A/N: Hello and welcome! First things first: Yes, I haven't been around for longer than I even dare to count. I'm fully aware of it, terribly sorry for it, and extremely thankful to you if you still find these pages worthy of your time. Second: I continue where I left off. Quite obvious, of course, but I mean the chapter lenght now. Let's just say that after that one chapter I was not sure whether it was a good idea or not, despite the fact that I had ridiculously long time to think about it. And third: Yeah, this means I'm back to writting regularly. Or, as regularly as I can currently manage. The troubles I faced all that time ago are not solved, just... quenched, for the moment. But I'm not about to abandon this story, never was. Granted, after such a long pause, I did consider starting the whole thing over, but decided against it, in the end. It's my first bigger story here, and I want it to remain such, with all the mistakes and all the lessons learned from them, not tomention your words of advice. And I missed this, and you guys, as well, so... let's start, shall we?

Carried by the wind

"It is nonsense."

"Of course it is! Dang it, Viper, that's what I've been sayin'!"

"Mantis, stop freaking out."

"I. Am. Not. Freaking. Out!"

Tension hung heavy in the air of the barracks hallway. The four warriors stood in the silence that followed the insect warrior's outburst, unmoving, safe for the occasional twitch of Mantis's feeler. Viper and Monkey stood their ground against his angry glare, while Crane's mind seemed to be elsewhere, gazing into the distance as he was.

"You are," Monkey finally broke the silence, not even trying to hide his smile.

For a few moments, with eyes narrowing in anger, Mantis seemed ready to lash out. But only until the grin on his primate friend's face did him in.

"Yeah, fine, you're right. I am freakign out," he admitted in defeat. "Can you blame me, though? Po is out there somewhere and they come and tell us that he's killed a member of the royal family? How crazy is that?"

"We know," Viper spoke as calmly as she could, trying to comfort her friend. "He's our friend, too. And that's why we'll do as Shifu said."

"Yeah," nodded Monkey. "We go to the council, prove this whole thing a garbage, drag Po by his feet back to the palace," he paused, then lowered his voice as a smirk of mischief appeared on his face, "and then we lock him in a room with Tigress."

"Monkey!"

"Hah! I like the way you think, my good man," chuckled Mantis, ignoring Viper's shock. "A'right, let's hurry! Crane, quit dozin' off and let's go."

All eyes present turned to the avian who still seemed only barely aware of his friends actions. "Go ahead, I'll catch up," he said quickly, then started walking down the hallway, his eyes set on Po's bedroom. Mantis was about to voice his protest, but Viper slithered in front of him and shook her head, motioning for them to leave.

Crane remained in the corridor alone. His gaze was switching between the last two doorways. After a short hesitation, he turned to the door on his left and, without bothering to announce his entry in any way, walked right in.

The feline warrior was sitting slouched on the Dragon Warrior's bed. If Crane did not know better, he'd believe she did not even notice him. No tilt of her head, no words, not even the slightest twitch of her ear. She was as a statue, not taking her eyes from the scrolls laid out on the floor in front of her. The crimson eyes kept darting from one scroll to another; she was reading, memorizing, as swift as she was in battle.

Crane grew uncertain. Taking notice of the tiger's tail, lashing from one side to the other, he doubted he would be welcome in the room. The fight they were having just a few minutes ago was hardly resolved, and now, with things escalating so much, he did not dare to approach her. Not without a flood of doubts.

"We have about a minute and a half," Tigress cut through Crane's thoughts. Her voice was calm and measured, with no signs of the anger Crane expected present. That unsettled him even more, but not enough to miss the hint. He took his place beside her and immediately started reading the scrolls. She remained practical; two heads knew more than one.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Crane asked after finding the scroll he was most interested in - the one with the techniques Po came up with.

"I'm not sure," she replied with the same leveled voice, still without stopping even for a second in what she was doing, "it's hard to even know what to look for when anything seems possible now."

Crane paused in his search through Po's notes to study Tigress for a moment. Her posture remained unchanged, but the feathered master could swear he heard a slight hesitation in her voice.

„You... don't really believe he could do that, do you?"

The bird found himself further surprised, when instead of the expected anger he found self-doubt. Just how blind did he allow himself to be?

