MORNING OF THE FOURTH DAY

THE VALLEY OF THE FOUR WINDS

HAWKMASTER NURONG

Nurong, the Leader of the Wu Kao discipline of the Shado-Pan, regretted at times that he had only one good eye to show for his service. On the other hand, he'd adapted marvelously to having just a single eye. Many among the Wu Kao claimed that Nurong saw better with one than any of his people saw with two. Now, his one good eye surveyed the Serpent's Spine suspiciously. The missing Shado-Pan patrol had vanished near Stoneplow Village, leaving behind no weapons and no traces that they had ever been there. Loon Mai remained in the village, ever more anxious for news of his people...and with good reason. Nurong sighed as Taoshi continued surveying the wall from the top down, looking to either side. The Dread Wastes were on the one side, the Valley of the Four Winds on the other...and Nurong had never felt the touch of worry that he felt now. But he wasn't concerned with the mantid. They weren't adept at shadowy strikes. They tended to announce their presence...

Nurong had survived many battles, and had lost his right eye in one of them. Given what he was seeing...or rather, what he wasn't finding, Nurong worried now that the patrol had been taken during the night. But who would take three young Shado-Pan? He mentally checked off the likely threats. Mantid didn't deal in prisoners; they preferred instead to kill their victims outright. The yaungol wouldn't have come this far south. Were the sha somehow responsible? He didn't think that was too likely. That left a single option, and it chilled Nurong to his core to think of it: mogu. The mogu had very likely seized the Shado-Pan patrol in the night and taken them away. But what purpose would be served?

He was glad they weren't the only ones on the scene. A single member of the Golden Lotus and his hunting tiger had joined in the search, and surveyed the grounds near the Serpent's Spine. Che Wildwalker and his tiger Kyo moved almost in unison, surveying the grasses for any sign. Nurong's own hawk, Whitefeather, soared above, tasked with searching for (in all likelihood) the bodies of the patrol.

Suddenly, Taoshi signaled from atop the wall almost at the same instant as Che Wildwalker and Kyo suddenly bolted off into the underbrush. Nurong strode over to Taoshi and called out, "What have you found, Taoshi?"

He could make out Taoshi shaking her head, and then suddenly, she broke out her riding kite. Catching the wind, Taoshi's kite gracefully banked downwards and she landed it without any fuss. She folded up the kite as Nurong drew closer. "I caught sight of quilen tracks, and they lead away to the jungles in the southeast."

Nurong remembered that territory. "That's mostly unsettled territory. Assuming you're right and they are quilen tracks..." He bared his teeth unhappily. "Mogu. This fairly stinks of them." He worried even more for the lives of the three Shado-Pan lost in this area.

Nodded gravely, and suggested, "Che should accompany us." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Agreed." Nurong nodded his head deeply, causing his grey topknot to bob as well. "Che!" He called out. The Golden Lotus hunter made no reply. Nurong sighed and gestured for Taoshi to follow where Che had gone. "Perhaps he found the trail before we did." Suddenly, Whitefeather descended as a true hunting hawk would; the graceful raptor dove down into the jungle. From what Nurong could tell, she'd dove ahead of where Che had disappeared. Nurong readied his crossbow and prepared for action; Whitefeather would only dive if she had sighted an enemy. She was trained too well to do otherwise. "Onwards!"

Taoshi bowed and readied herself. Moments later, the Wu Kao Assassin vanished into thin air. Nurong's crossbow was down as the burly Wu Kao Hawkmaster made his way through the trees, grimacing as branches caught his topknot or his face, but never making a sound of pain. To do so would alert any enemy to his presence. Suddenly, he made out the sounds of snapping jaws in the distance... Definitely quilen, Nurong thought, and a huge one at that...I hope Che can handle himself until I get there...

There was a distinct clunking sound of heavy stone striking the ground, followed by a ghastly crunch. As Nurong homed in the sounds, a long wheezing gasp sloughed through the air. It didn't take Nurong very long to find Che, and his one good eye widened as he saw the Golden Lotus hunter. Che was unharmed and crouched over the stone-dead form of a quilen in a small copse. Kyo's teeth were still good, but incredibly, the tiger had bitten through the quilen's neck. Kyo spat out stone fragments, cleaning the teeth with a long raspy tongue and grimacing in a way that tigers seemed to possess. Clearly Kyo wanted nothing further to do with the dead quilen... Whitefeather trilled from above and suddenly landed on a tree branch that dipped low, right next to Nurong's head and within his field of vision. With a hand, he stroked her stomach feathers, and she cooed quietly in acknowledgement, jumping onto his covered arm protector a moment later. Nurong whistled: the quilen was huge, even by the standards of the species. "This was quite a nasty one to deal with indeed...sorry I didn't get here sooner, but, nevertheless..." He smiled, "very nicely done indeed, Che Wildwalker." Kyo yowled and rolled about in the dust, provoking Che to snap his fingers to get the tiger back upright.

