Kung fu Wolf: Rising of the Moon

Chapter Nine: A fatal flaw

Viper's P.O.V.

"I swear Mantis, you start complaining one more time…" I growled as we walked (in my case, slithered) down the road looking for a hotel. Mantis spent the last couple of minutes complaining about the fact that the rest of us didn't follow Hiro and Tigress for the tour of the town.

"I just don't get why we couldn't go on the tou- gak!" That was all he managed to say before my tail wrapped around his tiny body. I warned him.

"I just want to find the hotel, and hopefully get a decent night's sleep." I said, which was mostly a lie. At least three quarters of it was. Mostly, I wanted to give Tigress some alone time with Hiro. For her to realize that she might be in love with someone was like Monkey and Mantis growing up; absolutely improbable. Possible but very unlikely.

I just hope Tigress doesn't mess this up. She might be a great master, but she is very inexperienced when it came to matters of romance. She seemed relieved when I told her she could try to win Hiro over at a pace she was comfortable with. She still seemed nervous about the whole thing though. During our talk last night I told her I would held her along the way, but for the most part, she was on her own.

I wonder how things are going with those two right now.

Hiro's P.O.V.

"How's your leg feeling?" I asked Tigress while we were walking around.

She sighed and said. "Hiro this is the seventh time you've asked me that question and this is the seventh, and last, time I'm going to answer; my leg is fine. Now please stop asking." I chuckled a little.

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure. The caves in the Migong Canyon isn't exactly the best place to get hurt, especially if you don't know your way out."

She gave me another one of her rare smiles. "Well, then I suppose it was a good thing we had you with us then, isn't it?" She paused for a second. "Did you ever get hurt in that cave?" She then asked.

I frowned a little at one of my most painful trips through the canyon. "Yes, it was my second round through the canyon. In fact, I could still smell my own blood when we went through the caves." Tigress raised her eyebrows at what I said.

"What happened the second time you went through the canyon?" She asked, sounding curious.

I chuckled again. "Uhhh, well the second time I went through the canyon I forgot any thing to use for torches, so I tried to get through the canyon by memory. Needless to say, I had more than a few holes poked in me before I got out."

"Wow, how bad was it?" She asked.

"Well, I decided to go through slowly, so I survived. If I had rushed I most likely would have impaled myself." I said, waving at a few old friends of mine.

"Glad that didn't happen. I doubt we would have made it through the canyon." She said. I noticed as she walked she had a slight limp to her step. I think I just decided on where I'm going to take her first on this little tour.

We had a little time left before we got there so I kept the conversation going. "If I hadn't been there, would you have even taken the Migong path?"

She giggled a little. Gods above, she has a cute laugh. Kinda wish she would laugh more often, a smile looks better on her face than a scowl. "Probably not, I think we would have gone on a more safer route." She paused, her smile faded. I lost my grin myself. Seeing her unhappy like this… it's something I don't like seeing. "But now that I think about it, I don't think we would have had the chance. Without you, who would've beaten Tai Lung? I couldn't do it, none of the Five could do it, not even Master Shifu could do it."

I said nothing, suddenly I couldn't stop thinking about what might have happened if I wasn't there. I know Tai Lung would have never been able to understand the secret of the Dragon Scroll, so would he have destroyed everyone and everything out of pure rage? I definitely wouldn't want to find out.

"We would've been lost without you Hiro, I'm so glad you didn't listen to me that night." That night? Which one could she be talking about. While she was on medical restriction we had a little habit of talking in the kitchen at night. She'd tell me about her life at the Jade Palace, and in return I'd tell her about my travels around China. It was really enjoyable.

"Uhhh, what night? We talk almost every night." I asked.

She nodded. "True, but I was referring to your first night at the Jade Palace. When I told you to leave." Oh, that's what she was talking about.

"You're not still beating yourself up about that, are you?" I asked. I know people make mistakes, but there's no need to dwell on them. That never solves anything. Sometimes it makes things worse.

