The city was in chaos.

Crane's report of a large army had sent those in fighting form scrambling for anything they could use-armor, weapons, last minute preparations. It was all overwhelming.

When Kai tried to intervene, to tell Shifu very important information, he was dismissed. 'The man was busy' or' he's helping coordinate' or even 'what are you doing kid go find safety' were the responses he heard frequently. Yu watched him grow frustrated, his jaw clenching in irritation as his attempts to talk to the old Master fell on deaf ears.

"Kai, what is it?" She finally stopped him on the streets as a group of various animals took it upon themselves to move the wounded. "What do you need?"

"They're making a mistake."

"How so?"

"Shang Zhi-" He groaned in frustration, not knowing how to phrase what he wanted to say in his irritation.

"Okay, come on. I'll help." She grabbed his paw and the two of them wove between rebels and refugees alike, winding towards the restaurant where Mr. Ping had sold his famous noodles. It seemed a good a place as any for the rebels to convene, and she was right. Inside, the pair found a jumbled series of arguments as different masters and leaders tried to come up with solutions that only contradicted others in the group.

"Shifu-"

"Not now, Kai." He was sitting at a back table, stroking his beard and seemingly thinking hard.

"Please, sir, I-"

"Kai, you need to evacuate with the-"

"Will you PLEASE let me SPEAK!" His outburst completely silenced the restaurant. Everyone looked to the young tiger, who tried desperately to calm his ragged breathing now that he was being watched by those in charge.

Shifu eyed him a moment, and with a particular sort of look on his face, gestured for him to continue.

"Shang Zhi shouldn't be your rally point."

"Why not?" Fiang crossed his arms, but the smile on his small face was encouraging.

"Shang Zhi was always designed to be a decoy town. Even before Bai Liang. Lure the fight to Shang Zhi and that will give enough time for the Emperor to get away if needed. My father taught me that." He shrugged. "But Bai Liang always knew there were rebels in Shang Zhi, so he used to say that if there was any riff raff, he wanted it right under his nose."

"What does that mean?" Shifu asked him impatiently.

"It means, we need to fall back to the palace."

There was dissent amongst the group as what he was suggesting sunk in.

"Just listen, please." He insisted and they fell quiet once more. "The palace is on high ground. There's only one path up to it, and it's narrow. Plus, if the wolves left in a hurry, like I suspect they did, they left the royal armory pretty well stocked.

"It could work. Bottleneck them, keep them from coming in droves." Shifu seemed uncertain, but his agreement settled Kai's racing heart. "How can you be sure the armory is stocked?

"I can't."

Before anyone could comment on his uncertainty, Shifu stood. "I'll send Viper and Mei Ling to check in on it. Crane is busy watching the skies."

"What about our wounded?" Another man, whose name Kai didn't know, spoke up.

When Kai didn't seem to have the answer, Yu spoke up. "The paths are just wide enough for carts. Empty the supplies behind the palace gates and ferry the wounded up the paths. They can take refuge in the servant's quarters at the back of the property."

When there was no more dissent, Shifu stood with a nod, and the meeting was unofficially dismissed. Fiang took to helping direct those caring for the wounded. As the room emptied, Kai took a deep breath. Yu squeezed his shoulder.

"Master-" Kai stopped him before he could leave the room, and the red panda looked up, intrigued. "Thank you."

"Do not thank me, young one. Just hope this plan of yours works." Despite the cool nature of his tone, the small smile on his face was reassuring.

"No pressure." Kai sighed.

OoOoOoo

Faster. Faster.

Her chest heaved, sweat trickling down her back. The moon was rising slowly above, but it barely shone through the dark forest before her.

She skirted trees, flew over rocks, ducked under limbs. Her body moved mechanically through the night, towards Shang Zhi.

No. Stop.

The staff she carefully held seemed to burn her paw in warmth, as though putting it to close to a fire. It urged her on, towards safety and towards her allies.

Stop.

Tigress slowed, choking in lungfuls of air as the li of running caught up with her. Her lungs screamed, her ribs ached in her chest. As the warrior leaned against a tree, she felt woozy and sick.

"Think, you idiot." She muttered, glaring at the staff.

The wolves had said that Shang Zhi was being attacked. But why?

The city was no real value to Bai Liang. With the cannons on his boats, he didn't need Shang Zhi, and he could easily come back and dispatch the rebels once he had taken the rest of the east. She knew, in her gut, that something wasn't right.

The staff was what he wanted. She had it. So what was she going to do with it?

Said staff dropped from her paw to the ground, and suddenly her thinking became clearer. She felt less light headed, more in control of her actions. But, as it will, the pain came back in full force. She slumped against the tree in the dark.

Po needed the staff, and from the limited effects she had experienced, she was starting to understand why, but how to get it to him was the question. No doubt he was under heavy lock and key, with a lot of reinforcements and supplies. There was no way she would be able to get him out quietly without help from the inside.

But Shang Zhi also needed help. Her little fire in the forest would buy them some time to come up with a plan, sure, but it was temporary. They were going to be massacred if she didn't help, but all of China could fall if Po remained behind bars. The dilemma was frustrating, and she felt completely useless for not having some kind of solution.

Fire. She could see the smoke rising from the fire she had set, and that was several miles away. It had grown, no doubt taking advantage of the dry underbrush.

Fire…..now that was an idea.

She smiled a bit to herself in the dark and got up. It wasn't late, the moon was overhead but would be around for a while longer. That was good, it gave her time. Hopefully, if she was successful, she could be back in Shang Zhi with the Dragon Warrior sometime after sunrise.

Tigress picked up the staff. Taking a breath, she forced her objective to the forefront of her mind, pushing aside the little whispers of things at the back of her skull. Gazing up at the sky, she determined her directions and began running east, keeping it a little slower than her pace before.

As her paws landed softly on the ground, she repeated her mantra.

Hold on, Kai. Hold on.

OoOoOoO

A/N: Uh….so….shiz happened. I'm back. The story is done (aside from the epilogue), and hopefully I will have the last of it uploaded by next weekend….so yeah... Happy quarantine