Kung Fu Wolf: Rising of the Moon

Chapter 16: The Son of the Moon

Vipers P.O.V.

*sniff*

It just…

Isn't fair.

Right now all I want to do is crawl under a rock and just cry.

Is hasn't been a month… and we've lost him… why? Why did he have to die? It isn't fair…

IT JUST ISN'T FAIR!

As I wept at the fate of my fallen brother I surveyed the battlefield to see how my comrades fared…

They were barely getting by.

Monkey, Mantis and Crane were fighting through the ranks of the bandits and through the tears streaming down their faces. I could see that their emotional state was making them a little sloppy… understandable…

The masters of the Sapphire Palace were faring better than we were. Also understandable, I mean not to sound heartless, but they didn't know Hiro as well as we did. But… it didn't mean they didn't feel anything for the fallen wolf. As lightning flashed across the stormy sky, the looks on the faces of the Sapphire masters were those of determination, sorrow and anger… even though they didn't know him for very long, I knew they would fight till the end to avenge Hiro.

That only leaves….

"RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

I turned my head in the direction on the anguished scream, and saw my tiger sister unleashing her fury upon the bandit leader.

"I'LL KILL YOU! YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU?!"

I had never seen Tigress so enraged. Sure she's always gotten mad before but this was like adding oil to an already blazing inferno. The leader of the Bandit Brigade swung his sword this way and that in a desperate attempt to keep the absolutely livid feline at bay.

Lightning flashed again, and I caught a glimpse of Tigress's face… and my heart almost broke in two.

Her eyes were red and puffy, the fur on her cheeks were matted down with tears… she was crying… Tigress; the hardcore master of the tiger style and leader of the Furious Five was crying! I had never in my life seen her in such an emotional state, and never wanted to again.

As she continued her onslaught against the bandit leader a new batch of tears began to well up in her eyes, and as she squeezed her eyes shut for one second… the mountain cat took full advantage of her vulnerable state.

In another flash of lightning I watched in terror as the tip of Zhou Feng Gu's sword pierced the flesh of Tigress's thigh, bringing her to her knees. I slithered to my feline sister at a frantic pace, I lost my new brother I was not about to lose her too…

Unfortunately… the path between Tigress and I was infested with these lowlife scumbag bandits. Finding a bit of rage of my own, I fought my way through to Tigress as the mountain cat hovered over her.

"Now now, will you miss him that much Master Tigress?" Zhou Feng Gu said mockingly, slowly moving behind her, his sword gleaming with moonlight shining through the now dissipating storm clouds… huh, when did the storm end?

"If it pains you so much… let me send you to him." Zhou raised his sword to stab Tigress in her back, and she wasn't even fighting anymore. How cowardly! To stab an unarmed defenseless opponent in the back was as low as you could go in my opinion… but now is not the time to discuss morale.

I fought through the bandits as hard as I could, slowly losing hope that I would make it in time, when an oddly familiar sound rippled through the quarry. All movement in the area ceased, and all eyes were gathered at the source.

The sound, I realized was a snarl… a canine snarl…

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped… I… I just couldn't believe what I was seeing… I don't think anyone could. Lifting himself off the ground was… my wolf brother…

Hiro was alive…

And… wow…

His right arm… the markings, which I always assumed to be some manner of tattoos, shone with light that rivaled the moons, the wound in his chest was quickly closing, the only evidence he was ever harmed was the blood on his shirt and fur. And his eyes… they changed from his usual forest green to a stunning silver… and his eyes were locked on Zhou Feng Gu.

"Zhou…" Hiro snarled at the bandit leader.

"Leave her be. You and I aren't done yet." Hiro growled as he got to his feet.

The bandit leader was… stunned to say the least. Can't say I blame him though we all thought our wolf was dead, now this…?

Well… thank the gods for miracles.

No one's P.O.V

As the light of the moon flooded the quarry the Dragon Warrior slowly walked towards the former general of the Emperors military. The bandits he passed on his way to his target didn't dare put up a fight, in fact they dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in surrender. As soon as the mountain wolf got within a dozen paces of his enemy the whole army of bandits had laid down their weapons, they supposed spending years in jail would be better than fighting someone over which death had no control.

"It's not possible…" Zhou Feng Gu whispered breathlessly, absolutely refusing to believe the Dragon Warrior was still alive. "I killed you."

Hiro stopped his march towards the master swordsman and allowed a small smile to grace his features. "Yes Zhou… you did kill me… and honestly I have to thank you for that." As soon as those words escaped his lips… Zhou, the Furious Five, the Sapphire Masters and everyone else present had began to stare at the wolf like he was crazy. "Because of you… I was reunited with my mother."

A shaky smile slowly tugged at the bandit generals lips, not sure he really understood what the wolf was going with this. "Well… you're wel-"

He blinked.

As soon as the mountain cat reopened his eyes the Dragon Warrior had cleared the distance between them and drove his fist into his stomach with unforgiving force. The punch had sent Zhou flying into the quarry walls, knocking the wind out of him.

"Regardless, I'm still taking you down." Hiro said, narrowing his eyes at his opponent. "But first…" Hiro changed his attention to the female tiger sitting on the ground, clutching at her injury. The wolf knelt down and removed his shirt, using his claws to tear it into strips. Tigress blushed slightly at her wolf companion disrobing but it had gone unnoticed by Hiro, as he was too busy tending to her wounded leg. "Too tight?" He asked as he finished tying the makeshift bandage. Tigress simply shook her head, her gaze fixed to the ground.

"I told you to be careful." Tigress said almost humorously. "And what do you do? You get yourself killed." She smacked the wolf playfully in the side of his head causing the Dragon Warrior to chuckle.