Her frown got deeper, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was on the verge of tears. "I just can't get over how cruel I was to you, all because of some damn title." See, if it weren't for me *ahem* dropping in unexpectedly, Tigress would have been the Dragon Warrior, a couple of people thought that's how it should have been, but fate had other plans.

I sighed a little. "You really need to forgive yourself for that."

"How can I? I am a master of kung fu and yet I acted like a spoiled child that night." She exclaimed, hanging her head low, obviously ashamed for her choice of words on that night.

"Because it was the reason I stayed."

She looked at me with a seriously confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

I smiled at her. "At first I did want to leave, but what you said to me in the hallway of the barracks actually gave me the determination to stay. I get a little defiant when people try to order me around." I looked Tigress right in her eyes. "And you were no different."

She looked a little stunned. "So, if you think about it…" I continued as we made our way to our first stop. "... You are the reason I'm here now."

She smiled again at what I said, only this time there was a kind of sparkle in her eyes that almost took my breath away. "Well, like I said; I'm glad you didn't listen to me." SHe said as she kept walking. "But don't make a habit of it. Understood?" She said in a playfully stern way.

We continued on our way until we came upon the first place I wanted her to visit. It was a mid-sized building with one word written over the door.

"Doctor."

She gave me a flat look and said in a flat voice. "Seriously? This is the first place you wanted to take me?" I nodded and grabbed her by the arm as she tried to walk away.

"The tour will continue after you let the doc take a look at your leg." I stated calmly. Her eyes narrowed. I don't know if it was because she doesn't like doctors or if it's because she thinks that I don't believe her when she said her leg was fine. "Please?" I asked, giving her a pleading smile.

Tigress rolled her eyes and walked inside.

The waiting room was filled with empty chairs when we walked in. It was quiet, and honestly it made me a little uneasy. "Hello!" I called out. Behind the door leading to the examining rooms, or whatever they're called, there was a sudden commotion; clattering and a surprised voice.

I suppose they weren't expecting any visitors.

The door burst open to reveal a pretty looking mountain cat wearing a doctor's white robe. "Sorry about the wait, how can I- Hiro!?"

I smiled at my old friend. "Hello, Ming Li. How've you been?" Instead of answering me she ran up and threw her arms around me in a big, spine crushing hug.

Tigress's P.O.V.

Are you kidding me? I've spent the last thirty hours having to deal with Di Foon putting her hands on Hiro, now I have to deal with this!? I felt a growl rise in my throat, and I did my best to keep it as silent as possible.

The doctor, Ming Li I think Hiro called her, let go of Hiro and began talking a mile a minute. Saying how it's been so long, and that she's missed him so much, yadda yadda yadda.

I cleared my throat to remind them I was still here, because it seems like they forgot. The doctors attention then turned to me, and when it did she looked starstruck. "Wait a minute, are you… Master Tigress?" She asked almost breathless.

I nodded, then Hiro introduced us. "That's right, Ming Li meet Master Tigress. Tigress meet my old friend Ming Li." I gave a little bow to the doctor, who was practically shaking with excitement.

"It is an absolute honor to meet you Master Tigress. I'm actually a really big fan of yours." I raised one of my eyebrows, not really surprised. Everyone in the Furious Five had fans, of course my fans were a little bit hesitant to reveal their admiration for me. At least the men were anyway.

"Well then, I'm sure you'd be surprised that Master Tigress needs a quick check-up." Hiro said beside me. The doctor's eyes widened.

"M-m-m-master Tigress need medical attention here?" She stuttered. She looked like she was about to faint. I looked over to Hiro, who was grinning like some crazy guy.

"Its nothing serious, just a small injury. Hiro actually did a good job taking care of it last night." I said trying to downplay the whole thing. Suddenly the doctor got a sly look on her face.

"Oh, last night. Hmm?" I felt heat rush to my cheeks. This is getting out of hand. I looked over at Hiro again, and he looked like he was about to start rolling on the floor laughing.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop. Tigress got hurt going through the Migong canyon, and-" He was cut off.

