to love you, but it's hard to hate you too. So if you are going to leave… Promise to come back, and at least wait around for Mitsurugi to wake up to see you fully awake. He carried you all the way here after all."
Tai-Shen sighed deeply, thinking about how little time he had until he fully dissolved and returned to Adamesk but, none the less he agreed to stay. Fu-Mai had fully fallen over and fell asleep with her head in Tai-Shen's lap while Reika remained upright against her father's shoulder. Holding onto Tai-Shen's arm in her sleep and not fully letting go.
"Baba?" Sai-Yue spoke again, getting comfortable on the mat that she'd taken from Tai-Shen after throwing him.
"Tell me about Mama… When you two were together. She used to tell us stories when we were little kittens but as the years went on, she got quieter and wouldn't smile nearly as much."
"Oh?"
"Yes, father tell us some stories. It's been a while sense I've heard a good story." Mitsurugi spoke as he approached from the rear of the cave, with large scratch marks in his chest.
Tai-Shen's cheeks filled with a blush as he noticed the scars, knowing those scars are from women and not combat. "Heh heh so you're awake too son?"
"Mmrrh… me.. too…" Reika mumbled in her sleep.
"Whoa, you too Reika, or are you sleep-talking? Our family is infamous for that." Tai-Shen said gently nuzzling Reika's head as Mitsurugi took a seat next to his unconscious brother, who slowly woke up from smelling his woman scented brother being so close by.
"Ugh… what's that smell… Who's been wrestling with cats?" Tai-Lung muttered as he sat up, turning to his near twin-brother. "Who are you?"
"That's your missing brother, Setsuna." Tai-Shen said with a smile.
"Y-you?! Old man! What are you doing here?! Wait… I remember, so you really did follow me!" Tai-Lung said, pointing an accusing finger.
"Yeah, I did. You challenged me, and stole my pendant. I was coming for you, no matter what. Now that all of you are up, I'll tell you about my life with your mother." But as Tai-Shen finished his sentence he was lightly tagged in the back of the head by a purple hand.
"Hey, not all of your kids are awake old man. I takes a whole lot of shouting to get Fu up." Asuka spoke, walking past Tai-Shen and over towards Mitsurugi and Tai-Lung, sitting down in the lap of the darker of the two snow leopards, which was Mitsurugi. His frame was just as large as Tai-Lung's, but he had far more rough edges about his fur, smaller but sharper fangs raising from his jaws and bright orange eyes like that of the camp fire between all of them. Mitsurugi also had more fur leading down the back of his head and shared Shen-Mao's appearance a bit more, than Tai-Lung's, who looked more like Shen-Mao's brother and father than Tai-Lung did.
"Yeah… you would know how much shouting it takes to wake us up, Asuka… and I don't ever want to wake up like that again… Understood?" Sai-Yue growled to both Asuka and her brother.
The both of them nodded and bowed, clearly afraid of Sai-Yue whenever she frowned.
Tai-Shen was impressed with Sai and laughed. "Ok so how do you wake up this one? Rei got right up but…"
"Breakfast." Sai-Yue said, standing up, and Fu-Mai's ears perked up immediately.
"Food?" The purple eyed Wu Sister said, with her eyes half open and crust collecting in the corners.
The group all began to laugh.
"Where's the food?" Fu began glancing around, but once she saw Tai-Shen, the immediately knew and remembered it was her father. "Baba!!"
"Hey F-AAH!!" Tai-Shen shouted as his youngest daughter hugged him tightly around the neck. Hard enough to force away his dark fur and return Shen-Mao to the present, making the childish Wu Sister back away. "Aah! How'd you do that baba??"
Reika glared, sniffing at Shen-Mao's fur. "Yeah … it's still him. What the hell are you doin wearing more than one fur old man?"
Shen-Mao laughed and scratched his head, "It's a long LONG story girls. Now if you all will quit with the questions and listen, I'll tell my side of the story, and fill you in a little more on your mom and when we were married, ok?"
