The forest they had entered had foliage so thick that even though it was mid-day, it was as dark as a moonlit night. The canopy rose like green towers in all directions. Po's night vision was not as good as the tiger's and he was soon covered in scratches and bruises from his bumbling. "Are we there yet?" Po asked just before taking his fifth tumble. Tigress sighed and doubled back, kneeling before the face-planted panda.

"Don't you remember Master Shifu's night training?" she asked.

"Uh... kinda," Po fibbed, pushing himself up, spitting out branches and leaves. "Sorta." Tigress raised an eyebrow. "Not really," he finally confessed.

She took his paw and helped him stand. "Alright, I'll help you."

Tigress stood by his side, keeping a light but firm hold on his paw. "Use your peripheral vision," she began. "Direct vision is good for seeing color, but darkness requires you to look at things off-center."

"Off-center?" Po made a bewildered face. "You mean like this?"

He turned his head to the side and began walking forward, immediately crashing into a tree.

"Don't overdo it," Tigress pulled him back and grabbed his chin with her free hand, turning his head to face forward again. "Just look about five to ten degrees off-center."

"Right!" Po exclaimed as his eyes slowly stop rolling. "Just five to ten degrees... I got this."

This time he stepped to the side before continuing. He managed to evade the first tree only to be yanked back before he walked into another. "Woah! Where did this one come from?"

Tigress turned him towards her, "Blink and scan your eyes every few seconds." She demonstrated by holding out two fingers and zig-zagging them across Po's face. "If you focus too long on one thing it'll fade out. Constantly scan and blink to make sure you don't become desensitized."

She turned him back to the front. "Now try again."

Bao-Jia watched them approach from where he stood a few yards ahead. He regarded with amusement as Po swirled his head in small, slow circles while blinking rapidly, Tigress guiding his footing away from jutting tree roots and rocks.

Their pace had slowed down, but got faster as Po got better at using his peripherals. He still tripped and scratched himself, but not as often and not as hard, since Tigress was right at his side supporting him.

"Are we there yet?" Po asked again.

"Not much farther," Bao-Jia said.

Po groaned. It was the hundredth time he'd asked and the hundredth time he'd gotten the same answer. The tiger's eyes were steadily scanning the trees, nodding every once in a while as if to confirm something to himself.

"I'm starting to agree with Po's urgency," Tigress spoke softly. "I don't like it here. It feels like we're being watched. It's a perfect set-up for an ambush."

"You're right," her father concurred. "We are being watched."

Both kung fu masters gasped and swerved their heads around, trying to see their potential attackers.

"The remainder of our people have survived this long by being secretive and careful," Bao-Jia explained, not missing a stride. "But, we're not in any immediate danger. We are unarmed and too few to be considered a threat. They'll come down to 'greet' us once we get close enough to the city gates."

As if on cue, "HALT!"

A figure clad in a hooded brown cloak appeared from behind a large boulder, its face hidden behind a wooden mask and a long sword drawn in his left hand. "Hands in the air!"

Bao-Jia and the rest complied, though he tried to reason with their captor. "We're here to see-"

"The last thing you'll see is my sword hilt between your eyes when I run you through if you don't pay attention!" The masked man thrust his blade at them a few times for emphasis. "You're surrounded by threescore of us. Try anything funny and you'll be dead just like... that!"

At a snap of his fingers, broken twigs and leaves showered down all around them as a volley of sling stones rattled through the trees overhead and a circle of quivering arrows appeared to encompass the traveling trio.

"Gah!" Po cried out, as one of the arrows struck between his legs. "Hey, cut that out! We come in peace! We just want to talk!"

The masked figure strode over to him, considered Po a moment, and then slowly elevated the pointy end of his sword until it rested on the hollow of the panda's throat. "You want to talk, non-feline? Then let's talk. Answer me this: Do you want to live?"

Tigress was about to kick the sword out of the figure's hands when her father shifted to block her. "Don't worry, he's not in any real danger," he whispered. "Just go along with it for now."

Tigress hesitated, switching her gaze between her father and their captor.