„No, I just- No, but," she struggled, then closed her eyes and sighed, trying to regain her composure. "But I wouldn't have believed him able to break down those trees either."

Scrolls forgotten for the moment, Crane focused only on her. Her ears were folded down in defeat, her paws were rubbing her eyes. She looked tired, above all else. Crane could only feel sympathy for her in that moment. Officially or not, she was the leader of the Five. Crane never felt inferior to her when it came to strategy, but he could not deny that she had something he did not. The strenght to bear the burden, to remain strong and undaunted in front of the others despite the odds. To shoulder the responsibility of other lives depending on her.

And right now, she was feeling repsonsible for one life in danger. But perhaps not as a leader, or a master, or even as a friend... but something more. And Crane felt utterly helpless in that regard.

"Do you think I should blame myself?"

Far too helpless. She sounded almost shaky, and while she retained that stoic look, with her eyes back on Po's notes, he wa sure she did not truly read them, but was only trying hard to avoid his gaze. When Crane walked in, he was expecting another fight. Instead, it seemed he'd have to comfort her. A situation so rare, that whenever it happened, it felt as if it has never happened before. And as such, he was never prepared for it.

"I, uh," Crane had to gulp, not sure how to go about it. "I'm surprised you're not blaming me."

"I am blaming you," she replied right back, with much more strenght behind her words.

Ah there it is, Crane thought when he noticed the fire blazing in her eyes. She was finally looking straight at him.

"You tell me I'm the only one able to reach him, yet you tie my hands, telling me to hold back so I don't wound his confidence!"

Normally a flare like that would make him take a few steps back, but right now he was almost smiling. At the very least, angry Tigress was something he was used to work with.

"I'm not denying my mistake," the bird stood his ground, keeping eye-contact. "I believed I was making the right decisions. I was wrong."

"You were," she spoke with less fire this time, her eyes studying him this time. She turned her attention back to the scrolls. "But I suppose I can't blame you for everything." Without waiting for any more words, she rose up from the bed and started picking some of the scrolls. Crane allowed himself an inward smile. At the very least, there was a truce between the two of them.

When Tigress collected all the scrolls she wanted, she reached for a backpack so far resting in the room's corner. A backpack that seemed far too big for just a few scrolls, Crane noticed.

"Shifu wanted me to take a few things with us," she explained as she started for the doors. "Time's up, let's go."

With a nod, he followed. "We'll find him, Tigress," he spoke suddenly, unsure of whether he wanted to assure her, or himself.

"We will," she nodded. "Hopefully in time before he brings the whole China to collapse."

What she said, along with the way she said it, made Crane stop in his tracks. "Tha-that sounds a little too-"

"Absurd?" she offered with a grim smile, then motioned for them to keep going.

"Yeah," Crane agreed, then hastened his steps to catch up. Somewhere in the back of his mind, however, a voice spoke up, not so sure. "Absurd."

"So, no more freaking out?"

"I said, I'm not-" Mantis started defensivel, but stopped when he took notice of the teasing smirk on Chun's face. "Alright, alright, so maybe I was freaking out a little."

"I'd say more than just a little," Chun teased on. "That shocked shout of yours was most likely heard through the whol-"

"Hey, don't push it," the green insect master stopped her, with a stern voice but a fond smile in his eyes.

"You're coming back in one piece, I hope?"

"Not worried about me, are you?" baited Mantis this time. "Of course I'm coming back. We still have a lot of training to go through, remember?" He offered the young feline a quick final smile, then hopped off towards the Palace gate, where Monkey was waiting.

"So," the primate had a mischievous look in his eyes. "Finally found yourself a girl that can swallow you whole, huh?"

Mantis did not miss a beat. "I know, ain't it great?!"

Clearly, Monkey did not imagine his joke to play out this way. He remained staring with his mouth agape and at a loss for words. Mantis held his beaming smile on for a few more seconds before he lost it.

"Bwahaha! That look on your face!" the bug guffawed, then turned serious. "Come on, Po's waiting."

"Ah, sure," Monkey agreed, still not quite over his shock.

Just a few steps away, a couple of elder masters were having a much less cheery conversation.

