Alright, I know, another really long wait. Lots of things have been taking place (some okay, some...not so good) these past months, but I guess I'll have to sneak a post before Christmas...hehe...it's been that long, hasn't it? Wow, I seriously need to get bettr with this.

Okay then, here you all get to meet two of my OC's (though the mink's name I kinda borrowed from one of my friend's chaacters...). Hope ya like them!

No, I don't own Kung Fu Panda, for any of those who were curious.

Chapter Ten: Meet Argen and Andidi

"Are we there yet?" Po asked for the forty-eighth time (Rooper had been counting) as the party of five worked their way up the mountain road carved into the rock.

One of the guards, a snow leopard called Barry, slapped his face to his paw. Keith the jaguar, the other guard, sighed and trudged on forward.

"No," Rooper answered. Now, the King liked to regard himself as patient, but that virtue was getting thinner than ice by the second.

Other than repeating questions over and over ('Are we there yet?' 'How much longer until we get there?' 'How much longer until lunch?'), the panda turned out to have deathly fear of heights; when they came to a particularly narrow section he'd cringe and press himself flat against the stone mountainside, sliding timidly along sideways. And if he got too close to seeing the misty chasms below he'd start squealing and covering his face with his paws so Tigress or the guards would have to drag him back.

Rooper also noticed said feline Master was miraculously ignoring Po altogether, only twitching her ears as acknowledgement when he said something. The King, raised his dark eyebrows, surprised. "How does she do it?" He muttered to himself.

"Try living with him for over a year and a half. You get used to it." She said, then as an afterthought, "After a while."

Startled that she'd overheard what he'd said, the King muttered to himself in the lowest voice he could muster, "She's got sharper ears than the raccoon."

"Red panda," She commented, shadowing the scorn behind a level, respectful tone as she walked on in front of him.

Rooper shifted the backpack on his shoulders uncomfortably and wrote a mental note to not speak his thoughts at all withing possible hearing range of the fellow pantherine.

Tigress hoped King Rooper wasn't offended by her quick correction, but she couldn't help herself. Though not showing through her stone layer, she felt agitated both by not getting enough sleep last night (too excited to rest), and secondly, Rooper was somehow getting on her nerves. It wasn't his fault. Every time Tigress was around him, just looking at him, made a strange stirring sensation well in her stomach, and her brain would start doing somersaults, straining to remember. Remember what, she didn't know, but he was so familiar it hurt.

"So...narrow...!" Po gripped a small ledge and closed his eyes. Heights. Heights and ships...

"King Rooper, there's a space large enough for us to rest over there. Should we stop for a while?" Keith asked.

Po's eyes flew open, suddenly not terrified. Rest=food. And he was hungry.

Rooper nodded. "I don't see why not."

The Dragon Warrior sighed happily as he sat down, resting his aching feet and leaning his head on the rock against his back. Barry began preparing lunch while Keith sat cross-legged at the head of the group, sword on his lap, and trained his eyes on the area warily, scouring the bare grey peaks for any slivers of danger.

Tigress, giving into her cat-like nature, perched herself over a ledge with only her long striped tail flicking over the edge, basking in the warm sun and at the same time peeking out from half-slit eyes, ever on the look-out. Rooper allowed himself to shut out his vision and steal a few winks of sleep.

But while they were enjoying the peace, they didn't know it was going to be temporary.

~oOo~

"Hurry up!" hissed a squeaky voice behind a bramble voice, the sayer camoflouged obscourely by the thorny branches. The dry leaves rustled, and the voice snapped, "Be quiet, Argen! They'll hear ya!"

"I'm tryin', I'm tryin'!" Huffed another gruff, mumbling voice, sounding close by to the first speaker. These unseen ones and bush hiding them were located high above our group of travellers on a large cliff dotted with more shrubs.

"Oh, for Pete's sake, hurry!"

"Who's Pete?" The gruff voice asked, then there was a loud THWACK sound and a muffled yelp.

"An expression, idiot!" Snarled the squeaky one.

