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The wind howled and the flurries of snow made it difficult to see the already-white terrain. Night was approaching fast, making it even harder to track the bandits' fading trail. The Kung Fu warriors all held their arms in front of their faces to shield their eyes from the attacking snowflakes as they trudged through the foot of accumulated snow that covered the ground. Crane was walking alongside his friends with his hat tucked under a wing, the wind too strong to allow him to fly. Viper simply squinted and slithered on top of the snow behind Po, the panda's bulk protecting her from the majority of the assaulting frozen water falling from the sky. Mantis had chosen to ride on Po's shoulder to avoid the depth of snow.
The storm had hit them shortly after they started tracking the bandits North, and the surrounding forests and begun to turn into mountainous terrain. They had traveled over a mile by now and hurried despite the blinding wind and snow, knowing that they would catch the bandits soon if they moved fast enough.
"I see something!" Monkey announced, pointing.
The others' eyes all followed his finger to see a towering cliff several yards away. The rough surface stretched hundreds of feet upwards, but there was a noticeable circle of blackness about a couple yards up.
"It looks like a cave," Mantis shouted over the wind.
The warriors all exchanged quick glances before making their decision; no one would survive long out in the biting cold of a raging, worsening blizzard.
"Let's go!" Tigress commanded, immediately heading towards it. She quickly checked the tracks to remember the direction the bandits were headed before returning her attention to their means of shelter ahead, holding back a wince as her bruised side objected to the swift movement.
The others all followed her lead and, with moderate difficulty, finally reached their destination. Tigress first launched Po up to the cave for him to check it out. Upon hearing his approval of the shelter, they all made their way swiftly into the medium-sized cavern.
Tigress looked out at the billowing blizzard from the safety of the cave as she shivered from the bitter cold. "Looks like we'll have to wait out the storm," she decided. "The bandits can't get far in this weather anyway."
The first thing Zhen noticed was the throbbing pain in her head. The next was the fact that she was surrounded by darkness, and the last thing she realized was that she had been kidnapped as the latest events rushed back into her memory. She fought back the tears that threatened to spill over and instead tried to focus on her situation and what she could do about it.
She could feel the cold, rough floor beneath her and deduced that she was probably in some sort of cave, or at least that's what the ground felt like. Feeling around in the darkness, she discovered that her hands were tied together behind her back with rope and her left ankle had some sort of metal clasp on it. Tugging on the restraint, she found that her foot was apparently chained to a wall with about a foot's length of chain. Moving around as much as her bonds would allow, she could feel three solid, rock walls around her and what felt like dented, metal bars in front of her. She tried to jump to test where the ceiling was, but she didn't even touch it and almost tripped from the action thanks to the chain. Adding everything together, she was chained in a four-by-four prison cell with no easy way of escape.
She kicked lightly with her left leg to test the strength of the chain and figured out how far she could move away with it. She wondered why they had used rope to tie her hands and not some stronger material, but decided that she'd just take advantage of the mistake and yanked her hands away from each other with as much strength as she dared use. With a loud snap! the now-broken rope fell uselessly to the stone floor.
Rubbing her sore wrists, Zhen perked her ears for the softest of approaching sounds. She happily realized that her excellent night vision was kicking in and she could barely make out the metal bars that made up the door if she squinted.
After several moments of silence, she walked as close as she could to the door, having to stretch her arms to reach it because of the confining chain. She continued to use her hands and what vision she had to try to find a lock or anything to help her open the door, successfully finding a small box with a keyhole on the outside of the metal bar door.
Smiling to herself at the good find, she stuck a claw into the keyhole and fiddled around with it just like Monkey had taught her. After a few moments of concentration, she finally heard the satisfying click and her smile broadened. She then turned her attention to the chains restraining her from moving forward. Feeling around the metal clasp around her ankle, she found a keyhole in it as well. Grinning at her fortune, she made quick work of the lock and was soon free of the heavy clasp and chains.
Taking a deep breath, Zhen slowly opened the metal door, cringing at the loud screech that resulted from the action. She hurried through the small gap and stuck her arms out in front of her as she walked, carefully feeling for the wall that she was bound to come in contact with. When she found it, she kept a paw on it and continued down what she figured was a hallway of some sort, using her ears and other senses to try to be aware of any incoming object or sudden turn. Her night vision had little use here, as she couldn't see anything except for the faint shapes of the flat floor and rough wall.
The silence became deafening as she walked steadily onward, and she fought off the suffocating feelings of being lost; the last thing she needed now was to let herself get distracted. It wasn't too long before a startling noise reached her sensitive ears and she paused, listening.
"She's gone!" a female voice shouted distantly.
"How'd she escape?" a second, also female voice replied.
