Hey guys welcome to chapter 7! Thanks for the reviews and follows! Some intense stuff is going on so far. The masters have surrendered but under dire situations. Keep reading and find out what happens next! What will become of them can only be speculated at the hands of these ruthless bandits. Normally it would be a piece of cake to take out common crooks such as these but due to their injuries their performance has indeed been impaired. Escape seems out of sight at this point... or is it?
Overcast skies now hung ominously over the burnt cliffside village. As bandits freely roamed about the streets, very few of them were still concerned about the tiger and panda being held at the very center of town. The two masters were tied to opposite ends of a pole, formerly a supporting column for a house which had since been leveled. The multilayered and thick bindings around their torsos kept their backs tightly pressed to the charred wood, and their arms were of even less use to them, as their wrists were weighed down by heavy eight-point acupuncture cuffs.
As they sat like this on the muddy ground, Po began to look over to his side, only to notice Tigress was fuming. She was understandably upset over the current circumstances of losing to such an easily-beatable enemy and having to watch the villagers lose their homes and all their valuables. But there seemed to be something else, for Po could still hear a growl in her throat while she tried to jerk free of the ropes and cuffs but that only further added to her anger and pain.
Before the panda could say anything though, the tiger spoke up. "This is totally pathetic - completely embarrassing!" she stated angrily. "We could have defeated them, Po - surrendering is a such dishonor!" she ranted, feeling humiliated by the current state they were in as the bandits plundered what was left of the village.
Po understood why she was feeling this way, but it seemed she had forgotten why they'd had to do what they did. "This isn't befitting of us at all; we're warriors-" she continued in her rant but was cut off by Po's gentle, calming voice.
"Tigress..." he began, trying to ease her nerves. "Please... calm down - getting frustrated now isn't what we need." From what Po could see out of the corner of his eye, her expression hadn't changed at all.
Tigress, still upset, shot back, "Calm down? Calm down!? We just lost to a small group of bandits who are now plundering this village, we're tied to a pole in the middle of it, and now we're even further behind our friends, and you want me to calm down!?" she shouted angrily once again, but more so at the circumstances they were in than at Po.
"Tigress, listen..." he replied as gently as he could. "Do you really think we could have beaten them in the state we're in?" he reasoned, looking towards her. Tigress, knowing he was right, relaxed a little, releasing some of her rage; after thinking for a moment and appearing conflicted, she then shook her head.
"Don't you remember why we surrendered in the first place, Ti?" Po knew deep down that she already knew the answer.
"Was it really worth it...?" she muttered quietly.
Po sighed before he began solemnly, "Of course it was - it was for Wing Sing, Ti." he stated simply, and Tigress's mouth dropped open hearing this, knowing it was true. She then began to feel guilt for forgetting and being so headstrong earlier. "If we didn't surrender... she would have been killed." Po whispered with sadness in his voice as he hung his head.
"Y-you're right... I-I'm sorry - what was I thinking? How could I have forgotten..."
"It's alright. We did what we had to do." Po stated calmly, his voice soothing and barely above a whisper.
"I just..." the tiger began somberly. "could never bear to watch a child be killed." she admitted as a sad, contorted expression came across her face. Her whiskers drooped along with her ears - an expression that didn't go unnoticed by Po.
"I understand - totally. I've always known that you've had a special love for kids, Ti." Po observed and the tiger smiled faintly.
"But… why is that?" he asked, trying to take her mind further away from present events.
"It's a long story."
"You going anywhere?" he teased, nudging her arm playfully with his elbow.
"Guess not." she answered, half-smiling, and taking a moment to collect her thoughts. Her expression become solemn and conflicted, even with hints of sadness.
"I suppose it's because of the way I grew up in the orphanage. My childhood at Bau Gu left much to be desired - I hated it in fact."
She turned to the side with a frown in an attempt to hide her emotions - something she'd always struggled with. But ever since the panda had joined them at the Jade Palace, she found that expressing her emotions had become somewhat... easier. Po, as caring as he was, listened to every word and urged her to continue - which she did.
