Chapter Twenty One- Former Enemies Clash
Shifu ducked as a sword nearly took his head off…again. He swiped the legs from under his opponent and kicked him away. Tigress snarled as she threw one shadow into another. The two fought and ran at the same time, trying to shake off the shadows chasing him. Suddenly, a shadow in the shape of a bear tackled Tigress and sent the two of them tumbling into a nearby river. Shifu ran along the banks after them. He ran ahead to some rocks that poked out of the water. He leaped across the waters and landed on one. He waited patiently until the struggling shadow and tiger were close enough. Then he took Oogway's staff and slammed it on the shadow bear's head. The beast snarled and let go while Tigress took a hold of Oogway's staff. Shifu dug his heels into the stone at his feet to avoid being pulled off. They watched as the shadow was swept away. The remaining shadows slunk back into the forest, hissing. Shifu and Tigress waited a few minutes before returning to the shore.
"Are you alright?" Shifu asked.
"Fine." Tigress nodded. "You?"
"Fine." Shifu said. Tigress noticed a tear in his robes and her eyes widened at the sight of blood soaking into the fabric.
"You're bleeding!" she said.
Shifu reached up and touch the cuts on his shoulder. He pulled back his hand and saw blood. "Hm. Guess I am."
"We need to dress it or something." Tigress said.
"I'm fine." Shifu snapped. "It's just a scratch."
"Master Shifu, that's not just a scratch." Tigress insisted as she examined the cuts. They looked deep.
"I'll be fine." Shifu growled. Tigress recoiled slightly at his tone. Shifu glared at the ground and pulled his wrap tighter around the wound. No way was he going to admit that the cuts were like being stabbed with a thousand needles. "We should keep moving."
Tigress only nodded in response and followed her master through the woods. Their plan to rescue Siren and Anuli from Aurora's castle had ended miserably. For one thing, they discovered that the girls were never at the castle to begin with. For another thing, they had to fight with Aurora to escape.
Not everyone made it out.
Tigress clenched her fists. Chao, Ren, and Dong had been captured while they were escaping. Who knows what could happen to them? Tigress didn't want to know; she was afraid of Siren becoming like her. An orphan….
The two of them tensed up when they heard footsteps, but they relaxed when they saw Junjie. The fox had twigs, leaves, and a few thorns stuck in his clothes and fur from his tumble down the mountain.
"You two alright?" Junjie asked, out of breath.
"Shifu's hurt, but I'm fine." Tigress said.
"I'm not hurt…much." Shifu grumbled.
"What happened?" Junjie asked. Shifu reluctantly showed the cuts on his shoulder. Junjie's eyes widened and he pulled some bandages from his sleeve.
"You keep bandages with you?" Tigress asked.
"Some keep knives, some keep dominoes, I keep bandages." Junjie shrugged as he dressed Shifu's wound. The fox stared at the scratches for a minute. "What scratched you?"
"The shadows." Shifu answered. "Can we just keep moving?"
Junjie tied off the gauze. "I think you need a doctor for that or something. The wound looked a little…black."
"It's nothing." Shifu waved it off. "Let's get back to the castle."
"You want to go back to that crazy chick's palace of craziness?" Junjie asked.
Shifu raised an eyebrow at his friend's description. "Yes. We have to help Chao, Ren, and Dong."
Junjie and Tigress shared a look before following Shifu through the forest.
STAR STAR STAR STAR STAR
"That's Aurora's castle." Siren said. "It must be." She started running towards said castle. "Come on!"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Anuli said. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to find my parents." Siren said. "If Aurora has them, I'm going to save them."
Shen and Anuli had a hard time keeping up. "Siren, you can't just rush in there without a plan." Shen said.
"I have a plan." Siren said. "I'll use my bending powers to break them out and then beat Aurora into dust."
"Siren, stop!" Anuli commanded. The three of them skidded to a halt. "Siren, listen to me. I understand what it's like to worry about your parents. But Shen's right, we can't go in there without a plan."
Siren glared, but eventually accepted defeat. "Then what do we do?"
"I say go with stealth." Shen said. "Your bending skills can get us in without being spotted. We'll go in, get your parents, and get out."
"Any guards that cross our path will be taken down." Anuli added.
Siren seemed unsure. "What if it doesn't work?"
"Why wouldn't it work?" Anuli asked.
"Because anything can happen!" Siren snapped. "They could be dead already and all we're doing is talking!" She immediately stopped talking when she saw her friends' hurt and shocked expressions. Siren slumped to the ground. "I can't lose them….."
Anuli crouched next to her friend and patted her shoulder. "They'll be fine."
"Siren, I will personally go there alone and bring them back." Shen said. "No one else has to get hurt. If this is going to work out, we'll have to cooperate with each other. Is that clear?"
"What if you get attacked?" Anuli asked.
Shen drew his sword. The blade glinted wickedly in the light. "I'm prepared."
"SHEN!"
WHAM!
Siren and Anuli jumped as a white and brown streak crashed into Shen and sent the two being tumbling in the dirt.
"Shifu?" Siren was appalled. Tigress suddenly darted past them, going straight for the battling peacock and red panda. Junjie appeared next to them, pulling the girls into a hug.
"Thank gods you're alright!" he sighed.
"We're fine!" Anuli nodded. "But we have to stop them!" She pointed to Tigress and Shifu, still battling with Shen.
Shen went on the defensive, trying to keep the two fighters off him. But when he went in to attack, he realized who he was fighting: Grandmaster Shifu and Master Tigress, looking furious. Shen knew that if he fought back, he'd be considered an enemy. Well, he was already considered an enemy, but he had to let them know he didn't mean it. So the next time he had a breather, Shen sheathed his sword.
