Happy Year of the Dragon!

I know, its been ages since my last update, and I apologize for that. I'm trying to finish up this story as quickly as possible, but it hasn't been easy. It's just damn hard to write every day like I'm supposed to, what with work and other responsibilities (planning a wedding, primarily). So with all these things going on, please be kind if a lot of this chapter seems disjointed in any way. I've tried my best.

We've come up to the climax now. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda, that belongs to Dreamworks. I own all the Original Characters, so please don't use them without my permission. Thank you.

Chapter 19: The Battle, Part 1

Shifu sat in full lotus position in front of the bank of candles in the Sacred Hall of Warriors. He tried to calm his breathing, focus on the flame of a single candle. Focus...focus on just the flame, that tiny little flame among many, quiet the thousand thoughts that ran through his head. Too much had happened in the last week.

First was the incident involving the Wu Sisters and their connection to his wife.

Then came the trickling in of thousands of outlaws. Even if the villagers had not had forewarning, they would have known something was terribly wrong the minute the first hundred rogues descended into the Valley of Peace.

Dalang's training was complete and he was ready, which was a load off the red panda's shoulders, and Sonam had been working overtime in the forge inbetween keeping up with Dalang's sword skills caring for Mei Xing; and Mei Xing had, somewhat remarkably, calmed considerably between her false alarm and the current date. Shifu assumed she was planning for the Dong Zhi festival, in order to keep herself busy and keep her mind off the coming battle and ever more impending labor...which also worried the red panda.

Then there was Zang Deshi. What to do about him? He had servants watching the horse's movements morning, noon, and night, and Shifu knew he needed to act soon before Zang suspected anything.

But he was missing something. He was forgetting something, it was on the tip of his mind, and it bothered him that he couldn't remember it.

He jumped and grabbed his heart when someone tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned, he looked right into Viper's guilty expression.

"Forgive me, Master," she said softly, "I didn't mean to disturb you, but...we have visitors."

Shifu groaned. "Wonderful. Villagers? Merchants?"

Viper pressed her lips together and glanced between Shifu and the front doors. "Actually...the Masters."

"The who?"

"The—"

Then Shifu realized what he had been forgetting. "The Masters," he said. "The twenty-nine masters, representing all the kung fu schools...they're here? Now?"

"Yes, of course, it is just two days before the solstice. They just walked in the gate."

The red panda groaned again and held his head in his hands. "How could I forget?"

Viper soothed, "You've had a lot on your mind lately, we all have. But there's no need to worry. Remember how much they appreciate the casual dinners we've had each year now? We'll just do that again; they prefer Mr. Ping's cooking anyway..."

"Viper, it's not that easy."

"Master, please," she pleaded. "Tell me. You may be my master, but as far as I'm concerned, given the circumstances," she said, heavily emphasizing the word so he caught her meaning, "we are equals."

Shifu stared at her, wondering where she had suddenly gotten so uncharacteristcally forward. Then he wondered aloud...

"Did you happen to get a letter from your mother-in-law?"

Viper immediately stiffened, but forced a smile. "As a matter of fact, yes! She wants to join us this year for Dong Zhi dinner. She expects me to cook. I think it would be wonderful, don't you?"

"No, because the last time she visited, you were in such a mood that you acted more like Tigress than...yourself."

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "There's nothing wrong, nothing. My mother-in-law is a sweet, caring woman who cares very deeply for her only son. I just need to show her that I can take care of him just as well as she can so she can back off." She pressed her coils to her lips, and looked guilty again. "Okay, maybe I have been spending a lot more time with Tigress."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Oh yes, I quite agree—let's see me get into a shouting match this holiday. I can't think of a more festive way to celebrate."

Shifu winced at her sarcasm. "To be fair...that's usually how Dong Zhi festivals went in my family, before I moved out."

She looked surprised. "Really?"

"Really. In some families, it's just not a holiday dinner without someone getting in a fight." Then he straighted up, eyes wide, then he grinned from ear-to-large ear. Viper drew back a bit. "Master?"

"That's it...hot damn, that's it!" He jumped up and hugged her. "Thank you, Master Viper, thank you!"

"Oh, well, you're welcome. Um...what did I do?"

"You gave me the most brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of it before? Viper," he said, pointing at her, "Never, ever let your mother-in-law tell you those awful things...you are brilliant. Crane is a lucky man. Now, please excuse me, I have a party to throw together."

He ran straight to the front of the Hall, where he welcomed the twenty-nine masters. They each bowed in turn, and Shifu informed that this year would be "informal, as in the previous few years", and that they would be shown to their rooms shortly. He also informed them that this year, the Dragon Warrior was away on a quest, so that meant Shifu was the organizer. "And don't worry, nothing stuffy this year. In fact, I want you all to enjoy the same kind of family Winter Festival that I enjoyed as a child. Because I think we all wish we could feel young again, wouldn't you agree?"

All the masters were highly receptive to this, many seeming grateful that what they expected to be a stuffy, orderly, overly-planned event would instead be similar to festivals of their own childhoods. When the masters were led away by servants to their rooms, Viper slithered up to Shifu, who was still grinning.

"Um, Master? Would you please stop smiling like that? It's getting a little disturbing."

He chuckled. "Viper, remember how I mentioned that festivals with my birth family usually meant someone getting into a fight?"

She stared at him. "You intend the masters to fight each other."

"No, not each other."

Then Viper got it, and she too grinned. "Well, then this will be a festival they won't soon forget, won't it?"

"It's starting soon, isn't it?"

Tigress stopped at the top of the stairs, then glanced over to Mei Xing. The snow leopardess stood in the doorway of the nursery, arms crossed over her chest. She didn't look mad, or scared, which Tigress had to commend her for. Tigress was a nervous wreck.

After a pregnant pause, she sighed and said, "Yes, soon."

Mei Xing looked down at the floor, then out the window at the snow falling outside. "It's really coming down."

Tigress knew what she really meant to say. "His travel won't be impeded. Tai Lung is tougher than that. A little snow won't slow him down."

"You know, that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried that he will get back in time."

"For the birth?"

"For the battle."

Tigress conceded that this was a genuine fear. The feline master wasn't pleased that her own husband would be out among the warriors defending their home. Something she hadn't even thought about but now felt guilty to inquire...

"Could you keep an eye on Shang during the battle? I know Su Lin also said she'd watch him, but if there are many wounded, she may be otherwise occupied..."

Mei Xing smiled at her. "No problem."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. He's very well-behaved. We don't have anything to worry about. Well, at least as far as babysitting goes." The spotted feline paused again, watching her sister-in-law very carefully. "Are you okay?"

Tigress sighed and pressed her index and thumb finger into the palm of her other hand. She tried to steady her breathing, but it wasn't easy. "This is all on me this time. If this fails, it will be my fault. If people die, it will be my fault."

