A/N: Wow...I think it goes without saying that I did not mean to abandon this fic….

But like I said, I want to finish this. So here's another chapter... Enjoy!

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It was safe to say that Mantis had been in all sorts of different situations. Thrown off a building? Yep. Bean bun fight? Po had made sure of that. Fighting on a boat? Thank Shen.

A frying pan thrown at his head? That was a new one.

Leaving the palace the way he had entered would have been difficult, seeing as how most of the castle knew he was there but didn't know where exactly he was. So he changed tactics, deciding instead to sneak out the kitchen and through the servants quarters. He didn't count on being spotted by an old goat.

"GET HIM!"

And suddenly a wok flew at him, narrowly missing his head and implanting in the wall. He crept along the cabinets, sticking to the shadows as she screamed for guards. He just barely got out through a tiny window before two massive apes came barreling into the kitchen, looking around wildly for him.

He clutched the scroll tighter as he crept through the gardens, thankful for the dark. He hesitated when he reached the woods.

Something Tigress had said stuck with him, about Shang Zhi. He glanced at his surroundings before scurrying up a tree to get his bearings. Shang Zhi was only a short distance.

Making his mind up, he hopped from branch to branch, nearing the glowing lights of the border city.

Hopefully, Mr. Ping would be there.

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For the first time in a while, Po's heart wasn't soothed by food.

As he kneaded dough for peach tarts, his head was a million miles away, thoughts buzzing through his head at lightning speed.

A prophecy.

Viper had been reluctant to share that little bit of information with him before taking off towards the caravan. Of course, he didn't blame her for keeping it on the down low. The last time a major prophecy had come across the Furious Five, it had been about him and had ended not-so-well.

But still…..Yu?

Not that he questioned Oogway (the man had his mysteries), but he wondered just what exactly the young fox had gotten into. Far too much had been lost. It was hard on him and the five, so he couldn't imagine how she had grown up into it. Camps of death and ten years of suffering were something no child should have been born into.

However…..as he watched a couple of kits chase one another across the grass, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

Briefly.

There was still quite a bit on his mind for him to truly relax. The carts they had returned with were piled high with fruits and vegetables of all kinds, but only four carts returned with them to the camp. It would hold them over for now, but the number of people in the camp would dwindle the supplies quickly.

And on top of that, whatever Bai Liang was planning would happen soon. He could feel it in his gut.

"Are you alright?"

It was the first time Shifu had come to speak with the panda alone since he got here- not at all surprising considering the events of the last few days. Po began rolling out the dough, giving his hands something to do.

"Just anxious…." He replied. Shifu's blue gaze never left him, a signal for him to elaborate. "For a while…..for a while, I thought that maybe this was it. This was how life was just going to be." He began cutting circles in the dough with a knife. "But now that we are all together again, I just want this to be over already."

Shifu paused a moment, not sure what exactly to reply with.

"I feel something similar." He replied. His gaze caught the striped pelt of his daughter leaving the medical tent. She had to get her stitches checked. "But a race to complete the task is a task poorly completed."

Po chuckled once. "Is that one of Oogway's old sayings?"

Shifu nodded, allowing a smirk, and didn't verbally reply. Not to that, anyway.

"Is she alright?" He gestured with his head to the feline, who was speaking quietly to a goose overseeing the food rations.

"To be honest, Master, I don't know." Po shrugged. "I don't think any of us are, really. Maybe you should go speak with her." He said it kindly, but passed Shifu a glare that clearly meant man up and speak with your daughter.

"Thank you."

Before Po could ask 'what for', Crane touched down lightly in the grass, gathering the attention of not only the Masters, but also everyone else.

"Did you find anything, brother?" Viper slithered up. Tigress came over as well, and Po and Shifu joined them.

"Well, no." Crane frowned, chest heaving in his haste to return home. "I mean yes, but-" He fought for words for a moment. "The wolves are completely gone from all of the western provinces. They just completely up and left their camps unattended."

"He must have been desperate to get them back." Tigress murmured.

"We found three large camps. Most of the animals are still locked in, so Mei Ling is trying to find a way in. But that's not the strange thing-"

"Then what?" Po's impatience seemed to be a commonality among them all.

"There are rebels in Shang Zhi-"

"We already guessed that." Shifu interrupted.

"No, I mean the rebels are in Shang Zhi." Crane barked out. "The whole town is burning. I could see the smoke from the sky on my way back, so I decided to do a fly by. They are fighting in the streets."

"Mantis-" Tigress broke off. "He hasn't returned yet. Master, we have to-"

"I know." Shifu held a hand to silence her while he thought.

"Sir." Fiang, the small fennec, stepped forward, the leopard Jao at his side. "We have a few who are able and quite willing to fight, if you would like assistance."

Shifu stared at him wide-eyed, echoing the surprise they all felt.

"We can't ask you to do that, not after what you've been through." Po spoke up, squeezing Crane's shoulder briefly. The avian looked shell shocked, as though he had seen a ghost. Po's attempt at comfort seemed to soothe his ruffled feathers, but not enough.

"We want to." An older pug, with grey around her muzzle, stepped forward. Tigress, of course, recognized her. She was an old Kung Fu master, who ran a school near the border with Mongolia. Master…..Ju, maybe? Though, she wasn't sure.

"Alright." Shifu still seemed reluctant, but they were running out of options. If they wanted to assist the rebels, they needed to act fast. "If you can and are willing to fight, meet at the northern edge of the camp in ten minutes. We need to get moving."

The crowd seemed to disperse at his words.

"Crane, find Mei Ling. We'll need her."

"Sir, she's still at the other camps." Crane argued.

Shifu cursed under his breath, something he rarely did. "Alright, go prepare. Tigress, come with me a moment." He gestured with his head for her to walk with him as he made his way towards the training hall.

"Is everything alright, Master?" He paused so suddenly that she almost collided into him. He hesitated visibly before turning to her, worry evident on his face.

"Are you alright?" He asked her quietly.

"I don't-"

"I know what happened in the woods."

Her mouth opened and closed a moment like a fish, before she folded her arms across her chest.

"Tigress...I know I have trained you to be fearless, pushed you harder than any one of my students." He paused. "But you also need to worry about your own wellbeing." Noticing her confused expression, he sighed. "Are you prepared to fight? Both physically and mentally?"

When she hesitated, he feared that he had his answer.

"Being hardcore is irrelevant right now." His voice softened. "If any one of the Furious Five deserves time to recover, it's you."

She seemed conflicted, by both the unfamiliar tenderness in his voice and what he implied could happen. Her brief break from reality in the woods was something terrifying and entirely out of her control, and Tigress did wonder briefly if she should remain here and heal, enjoy the quiet time away from Kung Fu and away from Bai Liang. Maybe she could keep that little lapse from happening again.

But no.

She had seen the animals from the camps, bone thin and some too weak to walk. She had already proven she could fight. As terrifying as the thought of losing her mind was, it was more terrifying to think about what would happen should she remain behind.

So, she pushed her fear back like she had been trained to do, stood up a little bit taller, set her jaw, and spoke, for the first time in a while, with confidence.

"I'm in."

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A/N: Have y'all ever heard the song 'Empire of Angels'? It's absolutely amazing, and what originally inspired this fic

It came on for the first time in a long time the other day and I remembered what I originally planned for this story...

Hence my return-I hope to finish this eventually, so be patient with me as I do it.

Thanks y'all