Respite

Whether they had outrun their foes for the time being, or for some other reason, they were not attacked before they reached the fortress; and Tigress had several hours to brood on her words to Po.

She thought she had been doing better in her relationship with the panda, even if she couldn't exactly define what that relationship was. He was a fellow student, of course; they had fought side by side for over two years. She had even joined in some of the socializing that got so … silly, between Po and the others. She'd been egging him on along with the rest as he tried to stuff as many bean buns as possible into his mouth, acting as though it were as serious as any truly worthy challenge. Okay, she'd admit it; Po was fun. She'd even admit to herself that he was a friend, though she wouldn't admit it to Po in case she was wrong. It wasn't as though she had made many friends, and at any rate she had focused on her training to the exclusion of everything else. She didn't have the easy rapport with Po that Monkey or Mantis, or even Viper, did; and she didn't even have that sort of ease with the others, though she'd known them most of her life. She had worried about that when she was younger; that she was too stuffy, too unfriendly, too cold. But she didn't know how else to be. "Letting go" seemed too much like "losing control", and she could never risk doing that. How could she ever expect Master Shifu to trust her, much less ever be proud of her, if she let herself lose control?

She'd been harsh toward Po, at first, when she thought he was simply a buffoon who had stumbled into an honor he couldn't appreciate and didn't have the sense to respect. And which she had secretly hoped would be hers. She had hardly let herself consider the possibility before that day, keeping her ego firmly in check and her emotions and hopes tightly under control. She could not put Shifu through having to worry about where her flights of fantasy might lead her. But when Oogway announced the tournament, she had considered her abilities compared to those of the rest of the Five, and she had let herself hope…

But she had since reconciled herself to the fact that Po was the Dragon Warrior, that Oogway, however improbably, had chosen correctly. She had, despite herself, been impressed by the panda's determination and optimism; looking back, it was only when he had lost both hope and his nerve and tried to flee the Jade Palace that she had decided to go after Tai Lung herself. She had been the first to acknowledge him a master, when they returned to the Valley. She had done everything she could to support him, to train him, to back him up and keep him safe in battle. And she had come to respect him. She had come to care about him. When she had thought he was dead, she had felt such an aching emptiness…

So why was she snapping at him now? Why was she saying hurtful things to him, casting doubt on his abilities and motives? And how could she set things right between them? Because even if she wasn't sure how to define their relationship, she was sure she didn't want to lose it.

She was tired. She had barely slept in the last few days, except for the hours she had been drugged, which had hardly been restful. When the rearguard finally trailed into the camp being organized in the ruins of an old fortress, she knew she should help keep watch for their doubtless pursuing enemies, but she just couldn't make herself do it. She caught up with Viper and Monkey, and after a moment Po appeared, having located Crane and Mantis. She was glad they were all together; she could relax knowing they were nearby. She still didn't know what to say to Po, but they were all so exhausted that there wasn't much conversation. She laid down and immediately felt as though she couldn't keep her eyes open a moment longer. She let herself drift off.

She woke up again a few hours later, feeling better, though she wished she could sleep longer. The sky was just beginning to lighten over the broken wall of the old fort. She should get up, make sure they were still safe, then if there were no enemies nearby see about food and plans for the day. Viper had said something about Commander Vachir heading north and drawing the invaders away from nearby towns…

She started to get up, and became aware of something resting on her left arm. She glanced over. It was Po's hand; he'd rolled on his side during the night and stretched his arm out in his sleep. It was sweet, she thought, even if it was unintentional. Or had it been deliberate? She didn't know; but instead of moving his hand and getting up, she let herself relax and doze off again. Somehow, she just felt too comfortable to get up. A vague justification of needing more rest drifted away in mid-thought.

When she woke again, the sun was coming up, Viper had started breakfast, and Po had rolled onto his back and was sprawled out and snoring softly. The sight of grey fur beyond him told her that Tai Lung had apparently rejoined them sometime during the night, and was still asleep, curled in that ridiculous kittenish ball. Mantis was just waking up from his spot on the snow leopard's arm; as she watched he stood, stretched each leg in turn, and still only half awake, meandered up Tai Lung's shoulder and onto his head, stopping when he collided with one small ear. Tai Lung twitched the ear and waved a hand vaguely in his direction, in no danger of making contact with the insect; nevertheless, Mantis, slightly more alert now, jumped from the leopard to Po, landing on the panda's nose. Po snuffled, grumbled, seemed to be building up to a sneeze, and just as his paw, in turn, rose for a swipe at the annoyance, Tigress intervened and plucked Mantis from his perch. He smiled blandly up at her, all innocence.

"It's too early to irritate people," she told him, exasperated. Beside the cooking pot, Viper was quivering with silent laughter at the performance.

