Chapter 11: Truth and Effect

"Sir, she's waking up."

"Keep her calm. If she gets too excited, her shoulder could start bleeding again."

Tigress opened her eyes. In groggy disorientation, she looked around the room. Eventually, she recognized it as a room in a clinic. What she saw next startled her.

There were three healers in the room, and they were all tigers. Two men and one woman.

"Miss?" one of the men asked Tigress. "Are you okay?"

Tigress woke up completely. She also remembered the main reason why she hated having to be treated by a healer.

She kept the bed sheet against her chest and sat up.

"Where are my clothes?" she demanded.

"Please relax, dear," the woman told her.

"I need my clothes!"

The other man walked into the hall and looked like he was talking to someone.

"Miss, you need to lie down," the first man told her.

"I'm just fine!" Tigress growled. "Get out!"

"Miss!"

"Stop calling me that!"

Before the first man could say anything else, Vixey slid into the doorway.

"You guys really do need to get out," she told the healers. "She'll just keep getting more upset."

The two healers still in the room looked like they wanted to argue their point, but conceded.

"All right," the man said, "but call us in if her shoulder begins to bleed again."

"Will do," Vixey promised. "But where are her clothes?"

Receiving no answer, she closed the door behind the healers and rushed to the window, closing it, too.

"Did you bring me here?" Tigress demanded.

"No," Vixey answered, returning to her post at the door. "I woke up an hour or two ago."

Tigress lay back down.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Vixey hesitated. "We're in Cheng Guang City, in the Ju Long Province."

Tigress thought for a moment.

"If we were just floating down a river," she started, "then how did we get all the way out here?"

"Beats me."

There was a knock at the door. Vixey opened it and was given Tigress's clothes. She gave them to Tigress and turned away from her to give her some privacy.

"Tigress," she started, "there's something I need to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"I heard about what happened to your foster parents all those years ago, with Tai Lung. Is it true?"

Tigress finished dressing and put a hand on Vixey's shoulder.

"What are you trying to get at, Vixey?"

Vixey sat on the chair beside of the bed. Tigress followed suit and sat on the bed.

"To start off," Vixey began, "when I was two, I was getting into all sorts of mischief. I wandered where I wasn't supposed to go, got into things I shouldn't have. But I guess that's why that year's called the Terrible Two's. I was a complete monster, but Mom and Dad put up with me.

"There was one time that we were walking through the village square and a guy in a broken down sort of place was offering free rice pudding samples. I didn't even ask my parents. I went over and the guy gave it to me. I didn't know that he drugged it, or that he was planning on holding me for ransom.

"When I woke up, I was in a cage. I kept crying for my parents, but they all ignored me or laughed at me. I didn't know what to do.

"No more than a few hours later, someone came to my aid. He took out all of my captors and freed me. I finally saw who it was. Tai Lung rescued me. He returned me to my parents and then returned to the Jade Palace.

"Two months later, we went as a family to the village of the Valley of Peace that was closest to the Jade Palace to thank Tai Lung properly. It also happened to be the night he attacked the Valley.

"I got separated from my parents in the chaos. I didn't know where to go or who to run to. I made it to an alley and saw that a tiger woman was following me. She checked to see if I was okay. She was frantic, but also a little disappointed.

"We heard a noise, and she saw someone approaching. She kept herself between me and him and he attacked her. She fell on top of me, and the attacker didn't see me. But I saw him. That was when I saw that my hero, Tai Lung, had destroyed the Valley and was trying to hurt and even kill everyone. I was emotionally crushed by this. After that, he went back to the Jade Palace.

"My parents found me later, all three of us sobbing. We left the Valley and lived elsewhere for two decades, Tai Lung's good deeds inspiring me to become a detective."

She went silent for a few moments.

"Tigress," she said quietly, "I'm sure that the woman who gave her life to save mine was your birth mother."

Tigress breathed. "I expected she would be," she whispered.

"I'm sorry."

Tigress looked up at her friend's tear-stricken face.

"Don't be," she told her. "That was twenty years ago. It's over. Let's just focus on getting out of here."

Vixey wiped away her tears.

"Let's do this."

They both got up and walked toward the door. Vixey opened it, looked out for a fraction of a second, and closed it quickly.

"What is it?"

"The Polecats!" the fox jittered. "They're here! I should have realized! This is Huang Zu's territory, and they work for him!"

Tigress tried to think of something, but she knew getting out of there without being seen had slim chance. Her disappearance among all these tigers could be easy, but Vixey's disappearance would be a challenge.