"No, it won't. Everyone is going into this with their eyes wide open, they knew what they signed up for."

"How can you say that?" she asked her. "These are farmers, merchants, people who have never picked up a weapon in their lives..."

"So was my family, and we weren't immune to danger or violence. I've lost aunts, uncles, cousins, to marauders and bandits, as well as soldiers. I know I have every right to be afraid, but I'm not. Not really. I mean, it's horrible, and people will die—because that's how it goes in war—but I have the feeling that everything is going to turn out okay. You'll see."

"I wish I had your faith," the tiger sighed.

"Tigress," Mei Xing warned, "Don't do what you usually do."

"You mean don't beat myself up if I fail?"

"Exactly. You've got bigger things to worry about. Don't focus on what can go wrong, or it will. Change what you can, accept what you can't change."

Tigress wanted to tell her that that encouraged her, but it didn't. The fear of failure absolutely paralyzed her. If anything went wrong, it was all on her. She had planned out the whole thing, mapped battle plans, organized forces, oversaw training...she had, for all intents and purposes, taken on the part of Jade Palace Grand Master, in all but name. Shifu, she thought bitterly, had been useless since his fight with Wu Lien, and he was already occupied with Zang. She would take care of the war horse in her own time. For the interim, she needed to make sure the counter-insurgency went as planned.

She went downstairs, crossed the kitchen, then climbed up the stairs leading up to Po's old room, where Su Lin was putting the finishing touches on her own plans. Tigress ignored the fact that there were explosives in the female panda's room, particularly so close to the fireplace. Su Lin had given up her dresses for a more utilitarian short robe and trousers, and her ribbons were tossed aside as she collected herbs and ripped old sheets into bandages. She looked up when Tigress knocked against the doorjamb.

"Almost ready?" Tigress asked.

"Just about. I have to make one more delivery to the Hong's, and then I think we'll be good."

Tigress nodded. She turned to look out the window at the falling snow. As cold as it had been lately, there was a good chance it would stick, and accumulate quickly. How strange, that something as peaceful as watching snow fall filled her with dread. She made a split-second decision that she hoped she wouldn't regret later.

"Raise the lantern."

Su Lin stopped and stared at her. "Now?"

"Yes, now."

"But it's so early—"

"And I want to take advantage of the weather," the tiger said, nodding at the snow. "They leave the village, the snow covers their tracks. Raise the lantern before you leave. Whatever the enemy thinks, all they'll see are holiday lanterns being hung up a day or two early. Hurry, before it gets too dark out."

Su Lin nodded and quickly packed up. Downstairs, she picked up a basket and filled it with the explosives, then artfully covered them with bean buns. She nodded to Mr. Ping, who stopped chopping vegetables to pick up the lantern Po had made as a child, and light the candle inside it. His patrons immediately knew the signal.

Su Lin moved to the Hong's home, delivered her "basket of holiday cheer", then stopped by the Lotus School to see Aunt Wu. The elderly red panda woman was happy to see her...until she saw the sober look on the taller female's face.

"Raise the lanterns," she said.

"So early?" Wu asked.

"Tigress's idea."

Wu looked down the street which was quickly accumulating snowbanks. She nodded once. "Lanterns indeed. We'll hang them on every eave."

By the time Su Lin got back to the Long and Feng cafe, the customers had all left, but she had noted that everyone was putting up their lanterns as she made her way home. Mr. Ping was cleaning his kitchen, paying very special attention to his knives. Dalang sat with him, running a whetting stone over his prized chef's knife. That night, when the valley was supposed to be asleep in their beds, the Furious Five would lead the villagers out of the village to hide in approved points around the valley, places they knew they would be safe for a short time. A number of residents agreed to stay in the village to draw attention away from those that could not fight. Su Lin barely slept that night, though she wasn't the only one having a fitful sleep.

Something wasn't quite right here. In fact, something was very wrong. Koshchei was in a place he had never been before, but reminded him too much of places he had left behind, or rather, places he had yet to see. He never wanted to see this place, wherever it was. He was surrounded by mist, dense fog like he had never seen in his near eighty years of existence. As a rule, he hated feeling helpless, and that was exactly how he felt now. He felt closed-in, choked, trapped. He hated that feeling.

He blundered his way around, holding both claws out in front of him, grasping for anything. He tripped and sprawled face-first on the ground. When he looked up, he found himself staring at a pair of feet that hadn't been there before. The leopard looked up further, then in shock he recoiled, scrambling away.

Jiao Shen smiled thinly at his old comrade, his body looking remarkably well-fed despite the very obvious fact he was dead.

"It's good to see you, Asmodei. What, surprised to see me?"

"Shen..." he breathed, suddenly finding it very hard to catch his breath, or settle his pounding heart.

"Do you know where you are, Asmodei? Surely you know. You've always known. This is where you belong. With us. With the damned."

"You didn't think you'd get away with it?"

Koshchei whirled and gasped to find a very healthy-looking Jiao Xiang, who, though grinning, had an unmistakeable predatory look on his face. "Did you think you'd get away with what you did to me? With what you almost did to Dalang?"

"He'll be the end of you, you know," Huang chuckled, somewhere within the mist where Koshchei couldn't see him. "He took me out with my own poison...what do you think he'll do to you?"

"He is veak!" Koshchei hissed. "He vas veakest of all of you!"

"Weak, my ass," Feng seethed from somewhere within the mists. "You know it, I know it, we all know it."

"Your time's coming, old man," one of the Twins said over his shoulder. Koshchei could never tell the difference between them. The twins unnerved him, how they were so similar in appearance and attitude, little demons the both of them.

"Soon," the other Twin said, "You'll be down here with us."

"Only there's no purgatory for you," Shen warned, stepping forward. "You know what awaits you here. By Solstice end, that is exactly where you'll be..."

Then the leopard felt something tightening around his neck, and though he grabbed at whatever unseen force was suddenly cutting off his oxygen, he felt himself getting weaker, and weaker...

Koshchei came awake with a jolt, sinking his claws into the bedframe and panting wildly. His blue-green eyes darted around the room. He looked to be alone, but he wasn't going to risk it. He tried to stand and immediately found out what had been choking him: during his fitful sleep, one of his bedsheets had twisted around his neck in a most uncomfortable noose. Snarling, he ripped the sheet to shreds and stumbled out of the crumpled linens to the washbasin, which he filled with ice cold water and splashed over his face.

He had been having those dreams for a while now, well over a month. Each night they got worse and worse. Each night, another one of his victims showed up. The man he had buried alive in the chest. His parents. His siblings. Sonya. And now even the entire Jiao family (minus the two that actually made it to Heaven, and the one that was still alive) had come to pay their respects and perhaps drag him off to the Underworld.

