Chapter Twenty Five- Master and Sorceress
The group could only stand and stare as the raven demon flew to the top of the mountain, blowing air around her. The gusts of wind gathered dark storm clouds that encased the top of the mountain. The raven beast disappeared from sight. The fox demon, with fire wisps trailing behind her, went bounding into the forest.
"What do we do?" Chao asked. "Go after them?"
"Not if you want to be torched or blown off the mountain." Shen said.
"We have to stick with the plan." Shifu said. "Aurora knows how to stop them and we're going to find out how."
"Yes, but…" Ren looked worriedly up at the castle. "Shifu, what if she kills you?"
Shifu glanced up towards the black castle that loomed before them. Yes, there was a very good chance that Aurora wouldn't listen to reason and that she'd attack him. Her magic versus his kung fu…..well, the outcome wouldn't be pretty. But he had to try. No matter what happened up there, it had to end.
"Stay here unless something goes wrong." Shifu ordered as he walked towards the castle.
"How will we know if something goes wrong?" Junjie asked.
"Oh you'll know!" Shifu called. He broke into a full sprint. Everything will be fine….I think.
Aurora stared out her window as the beasts went their separate directions. Her gaze traveled down to the group of warriors standing in front of her castle. Her eyes targeted Shifu, currently running at full sprint towards the mountain. Aurora had a solemn look as she gave a wave of her hand. Upon hearing her magic work, she walked off to prepare for what would come next.
Shifu skidded to a halt as stairs suddenly carved themselves into the mountain. He looked up towards the castle one last time before taking the steps two at a time. Not that he was in that big of a hurry, but the ominous storm clouds summoned by Siren gave him a sense of urgency. He reached the top of the steps and found a large, circular area, like a balcony, jutting from the side of the castle. A doorway was across the area. Shifu watched as a panther came forward, dressed in navy blue pants and a spring green vest, embroidered with lilies and hemmed with white. She would've looked so pretty, had she not been carrying her deadly scepter with a murderous look in her golden brown eyes.
"What do you want?" Aurora demanded.
Shifu tried to keep calm as he pulled a scroll from his sleeve. "I want to end this; to settle things between us." He held up the scroll. "You've been saying that you hated me and want me dead, yet you've kept every single letter I've ever written to you. Why?"
"They remind me of why I wanted to kill you." Aurora answered.
"That's a lie." Shifu growled. He tossed the scroll towards the panther. The scroll bounced and rolled to her feet. "Those letters were written when we were best friends, maybe even closer. How could such good-hearted words make you so angry?"
"Because they were lies!" Aurora shouted. She stepped over the scroll and began advancing towards Shifu. The elder master stood ready. "'Good-hearted words' you say? I say different. Face it, Shifu, you never cared about me. All you cared about was yourself. The last letter you sent to me said, and I quote, 'We need to talk. I'd rather tell you in person.' Tell me what? That you hated me and never cared about me?"
"Of course not." Shifu said.
"You never wrote to me again after that!" Aurora screamed. "No matter how often I wrote to you, I never got a reply! It was then I knew your true feelings for me. Hate hath no fury like a woman scorned. Now you will feel my fury!"
She dove for Shifu with a roar. Shifu ducked and jumped away, rolling to land on his feet again. Aurora snarled as she thrust her staff forward, sending lightning in Shifu's direction. He leaned to the side, the bright light of the flash nearly blinding him. He came forward with his own attack, swiping his staff at Aurora's feet. She jumped to avoid it, swinging her staff towards Shifu's head. The two of them sent blow after blow, and they both managed to block and retaliate. The storm got worse as they fought; the black clouds seemed to be drawn towards the presence of such an intense battle. Lighting flashed. Thunder boomed so loud that if Shifu had been paying attention, his ears would be ringing.
Ren put her hands to her mouth, horrified by the storm and the distant sounds of battle. "Shouldn't we go up there?"
"We can't interrupt." Dong said. "It's too dangerous."
"To hell with that!" Ren snapped. Dong cringed at his daughter's harsh words. "I won't lose my family after I just got it back!"
"Ren, I understand your concern." Chao said. "But this isn't just about Siren or Anuli or any of that." He looked towards the battle. "This is something only Shifu can do."
Aurora launched a fireball towards Shifu. He bent backwards to avoid it, but the flames singed his fur. He sent his strongest chi attack, sending Aurora tumbling across the ground. The sorceress was quick to dig her claws into the ground to avoid being thrown off the balcony. She stood up, breathing heavily.
"Stop this now, Aurora." Shifu ordered. "We can talk about this, can't we?"
"Talking won't fix anything." Aurora growled.
"And this will?" Shifu demanded.
"Yes!" Aurora roared. The top of her staff suddenly caught fire as she swung it around. The streaks of fire weaved and grew until a dragon formed from the flames. Shifu turned and ran as the dragon blew fire in his direction. Shifu felt the heat from the blast as he rolled away. He pushed himself to his feet and stood ready, though a little unsure of how to battle a beast made of fire. Aurora stood behind the beast, using her staff to control the beast. Shifu found himself running again as more fire was blown. He spied the door across the balcony and ran to it.
Aurora narrowed her eyes and moved the dragon towards Shifu. With waves of her paws, the dragon struck the stone above the door. The rocks caved in and fell; and Shifu disappeared from sight. Aurora smiled and lowered her arms. The fire dragon disappeared.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Shifu tackled Aurora from behind. The two of them tumbled head over tail before Shifu managed to pin Aurora face down on the floor.
"Now will you listen to me?" Shifu asked.
Aurora growled. She slammed her fist into the floor and a rock spire burst from the ground, slamming into Shifu's face and knocking him aside. He painfully sat up and held his sore nose, glaring. Aurora came forward with another attack, but Shifu decided different. When she jutted her staff forward, he dodged the attack and ran forward to grab the staff.
"Enough already!" Shifu snapped. He yanked the staff from Aurora's paws and smashed the orbed end on the ground. Aurora stood there, slack-jawed, staring at her broken staff. She turned to Shifu with that same gaze.
"What was that for?" She demanded.
Shifu face-palmed. "Aurora, you need to listen to me very closely."
"I told you talking won't help!" Aurora snapped. She aimed a punch, but Shifu twisted her arm around and sent her to the ground. He put a foot on her stomach to prevent her from getting up.
"You don't have to talk; just listen." Shifu said. Aurora opened her mouth, but Shifu beat her to it. "I did write to you. I was waiting for you to write to me so we'd have something to talk about. But you know what? Not a single letter came. No word from you whatsoever. I wrote to you instead; I wrote for weeks on end. Not a single word or reply came back. I didn't stop writing until after you attacked me." He showed her the scar on his arm. "I didn't stop until after you gave me this. After that, I thought you hated me, so I stopped writing. But never once did I not think about you." He kept a hard stare with Aurora for a while before he sighed and took his foot off the panther's stomach. Aurora sat up, but she didn't attack. "It's not like I could've come and found you. You never told me where the academy was. I didn't know where to start. But I considered going to search, but Oogway reminded me that I couldn't run around like a crazy person."
"You are a crazy person." Aurora joked in a soft voice.
Shifu chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am. Many would agree, if they knew I had fallen in love with a sorceress."
Aurora laughed a little, but she stopped. "You….loved me?"
"Of course." Shifu nodded. "When you helped us get home when we fell into the river, I was amazed by how…..different you were from the other girls I had met."
"Different how?" Aurora asked.
"For one thing, you never giggled." Shifu noted. "Something I always found a little annoying."
Aurora laughed, covering her mouth.
"See? No giggling." Shifu smiled. "From the moment I met you, I knew there was something about you I liked. I didn't care if you were a sorceress or not. I knew I wanted to be with you." He paused, then cautiously reached out and took Aurora's hand in his. Before his eyes, the sorceress began to change. She shrunk considerably in size. Her black fur turned light brown and white. Her clothes and eyes stayed the same, but she had unconsciously transformed from a panther to a red panda. Shifu knelt next to her, giving her small paw a squeeze.
"I don't know what happened when we lost contact." Shifu continued. "Furthermore, I don't care. I only ask that you forgive me. Forgive me for anything I had done to you and anything you think I have done to you. I only want to let go of the past and look to the future. A future with you."
Aurora stared at the ground, her ears drooping.
"Aura, please." Shifu asked.
Aurora's ears perked and she turned to look Shifu dead in the eyes. "What did you call me?"
"Aura." Shifu repeated. "You know? The nickname I gave you because—"
"You said 'Aurora' sounded too formal." Aurora finished. "You said that you wanted to give me a name that was special for the both of us. It was pretty much the only thing you ever called me because you thought pet names were degrading." She sighed. "You haven't called me 'Aura' in years."
Shifu shrugged. "I haven't seen you in years."
Aurora averted her eyes, fighting back the tears. Shifu gently turned her head to look at him.
"Never once in my life did I forget about you." Shifu promised. "All I want now is for you to come home; with me, and with my family."
Aurora smiled a little. She gently touched his cheek before pulling him into a hug. "I want to. I want to go home so badly."
Shifu smiled. He stood up, pulling Aurora to her feet. "Then come on. Everyone's waiting." Aurora didn't move. She stared at Shifu with solemn eyes. Shifu's eyebrows knit together in concern. "Are you alright?"
"You have to get out of here." Aurora ordered. She jerked her head towards the stairs. "Get down those steps as fast as your feet can carry you and then get as far away from this mountain as possible."
"Why?" Shifu asked.
"There's about to be a landslide." Aurora warned. "Get out now."
"Come with me." Shifu said.
Aurora shook her head sadly. "I can't."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's gone too far. You know there's someone else involved, right? We both had plans; plans that would've worked perfectly. But we can't go through with them now. I've gone too far." Aurora stepped back and picked up her broken scepter. She twirled it a couple times before stabbing it into the ground. "I'm going to end this now."
"Aura, what are you doing?" Shifu demanded.
"You have to go." Aurora ordered. "Before the castle collapses. Then you have my headmistress to deal with. Negotiate with her, and everything will work out." Aurora raised he hands to the sky. Lightning bolts came crashing down. The strings of electricity came to the earth, turning the balcony into an electric death trap. Shifu realized with horror that they were all moving towards Aurora's staff.
"Are you insane?" he shouted. "Get out of there!" Aurora wouldn't listen. She continued to stay in that same spot, muttering spells under her breath. The lightning bolts struck the castle's connection to the mountain. The castle groaned as it started to fall. Shifu struggled to stay standing as the ground beneath his feet shook violently. Nonetheless, he was able to push himself into a run. He darted towards Aurora as the lightning got closer and closer to her. Shifu gave one last burst and full-out tackled Aurora to the ground. A collection of lightning bolts struck the spot they were just in.
Aurora sat up quickly, panting. "Are you crazy?"
Shifu coughed, slightly singed from the blast. "Yep."
Aurora rolled her eyes. Then, the castle finally gave away. Shifu pulled Aurora to her feet and ran towards the wall. They fought to run faster until they reached the ledge. Shifu jumped, pulling Aurora along with him. He somehow managed to hook Oogway's staff around a branch jutting from the rock and hung on, keeping a strong grip on Aurora with his other hand. He watched with awe as the giant black castle went crashing down, sending Junjie, Dong, Chao, Shen, and Ren running for their lives.
"Are you alright?" Shifu asked Aurora. "Aura?" He looked down and saw the red panda woman had gone unconscious, most likely from hitting her head on the mountain. "Great. Alright, don't panic, Shifu, don't panic. It could be worse, right?"
The branch started to snap.