The sneeze she'd saved Mantis from arrived, and Po sat up, rubbing his nose and yawning. "Viper!" he complained. "Let me do the cooking sometime!" Crane took his head out from under his uninjured wing; Tai Lung uncurled and sat up, and Mantis extricated himself from Tigress' grip to hop over and try to forestall any unpleasant joint cracking that might follow. Monkey snored from under his blanket.

Since Viper showed no sign of giving up the cooking pot, Po stood, stretched, and to Tigress' surprise began to go through the opening moves of a form she'd been showing him shortly before he'd begun his journey. Po practicing this early in the morning? Willingly? Before breakfast? He must be feeling better than she was. She watched him critically for a moment, and then frowned as she saw Tai Lung's attention had sharpened as well.

Po's movement brought the snow leopard into his line of sight, and from his expression she was positive he was about to ask Tai Lung to spar with him. Tai Lung must have seen the same thing; he was already rising to his feet. She stood quickly. "Po. Let me show you the sparring set you asked about before you left. The one Monkey and I were practicing." She wasn't about to let him contaminate his training with whatever bastardized techniques Tai Lung would teach him.

As she began to demonstrate the form to Po, she was aware of the conversations behind her. Viper asking Crane if he would spar with her after she had breakfast ready; Crane regretfully declining due to his still-sore wing. He moved a short distance away, then began some slow, basic Tai Chi moves, wincing when he extended his right wing fully. Viper's next attempt was directed at Monkey, who grumbled and wrapped his blanket tighter around him. Viper threatened, sweetly, to let Po eat his breakfast if he didn't get up.

Then she heard Mantis' chuckle. "So what about it, Tai? I'll go easy on you, since you're so out of practice."

"Well," Tai Lung drawled outrageously, "since the Dragon Warrior is occupied, I suppose you'll do…"

Mantis laughed out loud. "Now you're asking for it! You never change, do you?"

Tai Lung moved away from the crumbling wall. "Why start now?" he shrugged. He moved into a stance to match the insect's. "Ready."

Tigress kept her concentration on Po, but she saw enough of what was going on to the side to be disgusted. At first she thought that exposure to the panda affected everyone but her, that after training with Po all seriousness and dedication went out the window. She had gotten used to Mantis and Monkey's antics in the training hall, but now Tai Lung? After a few opening blocks and kicks, and escalating insults to each other's speed and eyesight that implied they were two decrepit old men fighting, Tai Lung had managed to catch Mantis with an elbow in mid-leap; spinning quickly, he snatched the insect out of the air, pinning him between thumb and forefinger.

"Now who's too slow?" he smirked, bringing the other fighter to eye level.

"Still you," Mantis countered, pinching the thumb hard. With the opening that gave him he wriggled free, bounced to the snow leopard's head, and scurried down his back.

And tickled him. Tai Lung's eyes went wide in surprise as he choked back an undignified giggle. Tigress rolled her eyes.

"Po, focus," she reminded the panda, as he watched the snow leopard desperately riffling through his own fur in search of his opponent.

Mantis finally surfaced, grinning, on Tai Lung's wrist. "Had enough?"

"Not even close!"

"Admit it, Tai, I'm too fast for you!"

"Too fast? You're just small enough to hide effectively."

The next moment the snow leopard slammed to his back beside Viper, his breath knocked out in an audible whoosh.

"You shouldn't have mentioned his size," she said mildly.

"Not when he had a grip on my wrist," the snow leopard agreed, rolling to one side and springing back to his feet. "Let's try that again."

"Should I slow things down for you?" Mantis asked archly.

"No." Tai Lung's tone was serious now. "Faster!"

Tigress had hoped they'd start taking their practice seriously, but now she wondered if they had gone too far the other way. The taunts and silliness had stopped, and insect and snow leopard were sparring in earnest. But something was off; she'd noticed it when they fought Tai Lung before, but hadn't thought that what he'd do in pitched battle would carry over to a training match. The snow leopard had at least as much training in kung fu as any of them, probably more. But his moves didn't demonstrate, as theirs did, a familiarity with the art that allowed for perfect, effortless execution of their techniques. There was an element of… casual disregard, as though the formalities of kung fu meant little or nothing to him. And there was a whole lot of brutality, a reliance on speed and sheer strength when finesse and control were called for. No, she'd done the right thing in keeping Po from learning any more than he likely already had from Tai Lung. Not too late to undo any damage that might have been done, she hoped.

Still, it was fascinating to watch; at least to watch Mantis deal with such an unconventional fighter, as the two moved faster and faster, Tai Lung's strikes and leaps nearly as high and fast as the insect's. After a short while, even Monkey emerged from his blanket to watch. Or at least, she thought wryly, to protect his share of breakfast from Po. After yet another growl of "Faster!" from Tai Lung, the langur got up and, uninvited, joined in. At that point Tigress stopped trying to keep Po's attention on their sparring and instead pointed out the techniques Mantis and Monkey were using. She wondered why Po was worrying about the snow leopard seeming, what? Subdued? Depressed? He seemed fine to her. His normal, arrogant, dangerous self. How could she get Po to see it?