He wasn't ready. He wouldn't let them. With trepidation, he knew Shen was right. He knew what awaited him when he died.

If you die, he reminded himself. You are the Deathless. You are invincible. No one can stop you now. You are so close to your goal. Do not lose focus.

He couldn't lose focus, not now. The Winter Solstice festival was only two days away, and he intended to strike just as the villagers were distracted with holiday cheer.

Still seething at himself for being spooked by a fevered nightmare, Koshchei picked up his cloak and wrapped it tightly around himself. He had never suffered cold before, not like this. Was this further proof of his age, that he was not long for a cold grave with his name on it? No, he decided, my work is not yet done.

He left the room at the inn and made his way downstairs. The chow dog was a remarkably cool fellow, though perhaps he had seen far worse than Koshchei (which the leopard doubted), so when the leopard finally made an appearance, the chow dog just glanced up at him, then pointed across the room at the black wolf warming himself by the fire.

Koshchei stalked up to him, and Zi Hao turned to face him. "I got bad news," he said.

"Vhat news?"

"Lang's gone. He, Xu Jiu, and Yu Wang all turned themselves in to the army. They're in prison." Hao expected Koshchei to get angry, but the leopard was incredibly calm...which made the wolf very anxious.

The leopard nodded for the wolf to continue as he reached inside his tunic for his pipe and tobacco pouch. Koshchei's paws were shaking as he stuffed tobacco in the pipe's bowl, but Hao just took that to mean the leopard was cold. Asmodei Koschei was not capable of feeling fear, as they say.

"They just...walked right into the jail," the wolf continued, "and gave themselves up. They've been there a few days now."

"Hmm," Koshchei hummed, still listening.

"But that's not the worst."

Koshcheit lit his pipe and inhaled the smoke, then exhaled the smoke through his nose. It seemed Hao had been waiting, holding onto this bit of information, for quite some time. He seemed excited, like a puppy, to share this information, perhaps to get back into Koshchei's good graces, maybe convince the leopard that Hao was once again Alpha material. These wolves and their silly quests for power. When will they learn? "Vhat is it?"

"The Wu Sisters. They betrayed us."

The leopard froze, and felt another terrible chill rush through his body. "Vhat?"

Hao nodded. "I overheard them talking. They've been really after this guy named Zang Deshi, an army officer. They've been working with Jiao Dalang the whole time—they warned him about your hit on his kid. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still trying to find a way to take you out instead."

No. No, it wasn't possible. He should have expected this, he should have foreseen it. He knew never to trust the Wu Sisters for anything, and yet he had. Why, why had he made such a novice mistake?

"Vhere are they?" the leopard asked. Even he was surprised by how calmly he was taking this betrayal.

"Nobody knows. After I overheard them, they just disappeared."

"They are not dead," Koshchei said definitively. "Too smart for that."

Zi Hao wasn't sure he had heard him correctly. "They're too smart to be killed, you mean?"

"Malchik, they fool me...females smarter than they look...too smart for own good." Just like you, don't you agree, Sonya?

What Koschei didn't know was that Zi Hao was also perfectly aware of what the old leopard had tried to do to him. He had overheard that much from the Wu Sisters. Intentionally putting him in the line of fire to an almost certain death...he had been set up. But he was no fool (not entirely). He knew Koshchei was crafty, and had to be to live this long. No, what Hao wanted more than anything was to get Lang. The little bastard had planned his death, probably been planning it for a long time...Hao wasn't going to let some upstart punk take him down. He was an Alpha, a true Alpha...and no Omega would take that from him.

He better be grateful he's behind bars, he thought bitterly. Because if he ever leaves, he's mine.

"You know, for turning ourselves in, I expected a lot worse."

"Weren't you tortured for twelve hours?"

"Yeah, but at least they cut me down every so often to get some rest. Think Koshchei would've spread it out like that?"

The three remaining wolves sat in a shared cell, all of them sporting bruises, scrapes, and at least in Xu Jiu's case, a broken arm. The large wolf grimaced when he moved his arm the wrong way. "Least they haven't used the rat torture."

"What exactly is the rat torture anyway?" Yu Wang asked, his arms poking out the bars and trying to peer down the hallway of the Valley's one (rather miniscule) jail. "No one ever explained it to me."

"They light a fire," said Lang. He sat in the corner, slumped against the wall like a boneless rag doll, listless and still. His voice had lost all hint of youth, all sense of emotion, in a tone as dead as the look in his eyes. He no longer made eye contact with anyone, cellmate or guard. He continued, deadpan, "They light a fire and place a cage full of rats on top of it. There is no lid to the cage. Your body serves as the lid. In order to escape the fire, the rats scurry up...right through you. That's the rat torture."

Yu Wang and Xu Jiu shared a look before the former cleared his throat. "I'll take garroting again over that, thanks."

"Man, never figured the Valley of Peace to use torture. Seems...weird."

Wang snorted. "That's because we turned ourselves in to the army, idiot. They're not villagers and farmers. They're trained for this sort of thing."

"It's better than what could have been," Lang said. His cellmates silently agreed. Whatever the army did to them was nothing compared to what Koshchei would have had in store for them.

But Lang made both of them very nervous. When he said anything, it was usually quite disturbing. Otherwise, the youth sat there, in the same corner, all day and all night, catatonically staring into space and listlessly watching dust motes dance in the light coming from the only tiny window in their cell. It was not pleasant. Prison is never pleasant in the slightest, but it didn't help knowing their cellmate was a tad emotionally and mentally unstable.

Even the guards knew it. The last time they'd interrogated Yu Wang, he'd heard the guards saying something about "that creepy kid that came with them. He doesn't even scream when he's whipped. Nothing. He just...hangs there, doesn't say anything."

Yu Wang was this close to begging the guards to put him in another cell. Just in case the kid was turning out more like Koshchei than he thought.

Lang wasn't unaware of the effect he was having on his cellmates. The youth had only been interrogated once, and the soldiers decided it wasn't worth it. The only thing he said was "It's my fault, it's all my fault. I'm a monster, and I'll be killed by a monster..."

His back still stung from the whipping, but nothing hurt worse than the emptiness he felt in his heart. He wished Koshchei had just physically taken out his heart and left him there to bleed out. It would have been less painful.

Duo's death was his fault. He would still be alive if Lang had never said anything. He would still be alive if Lang had never killed Bao Nu. He would still be alive if the kid had never even gone to see Koshchei in the first place at the Wolf's Head Inn. Gods, had it really only been two months ago? It felt like two years.

He could still be alive if it weren't for you, he told himself. You're worthless. You've always been worthless. How could you hope for any better? You should've killed yourself while you had the chance.

