Yeah, didn't expect many reviews for the last chap. I'm not surprised. Anyway, here is the epic chapter I promised you. Read on!
Chapter Four: Battle at Sea
"Man, you scream like a girl, Crane!" Monkey exclaimed.
"Can we not talk about that and focus on getting out of these blasted ropes!" The avian muttered, his cheeks hot with embarrassment as he tried to squirm free from the tough, thick rope binding him to the mast of the ship.
"Yeah, yeah..." Monkey responded, though the playfulness had left his tone. He wriggled and strained to get free of the rope, but instead it only made breathing hard and he could feel it cutting into his skin.
Suddenly, he felt something icily cold press against his throat and he froze, slowly shifting his gaze up to see a red-eyed wolf.
"Stop yer movin', primate." The lupine scowled, his yellow fangs bared. A scarlet stripe ran down his black-furred forehead, making him look like he had a gash there. Monkey gulped and bid himself to stay still. He noticed Crane was unmoving beside him, staring up with fearful golden eyes.
"Dat's mor' lik' it." The wolf sneered, his sharp teeth glistening wetly in the rising sun. He gave a sly, crooked grin and sheathed his sword. Monkey surpressed a relieved sigh, though, when the wolf tossed a katana to one of his comrades, who looked much like him, except his fur was a dark shade of brown instead of blackish-gray.
"Watch 'em, Fang." he ordered with a trace of a snarl.
"Yessir, Uruk." Fang nodded grimly, stepping up beside Monkey and Crane, the katana's handle clutched tightly in one sturdy paw.
And that's when a roar shook every beam and fiber of the ship and it's new, dark passengers.
~oOo~
Tigress raced out of her room with a furious, thundering bellow. She skidded to a stop and rose to two feet, a snarl on her face, eyes harsh but glittering with the prospect of oncoming battle.
All she needed to see was Monkey and Crane tied to the mast to make her raise her lips in a snarl and unsheath her claws, her muscles tensing. Wolves. Everywhere wolves. Red eyes and red stripes down their foreheads, different shades of dark colors. Tigress thought she had seen them somewhere, somehow, and linked with them came the ominous feeling of dread. Their eyes glinted and burned with one desire and one desire only.
Kill.
Tigress resumed her fighting position with a low, threatening growl. "Who are you, and what business do you have on our ship?" Where are Po and Shifu?!
The wolves, which there must of been a hundred of, gave short barks of laughter. "Foolish, bold tiger..." One of them hissed, the one with black-gray fur. He took a step forward, challenging her to attack, with his tail high and swishing back and forth proudly, his head cocked and his eyes more threatening than the rest. A leader, Tigress thought.
"You have not answered my question, dog." She rumbled, her amber eyes blazing and in slits.
"Who ya callin' dog, kitty-cat?" His temper began to reveal itself through it's layer of cockiness.
Tigress, on the other paw, forced herself to stay calm and to think straight. They could just want money... She mused. But no, the multitude of the motley gang and the weapons they carried, and their murderous stares did not suggest a theft or a raid. They were here for something-no, someone. Someone special. Tigress clamped her jaw into a tight line, her ears pressed flat against her striped head. "You still refuse to answer me, dog."
"Lemme at 'er!" One of the wolves snarled, and another gave a bloodthirsty howl of a predator seeking prey.
"Silence!" The leader boomed, raising his fist to the air. The lupines quieted but sent death-glares to the Master of the Tiger style.
The wolf leader turned to the tigress with a bitter scowl. "Pretty 'un, ain't she?" He smirked. Tigress felt her hair bristle with agitation. "A brave 'un, too. An' real soon, a dead 'un. Little. Dead. Tiger."
Now Tigress felt like she could snap every one of those mindless canines in two. Pah, who cared about compassion?!
With a snarl she lunged into battle, claws and teeth gleaming against the new sun.
~oOo~
As soon as the scream had speared through the air like an arrow and filled Po's mind with swirling expressions of danger and darkness, the panda had run to the door. He jangled the door knob in distraught desperation. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, C'MON!" He demanded, ramming his shoulder and side against the door. On normal occasion, the plank of wood would of broken and splintered from the force (and weight), coming from the panda, but instead of the crunch of wood and expected thud when he hit the floor, Po heard a cackle.
