Italicized is flashback. Normal is Chao speaking.

Chapter Two- Gather the Allies

"It was a simple mission. Or so I thought. My employer was a village elder from the Eastern Plains. His daughter had been kidnapped and wanted me to rescue her."

Chao crawled on all fours, keeping low to the ground and staying in the shadows. Ahead, a large workshop stood ahead, through the trees Chao leaped across. It was heavily guarded by gorillas and elephants with large hammers and axes. Fortunately, Chao's stealth training was plenty to sneak past them. He pulled his hood farther over his head; he couldn't be seen.

Chao snuck about the workshop. There weren't many rooms, but every room was filled with gorillas or a few elephants doing work, which would explain why the building was so huge. Chao passed a room that was filled with smoke. He looked in through a barred window and raised an eyebrow. Inside was an old man, a lynx to be exact. His fur's color was dull and he was in a lotus position, meditating with incense in front of him. Chao was about to turn and leave when the lynx spoke up.

"You may enter, if you wish." He said. "I am not your enemy." Chao looked back at the lynx, who had opened his eyes and was staring at him. At one point in his life, the lynx's eyes would've been bright yellow, like gold. But now, they were lifeless and sad. Chao was wary as he stepped inside.

"I am Master Chao, Hierarch of the Sacred Onyx Council." Chao introduced, removing his hood. "Who are you?"

"Jien." The lynx said. "Soothsayer, and currently the prisoner of Jiao-long."

Chao was shocked. Another prisoner? "Why are you his prisoner?"

"I am a soothsayer." Jien said. "Jiao-long uses me to see his future. He is a very evil man; he wants power."

"What have you told him?" Chao asked hurriedly. He wanted to leave this place soon with both the elder's daughter and Jien.

"I have given him a prophecy that would either end his life, or give him great strength to do whatever he wishes." Jien said. "His men are translating it now."

"Can you remember what you said?" Chao inquired. Suddenly, voices were heard down the hallway.

"You must leave!" Jien warned. "If Jiao-long finds you, he will kill you for sure!"

"I didn't want to leave him, but he looked so desperate to keep me safe. I didn't have much of a choice, so I snuck out before the voices could get any closer."

Chao kept going down the hallway. The longer he was in the shop, the more he wanted to leave. Where was the elder's daughter? As Chao passed a room, he heard arguing.

"You're not translating it right!"

"Like you can read this stupid prophecy better!"

Chao skidded to a halt and hid right outside the door, listening.

"Let me see it!"

"No! I'm almost done!"

"You're not doing it right!"

"I can read perfectly fine!"

"But that stupid soothsayer wrote in a different language!"

"Why do you think Jiao-long made me the translator? I'm fluent in over a hundred languages!"

There was grumbling.

"There! Done!"

"But I still don't understand! What power? Who are the armies? What in the name of Heaven above is the Siren's Gem?"

"Who knows? But we have what we want."

"Write a second copy. If we lose this, Jiao-long will have our heads."

There was a pause.

"There, a second copy! I'll hide it."

"Don't bother. We have to get this to Master Jiao-long!"

Chao leaped up and held onto the ceiling with his claws. Two gorillas walked out, one holding a rolled up piece of paper. When they had left, Chao flipped into the room. Two papers were on the desk inside. One had "Prophecy" written across the top. The other had "Prophecy Translated" across the top. Chao took the second one and tucked it safely away into the pocket in his robes. Chao started down the hallway again when a shout rang through.

"Bring the elder's daughter to me immediately!" a cruel voice yelled. Chao leaped up to the ceiling once more and crawled to where the voice had come from. He was shocked to see it come from Jien's room. Chao looked into the room and saw Jien with another man. The man was a komodo dragon, pure black, with piercing brown eyes. He wore black robes trimmed with gold. A scabbard was attached to his belt, the beautifully jeweled hilt of his sword glittering in the light. Chao remained still and quiet as a gorilla came down the hallway. Chao recognized a small, white wolf pup squirming in the gorilla's grip as the elder's daughter. She was in a pretty purple cheongsam, but it was covered in dirt and wrinkled. The gorilla tossed the pup into the room, blocking the entrance. Chao moved to see through the barred window.

"Here she is." The Komodo dragon mused. "Our little guest."

