After Rue and the others found out about Zhi's soft side and how they met, they're are still travelling ;)
(So sorry for the long wait but school started again and it's like it never ended. I have so many tests! So uhm, I'll try to post as fast as I can).

It was morning in the forest and Rue and the Travelling Shadows were already walking towards Chengyang. You could see the sun beginning to rise between the trees but there weren't many other animals (at least not in this part of the forest).

Although it was pretty early, Luan and Kuan didn't seem to be tired at all and were just as enthusiastic as always. This time the two were climbing in the high trees followed by jumping out of them.

"Hey, Rue!" Luan yelled from the tree.

"Yes?" she replied back, looking up.

"Come over here" Kuan yelled too.

"Which tree are you in?"

"Just follow our voices" they both yelled.

"Well that's easy" she mumbled before following their voices to the tree. "Okay, why did I have to come?"

"Can you swing your staff at the tree?"

"Why?"

"Please?"

"Ugh… fine."

She made a hard swing before throwing the staff into the tree, the tree shook hard, followed by the screams of Luan and Kuan. The two fell out of the tree, flat on their faces, with a loud thud.

Rue gasped in shock while she walked towards the two: "Are you guys okay?"

She heard them groan before both jumping up and yell: "That was awesome!"

"Urgh…" Rue sighed, annoyed but also relieved.

"Let's go again" Kuan said, before they both went to the trees again.

"Are they always like this?" Rue asked to Shui.

"Yes, they are" he replied.

"But you get used to it" Feng said.

"They're just enjoying life, I think" Shui replied, a little snickering.

"I think their just annoying" Zhi mumbled.

"Come on Zhi, I think they're sometimes pretty fun" Rue said with a little teasing smile.

The panther sighed before walking further again.

"I think he's still embarrassed because he cried on your shoulder" Feng said.

"I think he's finally loosing up" Shui replied, still laughing a little.

Eventually they all continued to walk further, save Luan and Kuan, who were still jumping off and climbing in the trees.

They had already walked for a few hours and it would be night soon. Suddenly Rue stopped while holding her staff horizontal next to her. Rue had expected everyone would stop as well but Zhi, who was not paying attention, bumped into the staff.

While groaning and rubbing his forehead he yelled; "why did you stop!"

"Be quiet" she hissed; "I thought I heard something".

They continued to look around for a while but saw nothing.

"I don't see any-" Luan started to say but was interrupted by three crocs and two boars bandits jumping out of the bushes.

"Bandits" Zhi mumbled under his breath.

Soon Zhi, Feng and Shui were fighting against the crocs, while Rue and Luan and Kuan were fighting the boars.

As the croc charged towards Zhi he jumped into the air and made a back flip, followed by a kick to the jaw and when he landed again a punch in the stomach. The croc soon recovered and kicked Zhi in the back, making him fall on his stomach. Zhi jumped up and did a handstand followed by a roundhouse kick to the croc's face.
The croc wanted to swipe Zhi's feet from under him with his tail but Zhi jumped in time and delivered a final blow to the croc.

Feng and Shui were fighting, back-to-back, with the other two crocs. Feng was using his wings to block the attacks from the croc in front of him and sometimes to cover Shui, while Shui managed to kick the croc several times in the stomach and his jaw.
One of the crocs jumped and delivered a kick towards Shui, making the mountain cat fall on the ground. Feng flew into air, followed by diving down towards the two and knocking them of their feet. After he helped Shui up they both delivered a hard punch to the crocs, knocking them unconscious.

Rue was fighting against one of the boars, using her new learned kung fu skills and, of course, her staff. As the boar was about to punch her, she jumped in the air and delivered a kick to his nose, followed by a strong blow of her staff.
The boar managed to punch her, while throwing her back and grabbing her staff. Because Rue could only feel the vibrations with her staff and hands she now had to fight on all fours. She rushed towards the boar, followed by a series of strong kicks to his stomach.
By pushing him back he was distracted for a minute, enough time for Rue to grab her staff back and giving one hard blow that knocked him into a tree.

Luan and Kuan were inseparable, that's why they always 'fought' together but because the two brothers didn't had much experience with fighting (and the others were still teaching them) they just saw it, like they almost see everything, like a fun game.
The two started with throwing berries and little rocks at the boar, annoying him and probably making him lose his concentration. When they crossed the line the boar attacked them.
They both climbed in the trees and after a few seconds they jumped out on the boar. They punch him several times on the head and jump of him again. After that they start throwing things again.
The two couldn't hold their laughter anymore, which also annoyed the boar. As last they both jumped and kicked the boar in the stomach but he recovered and was charging towards them.
The boys had their backs turned and couldn't see him coming. Only before he could reach them Zhi knocked him aside, making him crash into a tree and defeated him so.

"Thanks" they said.

"Never turn your back on your opponent. But you're welcome" he replied.

Soon the bandits withdrew and ran away, while the boars carried the two unconscious crocs.

"Woohoo!" Luan and Kuan both yelled, while jumping: "That was awesome."

The others couldn't hold their laughter anymore because of the silly brothers. But when they calmed down they noticed something; "hey, guys, this is a pretty good camping spot. Let's camp here."

After they had set the camp, they made a fire and were now eating around it. After they were done Feng realized something of the night before.

"Hey Rue, we have told you our stories but you didn't told us yours."

"Yeah he's right Rue" Luan said; "please tell," Kuan finished with a smile.

"Well uh, okay" she replied.

...

"And then I woke up and met you guys, the rest you already know" she finished her story.

"So you're friends with the masters of the Jade Palace?" Luan asked.

"And you train there too?" Kuan followed.

"Yes."

"Awesome" they both replied.

"Well, that's a pretty cool story" Shui said.

"But can you see someone in a tree or not?" Feng asked.

"Yes, but only with my hands, not my staff."

"And air attacks?"

"Sometimes, most of the time I hear them coming" she replied. "It was actually pretty annoying, like when I was little at the orphanage and someone threw a ball at me, I sometimes wasn't able to catch it."

At that comment she heard the twins snicker a little.

"But you don't know how you ended up in that orphanage?" Zhi asked.

"No, sad enough, I don't" she replied, looking down.

"Well, I'm tired. And not only from the fight. Let's get some sleep" Shui suggested.

Soon they all lay down on their sleeping mats, and fell asleep.

Bao sat in his room when Lin and Chao walked in, bowing.

"I see you're back officer Chao. How did it go?" Bao asked the lion, with a calm voice.

"We assume both tigers are dead, Master" Chao replied, standing up.

"What do you mean with assume?" he asked, with a slight growl.

"Well, the last time I saw them, one of them was hanging at the edge of a cliff and it was impossible that Master Tigress could have pulled her up."

"Then why didn't you stay?"

"Otherwise we would have lost. We had to retreat."

"Hmm… okay then for this time I'll not make a big deal of it. Go back and prepare more plans. I still want you to find the other survivors."

"But that's going to be impossible" Lin said.

"I don't care, now go!"

After that, Lin and Chao both run out of the room, to tell their orders to the other officers.

Meanwhile the other snow leopard officer was walking through the corridors searching for his partner.

"There you are, Yanshu" a black hawk replied, when he saw him coming.

"Yes, sorry that I'm late but the only news I got is that Bao still wants the other survivors and thinks both tigers are dead" Yanshu replied.

"Okay then, I'll report it to the Masters" he said while flying away.

The leopard checked for one more time if anyone had seen them but when he saw no one, he walked away too.

Well it seems we've met the spies of the Jade Palace ;) And one of them is a officer!

Sorry this chapter is a little short but please review :D