A/N: Sorry it's been a while guys! The whole cost of living crisis has me working overtime, so I hardly have any time to write! That, and my job is super stressful. Anyway! Next chapter! Onward!
Finally returning to Changxing, the group were welcomed by Fangsu, who upon seeing her husband excitedly rushed over to him and hugged him herself like Viper had. "Chun!" she exclaimed happily. He seemed to be starting to regain consciousness by this point, reacting to the hug somewhat.
He actually blinked his eyes open then, seeing he was back in his village as he woke up. "Was... was it all just a bad dream?" Grand Master Viper asked out loud, looking around a little bit.
Hunter answered first. "I'm afraid not, Grand Master." he said in response as the Serpentine Master in question noticed that Tigress and Hunter were currently supporting him.
The Grand Master definitely recognised Tigress. "Master Tigress." he said in surprise before looking at the others. "And the Furious Five... my daughter." The Viper patriarch's eyes came to rest on Viper herself, who once again hugged her father, still wincing from her injuries. "You're hurt." he observed, pressing the tip of his tail under her chin and lifting her head, inspecting her for further injury.
She smiled a little and moved her head away, feeling embarrassed about being fussed over like a little Snakelet in front of her friends. "I'm fine, dad. Just a little burnt. A little shedding and I'll be all better." Viper said to him as he nodded in response.
Taking notice of Hunter now, he cocked his brow. "You, I don't know." he said, and then looked at Po. "Nor you. But I can surmise that you are the Dragon Warrior." the Grand Master stated to the obvious panda, although could not do much about not knowing Hunter at all, since he was currently helping to support the Grand Master. Po nodded excitedly in response, trying to hold in his excitement.
Answering the Grand Master's unasked question, Hunter chuckled a little as he continued to help the Viper patriarch along. "I'm just a guy with a sword," he replied. "They call me The Hunter. It's an honour to meet you." Hunter bowed his head slightly and also looked at Fangsu. "We didn't get to introduce ourselves earli-" he cut off as she also hugged him, and he froze up much like Tigress would. "-er." he finished.
Fangsu was smiling brightly at him when she pulled away. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed to Hunter, tears in her eyes. "I feared the worst, but you, all of you... thank you." She looked to the rest of the Five and Po as well for helping the effort.
Grand Master Viper scoffed at that with a slight smirk. "Trust you to worry yourself to death, my dear." he laughed a little bit.
Rolling her eyes at him, Fangsu lightly hissed. "Come, my love. If it weren't for our friends here, you would not have returned at all." she pointed out to him, slightly amused and poking fun at her husband as the group decided to get Grand Master Viper somewhere he could rest, although she was clearly very relieved.
However their celebration was to be cut short. Nearby, the shadowy figure was waiting and observing the group, waiting for it's time to strike... and it found it. The group all turned to go towards the Viper household, and the shadow quickly moved. Like lightning, it used an opening at their back, where Grand Master Viper, still between Tigress and Hunter, was vulnerable. It stalked close behind them, virtually silent in its movements... "I may have been foolish to follow the enemy alone, but I gave as good as I got!" he said in response to his wife, attempting to recover some of his wounded pride.
The group didn't notice as the shadow dissipated into black mist and entered into Grand Master Viper's nostrils. Instantly, he began to convulse and shake as Tigress and Hunter looked at him with concern. "Grand Master Viper, what is-" Tigress began to enquire before a burst of shadow sent her and Hunter flying away from him. He began to levitate in the air as black shadows swirled around his serpentine form.
Viper approached her father, stopping just short of the moving shadows. "Dad! What's going..." she began to say, the rest of her words dying in her throat as her father opened up his eyes to look at them, showing that they were completely black now.
His mouth opened, words pouring forth that clearly weren't his own... "Your world will be consumed by the powers of darkness! Witness the dark powers of Chóuhèn Fanshè!" Whatever was possessing the Grand Master spoke before he seemingly began to choke.
While everyone was wondering what was happening, Po recognised what it was doing. "It's using his Chi energy!" he exclaimed as the Five all surrounded the possessed Master in preparation for whatever was to come, a well of black Chi energy gathering on the ground where it was being expelled out from his mouth. "It's like the Demon is... corrupting it or something..." he said as some of the Grand Master's venom was mixed in with the Chi.