"I demand you release me at once!" the wolf pup shouted. She couldn't be any older than eleven, but her voice was commanding and strong.

"And why should we do that?" the Komodo dragon asked. "You're going to help me take China for myself."

"Even if I would, how can I do that?" the wolf asked.

The Komodo dragon pulled out a piece of paper. "This prophecy says that the Siren's Gem holds enormous power. With it, I can destroy China and remake it in my image."

"You're crazy!" the pup cried.

"Why, thank you."

"How am I supposed to help, anyhow?"

The Komodo dragon chuckled. "Your home is famous for their mining. Your miners have found many precious jewels and gold. Surely, you have found a gem that was different from the rest. That must be the Siren's Gem!" The Komodo dragon leaned close to the pup's face. "And if your dear father wishes to see you again, he'll have to find that gem and give it to me."

The pup swung her paw around and smacked the lizard. "Stupid, low-life son of a-" She was cut short, however, when the Komodo dragon grabbed her throat and lifted her off the ground.

"Jiao-long!" Jien shouted. "Put her down!"

Ignoring him, the Komodo dragon snarled. "You had better watch your tone." Jiao-long warned. "Or else I might have to hurt you even worse."

"Jiao-long!" Jien shouted again.

"Drop her!" Chao yelled. He burst through the bars of the window and kicked Jiao-long's face. The wolf pup dropped to the ground as Jiao-long slammed into the wall. The gorilla tried to run in, but he didn't fit inside the doorway. Chao grabbed the wolf pup and Jien and pulled them behind him, taking a defensive stance. Jiao-long stood, seething.

"I know you." He said. "You're Master Chao, of the Sacred Onyx Council."

"And you must be Jiao-long." Chao retorted. "Soon-to-be-prisoner of Chorh Gom Prison."

Jiao-long laughed and drew his sword. "Foolish old man." He lunged, but Chao swiped his tail at his face, and he went flying back again. His sword became embedded into the wall. Chao lunged, and the two became engaged in combat.

"I didn't know what I could do. The door was still being blocked by the gorilla, Jiao-long fought well, I had two people to protect, and the room wasn't that big. I was prepared to go down fighting until we all got a surprise."

Jiao-long took a swipe at Chao's legs and the master ended up on his back. Dazed, Chao found his vision had gone fuzzy. Jiao-long grabbed his sword and yanked it from the wall. Before Chao could rise, Jiao-long stomped a foot on his chest.

"Nice try, old man." Jiao-long taunted, raising his sword. "But I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Jiao-long brought the sword down. Chao braced himself for the cold, hard steel.

There was a sound of metal on wood.

Chao looked up and saw a Bo staff that had just stopped the blade from taking his life. Jiao-long and Chao looked towards the staff's owner and saw a young woman. She wore green pants, a sky-blue shirt with jade trim, and a hooded black cloak that hid her face. Her hands and bare feet were pale and hairless. The Bo staff in her hands was ebony black with a gold dragon circling it.

"Don't touch him." She snarled. The girl shifted her weight and swung her staff up. Jiao-long's sword went flying into the ceiling. The girl did a spinning back kick and her foot connected with the lizard's stomach. Jiao-long was once again thrown into the wall. The girl helped Chao to his feet.

"Take the kid and the soothsayer and run!" she ordered, pushing them towards the door. The gorilla was out cold. "I'll hold him off, but you have to run straight to the exit!"

Chao was frozen for a moment. He knew that voice…..

"GO!" the girl shouted. She shoved Chao through the door and slammed it shut. Chao was still in shock, but shook it off and ran down the hall, dragging the elder's daughter and Jien behind him. Gorillas and elephants tried to stop them, but Chao took them all down in an instant. There were shouts for back-up. Chao hurried the group along. But where was the exit? Chao had wandered all over the workshop for so long that he forgot where he had come from. He pulled the elder's daughter and Jien into a room and shut the door, barricading it with a large desk.

"What do we do now?" the elder's daughter asked.

Chao looked around the room. There were boxes everywhere, floor to ceiling, filled with fireworks.

