A/N: And here I am! And don't you worry; I am going to free you from that evil cliffhanger! *pulls out a sword and start marching toward the threat*
Thank you for all of you who congratulated me with the play. And of course thanks to you who reviewed.
And I've decided to bring one of my old characters back. Who it is you ask? Well, try and read the chapter ;) Like I said, I have a lot of surprises to you!
I do not own Kung Fu Panda and I make no money of my stories, understood?
The Search For Golden Times, Secrets
"Can't we just act calm?" Enlai asked while circling around the wolf that was holding his friend.
"Depends on you, tiger," the wolf growled at him. Tigress sneered back and was about to open her mouth to speak when the attacker pushed the knife closer to her throat, "You better stay quiet, kitty. This conversation is between me and your little boyfriend."
"What is it that you want?" Enlai asked him, his eyes searching around for some way to get out of this.
The wolf laughed, teasing him, "Wrong question, Stripes."
"Then what does Xi-Wang wants?"
"The little kitty here, of course. But you already knew that didn't you?"
Enlai just growled as an answer, but as soon he took a step forward the knife was cutting into Tigress' throat, drops of blood trickling out. The wound wasn't serious; only a scratch to show what would happen if they didn't do what he said. "And he sent you?"
"I am here, aren't I?"
"Why are you doing this?"
The wolf licked his lips, "Master Xi-Wang can be very convincing. Rewards if I succeed and punishment if I don't. And believe when I say that you don't want to be punished by him. He'll make you regret that you didn't obey him. He'll take everything you care for and then he'll destroy it." The attacker finished his speak and made eye contact with Enlai, "You don't want that, do you? Well, I won't, so you aren't going to stop me from completing my mission."
"We won't you let you get away with this," Enlai growled at him, unsheathing his claws. His fangs were now visible and the fur stood straight up to show the attacker his anger.
"Then what are you going to do, Stripey? Let your girlfriend be killed or…"
"You can't bring her to Xi-Wang alone," Enlai concluded when he figured it out. But when he understood what was going he his fear only became worse.
The wolf's grin became even bigger, "But who said that I am here alone?"
Tigress widened her eyes, and then growled again. If there were more of these attackers then they were all in big trouble. Her friends were out there! If they had been ambushed…
"Well, we are not! Surprise!" The wolf was shocked for a short moment by Mantis' yell, and that was just the time Tigress needed. Breaking her arm free from the wolf's grasp, she twisted his arm and the knife flew out of his paw to finally land on the ground some meters away.
Enlai took his chance and leapt at the attacker, forcing him away from Tigress. The female tiger turned to Mantis who also was making himself ready to attack, "Thanks Mantis."
"And people says that being small is a bad thing?" the insect grinned, happy to be able to sneak onto the attacker.
"Where are the others?"
"Fighting the rest of the bandits. We figured out that you two needed some help so here I am!" Mantis exclaimed and joined the fight.
But before the Kung Fu Warriors could get the chance to win the fight, the wolf shoved his elbow directly into Enlai's stomach, forcing the air out of the tiger's lungs. Enlai fell to his knees and when he looked up the wolf was running away on all fours. "Coward!" he shouted after while trying to get up.
Mantis was already jumping after the wolf into the forest, away from the tigers' sight. Tigress was immediately at Enlai's side, helping him up, "Did he hurt you?"
The male tiger gave her a grim smile, "Was about to ask you the same."
"I am fine," Tigress told him, and was surprised to see how dark Enlai's eyes were. Something the wolf had said must have crossed the line.
"You'll stay here. I'll go after him." With that he shoved her away and was about to run into the forest when Tigress stopped him.
"If you are going then I am going too," she told him, her voice hard.
But the look he sent her made Tigress to doubt her decision. She couldn't help but wonder where the Enlai she knew was, because she didn't know the angry eyes that were staring at her. They just couldn't belong to the happy Enlai, could they?
"Can't you just stay out of problems?" the angry Enlai asked her. When she didn't answer, he turned around and ran after the disappeared bandit.
Tigress just stared after him, too stunned to speak. When the emotion finally returned to her body, anger filled her. How dared he think that he could decide what she should do! She was able to handle herself! She didn't need him to protect her! And there was no way that she would stay behind while her friends fought!
