Author's Note: Hey everyone, back with another chapter! Fun fact: This chapter and the next one were both meant to be one chapter. However, I kind of feel like I'm going a bit too fast with the pacing so far (as in too fast for my liking.) So I want to take it a bit slower and let the characters breathe a little more before the crazy stuff truly happens, cuz trust me... Crazy stuff is going to happen. Also, my mind is teetering on a choice in later chapters that may make some of you hate me... I'm not going to spoil what that is, but just gonna say... It is a hard choice to make. With that foreboding thing out of the way, here is a fairly short one that focuses more on some characters I want some more attention on.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KFP (Please! Gimme a chance!)

Enjoy.

Old Wounds and New Concerns

A sinister red glow shines through the underground caves as Zhongcheng's forces walk into the modestly built mess hall, the multitude of red torches providing whatever light it can to the sealed lair. Quiet chatter and the noisy sounds of devoured food fill the air as the many wolves, gorillas and alligators have their dinner. Or at least, the closest thing they can have to a proper dinner. Unfortunately for this army, they have had to survive off of rations for almost an entire year, their white wolf commander making it clear to them that gathering more lavish meals without raising suspicion is practically impossible. The only thing that had kept these soldiers from complaining about their meagre meals is the promise of living like kings once Zhongcheng's plan finally comes into fruition.

Though the rations would usually be satisfactory, many of the troops find that this time the food is barely enough to regain their strength. For the past two days, Zhongcheng's most trusted lieutenant, Gongniu, had taken charge in his absence. A decision which had encouraged a collective groan from most soldiers. Whenever he would take charge, their training would become much harsher. Yes, training. Unlike the soldiers under Shen's command, they have actually been trained in the art of kung fu. Well, less the art and more of its fighting prowess. Instead of having a bunch of soldiers, the brown bull had been helping to make an army of kung fu novices. Yet, despite these useful skills, the soldiers barely had any breaks when Gongniu had taken charge, insistent that they need to drill these techniques into their head if they want a chance at taking on the imperial guards.

In spite of their irritation with the bull's ruthlessness, they would all be lying if they said that these techniques haven't been effective. Through all of the raids, the imperial guards simply didn't stand a chance against them, which leaves one question in the mind of many sceptical soldiers. Where did he learn this stuff? If he knows kung fu, then clearly, he must have some background involving it. One female wolf soldier ponders on this just as said bull walks his way into the mess hall, forcing some back chatting troops to immediately silence themselves. Seeing a clear opportunity, the inquisitive wolf gets out of her seat and heads towards the brawny lieutenant, much to her comrades' terror.

As Gongniu picks up his rations, two dumplings and a cup of xifengjiu, he notices the wolf soldier walking up to him and gives her a curious look. Before she can even say anything, his raspy voice demands, "What is it?" In spite of his timbre being hard to understand, his impatient tone remains noticeable, causing a shiver to go down the wolf soldier's spine.

Not wanting to keep him waiting, she timidly asks, "Well, um… Some rumours have been going around and I-I just wanted t-to know… Um… Well…" She stumbles slightly, the bull's now narrowed eyes frightening her even more. Despite this, she decides to finally lay her suspicions to rest, "Is it true… That… That you were once called 'master Bull'?"

Silence engulfs the entire mess hall as scarlet orbs narrow dangerously at the curious wolf soldier. Gongniu leans his head closer to the wolf, causing her to tremble at his tumultuous glare, "I was…" He chillingly confirms, his damaged voice dripping with venom. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

At his spat inquiry, the wolf immediately shakes her head, not daring to speak another word lest she wants to incite his hideous wrath. With this, the bull makes his way out of the mess hall with fiery magma flowing through his veins. Knowing that she had just narrowly avoided a horrific beating, the wolf heavily gulps as her comrades' idle chatter slowly begins to intoxicate the hall again.

Master Bull… This scornful reminder plagues his thoughts as he goes across the cavern and heads towards his makeshift office, hopeful that his hunger will allow him to dismiss the misery coated in that title. Unfortunately for Gongniu, this title continues to linger. Even when he harshly yanks the door open and barges into his office, his once illustrious title overpowers the slamming door to his office.