His eyes were too dry for tears. He barely slept, barely ate, and he preferred it this way. He had given up. Let Koshchei come get him if he wanted. What kind of future did the wolf have now?

Zang had not been having the best week. Scarcely a day after Gao's death and his killing Liu, Zang started getting the feeling someone was watching him. His suspicions were justified when one night, not three days after Liu's killing, he woke up in the middle of the night and saw a knife on his bedside table. The tip had been stabbed into the wood, with a note attached:

We know what you did.

He had destroyed the note.

It didn't end there. It happened again the next night. This time the knife was embedded to the headboard directly above him. The note this time read: There is blood on your hands. Soon your blood will be on ours.

A postscript read: Don't fall asleep. We'll be waiting.

He woke up another morning and found claw marks on his window sill, as if some beast—three of them—had been watching him in his sleep. Staring at his prone form all night long, and could have made a move at any time. He barely slept the next two nights. By the time his body gave into exhaustion, he once again woke in the middle of the night and sat up in bed to find someone sitting in a chair in the far corner...staring at him with narrowed, glowing red eyes.

He had not screamed that loudly since he was a child, still scared of the monster under the bed. Quon had come to his rescue, but as soon as the youth flooded the room with light, the figure in the corner was gone. The chair was undisturbed. Quon, however, was clearly disturbed to see what his captain had been reduced to. Zang was a mess. He now spent his days constantly looking over his shoulder. He wasn't safe in the night. He used his days for sleep. His nights were reserved for waiting in the darkness, sword drawn, waiting for the she-demon to return.

Quon avoided him even more now. In his fevered, sleep-deprived, paranoid mind, Zang had begun believing that Quon was in some way working for the Wu Sisters. No amount of reasoning would convince him otherwise. It had gotten to the point where, just the night before, he had stood above the sleeping tiger, sword drawn, watching him, waiting for him to get up and move. It was almost dawn when Zang gave up, starting to see the folly of this belief. Quon was innocent, surely. At least that was what he believed until he got back to his own room. There were three sitting on his bed. Three female snow leopards.

He ran from the room, shocked and yelling in alarm. Finding his courage, he ran back into the room...only to find it empty, the sheets undisturbed, as if no one had been sitting there just a moment before. The windows were all closed. The closet, wardrobe were empty.

Zang had laughed, a sort of disembodied, disbelieving laugh. He felt like he was going insane. He knew what he saw, as he explained when Quon came running into the room after hearing his panicked yell. The Wu Sisters were in the valley, and they had just been in his room. Quon tried to calm him, explaining that it wasn't possible. The windows were all locked from the inside, and the bedroom door showed no signs of forced entry. Zang decided that they had to have had a key, some other way of getting in. Quon offered before Zang could order him: he would stay in the same room as the black warhorse, an added guard. Someone to fight away whatever went bump in the night.

Zang knew, using what little logic was left, that he was being ridiculous. He was behaving like a child afraid of the dark...and now Quon was acting as a mother soothing a frightened child, sitting up with him until he fell asleep.

Quon had now sat him down in his room, pouring green tea into a cup for the horse to enjoy. "Black tea won't do you much good. The herbalist said green tea," Quon said. "And here's the packet of herbs to put in it, to help you sleep."

Quon had no aspirations for power, Zang told himself. He had no claims to his rank...

"You drink it first."

Quon looked up at him, confused, and concerned. "Sir, the herbs are specifically for you. The dosage is based on your health and build; it would affect me differently..."

Zang shoved his teacup into the tiger's hands. "Drink it, that's an order."

Quon stared at him again, in that look that said he was truly concerned for his leader's sanity, and took a long drink of the tea, without hesitation. Zang waited until the youth had set the cup down and gently pushed it across the table to him. Then the horse grew angry. "You think you can mock me? How dare you mock me like this!"

"Sir?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"You developed a tolerance to it, haven't you? It wouldn't affect you, admit it!"

"Captain, I don't know what you're talking about," he said calmly, but he was looking increasingly worried.

"You poisoned this tea!" Zang accused, seething. He would have struck Quon had the tiger not suddenly stood and drained both his cup and the horse's. When the tiger slammed the cups back on the table, he hissed, quite insubordinately, "Do you think I would drink two cups of poisoned tea? It isn't poisoned. Nothing is poisoned. No one is trying to kill you."

"The Wu Sisters—"

"No one has seen them in weeks. They've probably left the valley."

"I saw—"

"Sir," Quon said seriously, yet calmly, "I know I have no business asking this of you, but as a favor to me, please try to calm down."

Zang barely heard him, but it did bring him back to his senses, if only a little. He was being ridiculous. He was Zang Deshi, Captain Zang Deshi, and he was not afraid of any specter, real or imagined. And besides, what would he contemporaries think, if they saw him like this? He'd lose his rank, perhaps be dishonorably discharged, and he couldn't risk that. Not when he was so close to his goal.

The warhorse sighed. "You're right, Cadet. Perhaps these sleepless nights have been doing little for my health."

"I understand, sir, which is why I went to the apothecary to get you this special tea," the tiger explained. "I...permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"Sir, I have been very worried about you. See...I grew up without a father, and, despite...despite all that has happened, for better or worse, you are the closest thing to a father I have ever had. Please, if nothing else, take this medicine for me. Right now, if indeed the Wu sisters are still around, as you believe...then you are the only one I can trust. And if you are not in top condition, then we can't bring Tai Lung in to justice."

That did it. For some reason, perhaps the lack of sleep, Zang freely accepted a cup of tea and drained it. Quon poured him another cup, and the horse drank. One more cup of tea, and he would sleep peacefully, though already on the second cup, he was beginning to feel the herbs' effect. He barely finished his third cup of medicine before he slumped into bed, only slightly aware that Quon had taken the time to drape a blanket over his commanding officer and leave the room just as Zang closed his eyes and finally—mercifully—got some sleep.

What Zang didn't know was that Quon had lied through his teeth. And the horse had been right to worry about the tea. It was intentionally stronger than Quon had told him...but that revelation would be saved until later.

"You're sure this is the right way."

"Of course I'm sure."

"You've a map on you, then?"

"Don't need one."

"What d'you mean you don't need one? When was the last time you came 'round here?"

"Dunno. Ten, Twenty years ago? How much can change in twenty years?"

Tai Lung groaned and rubbed his eyes. He noted that even though Altai had quite a natural confidence in his abilities, as it turned out, he had an awful sense of direction. Even Little Brother seemed to know this. The red panda would insistently tug on the rhino's pant leg and point frantically at the moss-covered side of the tree trunk for example, and point in the proper Eastward direction. Then Altai would suggest moving south instead, much to the child's irritation.

Little Brother wasn't the only panda getting annoyed.

"Dude, we've been at this for hours, let's just go this way—it should take us back to the main road," Po said, motioning down a well-traveled path.