"Trust me," Bao-Jia urged.

Her hackles lowered and she grudgingly took a step back, though she kept a wary eye on the situation.

Po swallowed thickly, keeping his hands in the air. "Uh, yeah, living is good."

"Your feline friends may pass. But, you..." the figure circled behind him, tracing the tip of his blade across Po's neckline. "You must prove yourself worthy!"

He spanked Po's butt with the flat of his sword, making the panda yelp in surprise.

"You must dance for us!" The figure declared. "If we find you amusing, we will allow you to live. If not, we will slay you where you stand."

At that, half a dozen similarly hooded and masked figures jumped down from the trees to join the first. Po began to panic, until he thought of an idea. "Okay... any of you guys go an umbrella?"

One of the masked figures raised his hand. "I got one!"

Po caught an obviously hand-made umbrella, made from leaves woven with reeds and bound atop a long straight branch.

"You guys are in for a treat," Po informed his audience. "I once did a parasol dance for the Ladies of the Shade Traveling Dancing Troupe. Observe and be amazed!"

The masked figures all produced some sort of home made instrument, sat down, and waited. Po gave them the signal, "Gimme a beat!"

Tigress and Bao-Jia watched the scene in amazement: their captors drumming, whistling, and shaking their maracas merrily as Po hopped, pirouetted, and spun his umbrella coyly in tune with their upbeat tempo. When finally the beat was reaching its crescendo, and Po's toes were twinkling faster than the eye could see, he finished with a kicking back flip and landed in a perfect split as an unexplained explosion epicly lit up the background. Their captors cheered wildly.

"Very good!" they clapped. "Such talent! So light on your feet! Such graceful hand movements!"

Po bowed from his split on the floor, too pained and embarrassed to tell everyone he was stuck and couldn't get up.

Bao-Jia sighed and shifted his gaze wearily at the masked leader. "Was that truly necessary?"

The hooded figure's eyes seemed to grin behind the mask. "Nothing wrong with a little hazing ritual to initiate a non-feline into our group of friends, is there? Now that he has earned their respect, my men have less reason to be hostile or afraid of him. Besides, I'd say he handled himself admirably."

He lifted a hand to his own face and pulled the mask away, revealing the handsome tiger hidden behind it. His fur was more sand-colored than orange, with a trio of dark brown receding half-circles bordering the edges of his eyes. He offered Bao-Jia a lopsided smile and then a small bow, "Welcome back, your majesty."

Po had, by this time, somehow managed to swing his legs around so they both pointed in the same direction, and was now using the umbrella to help himself stand. "Huh?" he gave the figure a puzzled look. "Your majesty? How did you know that he's-"

"I told you not to call me that," Tigress's father scolded the figure, though there was more amusement than anger in his voice. "I renounced that title long ago."

"As you wish, your majesty," the sandy tiger replied casually as he lifted his head back up.

"Wait a second, I want to know, too!" Tigress came forward to confront her father. "Who is this guy?"

The unmasked figure turned to take a good look at Tigress for the first time. What he saw nearly took his breath away. "... Lijuan?" he breathed in amazement.

"Close," Bao-Jia grinned. "But not quite. You remember my daughter, surely?"

"The princess? So, you found her? Why, she's the spitting image of her mother!" the sandy tiger grinned from ear-to-ear and grabbed Tigress excitedly by the shoulders. "Just look at you, all grown up! I... I never imagined I'd ever see you again."

Tigress flinched out of his grasp, backing away with a wary gaze. "What do you mean, again? I don't remember ever seeing you before."

"Ah..." he looked sadly on the floor. "Of course you wouldn't remember me. After all, you were just a baby back then."

Tigress widened her eyes as she put the pieces together in her head. "No... you can't be...?"

"Tigress," Bao-Jia gestured at the other tiger, "I'd like you to meet an old and faithful friend... Joo Jin."

(End chapter 11)

A/N: Thanks to Fox Mcloud SNR for the help with Tigress showing more concern and making Joo Jin less of a jerk. Lol, I wonder how many readers will remember Jin? xD