He ignores the almost completely bland interior of his office as he sits down in his desk, hopelessly plopping his tiny meal down as he realises that title simply won't exit his mind. Scarlet orbs briefly hover over the wooden training dummy situated at the far corner of the room before switching its focus towards the lower drawer at his desk. Already knowing what lies inside, he hesitantly pulls the drawer open.

A worn-out black belt lies inside its dusty interior, time's uncaring touch degrading this once proud symbol of mastery. Underneath this unkempt cloth is a small painting, one of a young brown bull with both of his horns intact and an innocent smile placed on his face. Taking this picture in his hoof, Gongniu gingerly pulls it out of the drawer as a melancholic look warps his features. Scarlet stares into baby blue, a pitiful smile trying to form onto his face until he notices something else lurking at the bottom of the drawer. Surrounded by miniscule pieces of broken glass is a locket, its hinges broken, and the cover detached. 'Xiongdi*' is written on the cover, though its inscription is practically faded out. However, Gongniu's ireful stare is not at all focused on this. Instead, his scarlet eyes pierce into the miniscule painting that was once concealed by it. One of him, adorned in his dark red kung fu trousers, gauntlets and black belt wrapped around his waist, standing alongside an older rhino dressed in white robes and holding a magnificent war hammer. A hideous grimace consumes Gongniu's face as he stares upon the late master flying Rhino before he furiously shuts the drawer closed.

Dark clouds form in the former master's mind as thunderous memories flash in his mind, a storm of pain raining down onto his heart as he tenderly rubs his scarred neck with his free hoof. It is only when he looks back to the picture of the young bull does his ferocity fade, with sorrow now flooding his eyes as his lips tremble in agony. A slight sniffle escapes him as he gently kisses the picture and closes his eyes, two lines of tears escaping him regardless. For several minutes no sound fills the room other than Gongniu's heavy breathing and quiet, raspy sobs, the grieving bull trying his best to compose himself. In spite of his eyes still stinging in response to his mournful soul, his tears eventually stop flowing as he finally finds a way to calm himself. After taking several calm breaths, the bull only now notices a new presence within the room, "What is it, Kuangzao?"

Scarlet orbs open to see said black vulture wearing obsidian robes that blend in with her feathers, several tiny knives line the waistband of these robes which goes alongside the dagger sheathed onto her right hip. She holds a tray of two spring rolls and cup of baijiu on her left wing. Her pink irises shift from the young bull onto the elder bull after having noticed his clearly broken tone of voice. For a brief second, Gongniu thinks he sees a sliver of pity lining her eyes, but it vanishes as quickly as it had come allowing an insidious playfulness to dress her countenance. "I heard you stomping louder than usual, so I thought it'd be best," Kuangzao puts her tray in front of his food before unstrapping a scroll from her lower back, "That I cheer you up." She chucks it at the former master who instinctively catches it and reads through it as the vulture sits down and digs into her food.

He warily narrows his eyes at the famished avian before putting the picture down and opening the scroll's casing, taking note of its imperial seal. In spite of the bird's clear loyalty, her unpredictable and often manic behaviour had always left the brown bull on edge so even with tiny things like this, he keeps his guard up. "Mmm. I'm surprised we still have some of the food we took from the ship, I thought it would've run out by now." She comments, beyond satisfied with the luscious taste of her dish.

Gongniu slowly opens the scroll and reads through it as he absentmindedly answers, "They had enough supplies to properly feed a whole army. With the way we've rationed it, we'll have enough to last maybe another week. After that we'll be back to gruel…" He trails off, subconsciously rubbing his scarred neck as his eyes reach a certain part of the scroll, 'We request that you increase your defences in Gongmen jail for we suspect a potential attack.' Scarlet eyes gaze upon the obsidian bird in suspicion, "You intercepted a message headed to Gongmen city?"

A sly smile takes up Kuangzao's face as she takes a sip of her baijiu, "Zhongcheng and I had suspected that the emperor would send someone over there and only wanted to tell Zhoudao. I mean, most of our people are in there, y'know?" She is given a simple nod as an answer, the bull finally dining on his limited meal as his reddened eyes continue to gloss over the scroll's message. "And yes, I made sure I wasn't seen." Sensing the bull's impending question, the vulture immediately answers with a clearly pleasured timbre.