Someone knocked on the door, making Vixey jump. She opened it slightly.

A young tiger stood there.

"I was told to give this to you," he said, holding up Vixey's bag. "What are you doing?"

"Hiding from the Polecats," Vixey whispered, quietly taking the bag.

The tiger took a quick look at the Polecats and turned back to Vixey.

"Then you need to get out of here," he told her. "If they follow you, they'll finally leave us alone." He sounded as if he had been harassed.

"Can you tell us how to get out?" Tigress asked him.

"Through the window," he answered, "but you'll have to move fast."

The girls did as the tiger suggested. However, as soon as they touched the ground, they heard a shout.

"They went out the window! Hurry!" It was the tiger's voice.

The Polecats appeared at the window, but they didn't see anything.

"Boy!" one of them called. "Where out the window?"

"I just saw them climbing down! I don't know!"

"That blabber-mouth!" Vixey growled to herself. "He just wanted us gone!"

"No, he wanted them gone," Tigress corrected. "This just means we can't trust anyone here."

They peered out of their hiding place. In the short time they had been running, they had already gotten far. They were out of the more populated area and now hid around small homes, where there was barely a sight of a child playing on the streets.

"Gloomy," Vixey whispered, "don't you think?"

"I'd have preferred it to my room in the orphanage," Tigress replied.

Vixey silently agreed and they continued onward. Carefully avoiding detection by even the most observant city-dweller, the girls made it to a large garden.

"I don't like this," Tigress told her friend.

"I know," Vixey replied. "There are too few hiding places here, and in a place as nice as this, there are bound to be guards around here."

They crept close to the ground and behind any obstruction they could find. However, this didn't last long.

"You there!"

They caught sight of a guard approaching them. Tigress motioned for Vixey to stay down and then stood up.

"I'm sorry," she said, holding up a coin. "I dropped this and finally found it."

The guard seemed dubious.

"May I ask what your name is?" he asked.

Tigress didn't hesitate. In an instant, she jabbed his forehead with two fingers, causing him to take on a blank stare. After a few seconds, he came back.

"Uh," he started, "what happened?"

"A stupid kid ran off after hitting your forehead with this," she told him, holding up the same coin. "You were about to tell me how to leave this city so I can go home and tell my friends and family to visit this place more often."

In the bushes, Vixey was trying to keep from laughing.

"The only exit is on the south end of the city," the guard told Tigress, "but by the time you get there, it'll be closed for the night. I'm sure you could find an inn to stay at until tomorrow morning."

Tigress was the only tiger that heard Vixey's face-palm.

"Thank you," she said.

The guard turned to continue his patrol. Tigress returned to where Vixey was - or where Vixey used to be.

"Vixey?"

Before even a drop of panic entered her heart, Tigress felt someone grab her. Sooner than she knew, she and Vixey were sitting inside a small cottage. Dazed by the sudden change of environment, the girls leapt up, ready to fight.

An old tiger closed the door and turned to look at the girls.

"Please, sit down," he told them calmly. "I am not an enemy."

Vixey was hesitant. Tigress didn't show any sign of relenting.

"Prove it!" she growled.

The old tiger wasn't intimidated at all.

"If I am caught with you in my house, I can be immediately killed by the Polecats," he told her. "But I am merely a lowly servant of the tyrant Huang Zu with nothing to lose."

"Am I hallucinating," Vixey whispered to Tigress, "or is he telling the truth?"

Tigress looked at the old tiger. The fur on his face and hands looked scraggly, as if he had been working for decades on end. His lime-green eyes looked tired and seemed to have seen much more than he could bear. The plain, dark brown vest he wore was dirty and had many tears, not to mention the several patches its owner had already sewn on. His pants were black, but seemed a dusty brown due to the dust and dirt picked up from many years of working, and there were tears in the knees. This tiger didn't wear shoes, supposedly because he couldn't afford them, and looked as work-worn as his hands and clothing. Basically, he looked like he was mugged repeatedly over the past five hours.

Tigress lowered her guard.

"He is telling the truth," she said, sitting down.

Vixey sat down as well. The old tiger sat opposite the girls.

"You are looking for another way out, I presume?"

"Yes," Tigress said. "We need to get back to the Valley of Peace."

The old tiger looked like he had been paying more attention to her eyes. Normally, Tigress would have felt a little uncomfortable, but she felt as if she recognized him from somewhere.