"We're on the top floor." Jien said. "If you can break through the ceiling, you'll have a straight shot to the river." Chao cracked his knuckles and jumped to the ceiling. He swung his foot up and, with a cry of effort, broke clean through the ceiling. He climbed out. Jien passed the elder's daughter up to him. Chao pulled her up and reached down again.

"Take my hand!" Chao ordered. "We can get out!"

"Take the elder's daughter and go!" Jien ordered, pulling out a lantern he had concealed behind him. "I'll buy you some time!" He started opening boxes and letting the fireworks spill out. Horrified, Chao realized what he was doing.

"Jien, come on!" Chao cried desperately. "I can save you!" The door was being pounded on. Soon, it would break, and they would be overwhelmed.

Jien looked up at him and smiled. For a moment, the light returned to his eyes. "I'll be fine." He took the candle out of the lantern just as the guards tore the door off its hinges. Jien turned to them with a smile. "Good evening, gentlemen."

He dropped the candle.

Chao grabbed the elder's daughter, tossed her on his back, and ran across the roof on all fours as fast as he could. He barely had time to jump off before the top of the workshop exploded. The blast sent Chao and the elder's daughter flying past the river and into the woods. The trees broke their fall and made their landing a little softer.

The elder's daughter rubbed her head. "That was quite a fall. You alright, Master Chao?" She looked around. "Master Chao?" She saw him a ways away. He was staring at the column of smoke rising from the building. She walked up to him and took his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.

Chao could do nothing but lower his head in shame.

"I could've saved all of them." Chao finished. "The wolf, Jien, and the girl that saved me, I could've gotten them all out. But I didn't. I failed."

Shifu had been listening intently. Ling had come in early into his story and had to swallow hard to keep her tears in. She had changed into black clothing like her sister, Lily's. The thought of kind old Jien and that brave young woman not making it was heartbreaking.

Shifu sighed. "Chao, your mission was to save the elder's daughter. And you did. Your mission was not a failure just because you couldn't save Jien or that girl. They gave their lives to save you."

"They shouldn't have to!" Chao snarled, standing. He began to pace. "I am the master. I was supposed to save them! I shouldn't be so weak to let them die!"

"Master Chao, be still!" Shifu commanded. Usually, he wouldn't use such a tone to someone considered above him in ranks, but he refused to back down. "First off, you did everything you could. Jiao-long was strong, and that's alright; we've both dealt with that. Secondly, you aren't completely sure that Jien and the girl are dead; it's possible they got out alive."

Chao sighed. "I suppose so. After all, I saw Jiao-long was still alive as I was leaving from returning the elder's daughter. So he's still out there, looking for the Siren's Gem."

"You said you found a copy of the prophecy?" Ling asked. Chao nodded and pulled it out. He laid it on the table for Shifu and Ling to see. Ling read it aloud.

"'The one chosen by his devil will rise once more to destroy China himself. His armies are so strong he won't lose. The warriors of the palace will come and fall to this threat. The one that decides the winner is the Siren's Gem.'" Ling raised an eyebrow. "How in the name of Heaven is that supposed to make sense?"

"No idea." Chao shook his head. "That's how I figured out his plan; Jien gave him this prophecy, and so he will follow it."

"But Ling has a point; the prophecy makes no sense." Shifu noted. "'The one chosen by his devil'. Jiao-long, chosen by his devil? It says his armies are strong and 'The warriors of the palace' will fall. The only thing that seems to make sense is that the Siren's Gem will decide the winner."

"So, either Jiao-long harnesses this power and defeats us, or we harness the power and defeat him." Ling suggested. "It says 'warriors of the palace'. What other palace could that be except the Jade Palace?"

"Good point." Chao nodded. "But it will be very difficult to defeat this threat. The Furious Five, the Dragon Warrior, and we won't be enough. I've seen Jiao-long's army; it truly is massive."

"Lily and I will join the fight." Ling offered. "We'd be honored to defend our home."

"Happy for the help." Shifu said. "But it won't be enough." He stared at his teacup for a moment before standing. "We should head back to the palace and gather the Five and Po. Perhaps they can offer assistance." Chao and Ling nodded in agreement. Ling led the two of them out a back door and they hurried to the palace. On the way, they picked up Lily from her house, who was not too happy about being woken up. At the palace, Shifu woke up his students and they all met in the Hall of Warriors. Once there, Chao and Shifu explained the situation. By the time they were done, everyone was wide awake and wide eyed.

