:4 hours earlier - break of dawn:
Hunter woke up wrapped in the furs he had slept in, sitting up and stretching out, hearing satisfying pops from his bones going back into their proper places. He stood up and stretched out, making sure to limber up before his journey to the Valley of Peace. He got to work taking his tent down and packing up what little he had unpacked the night before. The Crane Clan members were also now getting up, being extra careful with their still healing wings. They talked among one another quietly for a few minutes before two of them approached Hunter. "You'll make better time if we show you a secret way into the Valley." one of them said.
The other explained what they were talking about. "It cuts off much of the journey and halves the time the journey would take on foot. Only The Chih Kuan Crane Clan and Master Oogway himself know of this secret entrance. You must swear on the Ancestors, you will never ever speak of this to anyone." Master Qizhòngjī said to Hunter seriously.
Hunter then gave a single laugh as he packed everything back into his backpack. "I don't believe in the power of my Ancestors. But..." He then took out a small blade from somewhere... It was hidden very well. He then moved the fabric of his handwrap to show he had no fur. It was smooth. He cut the blade along his palm and held it up. "I swear, with this blood oath that I will not speak of this secret to anyone." Hunter swore to Master Qizhòngjī, who seemed pleased with that.
While he was shocked that Hunter did not believe in his Ancestors or their power, he supposed he either wasn't from China originally or just simply didn't believe in that kind of thing. "To clarify, if someone's life is in danger and the time it takes to cross The Thread of Hope will lead to their death, and if you trust them, then you may reveal the entrance. However, they must also take an oath." Master Qizhòngjī elaborated to Hunter, who nodded in understanding. "I am telling you now because I fear for the lives of those in the Valley, and you selflessly rescued us with no promise of reward." He said to him, before taking the backpack containing his sleeping supplies from Hunter. "We will ferry your camping supplies across The Thread. You'll move faster without this weighing you down."
Hunter bowed respectfully to the Crane, who did his best to return the gesture as a sign of equal respect. Two Cranes performed a complicated dance in front of a giant tree, leading to the tree cracking down the middle and parting in half, revealing a cave in the cliff face. He entered the cave, and the tree closed again behind him...
He wound his way through the caves that apparently were concealed in the mountains. They were easy enough to navigate for someone like him, although it wasn't exactly a difficult task either. A couple of hours later, he finally emerged in the Valley of Peace, seeing the Jade Palace sitting on the mountain over from the one he had come from. He carefully made his way down the mountainside and quickly moved to the entrance of the village below the Palace... It wasn't long until he saw a member of the bandits in question. Looks like this village was their target... A Jackal and a Wolf were going around extorting various traders and shopkeepers for 'protection money'. He had to wonder where the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were while all of this was happening... Hunter made sure to limber up, stretching out and making sure he was ready to complete the contract.
However, before he could make any kind of move, he felt and heard his stomach rumble... It had been a while since he'd eaten. While usually he'd hunt for his own food, this time he figured he'd just go right to a restaurant instead and save himself some time. Around here he was getting lots of side eye and even outright staring in a few cases, but he just weaved through the crowd like always. Always fluid, always in motion. He stopped near the foot of the Palace and decided this was a good place to eat and maybe gather some information about The Qīngtóng Baihé and their leader. He looked around the area found a place to possibly suit his needs... 'Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu' and written below in smaller letters was 'Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop'... Shrugging to himself at the odd choice of names, he entered the open outdoors noodle shop and walked over to the counter to make his order.
An older Goose approached the counter, who one would assume is Mr. Ping himself. "Hello, welcome to Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu, home of The Dragon Warrior prior to The Jade Palace. I'm Mr. Ping, what can I get for you today?" Mr. Ping asked Hunter, who looked behind the goose at the menu, to see if he served meat...
Hunter took a second before looking at Mr. Ping. "What's your specialty?" he asked.
Mr. Ping laughed at that. "Ah! You must be new to the Valley! Our famous Secret Ingredient Soup is our specialty!" he exclaimed with a wink to Hunter at the word 'Secret'. "For predators, like... Your...self?" Mr. Ping asked, unsure as to his status as a predator or prey creature, getting a nod in return. "We do have a selection of meat, sourced from feral animals farmed locally. I can add some to my soup for you." He smiled at Hunter, who wasn't used to such... Friendliness from strangers.
Hunter nodded to Mr. Ping. "I'll take one of those, with some feral chicken if you have it." he asked Mr. Ping, who nodded to him, chopping up some cooked chicken and adding it to the Noodle Soup.
When Hunter dug in his bag to pay, Mr. Ping held up a wing. "Free of charge for newcomers!" he said, although it made Hunter slightly uneasy, he nodded without question and took the bowl, sitting at one of the larger tables to accommodate his equally larger size. He looked rather comical sitting there, although it was one of the larger seats and tables in the restaurant. He took down his mask, although he was still wreathed in shadow so you couldn't see his face as he silently sipped his Noodle bowl while listening.