"My students and I will keep the palace safe, along with its guests, Shifu. Do not worry," Master Chao spoke, trying to calm the red panda. "Focus solely on resolving this matter, nothing else."

"Yes, of course," Shifu sighed, having calmed down enough to at least look composed. "There's one more thing, though. Down in the village lifes a goose running a noodle restaurant. He... he is the Dragon Warrior's father," Shifu went on, not deeming it necessary to explain. "Please, have someone visit him regularly to make sure he's doing alright, considering."

"I'll do it myself," Chao promised, earning a grateful smile from the red panda.

"Thank you," Shifu bowed, then turned to his students.

Tigress was just finishing saying goodbyes to her mother. "Remember what I told you," Jia said, releasing her daughter from her embrace.

"I will," Tigress answered, then turned to her master and a father. "We are ready."

"No, you're not."

Tigress, Jia and Shifu all turned to Chun. All that usual cheery demeanor of hers was gone. Were it not for the slight differences, the pattern of her stripes and the colour of her eyes, Shifu would swear he saw a younger version of Tigress. Of angry Tigress.

When Chun's eyes locked on Shifu, with risen brows, the elder master qucikly understood. With a nod, he allowed the two feline cousins to remain alone for a moment, and walked toward the rest of his students. Jia took more time, looking at her niece suspiciously, before she, too, left the two tigers alone.

Tigess's instincts were wide awake. She did not believe Chun to intend to do her harm, but she still could not help herself but feel wary.

"Yes?"

Chun responded by grabbing Tigress's right shoulder with her paw, one pair of eyes meeting the other in intense glare.

"Do come back."

The older tiger's eyes widened in surprise. "I appreciate your concern, Chun, but I can take-" she started gently, only to stop abruptly as the grip on her shoulder noticeably tightened.

"You don't get it," Chun shook her head. "This is not about your skill, or me," she shook her head, sparing a quick glance at Jia in the process. "This... this tiger pride, I don't care for it. I live the way I choose. But not the way I want."

Tigress was frowning, but remained silent, listening to every word.

"She may think she was the one taking care of me, that she can hide behind that pride," Chun continued, amber eyes meeting crimson ones again. "But I am not blind, nor stupid. I don't ever want to see her cry again."

Tigress skipped a beat; she watched the younger tiger with wide eyes. Chun gazed at the ground, taking a long breath. "I've been trying my best, trying to be her smile... but that's your role, cousin," she regained her composure, and the stern look as well. "I'll say it again. Do. Come. Back. And better make it soon."

There was not much of a need to think about what to say, Tigress knew. But still, it was new. Shifu and the Five were a family, too, but there still was a difference. She now had a real family, her family, to return to. And, despite the difficult emotions it brought along, she was happy. And proud.

"I promise," the master of the Tiger Style finally replied, grabbing Chun's shoulder in return. The younger cousin waited a few moments before nodding, seemingly satisfied with the answer, then lowered her arm.

The six of them charged down the stairs. Eyes set straight ahead, their goal clear. Shifu was at the lead, Tigress and Monkey behind him, Crane above them, Viper at the rear. Mantis, perched on Monkey's shoulder, did not stay silent for long.

"So, not that I'm still freaking out or anything, but just to make sure, we all agree that this is a bunch of nonsense, right?," the green insect asked, turning his head around to look at all of his friends. "We walk in there, tell the council to get it together, beat some sense to them if need be, grab Po and go back hom-"

"I'm afraid you simplify this whole matter a bit too much, Mantis," Shifu cut in, not taking his eyes from the road ahead. "What Po started, intentionally or not, could have severe consequences for far more people than just him and us. Therefore I believe it best that I do the talking."

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and lowering his voice as they passed through the village, ignoring the quizzical looks the citizens of the Valley of Peace were giving them, seeing their protectos leave in such a hurry. "However, it seems I currently don't have all the information I may need, so, during our travel, I expect you all to fill me in."

Finally, he looked over his shoulder, and while Tigress was sure that her father was looking at Mantis, she still felt a cold shiver run down her spine when the red panda spoke.

"And I expect to hear everything."

A/N: Thanks for reading! As always, comments and criticism are greatly appreciated, so please, go ahead and leave one or two. Looking forward to see you at the next chapter. Until then!