"No way," Altai said. "The main road is too dangerous. What if you get spotted?"

"We're dressed like monks, Altai," Po pointed out. "Do we really look like a threat? And besides, we got a kid with us."

"Exactly! We're prime targets for bandits, and if the army finds out who you are..."

"One," Tai Lung said, holding up a digit, "We can hold our own in a fight. Two, dressed this way, someone would have to be courting some bad karma to attack three blokes and a child dressed as monks. Especially if one of those blokes stands and walks like an old soldier. Trust me, no one in their right mind would attack the likes of you."

Altai hesitated, then shook his head. "Fine, we'll take the main road. I was hoping for a shortcut..."

"Uh-uh," Po said, and Little Brother similarly shook his little head. "No shortcuts. I've been on enough missions with Mantis and Monkey – shortcuts are just asking for trouble."

"So we're taking the risk of running into the army and anyone who would try to attack Tai Lung on the road?"

Po drew himself up to his full height. "Let 'em try," he growled, making the hair on the backs of his companions' necks stand up.

Tai Lung was grateful of course, but he had noticed that since he'd confessed his deepest, darkest secret to the panda that Po had taken up a...harder appearance. It was as if the panda took personally what had happened to his friend. Not that he blamed him; had their positions been reversed, Tai Lung was quite comfortable knowing he would commit cold-blooded murder for his friend. And as much as he knew he should have been bothered by it, he wasn't...which made him wonder if he truly was as reformed as everyone believed.

As the snow leopard predicted, no one accosted them on the main road to the Valley. In fact, just for grins, they took a detour, back to the Xiao Tou Inn. When they mentioned it to Altai, the rhino had stiffened considerably, and vehemently suggested against this plan. Po was adamant, and Tai Lung deferred to his friend. "Since when have you been so paranoid?" the snow leopard asked. Altai said nothing in return, his face set like a statue's.

Before long, they recognized where they were. "Hey," Po said, "Isn't the Xiao Tou Inn not far from here?"

Tai Lung glanced at their surroundings then let out a delighted laugh. "Brilliant! We're much closer than I thought. Let's stop to get a bite and we can continue on our...oh no."

They had crested the hill, and now looked out over the lake. The inn was gone.

In its place were the charred remains of old waterlogged timbers, some parts still smouldering.

Little Brother hung very close to Po, as if the child knew something awful had happened here. Po stood in shock, and his first reaction was also the most foolish. He started to dash down the slope in case anyone was left alive. Tai Lung grabbed the panda's sleeve.

Don't. It could be a trap.

There's people that need our help! Po protested.

Think about it, look at the place...they're beyond our help.

Po hated to admit that he was right. Even far below, he could make out the sight of bodies on the shore. Altai spotted them too, and promptly picked up Little Brother and held the child against his chest, shielding his eyes from the carnage.

They slowly descended the hill. Tracks were still clearly visible in the ground that had taken on a thin sheet of frost.

"Its like a whole army came through here," Po said, his own voice sounding disembodied to him.

"In a manner of speaking," said Altai, who handed Little Brother over to Tai Lung. "This wasn't Imperial. I think we're looking at Koshchei's handiwork."

"How d'you figure that?" Tai Lung asked. Then he saw.

The bodies of the innkeeper and his family were covered with claw marks...clearly fatal claw marks. It nearly made him sick. Then something else occurred to him and he gasped:

"The guards in the tower, by the bridge..."

"We have to warn them," Po said, immediately starting off in the direction of the Thread of Hope.

Once again, they were too late.

When they banged their fists against the door, they were surprised to find...

"Well! What's all this, then?" Mrs. He said contemptuously. The female crane narrowed her keen eyes at the quartet. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Crane's wedding," Po said, removing his wide-brimmed hat.

She nodded. "Ah, I thought so. You're the freak's friends."

"We're Crane's friends too, you know," Tai Lung said flatly.

Mrs. He appeared to bite her tongue, which served him fine; he really didn't want to get into another shouting match with her, like what had happened after Crane and Viper left for their honeymoon.

"I assume you've done something with that temper?" she sniffed.

Tai Lung forced a smile. "Something akin to that. Listen, we're in rather a rush, are those bull guards still around?"

"They're dead."

"Oh—what?"

She sighed. "I found their bodies in a shallow grave. I don't know why the murderer didn't throw them over the edge, but I suppose there's a miracle so their families can give them proper burials..."

"Koshchei did it intentionally," Altai said darkly. "He meant it as a warning."

While this settled into the panda and snow leopard's mind, Mrs. He gasped. "Koshchei? Not Asmodei Koshchei? Absurd! He's too old, he must be dead."

"Ma'am, I wish. May we come in?"

She looked over her shoulder, hesitated, then shook her head. "I'm afraid it wouldn't be prudent."

"Why not?"

"I...found another victim. He looks like he might have been in a battle with those types that crossed the bridge earlier yesterday. But I'm beginning to suspect he tried to take his own life..."

Po placed his hand on the doorframe...and felt something. He held his hand up, right in front of Mrs. He's face, and waited. Then he felt it again, stronger this time. Furrowing his brow, he marched forward. "We need to come in."

"What? How dare—"

Altai pushed her aside. "Sorry, ma'am, official army business."

Po muttered a quick thank you to the rhino as he marched into the house. He followed it...the chi. That's what it had to be. A very powerful chi. He could heard Tai Lung's quickened breath behind him and knew the snow leopard felt it, too.

It's strong, the feline sensed.

Very strong, Po agreed. She's wrong. He hasn't given up, not yet. There's something familiar about it, though...

When they reached the tiny barracks, with room for only two beds, they found the wolf in the farthest bed, against the wall, staring out the open window at the gray sky. He was heavily bandaged, some places blood had seaped through the white bandages and had dried to a stiff dark brown. His ear twitched at the sound of footsteps, but he otherwise didn't make a move. Po didn't need him to face them, however.

"That's how I knew him!" Po said. "He's the lousy tipper from Haijin Province!"

Tai Lung smacked his palm to his face. "Po, this really isn't the time..."

"He stiffed me fifteen percent gratuity!"

"Po, not now."

"He'll die soon," Mrs. He said with a sigh as she came up behind them. "I did all I could, he won't last."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at him, it's clear that his body can recover...but he's given up."

Tai Lung narrowed his eyes at the wolf, who now stared forlornly up at the ceiling. The snow leopard refused to take no for an answer, then dropped his rucksack to the floor and ripped through it.

"What're you doing?" Po asked.

"I've waited long enough," Tai Lung said, finally pulling out the Phoenix Scroll. "We know now I can heal with a touch...there has to be a trick to save him."

"Why save him if he doesn't want to be saved?" Mrs. He asked.