Vachir unwrapped what remained of his brick of tea, considered the amount left, then rewrapped the corner of the original slab and put it back in his pack with a heartfelt sigh. His money, he knew, was in no greater supply than his tea, but he'd have to justify trading the one for the other to himself soon. He only allowed himself the one damn luxury, after all.

He drank water with his breakfast instead, and went back to turning over possible strategies in his head. He wasn't getting anywhere. He didn't have a better plan than to keep moving and get as many of his men to safety as he could, before their enemies overran them. He had to get word out; detach a few men to take a message east while he decoyed the invaders north? No, too risky; the move could be anticipated and planned for, and his men would find only death. And he'd have to send someone of sufficient rank if he wanted the message passed on in time, he was sure, which would mean he'd have to go himself, or send Chuluun or Bayu. Out of the question. He considered the kung fu masters. Crane was injured, which was the problem in the first place; why the hell couldn't he have parried that blow away from the bird? Because Ushi had his damn traitorous self in the way, he reminded himself, but it didn't help his frustration. He thought of Mantis or Viper, who were small and might well slip through; but how fast could they move? And kung fu master or not, the thought of sending that sweet young girl alone into danger didn't sit well with him. Monkey, perhaps, but he'd have the same problems as any of Vachir's men, he would be too noticeable. Tigress, also, and he had a feeling she wouldn't leave while Tai Lung was here. He had the odd thought cross his mind of sending the snow leopard – he could certainly move fast and handle himself. But that would be disastrous – no one would listen to him, the damn fool furball would probably get himself killed even if he didn't pick a fight, and anyway, what would that do to the Anvil's damaged reputation, if it got out that they'd had Tai Lung in hand and let him get loose again? The idea was crazy, anyway. The panda then? No. There was apparently an ongoing problem with people believing he was the Dragon Warrior, connecting that reputation with the bear they saw in front of them. He was too self-effacing and lighthearted. And he was the one hold Vachir was sure he had on Tai Lung.

He made his way through the camp, checking with his sentries, giving orders to pack up and prepare to march, and looking for Chuluun. Just as he spotted his second in command, he also saw where their guests had spent the night.

He stopped, watching.

It wasn't Tigress sparring with the panda that caught his attention, though the bear was definitely better than Vachir would have given him credit for. It was Tai Lung. He had wanted a chance to observe the leopard in action; here it was. It took him a moment to realize that Tai Lung's invisible opponent had to be Mantis. The bug must be fast, he thought – and strong, as he saw Tai Lung, momentarily caught off balance, fall back a step. The snow leopard spun, kicked, ducked under a strike Vachir couldn't see, and went into a series of blocks and blows that would suggest he had more opponents than just the one insect. Soon after, he did, as Monkey joined the bout. Tai Lung didn't slow, and having another opponent didn't even put him on the defensive. He was still attacking, first in one direction, spin, block, then another, keeping the langur and mantis from having time to coordinate an attack or get the upper hand. He was a whirlwind, a walking weapon. He was… magnificent.

Chuluun walked up beside him, finishing the last of a steamed bun. He watched for a moment, regarded his commander, and popped the last bite of his breakfast in his mouth. "Vachir," he said, when he'd swallowed, "That is a look of pure avarice."

"You're damn right it is," he muttered. "Look at him!" Tai Lung was off the ground, one foot catching Monkey in mid-leap while a hand struck out at, presumably, Mantis.

Chuluun shook his head. "You can't keep him."

"The hell I can't! He's ours!"

"He's no good to you. The only way you can keep him is the way he was before, chained up and no use to anyone. And the rest of us out of action, stuck watching him."

"If I can show that we have him under control –"

"That's the problem, isn't it? How do we show he'll stay under control? How do you control that?" He indicated the sparring trio. The pace of the fight had, unbelievably, sped up. "And if you do have him, that's a whole other problem, isn't it?"

Vachir remained stubbornly silent.

"You know how some of the court are," Chuluun continued reasonably. "Some of the nobles, the bureaucrats, the army officers – they have enough of a problem with kung fu warriors as it is. Remember Thundering Rhino telling us what a stink they raised when the peacocks gave the Kung Fu Council the rule of Gongmen? And Rhino was from a long line of respected masters."

"I know," Vachir muttered irritably.

"The army doesn't want powerful warriors running around on their own, out of their control. Same goes for the nobles – never know when one of them might want to start a war, and it wouldn't do to have kung fu masters show up to fight you. Gongmen again, remember?"