"Oh." Pause. "What kind of species is an expression?"

"ARGEN!"

Red eyes burning with impatience, the black-pelted mink snatched the rope away from her stout dark bear partner haughtily and fumbled with it until it wad a decent noose.

"See? Simple as pie."

"But, Andidi, it's a rope." The bear objected matter-of-factly.

"Well, now it has a crust and it's cherry-flavored. Care for a piece?" The she-mink growled sarcastically.

"Ooh, yeah!" Argen grinned and reached eagerly for the treat. Andidi was about to smack him on the head again, but then her cruel eyes began sparking with the beginning of an idea.

"Yeah. It's a pie." She began. The rope was kind of heavy for her (not to mention what she'd be lugging up), and Argen would completely mess it up if she let him hold it alone, so she had to improvise.

The mink continued, "And all ya hafta do is bite the end-here-and lower it slowly down to where the tigress is. But she can't see it. Though I think she's asleep, so she won't tell. Then slip the loophole-I mean, pie-over her head, and all the way under her arms so we don't choke her, 'cause Master wants 'em alive, and drag her up."

Argen scratched his head. "Ehm, Andidi, how will I eat the rope-pie, then?"

"After we got both the panda and tigress up, you can eat it." Andidi responded bluntly, answering as if that was the stupidest question ever uttered. Well, it kind of was (top 5?).

The bear shrugged and champed down firmly on the end of the 'pie', looking to Andidi out of the corner of his eye for reassurance before crouching low on the edge of the cliff. Andidi quietly slipped the rope down to where the tigress was napping soundly.

Of course, their plan had a million flaws, and it was only a matter of time before that became obvious.

Argen gripped the cliff's rock edges so tight his claws dug into the rock. His partner maneuvered the slipknot until it was positioned over the sleeping feline's head and grinned maliciously. This was easier than she thought it would be!

But just as she got the loophole over her head, everything went wrong.

The female tiger's eyes snapped open and she grabbed the rope with a snarl, like she'd been waiting for this. Andidi let it go in the nick of time, but Argen wasn't so lucky; he was still biting the end of the rope when the feline jerked it downwards. She pulled with such force the cliff cracked, and Argen, stubbornly refusing to let go of the pie, was yanked southwards along with it.

He landed in an untidy heap of black fur next to the tigress. Skyward, Andidi was peering down, half-anxious and half-annoyed. "Gah!" She moaned, banging her head against the rock. "Argeeeeen!"

Tigress, raising one eyebrow, leapt up and kicked the mountainside, with just enough impact to make it shudder. Andidi gave a strangled gasp as she was shaken off the cliff and began to fall, wildly flailing for a grip. She let out a panicked yell of fear.

Argen just had time to peer up at the welcoming sun when his mink partner crash-landed on top of him.

Aching head buried under her stomach and her tail flapping over his eyes, he muttered, "Owf."

Master Tigress crossed her arms and glared at the groggy pair suspiciously. They looked like the Morgulins from Tigrispart beach; red-eyed, dark-furred and with a trademark scarlet thin diamond-shaped stripe running down their scruffy foreheads. The feline's ears prick when she heard Keith shout, "Hey, everythin' alright up there?"

"I think I've found some people you might want to see." Tigress called back. Barry and Po abandoned lunch to go quench their curiosity and Rooper followed up. The cats sprang up to the ledge, while Po, scanning the situation, jumped up, levitated himself by one foot on the wall of rock, and thrust himself backwards, flipping into an awesomely dignified position. At least, it would of been dignified if he hadn't landed in a thorn bush.

The rest ignored the yelling/hopping panda who was tugging evil miniature claws digging into his feet and focused on the bear and mink in front of them.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Barry grinned. "Could it be the famous duo of trouble, Argen and Andidi?"

"Chief Commander Andidi and Lieutinant Argen!" Andidi corrected in a huff, but her muzzle had been buried into Argen's back and she was still too dazed to stand up, so it came out like a muffled, "Wief Wowander Andwidi awn Wutinewnt Awgen!"

