Chapter 21: Predators in the Snow
A ferocious blizzard storms against the mountain tops, its ghostly howl echoes within the atmosphere. 8 figures trudge along a mountain trail which is blanketed in snow.
Snow crunches beneath their feet as the 8 warriors push through the thick, white deluge. Shifu treads ahead of the group, the powerful blizzard blows against his small figure, coating his fur with snow. The brown cloak he wears to keep him warm flutters violently in the wind.
Shifu's eyes remain narrow and his gaze forward. The red panda's neck twists to the right as his gaze darts over his right shoulder.
His students all appear to be affected by the snow, especially Master Viper who is cold-blooded due to being a reptile. Tigress holds Viper close to her body in attempt to keep her warm, but the snake shivers and quakes violently within the tigress' arms.
Tigress tilts her chin downwards as she bestows her gaze upon Viper, her face forms a concerned expression at the sight of her friend's condition. Tigress lifts her gaze to Shifu who stares back at the feline. Tigress inhales nasally, the cold air burns her nostrils; finally her lips snap apart and her voices resounds the atmosphere.
"Master! We must find somewhere to make camp. I don't think Viper is going to last much longer in these temperatures." Shifu nods his head in agreement. He forwards his gaze and his eyes squint as he attempts to see beyond the blizzard's thick veil.
But unfortunately his vision failed to spot a good camping area. Shifu exhales irritantly, the cold, dry air made his breath visible. Shifu quickens his pace as does his students, they soon reach the end of the mountain trail and stand before a vast wasteland of snow.
Wei's eyes shifts in direction until the sight of a small cave entrance at the bottom of a mountain comes into his line of vision. The cave entrance stands approximately 20 feet away from the gang.
Wei extends his left arm in the direction of the cave and juts his index at the cave.
"Over there." Wei announces, gaining the attention of his comrades.
All eyes fall upon Wei, they then see that he is pointing at something. Their gazes follow the direction where Wei's arm is pointing, at first they saw nothing but the blizzard.
They squint their eyes and then, they saw it. Amidst the relentless winds they saw the cave entrance. Without a second thought they lumber towards the cave entrance.
The cave's interior was rather small and nondescript. The warriors set their bags down and prepare to make camp; Wei and Viper begin to build a campfire while the others take out their blankets.
Once Wei and Viper had finished the campfire, Wei raises his left paw to face level and curls his middle, ring and pinky fingers along with his thumb with the index finger remaining pointed.
A sharp, black claw protrudes from the tip of his index finger. He scrapes his claw against the granite ground creating sparks, the sparks pounce upon the sticks, igniting them. A small but warm campfire flares to life, its amber hues embrace the interior of the cave.
Viper slithers closer to fire, she lets out a pleasant sigh as the heat from the flickering flames caresses her body. Wei rises to usual straight posture and turns his feet around, he approaches his bag and bends down to open.
Wei pulls out a brown blanket and lays it on the ground, he runs his paws along the fabric to spread out the blanket. He lies down on the blanket and stares up at the granite ceiling.
Wei's chest expands and contracts as inhales and exhales through his nose. Slowly he begins to feel the shackles of sleep restrain him. Wei's eyelids close over his eyes and the white tiger falls into a deep slumber.
Minutes turned into the hours, 7 of the warriors have fallen asleep. The only who remains awake is Shifu himself, the aged red panda sits silently with his legs crossed. Listening to the blizzard's creepy moans.
An abrupt stirring occurs in the corner of Shifu's vision. The Grandmaster turns his neck to the left to see Wei tossing and turning in his sleep. The tiger's muttering was barely audible; Shifu notices sweat droplets streaking down the Demon Swordman's brow.
Wei's body rolls onto its back while his face creases, his sleeping expression was a mixture of devastation, agony and rage. Suddenly, the claws in Wei's paws unsheathe themselves from his fingertips, Wei's left arm unconsciously glides towards his face.
Shifu cocks an eyebrow in confusion, Wei places the tips of claws upon his scars and swipes downwards, causing his scars to reopen. Shifu flinches in shock before he jumps to feet and hurries over to the sleeping siberian tiger.
Shifu kneels down by Wei's left, he places his left right paw on Wei's chest and gently shakes his body.
"Wei, wake up." He whispers. The sound of his master's voice drifted past Wei's ears causing them to twitch slightly. Wei's sharp, blue eyes flutter open to blurry image of Shifu.
He blinks twice and his vision clears; Shifu withdraws his paw from Wei's chest as the white Siberian sits up from his blanket. Wei rubs his fists into his eyes, he then feels a wet sensation on his left eye.
He pulls his fists away from eyes and his gaze flicks to his left paw, the fur is stained with blood. Wei grits his teeth and growls in irritation, he wipes the blood from his eye and presses his paw against his scars to prevent further bleeding.
