I edited the last part of the previous chapter just slightly. Tai Lung was the brother in the cloak, but I wasn't too detailed with that. I admit it that was my fault, no one else's, if someone made the mistake of a biological brother being involved before I made the edit. Again, my bad, no one else's. Sorry if I got any hopes up for that and disappointed you...I'm slightly ashamed...

Now let's start this chapter up.

Tigress still didn't understand the feeling she had before, but she had chosen to ignore it for the time being. Right now, she was leading the group instead of Po this time, a little while after they had promised to meet Qilin again soon. The panda of course had no problem with having her do this, she was the Co-Leader after all.

...this did however, bring up some commentary from Fenghuang.

"My my, Stripes is taking the lead for the time being." Fenghuang huffed. "What brought this sudden change on, Stripes? Hm? Was it that 'feeling' you had earlier? What kind of feeling was it?"

The feline folded her arms and thought about it. "I'm...not sure. It felt like someone was talking about me. I don't know who, though."

"Huh. When someone talks about you from a long distance, you sneeze. I guess you didn't sneeze." At this, Tigress let out a quiet sneeze, which earned a surprised sweatdrop from the owl. "Nice reaction time."

"We might be able ot figure it out later. But for now, we must focus on the objectives ahead. The next town." Taotie had the map in his hands. "Hm...on the current path we're on...we should be pretty close to Muchang Township. Nice place. Good people. Well mostly good people, but it's not a bad village."

"Not at all. It's just not well-recognized like most other villages are. They don't always share news about events that happen here." Shifu stroked his beard. "I do wonder why, though..."

"I don't think they would prevent news from spreading around I f it wasn't what other people wanted to hear. I'm guessing something about this village doesn't want certain things to get outside their village." Mrs. Yoon said, gazing forward. "Though just as well, I may be wrong."

"No no no, you have every right to be suspicious!" Mei Ling supported. "Remember that we're constantly traveling. And we've already learned that not every encounter will be very positive, since it's obvious that not everyone will be nice. It's best to be careful."

"Extra careful, since we're not really well recognized ourselves, so people will have a bit of lack of trust in us like we do them." Crane said. "Though we're not against trying to help out people who need it. Not at all."

"It's the matter of what the problem was, and how we plan to deal with it. We can't just get involved in conflicts that we can't understand and expect everything to go smoothly." Song added. "We'll need a bit more information on how to move onward. Maybe we can talk to the villagers about some of this?"

Fenghuang yawned. "You all can deal with this in your own while I find a place to hide out, can you?"

"Eh? You're not coming with us, Master Fenghuang?" Mei Ling asked.

"No way, Golden Cat. If memory serves me correctly, this place has some Duke who runs it. What was his name...?"

Shifu stared towards her. "Do you mean Duke Pingjun?"

"Yeah, that ugly dog-faced asshole."

"Now why would you say that?"

"Are you kidding me?" She asked in disbelief. "Midget, this is why you need to get out more. Out of all of us, I'm pretty sure Primate here knows what I mean." She gestured to Monkey, who's eyes widened in realization at what she was implying. "That's right. That stupid pug is a complete jerkass like Jong. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the both of them here enjoying tea and sharing a few laughs as they talk about how successful they've gotten by trampling on other people's lives." She sighed. "I definitely can't be seen here. If that dog sniffs me out, he's gonna tell authorities and give them the wrong idea, then we'll have a lot more problems on our heads."

Shifu rethought her words, and began stroking his beard again. "Okay...I can consider this factor. But that doesn't mean we can directly act on it."

"Exactly. We won't try anything. As for them..." She gestured to the younger group members. "I'm not so sure."

"Are yoi saying that they could cause a ruckus if left unchecked?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Guess we'll just have to watch them and find out."

Po and Monkey turned towards one another and thought about what Fenghuang had just told them. If what she was saying was true, then they would have to keep their heads down until they were able to act accordingly. Because out of the guys, Monkey would be the first one ready to strike out against a higher authority abusing their power. He didn't care who it was. Slowly and surely, everyone else would begin to have this sentiment, then things might get a bit rowdy if it rises to that kind of level..

With enough confidence in themselves to continue, they finally made their way into Muchang Township. Fenghuang stayed hidden from view by staying back where she won't be found, which was the skies. Regular citizens rarely look up. They took note that the people here were looking in a rather cheery mood. They appeared to be cheery, at least. It was a bit hard to tell, except that they definitely weren't depressed. However it did feel like they were...how can they put this? They looked like they were anxiously waiting on something. It was almost like a sort of desperation.

