Kung Fu Wolf: Rising of the Moon

Chapter Eight: It's good to be back.

Hiro's P.O.V.

The sun was rising, and I was the first one up.

For some strange reason, no matter how late I stay up the previous night, I always wake up just before sunrise. Makes my late night thinking a pain the next morning.

I wanted to take a few minutes, while it was still quiet, to think of our next plan of action. Going through the Migong Canyon, while a dangerous plan, saved us the two and a half days we would have lost taking the northern roads around the canyon. Next, we're going to have to find some decent food, a few supplies, and a doctor to look at Tigress's leg.

I think I know just the place. And if everyone starts waking up, we'll be there late this afternoon.

I saw some movement out the corner of my eye, I turned to see Tigress stirring. Looks like she's gonna wake up soon.

I couldn't help but smile as I watched her, it seems that this would be the only time you would see her look so peaceful. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she lifted herself up to a sitting position with a small yawn. She then turned her head at me slightly once she noticed me staring at her.

"Morning." She said, and brought herself to her feet. She then lifted her arms above her head and stretched the stiffness out of her body.

"Morning." I replied. Once she finished stretching, she walked over and sat down next to me. "How's your leg feeling?" I asked, nodding at her injured leg.

She smiled. "Honestly, I had forgotten about it entirely until you mentioned it."

"Oh, sorry." Maybe I should've kept quiet about it.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt at all. You did such a good job tending my leg that I forgot I injured it in the first place."

I smiled at her praise. "Glad I could help."

"One thing I don't understand though." I lifted my eyebrow, and waited for her to explain what she didn't understand. "You said you got kicked out of the hospital where you said you were learning some medical techniques, right?" I quietly nodded. "So where did you learn first aid?"

"A few years ago I had my third apprenticeship under a chef, not the same chef three times by the way, and his wife happened to be a doctor. So I learned a few tricks there."

Tigress nodded, but then got a look of confusion. "So… why did you get kicked out of the hospital anyway?"

I chuckled a little at the memory. " I wouldn't call it being kicked out, more like chased out." She lifted her eyebrow. "I, uh… used a bunch of bandages to dress myself up as a mummy, almost gave a couple of people heart attacks, naturally none of the doctors were happy." Tigress was shaking, doing her best not to laugh.

"Why?" She asked through her giggles.

"I was trying to get some laughs out of everyone. People there were sick and hurt, so I thought I'd lighten the mood… plus it was funny as hell." The images of the doctors chasing me out ran through my head, it brought a smile to my face.

We both sat there, watching the sun steadily rise over the horizon, I began to debate with myself on wether or not we should wake the others, and how to do it. Doing it nicely was the first thing that came to mind, but it wouldn't be very entertaining. Doing something loud came next, it would probably wake everyone at the same time, but then I really don't feel like dealing with anyone's bad attitude today.

What to do? What to do?

"So what's the plan for today?"

Tigress looked at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.

I nodded over at the road, that was not far from our camp. "We take that road and we'll arrive at a town in about six hours or so."

She slowly nodded. "You know that town?"

"Very well." I answered. "It was the same place I learned carpentry. We'll get a nice welcome there, they're good people." I looked behind us and noticed no one was looking like they were getting up anytime soon. "I would really like us to get moving soon, but it might not happen for a while."

Instead of saying anything, Tigress brought her forefinger and thumb to her mouth and let out an ear piercing whistle.

I was pretty sure I mentioned that wolves have sensitive ears, but either Tigress didn't hear me or she forgot. Either way, it hurt. I clapped my hands over my ears, but the damage had already been done.

Her eyes widened at the collateral damage she had just caused as everyone jumped awake. "Oops. Sorry Hiro." She really did look sorry, I couldn't stay mad. It wasn't that bad anyway, I could still hear, so no harm done.

"Just warn me next time you're gonna do that." I said as my ears started to ring.

"What's going on man?" Shu Lan asked rubbing her eyes.

"We're moving out. Let's go." Tigress said, and she made her way to the road. I snapped my fingers next to my ears to make double sure that everything was still working up there as I followed her.

Like I said back at the Jade palace… sensitive ears can be a disadvantage.

Tigress's P.O.V. Five hours later.

The walk for the past five hours was unusually quiet. Even Chin hasn't spoken, not since his last altercation with Hiro. The memory of the incident brought a small smile to my face. However, at this point the silence was starting to be uncomfortable. And I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"So Marcus, what's your story?" Monkey asked.

At least someone decided to break the silence, I just hope this isn't another question that shouldn't have been asked, like when Mantis asked Hiro about his time in the orphanage the other day. Mantis may be a great master, but he has almost no tact.

"My story? What do you mean?" Marcus asked.