"I don't want to hurt you." Shen said, holding up his wings.
"Yeah, like how you didn't want to hurt Po." Tigress snarled. "You will pay for harming him!" She leaped for Shen's throat. The peacock ducked and watched as the tiger master hit the bushes. Shifu moved in, swiping at Shen's legs with Oogway's staff. Shen jumped over Shifu's head and landed to face the red panda.
"Please believe me!" Shen pleaded. "I'm not who I once was."
"Then why did you kidnap Siren and Anuli?" Shifu demanded as he continued his attacks.
"I didn't!" Shen insisted, dodging the master's onslaught. "I saved them!"
Shifu obviously didn't believe him. He kept coming with his ruthless attacks. Shen, meanwhile, kept moving backwards to dodge the master's attacks. Eventually, Shen's back hit a tree. Shifu slammed the crook of Oogway's staff into Shen's neck, pinning the bird there. Shen, finally snapping, swiped Shifu's feet from under him with his train. Shifu fell to the ground and Shen leaped away. He ducked as Tigress sailed over his head once more.
"I don't want to hurt you!" Shen snapped. "I want to help you!"
Tigress snarled and slashed her claws. Shen narrowly avoided them, but Shifu jumped on his back. Shen found himself pinned to the ground with Tigress looming over him.
Siren, who had been frozen in shock and fear, suddenly came to her senses and ran forward. She kicked Tigress away and tackled Shifu. The red panda and human tumbled and rolled until they hit a tree.
"What was that for?" Shifu demanded.
"Shen saved my and Anuli's lives!" Siren said quickly. She explained, reluctantly, everything from being kidnapped by her stepfather until that moment. Tigress and Shifu were shocked silent.
"That's utterly repulsive!" Tigress shivered. "But how can we trust him?"
"I trust him." Siren emphasized.
"Me too." Anuli agreed. "We'd be dead without him. And he did get us some new clothes." She gestured to the dresses she and Siren wore. "Our old ones were burned."
Shifu cast a glare towards Shen, who bowed reverently. The elder master sighed. "He makes one wrong move, and he'll have me to answer to. And I will not be merciful."
Shen nodded, keeping his bow until Siren motioned for him to rise.
"So what are you doing out here?" Junjie asked.
"Aurora has my parents." Siren said. "We were going to rescue them."
"What a coincidence." Shifu said. "So were we."
"Do we have a plan?" Tigress asked.
"We were going to use my bending abilities to sneak in and get them out." Siren said.
"Aurora will have the place heavily guarded." Junjie noted. "It won't be easy."
"I say we make camp." Tigress said. "Rest for now. None of us are in shape to go running into battle."
"But we can't just sit here!" Siren insisted.
"Don't worry your parents and Dong will be fine." Shifu assured. "Tigress is right; we're all tired and we need rest." Siren opened her mouth to argue, but closed it two seconds later.
About an hour later, a fire was made and everyone was as comfortable as they could get. Shifu was meditating a couple yards from the group. Anuli had fallen asleep, her head on Junjie's lap. Junjie stroked her hair, watching in amusement as Anuli's fox tail twitched. Shen and Siren sat together, staring into the flames. Whenever Shen tried to get closer to Siren, Tigress (who was directly across from them) would growl. Eventually, the tiger master succumbed to her exhaustion and curled up to sleep. Siren did the same, curling into a ball close to the fire. Shen gently stroked her pitch black hair until she was fast asleep.
"You really care for her, don't you?" Junjie guessed.
"And you her." Shen motioned to Anuli.
Junjie smiled. "Well, I want to be a sort of father figure for her. Since her parents may never return. I never had a true family." He looked into Shen's ruby eyes. "What about you? What connection do you have with Siren?"
Shen sighed. "I'm not sure. I just feel different when I'm around her. I feel…at peace. Happy, even. I haven't been truly happy in years; being around Siren makes me feel like that." He gazed into the fire, lost in thought. "I remember the first night the girls were with me. We were telling stories to each other. Siren told me about the stories her mother would tell her when she couldn't sleep. One of them was 'Beauty and the Beast'."
Junjie cocked his head to one side. "'Beauty and the Beast'? I think I've heard of it. How did it go?"
"A beautiful woman, whose father was taken by a beastly creature," Shen told him. "She gave herself to the beast in order to free her father. As the beast and the woman spent more time together, they fell in love. One day, the woman returned home to her father and sisters, as she was feeling homesick. The beast asked her to return in three days. The woman promised. But her sisters begged her to stay with them, so she did. Five days passed, and the woman had a dream that the beast was dying. She immediately returned to him, telling him she loved the beast. The beast came back to life, and in the form of a handsome prince. The prince had been under a spell."
"Only true love could break it?" Junjie guessed.
Shen nodded. "I may have been foolishly guessing, but I could swear she was trying to tell me something." Shen gently touched Siren's face with his feather. "That the beauty was falling in love with a beast."
Junjie sighed. "You're not a beast. You're just different."
"Exactly." Shen nodded. He looked up through the trees towards Aurora's castle. Junjie followed his gaze and looked towards Shen.
"I know what you're thinking, and I think you're crazy." Junjie said.
Shen locked eyes with the fox. "You'll watch over them?"
"We'll be right here waiting for you." Junjie promised.
Shen smiled and darted off into the trees, heading straight for the castle. It wasn't long until another being appeared, running alongside him.
"You're insane." Shifu snapped.
"I don't want Siren or anyone else to get hurt." Shen said.
"Why do you think I'm coming with you?" Shifu asked. "Siren seems to care about you; and you did save her and Anuli. So I'll help you get Chao, Ren, and Dong. But if you make one wrong move, I'll strangle you."
Shen smiled as they ran. "Deal."