Although at first it was rather difficult for him to fully focus... 'Damn this noodle soup is the shit.' He thought to himself as he tried to concentrate on the conversations going on around him.
"Can you believe it?! And they were roommates!"
"Oh my god, they were roommates?!"
Not what he was after.
"Bet you two Yuan that Po and the others come down here and kick butt!"
"Shhh! They'll hear you! ...you're on."
Nope, but some people still seem to be holding out hope at the least...
"Have you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"The bandits brought in more people the other day. Rumour has it they're going to spread to the other towns and start extorting them too!"
"This is getting out of paw... "
Well, there was something at least...
Suddenly, a Badger waltzed into the restaurant, and all conversation fell silent, all eyes turning to said Badger. "What?! What're you all lookin' at?! Go back to your damn food!" he snarled, squaring up to the entire restaurant, all of who did as commanded and made a show of eating and not looking at the Badger. He walked over to the counter. "You're late, Ping. Again." he glowered at the Goose behind the counter.
Mr. Ping swallowed a lump in his throat. "It's... It's just too much... If I give you what you're asking for, I won't have enough to buy more ingredients! That means no more Secret Ingredient Soup!" he exclaimed in his defence.
The Badger chuckled at that. "I admit, that would be a shame. But the Boss is tired of waiting. Either you pay up now, or I break your wings and take whatever you have." he warned, cracking his knuckles at that.
Mr. Ping was shivering in fear now. "I can't! I'll go out of business!" he told the Badger. "I can give you half now, half later?" Mr. Ping suggested a compromise to the Badger.
Said Badger shook his head at that. "Sorry old timer." he said and reached behind the counter, grabbing Mr. Ping by the neck and pulling him over it, pinning him down on the counter.
Hunter had seen enough at this point. He stood up in his seat, putting his mask back up. "Let him go." he stated to the Badger, not even turning his head to face the bandit.
Said Badger didn't release his grip on Mr. Ping right away but turned his head to Hunter. "What did you just say to me?" he asked dangerously, fully turning his body to Hunter, who was suddenly extremely close to the Badger, who jumped back at seeing him towering over him.
Hunter lowered his head, peering down at the Badger. "You do look like you have hearing problems." He stated and leaned down next to the Badger's ear. "I said let him go." he growled dangerously.
The Badger pulled his head back and snarled. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" he asked Hunter.
The Badger then suddenly and without warning rose off the ground, and everyone looked shocked. Hunter had picked the Badger up by his neck and was suspending him in the air with one hand. "Drop him, or I'll fucking break your fingers. One. By. One." Hunter warned the Badger, his tone completely calm and collected. The Badger finally dropped Mr. Ping, who quickly scampered away while coughing throatily from being held so roughly. Hunter then dropped the Badger. "See? Easily done."
However, said bandit was not pleased at all by being interrupted. "Fucker!" The Badger then snarled once again and backed up, throwing a solid punch at Hunter. Everyone flinched away from the force used, but when they looked back, Hunter had caught the fist and was looking at the Badger still, whose eyes widened in fear at being stopped in his tracks.
Hunter cast his eyes to the fist he held. "Impressive." he stated in a monotone voice before kicking out and sending the Badger flying into a wall. The Badger struggled to get up before being picked up again by the throat. "Would you say I've beaten you?" he asked the bandit.
Said Badger nodded frantically. "Yeah, yeah you've beaten me!" he agreed, looking away in fear of the next strike, wondering if it would be lethal.
The next hit never came. Suddenly, he was dropped on the ground as Hunter appeared to smile and laugh good naturedly, picking the Badger up in a more friendly manner now. "Sorry about that. I just wanted to prove myself! I'm looking to join up with you lot! Say, where would I go to do that exactly?" he asked the Badger, who looked rather shocked by the entire situation.
However, the Badger soon smiled and laughed in return. "That was you proving yourself? Well damn, you came to the right man! I'm the Boss' second." He pointed at himself proudly. Everyone in the restaurant was shocked and horrified by this turn of events. "We're based out of the old warehouses, near the Jade River. Password is Sirén." he stated to Hunter, definitely liking what he saw of their apparent new addition.
Hunter nodded and laughed before something quickly cut through the air between the two of them and Hunter very suddenly stopped laughing. Whatever happened was too fast for most eyes to see, but Hunter now held his blade in his hand and it was by his side, pointed at the ground. The Badger's eyes went wide then as he began choking and fell back against the wall, clutching his throat as it opened up and blood began spurting out from the wound. Hunter looked directly into his eyes as he sat there, writhing against the wall as he choked to death before his eyes.
Eventually, the life left the Badger's eyes and his head dropped lifelessly. Hunter then reached down and yanked a tooth from the Badger's mouth, putting it in one of his pouches. He then left a pile of coins on the counter in front of a shocked Mr. Ping. "For any damages." Hunter simply stated before walking out of the restaurant while whistling an eerie little tune that sounded quite a bit like Itsy Bitsy Spider at first...
The hunt was on now.