A/N: Another chapter, as promised! I think this whole Wednesday-Saturday thing is going to work out pretty well. I like being consistent about things. Check out my other one shots that I will be posting later this weekend. Let me know what I can do to improve my writing.
This chapter is a little longer. Enjoy!
Shifu was not a man to freak out. However, when he heard the rumbling of horses' hooves n the distance, even he jolted up and made to hide. Scattering from the old worn merchant path, he dove behind a nearby tree and held his breath, hoping that whoever it was was just passing through. However, when the rider came by, he peeked from behind to see who it was. A shot of black hair and a green vest had him running out onto the path.
"VIPER!" The young girl had already passed, but somehow still manged to hear his call. She yanked on Akai's reigns and he practically slid to a stop.
"Shifu?" At first, she thought she had imagined it, but that changed when she saw her small, grey haired master on the path a few paces back. She dismounted from her horse and ran to him. He was surprised when she hugged him tightly. "Oh, sorry." She murmured, letting him go and scooting back a few steps.
"What are you doing?" Shifu brushed her off. His blue eyed gaze was intense.
"Looking for you." She shrugged. "I was heading to the Imperial city when I saw the smoke. Then I made my way to Gongmen. The Master's council went to aid the Emperor and his rescue efforts. I was sent to look for you." She looked at him and then frowned. "Where are Po and Tigress?"
"Tigress was injured. I left them near the ravine to find help." He gestured in towards the west where he had come from.
"Well, here I am. Gongmen is only about half a Li that way." She pointed behind her where she had been riding to in the first place. "I'll go see if I can't help them," She returned to Akai and mounted him swiftly.
"Be safe." She nodded in reply and took off once more.
Po sat just outside the cave, enjoying the brief sunshine that seemed lately to be eluding them. The fire had long since gone out, but he didn't bother to relight it during the daytime. Smoke would draw too much attention.
He leaned his head back against the cold stone and fought off taking a nap. "You look comfy." Made his open his eyees with a small smile.
"I could nap like this." He said groggily. She chuckled and awkwardly lowered herself down to sit beside him.
"I packed up most of our stuff. I figured he'd be back at some point today." She leaned her head back like him.
"How is your leg?" He opened one eye to peek at her.
"It's fine. I think we should try to get moving." Po's head jerked over to look at her in surprise. "I hate staying here. I don't like how easy of a target we are."
"I know what you're trying to do. Ti, you are hurt. You trying to walk isn't going to help anything." She sighed grumpily and crossed her arms over her chest. "Sometimes we just have to take it easy." She didn't reply. Instead, she sat there with a stiff jaw.
Po suddenly jerked up and sat upright, listening. "Po, what's wrong?"
"Someone's coming." He stood quickly and helped her to her feet. She was able to hobble back inside, but he was right. Her leg felt better, but her thigh was still achey and stiff. Walking would not have been an option.
The thundering of horse's hooves pounded nearby and then suddenly stopped. They knew they were here. The two warriors held their breath.
"Tigress?" It was Viper.
"Viper?" Tigress limped out of the cave and peered out. She almost called out again when she was practically tackled to the ground by a black haired woman. "Viper." The smaller warrior hugged her tightly.
"I saw the Imperial city in flames and I started freaking out." Viper let her curly haired friend go as Po exited the cave to join the women.
"How did you find us?" He asked.
"I met Shifu on the way to Gongmen. He told me where to find you."
"Gongmen?" Po's eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah, it's a long story. I think I know what's going on, though. I brought a horse. We should be able to make it back pretty quickly. " Viper led them out of the cave and up the ravine towards Akai, who waited patiently. With Po practically carrying her, Tigress was able to make it up onto flat ground with little pain. Getting on the horse would be interesting.
Po actually solved that problem. He climbed up first and then grabbed her hand and lifted her easily behind him. Viper got on last.
The path back to Gongmen was surprisingly uneventful. A brief detour around an Imperial patrol was all they encountered.
When the trio reached Gongmen, Master Wolfe and Grandmaster Shifu stood waiting. Wolfe helped Tigress get down, seeing as how the trip had made her leg somewhat numb.
"Glad you all made it safely." Wolfe stated in his deep voice. Po got so excited that he fell off Akai and almost startled the equine.
"It's Master Wolfe. THE Master Wolfe. I'm such a huge faaaan." He stood up and began shaking the Master's hand excitedly.
"I am pleased to meet you as well, Dragon Warrior." He replied with a bow of his head. Po couldn't keep still-he kept dancing around in excitement. The girls wached him with small smiles on their faces. Shifu looked like he wanted to smack the crap out of him.
"Po." The big guy stopped and stood there like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Shifu glared at him with steely blue eyes.
"We have some things to discuss. If you all will follow me." Master Wolfe led them past the gates to the new Master's Council tower. It was a stark contrast from the old one, with its white façade. Po still got chills looking at it.
"This is weird." He murmured, glancing up at the white building.
"I agree." Tigress replied just as quiet. Wolfe led them through the front doors and they were met with a large wooden table, covered in maps of China and other various documents. No one else was there, giving the room an eery, empty feeling.
"Where is everyone?" Po asked Wolfe. The larger man shook his head.
"Many of them have their own training facilities. We only meet here once a year." Po nodded in understanding.
"Master Shifu, I figured something out." Said Viper once they had gotten to the table. "Empress Xue gave me this while I was in Mongolia." She handed him the same document the Empress had given her.
While Shifu perused it, Po asked "Why were you in Mongolia?"
"Again, a long story." Viper shrugged.
"He applied for a visa?" Shifu frowned.
"Yes. It seemed that after he was granted entry, several Mongolian guards were trying to burn his documents so that the record of him entering Mongolia was erased." Viper explained.
"That makes sense. Your letter told me he escaped there with a woman. Liang told me that shortly before he went missing, his vault at the palace was robbed almost half a million yuan. We assumed he used that to get into Mongolia." Tigress elaborated.
"But something still doesn't make sense. That much money wouldn't have been allowed into Mongolia, especially since it is Chinese money. If he entered with that much, it would have had to pass through a special level of security to make sure it wasn't stolen. That would raise major red flags" Shifu interjected.
Tigress let her eyes scan over the table while they discussed. Something caught her eye, and she moved around the table to stand next to Po so she could grab it. He was to busy talking to notice. She scanned it over and then bumped his shoulder. He frowned, breakingoff his conversation to look at it as well. His eyes widened and he glanced at her before taking the sheet and rereading it over again.
"Oh my god."
"What's wrong?" Wolfe asked, watching the two.
"I think we found out what he did with money." Tigress said, her voice hollow. Po passed the sheet to Shifu and let the three of them look over it.
"Oh no." Shifu murmured.
"What does it mean?" Viper frowned, looking between them.
"This is a record of all manufacturing demands from sword makers for the Chinese army. They recently received in investment of over three hundred thousand yuan from an anonymous donor." Wolfe said aloud.
"Shit." Shifu cursed, earning the surprised glances of his comrades.
"He planned all of this." Tigress said into the quiet.
"What do we do now?" Asked Viper.
"We stop a War."
A/N: Let me know what you think. Love you!