A/N: Hey guys! Here's your Saturday chapter! We are getting close to the end of the series. Do you guys want a sequel?
Enjoy!
The wind was harsh against his face and hands, but he pushed his horse harder. The moon still illuminated the path in front of him. Shifu wasn't one to panic, but his heart was racing in fear.
He was going too fast to notice the cracking noise. Suddenly, his horse lurched forward and he became airborne. Thankfully, his decades of training kicked in, and he was able to flip forward off the tumbling equine and land in a crouch a few meters away.
By the time he looked up, though, he was completely sorrounded by soldiers.
He slowly stood, keeping his hands up, to show that he wasn't going to try anything. "Good evening, gentlemen." He spoke into the quiet. The soldiers kept their long swords pointed at him silently.
"You have crossed the border. I do hope you have a good reason." An older man stepped forward, with salt and pepper hair and a broad chest covered in armor. His fellow soldiers were adorned in maroon breastplates, while he had gold. Gold was the sign of a general.
"I wish to speak with you, actually." Shifu stated calmly.
The General frowned. "You cross into Mongolian borders, in the middle of the night, riding as fast as possible, to speak with me. I do hope you have something interesting to say."
"I am Master Shifu, of the Jade palace. I come about your Empress. I-"
"Master Shifu?" The General looked at him up and down. "I have heard stories of many Kung Fu Masters in China." Shifu's eyebrows raised in surprise, more so at the fact that he knew of any Kung Fu Masters. Kung Fu had never been prominent in Mongolia. "Please, lower your swords." His men lowered their weapons, but looked among one another skeptically.
"Sir, we-"
The General held up one hand to silence him. "Obviously this Kung Fu Master has no ill intentions, otherwise I dount he would have come alone." The General looked at Shifu with a threatening glint in his eye. A warning to the elderly master. "You say you have a message about our leader? We will escort you to our camp so that you may meet with our commander in chief. Maybe we can also get you a new horse." He glanced humorlessly at the equine, who lay dead with an arrow portruding from its flank.
Shifu nodded and followed them into the night.
Pre-dawn light came too soon for Tigress, and she had to fight every instict to roll back over and go to sleep. The sky outside was dim, signalling snow in the future. A cool air had settled over the inn, and Ti rolled over seeking body heat. Unfortunately, her warrior friend was missing. She sighed and sat up.
After standing and washing her face in the bathroom, she left the room in search of her friends.
After not having any luck in the inn, she tried the courtyard, but still, no one was there. Frowning, mshe put her hands on her hips.
"Pssst." Her head jerked at the sound. "Psssssst" The noise was coming from above her. She glanced up and saw Po on the roof, waving.
"What are you doing up there?" She asked with a chuckle. She took a running leap and caught the edge of the roof with her hands. After a helping hand from him, she was able to sit on the peak of the roof.
"Couldn't sleep, so I took over Viper's watch. She and Crane are still asleep." He explained. He pulled his knees up to his chest. The two sat in silence, watching the oncoming snowstorm from their perch.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" He said after a moment.
"Of course." She replied.
"You and Liang, I mean-"
"Po." Ti interrupted. At first, he thought she was going to object to peakin about Liang, but her stiffened postire told him something was wrong. He followed her line of sight to the horizon.
"What is that?"
"Master Shifu. I trust you have a good reason for wanting to see me?" The commander in chief was a tall man, slightly younger than most of the generals around face was kind and young, and Shifu hoped that it would work to his advantage.
"Yes, I have come about the Empress. She is wanted for crimes against the Chinese monarchy." Although he spoke calmy, he could feel the awed stares from the generals around him. Muttering ensued.
"What crimes?" The young commander seemed genuinely interested.
"Yesterday, the young prince was assasinated by a member of the Empress' court." The room was silent, both in disbelief and shock.
"How do you know he was acting on behalf of the Empress? He could have gone rogue?"
"Sir, please, there's more." Shifu began to explain everything, the vault, the missing money, the ghost investment. He pulled out all of the documents that he had brought along as proof. When he was done, he waited patiently for someone, anyone, to say something.
"Sir, we do not know if he speaks the truth." One of the older generals spoke up.
"No, we do not." The yound commander sighed and rubbed his chin with one hand. "However, we also don't know if what he speaks is false. The Chinese emperor has called off the war and yet we are till on neverending patrols, and we are preparing for battle when none has been declared. I'd like to at least investigate before we begin to deploy the worst, we can know all of the facts and continue preparations."
"But sir," spoke up one man. He wasn't a general, but looked like an assistant to one," a fleet of troops has already been deployed."
"WHAT?" The commander roared, whipping around to look at the man. The assistant shrank back in fear. "I DID NOT authorize any squadron to be released."
"The Empress did, sir." spoke up the young man, now trembling. "They left for Xiongxang at dawn."