Keith gave a contemptuous, giggly snort."So, 'Wief Wowander Awndidi', what are you doing around here?"

Tigress picked Andidi up by the scruff of her neck and answered the question for him, "I heard their plan. Some 'master' of theirs ordered them to capture me and Po and bring us to him." She plucked the last thorn out of Po's foot without even looking and added, "Or her." Po gave a happy moan of relief and held his severely wounded foot for a moment, lost his balance, and toppled over with a thud.

Rooper raised his eyebrows. "What 'master' do you speak of?"

"Well, he-" Argen began meekly, but Andidi gave a fake smile, snatched a nearby stick and whacked her partner's head again while not averting her crimson gaze from Rooper, feigning a laugh and muttering, "Shut up," to Argen through clenched teeth.

"It's a he then. That's helpful." Tigress grunted almost sarcastically.

Po jumped up, recovered from his fall, and declared, "Yeah! Evil...Monster! Master! Thing! I'll..I'll blind him with my awesomeness Yeah!" Po struck a pose but suddenly got a couple odd stares, and he blushed, mumbling, "Uh...what are we talking about?"

Tigress rolled her eyes. Typical Po. Well, she couldn't say she hadn't expected something like this from him.

Po looked down quizzically at Argen and then Andidi. "Hey, who are these two? A ferret and a bear cub?"

Andidi glared menacingly at the panda with a piercing gaze so terrifying it hurt.

"Mink." She snarled. "Not. Ferret."

"Sorry." The Dragon Warrior gulped.

"To answer your question, Master Po," Keith began, blocking Andidi from tearing the panda apart. "They are two notorious partners-in-crime who have caused us all sorts of trouble, and just now, Master Tigress overheard them planning to capture you and her."

Andidi's mouth stretched into a tight, nervous grin. "Uh...huh...well..." She slapped a tiny paw over Argen's snout just as he was about to say something and shot him a murderous glance, warning him not to speak.

"No, we...don't work for anyone." Andidi chewed her bottom lip and beamed a too-bright smile.

"Uh-huh...you know you two are terrible liars." Barry crossed his arms and flashed that as a response.

"Who is he, and what does he want with us?" Tigress growled, making both Morgulins gulp.

"I don't know!" Argen whimpered. "He just told us to capture you two! And as for what his name is-"

He stopped mid-sentence as his mink partner wriggled free from Tigress's grasp, scurried down her arm and flipped up to a foothold on the mountainside just big enough to support her and high enough so that no one could reach her.

"His name," She grinned, narrowing her ruby-red eyes, "Is Morgul." Then she began scaling up the mountain faster than possible, shouting down a, "See you, suckers!" Over her shoulder, before her bushy tail disappeared in the mist.

"No, Andidi! Wait! WAIT!" Argen cried, bumbling towards the sheer walls of stone and puzzling on how to climb up. Rooper, Tigress, and Po all stepped towards him. The bear cowered, cringing and waited, back against the rock.

But all that came were their glares and King Rooper growling, "You go tell this Morgul master of yours, that we're not afraid of him, and that if he wants anything to do with the tigress and panda..."

"That he'd better show himself and tell us what he wants." Tigress added.

"And be ready to face the consequences." Po finished with a triumphant air. Tigress didn't know whether to face-palm or smile at what the panda had said.

"What? It sounded good!" Po retorted sheepishly, noticing the way she was staring at him.

"Go." Rooper ordered, and Argen nodded hurriedly before fumbling for a grip and clawing his way up, until he was a black dot at the top, calling for Andidi the whole way.

"Morgul..." Tigress repeated, rolling the word around in her mind. "Do you think it has something to do with the Black Wizard?" She whispered to Po.

He thought a bit. "Well, we can't rule it out as a possibility. But who knows? Maybe it's just some crazed fan desperate for an autograph."

And though they both chuckled at the joke, they couldn't erase the anxious feeling that maybe those two names might be connected, somehow, in a way that couldn't be good.