"The people of the orphanage were cruel. They would pick on and make fun of me, but that's not the worst part." she stated as her pained expression grew more depressed the more she dug into her memories. "They were afraid of me because of my strength, for I destroyed literally, everything I touched. The overseers weren't of much help either, and even they thought I was a monster." She turned to the side, adjusting the cuffs in front of her and resting her chin on her knees - her expression was one of despair, and she tried her best not to let Po see it.
"Eventually, it got to the point that they…" She had to pause for a brief moment to settle herself. "They tried to take my claws from me, to remove them by force. They failed, but after that day I began to believe everyone was right about me…"
"But you weren't a monster." he smiled, leaning forward a bit to look at her.
The tiger smiled back faintly but her expression from earlier soon returned, "But I was... Sometimes I think I still am..." She then began looking down at the ground by her feet, consumed by emptiness.
"What!?" Po shrieked in disbelief. "Tigress, you are not a monster - nowhere near it! You're insanely awesome - super cool by the way, and an overall very compassionate, kind and caring person from what I've seen. Why would you think you're a monster, Ti?" he asked more concerned after he got off his ramble of how awesome she was.
Tigress found it was hard not to smile at his unique compliments towards her, but ensured he couldn't see her face anymore. She considered ending the conversation there, but once again looking around at their powerless situation, figured she might as well continue.
"...And then at the peak of it - the absolute worst of my days at the orphanage... someone came to me." Her voice once again grew disconsolate; anguish radiated from her as her pain could be felt even by Po.
"It was Shifu, wasn't it?"
"He was the only one who believed in me. He taught me how to control my strength so I could get along with the others - but that didn't solve everything." she said as her voice become unsteady and her striped tail began to move over the ground anxiously.
"The day came when families would come to adopt a child of their own and I can remember all I wanted was to be adopted… to be loved by a real family. However, no one came for me and everyone else was adopted. I was left alone... again."
"But... Shifu came for me, took me home to the Jade Palace and I thought for the first time, I would have a family - a father who would care for me." her face, for a moment, changed into one of a faint smile as she said this, before she frowned once more while gritting her teeth.
"But I was wrong yet again." she said in a darker tone that surprised Po. "Shifu showed me no fatherly affection whatsoever, nor did he treat me as family. All I wanted was to get his approval and for him to be proud of me as his daughter, but he didn't do that! I tried to show him interest in kung fu to gain his approval somehow but instead, he subjected me to harder training!" she said more frustrated and anguished than before as her tail was twitching even more. "That's another reason why I chose to beat my paws for twenty years - I've never known such misery." she clenched her fists together briefly.
"I'm so sorry, Ti-" Po whispered quietly sharing her gloomy expression.
Tigress gently shook her head, "Don't be - It's ok, I guess. All I ever wanted was a family - a father. Was... was..." she said as she was having trouble finishing her sentence and Po could have sworn he saw water begin to form and blur her amber orbs. "...was that so much to ask for?" she said, or rather whispered as she took a shaky breath and quickly batted her eyes to clear them in an attempt to hide her emotions once more, but Po saw. The panda was speechless.
"I had no idea- I just… I never expected-" the panda started at last, but the window she had offered Po into her mind closed as soon as it had opened.
"It's fine, I don't want to discuss such things anymore. It is in the past." she said, returning her focus to the present moment and starting to re-examine the restraints confining her.
Through the moments of silence that followed, Po carefully followed the movements of the bandits in the village around them, still running through buildings and tossing valuables out into the streets. Suddenly, he heard Tigress' voice again.
"Are any of them watching us?"
Po was confused at first, but when he felt additional tension in the ropes around his waist, he realized what was happening.
"No." he answered, looking back to see what the tiger was up to.