"If you want to lecture, Chuluun, we have recruits…"

"You know I'm right, Vachir. Kung fu masters are trouble enough, in some minds. One that's gone bad… more than they want to handle. Damn good as an example to keep the rest in line, though. But they'd never want him back in action. Not on his own, and certainly not with us." He shook his head again. "And you know the Anvil has enough of a reputation of sticking their horns in where some would rather we didn't."

"We have always been loyal to the Emperor…"
"And that's enough reason for some, keep us from being any more of a threat than we already are. You know there were those who weren't sad to see us immobilized out in the hinterlands when we were assigned to Chorh-gom. Whose idea was that, I wonder?" He let out a quiet snort. "The Anvil, back in action, is bad enough, for some people. They'd never give you Tai Lung. Especially with you loyal to the Emperor and not one of them. Too much of a good thing."

Vachir watched as the sparring broke off; apparently Viper had insisted they eat, as they sat and accepted the bowls she passed out. The rhino shook his head slowly. "Damn it all, Chuluun, I know you're right," he grumbled. "But it's still such a damn waste."

The taller rhino chuckled. "The greatest condemnation you have, I know. Let it go, Vachir. I don't think you can salvage him, anyway. If you can… well, we'll see where that gets us when the time comes."

Chuluun headed off into the camp, and a moment later Vachir followed, with one last look at the snow leopard. Chuluun was right, of course. They'd never keep him, except as a closely guarded prisoner; most likely not even that. A kung fu master gone bad, a murderer who had attacked his own father not once, but twice, which alone should have gotten him executed… No. He had to be realistic. Whoever had kept Tai Lung alive the first time could likely never pull it off again, and Vachir suspected it was probably the old tortoise, whom he'd heard was dead anyway. That put Shifu in charge at the Jade Palace, and why would he want the leopard around? That left only the panda and himself who had any stake in keeping Tai Lung alive. And for what? Another twenty years chained up in the dark? What good was that, to any of them?

Unbidden, unwelcome, the ox's words came back to him. An image of a camp, not unlike this one, over twenty years ago. Tai Lung, not fighting so superbly, but chained and gagged, eyes glaring and muscles taut, lying still only because a dozen heavily armed and nervous rhinos were watching his every move. How easy would it have been, to take a knife, pull his head back, and…? If he'd known, then, what he was letting himself and his men in for?

He shook his head. No. Not his job. Not his style. Damn Ushi anyway. And damn Tai Lung, too. What a stupid, pointless waste.

They left the ruined fortress before midmorning, heading north and east through the foothills. Crane insisted he felt better, though not up to flying yet; but he went to rejoin the injured rhinos in the center of the troop, thinking he'd be the most use there in case of a battle. Monkey and Viper moved to their position of the previous night, in front with Vachir; Po and Tigress waited to take up their place with the rear guard. Tai Lung seemed inclined to stay with the panda, but Mantis hopped to his shoulder and after a brief, quiet conversation, they headed to where Chuluun was organizing his men on the left flank.

Tigress was trying to think of a way to start the conversation she knew she had to have with Po. She had to deal with their disagreement of the night before, she knew, but she wasn't sure how to begin. She knew she was right, but she had gone about it the wrong way, and hurt the panda. She had to clear the air between them, let Po know that her anger wasn't directed at him; she didn't want to let this problem grow, let it divide them. If only she could use words as well as she could use her fists and feet in battle, she could…

"Tigress?"

She hadn't noticed him walk up to her. This was bad; she was letting herself get distracted by too many things, at a time when she knew she had to remain alert. "Yes, Po?" And then she felt a stab of annoyance; her voice had sounded cold even to herself. Why couldn't she just say what she wanted to, what she felt? What did she feel?

"Well, I was thinking about last night, about what you said," he went on, quietly, seriously. "And about what I said, and, well, I don't think it's really what I meant to say. You know?" He looked at her expectantly.

"I know, Po. I… don't think it's really what I meant to say, either."

"Okay. Because I know I was getting pushy, and I shouldn't do that. I was really asking way too much." His words were all but falling over one another, with an exuberance she couldn't have matched if she tried. "I know Tai has really messed up, he's really messed you up, even though he didn't mean to – I mean, he didn't even know you, so –"

"I know what you mean, Po," she broke in, more irritably than she intended. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just open up, like Po did?

"And I know how bad he messed up Shifu, and I know you really care about him even if he was all kind of distant, and didn't treat you like a daughter – I'm sorry, I'm getting pushy again, aren't I? Sorry if I'm getting too personal. And of course, there's all the other stuff… Tai… kinda did, isn't there? So I can see why you don't think you can help him. And why you wouldn't want to. And I shouldn't ask you to, so…" he trailed off. "…I guess I won't. And I'm sorry I got mad about it last night. I said some stuff I shouldn't, and… I'm sorry."