Then, once it seemed as though the Chi had stopped flowing, out of the black well, an arm shot out. It gripped the ground and pulled the rest of its upper body up and out of the well. It was a creature wreathed in fire and dripping with venom. His Chi now seemingly expended, Grand Master Viper was then flung aside and away from the area by the shadows, landing close to his wife, who quickly checked on him to make sure he was still alive. As the rest of the beast's form emerged from the well, the searing flames were felt by all in close proximity. Bursts of fire began emerging from the demonic creature as it rose up.
Large waves of fire flowing out from it, the Five and Po's instincts screamed out in pure terror at the wild and unpredictable fire bursts as they all quickly backed away from the flames that seemed to be coming, the primal part of their brains activating in response to the fire itself and telling them to retreat to safety. But Hunter stood his ground where he was, letting the flames wash over him harmlessly but for some rather uncomfortable heat. Once the Demon had emerged fully, it held up a clawed arm as a ring of fire then surrounded the two of them, cutting the Five off from Hunter and seemingly forcing him to fight it alone.
The Five and Po were not pleased by this at all as to be expected. "We have to find a way to help." Tigress said to the others, attempting to remain as calm as possible as they all searched for an opening. But the fire that made up a makeshift arena in Changxing's Square was impenetrable without severe burning, and Crane was still unable to fly with his injury, and there were no buildings nearby tall enough to let them jump in from above either...
Meanwhile, Hunter calmly unsheathed his blade and held it out to the side in a ready position, preparing to fight and staring down the fiery demonic entity in front of him without any visible fear on his face nor any words on his lips. He was ready to fight. There were whispers on the wind, incomprehensible and excited as the fire raged, like forked tongues in his ear. The fire lit up the night within Changxing, bathing the area in an orange and white light due to the intensity. As the two opponents stood facing one another, the strange being took a single step to the side, Hunter matching its step in the opposite direction measuredly. The rest of Changxing now had come outside to see what was going on, shocked to see the fiery arena now in their town square as well as the two beings facing off within a blazing arena.
The two began to circle one another, gauging each other's movements and intentions. The creature struck first. It very suddenly charged at Hunter, who expertly moved aside while blocking a swipe from the creature's large blade with his own, the metal of both blades meeting in a clang, sparks flying from the creature's flaming sword as they met. Hunter stepped away quickly to avoid any possible fiery reprisals from the beast. The demon lifted its sword overhead and swung downwards. Rolling aside, Hunter once again backed up, remaining calm and defensive, regulating his breathing carefully.
Another swing came from the Demon as it charged, clearly intent on slicing Hunter to ribbons. He blocked each strike on the backpedal before spinning aside and striking, managing a glancing blow that would have lightly wounded a mortal opponent. However, the Demon turned and pressed the attack aggressively, unphased by the hit. In a normal battle, Hunter would bide his time for his opponent to tire in a case like this. But this was a Demon, and most were virtually tireless, especially compared to mortals.
It continued swinging its blade around at Hunter, its fighting style aggressive and deadly, barely giving him any time to breathe since the Demon itself didn't need to do so. "I know of your branding, Slayer. You earned that marking by killing my kin." It spoke as the two locked blades and it pressed its weight down on him. "But killing one of us means nothing next to my might. You will be a worthy opponent to be swallowed by the darkness!" It yelled, removing its blade and lifting it to smash down on Hunter, who quickly rolled aside as the floor itself had cracked under the sheer power of the strike. The roaring fire around them blocked out whatever advice the Five may have to give Hunter here, so he was on his own.
Speaking of which, the Five were watching from outside on the edge of their seats, all clearly worried by what was happening within the ring of fire with Hunter facing off against this dangerous opponent. "Hunter's good, but this thing is relentless..." Monkey pointed out to the group.
Crane nodded in agreement with Monkey. "He needs to find a weakness and strike at it quickly and decisively." He gave his input, although it was all academic since they couldn't help even if they could see a weakness. Looking at Tigress, the group saw her looking genuinely concerned, feeling frustrated and angry that there was nothing they could currently do for Hunter.
The fight meanwhile was progressing in neither warrior's favour, although if Hunter didn't figure something out, and quickly, he would be on the losing end. Hunter managed a few meagre blows while evading getting hit, but it was nowhere near enough. As Crane had said, he needed to strike a decisive blow... As he leapt away from another strike, he miscalculated and almost ended up in the ring of fire... However, he came up short of his intended dodge distance because of that reason...
Luckily, he was far enough away that the Demon had to adjust its strike. Managing to hit him mostly with the flat of its blade. Hunter was sent sprawling through the air, smashing through the statue of Grand Master Viper in the square. As he recovered, the Demon leapt atop the ruined statue before leaping once more, this time at Hunter himself. He tried to roll away, but the edge of the Demon's blade slashed his side.