"Thank you, Nurong." Che smiled from ear to ear. "Coming from one as skilled as yourself, that is high praise indeed."

Nurong whispered another command to Whitefeather, and soon, the hunting hawk took off once more, soaring high into the air. With a swooshing sound, Taoshi reappeared, panting slightly. "I see you found that." Taoshi murmured as she tried to catch her breath.

"Yes, indeed." Nurong nodded and pointed above slightly. "I sent Whitefeather to find where the older tracks led off to."

"I believe I know." Taoshi caught her breath at last and spoke quickly. "There's a small cave within this grove. I..." Her voice trailed off. "I made out a trail as though a heavy figure had been dragged. They would have been unconscious too..." She shook her head, and finally stated, "And they would have been Pandaren. Saurok wouldn't have gone so quietly, nor would the mogu have bothered to capture them."

Che's expressive eyebrows rose with concern. "That means that your men were very likely taken by the mogu who had these quilen guards, and dragged into the cave. But for what?" He paced, his expression worried.

"I don't know, but we'd better find out." Nurong sighed and readied the crossbow. "Taoshi, lead on."

Taoshi nodded, and the rather unusual party set forth.

The small cave that Taoshi had found had several small mogu statues lined up very neatly outside of its entrance. All of these were small figurines of mogu emperors past, offerings, perhaps, to their ancestors. Nurong didn't know for certain, but he wasn't particularly interested. He was, however, feeling his neck hair stand on end in apprehension. His one good eye squinted into the darkness as Taoshi led him. Suddenly, light filled the cave, as Taoshi had taken up a resin-soaked torch. She struck a flint she had handy to it, and at once, the torch coughed to life...and illuminated a sorry scene for the Shado-Pan to see.

Three young male Pandaren, their wrists bound and their mouths frozen open in horror, lay slumped against the far wall of the cavern. At the very least, their eyes were closed. The expressions they bore were enough to send chills into even Hawkmaster Nurong's thick gut. The venerable leader of the Wu Kao knelt in the dust near the three bodies and sorrowfully confirmed the worst. No pulse, no trace of life remained in them. A small dab where a knife had been driven slightly into each of the fallen trio's necks confirmed another suspicion Nurong held. "Whichever mogu did this saw fit to capture the souls of our brothers, Taoshi."

"They'll use their spirits...later. For whatever reason, they could not do so here." Taoshi's voice was firm, but emotion gathered within it. Nurong cast a glance at her. Her expression was implacable, she had no tears to shed.

"From what I know of the mogu, these poor souls are going to be implanted into Jade or Terra Cotta Soldiers." Nurong finished checking the fallen. He respectfully gathered the belts of the fallen Shado-Pan, unclasping the belt buckles and pulling them gently off their owners. Taoshi was no stranger to death, and in fact, was almost unsurpassed when it came to inflicting it. Perhaps that was one reason why she was hardened to seeing it, even in those she cared for. Nurong shook his head quickly. It didn't work. The bodies remained, still, lifeless, drained of their very souls.

"They were stripped of their other gear and weapons." Taoshi murmured. "Which makes sense."

"The mogu didn't want them waking up from their naptime and resisting." Nurong agreed sadly. He stood to his feet, the three belts in his hand. "We'll see to it that they receive a proper burial later. But right now, we have to report this to Loon Mai...and then eventually to Lord Zhu."

Taoshi nodded her head in agreement. There was sorrow in her voice as they left the cave, "I...I trained the youngest of them. Kagao Mistpaw..." Nurong's good eye closed in grief. He recognized that name, an up-and-comer among the Wu Kao. To know that he was gone sent pangs of mourning right through his heart. Taoshi picked up again. "I taught him how to throw his shuriken properly. To see that he suffered such a fate..." She shook her head. "Hawkmaster." She finished by addressing Nurong with utmost respect. He noted that whatever thoughts of vengeance Taoshi held in her mind went unvoiced. Nurong nodded tightly; what went unsaid was often just as important as what was said. Vengeance was not a thought encouraged by the Shado-Pan, even in circumstances as horrible as the loss of three of their own.