Tigress clutched onto her scarf and wondered what was with the villagers herself. Something about this just tugged at her thoughts. The air around her just seemed familiar to her. Not the air belonging to Muchang Township, but the air on it's own. It didn't seem like she was able to identify this mystery feeling herself. She would need to dig deeper.

Mr. Ping stopped everyone for the moment. "Alright everyone. Mrs. Yoon and I will be somewhere around the market. Try not to get into too much trouble."

"Uh...alright?" Crane said uneasily. "How do you know that we'll get into some kind of trouble?"

"Because you're young. The craziest decisions are often made during one's youth. Trust me, I've been through that phase, and so has Mrs. Yoon, Taotie, and Shifu. In fact...the latter two are coming with me as well." Taotie and Shifu blinked in surprise. "You two should be spending time with the fellow elders. The young ones have this handled."

Taotie stared in disbelief as Mr. Ping and Mrs. Yoon didn't even give enough time for their to respond. Instead they just grabbed them and pulled them along against their will. Shifu was a bit more compliant, if only to get a closer look at the state of the village. Plus he doubted that Mr. Ping would let go of his paw with his decision. Mantis watched them disappear into a crowd before turning around and rubbing his forelegs.

"Alright guys, we've been let off of our leashes for the moment. What will we do first?"

"Something about that leash comment just doesn't seem right." Bian Zao yawned. "You all do what you want. I'm gonna find something else to do..."

"I don't think so, Mister. Someone has to keep watch over you." Viper insisted. Judging by the look in her eye, this decision was absolute. "And Tigress will come with me. The two of us should be enough to keep an eye on you as well as protect you."

"Ugh...if you say so."

"That's a good boy~" Viper beamed. "Alright Tigress, shall we get going?"

She looked up and folded her arms. "I guess we should. Bian Zao, you'll lead the way. You wanted to go somewhere, we're going to follow and make sure nothing bad happens to you. Of course nothing could happen, but there are times when we don't wish to take too many risks."

Crane tilted his head. "Well...I guess they're going their own way then. What are the rest of us supposed to do?"

Po placed his paws behind his neck. "...You wanna go looking around elsewhere? Looks like we can learn something important if we just look around for a bit. I dunno, maybe even get something good to eat."

"Hey, I have no problems with that." Mantis shrugged, hopping on top of Po's hat. "Someone is bound to know something important. Lets get going and see what we can find out. Because these people look like they're waiting for something to go down."

Fung nodded. "You're right about that...and I want in!"

"Somebody's very eager to learn some secrets. You may just had the right girl for a job like that." Song smirked. Fung's eyes widened slightly as he once again blushed under her gaze. "Well we shouldn't just sit here. Let's ask around. Starting with...here's one!" Song pointed with her parasol. They all shifted their eyes over to a pig who was just passing by, and she looked like she just woke up from an extended nap. She was also carrying quite a lot of groceries by herself, just barely dragging them across the ground. "Excuse me, Miss? Are...are you gonna be alright with all of that?"

"Hm? Oh hello there, youngins. I don't believe I've seen you around these parts. Yes, I'll be quite fine." She sighed. "Just a bit exhausted, is all. A bit hard to lift these bags, but it's fine."

Po's 'let me help, tendencies activated instinctively. He had quite easily lifted two bags for the kind elder, while Monkey and Crane helped with the rest of them. They then asked for her to lead them to her house. She was surprised but readily agreed to their assistance. It didn't take long for them to reach her house. On the contrary, it's quite easy.

"There ya go. Less work for you~" Po grinned.

"And what a relief, too. I thought my back was going to give out..." she sighed in exhuastion. "Thank you for the help."

"Not even a problem, ma'am." Fung told her. "So, do you think you can tell us what's with the people of this town? They all look like they're... I dunno. Are they waiting for something to happen?"

She sighed. "Of course, since you're new here you wouldn't know what's going on here. We've been in a rather worried mood ever since the events of last year."

Po sits down with her permission, and placed his hat on the side. "What happened last year?"

(Meanwhile)

"...You realize how unnecessary this is...right?" Bian Zao sighed, as Viper slithered alongside him.

"Your father entrusted us with your safety. So I am going to do my absolute best to watch over you and keep you out of trouble." Viper said positively, keeping her eyes forward. "Am I wrong, Tigress?"

"Not really. We both volunteered to accompany him. Its only fair that we follow through with it." Tigress said, walking behind them. "Of course if we didn't keep an eye on him, he might lie down right on the path and just take a nap right then and there." Bian Zao shrugged lazily, which made her sigh. Its made more sad(or humorous) that he wasn't even denying that claim on him.

