A/N: Whaaaaaaat 2 chapters in 2 days? Awesomesauce.
Shout out and love to all the women who marched today. Y'all make me PROUD!
Enjoy!
Also, warning for slight gore/blood.
"GET DOWN!"
The ground seemed to shake with the force of the blast. The house that sat across the street from where they had been running exploded in a fireball. Orange flames licked the night sky as plumes of smoke pervaded the air.
Po had been thrown quite the distance from the blast. He quickly got up and scanned his body, checking for any wounds. He only had a few burns, nothing major. Tigress. He quickly scanned the street, but pulled back when another explosion leveled a shop across the road. He stuck his head out once more, but saw nothing.
"Po!" Someone called. Po jerked his head towards the sound. He jogged over a couple of streets and found her, knelt down in a back alley, over Li Tong. No. He jogged towards her as another explosion sounded a few streets over.
"Oh no." He murmured. Li Tong was covered in blood, and he lay trembling, face pale and eyes glassy. "What happened?"
"We were running-" She shook her head, obviously shaken," he pushed me out of the way." She was trembling almost as much as Li Tong was. Po felt nauseous just looking at the man. The assistant had blood covering his abdomen, but that didn't stop Po from seeing the giant hole where his intestines should have been.
Another explosion rocked the street. "What the hell is going on?"
"Shen…." The dying man murmured. His head fell, and the last breath left his body.
"Shen?" The two warriors looked at one another. Through a glossy layer of tears, Tigress' eyes widened. "The cannons."
"They must have found them when Shen fell." He replied back with a murmur. Another explosion, this one just a few houses down. "We have to go." He grabbed her arm and made to stand. She hesitated when he started running.
"I don't want to leave him." Try as she might, a few tears escaped down her cheek.
He knelt down once more and cupped her cheek with his hand tenderly. "There's nothing more we can do for him. We have to go or we'll end up the same way." He looked at her imploringly and was relieved when she nodded slightly. He took her hand and they began running. Another house, next to where they had been standing, exploded into a fireball of wood.
The pair were only blocks from the gate when they skidded to a stop. Up ahead were several rows of imperial guardsmen, all holding deadly weapons. Po immediate put himself in front of Tigress, as though he actually needed to protect her. They were poised, ready to fight, when Shifu suddenly landed in front of them in a crouch. They had almost forgotten about him.
"Go. I'll hold them off!" Po didn't even hesitate to grab Tigress' hand and begin running.
"Lower the gates!" Echoed across the buildings. They were so close. Shifu joined up with them just before they made to the gate. Shifu slid under first, Po next, and finally Tigress. However, the gate was to low to the ground for her to slide under. One of the spikes on the bottom of the gate lodged itself deeper into her skin. Shifu grabbed her and pulled her through, but not before a steady stream of blood began trickling down her leg. She shook her head, ignoring the pain, and urging the trio onward. The guards yelled to one another behind her, trapped behind their own gate.
By the time the guards had reopened the gate, the warriors had vanished into the horizon.
Viper's horse, a strong male named Akai, pumped away at the soil with thundering sounds, like the thud of a drum.
The journey to the Imperial city would take only a few hours, especially with how fast they were going. She was only a few minutes away when she noticed the plume of smoke in the air. She stopped in shock as she crested the hill, seeing the fires that ignited the buildings in the distance. Her breath came in pants, puffing out smoke into the cold air. She fought with herself for a moment, unsure of what to do.
With a firm jaw, she grabbed Akai's reigns and turned him around, heading for Gongmen.