"Because I didn't want to be saved, either," he growled at her. "I needed someone to guide me. When you can't walk, you crawl, and when you can't crawl, you get someone to carry you." He yanked the stopper off the end and pulled the encased scroll out. Holding both ends in his large hands, the paper felt delicate and fragile in his hands. Now or never.

He unrolled the scroll.

Po held his breath, but kept his distance out of respect.

Altai and Little Brother also stayed back, the former sensing that this was something sacred and private.

Tai Lung froze, staring straight at the scroll. It clattered to the floor from his nerveless paws. He muttered something that Po didn't catch, and he appeared to be visibly thinking something over, running scenarios through his head. And then Po saw the look of recognition cross his friend's face...and that was when Tai Lung acted.

He rolled up the Phoenix Scroll, put it back in its case, then knelt next to Duo's bed. He took the wolf's hand and leaned close, and whispered something into the wolf's ear. Squeezing the wolf's hand, he let go and placed his hand over Duo's heart.

He pressed down against his chest, and Duo let out a shout, that turned into a scream, that turned into a long high-pitched howl.

Before Po, Altai, Little Brother, and Mrs. He's startled eyes, they watched as Duo's body convulsed, the bed shaking beneath him, then even more startling...light started emanating from his body. They thought they were imagining things...and then there it was! Golden light had engulfed Tai Lung, and the light traveled from the snow leopard, down his arm, and into Duo's chest, which then spread to the rest of the wolf's body. He stopped shaking, but his body was soaked with sweat, his breathing labored. And then suddenly, he opened his mouth to howl again, and...something poured out from inside him. Po swore it looked like black smoke, but it may have been his imagination, but it looked like the smoke had a face...contorted into a grotesque mask of hatred and pain, that dissipated into thin air so quickly that he may have only imagined it.

And just as suddenly as it had happened, the golden light dissipated and both Duo and Tai Lung slumped over, Tai Lung against the headboard, and Duo back into the pillows. Tai Lung, exhausted, moved out of the way, just as Duo sat up and vomited into the very handy chamberpot. Both canine and feline were panting with exertion, Duo panting and coughing, spitting out what looked like black bile.

"Shit..." the wolf swore, "I'm dying."

"No, you're not, now man up and take your medicine like a good boy. And do try not to swear; there is a child present."

"Screw you, cat."

"Back at you, dog."

Altai coughed and cleared his throat. "So...incredibly freaked out here, someone want to tell me what the heck just happened?"

"The Phoenix Tear technique," Tai Lung said with a satisfied smile. He clapped a hand on Duo's shoulder. "You're not dying...quite the opposite."

"Thrilling."

"You should be thrilled."

"Give me a break; in the last week, I found out this kid I thought of as a brother is a psychotic killer, I got the crap beaten out of me by an old guy, and he threw me off a cliff. Not having the best week."

The snow leopard wryly smiled. "You want to talk about getting beat up by an old man, do I have a story for you..."

"My guy was seventy-eight."

"You win."

Altai stared at Tai Lung, then turned to Po, "Phoenix Tear technique?"

"Long story," Po said.

The rhino snorted. "I'm not going a step further until I hear it."

"Altai," Tai Lung said, "We're rather pressed for time..."

The rhino stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't care. If you want my help, you need to trust me to trust you."

"Don't you already trust me?"

"You've been hiding something from me, both of you. If it's something that'll get me and Little Brother killed..."

"I'm the Phoenix Warrior."

The rhino's brow furrowed at the snow leopard. Little Brother, Mrs. He, and Lan Duo similarly gave him dubious glances. "You're the what of who?" the rhino asked.

Po nudged him, "Like, I'm the Dragon Warrior, embodying all the things dragons stand for like peace, harmony, and balance; and Tai Lung is the Phoenix Warrior, the spiritual equal of the Dragon Warrior, who embodies all the things phoenixes are known for, like life, death, and rebirth. Also, it means having second chances. There was a Dragon Scroll, which I got, and also a Phoenix Scroll, which Tai got from Master Sun Bear of the Phoenix Temple."

"Lies!" Mrs. He said. "I don't believe a word of it. That is just a legend, a silly fairy tale."

Little Brother made an angry noise at her and stamped his little foot in frustration. Po said to her, thus translating for the little monk, "It's not just a legend. It's a real place, a place people go to in order to rebuild their lives, to learn how to get a second chance at life. To be reborn, y'know, spiritually. Together, according to this old prophecy, the dragon and the phoenix will restore balance to the empire through their warriors. And that's us."

"Really? And just where is this mythic temple?"

As soon as Po started to answer, it quickly became apparent that it didn't make his story any more plausible: "It, uh, kinda burned down..."

Mrs. He glared at him. "A likely story, and how very convenient that there's no proof."

Tai Lung spoke up before Po could counter her argument, "Let it go, Po. People won't believe it until they're ready to believe it. In the meantime, we've got bigger things to worry about." The snow leopard turned to Lan Duo. "Do you agree to help us?"

"Why should I?" Duo asked. He hung his head and muttered, "My uncle was right about me. I'm a lazy good-for-nothing, and the first and only time I tried to do right by somebody, I failed. You don't want my help."

"Yes we do. We can't take down Koshchei without you. You're the only one we have right now who knows the whole plan—"

"I don't know the whole plan; he kept most of it a surprise until the last minute." The wolf sighed, "Look, I don't know what his motivation is. I know he's after Jiao Dalang, but that's about all I know. I don't know why he brought Lang into this, but I do know he plans to kill him once he's outlived his use..."

"And you care about this Lang, don't you?" the snow leopard asked.

Duo looked him right in the eye, so that the feline could see the fire smouldering in there. "More than anything. I thought I could save him..."

"And you still can. Please, Duo, help us, and you can help him."

Duo was silent as he thought it over. He stared down at the floor, studying the woodgrain as if it held all the answers he sought. He thought hard. He thought about Lang, and all the trouble he was in. There was a chance, a part of his mind said, there was a chance they could run away from this, go out on their own, form their own pack, be a real family, gather others like them, other outcasts...a pack of omegas. A family of omegas. He liked the thought of that. But mostly he thought about Koshchei – what the leopard would do to him if he knew he was still alive, what he would do to Lang...

The wolf growled and stood up shakily. Po and Tai Lung moved to assist him as he wobbled on his feet, but he batted their hands away. "I'm going. I'll fight him. I'll kill the bastard if I have to. He's not getting Lang, not ever."

"That's all well and good," Altai said, "But what about weapons?"

Duo glared at him. "Give me a spear, and I'll show you what I'm made of."

The rhino blinked, then turned to look about the room. "This place is completely cleaned out."

"That it is," Mrs. He attested.

"Where's the closest place to get weapons?"