Everyone present, even Asuka, nodded in agreement. Tai-Lung was a bit weary of Asuka since she'd been quite adamant on killing him and his father but ever since she'd been in the presence of Mitsurugi and the Wu Sisters, she hasn't made a move to so much as even say 'Boo, I'm gunna eat you'. But Tai-Lung put his woes to rest as Shen-Mao began telling the history of him and Xue, all the way up to the day they were all born and the weeks within where he left, and hid Setsuna in plain sight in the Valley of Peace under Shifu's care.
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"SHIFU!!!" The shouts and cries of the people had been echoing across the Valley almost all day. "SHIFU!!" The cries started around mid-morning when a farmer was unable to return to his crops after he'd noticed that the lurking fog that had been cleansed the day before had returned and thicker than before. "SHIFU!!" The newer fog hadn't consumed the entire Valley just yet, only the outskirts, but it was visibly encroaching on the farmland and the streets of the Valley of Peace by the hour with literally no sign of stopping. With the fog being thicker, it was impossible for Villagers to actually see through the fog now, before it had only been general discomfort and haziness in the air, now the fog was more like thick dark clouds that you could almost feel burning your fur as you walk through them.
"SHIFU!!" Another villager called out for the Grand Master, a large group of concerned villagers had ventured up the stairs to the Jade Palace and were banging on the door to the training hall in a weak attempt at getting Shifu's attention, but the red panda had already saw, and knew what the villagers were going to shout about.
"…" Shifu was in the lonely Jade Palace, only a few ducks and pigs could be seen wandering the halls. Their workload had been severely cut back due to the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior hanging around for only a few hours when they were still within prayer… However the only jobs that have been getting done were contractors repairing the Hall of Heroes and that was all… Shifu had no real excuse for ignoring the Villagers and their cries except for the obvious one…
Doubt…
The Grand Master of the Jade Palace had no idea what to do. Sa-Chi had taken a sudden leave of absence to go count her money and would more than likely be lost for a few days before Shifu could locate her again, and even if he were able to get in touch with Sa-Chi, her powers to cleanse the fog would only last for a few hours and it would just come back… and worse. Shifu was pacing the halls of the student dormitories aimlessly while beating his brain against the wall with an idea, or a solution. He sighed deeply and continued pacing, sense nothing was coming to mind immediately.
"...I need a plan." Master Shifu muttered to himself as he wandered slowly away from the Jade Palace and out past the pool surrounded by bamboo that has … always been behind the Jade Palace. 'How long has this been here??' Shifu thought to himself and shrugged it off. Shifu sighed deeply thinking about all that had taken place in the last few weeks. Almost everyone important that Shifu knew had gone missing in the last forty-eight hours. The only ones that would be easy to find would be Zeng, his best messenger and Li-Tang, the new noodle chef at Mr. Ping's shop... And neither of them were Kung Fu Warriors. So the defense of the entire valley was resting on Shifu's shoulders.
This was the first time something like this has happened. The first time it was avoided by taking Po out training for his bout against Tai-Lung, and the Furious Five had ran away to face Tai-Lung without permission, so in truth, the Valley was completely undefended but nothing ill came of it. But now, Tai-Lung, Shen-Mao, Mei-Ling, Hou-Xin, The Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five were all gone, off on their own … adventures, for lack of the best term.
"I don't know what I'm going to do... I need the guidance of my … no." Shifu sighed, "I need to start making more of my own decisions-"
As Shifu spoke, he turned his head to the noise of the Jade Palace's front door being forced open. 'Who could that be? Why are they intruding on Palace Grounds?'
"SHIFU!" His ears were then assaulted with Li-Tang's enraged voice, although that was the only voice he heard.
"Li... Li-Tang??" Shifu called back, a bit disbelieving that Li-Tang would show up at the Jade Palace, but when he saw her approaching he was certain that he wasn't going mad due to the fog.
"Hey? What's going on up here? The people are calling for you." Li-Tang said, approaching Shifu as if she were going to attempt to ring his neck, but she got within reach and bent forward to bow respectfully.