"I know you did, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry like that." The wolf master then took the tigers hand in his own, and with his other hand lifted her chin up so that her amber eyes met with his silver ones. "I'm going to finish this… then we can go home. Ok?" A simple nod was all he got from his female companion.

A simple nod was all he needed.

"Now." The wolf rose to his feet once again and made his way to the bandit leader, who was able to catch his breath. The mountain cat lifted his sword ready to once again clash with the Dragon Warrior. But then something happened that he was not ready for…

A silver light began to shine around the wolf's hands and miraculously a pair of hook swords materialized in his grip. The spectacle left all who were present wondering how in the world was something like this possible? But Hiro was not about to let the general contemplate on his new weaponry. This had already gone on long enough; it was time to end this.

"You ready for round two Zhou?"

The mountain cat snarled in response and charged at the newly risen Dragon Warrior, his blade raised; the tip of his sword aimed directly for the wolf's throat. However Zhou's efforts to end the battle quickly were thwarted as Hiro swatted the former generals blade away with a simple flick of his wrist. An enraged roar escaped from Zhou's maw as he swung his sword relentlessly at the wolf, however his judgment had been clouded by rage, confusion and fear which made his form sloppy and undisciplined, and defending himself from such a poorly executed onslaught required very little effort from Hiro.

On the sidelines, the Furious Five, Sapphire Masters, Marcus and the Bandit Brigade watched in amazement as Hiro yielded nothing to the mad gang leader. Tigress in particular could not wipe the smile from her face, for a moment she had feared the worst; that she would never see her favorite wolf again. And yet here he was, alive and well and, in her eyes, completely dominating in this final battle.

A fresh batch of tears began to stream down the tiger masters face, tears of joy to see the Dragon Warrior back from the dead. She hung her head low so no one would see her in such a vulnerable emotional state and if anyone said they had seen her like this, she would deny it. "When this is over…" She sniffed. "... I am gonna punch him right in the head for making me worry like this." Already forgetting she had already done so earlier.

Meanwhile, Hiro had finally allowed the general to get a little closer, said general had attempted to end this battle with an overhand chop but was deflected with the crescent guards on the handle of Hiros hook sword which caused former General Zhou to stumble forward. The Dragon Warrior used this opening to spin around and deliver a reverse roundhouse kick to the back of his enemy's head, sending him sprawling face first to the muddy ground.

Hiro looked down on his fallen enemy and decided that it was time to end this. "That's enough Zhou. Put down your weapon and surrender, there's no point in continuing this anymore." Zhou looked up at the shining wolf and snarled. "No point? No point? Oh, I beg to differ Dragon Warrior." The mountain cat glared daggers at Hiro as he lifted himself out of the mud. "The point to all this is to take vengeance for the injustice we suffered all those years ago! To make our so-called emperor pay for his incompetence!"

Hiro shook his head. "Look around you Zhou, half of your men have already surrendered and the other half looks like they're about to hightail it outta here. It's over. Just. Give. It. Up." Zhou lifted his sword and bared his fangs at the wolf. "You'll have to kill me to make that happen Dragon Warrior." And charged forward, sword aimed once again for the kill, but at that moment Hiro did something no one expected him to do; throw his white steel hook swords in the air.

For a brief moment Zhou's eyes followed the weapons, making the fatal mistake of taking his eyes off his opponent. Once again taking advantage of an opening provided by the general, Hiro dashed forward until he was within arms reach of General Zhou and unleashed a flurry of powerful palm strikes on the mountain cats arm and chest armor; each strike causing hairline fractures on the generals armor. Desperate, Zhou swung his blade at the Dragon Warriors neck in an attempt to decapitate the wolf, but Hiro easily ducked under the blade and given the last opening he needed; extending the first two fingers of his right hand he landed one more strike to the center of Zhou's armor.

"SHATTERPOINT!"

The fractures in the generals armor connected and the steel plated armor shattered, leaving Zhou defenseless, but Hiro wasn't done yet. The Dragon Warrior reclaimed the hook swords as they fell back to earth and with a quick succession of cuts aimed at specific spots on the generals arms and shoulders, he brought General Zhou to his knees.

"You little…" Zhou growled as he tried to lift his sword once more, but to no avail. "It's over Zhou, the places I cut you just now were vital to your sword fighting style. You've lost." Hiro said as Zhou's sword fell from his almost lifeless fingers. "Damn you Dragon Warrior." Zhou snarled, hanging his head in defeat.

With all the fight having left the bandits leader, Hiro turned to the rest of the army of former soldiers. "As for the rest of you; lay down your weapons and surrender… and no harm will come to you. You have my word." The bandits who had not yet surrendered kept their now shaking hands on their weapons, still unsure on what to do at this point. Hiro continued. "If not then you will have to deal with them…" He nodded in the direction of his friends and allies who looked ready for another fight. "... And believe me, after tonight's events… they're not happy." Seeing that it would be the best course of action, the remaining bandits threw their weapons to the ground and fell to their knees. The group of Kung Fu master were victorious. Hiro smiled at their hard fought victory and called to his avian friend. "Crane! Could you be a pal, and summon the cities guards?" Crane nodded in response and took off for the port city.

"Well… glad that's over." Hiro said as the rest of the Five and the Sapphire masters rounded the bandits into one spot.

"I wonder what's going to happen next…" His gaze turned to the moon shining bright above him.

"What do you think… Mother?"

A/N

I know, I know , I know I said I wasn't going to take this long, but shit got in the way. Now this time I'm only gonna say the next chapter ( Which will be the last chapter for Rising of the Moon ) will come out when it comes out.

Till then… Like… Fave… Comment…. Please comment…

See ya next time.