Growling, she ran after Enlai, hoping to catch up with him. But as she already knew, the male tiger was fast. When she started to hear battle noises she increased her speed, but she still couldn't see Enlai or the wolf. Suddenly, something jumped out from the bushes and leapt at her. Tigress managed to block his first attack, but then he kicked her feet away under her and pushed her back against her tree while grabbing her wrists.
"Only cowards hide themselves in bushes!" Tigress sneered at the wolf while trying to gain some of her lost dignity.
"You really should learn to take a better look at your surroundings." It was the same wolf that had attacked her and Enlai before which only made Tigress even angrier. She widened her eyes when she saw he pulled out another knife from his belt.
"How many knives do you have?" Tigress spat at him, while squirming the best that she could.
The wolf only laughed at her question, "Plenty." He held the knife just above her heart. Tigress growled at him, trying to hide her fear. The attacker chuckled and leaned his muzzle close to her ear, "Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you? Just a single stab… But unfortunately I am not the right to kill you."
"Xi-Wang…"
"Exactly. And I will tell you this, kitty, he will bring you more pain than you can ever imagine," he whispered into her ear, receiving another growl.
"And what makes you think that I'll just let him kill me?"
The wolf laughed again and stared her into the eyes, "Because he has…" He couldn't say more before a gasp came from his mouth. His grab loosened and he fell backwards until he reached the ground where he lay while staring at the sky with empty eyes.
Tigress stared at the dead wolf with wide eyes, but then she noticed the figure that had been standing behind the wolf, the person that had killed her attacker. A mountain cat was holding a bloody knife while glancing at her with cold, blue eyes.
"Tigress!" The yell sounded through the forest and seconds later the tiger's friends arrived at the scene. They all shifted from staring at Tigress, then to the dead wolf, then the stranger and then back to Tigress again.
Suddenly Tigress recognized the mountain cat in front of her. She knew that she had seen these cold eyes before. "Jie?" The time she had met him he had been dressed like a Shadow Warrior, masked. Now for the first time she saw which kind of animal he was.
In that moment she called out his name Enlai had moved himself in front of her. Warning the mountain cat with a growl, Enlai glared daggers at Jie.
"You better get out of here right now or I'll…"
"Also nice to see you again, Enlai," the mountain cat smirked at him.
Po stepped between the two felines, "What's going on here?"
"Say hello to Xi-Wang's spy among the Shadow Warriors," Enlai said with a bitter voice.
"Wait, isn't he supposed to be a good guy?" Po pointed at Jie who was just staring at them, "I mean, he saved Tigress, didn't he?"
"The panda got a point."
"Shut up, Jie," the male tiger barked at him, still irritated by his presence.
The mountain cat only growled back, "You think you're my leader, Enlai?"
"Isn't Tigress supposed to be your leader?" Mantis asked with a smirk, but quickly regretted it.
"Shut up!" The two felines shouted at him, before returning to stare each other down.
Tigress finally got enough and pushed Enlai away so she could stand between him and Jie, "Let's quit the growling and start talking. Jie, why are you here?"
"To make things short; I made some choices that didn't made Xi-Wang too happy. Tried to escape before he could punish me but then he sent the guards after me. Not that they are a problem right now."
"So they weren't here to capture me?" Tigress asked him, glad to get some information.
"You just think everything is about you, don't you, princess?" Jie asked only to get a sneer as an answer. "But then they heard you and decided to give it a try. Seriously, where you trying to get their attention or are you always that loud?"
Tigress flattened her ears, "Where were you going?"
"Back to the Shadow Warriors."
Enlai snickered, "Like they would welcome you after what you have done."
"You think I am the only one who has contact with him? To your information can I say that over the half of us are considering joining him," Jie sneered at him and the group of Kung Fu warriors fell quiet. This was bad news; it meant that Xi-Wang had gotten even more power.
Tigress' eyes flickered for a moment, "Then what is your plan now?"
"Didn't you listen? Now when I don't have those dogs following me I can continue my travel back to the mountain. I'll leave tomorrow."
Enlai stepped in front of him again, "Oh no. You are not going to stay with us."
Jie pointed at the forest with his paw, "If these wolves come back you could use some help. After all, I saw how you handled them before. Pathetic," he spat at them.
"Hey, those guys were really quick," Po said as a try to defend himself from the mountain cat's tongue. But they all knew that the wolves had gotten away; after some short fight they had turned around and had been gone before any of the warriors could react.
"What should we do, Tigress?" Monkey asked, turning to their leader, "Shall we let him stay?"