Somehow, she'd seen herself on the other side of this conversation. "That's alright, Po." She still sounded so stiff. "We're all tired, and under a lot of pressure. I'm… sorry if I said some things I shouldn't, as well."

The panda grinned in relief. "So we're okay, then?"

She felt herself relax a little, managed to smile back at him. "Yes, Po. We're okay."

"Great!" And the next moment he was turning to one of the rhinos as they began to move out of the ruined gate. "Hey, Jung, what were you telling me last night about fighting some gorilla bandits?"

She fell in beside Bayu. The Sumatran rhino watched Po exclaim in amazement over the story his new friend was telling him, then turned to Tigress. "You know, I like that panda," he told her.

Tigress nodded, still smiling. "So do I."

"So now that I'm back," Tai Lung said to the insect on his shoulder, "you've decided to give up walking?"

Mantis chuckled. "What can I say? You're more comfortable than Monkey – you don't bounce around so much. Besides," he dropped his voice, "you smell better."

The snow leopard laughed. "I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that! But I understand, Yao – too many rhinos stomping around, not watching where they're putting their feet… it would make me nervous too, if I were as –"

"Don't say it," Mantis warned him. That got another laugh.

"Po told me," Tai Lung said, after a few moments, "that Shifu finally achieved inner peace. I suppose he's right – Po seemed to have it down pat."

"Yeah," Mantis answered, a little reluctantly. "You know how he used to be, Tai. So wound up, always pushing. Not the most introspective guy, right?"

The snow leopard stared straight ahead. "I heard he got a lot worse than he was – after I –"

"You hurt him, Tai, you really hurt him. And I'm not just talking about his leg. And of course he had to try to keep it all in… I guess he just dealt with it by keeping everything in. That's why Tigress –" he broke off abruptly. "Never mind," he muttered. "I didn't say anything."

Tai Lung nodded. "I saw a bit of that, when I came back… So what happened? What snapped him out of it?"

Mantis could feel the tension in the shoulder he was riding on. "Po happened. You know how he is. Try staying all closed off and grim when he's around."

That got a small smile. "I did."

"And it didn't last a day, did it?"

The smile grew. "It didn't last past the second bowl of soup."

"Yeah, the soup helps. Though it took Tigress a bit longer to warm up to – Nope," he censored himself. "Still not saying anything."

There was another stretch of silence before Tai Lung resumed the conversation. "I suppose not having to worry about me coming back helped, too."

The tension was back in the muscles under Mantis' feet. "Yeah, there's that. Don't know what we're going to tell him about you being here…"

"Why bother?" The leopard's tone was harsh. "I'm not going back to the Valley, whatever Po may think. I doubt I'm going anywhere. Except, maybe, back to prison. Where Shifu can just forget me again."

"He never forgot you," Mantis said quietly. "And we'll have to let him know."

Tai Lung shrugged. "Tell him whatever you want," he muttered. A much longer silence followed.

After a while, the snow leopard started again, his tone a little uncertain. "Yao? I need to know… what happened to the others? To Gaur… and Fox?"

Mantis was beginning to wish he'd stayed with Monkey after all. Why did Tai insist on prodding at old wounds? "Gaur's gone. He got killed, in a battle – I'm sure you're not surprised. It wasn't long after you… left." He hesitated, then rushed on. "You know how he was, Tai. He was always jealous of you, just couldn't accept that it wasn't just Shifu's favoritism, that you really were better than he was. He figured that, with you out of the way, he could finally prove how superior he was. Guess he proved something," he finished wryly, hoping the leopard didn't ask for the details.

He didn't. "Nima?" he asked, a little hesitantly.

"She's fine," Mantis answered, glad to be on a happier subject. "Doing good, last I heard. She started her own school, somewhere in Qinghai province."

"I think I heard stories about a school in the mountains there when I was in Anxi. I didn't hear the name of the master there – if I'd known it was Nima…" he trailed off. "Well, nothing, I suppose. I'd have had no reason to go there."

"Now she'd want to know you were alive," Mantis said.

Tai Lung frowned. "Why?"

Mantis stared at him incredulously, then tapped the snow leopard's head sharply with a foreleg. "Anyone home in there, Tai? She cared about you! She never stopped worrying about you."

"I'm tired of people 'worrying' about me," Tai Lung grumbled quietly.

Mantis wasn't sure what to say to that, so he let the silence stretch out.

They continued northeast, with only a few brief stops, until late afternoon. Finally Vachir called a halt as they came out on a small plateau, and the rhinos began to set up a sparse camp. They kept their cooking fires low as the sun neared the horizon.

