The Plan


"Sorry to talk about business at the table, but Wong-Hu's not the type to wait," Po said.

Tiger put down his cup and nodded. "You're right. General!" A mean-looking buff tiger with an eye-patch on came in with a scroll in hand. Leo shivered but relaxed when Miwa rested her hand on his shoulder. The general bowed and placed the scroll on the table, "Everyone, this is General Lu-Yin, commander of my army. He's made a map of Wong-Hu's attacks. The problem is that we don't know where he is." Po, Lee, and Leo stood up and gathered around.

"Well, looks like that trip to Japan will have to wait," Po stated, "Wong-Hu's a Siberian Tiger, so he would naturally go to the mountains. That's why all of his attacks are near the mountain range in the northwest."

"How do you know that?" Tigress asked.

"I've traveled a lot," Po smirked. "But knowing him, he's trying to get the Jin-Min back. He'll be mobilizing from the mountains. It's easier to hall things down than up."

"What makes it worse is that Wong-Hu's a white Siberian Tiger. It will make it more difficult to attack him in the snow," Leo said. "He'll be stalking about in single routes to reduce detection and quite possibly use small scouts to rat us out. We'll have to use a confusing tactic that's not understood even by the soldiers."

"You know a lot about your fear," Miwa mentioned.

"You have to in order to feel safe," Leo shrugged, "So what's the plan?"

"We could press your army to the mountains, but Wong-Hu's group has more experience there. That and fighting Wong-Hu with his men will be dangerous," Lee argued.

"We don't have to fight all of them," Po said slowly. Everyone looked at him. "We just have to cripple Wong-Hu. If we severely hurt him where he can't fight, then his followers could easily lead us to his hideout. Orange is easier to track than white."

"That's...actually a very...good plan," Tigress slowly commented.

"Don't sound too surprised," Po grumbled.

Lee patted Po on the back and smiled, "Nice to have you back, Zaber. So, we'll go to the mountains. I'll send word to the upper region of China to press down on the mountainside to trap them. We can't move until we hear from them."

"Have them bring all the canons they can make too. General Lu-Yin, what season is it?" Po asked.

"It's nearing winter. About three days," The one-eyed tiger said.

"Good," Po stated, "When the winter sets in we can easily bombard the mountains to get them out, and then avalanches will crush them for us." Everyone's eyes widened at Po's cool and calm 'murder' scene. "Oh, sorry, sorry, Tigra must be rubbing off on me."

"Right, I'm the cause," Tigra muttered with a smirk.

"General Lu-Yin, have your men train for snowy mountain terrain. We can't have soldiers new to the cold if we need to take on Wong-Hu." Lee said. "I'll have the messenger go to the Furious Five first then go to Upper China." Lee rolled up the scroll and gave it to the general. "In the meantime, we need to be training too. We're a little sloppy since our golden years."

"I agree. I've gained a few pounds since last time." Lee and Mei looked at him. "Okay, a little bit more than a few," Po huffed.

"There's a training ground in the palace you could use, but now I think we all need some rest. It's getting late," Tiger yawned. Everyone agreed. The servants showed the team their room. Po and Tigress slept in a room with separate beds. Leo shared Miwa's room, which unnerved Leo to the highest, but Miwa calmed him down. Po was sleeping, but Tigress couldn't. There was too much going around in her head. Questions. Questions that only Po seemed to know. She propped up on one arm and looked at Po. Her hand struggled to touch him. She shouldn't wake him, but the curiosity was gnawing at her brain.

"If you want to talk," Po said, startling her, "You just had to ask."

"I didn't mean to wake you," Tigress said apologetically.

"Nah, it's okay. What's wrong?"

"Po, could I ask you more about my family?"

Po smiled, "Sure. Anything."

"What did my father do?"

"Oh well, your father, amazingly, was the original Midnight Stranger. After I left, Bao-Ai looked after your parents and helped them spy on Wong-Hu."

"What was Bao-Ai like?" Tigress asked curiously.