"What were taking her through the Migong Canyon for!? I told you before, you're going to get yourself killed going through that deathtrap. But you don't need to bring anyone else to the spirit world with you." She said, completely unhappy with Hiro.

The grin left Hiro's face, and he started to get defensive. "Hey! I got them through the canyon just fine."

The doctor gave Hiro a flat look and said, "If that were true, then why does Master Tigress have a injury on her leg?" Ok, this has got to stop. Before they started going back and forth I spoke up.

"It was my fault." Both sets of eyes turned to me. "I wasn't looking where I was going and as a result, I was injured." That seemed to calm things down a little.

The doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Well, whatever the reason, why don't you follow me to the back so we can see what the extent of the damage is." She opened the door to the examining rooms. I nodded and made my way through the door. "You can wait out here Hiro. I don't want you anywhere near the medical supplies."

Hiro had a rather indignant look, but took a seat anyway.

We walked into a room that had the words 'room one' above the door. "Please take a seat." Doctor Ming said, gesturing over to the examination table. I did as she requested and we started with the basics; heart, lungs… you get the idea. "Ok then, everything else seems to be just fine. Now let's take a look at that leg master Tigress." I lifted my pant leg up to reveal the piece of cloth wrapped around my leg.

Doctor Ming's eyes narrowed at my leg. "Is that Hiro's bandana?" She asked.

I nodded. "It was all we had on such short notice."

Doctor Ming raised an eyebrow at me. "You had no first aid kits?" I shook my head. She sighed and started taking off the bandana. "Well, let's take a look then." The salve that Hiro made had done its job well. The wound was already starting to close, and there was no sign of infection. "You said Hiro took care of this last night?" She asked me.

I nodded. "He did a good job, huh?"

The doctor looked a little impressed and began to clean the salve off. "Honestly I never would've thought that Hiro would have any kind of medical experience after the trouble he caused in the hospital in Nanchang." I smiled, remembering the story Hiro told me earlier.

"You know about that?" I asked as the doctor started putting new salve on my leg.

She chuckled. "Everyone in the province has heard that story. Now unless he's the one who's bleeding, doctors are very hesitant to let Hiro set one foot in their hospital." She said as she started wrapping clean bandages around my leg.

"I only did it once!"

We heard the voice come the waiting room, the doctor had a look of surprise on her face. "How does he do that?" She asked.

I chuckled a little. "He has really good ears." I explained. She gave me a look that said that she didn't buy it, so to prove it I said, "Hiro, would you please stop listening in our conversation?" as if he was in the room with us.

"Then stop talking so loud!" Said Hiro from the waiting room.

Doctor Ming had finished bandaging my leg, so I got up and walked out of the room with her right behind me. "Hold on Master Tigress. I think Hiro is going to want this back." She said, holding the bandana Hiro used to treat my leg.

I took it. "Thank you. What do we owe you?" I asked as we walked into the waiting room. Hiro was sitting in the far corner from the door where the doctor and I had just walked through. He stood up once we walked in.

"You came to me for help Master Tigress, that's payment enough." She said. So I nodded my head, gave her my thanks and Hiro and I walked out the door.

Hiro's P.O.V.

We made our way through the town so I could make good on my promise to take Tigress on the tour. As we walked I wanted to ask Tigress something, but I knew if I asked she might get upset… and by 'upset' I mean 'utterly irritated'. But against my better judgment I asked anyway. "How's your leg?" She gave me a rather irritated look, like I thought she would, but then sighed and smiled at me. Honestly I wasn't expecting that.

"The doctor said that if it weren't for you, she would have had to amputate my leg." Say what!? "I'm kidding Hiro. My leg is fine. You should see your face." Well I thought she was being serious. I may not have been around the Jade palace for long but I don't normally see Tigress joking around. "By the way, here." She held out the bandana that I used as a bandage for her leg. I was about to take it from her when…

"You know what, hold onto it for me."

