A/N: So I want to apologize. Out of habit, I tend to write things like they are human actions. So if I ever say "hand" instead of paw or something like that, forgive me. It's not intentional. Same goes with broken bone and injuries. I assume you understand what I mean.
Oh, and for the sake of this story, let's pretend everything is historically accurate. This is fantasy, after all.
Enjoy J
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Bái láng was not a patient wolf.
That's why he paced rapidly back and forth, robes whipping behind him as he moved. His tail swished back and forth angrily, irritated at having to wait.
Finally, a gorilla came through the door.
"Is it finished?" Bái láng demanded.
"Almost, Master."
"Good." Replied the wolf, feeling a bit relieved. "With the kid gone, people will begin to doubt our control."
"Sir, in order to maintain the crew needed, we will need to pull men back. They may have to leave the eastern provinces." The gorilla watched his master uneasily, waiting for a reaction. At first, he thought the wolf remain calm. That thought didn't last long, however, when the wolf suddenly lashed out and landed a crushing blow to the ape's abdomen. Despite his smaller size, the punch still caused the gorilla to double over.
"Get reinforcements!" The wolf hissed. "Go all the way to Siberia for all I care!"
"We've tried, Sir." The gorilla replied hoarsely, clutching his midsection. "The Mongols haven't made thing easy for us. Many troops are still trying to fend them off in the north. We can't break through their lines."
"DAMMIT!" The wolf clenched his paws into fists of rage. He tried desperately to get his anger under control, taking a few deep breaths. Once he stopped shaking, he folded his paws neatly behind his back. "How many rebel camps remain in the west?"
The gorilla shuddered at his icy tone. "At least three big ones, from what we know."
The wolf set his gaze ahead and clenched his jaw. "Pull back, but kill them all."
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Shifu didn't quite believe what the raccoon told him, at least not until he went into the infirmary tent and saw for himself.
"Po?"
The panda was just sitting there, leaning against the side of the tent in front of Tigress' cot. He seemed to be dozing, that is, until the red panda entered. He opened one green eye, and then the other, and stared at Shifu with wide eyes.
"Shifu?" He sat up excitedly. "I thought you were dead?" His voice rose in excitement. He looked to Tigress, who was still sleeping, and lowered it back down. "Sorry, guess I dozed off."
"When did you get here?" The red panda was still very confused at how the panda just magically appeared.
"Super early this morning." The big guy shrugged. "When I found out Tigress was in here, I just kinda came here instead of trying to find you." He rubbed the back of his head with a nervous chuckle.
"But how did you find us?"
"Mantis. I sort of accidently dropped in on him. He told me where you were." Po hesitated. "He's with the Soothsayer."
"Soothsayer?" Shifu was only growing more confused by the moment. "What's he doing with her?"
"Ummm….how do I keep this quick?" Po thought a moment. "Okay. Mantis came to find me. Instead, he found the goat lady. She got him out of Shang Zi, but they were ambushed. I was on my way back from the Valley, where I went but no one was there so I-"
"Po, spit it out." Shifu was growing impatient.
"I helped them defeat the wolves and then told Mantis about another rebel group to the east. He told me how to get here, and then decided to go with the Soothsayer to this other camp and hopefully bring them here so the two could help each other." Po finished, looking rather pleased with himself.
"Does anyone else know you're here?" Shifu was beginning to understand, but he still had some questions.
"How could they not?" Tigress seemed to have woken up without them realizing it. "He'll wake up the whole camp if we're not careful." She stood slowly from the cot and drew her robe tighter around her, coming to stand beside them.
"You look better." Shifu acknowledged. She didn't seem as stiff, and her voice wasn't as breathy.
"Well, ten years has gone by and this guy still hasn't lost his chi ability." She gestured to the panda. "I'm still sore, but I'm good." Shifu had to admit, he was impressed.
"You mentioned other camps. Do you know how many ore there are?" Shifu turned his attention back to Po.
"No. I only know of one of the larger ones because the panda village evacuated to it. It's even bigger than this one." He chuckled, but his expression was sad.
"Evacuated?" Tigress frowned. "They found the village?"
"No, they found me. I led them there without realizing it." He bowed his head slightly. Tigress put a reassuring paw on his arm. "They killed my dad as he was trying to get everyone out."
Shifu dipped his head. "I am sorry, Po."
There was a moment of silence between the three.
"WOAH!" The sudden exclamation surprised all of them. The trio turned their heads and found a young, white fox staring at them with wide eyes.
"Master?" Po frowned, looking at the red panda. Said panda was pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Tigress, Po, this is Yú." Shifu was drowned out by Yú scampering over to look at Po up close. "It really is you!" She turned to Shifu and pointed at Po. "It's the Dragon Warrior!"
"Seems you have a fan, Po." Tigress spoke quietly from her spot next to him.
"Master Tigress!" The young fox must have just realized she was there. She came over and grabbed both of Tigress' paws excitedly. "This is so cool!"
"Yú-" Shifu's voice stopped her ramblings. "Was there something you needed?"
"Oh yeah." She released Tigress' paws and turned back to Shifu. "Mei Ling needs you immediately. It's urgent."
"I'll be right there." Shifu replied dismissively. "Po, get your injuries checked. We'll talk in a moment." He nodded to Yú and followed her outside.
"I'll go find the nurse." Tigress left him alone in the tent. At least, for the time being.
After she had found the raccoon, who was eating lunch she returned to the tent to check on her friend, and saw that someone had beaten her to it.
Unfortunately, it was Kai.
The two of them were just staring wide-eyed at one another, not talking or moving. While Kai looked awestruck, Po just looked hurt.