Tigress kept her eyes and ears open, keeping watch for anything that may be worth noticing. The citizens looked like they had mixed feelings, and she was having a difficult time trying to figure them out. Something was keeping their moods cautious, and she was growing more and more curious to find out what it could be.

...she stopped. She turned her head to the side. And she found what she saw has completely taken up her attention. Soon after, Viper and Bian Zao have also stopped to see what has caught her interest. What grabbed her attention also sparked concern.

Tigress was looking towards a house across from her, which was occupied by a water buffalo who was looking like she's having a rather warm day. Her eyes were hazel, her fur color was brown and white, she wore a pink and silver dress, and her aura was surely giving off a positive attitude. As soon as she caught sight of them, she seemed surprised.

"Oh! Hello~" She waved happily. "I haven't seen you three around here before. Are you new residents in this village?"

Tigress was a bit caught off-guard by her cheerfulness, but answered her anyway. "No, we're just passing by and stocking up on supplies for our next destination. We're travelers you see." She explained. "We have many more friends than just the three of us. My name is Tigress. These are my friends, Viper and Bian Zao. Are you by any chance able to introduce yourself as well?"

"Why of course! My name is Xiao Niao. Great to meet you!" She smiled. "Would you like to come inside my home?"

"No, that's alright. We don't want to impose on you when we just got here." Viper raised her tail and swayed it impolite denial of Xiao Niao's request. "If it's not too much to ask, is there anything important you can tell us about this town?"

She tilted her head to the right. "Something important? Well...you already know that there is a Duke that is in charge of this village, right?"

"Yes, we were told about that earlier today. Is there anything else about the Duke that we might find useful?" Tigress sensed the water buffalo's mood drop just a little bit, and it was enough to ignite her concern. "Is it too much to ask? You're more than welcome to tell us to stop."

She shook her head softly. "No...it isn't that. It's just that...I used to be to be a servant girl for the Duke. Needless to say, due to being a total clutz sometimes, that didn't go so well...in fact it went horribly..." Now she had their attention. Bian Zao made sure he listened closely, Viper's head lifted up more, and Tigress's eyes narrowed just slightly. "I was very clumsy one day during the Winter Festival...and I got my father arrested because of it."

"...What?" Tigress asked.

Xiao Niao clasped her hands slightly. "Well...me and my fellow servant girls we're in charge of delivering a large Mooncake to Duke PingJun...but I slipped on a taller piece of the carpet and fell face first into the cake. It infuriated the Duke since he was embarrassed in front of all of his rich friends, and he raised his arm to slap me..." Both Viper and Tigress, ESPECIALLY Tigress, stiffened up in anger of hearing this part of her tale. "But...my father stopped him before he could strike me. He then fell into the cake, further humiliating him in front of his friends. That didn't help his mood one bit. In response, he had my father imprisoned because of my own mistake. I had to spend the rest of Winter Festival by myself..."

"But it was only an accident!" Viper exclaimed with disbelief. "They can't just lock your father up for defending his daughter! On top of that, that Duke sounds pretty harsh to his servants anyway! Neither of you should be going through that!" Viper sighed. "Do you know where your Dad is now...?"

Xiao Niao slowly shook her head as she wiped her face from any tears that began to leak from her face. "They have him in the local jail...but I'm not allowed to see him, or else they'll hurt him some more..." She held up a necklace that looked like it was broken. "This is my half...my father has the other half. It was the only thing that gave me comfort, it gives me hope that some day I may see him again. Until then...I'll have to out up with the Duke's cruelty for just a bit longer."

"Seriously? He already put your dad in jail, what more can he do to you?" Bian Zao asked, now genuinely worried..

"I messed up, and my father defied him. Of course he will find a way to punish the both of us unfairly. As you can see...my home is in quite a poor state. I don't earn too much money...and he even punishes those who try to stand up for me. It's getting more difficult to bear by the day."

Tigress didn't say anything at first. She took in the details of the story and replayed it in her mind a couple times. Viper and Xiao Niao were gazing worriedly at her, whioe Bian Zao laid back. He didn't have any idea what she was thinking, but he was sure he knew what it might lead to. The feline took a deep breath.

"Your father was imprisoned...because he was protecting you?' She asked for confirmation. The water buffalo nods quietly, as Tigress hung her head for a couple moments. "So...it's one of those situations, huh? I see." She stood up and began walking away from the house.

"Tigress?! W-Wait up!" Viper exclaimed, slithering after her. Bian Zao yawned a little befire getting up and following her. "Don't do something you're going to regret!"