"Very... interesting. He was like Shifu but much less strict. He was loving to all of us. But he absolutely hated Windbag! Oh, man! Lee said when he died, Bao-Ai said he would wring Windbag's neck in the afterlife," Po chuckled as Tigress lightly giggled.

"You must miss him."

"Yeah," Po said sadly. He gazed at the ceiling, letting one lone tear drip down his face. Tigress felt sorry for him. She never recalled Po crying out of sadness. The only time he ever cried was when he was cutting onions. Tigress put her hand on his shoulder as he turned his head over.

"It's alright. I know you made him proud just like all of us are proud of you. Good-night, Po," Tigress said.

"Good night," Po replied as they fell asleep.


The next morning, Tigress saw Po missing. He left a note, 'Went to go train. No, I'm serious. I'm training.' Po never got up early to train. Tigress stretched, got ready, and l walked to the training grounds. Two big wooden doors stood in front of her and when Tigress pushed them open, she found the others practicing their samurai skills. Zaber's sword knocked Two-side back to the ground. Lee rubbed his head as Po helped him back up. "How in the world have you gotten better?" Lee commented.

"Thanks?" Po replied. Then he saw Tigress watching by the side and nervously cleared his throat, "Um...let's get back to training." They faced each other; swords ready. Lee ran at Po and clashed their katanas. The panda jumped over Lee's head and swept the wolf's feet. Lee got back up, plunged one katana into the ground, and used it to throw his body forward. Po dodged Lee's feet and hit him at a number of points to throw him off.

"You sneaky little," Lee grunted, frustrated. He ran towards Po swinging his swords left and right. Po parried back each one. He blocked one of Lee's swings, rolled the sword around, and flung it out of Lee's hand. Po then took the wolf's de-sword hand and tossed Lee up in the air. The wolf crashed to the ground and wheezed as Po sat on his back. The Emperor's arms flailed out from underneath. "Uncle! Uncle!" Po smiled and got off, helping Lee up. "Thank goodness Mei wasn't here to see that."

"Too late." Lee flinched at Mei's voice. He found her leaning against one of the pillars. She smirked and walked over to them, "It looks like Zing-Zing has gotten better. You and Lee use to be equally matched. Now you've far surpassed him." Lee huffed a little. Mei grabbed his arm and smiled warmly at him. "But you did well too, honey."

"Oh sure. Give me a compliment after the insult," Lee complained.

Po chuckled, "Thank you, Milady." Then he turned to Tigress standing at the entryway, "Good morning, Master Tigress. How did you sleep?"

"Um...good, thanks," Tigress said. Po rarely called her by the title. "So, how do I train for the upcoming battle?" The panda darted his eyes around and bit his lip. Lee and Mei glanced at each other and watched their brother search for an answer. Just then, Leo walked in, sipping tea.

"Leo can train you!" Po said.

"Who can do what with where now?" Leo said.

"Of course you'll help her. After all, who knows the ways of the tiger better than you?" Po smiled, patting Leo on the back. Gazing at the panda, the white wolf slightly dropped his mouth and widened his eyes.

"You son of a motherless goat," Leo said with perfect calmness.

"Motherless goat? Ha ha ha good one, Leo. Anyway, I still need to train with Lee and Mei. You, the Fighting Demon, are free, aren't you? Unless you have a date with a certain tigress in which I could use over your head for blackmail," Po smiled widely. Leo's face stayed the same.

"You evil little panda. I will kill you," He said perfectly calm.

Po patted him on the back. "Wouldn't have it any other way." Po walked with Lee and Mei to another section of the arena. Leo rolled his eyes as he directed Tigress to follow him outside.

"So... she's coming with us into battle?" Lee asked.

"Lee," Po sighed.

"Why are you lying to her?" Mei asked.

Po sighed and stopped, "To keep her safe. You know how Wong-Hu is. This... this whole thing is completely different." The wolf and cat glanced at each other.