He neck turns ever so slightly to the left and Shifu comes into his line of vision.
"Master, is everything alright?" Wei asks.
"I should be asking you that question Wei." Replied Shifu. Wei knew he was referring to his bleeding scars.
"Well, I'm not sure why. But every night for the past month my scars keep reopening for some reason." Shifu's left paw strokes his beard as the Grandmaster stares at the Demon Swordsman in confusion.
"It appears Wei is completely oblivious to what he's been doing."
"Wei, your scars are not opening by themselves. You are the reason they keep reopening." Wei furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"Master?"
"I just witnessed you cut open those scars in your sleep." Wei raises both eyebrows and his eyes bulge in shock.
"W-What do you mean?" Wei uttered.
"I mean, you've been cutting your scars open in your sleep." Wei turns his gaze away from Shifu, his face etched with disbelief.
"That's impossible though." Wei muttered. Shifu raises his right paw and cups his chin with his index finger and thumb. He ponders silently about Wei's unusual sleep self-harming. Suddenly, an idea clicks inside his mind. Shifu's lips snap apart and his voice emerges from his throat.
"I think I know the problem." Said Shifu. Wei's corneas flick to the side of his eyes, returning his gaze to Shifu.
"Elaborate."
"Well, I heard that when someone experiences a tragic event, the memory of said event begins to haunt them in their sleep. And sometimes, that individual will perform an action that they remember from the event." Wei once again pulls his gaze away from the red panda. He tilts his chin downwards as he lowers his gaze to the ground.
"Wei, I'm going assume that the day you got those scars was very traumatizing for you. This is causing you to unconsciously cut open your scars." Wei closes his eyes, the images of that day flash within his mind, his village massacred, his mother defiled and killed before his very eyes, his father's corpse in the paws of that red-eyed silhouette. And his definition of evil.
"Evil, is a matter of perspective."
Wei slowly opens his eyes, he turns his gaze to Shifu. The red panda sees the sorrow in the white tiger's eyes, Wei's lips open.
"The day these scars were inflicted on me... Is a day that will haunt the rest of my life." Shifu felt nothing but pity for the Demon Swordsman. He gently places his right paw on Wei's left shoulder.
"When you feel you are ready to speak of your past to us, know that we will be there for you." Shifu assured. His tone was comforting, almost fatherly. Wei's lips snap apart, but before his voice could leave his throat- both Wei and Shifu heard something amongst the blizzard.
Their heads flick towards the cave entrance, they both narrow their eyes.
"Did you hear that?" Asked Shifu.
"Yes, we have company." Wei grabs his sheathed katana with his left paw and rises to his feet. He ties the weapon to the left of his waist while Shifu wakes up the others.
"Everyone wake up!" Several groans resound cave as the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five awaken. The 6 warriors pulls themselves to their feet and all eyes fall upon Shifu.
"Master Shifu? What's the matter?" Asked Monkey groggily.
"Prepare yourselves. There are enemies nearby." Those words caused them to fully awaken. Shifu turns his back on his students and marches out of the cave, his students follow him.
Shifu halts several paces away from the cave entrance as does his students. Their eyes scan the area, but all they see is the blizzard and the blanket of snow at their feet.
Shifu's eyelids close, he attempts to use his ears to track down the location of their enemies. But the blizzard's thunderous roar echoes in the atmosphere.
Then suddenly, an abrupt sound within the snow causes Shifu's ears to twitch. His head snaps in Po's direction, his lips snap open and he calls out to the Dragon Warrior.
"Po behind you!" Before the panda could react, snow exploded several feet behind Po and a wolf with snow white fur, clad in a white uniform, wielding a sword in his right paw pounces towards the panda.
Po didn't have time to react, he shut his eyes tight and braces himself. But an abrupt clang pierces the Dragon Warrior's ears. Po forced open his right eye to see Wei standing in the gap between Po and the white wolf.
Wei held his katana horizontally above his head with both paws. The white wolf's blade is vertically positioned against Wei's blade; he pushes as hard as he can but Wei's strength is more superior.
Wei pulls his knee back against his stomach, he thrusts his leg forward and his foot collides with the wolf's chest. The wolf grunts in pain as the force of Wei's kick sends him flying several feet away.
The wolf crashes into a thick pile of snow, he recovers quickly and pulls himself to his feet. The wolf snarls at Wei, a growl crawls through his gritted teeth.
The white wolf connects the index finger and thumb of his right paw and lifts his arm. He inserts his joint fingers between his lips and a whistle resounds the area.
10 more white wolves explode out of the snow, all clad in the same uniform as the alpha. One more creature pops out of the snow, but it wasn't a wolf, it was a vulture clad in puffy, blue pants. The vulture spreads out his wings, he flaps them several times before he was able to hover above the snow.