"You needn't worry about that, Viper." Tigress said coolly, not turning around from her path. "Because I'm not going to regret what I'm about to do. And if my guess is correct, Po won't regret his next actions either."

"You're both gonna do something that'll attract attention, will you?" Bian Zao sighed. "Man...this is gonna be a drag..."

Xiao Niao watched with surprise as Tigress got up and calmly walked away from her house. Her mind racked trying to figure out what might be going on in her mind. She was obviously upset that I'm going through a tough time...but why did she walk away...? She gasped and covered her mouth. No...she wouldn't! Though to be fair, she didn't really know Tigress too well anyway. But just to be safe, she followed after them anyway, anxious to see what they might do.

Tigress made sure her scarf was on tight enough to not fall off, and located Po and the others walking down the same path as she was. Each of them looked mildly angry.

"What kind of Duke does that kind of thing to a father for defending his daughter? Fenghuang was right, he sounds like a total asshole." Mantis grumbled.

"That guy needs to be removed from his position." Crane also grumbled.

"This is exactly why people like him get on my nerves. They think they're so high abive everyone else due to their status, that they think they can't be touched." Monkey narrowed his eyes. He wasn't saying that ALL higher classes tend to abuse their power, but he has yet to meet a decently nice one that actually cares about other people than himself or people just as bad as he is.

Po was actually pretty calm about the issue. He even sported a smile as he saw Tigress, Viper, and Bian Zao approach him. "Hey guys! What's going on?"

"Po, I need tour help with something." Tigress stated, pointed at Xiao Niao behind her. "I also wanted to decide our next action in this village.

Po smiled and placed his oaws behind his neck. "Sure, that's cool. What do you think we should do?"

Tigress said the following without any hint of hesitation. "Her father was wrongfully put in prison for defending his daughter. We're going to break him out." Xiao Niao gasped at her straightforward decision. What shocked her more was that Po didn't seem to have a problem with that.

"Yeah, sure. Let's get him out of there."

Crane beakdropped. "Wait...what? We'are just going to go and break Shengqi out of the local prison? Are we not going to think about the consequences of these action?"

"This man has been imprisoned for valuing his daughter over his job. I refuse to let that unfair judgement stand as long as I'm here." Tigress folded her arms. "Am I wrong to think so, Po?"

The panda shook his head. "Nah, I have no problems with it. Lets go get him out of there."

"But...but what if the Duke catches us?" Song interjected.

"I could care less." Tigress stated strongly. "If anything, I'm eager to run into him...so I can kick his face in. He abuses his servants and sends the one who defended his daughter to prison. No. If I see him, he's going down."

"No arguments there, Ma'am." Monkey said. "All of us aren't even needed for this. I'd say four is enough. Lets say...Po, Tigress, Crane, and myself?"

"That sounds good enough."

Viper raised her head. "Are you sure you want to go through this, Tigress? What if Shifu gets mad for causing too big a problem by attacking a Duke?"

"Then I shall make sure that no one but myself inherits the consequences. Because I'm the one who says that we instigate it."

Po placed his hat on his head. "See that, guys? Tigress is willing to take the risk no matter what happens. So let's say that we go get this girl's Dad back?" Po moved onward, followed by Tigress, Monkey, and Crane. Xiao Niao and Song stared off in surprise at what Tigress has strongly decided, and the others have accepted it quite easily.

(Meanwhile...)

The Water Buffalo known as Shengqi sat in the cell of Muchang Jail. His sword was being kept in storage by the antelope warden, who was just sleeping in a chair very close to the cell. He sat down in the center of his cell, his large straw hat covering his eyes.

He had been put in here a year ago for defying his boss and defending his daughter. His only regret about that action is that he left his poor daughter to fend for herself in the process. The only thing he had to keep his mind on her was his half of the necklace that matched Xiao Niao's. He sighed quietly as he clutched it slightly. Why, on any day possible, did it have to be on Winter Feast that things went so wrong? That's her favorite holiday, where her positive attitude was at it's highest. And he ruined that day for her by defending her. The world was such an unfair jerk sometimes.

"...Dude. Wow. I mean...wow." His eyes opened as he lfted his head up to see who said that. Then his eyes widened considerably when he sees a panda standing before him with both of his paws up to his mouth, and he was bouncing around giddily. "That hat looks so flipping badass on you! I knew wearing a straw hat would add to someone's awesomeness!"