"Look at the ropes on the ground, you moron! How do you think she escaped?!"
"It's pitch dark in here, so she couldn't have gotten too far. Besides, we know these tunnels and she doesn't. We—"
"Don't tell me what's obvious! We'll split up to find her faster. You go that way."
"Fine."
Zhen frowned as she abruptly heard two sets of pawsteps, one fading and the other quickly growing closer. It didn't take long for her to spot the faint, approaching light, which only served to send more panic the cougar's way.
She blinked a few times as her eyes attempted to adjust to the invading light. Thinking fast, she turned and started running, desperate to not get caught again despite knowing how slight a chance her escape was. With the faint but useful light, she could now see that she was indeed in a tunnel. Unfortunately, the corridor she was in was straight and there were no side tunnels to provide an escape.
"She's over here!"
Adrenaline immediately rushed through Zhen's veins and she started running on all fours, not daring to look behind her as the light came closer, and with it her impending capture.
She heard a growl and felt a sudden pain overcome her right leg. She yelped as she tripped and stumbled forward, coming to a painful stop as she caught herself with her hands. She looked around frantically and discovered the shallow cut on her leg and the knife that made it resting on the ground in front of her, a stripe of red tainting one side.
Hearing her attacker approaching quickly, Zhen grabbed the knife and turned around to face the bandit. She saw the surprise in the gray wolf's eyes as she skidded to a stop just in front of the downed cougar, a lifted lantern in one hand. The canine glared down at Zhen with her dark eyes, causing the cat to shudder.
"I'm going to give you two options," the wolf started, her voice dangerously calm. "Either you drop the knife and come with me willingly, or you try to fight and come with me anyway, no matter your condition." She unsheathed a short sword from her hidden belt and narrowed her eyes at the panicked mountain cat.
A rush of mixed emotions shot through Zhen upon recognizing the sword as one of Cong's Dao swords. She attempted to steady her breathing as her fury threatened to take control. Looking from her meager little knife to the sword in the wolf's hand and back again, she slowly calmed down and let the weapon fall from her paw. It hit the ground with a dull clink and the bandit smiled, sending shivers down Zhen's spine.
"You are smart," the canine stated, causing Zhen to glare at her condescending tone of voice. "Let's go, kid. I don't want to keep Heng waiting any longer."
"Yin!"
Zhen recognized the voice as the second bandit she'd heard talking and looked to see a white wolf run up to the gray wolf's side. The white-furred bandit looked from the canine to the cougar, her eyes narrowing upon seeing the cut on Zhen's leg.
"Yin, you weren't supposed to hurt her," the white wolf growled as she turned on the other wolf.
The gray wolf, Yin, glowered back. "I do things my way, Lin."
Lin, the white wolf, gave Yin a hard stare in return. "I'll take care of her," she suggested with a gesture of her lantern at Zhen. "You should go and tell the others to get ready."
Yin narrowed her eyes at Lin, considering. After a moment, she wordlessly turned and stalked away, Lin watching her go.
Zhen cautiously put a paw on the wall and leaned on it as she got up. She slowly put weight on her cut leg, wincing as the pain returned, though it wasn't nearly as bad as before. She took a deep breath and noticed that Lin was watching her, her expression unreadable. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Zhen looked up at the white wolf and also said nothing, her emotions an unsettled swirl of anxiety, fear, confusion and sadness. Eager to do something to avoid the increasing awkwardness of Lin just staring at her, Zhen bent down and tore a strip of fabric from the hem of her black pants with her claws. She used the cloth as a makeshift bandage and gingerly wrapped it around her calf and tucked it into itself, successfully covering the cut to protect it from infection. She tested its durability by kicking her leg a couple of times and was satisfied that it stayed put.
Lin blinked. "Are you okay?"
Zhen looked up and frowned at the standard question. How was she supposed to be okay when she had just been kidnapped and attacked?
Lin seemed to take note of Zhen's negative reaction. "I apologize about my sister, Yin. She's the most brutal out of all of us."
Was that supposed to make Zhen feel better? "What do you want with me?" she asked, forcing any fear from her tone.
Lin blinked again and Zhen was surprised by the sudden anger that appeared in her eyes. "It's not about you," the wolf answered, her voice threateningly low. "We brought you here to give you a chance."
"... What?" Zhen looked up at Lin with utmost confusion. How in the world was kidnapping her equal to giving her a chance?
"Come with me, and you'll find the answers you seek." Lin turned and started walking. When she noticed that Zhen wasn't following, she turned and gave the already frightened cougar a glare. "Now!"