"Why? Don't you want it back?" She asked me.

"I want you to keep it… for luck." She gave me a strange look as if to say 'Huh?' I explained my reason. "I've noticed that if you hold onto something that helps you out, it'll bring you good luck."

I took the bandana from her and tied it around her neck, so it looked like a necklace. I thought for a second I saw her cheeks turn red, but with her orange fur I could have been mistaken. Once again, my eyes had locked with hers and I finally noticed how close we were.

Those eyes. It seems that every time I look into those eyes nothing else exists; there's no 'here', no 'now'. There are no problems that need to be fixed, no criminals that need to be put in their place. All there is… is just a sense of peace. A feeling that everything is right with the world.

Just me and her.

"Come on! Come on!"

A couple of pig children ran past us and we both got reacquainted with the real world. We stepped back away from each other, both of us blushing profusely. And this time I could see her blush, it looked like her orange fur was being dyed red.

Tigress cleared her throat, trying to compose herself. "What's going on with them?" She asked gesturing over to the younglings running towards the center of town… Which was kind of strange to be honest.

"I don't know, nothing really interesting ever happens around here. Let's check it out!" I said, hurrying to follow the pig kids. An idea popped into my head. "And once we're done with that why don't I take you to Zen Wok? It's a nice little restaurant near the middle of town."

She caught up with me, and said. "I'd like that. You're buying though." That was the plan anyway.

We got to the town center to see a group of Imperial rhino soldiers, armed and prepared for a fight. There were about ten of them and they all surrounded a… chest? A big box? Call it whatever you want. Yeah, this is unusual for this town

"You all need to step away from the area! We are authorized to use force if necessary." The soldier wearing the armor of a captain shouted to everyone. I think that this is my cue to step in.

I made my way through the crowd and faced the captain. "Whoa now, there's no need to get hostile here." After I said that seven spears were pointing right at my face. "What did I just say?"

"Who are you wolf?" The captain asked.

I made a quick and respectful bow. "I am Master Hiro, the Dragon Warrior." Shocked looks were suddenly plastered on the soldiers faces. The captain gave a nod to the ones holding spears and they stood down. Then all ten, including the captain, bowed down to me.

"Please forgive us for the misunderstanding Master Hiro. Unfortunately we can't be too careful with what we're guarding."

My gaze turned to the chest that lay in the center of the group of soldiers. "Out of sheer curiosity, what would you happen to be guarding?" I asked. The group of rhino soldiers huddled a little closer around the chest, judging by how they're acting whatever is in that box must be very valuable. The captain seemed a little reluctant to talk about it; he nervously started to look around at the crowd of people.

Maybe I ought to help him out.

I turned to the crowd and spoke in a loud voice. "Alright everyone let these guys do their job. I'm sure you all have other things to do other than stand around here." Maybe it was because of my new status as Master, or maybe it was because the people here trust me but everyone dispersed from the area without complaint. Now the only ones who were in the town center were the soldiers, Tigress and myself.

"So, what's in the chest?" Tigress asked, who was now back to her more serious self.

The group gave her a respectful bow, and the captain spoke in a low, 'keeping-a-secret' voice. "We were given orders by the Emperor to transport these imperial treasures from the Bao Ding vaults, back to the imperial city." Whoa, I've heard of the Bao Ding vaults, it's like Chor Ghom prison, but with treasure. And a single piece of the treasure that are said to dwell within the vaults are said to be a king's ransom. Which made me think…

"A little underpowered are we?"

Think about it. A box full of priceless imperial treasure and only ten soldiers guarding it? Seems like easy pickings to me.

"We thought the same thing, but we don't question our orders." The captain stated with authority. Perhaps he ought to.

"And you said your orders came from the Emperor?" Tigress asked. Yeah, good question. This sounds a little too strange to me.

"Well, It was sanctioned by the Emperor. The orders that were given to me has the Imperial seal." The captain held up a scroll as a visual aid.

