A/N: Thank you all for being so patient! It took longer than I thought to get a laptop. It's a boring story really, but basically credit score is fucking stupid. Sorry I took so long, but I promised I'd be back and here I am! With another chapter! Regular updates once again from now on! Hope you all enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviews! You really make my day!

Meanwhile, Hunter had returned to his camp on Peach Tree Hill and was sitting on the edge of said Hill, looking out at the view of the Valley. He sighed to himself as he looked out at the splendour of the Valley of Peace. He wondered how the world outside of the Valley would be impacted if he became one of the Five. After all, he dealt with bandits out of the imminent reach of the Five and something he actually prided himself on, was that while he did take payment for his work, he did help people out who couldn't otherwise help themselves.

And on the other hand, the Five... Well... He'd never had a family or anything like that. No true friends other than passing acquaintances he made during his travels, those who trained him and the like. No one he was truly close with. But then that was for the best, wasn't it? Never get close, never get hurt. Keep your distance from everyone, cut your own detail and just do what you do best. The Five, Po and Shifu... They were almost like a family in their own right. But he wondered if he had a place in it... If he even wanted to have a place in it. Not like any of them apart from Shifu even wanted him to there anyway.

While contemplating these things, Hunter was staring into the abyss of the Valley below, still trying to work through a choice that would redefine his entire life... For better or worse was the question? He'd carefully constructed his walls long ago and knew that getting so close to others was a sure way to open up the gates for them. He never trusted anyone, no one except Master Oogway. He knew the old turtle was a truly good soul in the world who he could trust due to his nature. Sure he could be cryptic, vague and even misleading but all of it was for the greater good, which Hunter greatly respected... As for Shifu...

"Hunter?"

Speak of the devil. Hunter slowly turned his head and saw Shifu himself standing on the hill behind him. "Master Shifu. What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice holding little emotion in it as usual.

Instead of answering right away, Shifu looked out at the Valley below and moved to stand beside Hunter. "It is a beautiful view, isn't it? I can see why you made camp here." he nodded in appreciation, taking a deep breath in. "This is where Master Oogway passed away into the spirit world." Shifu told Hunter with a small smile of sadness.

Hunter nodded as he continued to look out at the Valley below them. "Aye, even I can feel the spiritual connection this place has." he said to Shifu, his tone still rather blank as he spoke. "I used to talk to Master Oogway whenever I saw him. I confided in him in a way I have no other before or since." Hunter admitted to the old Master.

Shifu looked to Hunter at that, seeming thoughtful for a second. "I could always fulfil that role in his... Absence?" he offered Hunter, who slowly turned his head to the old Master in response.

He did seem to give the offer some amount of consideration before deciding on an answer. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine." Hunter said to the Shifu and suddenly stood up. He gave a slight bow and walked down the hill, taking his bag with him as he left the area.

Shifu remained on the Hill and sat down where Hunter had not a few seconds ago. He'd leave before Hunter came back, but he enjoyed sitting here and spending time at the Peach Tree. He wondered if Hunter had picked this spot not just because of it's view, but because of the connection it had to Oogway. He had just admitted to feeling close to his Old Master in a way he was with few others. More than ever Shifu felt the weight of the responsibility Oogway had saddled him with when he passed away, even with Po as Grand Master. Part of Shifu still wondered if he was truly prepared for what Oogway had left him with. Here was a lost soul who could use a home like the Jade Palace, and a family like the Five, and the Dragon Warrior. Yet Hunter was a tough nut to crack, and the Five hadn't exactly been welcoming... "What do I do, Master?" Shifu spoke to the empty air as he stood up and walked back to the Palace.

...

Hunter descended the steps of the Jade Palace, going down into the Valley of Peace and walked into the town situated below the Palace itself. It was almost dusk out now and he walked the sparsely populated streets until he found an outdoor tavern to drown his sorrows in. He walked to the storefront embedded in the wall and the pig behind the counter took a moment to register Hunter. He seemed a bit nervous but approached his customer. "What err... What can I get for you?"

Hunter dropped a coin on the counter and the barkeep's attitude quickly became less weary. "A beer. Ox strength." he ordered and the Pig nodded, quickly going to the cellar and grabbing a cold frothy beer and giving it to Hunter, taking the gold coin as payment. Hunter went and sat down at one of the tables in the place and silently drank his alcoholic beverage. He usually brewed his own extra strength alcohol if he wanted to drink or even make a bit of money by selling it to the tavern he stayed at, but he wasn't at The Dà Hónggōu Tavern currently so he'd have to buy his own booze until he returned. The alcohol others drank didn't have nearly as much of an effect on him for some reason.

Hunter was clearly drowning in his thoughts as he sat there quietly, to the point one may think he was a statue if it weren't for the odd drink he'd imbibe. However, as these things tend to go, one drink turned to two, two to three. Eventually he had about 8 beers racked up and was still sitting quietly and drinking. Night had fallen by now and the look that was plastered on his face was unrecognisable, but it could be a mix of anger, bitterness and sadness if you were to look closely. As he sat alone, he wondered if the alcohol was even working on him, before remembering he was used to stronger stuff than what he was currently drinking. He looked up and saw a few female Lynx gathered at the bar, clearly itching for some form of company.

