Saras stared at the gates in front of him. He gulped. This was a really big risk. A really, really big risk. Yang Chao wanted his fur for snaking on Tin Zu to Lao Pi. He wasn't sure how the hare would react if he found out Saras was now telling on hi to the Masters Council. Saras couldn't help feeling a bit nervous. Like most kids in China he had grown up hearing stories of these powerful warriors. But Aang had never been too keen on the Masters Council. Sure they had helped stopped the war. But every memory Saras had in connection with them was the fact that they had stopped the war too late for the Jit Kun and Piaoliang in general. Still. They were awesome. Master Croc, with him impenetrable hide, Saras had tried that technique out once...he had had that needle stuck in his backside for nearly two weeks... Master Storming Ox with his laser-like detection skills. Well to be honest Saras found that pretty lame. And best for last, Master Thundering Rhino. The son of a rhino who was supposed to leap so high in the air he was practically flying. Someone who's Fancy-Named-Deflection Technique had yet to be bested. He tapped his claws together nervously, and patted the fur on his head down...only for it to return to it's normal state of fuzzy-ness. Oh well, he had to do what had to be done.

He walked up the steps to where the door was guarded by a troop of gazelle. The mammals all stood stock still in line. Saras looked from one to the other. They all stood about as still as trees on a day with no wind. All except their eyes, which followed him with curiosity, mixed with suspicion. Saras walked straight towards the gate handles. Even from behind the great wooden doors he could hear the sound of sparring taking place across them. He reached out a paw to pull the gates open, only for the gazelle to finally address him.

"Kid, shouldn't you be in school"?

"No"! Saras replied too quickly, realizing his mistake he tried to backtrack. "I mean, yes, no, I- I am meant to be here. I mean there."

The line of gazelle broke into laughs at his explanation. "Kid, go back to school."

Saras scowled and turned around. He wasn't done yet. One failure, nine more chances.

Danzaburo sat in meditation. It had given him answers many times throughout his life. But right now the answer was pissing him off.

The answer was to kill the fox. He knew too much, had seen too much, and even if he himself was not exactly a threat, someone could easily use him to create a threat, both to him and the Daimyo. It wouldn't take much. Just one quick slice to the heart. It would be practically painless. Except the look on the kit's face. That would be painful. Danza got up and stopped his meditation. He pulled out his katana and slammed it down upon the sole candle that lit the room. The wax split down into two lines...but the fire refused to go out, and now they became two separate entities. Danzaburo then put the fire out with one wave of his hand.

The kit had done very little.

He had done nothing.

So why did he feel so torn over doing something he was familiar with ?

All they had done was play a kid's game...and shared emotional backstories...and gone for sushi...and nearly fought each other to the death...and then let each other go. Then there was the fact that Saras san was a child. Only fourteen. At fourteen Danza had been a proper child, drumming on his little pot belly like the other kids. Then they were both shapeshifters. How many shapeshifters were there left in the world ? Surely this connection counted for something ?

Danzaburo stabbed at the wall. It would be easy to do...but he couldn't do it...but he had to.

Saras gave up on the tenth try. He had exhausted all his forms. The guards would not let him see the Masters Council. It made no difference, whether or not he was supposedly a hedgehog from the Imperial Army, a poor armadillo who had lost his mother. They had sent away a dragon, for the Yellow Emperor's sake, with words like "nice costume" or "save it for the festival kid". He had tried flying over the gates, twice, he had nearly been shot down as a crane, and had crashed into the wall as a hummingbird. He had turned into a catfish and pretended to burn in the sun, only to be kicked into one of Gongmen's icy canals. He had attempted to bury under the walls of the Tower. That of course had made him dig into a solid wall. Apparently the Tower of Sacred Flame took it's security very seriously. His bruised nose, however, wasn't too keen on the tight security. He had been flung away as a mouse, probably because he had underestimated their eyesight- then again his bright pink tail did stand out a lot. As a platypus he had walked up the steps, only to turn around again. There was nothing he could do to get in.

He didn't doubt that if he tried he could beat the fur off of those idiotic excuses for mammals. He sighed, why was life so complicated ? Well, he still had one more trick up his sleeve. He had Tin Zu Junior, and if the guards thought he was joking when he whipped out the son of a mobster...well then they didn't deserve to do their job. He also had Shan Qu, who Tin Zu and his gang didn't know by sight. A plan began forming in his head, a plan that really wasn't good enough to pull off yet. But he hated wasting time in general, and this time it was serious business. Tin Zu was going to get his justice handed to him, and if things went well Saras was going to get his cash handed to him...so he could hand it back to Yang Chao of course.

He smirked confidently. When the guards changed shift, then he would begin. But first he had to get Shan Qu, the toddler and a collar. Rubbing his paws to keep the cold away he turned and left.

Only for the gates to open up and the Master's Council to come out. Laughing and slapping each other on the back, looking less like Kung Fu Masters, and more like a bunch of bachelors.

Saras' jaw dropped, he had spent hours trying to get in, only for the people he needed to see to stroll right out. He blinked, then let his jaw close again. Right, now he could go somewhere. He took a step towards the approaching trio.

Danzaburo walked slowly out of his room, his face fixed in a mask of no emotions. He pulled his hat on over his eyes, and closed the door behind him. He would not be coming back to this room.

He had a job to do.