"Ya won' got out now," the voice sneered nastily, sending shivers down Po's spine. "We got da who t'ing blocked wit' iron out 'ere."
"Wolf-Morgulins!" Shifu gasped.
~oOo~
Years after years after years of training had shaped Tigress into a lithe, deadly warrior that could strike and knock out some of the strongest men in China.
But these- pathetic excuses for bandits, lowest of lowest, were too easy. With a swipe of her tail she could unbalance one and send him teetering over the edge of the Water Dragon.
"Attack!" Uruk, the leader, howled, and wolves began pouring down on Tigress like hail. Morgulin after Wolf-Morgulin was easily knocked down with a couple blows.
The feline twisted her agile body in the air and brought her foot smack into one of the lupine's chins, sending him yelping into a bunch of canines. Four wolves lunged at her all at once, coming from four different directions, and the striped cat sprang nimbly into the air, and all the wolf Morgulins crashed together into a heap of dark fur, which she landed on gracefully. Her attack continued, punches and kicks raining upon the wolves.
At first, Tigress thought this was a feeble, mere excuse for a gang. Then after what seemed like an eternity of striking narrow snouts and swiping furry legs did she began to feel a twinge of-weariness. She kept pounding on, though, but soon movement was forced; had it been two hours, or three? The wolves swarmed back at her like mindless, yet angry bees. She sent one flying and another bounded over to take it's place.
Quickly and effectively she crashed two canine skulls against each other, and both lupines crumpled to the floor. Tigress felt bone-weary, her muscles aching and sweat pricking at her brow. Her breathing evolved from normal to ragged pants as she mercilessly sent wolves staggering back with life-long scars.
As an ultimate last resource, the feline began using her claws, raking them across fur and flesh, swiping them across weak, vulnerable places like exposed bellies and soft noses. But still, the Morgulins persisted, their hungry, malovent howls and grins making Tigress's sensitive ears feel like bursting. She leaped in the air and did a spinning kick to one wolf, who went high in the sky, rocketing to the clouds and then crashing down on more of his evil pack.
Sidestepping a blow from a hammer, Tigress grabbed the weapon and knocked out it's owner, using the iron hammer deftly with sounds whacks. But as she felt her energy and stamina sap away, she could feel her muscles shrieking for her to stop, her mind blurred and so exhausted she didn't think, she just did. Her moves were becoming blind, and her sharp feline eyes could now scarcely make it one wolf from the other as they threw themselves at her, sweat pouring off her sides.
She felt like sinking to her knees in defeat, let herself be devoured, but the last of her will and adrenaline kicked in, forcing her to go beyond her limits and do as her Master had trained her to do; defy the impossible and to keep fighting, no matter what.
Tigress felt a distant thought flash through her mind; where was the Dragon Warrior, and where was Shifu?
But they were put aside as she punched another dog with astounding force on his nose, sending him yelping. Blood-red eyes and bloodthirsty jaws surrounded her at every angle. But she didn't give up, she couldn't, wouldn't!
Because this was what she had been trained for.
And even though she wanted to fall and collapse, she would keep fighting, for as long as she could still breath.
~oOo~
Uruk growled. "Attack!" he snarled viciously, loud as storming waves. "I said, ATTACK, you useless fleabags! ATTACK!"
The wolves' ears pricked and they continued to lunge at Tigress, snapping and growling. The feline threw dog after dog after dog back, but more came. Uruk noticed she was weakening, slowly but steadily, the last of her energy ebbing way to nothing.
But yet, she kept battling, not giving up.
Uruk gave a nasty smirk. If she wouldn't give up physically, then he would make her mental condition go as worse as possible.
"You, Fang!" He barked. The shaggy brown lupine looked up.
"Yes, Master Uruk?"
"Those two-tha bird an' da ape. Kill 'em."
Tigress looked and her eyes widened, a silent 'No...' escaping her lips. Crane and Monkey were both squirming with all their might, but to no avail, as Fang approached them with a wry, wicked smile that looked like a pleased snarl on his hideous snout. With one paw grasped to his sword, he unsheathed a katana and raised it to the air.