"I..." Shifu mouthed for a moment, then straightened up. "Well, as you know the fog has returned, a lot worse than it was at first."
"Yeah, I know... It's impossible to really even see through. What did Sa-Chi do anyway??" Li-Tang questioned the Grand Master as she rose her head and began looking around, surprised she was able to see through the fog in the Palace and not in the Valley.
"She absorbed it, and that's all I can really say about it. But I don't know what else she did, or exactly how she did it. But when the fog returned it was stronger, so I don't want to really risk doing it again. Who knows what the affects of a second attempt would bring."
"Well, I understand but what are you going to do about it?"
"I can teach you Kung-Fu."
"No you can't..." Li-Tang sighed exasperated. "What are you going to do about this fog Shifu? It's a huge problem and only you can fix it."
"I don't..." Shifu paused, "Actually..."
"What?" Li-Tang asked as she watched Shifu dig into his clothes, rifling through them for something, then in a flash Shifu presented a gritty looking gauntlet that appeared to be far too large for his own hand, but he put it on as though it were a perfect fit and meant for him. "Hey, what's that?" The panda asked, pointing towards the worn piece of armor.
"It's the Leopard Gauntlet, it belonged to Tai-Lung when he was a boy. I've had it for years." Shifu replied, adjusting the wide fitting armored fist onto his own hand.
"Cool, I think, so what does it do? Can it actually help our fog problem."
"I believe it can, or I hope it can." Shifu said as an after thought as he held his hand into the air and began to channel his chi into the gauntlet, immediately causing a glow to flow off of the article of armor.
"Whoa..." Li-Tang gasped as she took a step back, expecting Shifu to begin swinging the fist around like Sa-Chi swung her Katana. "Uh, can that cleanse the fog?"
"I'm sure it can, but... I don't know how affective it will be."
The glow emitting from Tai-Lung's gauntlet began to illuminate the entire body of Fog that surrounded and populated the Valley changing the hue of the world around everyone trapped within from it's iron grey to a dull blue hue. Then slowly, starting at Shifu and spanning outward, the fog began to vanish as if it were being completely burned away instead of being absorbed as Sa-Chi's weapon did.
"Whoa!" Li-Tang repeated herself. "Hey Shifu! It's working!"
"T-tha-t's...g-g-great...new-s...." Shifu replied as he increased his own chi flow to the Gauntlet.
"Hey, are you ok??" The panda asked, from her spot without taking a step forward to investigate the Master while he was working.
"I...I'll...b-be f-fin-fine..." Shifu grunted and held his hand higher and opened the fingers on the fist.
With that action sudden streams of white light energy came shooting off of almost every living thing near Shifu and into his hand. The grass, the trees, and small insects were expelling the short streams of white light from their bodies and into Shifu's gloved palm, all but Li-Tang was emitting with energy. A white orb had formed in Shifu's hand and it was growing larger and larger by the moment but Shifu had apparently gotten enough. Quickly the Master closed his palm and began to take stances that matched Tai-Lung's form perfectly.
"Defense!" Shifu shouted and held his palms low.
"Counter!" The red panda roared as his body fell low to the ground, but not touching the soil below him.
"Victory!" Shifu then spun and threw his armored palm into the air, and released the ball of energy that was gripped tightly in his hand into the air. The orb repelled away from Shifu and began to violently strobe and pulse in it's size and shape until it suddenly exploded like a bright and brilliant blue Chinese Firework.
"Holy Damn...!" Li-Tang watched in awe at where the orb detonated, "That was amazing Master Shifu."
"Heh heh..." Shifu stammered silently, taking silent … but deep breaths.
"I mean really amazing. That Kung-Fu stuff can't be all bad I suppose but I'm still not interested in training or anything. I'm just giving praise, that was really really cool."
"T-thank you." Shifu exhaled deeply began patting ice away from his clothes and fur.
"Hey... Why are you all frozen??" Li-Tang asked, now stepping closer to Shifu to see that the short red panda's fur had been horribly frozen and his flesh was probably frost bitten from the extreme chill generating from his glove.