"Those fools!" A furious, poisonous voice snarled, the speaker shadowed in darkness up on a had one gloved paw hovering crookedly over a head-sized ebony sphere with red, gold, and purple swirls wreathing through it, and if you stared at the ball put of the corner of your eye you could make out the dim, bleary moving images of a bear and mink climbing up a mountain away from a few other shapes watching them below.

The figure on the throne snatched it's hand away, and the sphere's color faded to a dull, dark grey. It bellowed out, "Uruk!" and a limping wolf with gleaming red eyes and dark ashy fur hobbled up and bowed on one knee.

"Yes, Master?"

"I want you to get the army ready and lead the attack on Tigrispart Palace. If we are to weaken them, we must do so now."

"Right away, your Shadowness." Uruk gave a fanged smile, bloodlust in his eyes.

"And Uruk," The figure hissed as the wolf backed away, "Show no mercy. You will not fail me again, understood?"

"Of course, Master." He gulped, then sped away without hesitation, eager to complete the task ahead.

A task that would end in a desired disaster.

Master Viper sighed wearily, dropping like a sagging tree from the exhaustion. She had been shackled around the middle, bound to a long, heavy metal chain hooked to the wall. Her usually cheery face and bright, smiling azure eyes were devoid of anything happy now, dull, listless and bloodshot from so many tears wept. Even the flowers on top of her triangular-shaped head looked wilted.

Her tail, one of only mobilized parts of her anatomy, was scrubbing slothily at a dirty dish. A wolf with crimson eyes and shaggy fur sauntered up and dumped another plate on to the heaping mountain of tableware, smirking with crooked yellow teeth.

Viper gazed down through half-lidded eyes at the murky brown water and went over the sudden past happenings from just two weeks before; Scarlet came and quickly established her leadership, imprisoning those who so much as whispered a complaint, and even Mr. Ping was taken hostage as well. Viper and Mantis, in turn, were forced to do countless chores, working unjustly like slaves, barely able to spend a minute to rest, and watching helplessly as their village was torn to pieces.

She felt so useless and powerless, so ashamed, but there was nothing she could do. Scarlet was an expert Kung Fu Master, even above the levels of Master Shifu, and at her command she gripped an army of what she'd called Morgulins. Viper had heard her talking to this brother of hers, exchanging news about the Valley of Peace and Tigrispart Island. The snake Master felt terrified for Po, Shifu, and Tigress, but she still couldn't do anything about it, and wishing to was just as useless.

"Faster, cockroach!" Scarlet snarled at Mantis, who was scrubbing at the gleaming floor frantically, panting, too tired to even grumble at what Scarlet had called him. He gave one last hurried scrub and blacked out unconscious, falling limply face-first on the scrubbing-brush as if it were a very prickly pillow, all his energy spent, gone like a candle's flame on a windy night. Viper wanted to cry out to him, but she could barely whisper out his name. Scarlet yawned, flipped her dagger behind her back and kicked the insect and brush to one side, tail sweeping back and forth.

"Keep working." She growled, and Viper slowly recommenced washing.

The black feline and her shrouded brother were playing a game. Scarlet had taken the first turn and taken over the Valley of Peace. Tigrispart was the proximate goal; and in this little game of theirs, it was Morgul's move.

Right, so hope that turned out all right, though I didn't really feel too satisfied with it. I rarely ever do...Okay,'nuff of that. Please leave a (small, detailed) review, anything, tell me if you liked it, hated it, loved it, or just thought it was interesting, because those little things count! I really want to know if I need to work on anything (grammer, keeping characters...in character, etc.). :D So may the keyboard be ever in your favor, and I'll try and post the next chapter sooner!

QUESTION OF THIS CHAPTER (Random thing I'm pobably gonna ask after every other chapter or so)-

If you had to read one book for the rest of your life, and no other, what would that book be?

You can answer that, of course, in a very friendly review... ;)

MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS! :D ;D

-DOTS