"Where else?" Po asked. "The Jade Palace."

Today was the day, she could feel it. Too many battles had honed Tigress's senses so that she could tell when a battle was about to break out. It was like being able to smell rain or snow in the air. Or knowing a storm was coming by the throbbing of an old fracture. Tigress was sure that this was the day. The Winter Solstice. It would happen today.

She rose and dressed before the day dawned, a deep green tunic with long sleeves to protect her against the cold. She roused Dalang from his own fitful sleep; he didn't bother to dress for the weather, opting for his usual uniform of a sleeveless shirt and long pants. Neither tiger had slept well the night before. When they had retired to bed, snow had already been falling for a few hours, and now their bedroom, and likely the whole house, was cold.

Shang still slept soundly in his crib, lovingly tucked in with many blankets to ensure he was warm. Tigress paused long enough to gaze into her son's crib, a short, quiet moment that she would hold on to as a reminder of what she was fighting for.

Dalang, as quietly as possible, moved to the closet and unlocked it, drawing out his weapon. He handed some small arms over to Tigress: mostly knives that she hid inside her long sleeves, a pair of nunchucks, for Monkey's use, and several small explosives. Su Lin had taught Tigress how to use them: it was simply a matter of throwing them down hard into the ground, and they would make a big bang, blow up a cloud of smoke...a smoke screen to give her time to run if the battle got too heavy.

Tigress wasn't worried so much about herself as she was for the villagers, and, most importantly to her, her husband.

Dalang finished strapping knives to his belt, hiding another knife in each leg binding, stopping only when Tigress hugged him from behind. She held him as tightly as she could without hurting him, and he could tell that this was a hug inspired as much by love as desperation. Without words, it told him 'be careful, I love you, I would be lost without you'.

He laid his hand over hers, and squeezed gently, letting her know the same. Together, they stood over their son's crib, holding each other in a last moment of comfort before they made their way out. Not too long after, Mei Xing came into their bedroom to keep an eye on Shang. Still with her knitting, the female snow leopard sat on the edge of the bed while Su Lin came in to stoke up the fire and get the room warm. She could only spare a short few moments before she tiptoed out, leaving the two felines to themselves. Mei Xing locked the door and noted different furniture in the room she could move to barricade the door if the worst were to happen. She tried not to think about it. Instead, she focused on the pattern: knit and purl, knit and purl, as the sun turned the morning sky blood-red.

Koshchei rose early that morning, while it was still dark. This day was the shortest day of the year, and he had ordered the horde to move out long before first light, to take the villagers by surprise. He intended it to be nothing short of a massacre; nothing less would appease him. There would be blood today, one way or another. The leopard craved it.

His dreams had been haunted again. This time by his parents. His siblings. And Sonya. They had each been pale, wan-looking, with sunken dead eyes. His mother had been the worst. He had never seen that look in her eyes before. They burned. They burned with hatred as she silently pointed an accusing finger at him. His father, then his siblings, all followed her cue, pointing their claws right at him, and shuffling forward to overtake him. But it was Sonya who struck, her throat still bleeding from where he had ripped it out. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl to reveal her fangs that flashed white in the misty darkness that his dreams had been enveloped in. And she descended on him, without mercy, the same way he had done to her.

He had never felt so close to his own demise as he did then. That nightmare had shook him more than he cared to admit. But he had to admit it, finally. He was nearing his end days...and he would have quite a reckoning when it finally happened. Sonya's appearance said that much. His time was coming. And when he died...she would be waiting. They would all be waiting...to rip his soul apart. They would leave nothing left, nothing to fall into the deepest pits of Hell...and that scared him worse than any amount of hellfire ever would.

He kicked Zi Hao out of the wolf's bed and snarled, "Get them up, it is time naow."

But Koshchei was in for a weird and very off-setting awakening. When he finally entered the village, he was struck by something, but he couldn't identify it at first. Then his sharp eyes picked it up. None of the chimneys had smoke rising from them. The windows—the ones that weren't shuttered—were all dark. And there were red lanterns. Red lanterns everwhere, hanging from every eave, every overhang. The whole town was richly decorated for the festival. But there were no footprints in the fresh snow. Nothing was disturbed. Absolutely no sign of life.

Then he realized: no one was here. The entire village was deserted.

The ones under his command seemed to understand this as well. The leopard didn't need to look back to know the hairs on the backs of their necks were standing on end. He knew his was, and if he was unsettled, they had to be terrified. There was nothing worse than walking into a town that had until recently been a bustling and thriving center, only to find it had turned into a ghost town overnight.

Koshchei recovered himself long enough to motion to Zi Hao to fan out, search every road, every street, every alley. It couldn't be right, it wasn't possible. Koshchei led a group straight to the center of the village. He knew it was a bold move. He wasn't in any mood to play games. As he walked, snow crunching under his feet, he grew steadily angrier and angrier.

They knew he had been coming. They knew he was already here. Had the Wu Sisters warned them all? They had betrayed him once, he could feel comfortable knowing they would do this, too. He expected some sort of resistance...but not complete abandonment. No, no something was not right here.

A bunch of snow fell from a rooftop and landed with a heavy plop on the ground below. Koshchei looked up to the rooftops, scanning for archers. Nothing. He saw where the snow had fallen, looking for footprints. Nothing. But he couldn't get past the fact that he knew he was being watched. He knew someone was there. And by Hell, he would find out who.

Then something else caught his eye. He looked to his right, down the street, and saw what was unmistakeably a jail. Slowly a cruel smile grew across his features as he made his way straight to the jail. He had a hunch, and he would follow through on it.

Koshchei was certainly not the only one freaked out by the deserted town. Zi Hao and the group he was leading was in no better shape. The black wolf walked through the ankle-deep snow, his hand never straying from the hilt of his sheathed sword. Overhead, he thought he heard a bird's call, a "caw-caw, caw-caw!" On impulse, he drew his sword, gripping the handle tightly as he nodded to the ones following him to have their weapons at the ready.

Zi Hao led the way, sword drawn, when they heard movement up ahead. He motioned for the others to stay behind as he made his way forward. Whoever ot whatever it was, it would be around the corner in no time. Hao raised his sword to bring down on the unsuspecting villager, to have the first kill of the battle...when around the corner came a panting croc. Zi Hao jumped out of the way just in time. The reptile had a panicked look in his eye and squealed like a little girl at a slumber party to run into the brigade. The black wolf sneered. "Gods, you're pathetic. Grow a pair—"

"Dont go over there!" the croc blurted out, pointing back the way he came. "We're all gonna die! We're all gonna—"

"Will you shut up and tell me what the hell happened?"

"We got ambushed, guy, all of us! I'm the only one who made it out! Vicious...they were so vicious, like, like you have no idea, man!"