"Do you know why the Hall of Heroes exists, Li-Tang?" Shifu stammered, trying to stave off the cold while getting as much ice out of his fur as he could.
"I thought it was to preserve the memories of Great Warriors or something?" The Panda answered but before she could receive and answer her nose was assaulted by a tiny weightless chill. She turned her head towards to sky to notice that it had begun snowing, and heavily. "Snow?"
"The Hall of Heroes exists to keep precious artifacts out the reach of untrained and undeserving hands... Every artifact in the Hall was precious to their original owners and each is infused with chi that is sensitive and unique to it's owner..." Shifu spoke as he removed his shivering paw from the frozen Leopard Gauntlet, "Tampering with someone else's chi can be an almost fatal experience... if not for dealing with Tai-Lung for so many years, I could have experienced a lot more pain than I am now."
Shifu put away Tai-Lung's gauntlet and turned his head to the sky to witness what he'd done. Snow was falling over the Valley of Peace and the Jade Palace, and it seemed to effectively dissolving the fog that had engulfed the land, or at least this particular area. Shifu and Li-Tang could hear the Villager's cheers and calls. They still wanted to see the Grand Master, but instead of a plethora of complaints, they were going to shower their savior with praise, admiration, and thanks.
"I'm going to go and warm myself up..." Shifu said with a small smile. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, and even hit a training dummy or two."
"Ugh..." Li-Tang mumbled, "You really know how to ruin a great snow day old man... But thanks for the offer. I'm probably going to head back to work, sense people can see now they'll surely want to eat."
"Surely." Shifu replied, walking away from Li-Tang and towards the Jade Palace.
"Thanks for clearing away the fog by the way, Shifu!" The Panda called back while leaving the Palace.
Shifu didn't reply, he merely waved his warm hand to dismiss the noodle chef and enter his home to find a hard drink to warm himself up with.
Shifu knew his job was to protect and serve the people, but as an adoptive father, his job was extended to being a mind reader, a fortune teller and a psychic. He'd had to develop these extra senses whenever Tai-Lung trained on rooftops and wore himself out, or whenever Tigress would go fishing without a rod. If not for the ability to predict what his foolish children would do, they wouldn't have grown to their current ages. Shifu wasn't truly a father, but he knew how to behave like one, and he was all too familiar with the gut feeling that was telling him that something … something was wrong. The Grand Master had returned to his room to find his warm sake untouched. 'Good.' Shifu thought to himself.
Like a father, sometimes he needed a break, and now was that time. One of his two children were in trouble and he knew it, and they would be coming back very soon. There wasn't any scientific way to explain how Shifu knew this, not even Oogway really wanted to explain why Shifu felt how he felt whenever he scolded Tai-Lung or Tigress for something that they had done out of pure innocence. All he knew was that clearing the valley of fog was just like turning on the porch light, or leaving the front door unlocked. So when they needed help, they wouldn't have much trouble finding home . . .
Shifu poured himself a warm glass and threw it back with haste and swiftly began to pour one more. He'd surely need it for what was coming next . . . He was too old to not know something wrong had happened . . .
. . . to Tigress . . .
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'Things haven't been going right for me for years . . . I couldn't really imagine what my life would have been like if I had stayed with my mother, and whatever organization they were affiliated with, but I'm more than certain I wouldn't have to deal with ghosts... Or at least I'm hoping so, because being a Kung-Fu Master never prepared me for this...'
Master Tigress was hanging upside down with her feet clasped in the tight grip of an obvious, but unrealistic trap.
"Well… I suppose the stories weren't completely false…" Tigress muttered to herself as she swung her kunai at the ghostly apparition that had abducted her in vain. "The stories are just stupid… and so are you!!" She shouted at the phantom drooling hungrily over her figure and frame even though it was cloaked in stolen assassin's gear.