"You know you can't hide it from her. And if I know Leo, he'll train her more than you think. He's not just some crazed wolf," Lee said. "You'll have to tell her."

"I know," Po replied. "I know."

Meanwhile, the tiger and wolf walked down the airy bright red hallway as sliding panes passed them on either side. "That blasted panda's getting on my nerves," Leo muttered, drinking his tea.

"You don't have to spar with me if you don't want to, Leo," Tigress replied.

"No, unfortunately, Po's right. You need someone to train with and I'm the only one available. I will train you if you promise to pour hot sauce in the panda's soup."

Tigress chuckled a little. "I have to say, you seem more relaxed now."

Leo shrugged, "I warm up to people pretty quickly, regardless of species...most times. Anyway, do we have a deal?"

"Deal."

"Good. Now, for me to train you, we have to go back to your basic tiger instincts. Po mentioned that your childhood wasn't exactly... happy," Leo replied. Tigress nodded sadly. "Well, we're going to have to wake those instincts up, which I hate doing."

"Why?" Tigress asked.

"Because I get bruises in the end."

"How do we wake up my instincts?"

"Like this," Leo poured the warm tea on her head. He threw the mug away and quickly tapped Tigress's shoulder, darting off and saying, "Tag! You're it!"

"LEO!" Tigress chased after him.

"Well, this is going to be fun," Leo smiled to himself.

The wolf wasn't easy to find, surprisingly. He barely made a sound, he used his fur to his advantage, and for some reason, his scent was very faint. Tigress had to use all her senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even taste. (Don't ask how, please) After a good hour, Tigress finally found the wolf. "There you are!" Tigress growled at Leo hiding behind some curtains. She jumped and tackled him and the curtains to the ground, snarling with something between a grin and a frown. "You...are...going to...pay for...what you did," Tigress panted.

"Okay, okay, but one question? Do you even remember what I did?" Leo asked. Tigress paused for a moment.

"No. I don't," She replied.

"Now," Leo said, getting up again, "Because we were running and hiding everywhere, you started using your instincts. You're a bit rusty with it, but you'll get the hang of it." Just then, Po and Tiger came out of the male cat's room.

"Everyone alright here? We heard a ruckus," Tiger explained.

"No, I was just being chased by Tigress for a stimulating exercise. And it worked. Same time tomorrow," Leo reminded her.

"That's... good," Po said, "Um...Tigress could I ask you a question in private?"

"In a moment, Po. I just remembered why I was chasing Leo," She menacingly looked at the white wolf, "You poured tea on my head." Leo slowly backed away.

"Well, you see, that was only to get you to chase me," Leo laughed nervously.

"WELL IT WORKED!"

"Oh boy," Leo dashed off again with Tigress on his tail. Po and Tiger shared an awkward laugh.

"She's um...just like her mother, isn't she?"

"Oh no, she will never be that bad," Po corrected. Tiger silently agreed.


The tiger watched the whistling blizzard tear through the mountains. The sharp valley path led to the southeast, to the place of his disgrace. Wong-Hu looked down at the dismal brown-housed village at the mountain's feet. He held his thumb over it; it completely covered the village. A buff tiger guard came behind him and quietly stood. "Do you know what's so marvelous about power, soldier?" Wong-Hu asked.

"What sir?"

"Its effect. I can make the whole village down there come under my thumb. But it's so fleeting," He sighed, disappointed, "So whispy that it can barely be contained. That's why it needs forces to be held. Without that, power is like a large eagle. It can be wild and free, but it can be your slave when you force it. And so I will make the Jin-Min what I always wanted it to be... a slave to honor and glory, and power will be... our weapon." He meant to say 'my'. Wong-Hu looked back at the soldier's emotionless stare and sighed. Knowledge's pearls wasted on swine. "What is it, soldier?"

"The cannons are almost ready to move. We should be ready in about five days," The soldier replied.

"Good. In the meantime, we'll need some supplies." The white tiger looked down at the village and grinned with all his sharp teeth showing. "And I know where to get it."

to be continued.