"We don't want to lose them completely," Vachir was saying. "We want to keep their interest, but there's no sense in lighting a giant beacon proclaiming 'here we are, come attack us now'." After a plain meal of rice and vegetables he was sitting by one of the small campfires with Chuluun, Bayu, and a few of his veterans, as well as the Furious Five and Po, discussing their strategy. He wasn't sure why Tai Lung was in the group; or rather, since the snow leopard would naturally tend to stay by the panda or Chuluun, why he hadn't sent him somewhere else. But what the hell; it wasn't like there were any great secrets here, they had to stay ahead of their enemies until they could get word to the capital, and everyone knew that. Besides, if it came to it, he preferred having the leopard where he could keep an eye on him.

Crane had picked silently at his meal, and was now standing slightly behind Tigress and Monkey, eyes shadowed by his hat. "If I could fly ahead with a message, you wouldn't have to risk your men, Commander," he said quietly. "But I'm afraid my wing isn't quite up to the task, yet."

"It wasn't your fault that you got injured," Viper insisted.

"No. It was mine," Vachir said. "If I'd been a little faster, I could have parried that blow before Ushi landed it."

Tigress turned to him. "You know that ox?"

Vachir nodded. "I knew him. Years ago. And I don't like running into him again, here. This could be bad."

"Ushi," Mantis mused. "Why does that sound familiar?" He considered a moment longer. "Ah! I have it! The Emperor's bodyguard. You remember, don't you, Tai?"

"The ox? I remember," the snow leopard said sourly.

"Ushi was part of the Emperor's bodyguard. When the Emperor was still Crown Prince, he came to the Jade Palace for a few months, to study with Master Oogway," Mantis explained. "Ushi headed the guard contingent that came with him. Made a real nuisance of himself, getting in the way when we were training, making obnoxious comments."

"Trying to get Gaur to spar with him constantly, then making snide comments when he lost," Tai Lung put in.

"Coming on to Fox," Mantis added. "Just being a general irritant. I thought Gaur would pound him into the ground like a tent peg – or Tai would take his head off."
"I don't like to be bothered when I'm training."

"Wish you had," Vachir said. "After the Emperor took the throne, Ushi worked his way up to guard captain. It wasn't enough for him; he was always ambitious. He had a band of fighters he got together – not up to our standards, of course –"

"Of course." The comment had been sarcastic, but Tai Lung had a bland expression when Vachir shot a sharp look at him.

"Of course," the rhino said firmly. "But they weren't bad. He'd take them into any fight he thought could get him some fame and glory – claim he was there as the Emperor's representative. When a revolt broke out in Qingzhou, Ushi took his men and joined General Cai Wusheng to deal with it."
"We headed out there, too," Chuluun put in. "It looked pretty serious at first."

"We heard there were reinforcements coming up the coast from the south, a lot better armed and more numerous," Vachir went on. "It looked like there could be a serious threat to the capital if they joined forces and moved inland. Didn't happen, though. Their allies got stopped further south, and routed."

Tai Lung and Mantis exchanged a look. "Yeah," said the insect. "We kinda had something to do with that. The troops sent to cut the rebels off were sort of sparse, so Shifu sent Tai Lung and I, and the other students, out there to help."

Vachir looked at them with interest. "You were in that fight?"
"Wasn't even that much of a fight," Mantis said. "Fox joined in on the planning, and by the end I think she made them believe it was their own idea to turn around and go home."

Vachir nodded. "I'll want to hear the rest of that sometime. Up north, our end of the revolt started to look like just a bunch of desperate peasants. We didn't think it was worth our while, but Wusheng and Ushi were determined to go in with all they had anyway. I don't think they appreciated your taking away half their war; they wanted the glory and spoils. I just wanted out of it by then, get my men pointed at something worth their while. Then orders came for us to take over at Chorh-gom, so we left." He poked at the fire with a stick, watching the flames flare up. "Ushi and Wusheng didn't."

"So what happened?" Viper asked.

"They ran over the peasants easily enough, at first. But then they got into some serious fighting with the revolt's leaders, just about the time they were getting overconfident from their previous victories. When the rebels' allies didn't show, I guess they started to retreat, and got some help from a couple tribes over the border. Wusheng did manage to bring down the rebel leaders before they got away, but he was killed himself; Ushi made it out, though," he finished sourly.

"Problem was, they'd about ruined the countryside before that happened – burned fields and towns, killed way too many farmers. Decided everyone in the province was a rebel," Chuluun said. "The Emperor had tried to avert that – he sent emissaries up there when the southern forces turned back, to try to make peace and avoid the destruction. Find out what started the revolt, and try to fix it before actual fighting broke out. Ushi and Wusheng managed to concoct some incident to break the peace, and went charging in anyway. When Ushi got back to Chang'an, he was tossed out on his ear."