"Yeah, you!" Tigress shouted again pulling a short mace from her overturned cloak and swung it towards the phantom's head, again in vain. The creature that had abducted Master Tigress was the 'Ghost of the Raunchy Rhino' that Master Mantis and many others had been telling children to avoid for years. It was merely a tale to keep children within city limits at night, but the strange fog in the air has been making strange things start to become a reality. Tigress never thought that someone could ever return from the dead, namely Shen-Mao, and she never thought that ghosts existed or at least not ones that could physically touch you, and resist being touched themselves.
"Muahahahaha!" The rhino laughed out loud as he reached forward to grope at Tigress.
"What the hell?!" The she shouted out loud, pulling forth a steel fan from her cloak and swinging at the ghost, again to do nothing but pass through his transparent body like a hand through steam. "How is this possible? Get off of me you freak!"
"Muahahahaha!" The rhino laughed getting a hand full of Tigress.
"I'm completely pissed off now…" Tigress roared and struggled in the ghost's hands while trying to find the right weapon for killing what's already dead. "Damn it, what are you weak against!?"
"Muahahahaha!" The rhino laughed even louder, much to Tigress' anger.
"Is that all you know how to do is laugh? You must have laughed a lot while you did this type of crap you worthless, low life…"
Master Tigress fondled through her own overturned cloak, trying to desperately think of a weapon that would work against spirits and cursing the entire time.
"Damn damn damn… This is no way for a Master to be handled…" Tigress grunted and threw a shuriken through the ghosts head. "…Oh this is hopeless." She sighed deeply, feeling the blood that had collected in her brain finally starting to make her head feel like it was boiling.
But as the rhino's wandering hand left her chest and wandered to her rear, Tigress' short ears perked up, or down; depending on how you were looking at her, and her eyes light up into a sudden roaring flame.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" She shouted as her entire body was suddenly swallowed by flames, her chi engulfing her body accidentally in reaction to her sudden anger. Which managed to break her free of the phantoms grasp.
"Haah?!" The ghost gasped and backed away from the burning Tigress, who immediately landed and attacked the phantom with all the rage she could compress into her fists. However being a ghost gave the Rhino unparallelled speed and he vanished from Tigress' strike zone and reappeared behind the raging Jade Warrior.
"What in...?" Tigress growled and threw a heavy sweeping kick behind her, but missing the ghost reminded her that he never had legs to begin with. "Damn it..."
"Muahahahaha!" The Rhino began laughing again as he opened his arms and snatched Tigress off the ground and into a powerful bear-hug to squeeze the fight out of her.
"Shiiii..." Master Tigress growled as the dynamite grip of the Rhino began crushing her ribs. "D-damn...you." Tigress attempted the struggle in the Rhino's vice-like grip but to no results aside from fatigue. The grip grew tighter and even as Tigress attempted to summon her Fire chi to aide her, his grip was slowing down her blood flow and killing her, very slowly.
"Muahahahaha!" The rhino bellowed tightening his grip.
"Go to hell!" Tigress roared out, pulling back her head and suddenly a roaring flame shot right into the ghost's face.
"Aaaah!!" Tigress was released with a painful shout, and she hit the ground hard, feeling stiff from the crushing bear hug and the icy chill of a phantom she'd been forced to endure for the past few moments.
"I still don't know how I do that..." Tigress laughed lightly, trying to think of a way to beat this ghostly adversary. "But now I know you don't like chi … and that will be your downfall."
"RAAAH!" The ghost howled in anger and dove at Tigress like a meteor.
"SHIT!" Tigress cursed as she held one paw up to unleash as much chi as she could in an explosion to somehow smite the ghost, but instead of fire, she felt a horrible sting in her raised paw, like she had been stabbed.
"RAAAHH!!!" Master Tigress roared out loud through the pain, but she quickly suppressed the urge to shout and curse to turn her vision to the ghost to witness a giant kunai lodged in the skull of the Rhino and through her own hand.
"G-..g-...aah..." The Rhino was mostly silent for a moment, just as Tigress was. Her hand had been nailed to the head of this creature by some other assassin. But before she could ponder on the event anymore, the Ghost roared out in deep twisting pain and threw Tigress into the air with his dying contortions, then he exploded into mist and loose strains of chi into the heavy fog.