They emerged from the cave and into the light of the gathering morning. A small rain squall was building over the distant bulk of the Serpent's Spine. Che Wildwalker strode up with Kyo, and he bowed to Nurong. "I have nothing new to report, Hawkmaster Nurong." Seeing the crestfallen expression on Taoshi's face, Che immediately picked up on what happened. His head hung in shared sympathy. "I'm..." He shook his head again. "Did they make it?"

"They did not." Taoshi responded in a voice that was impossibly calm considering what they'd just seen. "The mogu took them, Che Wildwalker."

Che nodded in understanding, his eyebrows drooped with grief. "I see." Che sighed helplessly. "You have my utmost condolences for their loss." The Golden Lotus hunter bowed respectfully, and Taoshi and Nurong responded in kind.

The rain would soon sweep over the cave, and Nurong made out with his good eye the approaching curtains of driving water. This was indeed a sad farewell to their fallen comrades... The worst part of this was that the mogu had captured and imprisoned the souls of the fallen, after driving them from their bodies. These unfortunate three weren't even truly dead. Rather, they would be pitted against other Pandaren later; trapped inside a stone prison, forced to beat on the walls of their confinement as their new 'hands' tortured and murdered in the service of their ancient enemy...

The rather unusual group made its way back to Stoneplow Village. Nurong and Taoshi braced themselves as the waters of the heavens began to fall around them. Che walked through it, as though it were perfectly normal. Whitefeather descended from the heavens hastily, squawking an unpleasant greeting as she flew to Nurong's side. She could detect his sorrow at the loss of their comrades, though, and rather than insisting that he take her on his arm, she flew to the village ahead. Nurong reflected that Stoneplow had definitely seen better days as they approached; the harvest this year was probably going to be the worst since the drought sixteen years ago. It was still a pivotal point along the wall of the Serpent's Spine and demanded Shado-Pan vigilance. Loon Mai strode out of one of the lodgings that he'd made into an unofficial command center. He approached the group, his helmet dripping rainwater already. Nurong addressed him simply, plainly, "Loon Mai."

Loon Mai picked up on what Nurong had seen without having to be told of it. "Is it as you feared, Hawkmaster?"

"I'm afraid so." Nurong nodded somberly. The water dripped into his eyepatch and irritated the skin around it, provoking him to rub at it with one hand. He couldn't weep, not from that eye, anyway.

Taoshi spoke up now. "Loon Mai, we're not sure how the mogu jumped the patrol. But no more lone patrols can be allowed to go about."

"Agreed." Loon Mai sucked in a breath and coughed suddenly. "We're now even shorter on manpower than I'd like for this season. That much is for certain." He looked to Nurong. "You found their gear?"

Nurong responded by taking the three belts of the fallen Shado-Pan and handing them to Loon Mai. "I will report what happened to Lord Zhu when I return to the Monastery. We'll have to be on the lookout for three more stone soldiers in the days ahead." He shook his head disgustedly. "It would almost be better if the mantid had killed them outright, Loon Mai."

Taoshi's expression fell. "I don't want to agree with that sentiment, Hawkmaster, but at least an instant death would be more merciful than this."

Loon Mai nodded. "Thank you both for responding as quickly as you did. I only wish..." His voice trailed off.

Che looked off to the northeast, towards the distant Vale of Eternal Blossoms, his eyebrows furrowed with sorrow but his expression otherwise implacable. He finally offered his hand to both Nurong and Taoshi, and shook their hands vigorously. When he came to Loon Mai, he hugged him instead. "I will be sure to keep an eye out for Mogu on my way back to the Vale." Che sighed once more. "I'm glad I was able to help the Shado-Pan. I hope that the next time it will be under far better circumstances."

"As do we." Nurong clapped a fist to his palm in the traditional salute. "Farewell for now, Che Wildwalker. Celestials guide your footsteps."

As Che and Kyo strode away to the northeast, Che repeated the blessing. "May they guide yours as well, Wu Kao."

AUTHOR'S NOTES: A bit of a short chapter, but I had to resolve what happened to Taoshi and Nurong, especially given how they'll be key players in parts ahead. Lord Zhu is still running around the Jade Forest in the meantime, and he will return in the next chapter. The Alliance gets its proper introduction in the 8th Act/Chapter/Part/Whatever You Would Call It.

I'll definitely admit that this part was inspired by events in Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde.