Instinctual
By: Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Author's note: Well, almost at the end and it's been such a great journey. I've pretty much had one scene in this planned out since I wrote the very first chapter :D I'm pretty sure you guys will know what I'm talking about.
Short, but hey at least I got a chapter out, and I'm sure you guys are gonna' like the end of the chapter lol ;)
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Thirty-Six: No Regrets, a Dangerous and Noble Thing
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Master!" Crane swept the doors to the Hall of Heroes open with a powerful blast from his wings, "Master Shifu!"
"Crane?" Shifu appeared with Dai Li in tow, both hurrying forward with a mixture of hope and fear in their eyes, "You have news."
"The Emperor is gone," Crane stood with his chest heaving, the adrenaline and exertion of his flight catching up with him, "Po and Tigress have gone after him. Po wants us to follow."
"What direction were they headed?" Dai Li felt shame wash over him, fear mingling in and guilt and dread and anger, "If they hurt him I swear I'll-"
"Peace, Dai Li," Shifu lay a tiny paw to the wolf's forearm, "I am certain that Po and Tigress will reach them in time."
"They've already tried to assassinate the Emperor once, though," Li hung his head, paws clenched into tight fists.
"And because he failed, Ge-Ming was humiliated," the Grandmaster reassured him, "I feel he will want Xian Da Yu alive for a while yet. Now, Crane, what direction were they headed?"
"North, towards the pass," the bird answered with smoother speech, having been able to catch his breath.
"Track them from the air," Shifu nodded towards the doors, "Go to the storage rooms and find the brightly colored streamers used in celebrations. Leave us a trail to follow."
"Yes Master," Crane bowed and swept back out the door, just as swiftly as he had come.
"They have the whole family" Dai Li was shaking in his anger now, knowing that he could have prevented at least their leader's abduction had he been more vigilant, less trusting of the Emperor himself…and therein lie the real pain that he was feeling, 'Why did he not tell me something was wrong? He was acting so strangely, he had to of known…'
"Come, Dai Li," Shifu turned to gather those who were needed, "There is no time for doubt at this moment. You will protect the Emperor and his family, and we will do this by making sure Po and Tigress have all the support they need."
"Yes, Grandmaster," Li bowed deeply in submission, knowing that the elder's words held truth, "I will gather my siblings. We will start after Crane immediately."
"Talk to Dishi first," Shifu looked over their shoulders towards the pangolin, who had been eavesdropping while grinding and mixing a pile of white root to a powder with the help of Hu and Hi, "I believe that he will want to come along as well."
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"We're here," Tigress halted before the narrow canyon, closing her eyes as she scented the air, "We need to get up higher."
"What's up higher?" Po scrambled up the rock face, gaining a small ledge and pulling the tiger up after him.
"The advantage," she growled out lightly, already tackling the next section of rock, her panda following easily, "We should be able to take them by surprise, provided we can reach a higher point unseen."
"Stealth mode practice again?" Po caught up with her, now on equal footing, and wiggled his eyebrows, "Man I'm gonna' be a ninja before I know it!"
"Po, you're already the Dragon Warrior," Tigress paused, letting her head roll back, "Do you really think you need to be a ninja, too?"
"Nah," he pulled himself up another few feet, then twisted slightly to look down at her with a boyish grin, "but it sure would sound cool. I mean, think about it! The Ninja Dragon Warrior! Ha!"
"Let's just focus on saving the Emperor, his family, and China," Tigress continued her climb, smoothly moving past the delusional panda and wondering if she was still in her right mind for finding it endearing.
Po smirked at the smile the tiger was fighting to hide. He still couldn't believe his good luck that she actually returned at least part of the feelings he had for her, 'Just wish all this fighting and stuff would end so I could figure out how much she likes me back...'
At the top of the canyon, a wide ridge ran the length of the mountain's side, hiding them from the animals below who all appeared to be focused on a crudely built stage that the Emperor was standing in front of. The two warriors ducked behind an outcrop and watched, taking in the number of animals in the camp, where the royal family was emerging from a tent, and the location of Ge-Ming and the yak, Jian.
The beads were released from their box and the Empress and her brood was brought onto the stage. The crowd began to react wildly and Po and Tigress shared a concerned look, both of their faces darkening slightly with worry.
"I think," Tigress dug her claws into the stone she was peering around, "It is time to intervene."
"Already ahead of ya'!" Po shouted excitedly as he bounced over the rocks on one hand, hurtling down the hill at full speed, "Ninja Dragon Warrior downhill run!"