"Kai," the young tiger turned towards her as she stepped forward, "were you looking for me?"
"Yeah. Viper sent me to come check on you." Kai's eyes darted back to the panda, and then back to his mother. "Is that Po? The one you talked about?"
"Yes." She smiled a bit. Po's expression was making her worried, however. "Kai, would you give us a moment?" The young Tiger cast one more glance to Po, and made his way outside.
"You have a son?" Po spoke first. His voice was quiet, a mix of hurt and anger.
"Calm down." She tried to be nonchalant. "He's almost sixteen." Even as she said it, she watched him deflate a bit. His expression turned to relief and curiosity.
"Does he know?" The panda plopped down on a cot, looking exhausted. "That-"
"That I'm not his real mother?" Tigress moved so she was leaning on the table in front of the cot he was sitting on. "I don't know. I like to think he does, but that's a conversation I have yet to instigate." She looked back up to him and frowned. "What-"
But she was interrupted as Shifu came barreling into the tent. "Po, I'm sorry, but you both need to come with me. Now."
The feline and bear looked briefly at one another, and took off after the red panda as he ran through the camp. Eyes followed them as they ran, a mixture of awe and confusion at seeing the panda once more. They didn't dare stop running, however, because Shifu's pace was faster than they expected him to be able to run.
Even Tigress and Po, who were still relatively in shape, wound up panting when they entered the training hall.
When they entered, there was only shocked silence. Apparently Po hadn't told anybody that he arrived, because they all sprang on him and began talking all at once. Tigress was practically shoved over by Monkey as he ran in for a hug. Ten years ago, she would have been irritable at them acting like children. Now, however, she was just happy her family was alive.
"I am sorry to break up the party, but I need you all to focus." Shifu's voice sent them all skittering away from their friend. Instead, they stood on either side of him, not quite letting him out of arms reach. "We can discuss Po's return later. For now, we have more pressing matters."
"Master, what's going on?" Viper tilted her head from where she sat on Po's shoulder.
"Po, how far is that other camp from here?" Shifu ignored her question.
"A few hours if you move quickly. Why?"
"Crane arrived a few moments ago. He spotted a massive movement of wolves through the western province. They are all headed towards the Imperial City." Shifu folded his hands on top of his staff. "I sent him to alert Mantis so hopefully they can get here in time."
"In time for what?" Tigress spoke up.
"It seems the wolves have begun decimating parts of the Eastern Province. Several cities have already been burned to the ground." A hush fell at Shifu's words.
"They're retreating?" Monkey murmured. "Tigress, any ideas why?"
"No." The feline replied softly. "The only thing I know for a fact is that he has limited reinforcements. If he's pulling back, that means he's planning something."
"Planning what?" Viper asked, but there was no reply.
"In any case, they are moving quickly. We have one of two options. We either: intercept them and stop them from getting to the city, or we wait it out and see what they plan to do." Shifu replied to her instead.
"Well that's obvious." Po shrugged. "We stop them."
"Are we ready for that?" Tigress looked at him with a frown. "I don't know about you guys, but I haven't exactly kept up training."
What Tigress didn't say, and what she didn't want them to know, was that she was worried about her Kung Fu. Hell, she couldn't even get out of the city without help from Mantis. Sure, they threatened Kai, but was that really why she stayed? Or was she just too weak to get herself out?
Almost the entire time spent in there involved more mental abuse than physical. Not knowing if anyone else was alive, or if she would ever get out, wore her brain down little by little. On top of that, every word, every twitch of the face had to be perfectly controlled, or she would end up with broken bones. Sure, the beatings were awful, but the thought of losing her family was worse. Maybe that's why she didn't try and leave the palace-she was afraid of what she would find when she got out. She was afraid that the outside world without her family would be one that she couldn't live through.
"Why don't we just use stealth mode?" Po's innocent question and replies of laughter jolted her from her thoughts.
Surprisingly, Shifu was actually considering his idea. "He has a point. "
"But most of the western areas are desert." Tigress scoffed. "Not exactly good for stealth."
"What about the rivers?" Viper spoke up.
"What about them?" Monkey folded his arms across his chest.
"Why don't we use them to our advantage?" The snake did her best approximation of a shrug.
"If we control the rivers, we control where they go." Tigress spoke without even realizing it, eyes gong wide at the realization of what her friend was proposing.
"What are you guys talking about?" Po was looking between the two of them, confused.
"Because they are in the desert, they will have to follow the rivers back in order to get fresh water. If we can somehow control the rivers, we control which way they travel. It's the perfect setup for an ambush."
"But those rivers are massive." Po exclaimed. "Even if we could block them off, we don't have the time."
"Okay, so we wait at the treeline. Or even in the trees. We know that if they are heading back to the Imperial City, they will have to follow the Yellow River. It's the only one that gets remotely close." Tigress fired back.
"How far are the wolves?" Monkey asked Shifu.
"We at least have until nightfall."
"Okay, so we head to the river. It's only a few hours from here if we travel fast. If we leave now, we can make it." Viper was getting excited. Shifu, who had been mostly silent, held up a hand to calm her.
"You will not be able to do this on your own. The wolves outnumber you greatly, and you have all not yet recovered. I can try and scramble as many rebels to aid you."
"Alright!' Po pumped his fists in the air. "Let's goooooo! New mission!"
Although Tigress tried to be excited as well, she couldn't help but feel a little worried.
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A/N Super long chapter, but what can I say. Felt bad for not updating for a few days. This week is gonna be crazy, so I may not be around as much as I'd like. Sorry in advance.
I don't own anything, btw.