The female tiger eyed Jie closely. Finally she made her decision, "As long he doesn't become a problem he can stay with us. But only tonight."
Jie shortly nodded as an answer. Enlai growled for himself, but then pushed Tigress a little away from the others. "Have you lost your mind?" he whispered with a hoarse voice. "Didn't you hear when I said that he was a spy?"
Tigress sighed, "My hearing works perfectly, Enlai. But he also saved me only some minutes ago. And he is actually right about the wolves. I don't like him either, but he helped us. Letting him stay for a night isn't a big deal."
Enlai threw his paws up but then walked away while murmuring, "Naïve female."
Viper noticed it and slithered towards Tigress who was staring at the aggressive tiger. "I have never seen Enlai in such a bad mood before. What happened?" the snake asked her.
Tigress shrugged, "I am just as curious as you are." Suddenly she noticed that her friend was staring at her with big eyes. "What?"
"Did you guys have a fight?" Viper asked her with a calm voice, trying not to make the tiger angry.
"No. Not if I remember right. Did you guys say something?"
"Don't think so. The boys made some fun about, well, uhm…" Viper tried to find the right words. "Well, you two, but Enlai didn't seem to care about it."
Tigress stared at the male tiger who was trying to start a campfire but his fiery movements made it hard. She turned back to the Viper and said, "If he wants to be angry then let him. I will talk with him when he becomes normal again."
Staring into the fire Tigress thought everything over again. She hated to admit it but she didn't know what to do. Enlai had left her and her friends after dinner and was now sitting somewhere in the forest and keeping a watch after Xi-Wang's warriors if they should come back. Tigress knew that she should try and talk with him but something just kept her from doing that. What, she didn't exactly know.
A part of her was worried, another part just angry. She didn't need a problem like that now! It was enough with Xi-Wang, the Shadow Warriors and the Elders. Enlai only made it harder for her to stay calm. Why was he doing this now?
Tigress knew that the others were worried about him just like her. But they kept themselves away from asking him, mainly because of their respect for Tigress. They understood that it was something between her and Enlai.
Finally, Tigress gave up and rose from her spot by the campfire. The others sent her questioningly glances, but didn't say anything. "Keeping watch as well," she muttered to them and walked in the opposite direction of the one Enlai had taken.
Her friends sent each other sorrowful glances. The already not so fun trip had now become even worse. Suddenly, Jie also rose from the ground.
"Where are you going?" Po asked him, not liking that everybody just started to leave.
"None of your business, panda!" Jie sneered at him and started to leave. Sighing, Po shared glances with the others. They had all giving up starting a conversation with the mountain cat hours ago.
Jie quickly made his way through the forest, his slim body racing past bushes and trees. Finally he found what he was looking for; the silhouette of a tiger sitting on a branch.
"Trying to sneak up on me, Jie?"
The mountain cat growled slightly, just enough for Enlai to hear. "If you think that I am going to attack you then you are wrong," Jie told him and crawled his way up to the tiger.
"Then what do you want?"
"Information. What's your plan?"
Enlai glanced at him with hard eyes, "Why should I tell you?"
Jie chuckled darkly, "You don't really trust anyone, do you?"
"I trust them that deserve my trust, which mean not you," Enlai gave back.
"And not Tigress either can I see."
The tiger growled as a warning, "What do you mean?"
"You haven't told her it yet? You know what I am talking about, Enlai. Xi-Wang liked to talk about how funny it was that she doesn't even know it. So when are you planning to tell her?"
"Working on it. Why do you care?"
Jie shrugged careless, "Just curious. Wonder how she is going to react. We could find out right now…"
"You stay away from her, your traitor. Understand this, Jie; Tigress may have trusted you a tiny bit but I am not going to forget what you have done," Enlai growled at him, moving closer to the mountain cat.
"You have changed, Enlai. But you still don't scare me. I know what I am doing for now on. But don't you worry; I won't tell your little girlfriend the secret. It's not me she is going to be angry on," Jie climbed down of the tree, Enlai watching him closely. Before he disappeared between the tress Jie turned around and looked the tiger in his eyes.
"Oh, and Enlai? You might want to reconsider who the traitor is." With that Jie left the tiger alone.
A/N: And the questions just become more and more. But don't worry; the answers will come eventually.
Nice to have good old Jie back, right? The surprises just keep coming (along with the problems).
Good morning/noon/evening/night wherever you are, my dear reader! See you soon!