"Just stick with Dragon Warrior Po!" Tigress was hard pressed to keep up with the bear. The terrain was too rocky and the slope itself was full of pockets of shifting shale. If they didn't watch their footing, they'd begin to slide, "Every time you get too ambitious you-"
Right then Po's paw found one such pocket and he lost his balance, falling forward to brace himself on four paws even as he continued his descent, an embarrassed smile plastered on his reddened face. Tigress fell forward to four paws as well, shaking her head as she ran, "Never mind. This works better anyways."
Near to the bottom of the hill Tigress caught sight of the civet stepping towards the frightened chicks, felt the pull of the beads, and fought to keep herself amidst all of the conflicting emotions, needs, and wants washing over and through her. Glancing over towards Po, she laid her ears back at the annoying grin spread across his face, 'How is he excited right now? There's so much at stake!'
"Po, focus!" she called out, readying to fight her way through the crowd to save the crown prince, "We need to get to the stage now!"
"Done and done," he pulled further ahead of her, then stood with paws outstretched and reaching for her own, "Just gotta' trust me!"
"Too far!" she called, still moving towards him at full speed, her heart betraying her common sense as she readied herself for Po to do...whatever he was going to do, 'What is he going to do?'
"No way, I can totally throw you that far!" Po was ready, curling his fingers eagerly and lightly shifting his weight from paw to paw, "Ready?"
"No!" Tigress shook her head as she slipped her paws into his.
"Here we go!" he swung her up and around, in a manner that he had once before during training. The only problem, she realized on the upswing, was that the last time she didn't go nearly as far as she needed to now, "Curl up tight!"
He released her on the second upswing, and she did as he asked, curling up as tightly as she could before she dropped straight back down to his waiting paws. She fell into the crook of his arm, the length of it settling along her curved back, and as he spun one last time she flowed along in her balled form, transferring from one paw to the next just before he stepped forward and threw her as hard as he could.
She flew.
Up and over the crowd who was watching in astonishment. She uncurled lightly, noticing that Po had taken advantage of the distracted animals and was plowing through them, flinging them away and rendering most unconscious.
'He used me like a water drop,' she unfurled the rest of the way, landing with a thud on the stage directly behind Jin Tian. A wrathful snarl pulled her lips away from wickedly gleaming teeth as she blocked the civet's blow, 'But I am far more dangerous than a single drop of water.'
"What?" Ge-Ming stumbled back at the unexpected counter, nearly tripping over his own tail to get out of the reach of Tigress' large paws, "When?"
"Now," Tigress answered, sweeping out at him again to keep him off balance and away from the royal family, "Is everyone alright?"
"We...are well," Empress Xiaolian answered through the fog drawing around her, struggling to keep herself sane and her chicks safe, "Please...my chicks..."
One last spinning lash had the Indian civet tumbling over the edge of the wooden platform and far enough away at the moment, and Po was providing an excellent distraction. The tiger turned swiftly, catching each bound set of wings and slicing through the ropes easily with her claws, "We need to get you out of here, your highness. Right now."
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Crane flew, muscles pushing and pulling as he gained altitude and speed. He dared not fly too high though, lest the wind pull the ribbons he was dropping too far off course. At the ridge, the last streamer, bright red, slipped from his claws and arched gently towards the ground. He paused a moment, silently sending out a prayer for safety, then crested the rock and viewed chaos before him, 'Guess Po and Tigress made it here.'
He dove, cutting is way through a swath of other birds that had just taken notice of his approach, and forcing many to fall to the earth with the wind he had created in his wake. Many would not be flying again any time soon.
Po's form stood out clearly, and that was his original aim until he realized the panda fought alone and was shooting worried glances towards a stage where Tigress could be seen freeing the royals and wearily herding them away from an advancing yak at the same time.
"Crane!" Po cried as he caught sight of his friend, "Go help her!"
"Already on it," he completed a graceful roll midair, losing even more of the birds that had been tailing him, then shot towards the stage to land in the torn up earth before it. A powerful sweep of his wings lifted dust and dirt, clouding the air and hiding all from sight, "Tigress! This way!"
"Get them out of here," Tigress pushed the chicks towards Crane, the two adult cranes hot on their heels, "Emperor, Empress stay with Crane. We'll take care of the beads."
The sound of the box's lid slamming shut startled everyone momentarily, the clap causing their ears to ring. As the dust cleared, Po stood leaning casually against the box and it's stand, trying to keep the smile off of his face and failing miserably, "Ya' mean, these beads?"
"No!" Ge-Ming roared as he gained the stage gain, striking at Po's feet and causing the bear to dance backwards, bead box in hand. "You will not ruin this!"