"An army?" Tigress repeated. "Of gorillas and elephants?"

"Yeah, I don't think our chances of winning are that great." Crane said.

"Especially if Jiao-long finds this Siren's Gem." Po said. "What does it do, anyway?" Everyone stared at him. "What?"

"We were thinking you would know, Panda." Shifu said. "You seem to be the expert on things like this."

"Sorry." Po shrugged. "Never heard of a Siren's Gem. I know a siren is like a warning noise or a creature that sings very beautifully and causes sailors to crash their ships."

"By the sounds of it, this gem must have a lot of power." Lily said.

"I say we blow it up or something." Mantis suggested. "Make sure no one finds it."

"Mantis has a point." Ling agreed. "We can't let something like that fall in the wrong hands. I don't think it would be safe to keep it anywhere."

"First, we need to stop Jiao-long." Chao said. "I fear that he will find the gem soon and attack."

"How?" Viper asked.

"Jiao-long has an entire army!" Monkey reminded him. "There are only ten of us. We may be masters, but are our odds very good?"

"The solution is simple." Shifu said. "We create our own army. We must gather our allies."

"Which ones?" Po asked.

"All of them." Shifu answered. "Anyone that would be willing to join us in the fight." Lily ran off and returned soon after with a piece of parchment, a brush, and some ink. At the top of the paper, she wrote "Jade Palace Army".

"Alright." She said. "Who do we have?"

"There's the Five, Po, Shifu, Chao, you, and me." Ling said.

"How about Song and the Ladies of the Shade?" Po offered. "They'd be a great help. I'm sure they'd join us since Song became their leader."

"I'm sure I can convince Dosu and Sai So from my village to join the fight." Mantis said. "All he needs is the proper motivation."

"You may not torture them." Shifu said. Mantis groaned.

"What about Peng?" Tigress spoke up. "He's a pretty decent fighter."

"If we can find him, I'm sure he'll join." Shifu nodded.

"Will that be enough?" Lily asked. "Altogether, it's only about forty warriors."

"How about Temutai and his warriors?" Po suggested. "And Fung with his bandits?"

"Are you crazy?" Tigress snapped.

"Well, if they knew that they'd be in danger, too, then they'd be willing to fight." Po protested. "We're going to need all the help we can get, remember? I helped Fung once, and we've got a little agreement with Temutai since the Peace Jubilee."

"I'll put them down, just in case." Lily said, writing.

"Anyone else?" Chao asked. Everyone thought for a moment.

"Jong?" Po offered. "He isn't my favorite choice, but he's got warriors."

"I highly doubt he'd be too willing." Shifu said. "But it won't hurt to ask."

"That seems good to me." Lily said. "We should send for them all tomorrow to meet here as soon as possible."

"Sounds good." Ling nodded. Everyone else agreed.

"Master Chao, perhaps you'd like to stay here and help oversee this arrangement?" Shifu offered. "If it weren't for you, we'd have never found out about this." Chao smiled and nodded. "Then it's settled. All of you get to sleep; we have a long day ahead of us." Everyone bowed to Shifu and ran off to their rooms to sleep. Chao stayed behind.

"Something's not right….." he murmured.

"What's not right?" Shifu asked.

"Not sure." Chao said. "But I have a bad feeling that Jiao-long may already have the Siren's Gem. Perhaps Jien did live, and he was forced to reveal where it was."

Shifu thought about this. It was possible. In that case, they would have to work harder and faster. "Don't worry. We'll beat him back and send him to the hole he came from." Chao smiled and walked off, amused by Shifu's enthusiasm.

"Chao." Shifu's voice stopped him. Chao turned to the old master. "That girl that saved you, Jien, and the wolf pup; you knew here, didn't you?" Chao's smile disappeared. His hand went to his chest, fingering the fabric. Shifu nodded and waved a hand to send him off. Chao walked out of the hall and towards the barracks. As he did, he kept fingering the fabric on his clothes. Or, rather, what was under his clothes. Chao stopped and reached into his collar. He pulled out a gold chain from inside and pulled it off over his head. He stared at the necklace in his hand with sadness in his eyes and heart.

In his hand was a golden locket.