"There is a weak spot in the wall," the old tiger seemed to tell Tigress specifically. "You will need to open it yourself, and open it fast. Many times have the Polecats captured runaway slaves trying to escape that way. But they haven't been monitoring that place for months now."

"Better that than the inn," Tigress said under her breath. "Where is it?"

"Follow the wall for just over six meters. There is a small opening that will allow a small amount of wind through. Find it, and I estimate you will have five minutes at the most to escape, since only two trees obscure the view from the rest of the garden."

Vixey stood up.

"Thank you, sir," she told him. "Would you... like anything in return?"

The old tiger lowered his gaze. He took out a crinkled piece of paper from his vest and gazed at the image on it with regret in his face, leaving the girls to wonder what was on it.

"Yes," he told them. "I want you to never return to this place until Huang Zu has died. His son, Jian Kang, is an honorable man, very much unlike his father. When he reigns, you will finally be safe here."

Tigress stopped.

"Finally?" she asked him. "What do you mean by that? I've never been safe here?"

The old tiger put the paper away.

"You need to leave now."

"Here!" Vixey yipped quietly, a small wind blowing through her fur.

She and Tigress pushed on the wall. The crack grew larger, but not large enough.

"Keep going," Tigress told her.

They kept pushing on it, but they soon sensed movement behind them. They looked back. The Polecats were advancing on their position.

"I'll fight them off!" Tigress told her friend. "Just get the wall open!"

"Good luck!" Vixey barked.

Tigress charged at the approaching Polecats, but stopped under the trees when a pinecone hit her snout. A new plan in mind, she stood her ground. The Polecats were almost upon her when she finally darted away. She hit one tree with a firm punch, did the same to the other, and then jumped back, watching the Polecats get pummeled by the falling pinecones.

Tigress checked on Vixey's progress.

"Another inch," Vixey shouted, panting, "and we're home free!"

Tigress turned back to the Polecats in time to avoid a strike. She kicked his chin and sent him flying. She flipped, grabbing another and slamming him down on one of his comrades. She then continued to dodge the Polecats' attacks, making several hit other Polecats.

"Almost there!" Vixey cried.

The sun was setting, making it harder for Tigress to see the Polecats, but they could still easily see her. Tigress dodged a few more attacks before feeling a dagger sink into her shoulder. She stumbled backward and pulled the dagger out. She brought her hand up to inspect the wound. She could feel a small amount of blood dripping down, but what she couldn't feel was the pain that should have accompanied such an injury.

"Drugged," she breathed, stumbling.

"That's right, kitty," Tui Dong said, suddenly appearing.

Tigress turned to check on Vixey.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. She saw the wall move a little bit more and Vixey turned. As Tigress fell to her knees, she saw Vixey's mouth move, but heard no sound. The fox seemed to look around for options. Then she ran toward Tigress.

Then everything went dark.

"Tigress?" someone's voice echoed. "I think she's waking up!"

Tigress thought she was drugged pretty heavily. For an instant, she thought that was Po talking.

"Tigress?"

What trickery was this? Shifu couldn't really be there, could he?

Tigress's vision returned. Po, Shifu, and the rest of the Furious Five were standing there, watching over her.

"What?" Tigress started, still really groggy. "Where... where am I?"

"The Jade Palace," Viper told her. "We rescued you from Cheng Guang."

Tigress sat up carefully. She had a splitting headache and her shoulder felt stiff.

"You fought the Polecats?" she asked. "Where's Vixey?"

The other five students looked at each other.

"There... were no Polecats, Tigress," Crane told her. "Vixey wasn't there either. We just found you passed out with that stab wound in your shoulder."

Tigress felt her head clear up.

"What? That's impossible!" she told them. "The Polecats were surrounding me! Vixey was coming to help me!"

"We didn't see them, Tigress," Shifu told her calmly.

Tigress tried to think about what had happened. It just didn't seem logical! Vixey and the Polecats couldn't have just disappeared like that! And if the Polecats had disappeared that quickly, wouldn't they have taken their immobilized prisoner with them?

"Get out," she told them. "Please get out."

"Tigress," Monkey started.

"Get out!"

The others hesitated, but then did as she told them.

As soon as she was alone, she tried to think about what just happened. She felt cold inside. Vixey was like a sister to her. How could she have just disappeared like that?

She looked out to the horizon, which was growing pink, signaling the dawn's approach.

What had happened to Vixey, and where was she now?

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but that's the way it has to be!