"I can," Po took one last step back, then tucked the box under his arm and got ready to rumble, "And I will."
"Let's go," Crane turned, leading his charges away from the impending fight.
"You will not," Jian cut in, the wooden slats that were so crudely nailed together buckling lightly under his weight.
"Maybe not by himself," Tigress snorted, readying herself as well and keeping an eye on both Po and the yak, "but the two of us together are pretty much unstoppable."
"That's what I like to hear," Po grinned cheekily, rocking lightly from side to side, "Let's do this."
"Let's," Ge-Ming returned the panda's steady gaze, then rushed forward, knocking the box from his paws and scattering the Beads once more.
Chaos reigned again. Crane scrambled to lead the others further away as the fighting between all manner of creatures intensified. The field was a nightmare as friends turned into enemies simply because of their species.
Tigress led the dance between the four, weaving between Po's hits to block and kick, keeping the brunt of Jian's strikes away from the bear, even as Po smoothly kept himself between the two cats, and kept Tigress' legs safe from Ge-Ming's claws.
There was nothing to be done about the Yexing Beads now, and even as instinct tried to pull reason over sanity's edge, Tigress caught herself thinking more about her art and keeping her partner safe than about rolling forward onto her paw and just being a tiger, 'The training was well worth any pain or challenge if this is the result.'
As Tigress kicked up to deflect Jian's club, Po took advantage of the situation and ducked low between the fighters, coming up just as her leg came down and striking the yak's chin with amazing force.
Jian was stunned for just a moment, coming to one knee as the three continued just beside him. He had been hit, and hard. He was...angry.
The club swept out and into not only his enemies, but the civet as well, throwing them well clear from the stage and straight into the mass of rolling, scratching, biting animals, "Enough of this!"
Gaining his feet some twenty feet from the stage, Po stood and watched with relief as Tigress smoothly rolled to her feet as well, all the while keeping close watch on the smaller animals backing away from them.
"Dragon Warrior!" the Yao's voiced boomed, rolling like thunder over all those present, "You seem to have something different about you today."
"I dunno'," Po shrugged, awkwardly looking down at his belly, then twisting to try and look at his own butt, "I guess I lost a little weight, huh?"
"I don't think that's what he meant," Tigress replied dryly, sending an opportunistic badger flying with the back of her paw.
"Fight me, Dragon Warrior!" Jian leapt forward, scattering those around him and causing a sudden rush towards the warriors. The widening gap around the pair suddenly shrunk again, and Po and Tigress found themselves fending off all manner of smaller, and crazed, beasts.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Li," his brothers and sisters stood at his side, Mei putting a gentle paw on his shoulder, "We will get to them in time. I have no doubt of that."
"A shame that Master Viper wasn't able to get us through that tunnel," Song tested his bow's string, plucking it with a single claw and letting it sing, "Clever of them to fill it in behind them."
"Clever, sure," Dishi joined them, looking back over his shoulder at the town they were leaving in the soilders' care, "but I've got some rather clever things up my sleeve too..."
With a wide grin, the pangolin moved past them, heading towards Grandmaster Shifu and the other Jade Palace Masters at the lead of their party.
"What do you think he's up to?" Chung wrinkled her nose at the odd scent left in the Master Assassin's wake.
"Dunno'," Zhou grinned wickedly, "but I bet we'll find out soon enough."
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Po glanced between the waiting yak and the tiger beside him, who was currently occupied by a group of dhole, running in to snap at her, then dart away. The last fight he'd had with Jian hadn't exactly ended well, and though the panda felt far more confident about this meeting, there was one thing he had to do. One thing he had to make happen before he went to face his possible defeat.
If he was gonna' die, then he was gonna' die with no regrets.
"Hey, Tigress," he knocked out a small weasel, grabbed Tigress' shoulder, and spun her to face him, their muzzles crashing into one another's in his clumsy approximation of a kiss. He darted away, goofy grin on his face as the tiger stood stunned and gaping, then backhanded a dhole in her haze, "See ya'!"
Her thoughts had ground to a halt before flinging themselves forward again at a thousand miles an hour, mind going into overdrive, 'That was...'
"You...you rotten, cheeky panda!" she stood shaking, yelling across the mess and noise and chaos, a small circle forming around her as wary animals circled away from her building ire, "that is not how my first kiss was supposed to be!"
"Make it up to you later then if I don't die!"
"If the yak doesn't kill you," she let the threat trail off, watching him tumble and dodge his way through the fighting, "And you had better not die!"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.