"Sounds a little to good to be true, don't you think?" I whispered in Tigress's ear.

"Definitely, it seems way too convenient." She whispered back. The feeling of her breath on my ear gave me chills, but I ignored it.

Had to worry about the treasure thing first.

"You mind if we take a look?" I asked. He handed me the scroll and I held it out so Tigress could read it too, then I opened it. I've never seen a imperial scroll up close before, so I can't tell if it's authentic or not.

Tigress on the other hand had no trouble with that whatsoever.

"It's fake." She stated simply.

All the soldiers looked a little sceptical, but Tigress explained further.

"First, if it were real, there would be a lot more soldiers assigned to guard the chest. Second, the handwriting is too sloppy to belong to anyone who works for the Emperor. And finally, the 'royal' seal on the scrolls casing was crudely made; maybe with a cheap knife instead of the high quality woodworking tools that are used for the authentic scrolls."

Wow, she's good.

Now the captain was starting to look a little worried. "But why would someone fake an imperial order like this? He asked.

We never had a chance to answer.

A high pitched whistling sound filled my ears, and it got louder with each second. I looked around at everyone who was present, and no one else seemed to hear what I was hearing. I looked around trying to find where the sound was coming from.

I looked to my left… nothing.

I looked to my right… nothing.

I looked behind me… nothing.

I looked up… there it was.

I pushed the captain back and out of the way of whatever was coming. He landed on his ass, and the… projectile landed safely in the ground to my right.

It was an arrow, but who fired it?

"Damn, I missed."

We all looked at the western end of the town where a large group of men in rusted and mismatched armor stood. One in the front, a ram with a broken horn, held the bow that fired the arrow at us. Next to him was a large, and rather intimidating water buffalo stood holding a massive battle axe. Yikes! That thing could cleve me in two in one swing, best to avoid that.

"There they are, just as Fong said." The water buffalo said pointing at the box of treasure.

The ram next to him snickered. "I'm betting he wished he had stayed alive to see his plan come to fruition."

The rhino captain got back up and faced the… hang on, I'm still counting… erm, thirty-six, thirty-seven… forty men in front of us.

"Who are you, and what is this 'plan' you're talking about?" All ten of the rhino soldiers formed up in front of the box, while Tigress and I took our stances behind it.

The water buffalo gave us a skeptical look and said. "Don't you think it odd that you were escorting imperial treasures with such a small amount of protectors?"

"So I was right, those orders were fake." Tigress growled next to me.

"Good eyes." I said, meaning it in more than one way of course.

"Think we're gonna need some help with this?" I asked. Just to set the record straight, I'm not scared, I'm just smart enough to know when we're outnumbered.

"Don't worry, in a town this small, it won't take long for the others to get here." She said, matter of factly.

"You seem so sure." I mused

Tigress turned her head to me and smiled. "Trust me."

Oh, I already do Tigress.

"Oh, come on Bao Zhi! Let's kill them and take the treasure. The suspense is killing me!" A jittering hyena whined to the water buffalo, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.

I looked a little bit closer at the armor they were wearing and I noticed something… They all have the same insignia; a pair of daggers behind a feline skull.

Oh boy.

I know this symbol.

"Uh, Tigress, how long will it take for the others to get here?' I asked.

"Not long. Why?"

"Because these guys are part of the Bandit Brigade."

She didn't seem very worried about it though. And in a second, I found out why.

"Sorry we're late!"

I looked over my shoulder to see all nine kung fu masters and one panther swordsman poised and ready for a fight. Now these are my kind of odds.

The Bandit Brigade seemed a little unnerved at the sudden arrival of so many masters, however the water buffalo, i think they called him Bao Zhi, seemed to get a murderous glint in his eye. "You know, I was going to give you the option to surrender the jewels and return home with your lives… but now I've changed my mind. Kill them all!" He shouted.

They charged…

And so did we.

Have you ever been in a mass fight like this? If not let me tell you what it's like…

It's fast.

It's confusing.