Hunter yelled out and managed to land in a crouched position. However, the fire of the Demon's blade had taken hold, and Hunter's entire upper body was set alight by the hit. He stood up while essentially on fire, however, without flinching, Hunter grabbed his tunic and pulled it off of himself. He disrobed his entire upper body, discarding his now burning clothing into the ring of fire, now fully topless, maskless and facing the Demon.
This was the first time the Furious Five had seen Hunter without anything on his upper body, or even his hair unobscured, seeing his markings and brandings. Po was the only one in the Palace who had. On seeing him like this, Tigress felt her face heat up, but she simply put it down to the flames... that's all it was, right? She knew it wasn't the time, but she realised how well the robes hid his muscular figure. He was built for battle and it showed. And those markings on his body... they were fascinating... And the way his body glistened in the heat of the fire and the battle... She quickly refocused on the fight, putting her wandering thoughts down to the fact she'd never seen a being like Hunter before so unobscured...
For his part, Hunter was done playing around now. When he discarded his clothing, his eyes burned with the same fire of the arena he was standing in. Hunter was pissed off. His breathing becoming more erratic, he lifted his sword above his head and yelled out with a snarl on his face, charging at the Demon with reckless abandon unlike usual. He wasn't going down without a fight. Being suddenly barraged with an attack as it was preparing its own charge, the Demon was caught completely off guard. Attempting to defend itself, Hunter found that it held a woeful defence... He then realised that this Demon held untold aggression but due to that, it was poor on the defensive...
Pressing this newfound advantage, Hunter continued striking first, his now aggressive style and his more dexterous form pushing the Demon's blade aside and allowing for several strikes on it. He eventually pushed the Demon back to the statue. Not watching its footing due to the onslaught, the Demon fell down onto its back. However, after somewhat getting its bearings and looking where Hunter should have been standing, there was no one...
However, it yelled out as a sharp pain came from its left. Looking, it watched as the arm holding its blade fell away from its body, severed. Looking at the wound in shock, it turned back and saw Hunter now where he should have been before. Hunter then pressed his foot on the Demon's chest and raised his blade pointed downwards at it. Holding a hand up in a futile defence, the Demon surged forwards as Hunter's blade sliced straight through its hand and embedded into its chest. Cobra's Strike began to glow blue then as the Demon felt its life force ebbing away, the blade delivering a killing blow to it. "Well played... Slayer..." It breathed out its final words before the flames all began to dissipate and fade away, revealing no scorch marks or anything else marking their presence.
All illusions, only holding power while the Demon lived, it seemed. Hunter took a deep breath as the Demon crumbled to ashes, meaning he didn't have to pull his blade free of the body. Convenient for him.
When the flames had finally died down fully, the Five all ran over to Hunter as he stepped down from the ruined statue, holding a hand to his wounded side. "Are you okay?" Tigress was the first to ask him, clearly resisting the urge to do... something as she stood oddly close to him, her fists tensing slightly due to her not knowing what to do.
"I'm fine." Hunter nodded to her as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Grand Master Viper?" he inquired about Viper's father.
Viper nodded to him. "He's fine. That... thing drained Chi, but it will replenish in time. He'll be exhausted, but alive." She breathed a sigh of relief at that, and Hunter also seemed relieved at being told he would indeed live after everything that had happened to get to this point, and because there were no casualties on their side.
The Dragon Warrior was in awe at everything. "Woah! You just... totally kicked Demon butt! That was mega-super-awesome!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Man, if only Shifu saw that! And Grand Master Viper! Sooo epic!"
As if on cue, Fangsu slithered over to the group as well. "Well, not only did you save my husband, you saved the entire village." she said to him with a smile and a chuckle. Hunter was almost afraid she was going to hug him again, although that didn't happen. "You all must be exhausted, especially you Hunter. Come, me and the girls will cook you a feast."
Holding up her tail Viper was unsure. "Umm... does that include me?" she asked.
Her mother rolled her eyes at that question. "You're one of the girls aren't you? You and your sisters? Or are you too good for your own family now?" She asked her daughter teasingly, clearly only poking fun at her, once more in good spirits.
Sighing at that, Viper shook her head. "I warn you, my cooking is a bit rusty. Po mostly does all of it at the Palace now." She gestured to the panda in question.
Nodding enthusiastically, Po agreed. "Oh, yeah! I love cooking! And not to brag, but my noodle soup is pretty sweet!" he said as the group began to walk to the Viper household.