The vulture soars away and disappears in the blizzard. The alpha wolf then sprints towards Wei, he tightens his grip on the sword handle as he stretches his arm out to the side. The alpha closes in on Wei, and once he had reached striking range, he swings arm horizontally at the white Siberian.
Wei ducks down as the blade of the wolf's sword glides over his head, Wei jerks his body up as he swings his katana diagonally at the alpha. Blood spews into the snow, the alpha bellows in agony as a deep, crimson cut forms on his body, starting at the left of his waist up to his right shoulder.
The sword in the white wolf's paw slips from his loosened grip and drops into the snow. The alpha's body lurches forward and collapses onto the ground, the snow at Wei's feet turns crimson.
A beta wolf swings his axe numerous times at Monkey, the primate skillfully dodges the wolf's clumsy swings. He stealthy wraps his tail around the wolf's left ankle and jerks it back, the wolf's leg is pulled forward causing him to fall on his back.
Monkey unwraps his tail and lands a swift chop to the beta's throat, knocking him out instantly. Two wolves stand before Mantis, one wields a axe in his left paw while the second wields a pike in both paws.
The axe wielding wolf chuckles at the sight of his tiny opponent. Mantis' antennae twitch in annoyance. Mantis lunges at the axe wielding wolf, he extends two of his feet forward, landing a powerful kick to the wolf's snout.
The wolf drops his axe and his body collapses backwards into the snow. Mantis turns his gaze to the pike wielding wolf and gives him an intimidating glare. The pike wielder whimpers as his legs shake in fear.
Mantis lunges towards the wolf, once he was within striking range, he thrusts his foreleg forward. Striking the wolf in the chest, a blue pulse travels around the wolf's body from where Mantis' claw touched his body.
The wolf drops his pike and his body lurches backwards and falls on his back into the snow paralyzed. Mantis had struck him with a nerve attack.
Tigress stands still, encircled by 3 sword wielding wolves. The 3 wolves charge towards Tigress at the same time, the feline merely smirks as the 3 white wolves close in on her.
The wolves are now within striking range, Tigress flips her body and forces her paws into the snow and is now doing a handstand. Tigress spreads out her legs and spins her body around, hitting all 3 wolves in the face. The wolves lose consciousness and instantly collapse into the snow.
One of the white wolves managed to sneak into the cave where Viper lies, next to the campfire and completely defenseless. Viper spots the wolf in the corner of her vision, her eyes flick in the wolf's direction.
Viper's eyes bulge and her mouth falls agape, the wolf's lips curl into a sinister smirk, exposing his white teeth. In his right paw he holds a dagger, he lifts and bends his right arm so that the dagger was level with the side of his head.
The wolf stalks towards Viper, the snake wanted to defend herself but the temperature is too low for her to do anything. Suddenly, a pair of talons grab the white wolf's shoulders and drags him out of the cave, causing him to drop his dagger.
The wolf finds himself being lifted high into the air, he tilts his chin upwards to see Crane. Crane halts his ascension and performs a series of flips in mid-air, he then releases his grip on the wolf.
The wolf's screams of fear pierces the avian's ears as he is thrown away and disappears in the blizzard. Crane descends to the earth below, he closes his wing once he feels the snow between his toes.
He turns his neck to the right and glances back at his comrades who have just defeated the remaining wolves. Wei looms over the bodies; his arms folded over his chest and his jet black scarf dances gracefully in the wind.
"Who are these guys?" Asked Mantis as he hops atop Wei's right shoulder.
"I don't know. But more importantly, why did they attack us?"
The vulture soared through the sky for what felt like hours, he spots the Supreme Leader's fortress in the distance, he flaps his wings to increase his speed.
Finally, the vulture had arrived at the fortress, he soars towards the Supreme Leader's tower where he glides through the enormous window with the Supreme Leader's throne room on the other side.
The vulture flaps his wings to slow himself down, he then descends to the marble floor. The vulture bows in the presence of his master, his tilts his beak upwards and he meets the Supreme Leader's gaze.
"What brings you here?" Asked the Supreme Leader.
"My lord, The Dragon Warrior along with the Furious Five and Grandmaster Shifu are on their way here." The vulture informed.
"Is that so?" Silence embraces the throne room as the Supreme Leader ponders his next move, then an idea came into his head.
"Kira! Tai Lung! Shen!" He calls. In mere seconds the enormous double doors burst open, Kira along with Tai Lung and Shen enter the throne room.
"Yes Supreme Leader?" They ask in unison.
"It appears the Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five and Master Shifu are on their way to the Highlands. I would like you to meet them before they get here and give them a... Welcoming Party."
Tai Lung and Shen both grin at the Supreme Leader's orders, at last they can get their revenge on the panda and the others. All three of the warriors chuckle before speaking in unison once more.
"Yes, Supreme Leader."
To be continued