And it's very unpredictable.

I took out my hanbo and swatted aside whatever weapon that was swung at me, and then I smacked around the people who were doing the swinging. Once they went down I looked over at… everyone, to see if anyone needed my help.

Mantis and Monkey were working well together; Mantis was using his nerve attacks to stop the bandit soldiers in their tracks,then Monkey would pull their underwear over their heads. *Sigh* only Monkey would have a finishing move like that.

Viper wrapped her body around one bandit and used him to fight his comrades. I think she called that move the "Puppet of Death".

Crane was using his opponents momentum to trip up, and throw them around. It still surprises me that he do things like that being as scrawny as he is… don't tell him I said that.

Di foon's style was more acrobatic than I thought, lots of jumps and flips, and lots of throws and joint locks. And I'm not sure if I saw it or not, but I think she winked at me a couple of times while doing it too.

Shu Lan moved a lot faster than I thought she could. the best way I can describe it, is that she was keeping her arms loose and swinging them around like a pair of whips. Whatever she hit, she hit hard.

Zoyo moved like a ghost; quick and precise. I think a couple of the bandits he was fighting lost consciousness before they knew what was happening to them. I think even I would have a hard time against him.

Kira Ni completely destroyed her enemies defenses, one punch was all it took to send whoever was unlucky enough to be in front of her flying. Remind me to never make her mad.

Chin used a spear shaft he commandeered to bring the pain on the bandits. I gotta admit he's good with a staff, maybe if he ever gets that pole out of his ass, he and I could compare notes sometime.

Marcus had his massive sword out and was swinging it around like… well, all I can say is that no one got near him without leaving something behind. Use your imagination.

Tigress was kicking ass the only way she could, with power, controlled aggression and very little mercy. I don't know what it is but there's something… sexy in the way she fights. Maybe it's the way she moves or-

Dammit Hiro, stay focused!

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and realized I was surrounded by at least seven bandit soldiers.

Time to get serious…

Time to put up the Lunar Sphere.

Three of them charged me at once with spears, and once said spears entered the Lunar Sphere, the spearheads broke off their shafts and found themselves embedded in their owners legs.

Another three came at me with axes, this time I moved first. Just as the bandits prepared to swing, my hands found several vulnerable spots. They were out before they hit the ground.

The last one came at me with a broken spear shaft. He charged me and swung…

A little beyond my Lunar Sphere…

And collided with my knee.

I dropped down to one knee. What the hell just happened? The bandit looked a little shocked as well, he couldn't wipe that 'did I really just do that?' look from his face. He then tried to follow up his last attack, but this one came within my arm's reach. As he swung the staff in a downward chop I grabbed his wrist to stop him, and thrust my palm deep in his gut, leaving a hand shaped dent in his armor.

I got back up to my feet, my injured knee was shaking. Unfortunately a few other bandit soldiers saw what had happened and decided to try their luck. And unfortunately for me their luck was good.

They kept swinging their spear shafts at me, normally I could block them or swat them away, until they aimed for my legs, then they got me every time.

This was not when I wanted to find out my kung fu styles flaws.

Another crack across my legs brought me down. I knelt there on one knee, both my legs were on fire. "Hiro!" I heard someone call me. I looked around to see Tigress trying to fight her way to me, but there were just too many bandits in her way. I kept looking around to see that everyone else seemed to have the same problem.

A dark chuckling brought my attention back to the group of bandits in front of me. They figured out my weakness, and they had no problem with exploiting it. Now they took out the swords that were on their hips and stalked toward me with malicious glee.

I better think of a way out of this mess, or I'd better get used to having no legs.

A/N.

New word record!

Sorry it took so long for me to update, there's been lots of distractions. Anyways like and fav and review.

One more thing, I'm starting another contest! It's another "Draw Hiro" contest, only this time he won't be alone. What you gotta do is draw Hiro and Tigress together, draw them as friends or as a romantic couple. Got any questions, then don't be afraid to PM me.

See ya next time!