"you know, what happened to you before you came to China, where you're from… that sort of story." Mantis clarified. I must admit I'm a little curious about him myself.

"Well, like I said before, I was from a land far away. The place is mostly jungle, the kind of place you don't really see around here." We all had our attention locked on Marcus, a lot of us from the Jade Palace, although I can't speak for Hiro, liked to hear about tales about lands beyond China's borders. "I lived with my family in a city made of stone, wood and gold, my mother was the high priestess of the healing temple. Everyone, everywhere in the Republic would come on down to see my mother when they were ill."

"The Republic? What's that?" I heard Hiro ask. Good question.

Marcus looked back at the wolf. "It's our government, The United Jungle Republic. We all used to keep to ourselves a long time ago, dozens of different species living within their own…" He paused, most likely looking for the right way to say what he meant. "... Tribes, I suppose would be the word I guess. Then one day the leaders from each tribe got together and decided it would be best if we all joined forces, and thats the Republic was formed."

"So why'd you leave?" Hiro asked. Marcus slowed to a stop. His face became masked by sorrow. "If you don't want to say, you don't have to." Hiro said quickly. It's good to know that now there is another guy in our group who know a little about consideration.

"Naw, it's okay." He took a deep breath. I'm beginning to guess that this might be a sore subject for Marcus. "My home was destroyed in the war."

No one spoke. I groaned inwardly, this was just like when we asked Hiro about his past. I'm starting to think the the men of the Jade Palace have a bad habit of asking questions they shouldn't.

"You see, what had happened, about ten… twelve years ago, a neighboring nation decided that they were going invade us. So they did, the first attack came without warning. We barely had enough time to rally our defenses."

Hiro then asked the question we all were thinking. "Why?"

Marcus shook his head and sighed. "No idea. They never gave us a reason as to why they wanted to attack us. Maybe it was 'cause they wanted the land, maybe they wanted the gold they thought lay beneath our city, who knows."

"Was there any gold?" KIra Ni asked. One of these days her love of gold is going to get her into a lot of trouble.

"If there was, we never found any." Marcus answered her before getting back to his story. "Anyways, whenever they attacked us they'd have to try to get over the wall and believe me that was no easy task. The wall surrounding the city was around fifty feet thick and three times as high. But they kept on coming, and this went on for ten years."

Ten!? Yikes.

"Did you fight?" Di Foon asked.

He nodded slowly. "For the last three years, I did. I was a member of an elite group called the ShadowKnights. We were the 'last resort' squad. Only sent in when we were needed." I like them already. Actually I would have liked to meet these warriors.

"Unfortunately, the invaders managed to break through the wall. Once they got through we didn't stand a chance. I tried to get home to help my family evacuate, but I was hit by an arrow in my shoulder, I passed out for a while after that." He brought his hand up to his left shoulder and started rubbing at a single spot. I guess that's where he got hit.

"Then what?" Monkey asked. Everyone was anxious to find out how the story ended. I only wished it had a happier ending.

"When I came to, the city had burned to the ground. I rushed to my home hoping that maybe my family would be alright. When I got there, my home had burnt down, there were charred bones in front of the rubble that was once my home. I was overrun with grief at the loss of… everything. Then, I heard some rustling somewhere beneath the rubble that surprisingly hadn't burned, I started sifting through the wood and found my baby sister. So I took her away from the war torn lands and promised her that I'd protect her always."

There was a loud sniffling sound behind me. Everyone was crying over Marcus's sad tale. I'll admit if i could cry, I would have. Hiro walked up to Marcus, the fur on his face matted down with tears, and put a hand on the panthers shoulder. "I promise you friend, we're gonna do everything we can to get your sister back."

Hiro's promise seemed to bring a smile to Marcus's face. "Thank you Master Hiro, you're good people."

Yes, he is.

"C'mon, we're almost there." Hiro started walking again.

Hiro's P.O.V.

"Hiro! Good to see ya again, m'boy!"

My old carpentry master embraced me like a long lost son. "Good to see you to Mr. Xian Du. How've you been? Still busy?" I asked. Being the only master carpenter in the village he often gets a lot of requests for repairs, and home building so he's almost always busy. When I was learning from the old pig, he brought me along and I helped him out. His style of teaching was 'learn by doing'.

"Hey honey, come out here! Look who's back!" Mr. Xian Du yelled, and a middle aged pig lady came out, and when she saw me, she cleared the distance between us and put me in a death grip bear hug.

"Oh Hiro, it's so good to see you again!" Mrs. Xian Du has always been a good person to me. She was never able to have children of her own, so she and her husband had treated me as their own child. And I was more than happy to treat them like they were my parents.

Good people. Enough said,

"Good to be back Mrs. Xian Du. How have both been?" I asked. I haven't seen either of them in years, so naturally I wanted to know what was new.