Tigress flew through the air trying to regain her acquisition but couldn't. She mentally cursed about the ghost and about how hitting the ground would hurt but before she collided with the dirt or a random tree trunk, but before either of those occured she was suddenly caught by a strong pair of arms.
"What now..." Tigress muttered turning her head to come face to face with a Corgi who bore a long scar across her short muzzle. "You again." Tigress glared, realizing she'd been rescued by Yori-Yoshi. "Why are you still naked? It's been days!?"
"I... uh, yeah I um... don't know." The corgi replied apologetically, placing Tigress back onto her feet and bowing respectfully before the Master.
"Hey... why are you bowing? Did you throw this knife into my hand like an imbecile??" Tigress grunted, taking hold of the blade and pulling it out of her fist.
"Y-yes, and I'm sorry. I was trying to save you, I really was!" Yoshi swiftly apologized and bowed furiously.
Tigress roared out in pain as the blade escaped her hand leaving a giant wound that quickly began bleeding.
"D-damnit...." She said, glaring down at the gaping hole in her fist. "Oh... that's bad... real bad."
"I'm sorry!! I really am! I was just trying to help... this... this is why I'll never be a great assassin." Yoshi confessed, bowing her head again.
"W-what are you talking about..." Tigress growled, taking hold of a nearby tree to maintain her balance. "Damn..."
"I... I've never been very good at anything I'm... um, are you … Oh no. You're bleeding!"
"REALLY? You think?" Tigress muttered, sliding down to her feet. "Daaaamnit... this hurts... That kunai wasn't just laced with poison. It had something else, something that could kill that ghost... It's uh... infused with Chi right?"
Yoshi bowed again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And yes they are, th-they're my Wind Kunai. They're infused with wind to cut through the air and move faster that other kunai." Yoshi explained while quickly scooping Tigress into her arms. "You need medical attention, and I don't know enough about that field to help you. But there's a large village near by that can probably help you. I can sense it nearby."
"A...aha... A village..." Tigress stammered, now feeling too woosy to really understand what she was seeing, hearing or to remember where she had gotten lost. The poison in her veins was taking hold and paralyzing her mind and body like it was designed to. "wha...whe...er..."
"Look, everything will be ok. I'm going to save you, Ryoko. I'll at least be able to complete this task." Yoshi began running in the direction of the Valley that she'd accidentally come across earlier while tracking Tigress' scent. Tigress had ran past the Bao-Gu Orphanage and through a lot of swamp land but she, for some strange reason, completely avoided the largest city in this valley that was tucked comfortably in the middle of no where, and that's where they were now going. A city that looks like it's never seen a war, or at least not a large one, must have miracle medicines to heal Tigress' wound. The poison would circulate out of her system after a while but she could still bleed to death from the wound in her hand without help.
"Y-os..hi... yori..." Tigress growled, holding a paw up to Yori's face and gently scratching her fur, leaving light scars.
"I'm hoping that was my punishment. I really am sorry Ryoko but don't worry, this place is close by. I don't know what it's called, but it's snowing there and there's no fog, so someone must be smart and strong enough to heal your wounds if they can beat this fog right? I'm sure they'll at least have a doctor or a physician to help you. I promise I won't let you die Ryoko. Just hold on a little longer ok? Ok? I'll take passing out as a yes."
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Meiyou tongku meiyou xiyue - ( There is no joy without pain [ Roughly ] )
Weile you shengming de, Bixu si - ( In order to have life, we must die [ Roughly ] )
Ji-Ju Shou-Xian Chi ( Roughly Translates out into 'Sudden or Rapid Lifetime or Length of Life.' Basically 'Quickly Losing Life' )
Oh, and don't worry about the Raunchy Rhino, he's nothing major, just a living example that explains what's to come later on. Thanks for reading, and I apologize for the long wait . . . I've had this chapter done for weeks, just never posted. Bah.