Scarlet eyes look up from the scroll, giving the bird a disbelieving look as he takes a swig of his xifengjiu, "You mean they didn't have anyone protecting the messenger…? No one observing their safe travel?" He wheezes out, the strength of the alcohol providing a whispery coat to his voice.

Deviousness infects her eyes as the demented vulture's smile widens to a sadistic degree, "They had a guard escorting the little eagle… Was barely a challenge to shoot them down. And as for observers…" A hint of disgust lingers in her voice as she thinks upon one of the rhino guards looking out towards the sea with a telescope, "Well, there's not much to do when they have already been taken care of."

As a smirk finds its way onto Gongniu's face, he snorts lightly at the fact that he knows exactly what she is referring to. Qipian, you clever devil. In spite of this gracious thought, something else spikes in his mind, "I doubt the emperor would've waited two days to send this message… So why only tell me this now?" He inquires with genuine curiosity, his avian comrade immediately noticing the lack of betrayal or hostility in his raspy voice.

"I assumed Zhongcheng wanted to keep this between me and him but when I saw you looking all depressed," She gives a light-hearted shrug, "I thought 'screw it.' And came here." With this answer however, a concerning thought comes back to her. A thought that had been taking residence in her mind for some time now. "That reminds me, why is he keeping some things a secret? I mean, it wouldn't kill him to tell us why he's going to the Tavan Bogd mountains now, would it?" She implores, resulting in the bull looking her in the eyes, his scarlet orbs mirroring her concern in kind.

"Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you…" At this answer, Gongniu finishes his second dumpling whilst Kuangzao sighs with an exaggerated level of exhaustion, "I can only tell you that whenever I ask Zhongcheng about the whole plan, he always responds in the same way: Once all parts of it come together, everything will become clear. Have patience." Pink eyes roll almost immediately at this statement, the vulture's lust for blood clearly growing agitated. Noticing this immediately, Gongniu reassures the irritated avian. "Zhongcheng hasn't failed us before, I trust that he has his reasons for keeping certain things to himself." Upon realising how right the brown bull is, Kuangzao releases another sigh from her beak before nodding her head in understanding.

Rising from her chair, she sees off the last of her baijiu and picks the tray up in her wing again whilst Gongniu hands her the scroll back. As she makes her way to leave, her pink orbs shift over to the picture of the little brown bull. Noticing this, scarlet orbs stare back causing the vulture to shift her focus to the elder bull before her. Both of them hold eye contact for a few moments, with neither lieutenant saying a single word. The pity he had seen before finds its way back into her eyes, both the vulture and bull exchanging a knowing, understanding look. She slowly opens her beak, hoping to find the right words to say until she finally decides to simply comment, "Cute kid." A crippling, overwhelming sorrow takes hold of her voice, completely sucking out all of its manic flair.

Gongniu gives the vulture a stiff, but clearly grateful nod as his eyebrows furrow and he turns his eyes back towards the picture. With this, she turns her head away and swiftly heads out of his office. New tears begin to form in his eyes as he stares at the young bull in the picture, a hopeful, bright future reflected in his cheerful smile. His breath begins to shake as a few sniffles escape his nostrils. Gongniu takes his cup of xifengjiu and downs it, hoping to purge his mourning thoughts. Instead, the light tingle of the alcohol soon turns into a harrowing pang of pain, bringing a new wave of molten lava into his blood at the reminder of his horrid scar. Of his betrayal. Of his brot-

Shatter!

Scarlet orbs slowly look to the hoof that had once held the cup now clenched into a fist with clay shrapnel piercing into his skin and blood seeping from the cuts. With barely a reaction, the bull haphazardly shakes the glass off his hoof before taking one last look at the picture. Why? Why did it have to be you? A hopeless question with no answer bringing with it a wish, to see him one more time. A wish that can never come true. Gongniu delicately picks the picture back up and places it back into his drawer, the outside of the drawer given a crimson accent from the bull's bloody hoof as he closes it again.

1*Xiongdi = Brother in Chinese

Poor, poor Gongniu... I'm not gonna reveal exactly what has happened to him yet but I think you lot will get the gist of it for now. As for Kuangzao, she will be an interesting one that's for sure. I will make one little tease for next chapter though... I may not like legends of awesomeness, but I think that there is potential for quite a lot of their characters... One of which will make an appearance next time, and one of which you may not even expect. So, until next time :)