"Oh, things have been exactly the same as it was since you left. But I don't think I could say the same about you, Master Hiro.' She put a little extra emphasis on the word master.

"Congratulations by the way kiddo." Mr. Xian Du said. Kiddo was a little nickname he had for me back when I was learning under him. "Now why don't you introduce us to your friends over there."

Well damn, I almost forgot about them.

Better not let them know that.

I introduced the group of masters to the old couple. And I could tell Mr. and Mrs. Xian Du liked them already.

While they were talking, I took a moment to take in the sights. A flood of memories came rushing back. I was only thirteen when I first got here and I only stayed three to four months, but they were a good three to four months. This is the first place I learned to create something. This is where I learned to fix what was broken.

And it was here that I learned how kind people can be.

"Must be nice."

I looked to the side to see Tigress standing next to me. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Its great. I missed this place."

She smiled. "So this is where you learned to be a carpenter huh?" She asked me. I nodded. "Your old carpentry master seems like a nice person."

I chuckled a little at the good times I spent here as Mr. Xian Du's apprentice. "Oh yes, he was a great teacher, caring, patient. A good man." Then a thought came to me. "Would you like a tour?"

She smiled big for a second and then tried to hide it. "Sure, why not?"

I nodded, and turned to the others. "How about it, you all up for a tour?" I asked.

Viper spoke a little too quickly. "Oh it's okay, you two run along. We're going to look for a hotel." She had on that extra sweet smile that gave me the feeling that something was up. Monkey took a half step forward. "Sure I'd like a tour- Gack!"

Vipers tail wrapped around Monkeys neck and she said softly yet sternly in his ear, "No… we're looking for a hotel." She then turned her attention to me and Tigress. "You two go on, we'll meet up with you later." And she gave a wink to Tigress.

Okay now I know something is up.

But I shrugged it off thinking I'd worry about it later.

"Okay then, let's go then." I headed off to the villages marketplace with Tigress walking close next to me. I may not know what was going through Vipers head, but at least it got me alone with Tigress.

Thank you my reptilian sister.

No one's P.O.V.

In the middle of a old ruined temple that had once been the home of the old Shaolin monks, a hoard of armored men gathered, celebrating their most recent act of villainy. The group that was know as The Bandit Brigade divided their most recent plunder amongst themselves. A short rat with a battle axe slung across his back stepped up to one lone warrior who observed his underlings, as they argued and fought on who would get certain treasures.

"Another profitable day, eh boss?" The rat said, looking up at his leader.

Zhou Feng Gu, a tall, thin mountain cat, had once been a captain of the imperial forces, the soldiers who served under him said they would follow him into hell because of his courage. But when they felt that they were betrayed by the Emperor, their loyalty remained with their captain.

"Yes Fong, soon we will have enough gold to buy an army to rule this country. Soon we will have our revenge on the bastard who abandoned us and left us for dead." A cruel smile came to the rat's face.

"Oh, I can't wait for that day to come boss.'

Zhou Feng Gu swept his gaze over all the ill gotten treasure that had filled the once sacred halls. "Is all this gold from the raid on the trade line between China and Japan?"

Fong nodded. "Yes boss, some is even from one of the refugee ships that tried to get away from us." He laughed cruelly.

"One of the ships?" Zhou asked.

Fong knew that tone his leader was using; he was not happy.

Fear suddenly gripped the rat. "Uhhhh…. Yes?"

"So another ship got away then?" Zhou asked. Fong started to shake.

"We- we can make for it boss. In fact I heard about a chest full of gems going through the south that would put us ahead of schedule."

Zhou looked down at the terrified rat. "Oh Fong, it's not about the money… it's about doing a job right the first time."

Fong began to break out in a cold sweat. "Yes, you're absolutely right. I am deeply sorry for my incompetence. Please forgive me boss."

"Very well." Zhou pulled the sword from the sheath at his hip, and severed the rat's head from his shoulders. Fong's head rolled into the crowd of men who jumped away at the head of their fallen comrade.

"All is forgiven." He said nonchalantly.

Zhou snapped his fingers and a pair of his soldiers came up to remove the rat's corpse from his sight.

"Bao Zhi!"

A muscular water buffalo walked up to his captain. "Yes sir?"

"Go to the southern villages and find these gems Fong spoke of."

Bao Zhi bowed to the mountain cat and he, and two dozen other soldiers left to follow their leader's command.

Zhou looked down at the pool of blood where Fong's corpse had been.

"At least he proved himself useful to me on last time."

A/N Hey I'm back! Story's getting more interesting huh? Ok then, you guys know what to do, I'm hoping for a ton of reviews for this one.

Also I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Calvin For coming up with the voice cast for the OC's of the story. Great choices, loved it dude!

Well that's all I got… take it easy.