"Lucky no worse happened to him," Vachir said. "But I guess he had family connections. He took off somewhere into exile; heard he took up robbery with his remaining men somewhere south of here. And now he shows up with this foreign army. Not good at all."

"He knows too much about the capital and its defenses," Tigress said.

"Exactly," Vachir agreed. "He knows entirely too much. They're trying to eliminate any resistance they might face, if they can; that's why they lured the Dragon Warrior down to Yunjiang alone, to be ambushed. But the fact that Ushi knew there was a Dragon Warrior…"

"Suggests he's in contact with spies already here," Crane finished. "Allies from before his exile?"

"I'd guess so," Vachir said grimly. "And we know he's the one responsible for the ambush and the attack on the shrine. He has Golden Rhino's Phoenix Hammer."

He saw that register on the others' faces in varying degrees of anger and surprise. The thought of it made him furious himself. But he wasn't prepared for the seething rage in the snow leopard's eyes.

"Ushi has Golden Rhino's weapon?" The words were a low growl.

Vachir glared back. "You keep your hands off him, kitty! He's mine!"

Leopard and rhino glowered at each other a moment longer. At last, Tai Lung muttered, "Fine. You can have the ox. I'm taking that tiger."

"Thank you," Vachir sneered back. "You're so gracious."

Tai Lung gave him an obnoxious smirk.

"Yeah, well," put in Mantis, "why don't we get ourselves in a position to actually fight these guys before we start divvying up who gets who?"

Viper had been studying the map spread out in front of Chuluun. She laid the tip of her tail along one prominent line. "How are they planning to get across the Yangtze? It would take forever to ferry a force like that across – even if they captured the ferries and other boats. If we could get there first, we could send the warning to pull all the boats to the north bank. Then they couldn't get across, at least not easily, before the Emperor's army gets there to stop them."

"Getting there first is a big if," Vachir said. "Though keeping us from crossing the river gives them more incentive to stay on our trail. We'll be lucky if they don't overtake us – I'm surprised they haven't attacked us yet." He stared at the map, frowning. "Of course, Ushi knows what he's facing at the river as well as we do. Why would he let the army come this way, instead of heading further west, where they could hope to cross easier? He's insufferable, but he's not stupid."

"Then he knows an attack through Hubei won't be expected, simply because of the river crossing," suggested Tigress. "An army that had to stop to ferry troops over would be easily spotted."

"Then he has a plan of some sort," Vachir mused. "If he has informants here, could he have enough supporters to plan a river crossing in advance? Make sure there were boats waiting for them?"

Viper looked up with a gasp. "Would anyone do that? Betray the Emperor and help an invader?"

"Oh, yes," Tai Lung said, cynically. "Plenty of ambitious nobles, hoping to depose the Emperor and then control or dispose of the invader."

"When we get closer I'll send out scouts," Vachir decided. "Until then, we'll have to keep ahead of them as long as we can. We'll double the sentries tonight," he told Chuluun. "We've been too lucky today. We'll head out at first light. We should make good time tomorrow, put a fair distance behind us."

Po was quiet when he pulled his blanket over him and tried to sleep. It would be hard to relax, thinking there could be an attack at any moment. He wished he had something to take his mind off their problems.

He'd been lured down here by enemies who wanted him dead. People trying to kill him was something he'd never had to deal with before he became the Dragon Warrior, and since then, at least they'd been open and honest about it. Tai had wanted to fight him to become the Dragon Warrior himself; but anyone Oogway had chosen would have been in the same situation. The snow leopard had nothing against him personally, and now that they had that problem behind them they had become friends. Now Shen, he had had something against Po, but he could hardly have known that when he started out for Gongmen City. It was only when the peacock had discovered that he was a panda that he'd gotten all… weird about it. And it was only because he was a panda – and the Dragon Warrior – that Shen had been so anxious to get rid of him.

But these guys – okay, they had nothing against Po the panda, personally, but they had wanted the Dragon Warrior out of the way. They had killed a monk and set a trap, counting on Po being unsuspecting, on being honored, to come far away from the Valley of Peace to where they were waiting. And now it wasn't even just him. Not that he was eager to get himself killed, of course. And the Five were usually with him anyway; but when they followed him down to Yunjiang, they had walked into the same trap he had. Tigress had been captured; she might have been killed. He'd found Tai, unexpectedly, and now he'd been pulled into it, too. Even the rhinos were in danger, though Po had to admit that Vachir could, and probably would, have found the tiger's army and gotten into trouble all on his own.