"Of course." Shifu groaned.
He braced himself as the branch broke completely. He pulled Aurora into his arms and turned to take the impact of the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping it wouldn't hurt too much when he hit the cold, hard rocks.
Suddenly, pain shot through his shoulders. He felt his momentum come to an abrupt halt. He opened his eyes and saw he and Aurora were smoothly gliding to the ground. He looked and saw a pair of metal talons gripping his shoulders.
Shen gently set the red pandas down before landing himself. He turned as the master stood. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." Shifu nodded, picking up Aurora bridal style. "Thank you."
Shen smiled and bowed. He eyed the red panda woman curiously. "Who's that?"
"Aurora." Shifu said. Shen raised an eyebrow. "I'll explain later." Shifu said. Aurora groaned and brought a paw to her head.
"Ouch." She grumbled. Shifu gently set her down as the rest of the group ran to catch up with them. Shifu explained to everyone what had happened, and there was a mix of shock and awe.
"So, you're not gonna kill us?" Junjie asked Aurora.
Aurora laughed good-heartedly. "No, I'm not gonna kill ya."
"Good." Dong smiled. "Then perhaps you can help us with something."
Aurora bowed to her teacher. "What is your wish, oh wise teacher?"
Dong smirked and pointed to the mountain. "Siren and Anuli. How do we change them back?"
Aurora's smiled disappeared. "I'm not fully sure. I never read anything about how to change them back."
"Then how did you get them to snap?" Ren asked.
Aurora looked ashamed. "I used their worst fears; I said things to them that would make them angry enough to let the beasts come forth. For Anuli, it was the fact that her parents were killed by the rouge shadow; she doesn't have a family anymore. For Siren, it was the fact that she would never be loved because she was a demon, a freak."
"But that's not true." Chao said.
"I know." Aurora said. "But I had to say that to get the beasts to come out. I never thought I'd lose control of them."
"Then we have to convince the girls that they do have a family and are loved." Dong said. "Maybe then the beasts will calm down and we can get them back."
Shifu suddenly remembered the dream he had. The normal fox and raven that went demonic; Junjie and Shen talking to the beasts until they were calm…..
"Junjie and Shen." Shifu turned to the pair. "You have to do it."
"Why them?" Ren demanded.
"I had a dream about it." Shifu said simply. He turned his attention to the peacock and fox. "Junjie, you said you wanted to be a father for Anuli, right? Tell her that. Let her know that you want to take care of her and be her family. All of us will be her family."
Junjie smiled and nodded. "I'll do what I can."
"I'll come with you." Aurora offered. "I'll bet you anything she went after my rouge shadow. I can track her."
"Go, quickly." Dong urged. Junjie and Aurora nodded as the pair took off into the forest.
"What about Siren?" Chao asked.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that will be Shen's job." Shifu said. He looked towards Shen. "I know you and Siren must've developed feelings for each other. And I'm sure that you can relate to the whole, 'pale demon' thing." Shen looked down scornfully. Shifu gazed up at the mountain. "You and I are going up there and we're going to bring Siren back." Shen nodded, bowing. Shifu looked to the rest of the group. "Stay down here. We'll be back soon."
"Master, is this a good idea?" Tigress asked, traces of concern in her voice.
Shifu didn't answer at first. Was this a good idea? What if it went wrong? If they couldn't bring Anuli and Siren back, did they just leave them here? And then they had two more problems: the Jade Palace and Aurora's headmistress, wherever she is.
"We don't have much more of a choice." Shen said. He turned to Chao and Ren and bowed. "I promise I'll bring your daughter back, safe and sound."
Ren looked worriedly up at the mountain, its tip concealed in black clouds. Chao put a comforting arm around her. "Please hurry." He said.
Shen nodded. He and Shifu took off for the mountain, praying that they weren't too late.
A/N: Reviews are lacking again! I hate to sound like I'm complaining, but I'd love to hear your guys' feedback!