Having turned the angle of her restraints, Tigress was using the sharp inside pins of the acupuncture cuffs to steadily cut through the threading of the rope. After much effort, the ropes began to weaken and soon, they snapped entirely, and freeing the two warriors.
Having now been freed, the two fighters sought cover near a burning building. They needed to come up with a plan, and fast.
"Po, we need to remove these cuffs or we won't get far. What's your plan?" Tigress demanded while she scanned the area intently.
"Hmm, well I don't remember which bandit it was who had the key to our cuffs, but we can always improvise!" And with that, Po got up and rushed towards where the Bandits were.
"Ugh that naive idiot is going to get himself killed…" Tigress said to herself as she rushed to catch up with her colleague.
"Hey you muts! You should have finished us off when you had the chance!" Po shouted at the wolf bandits who were in the process of looting a nearby bank.
"Po! What are you doing! We should try to avoid these guys and make it out of here more stealthily!" Tigress argued, but it was no use, for the wolf bandits had heard Po's taunts and had each turned their attention to the two warriors.
"Don't worry Tigress, I have a plan to beat these guys! Just trust me!" Po replied, readying himself for the incoming wolves.
Tigress just sighed at the Panda's antics, 'I swear I will never understand him sometimes…' She thought and then prepared herself to defend against the armed bandits.
The leader of the Bandits took out a dagger from its sheath, "You're right Panda, we should have finished you, but now we'll get an easy second shot!" and then he ordered his comrades to surround the two in a circle.
"Okay Dragon Warrior, what's your plan now?" she asked as the two got back to back preparing to fight the bandits.
"Just watch." He stated simply.
One of the bandits then rushed Po directly, charging at him quickly with a dagger in hand. However, the Wolves soon realized that that they had again underestimated the Panda when Po managed to avoid the bandit's strike to the side and deliver a powerful kick knocking the wolf to the ground.
The other wolves began to growl, and pretty soon Po found himself being charged at by four bandits at a time. It was then that he put his plan into action, seeing that one of the bandits was rushing at him with a stabbing thrust, he acted quickly and brought the cuffs up and intercepted the blade of the Wolf's dagger in the key lock. Po then used the disoriented wolf against his companions, shielding himself against the other rushing bandits as he simultaneously twisted the wolf's dagger in a pattern that managed to pick the lock on his cuffs and freed his hands.
Tigress watched as Po was now free, 'I can't believe that plan worked…' She thought as she shook her head. A group of bandits then rushed her as well, each coming at her from every angle. But she was prepared for them, and at the last second she jumped high up to avoid them. As a result of their momentum, they all crashed into one another and fell to the ground. She then met up with Po who had now defeated the four bandits,
"Now what? There are still more than a dozen Bandits raiding the village and I doubt we can take them all on at once." She asked, having met up with her teammate.
"Honestly I didn't think we'd make it this far…" He answered as he picked up one of the fallen bandits' daggers. He then picked the lock on her cuffs and managed free her paws as well.
"Po! We have to get a plan for escaping this village or we'll never be able to catch up to the four!" Tigress ranted.
"Not before we ensure the safety of all the citizens. Okay, here's the plan, stay low and search for survivors. If you find any survivors take them outside of the village towards the river." Po stated as he began to run over to another group of bandits.
"What will you do?" She asked.
"I'm going to find Sing, we promised her and her mother that we'd protect them." He answered nobly as he rushed off to fight off the Bandits.
As Po approached the group of bandits, he began to hear screams of fear coming from inside one of the buildings. He also saw that the bandits were attempting to knock down the door to the building. He knew that the screams had to be made by citizens, so he got the criminals' attention to get them away from the house. "Enemies of China! Prepare to feel the thundery palm of justice!"
The bandits looked over each with flabbergasted expressions, the leader whom Po had seen earlier taking Sing hostage was with them. "You! How did you break free!?"
Po smiled and replied, "Your second mistake was taking your attention off of us!" Getting into a fighting stance and waiting for the Bandits to make the first move.