However, Hunter found that he felt very little urge to mix with them. He wasn't really sure what he found attractive in a girl... He found his thoughts drifting to Viper, and the rather sudden kiss they'd shared. His first kiss, although he wasn't sure it really counted due to the situation, and there was no romantic intent behind it from either party... right? Oddly it was something he already remembered fondly, a surge of genuine positive emotion he'd long since buried deep down inside of himself. He also didn't know he could find snakes attractive, but Master Viper certainly was quite a lovely lady. Maybe it was personality he found most appealing? He hadn't gotten close enough to anyone to gauge their personality enough to make that call, but something about Viper seemed different.

For a second he considered Tigress but quickly shoved those thoughts aside as he saw a group of interested males chatting up the ladies at the bar. He supposed being the only one of his species made him quite the curiosity, but he despised the idea of anyone being interested in him for that reason. It made him angry and sick. Let alone if someone wanted to sleep with him because of his... Rarity, for lack of a better word. 'I'd rather jump into a volcano or slice my own fucking head off with Cobra's Strike...' he thought to himself, annoyed at the mere thought of such a thing.

Continuing the train of thought, it occurred to him he didn't know how to really flirt or attract the attention of a female if he'd even wanted to. It had never been a consideration or concern of his until now. But just thinking about it, about letting someone get that close, it made his face contort in displeasure. He fully knew the dangers letting anyone get close entailed. It was a slippery slope and an easy way to break someone. While he was aware his thoughts on the matter were rather cynical, he also figured that for him it was an appropriate line of thought. No one would ever find him attractive or interesting or appealing enough to want to get that close anyway, and if they did, well... They were idiots as far as Hunter was concerned. They either wouldn't know who he is or they wouldn't care, and he didn't know which he thought was worse.

Remembering how Tigress had referred to him when seeing his face... a freak. It didn't really surprise him all that much anymore. He'd been called worse. But still, somewhere deep down it stung, and he hated that it did. He found himself once again wishing he could feel nothing. Emotions were a burden and he wished he knew how to get rid of them. Ancestors know he'd tried his hardest.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he realised the bar was practically empty but for him and one or two others drowning their sorrows. Looking up, he saw the moon was quite a bit higher than it had been when he'd arrived at the bar. Deciding to get back before Shifu assumed he'd left or ran off or something and came looking for him, Hunter then bought another 5 drinks at once in sealed bottles and walked back up to the Palace with them in hand, his balance a little bit off from the alcohol taking some effect on him. He walked straight back to Peach Tree Hill and sat down once again at the edge, looking at the full moon that seemed to be coming out tonight.

Popping open the bottle he began to drink from it once more. He'd already downed that bottle and was starting another when, suddenly, the sound of raucous laughter caught his attention as he snapped his head towards the Palace kitchens, where the hearty laughter was emanating from. It was the Five, Po and probably Shifu of course. Hunter returned his gaze forwards to the view before him, downed what was left in the bottle in his left hand and stood up before yelling out in what sounded like rage and tossing it from the Hill, the velocity making it fly fairly far before dropping and falling from the effects of gravity. There was another empty bottle in his right hand that suddenly made a crunching sound. Looking down in sudden surprise, Hunter saw he'd crushed the bottle in his hand, blood once more dripping from it, this time from his palm and not his knuckles. "Fuck..." he cursed in slight annoyance at the apparent mistake and took his handwrap off, sitting down and picking the glass out of the wound before wrapping a bandage around his hand this time, in the same fashion as his handwraps.

"Why do you punish yourself so?" Came a soothing voice from out of nowhere. Looking around in shock, Hunter only saw himself sitting on the hill... Suddenly, he turned back around towards the Valley and saw a ghostly apparition of Master Oogway standing on the edge of the Hill looking at Hunter with his usual serene smile.

Hunter slowly approached the vision of Oogway, cautious in his movement, but his face was completely shocked. "M-Master Oogway...? Is... Is it you?" Hunter asked, still in a shocked state from seeing the supposedly deceased Turtle, the alcohol still effecting him, but seeing this sobered him up a little.

A chuckle came from the apparition. "Of course. Who else would it be?" he asked Hunter in amusement, who didn't have an answer for his question as he bowed to Oogway in respect and shock. "You didn't answer my question."

Hunter looked away from Oogway's spirit for a second. "You know why." he spoke to the old Master, his tone of voice conveying some amount of bitterness. Or to his ghost... Or spirit. Whichever it was that was currently talking to Hunter.

Oogway once again gave a light chuckle, unphased by the tone of his voice from the looks of it. "Ah, yes." he nodded in apparent recognition of what Hunter was talking about. "You still haven't followed the advice I gave, hmm?" The old turtle stretched his neck forwards curiously, even looking somewhat sad.

Hunter couldn't meet Oogway's eyes. "N-No, I-I wasn't... I'm... I'm not... Strong enough." he looked down in shame at admitting that, a defeated look coming across his face and his tone matching it.

Oogway shook his head that. "No, my friend. You are strong. Much stronger than you think." he spoke, walking over and putting his hand on Hunter's shoulder. "You just need to learn how to believe in yourself, and those around you." Oogway said, vanishing as the clouds came in behind him and covered the moon once more.

Hunter looked down at what Oogway had said to him and clenched his bleeding hand, causing more blood to stain the bandage wrapped around it as he disturbed the fresh wound. His eyes were clenched tightly shut as he processed the encounter. Was it Oogway, or had he lost his mind and began seeing things that weren't there? Maybe it was the alcohol? No, he'd been far drunker before and not seen anything like that.

He contemplated this as he sat down at the smoking campfire and opened up another bottle... It was going to be one of those nights it seemed...