A/N: hey y'all. Life got pretty crazy there, so apologies for the late post.

Enjoy!

OoOoOoO

Again, they were in the trees.

The sun bore through the leaves, but they did nothing to quell the heat that had decided to return to China late in the season. Tigress remained poised, muscles aching, and beads of sweat rolling through her fur.

She didn't dare move. The caravan of food rumbling through the pass was being lead by the best of the best. Those wolves could smell her breath if she sighed hard enough.

Through the trees, she could just make out Viper, who had wound herself around the branch, hanging from it as she watched for the carts.

Crane had told them that the caravan was five carts long, and moving much quicker through the Ghan Pass than originally planned. They left early in the morning, arriving just in time to lie in wait.

The amount of guards watching the food was quite impressive. At least fifteen of the biggest wolves she had ever seen. Tigress held her breath, hoping Shifu's psychotic plan would work.

To get through to the Imperial city, they had to pass through a rocky gorge, and the woods nearby was where she was now hiding. She waited as the first cart made it through.

Tigress gave it a second, and then jumped lightly down from the tree. She snapped a large branch as she did so.

Here came the tricky part. Moving to the edge of the rock walls, where the rock could shift at any moment, she had to remind herself that falling in would only bring trouble. She rammed the stick as hard as she could into a fissure in the rock. Then, she leapt up, and used all of her strength to jam the log deep into the rock. There was a satisfying crack, and she skittered out of the way as the entire face of the gorge began sinking downward.

It, surprisingly, worked. The first cart was effectively separated from the rest.

"We aren't safe here." She heard a wolf call. She had just barely made it to the treeline, panting.

"Move onto the city. Let them know we had to find another route."

"Yes sir."

She waited, waited, breath hitching, until the sounds of the first cart only briefly echoed in the distance.

Now.

Tigress and Viper jumped from their hiding spots, landing in the gorge before the wolves could even react. They had taken four out before Po and Monkey arrived.

It was nice, having him fighting at her back. There was a reassurance to his presence, a calmness when he was around. She didn't feel like she was losing control when he was fighting with her.

Dealing with the wolves was easy with the four of them. In no time, bodies of unconscious canines littered the ground around them.

"We'll need to get a group out here to collect all of this food." Monkey said, picking up a melon from one of the carts and marveling at it.

One entire cart was filled with nothing but sacks of rice. Vegetables and fruits of all kinds were piled high. Po even found some flour and sugar cane, vowing to make some kind of dessert for everyone.

It made them all hungry, all except Tigress, who watched the horizon with a skeptical eye.

"What is it?" Po came to her side.

"Nothing." She let out a deep breath. "I just hope we gave Mantis enough time."

"We did." He nodded reassuringly.

All she could do was agree.

OoOoOoO

"Bai Liang, sir."

The white wolf bared his teeth at the gorilla's nervous tone. It was like nails on a chalkboard to him. It signalled something was wrong.

"What?" He bit out, turning slowly. The throne room seemed to grow darker with his rage.

"Sir, the caravan for the festival….there was a rockslide in the gorge. Only one cart came back." the gorilla watched as Bai Liang took a deep breath, and let it out through his teeth, trying not to release his pent up rage.

"A rockslide?"

"Yes sir. The cart that made it back said that they were told to go on ahead." The ape took a breath. "We've scouted the area. The caravan and the wolves are gone."

"Did they check the cart?" The wolf muttered lowly.

"What, sir?"

"THE CART YOU IDIOT!" Bai Liang's paw flew out to grab the gorilla by the throat.

"No…" The gorilla choked out. The air was gone from his body, blackness blurring at the edge of his vision.

"Tai," Bai Liang got the attention of a younger ape standing off to the side, "check the cart for me, will you?"

"Yes sir." He nodded dutifully and went jogging out of the room.

Bai Liang smiled ruefully and turned his dark gaze to the gorilla now gasping for air.

"Ah, the exuberance of youth."

With nothing more than the flick of his paw, he snapped the ape's neck.

OoOoOoO

Mantis felt every fiber of his being telling him to run as he scurried in the shadows. The Imperial Palace was dark, and it was late. Even the wait staff had gone to bed.

He had crept out of the cart before it even reached the kitchen, and hid himself behind the water basin until everyone was gone. Now, he was looking.

Mantis' paused at a fork in the hall, looked both ways, and decided to follow the path with the most guards.

As much as he loved a challenge, that wasn't why. He figured that the more guards meant that there was more to protect. So, he weaved through legs, darted shadow to shadow, until he reached a large oak door that could only be the Emperor's study. He the wall, and waited until the white wolf himself left the room.

Seemingly unaware of the bug, the wolf moved down the hall. Mantis' snuck in just before the door could close.

"Alright, doggy, let's see what you're hiding." Mantis chuckled to himself, now alone in the study. He didn't really need to look very hard. It seemed Bai Liang had left several scrolls on his desk, all of which could be considered important.

But what caught his attention was the bookshelf, where a small scroll lay on a jewel-encrusted pillow. He crept up to it and his breath hitched.

It was in Oogway's handwriting.