And that's when things happened so fast all was a blur.
Tigress, while being distracted by her fellow Masters' predicament, hadn't noticed on of the enemy had begun to bring down his hammer, aiming for her head. However, the wolf had misjudged his aim, and the flat stone hammer had smashed into the feline's unprotected shoulder.
At the same time, Monkey braced himself and winced, preparing for his doom, when instead he heard the sound of ropes ripping and tearing apart, being sliced by a sword. He looked up and gasped.
Gone was the brown-furred Fang and in it's place stood a pure white wolf with jade green eyes, his cape billowing out in the salty wind, the katana still gripped in his paw.
Then all three snapped their heads up at the sound of a pain-filled, fearful yowl.
~oOo~
"Think, Po, think!" Po muttered, banging his head against the wall.
The wall...
Po turned to Shifu with a smirk. "You're gonna have to use your head in this one."
~oOo~
"Tigress!" Crane and Mantis both exclaimed in panicked tones simultansiously, while the white wolf's eyes grew wide and he muttered something in a foreign language.
Tigress was flailing over the side of the boat, her right arm grappling with the edge desperately, her claws scraping against the boards in a desperate effort to get a hold.
Her left arm hung limp beside her side, her shoulder crushed. Tigress's vision was turning a dark red, and then all her strenght abandoned her.
"I'm sorry, Master," she whispered. I've failed you... She added silently before closing her eyes and letting go, falling, falling, falling into the wild, dark waves below. (A/N: That kinda rhymed...)
~oOo~
"You fool!" Uruk snarled to the wolf who had slammed Tigress and sent her flying into the ocean. "You idiot!" He let out a string of curses in a different language, each syllable making the other Wolf-Morgulin cower more.
"You should be thrown in there with her!" Uruk announced with a cruel sneer. "Morgulins; kill him."
At his command, the wolves piled on top of the loner and he was gone with a howl of terror.
~oOo~
Monkey scrabbled up and jumped over to the ship's side, but all his blue eyes could spot was a sinking paw. He was about to leap in the dark water when something crashed.
Loudly.
~oOo~
"Next time, panda, Shifu croaked groggily. "Warn me before using me as a battering ram." The red panda rubbed his snout and then plopped down, dazed and dizzy.
Po cast a mild glance at his Master and then at the wolves. Some where stumbling, others wounded, and more still there and growling, though shooting cautious glances. The tiger was an invincible cat of fury; what would the panda be? And the tiny mouse?
Some eyed the ocean thoughtfully, others rashly just dived in. No way where they suffering another defeat.
Uruk growled. "Cowards!" He spat, seething. "Come an' face a challenge!"
The ones who had heard his command approached Po and Shifu warily, weapons at the ready.
The last thing most of them saw was an ebony fist in their faces before all went dark.
~oOo~
Po dusted his hands off; that was easy. Either these were really crummy bandits or someone had badly beaten them before he had gotten to them. Tigress, most likely.
With his army depleted to nothing, Uruk gave a whimper, raising his sword with a shaking paw as Po approached. Then with a snarl, he dropped his weapon and jumped off the ship. Po looked over the side to see him rowing madly on another boat. He looked up with menacing red eyes, and roared "I will be back! Just you see!"
Po rolled his eyes, looking back. The wolves had all jumped into the ocean and were paddling frantically after their leader (their boat, more likely).
"Monkey, where's Tigress?" Po asked the primate who was staring blankly at the water. He pointed shakily and swallowed hard.
"S-she fell, Po."
Po looked down and saw a faint outline of the tigress. "No!" He exclaimed. "Someone, get here!"
He glanced around him at his friends, heart racing. Monkey and Crane looked cut and bruised, and Shifu was too small. The only person to rescue her, Po realized, was him. He looked over to Shifu with inquiring eyes.
Protect her as if your life depended on it...
Without another hesitation, Po dove over the side of the ship and into the freezing water after Master Tigress.
Okay, so, wow...Tigress is gonna die...Well, we'll see. :D Thank you for reading, and PLEASE leave a review!
-Sleet12