Zhen flinched and started moving, suddenly afraid to argue. She followed the bandit through a few tunnels and turns, quickly losing track of where they went. The flickering light from the flame in the lantern casted an almost eerie, orange glow on the carved stone walls. Zhen noticed that the gauges that appeared in the rock every so often looked more animal-made than from a pickaxe. She squinted at the deep scratches in an attempt to figure out what animal had made them, but didn't come to a conclusion on the matter.
Various noises coming from up ahead drew Zhen's attention back to her current situation and she leaned to the side to look past Lin, her eyes widening in fear as they entered a large room. The word 'cavern' was more accurate, as the vast space was easily the length and the width of the Training Hall back at the Jade Palace. The ceiling stretched up at least two yards over Zhen's head.
But it wasn't the size of the room that made Zhen feel like she should run and hide in a corner. Rather, it was the eight black-clad animals that made her squirm as they quickly hushed and focused their attention on her. Six of the various animals made way for Lin and Zhen to pass by them, but the last two stood several feet in from of Lin and didn't bother to move.
Glancing around with her ears low, Zhen looked at the faces around her, curious when she thought that she vaguely recognized some of them. There was a pangolin, a goose, a rhino, two rabbits, and Yin. Because Lin was right in front of her, Zhen couldn't get a good enough view of the two others in front to tell what species they were.
Zhen noticed the bandits gathering behind her as she passed, making her feel more and more like she was some criminal about to be executed, which might not have been too far from the truth. Despite what Lin had told her, if she could even trust the white wolf, these bandits hadn't treated her so kindly up to now. If they did want her dead, though, she figured that they would've done it by now.
"Welcome, Zhen," a rough, male voice boomed from ahead.
Lin stopped walking, gave Zhen a look that clearly meant don't try anything, and stood off to the side next to her sister. Zhen halted as well and looked up at the source of the voice and couldn't help but stare, her eyes wide.
The first thing she noticed was his huge claws. His scaly-looking arms were somewhat short, but his hands each had three slightly hooked claws, the middle claw being the largest on each hand. His back was clearly arched, but Zhen couldn't tell why thanks to his loose, black tunic. He wore no shoes, exposing his four, stubby claws on his thick feet. A somewhat long, scaly tail wrapped around his feet.
She stared at his dark eyes and realized that he was a giant armadillo as she looked from his various shades of brown scales to his curved claws. His ears stuck out from his head a good few inches, and dark brown scales covered his forehead and the top of his long snout. A smile graced his wrinkled face, causing Zhen to frown further.
Then, her eyes turned to the animal next to the scaly bandit and fury instantly boiled in her blood, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her 'friend.' Cong stared at the ground, a look of conflicted shame evident on his face.
"I see you know my son," the armadillo commented, a knowing smirk on his face.
Zhen struggled to keep her temper in check. "What do you want with me?"
His expression turned serious. "We are the Fuchou, and I am Heng, their leader. I brought you here to give you a chance to join us. If you do, you will live. If you don't, you will suffer for the rest of your life."
"You must be stupid if you think I'll actually join you," Zhen stated bluntly, trying to push back her growing fear. "Kidnapping me doesn't exactly give me motivation to go to your side."
"If we had simply asked and you refused, we would have had to bring you here anyway," the armadillo replied. "I decided it would be easier to just do the latter."
"Look, I'm not about to join some bandits just because of a threat," Zhen responded bravely. "I'm a warrior, and my job is to bring bandits like you to justice!"
Heng tilted his head slightly, his hard eyes boring into her. She forced herself to keep from fidgeting, well aware that she was completely surrounded and wouldn't stand half a chance against fighting these criminals.
Finally, the armadillo spoke. "Do you recognize anyone here?" He gestured with his claws at the bandits around.
Zhen glanced around at the faces staring and glaring at her. Before she could speak, Heng continued.
"Do you remember where you were born?" He waited until her attention was back to him. "Most of us were from the village of your first home."
Startled at his words, Zhen glanced around again, feeling the slight familiarity she felt from most of them earlier returning as her mind reeled. Was he telling the truth? If he was, then what did kidnapping her have to do with anything? How did they know who she was? Nothing made sense, and she suddenly felt like she was lost and desperately grappling for anything she could hold on to.
"This doesn't make any sense," she muttered, giving Heng a confused look.
He looked levelly at her, his facial expression unreadable. "Do you remember, Zhen, when your home was stripped from you? When everything you knew was gone and replaced by fire?"
Zhen took a step back as painful memories tried to resurface. She mentally pushed them away, determined to not be shaken. Where was Heng going with this?
She could see the intense fury in his dark eyes now. "Do you know the reason why our village was destroyed? Why everything was torn from us?"
Suddenly unsure, Zhen stared at him as she realized that no, she didn't know the answer to his questions.
His eyes narrowed at her and she felt as though his piercing gaze would tear a hole right through her. Then, he spoke.
"It was because of the Furious Five."