Tigress held back a little with Hunter as the two walked. "That fight looked tough. How are you, really?" she asked Hunter, actual concern in her voice as she felt somewhat guilty about joining the others in running away from the fire at first as her nostrils flared. Her enhanced olfactory senses picked up the scent of battle, fading adrenaline in his sweat, even the blood from the slash he'd gotten. It sent shivers down her spine, although she guessed that was due to her own body's fighting instincts reacting to the fact that he was still in fight mode rather than it being... Anything else. At all.
Shrugging nonchalantly, Hunter answered her question. "I'm okay, Tigress. Really." he answered her. "Are you okay?" Hunter asked her with his own concern. "I noticed how yourself and the others reacted to the fire rather... strongly." he pointed out to Tigress.
"Yes. It's... I don't know. Something deep within. I'm supposed to be in harmony with my body and mind as a Kung Fu Master, but..."
Hunter interjected. "We can't always fight our nature." He said to her, glancing over to Tigress as she looked at him, seeming to agree with the sentiment.
The two of them walked in silence, seemingly content in each other's company as Po was discussing cooking with Fangsu up ahead. His hand brushed against her paw every so often, but neither of them seemed to mind, almost seemingly making an effort to do so but not showing it in any way. The group soon reached the Viper household, and Viper's sisters all came rushing out and asking if their father was okay.
After reassurances from Fangsu and the Five, Viper went off with her mother and sisters to cook while Grand Master Viper was taken to his room to rest. Unfortunately, her sisters couldn't stay as they all had made plans before their father went missing, and now he was safe, they all left to attend to said plans. Hunter had also retrieved a spare tunic he had in his pack, although noticeably he left his hood and mask down for now.
The Five, Po, Hunter and Fangsu all ate while discussing the battle and what had happened, and then the conversation turned to jobs. "Obviously the Five and Dragon Warrior are Kung Fu Warriors, but what do you do, Hunter?" asked Fangsu as she ate some of a fish and noodle dish that they had cooked.
Looking at his dish a little, he chuckled nervously. "Actually, I'm a Bounty Hunter by trade." Hunter told her. "But I've been staying at the Jade Palace for a while now, so I'm also a part time Kung Fu Warrior, I suppose. I used to be a masseuse on the side if the work dried up though." He shrugged at that.
The Five and Po all stopped when he said that and looked at him. "A masseuse!?" they all asked at once, shocked by the admission.
Nodding to them, he continued. "Yes. I'm apparently good at releasing the Chi chakras or something like that. All I know is that it apparently feels really good." he said to them. The group all looked rather curious about it, even Tigress seemed to have her interest piqued. "You all do look really tense. Maybe one day I'll show you." He smirked a little bit. Hunter knew he was good, his dexterous digits able to relieve pressure just right, if his clients were to be believed. That, and... well... the idea of touching Tigress, even non-sexually, made him actually feel rather giddy. He felt like a teenager or something.
Seeming to agree with him, the Five and Po all nodded in response to his suggestion, advocating the idea. Even Tigress, but he put that down to her liking the idea of her Chi being able to flow better. The majority of the group continued to make small talk, with Tigress and Hunter being quieter and more reserved, delegating themselves to a more observatory role in the proceedings as they usually did. Po was regaling the group with a story, as he usually tended to do. Hunter had been wounded in the fight, but was playing it off as if nothing was wrong.
But Tigress could smell the blood, and noticed that he was definitely concealing a slightly more serious wound. Maybe not life threatening, but still... She also had to admire the way he fearlessly stood against the demon. He didn't even flinch. He was willing to fight it, to the death if necessary, although Tigress and the others were all glad that he didn't have to. They did prefer him alive after all.
Eventually, the group were all shown to their rooms for the night. Hunter would've maybe preferred his tent only because it was a familiar space to him, but he wouldn't want to be rude, and Fangsu and Grand Master Viper were opening their home to the group of warriors, so he only felt it right to agree to spend the night inside the house.
But first things first, he had to attend to his wound. It had mostly stopped bleeding due to the pressure, and he had bandaged it earlier while the food was being prepared, but now he needed to change the bandage. Unwrapping the bandage, he saw that luckily the wound seemed to be clean. His skin was very red from the flames that had engulfed him, but luckily there were no severe burns as he removed the clothing quickly enough to avoid it. Putting a new bandage on so he could sleep without worrying about it, he finally lay down and closed his eyes, finally able to rest after a very long day...