...Shengqi has never been so confused for such a long period of time like he was just now. He just stared, slackjawed at the panda before him. "...Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that you'd be confused to see me here. Ya know, breaking into the local jail and beating the crap out of the warden. Seriously that dude put up NO FIGHT WHATSOEVER when I got in here." Indeed, the warden was now fully unconscious when Po landed a good punch to the head. "Anyway, I'm here to break you out and reunite you with your daughter."

"But I've been out in here by Duke Pingjun. He'd never let me leave here."

"Pfft, you think I care about what a lame jerkish Duke thinks?" Po scoffed. "He put you in here for stupid reasons. We're busting you out for a good reason. You've done nothing wrong, so you shouldn't be rotting in prison. Thats all there is to it."

"Hm...you say that so easily. Is there anyone else here with you?" His eyes widened when Xiao Niao entered the room before Tigress. "Xiao Niao...?"

"Daddy..." she teared up a bit, reaching her paw out to him. He reached his own paw out to her, and they gently touched one another. "Did they hurt you while you were in here...?"

"Nothing that could actually hurt me, no." He assured her. "But I do wonder...how are you going to get me out of here? I don't know where the key might be."

"The key is too slow." Tigress said bluntly. She walked up to the bars, grabbed two of them, and forced them apart with her raw strength. Eventually she pulled the bars completely away from them, and threw them on the ground. "That's faster."

Shengqi stood impressed at her strength as he stepped out of his cell. He then disregarded those thoughts as he reached out to his daughter and embraced her in a warm hug. A warm hug she missed and returned gladly. He grabbed this sword from the unconscious warden and placed it in his sheathe. Then he turned to Tigress and Po. "You both have my thanks. But in order to avoid the anger of a overreacting Duke, we'll have to leave as soon as possible. Preferably when we properly organize our belongings and avoid detection by other possible security."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. That's why we brought Monkey and Crane. They completely floored those guys when we found out that you were wrongfully placed in jail." Po grinned. "Don't think about it. They can't catch what they can't see. Just grab your things and get out of here."

Shengqi nodded and began moving out, calling for Xiao Niao. She turned around and embraced Tigress in a brief hug. "Thank you so much. I hope we can meet again someday."

Tigress smiled and hugged her back. "I look forward to it. Get going." The female water buffalo nods and follows her father outside. She stretched her arms out and relaxed. "That wasn't too much of a challenge. Now all we have to do is regroup with the others and leave this Township. The villagers will be joyed that we helped out one of their own. We should speak with Shifu and Mr. Ping and see what they think."

"Good call. I'm hungry anyways." Po yawned as they both walked out of the jail to meet uo with their friends. Behind them they lesve a destroyed prison in their wake, because they imprisoned s good man.

The Duke was lucky not to have been present. But this is a message that will spread with time. Not everyone will tolerate the crap that people like him put people through. Not forever.

Unknown to them, the reason why the Duke wasn't there...

(At the same time...)

"Y...you...!" The pained moan of Duke Pingjun sounded off in the room, as he grasped his bleeding stomach and looked up at his attacker.

Song.

"I'm sorry. Well...not really, because you seem like a pretty crappy person." Song said quietly. Her parasol had a small blade on the tip, and it looked like it cut deep into the pug by the amount of blood on it. "You'll fall unconscious due to blood loss soon. Then I'll out you in a little box and into the mail house, where you'll be sent somewhere far away. You'll also forget everything you know about Xiao Niao and Shengqi, because you don't have the right to separate them over something so trivial. If we're lucky, you'll never be seen again."

The canine clenched his teeth while glaring at her hatefully. "I know that parasol...you're a member of the Ladies of the Shade..." Song did not respond. "As I thought. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised that you're doing this then. When you're from such a distrusted organization-" He said nothing else, as Song knocked him unconscious with the blunt side of her parasol. She closed it, no emotiom shown as she stared down at the unconscious Duke.

"So what if you know what group I'm orginally from. You can't tell anyone be ause I'm mailing you away in a little box that's just your size. No one will notice you're gone because you're not that important. No one will come looking for you because they won't care too much about it. Of course you won't be able to make your way back here because travel just isn't your style. But most importantly..." She picked up the oug and placed him in a crate, and moved placed him on a cart outside that began to drive away. She had a blank face the entire time.

"Everyone will be happier with you somewhere far away and not coming back. They'll find someone to run their town that's much kinder than you could ever get. Because you we're horrible to them. And as a direct result...no one will miss you." She said calmly as she turned around and walked away quietly.

She had done this while remaining completely unseen. Not that it will matter. No one will complain about an abusive Duke suddenly disappearing.

Now she had to reunite with her friends...