The Bandit leader then raised a brow and asked in an irritated tone, "Second mistake? and what do you suppose our first mistake was you ignorant Panda!?"
"Taking the girl hostage was your first mistake. And as for your third mistake…" Po says before preparing to take them all on.
And then, he charges the bandits all on simultaneously, using all of his training to be able to hold his own against the near a dozen bandits. He almost looked like a blur as he managed to repel the attacks from the bandits as well as knock a couple of them out at the same time. The bandits were ruthless, but so was he, and before long, the numbers of his enemies began to dwindle. The bandits that still stood were now much wearier.
They all backed off as they feared the panda whom they had greatly underestimated. He then continued where he had left off before, "And your third mistake was picking a fight with the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress!" And then, he took down the three bandits before he noticed the leader now fleeing the scene.
"Oh no you don't!" Po thought to himself. He then gave chase after the bandit, but try as he may, was unable to catch up due to his reduced stamina. The bandit was just about to get away, but before he could escape, someone ran up with incredible speed on Po's left side and managed to land a kick on the fleeing brigand. It was Tigress, and as Po caught up to her, he asked between gasps, "Tigress!? ... I thought I told you to... look for survivors!"
She smiled and answered, "I did. While you were busy attracting the attention of every bandit in the village, I led all the remaining citizens to the forest. And it seemed you needed my help anyways."
Po raised a brow, "What are you saying!? I totally had him!" Po replied as he threw his hands up in self-defense.
"Uh huh...Of course you did." she answered with a knowing smile.
"Hey look, the lady hit me first-" the bandit said before he was knocked unconscious by Tigress.
Po smiled to himself but then realized something, "Wait! There were citizens trapped in that house!" And he darted off in the direction of the house.
Po arrived at the house not a moment too soon, the door was still shut, and it had taken quite a beating having been rammed by the bandits. Po put his ear against the door and heard the faint breaths from inside, he knew there had to be two citizens inside who were trying to keep a low profile. Po knocked on the door and said, "It's okay, you can come out now."
When there was no response he spoke again, "It's okay, it's the Dragon Warrior, the threat to the village is gone now, you can come out now." At this, there was a locking sound as the door opened slightly. An eye peeked out through the crack, and inspected the Panda. When they realized there was no threat, the door was opened, and Po found his legs being hugged by the same small bunny girl whom he had met earlier.
"Thank you for rescuing us Dragon Warrior!" she thanked him while clinging to his leg.
Po smiled and looked to the girl's mother smiling; he saw her mouth the words "thank you" to which he nodded.
But unfortunately this heartfelt moment could not last forever, so Po knelt down and addressed the little girl, "Sing, thank you for being so brave throughout this, but now you and your mother need to flee to the woods where Master Tigress has evacuated the rest of the villagers."
Sing released Po and nodded, her mother did the same, and with that, they both fled towards the forest.
Po then did one last quick check around the village to ensure there were no more citizens, when he finished, he was met up by Tigress who asked, "Are you finally done here? Or can we get back to tracking down our captured teammates?"
He nodded and was about to reply before he heard an oncoming noise from outside the edge of the village. Tigress looked over and immediately said, "More bandits, we can't afford to waste any more time here Po, we have to go!" She then took the Panda's paw and dragged him along as the two made their way out of the pillaged town.
That's it for now guys! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out but here ya go! Thanks again to Dragon Chronicle for editing this and even though dragon won't beta read for anyone anymore, I just want to say thank you so much for helping us! You have been a big help and your edits and tips have helped our stories and improved our skills in more ways than one. Your story is amazing and if y'all haven't already, please check out his story on FFN: Winds of change. I hope to hear back from ya soon Dragon I know you've been busy and I apologize for any worried msgs I may have sent :p Anyway, moving onto the story - so far, the Masters finally got a lead on where their friends have been taken. Will they find them in time? Or has this mysterious villian outsmarted our heroes for good? Find out in chaoter 8!
- Tipofan4life