He sighed, turned over, and wished he was back home. Even that he was back in the noodle shop, just Ping's son the reluctant noodle maker, not the Dragon Warrior at all. He frowned. Where would they all be if he was? Would there be a different Dragon Warrior? Tigress, maybe? She hadn't been able to defeat Tai at the bridge, even with the rest of the Five with her, and Po wasn't sure she could have figured out the Dragon Scroll in time. Would Tai have escaped from prison? He'd said it was hearing about Oogway choosing the Dragon Warrior that really gave him the anger and desperation that let him escape. That and Zeng's feather. Would Zeng have been sent to Chorh-gom if Oogway hadn't been about to choose the Dragon Warrior? Had he chosen Po because he knew Tai was coming back, or because he knew he was going away? Would things be different now, or would they be the way they'd always been… It was too confusing. Po yawned, thought about trying to cook a little something over the coals of their fire, thought about starting out again before dawn, and decided he needed to sleep.

He felt cold. Okay, maybe he just felt more… uneasy than cold, but it was still keeping him awake. He wanted company. What he wanted, really, was his father, who would always come in and check on him if he was restless or had a bad dream, or woke up really hungry back before he learned to cook. But that was silly. He was the Dragon Warrior, and at any rate he was a grown man, and he didn't need his dad… But he wouldn't have minded someone, just to talk to, maybe.

He lifted his head and glanced around. Crane was asleep on one foot; Po always wondered how he could do that. He'd seen Crane sleep like that perched a dozen feet up in a pine tree once. Tigress was nowhere to be seen. She was probably prowling around the sentry posts or scouting out on the plateau, alert to a possible attack. Maybe he should join her, but then, stealth mode wasn't really his strong point, and anyway, he wanted to sleep, not walk around when he'd be doing more than enough of that come morning.

Tai was curled up to his left, his back to Po and Mantis splayed out on his arm. Mantis may or may not have been glad to have the rest of Tai back, but he sure seemed to be glad to have that arm to sleep on. Monkey was sprawled on his back to Po's right. Po considered Monkey his best friend, but he was reluctant to move closer to the langur; he had a feeling Monkey would end up with both their blankets and leave him out in the cold. On the other hand, Tai had punched him for hugging him and had taken a drowsy swing at him when he'd nudged him awake. He considered the problem; possible attack versus probable loss of his blanket. He edged carefully closer to the snow leopard.

He started to see Mantis' point. Even several inches away, he could tell that Tai was warm. Being even more careful not to wake the leopard, he inched a little closer.

"Po?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin; it took everything he had not to shout in alarm at the voice so close to his elbow. "Viper! I'm sorry – did I, ah, squish you? I didn't see you…"

The snake chuckled softly. "No. I was, well, sort of trying to cuddle up to you," she admitted, sounding a little embarrassed. "It's… sort of cold up here. And you and Tai Lung are warm, so I thought if I got between you… Can't you sleep?"

"Ahhh," Po started, not sure whether to admit to his own wish for contact. "No" he finally admitted. "I guess I'm sort of keyed up, thinking we could be attacked, and worried about what's going to happen."

Viper maneuvered herself up over Po's side and draped her upper body on his chest. He put an arm around her. "Me, too. I'm worried. I've never really been in anything like this; this could become a real war, you know. And if we don't know who's on the Emperor's side, who we can trust… What if we get to the river, and someone is helping the invaders, and we get caught between their forces? None of us might get out of this."

"Hey, we'll be alright," Po reassured her. Somehow, knowing that Viper was scared too helped him feel better; he just wanted to make her feel better too. "I mean, look who we have here. How can we lose? The Furious Five, the Anvil of Heaven, Tai Lung…"

Viper smiled. "Don't forget the Dragon Warrior."

Po sighed. "Yeah, well, the Dragon Warrior wishes he were back home in his own bed, with a big bowl of noodles inside him."

Viper curled into his shoulder. "Don't think I'm silly, Po, but I wish I were back home, nestled up with my father. Sometimes I really miss him. He's always so strong and brave, and I always felt so safe with him. I try to be like him, but sometimes it can be so hard, to be brave all the time."

"You're not silly. I miss my dad, too. I just want to get back to the Valley and tell him I'm safe, so he won't worry."

"We'll get back safe, Po," she said, sounding sleepier. "We'll be fine, I know it. I just don't like waiting." She yawned. "So. Are you going to cuddle up to Tai Lung or not? He's even warmer than you are."

Po considered for a moment. A chilly breeze moved along close to the ground, finding its way under the edge of his blanket. "Yeah," he decided. He scooted over the last few inches, closing the gap between himself and the snow leopard; Viper smiled and sighed in content as the two furry warm bodies pressed close on either side. Tai Lung mumbled querulously; Mantis dragged himself up, still mostly asleep, stumbled forward, and thumped the leopard on the head until he quieted down, then collapsed on the grey-furred shoulder.

Just as Po was dozing off, he felt another body move up from his right. Monkey muttered something, out of which Po caught only the word "cold", and rolled over against the panda. Po took a tight grip on his blanket, and fell asleep.