Now Hao was getting nervous too. "What, they have warriors here, in the village?"

"Yeah!"

"And this is the only way to the Jade Palace..." he said, looking up the main road, then up the steps to the top of the Jade Mountain. To win this battle, that palace had to be taken.

The croc, however, was not having it: "No it's not, find another way, or you will all die! I'm like, super-serious, guys!"

"I'm not afraid," Hao said.

"Um, I am," said a bull.

"Ditto," agreed a lizard.

The wolf snarled. "Oh come on! These are farmers and peasants, what harm can they do to us? The Furious Five are nowhere to be found, and they're not the ones who took out your group, are they?"

The croc shook his head.

"See? We can handle it."

When they got back to the house in question, Zi Hao did indeed see the bodies of the croc's comrades out in the street. There were ligature marks on their bodies, around their throats and limbs. Whoever did this was very skilled.

"There!" the croc said fearfully, pointing at the door of the house.

The others stood still and watched as the door opened and out came...

...Mrs. Chin, the rabbit.

"Um...where?" Zi Hao asked.

"There!" the croc insisted.

"What, behind the rabbit?"

"It IS the rabbit!"

Zi Hao looked at the croc, then back at Mrs. Chin, then glared back at the croc and said, "You stupid bastard, you got us worked up over nothing!"

"I'm telling you, guy, that's no ordinary rabbit! It's the most foul, cruel and bad-tempered rodent you've ever set eyes on! Look, that rabbit has, like, a vicious streak a mile wide!"

Hao glanced back at Mrs. Chin, who was serenely surveying the snow as she knit a scarf from a skein of cream-colored wool kept in her pocket. Her needles clicked rapidly as she worked, and she sighed wistfully at the snow-capped landscape as if she had never seen anything so beautiful.

"Vicious streak a mile wide, huh?" the wolf repeated with a sneer.

"She's a killer!" the croc insisted.

"Bull!" the bull snorted at him. "I'll take care of her, you little coward."

Hao nodded in silent encouragement and the group watched as the bull stomped up to Mrs. Chin, still knitting away.

"Hey, lady—"

The rabbit held up a finger. "Just a minute, dear, have to count." With the same finger, she counted each stitch on her needles, then, satisfied she had the right number, began to finish her row. The bull snorted, then raised his axe high over her head.

Mrs. Chin struck.

She lept up and kicked him right in the gut, then higher still and nailed him on the chin. The length of unfinished scarf she had still hanging from her needles wrapped around his neck and when she landed she yanked hard on the unfinished work and brought the bull down with her. He hit the ground with a hard thud and a plume of snow falling up around him. Then, quick like the bunny she was, Mrs. Chin used her knitting needles to hit pressure points in the bull's back, leaving him paralyzed, facedown in the snow.

The whole exchange had happened in less than twenty seconds.

Then, carefully, she unwrapped the scarf-in-progress from the bull's neck and surveyed her work. Then she frowned. "Oh shoot, I dropped a stitch!"

Hao's mouth hung open. So did the rest of the group, collectively. "Holy shit," the wolf gasped.

"I warned you!" the croc said. "I warned you, but did you listen? Oh no...no, you didn't, didn't you? It's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it—"

"Oh shut up," Hao growled. He pointed at the rabbit and ordered his men, "After her! I want her dead!"

Emboldened by their leader's apparent fearlessness and the knowledge they outnumbered her, the other outlaws charged. Mrs. Chin only looked up in alarm and ran back into her house. She barely had time to close the door behind her when an ox burst through the door and right into the middle of...

A knitting circle.

Perplexed, the outlaws who barged in stared at the circle of six females—a pig, a goat, a sheep, a goose, and another female rabbit, Mrs. Chin's elderly mother-in-law—and the six females similarly stared back at them. However, their knitting needles never stopped clicking away as each female worked on a scarf-in-progress, in various colors. They pulled yarn from tightly wound balls in baskets by their feet, and Mrs. Chin's mother-in-law in particular kept her knitting clicking away at lightning speed. She peered up through her tiny glasses at the tall ox blocking the doorway and huffed, "Honestly, if I had known we were having more company, I would have made more dumplings. Daughter, what ever shall we feed our guests?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something, Mama," Mrs. Chin replied. "Perhaps they have a request?"

The ox managed to recover quickly enough to make his demands known: "Surrender or die! We're taking over this village, lady, so either clear out, surrender, or..."

"Or die? Yes, dear, heard you the first time, I'm old, not deaf," the mother-in-law snapped. "But I'm afraid we will do neither. We will not surrender, we will not leave, and we certainly won't die."

Before the ox could react, the old matron flicked her scarf out, whipping it around his ankle and yanking hard. The ox fell on his back and was dragged further into the house. The other women made their attacks:

The sow thrust into a croc's side with her two needles, blocking his chi and making him fall to the floor in a heap. The gander tripped a fox with her basket of yarn, wrapped her scarf several times around the hapless canine and then tugged sharply, sending the fox whirling into two others. The nanny goat first headbutted the lizard, tripped him with her hoof and managed to get behind him and wrapped her scarf around his neck as he fell. The ewe dodged sword thrusts by letting the blade pass right through her wool, irritating the white wolf wielding it, until she struck out right at the center of his abdomen with the blunt end of her needles, twisted, and sat back to continue knitting as he fell frozen to the floor. Meanwhile, Mrs. Chin and her mother-in-law tag-teamed to finish off the last stragglers.

Zi Hao, having overheard the melee inside, managed to poke his head in a window to see what had happened. He felt the blood draining from his face as he watched these knitters take out every single one of his fighters: some strangled, others tied up, though most frozen by blocked chi. Feeling discretion was the better part of valor, the black wolf ran, going off to see if he could find Koshchei to tell them that they were not as alone as they had first thought. And that these were most certainly not regular farmers.

Meanwhile, back in the house, the ladies had resumed their knitting, completely ignoring the heaps of unconscious outlaws tied up on the floor with thick knitted cords. From up in the rafters came a sinuous figure who joined the ladies around the table and poured a cup of tea for each before serving herself.

"I have to say," Viper said, "That was really very impressive! I mean, I had my doubts..." which was why she had been there in the first place, in case the ladies could not hold their own. Fortunately, that fear had been short-lived.

Mrs. Chin only wrinkled her nose and twitched her whiskers as she smirked. "Oh that's nothing. You should see what we can do with socks!"

Xu Jiu was roused from his deep sleep by a loud slam. A deep sleeper by nature, it typically took a lot to wake him. Not this time. He tried to peek outside the cell's bars to see what was happening. It was a quiet, cold morning, and the light outside the barred window showed that it had stopped snowing during the night. But it was quiet, and, like the cliché in the stories...it was too quiet. Except for the slamming sounds, that grew louder...and closer.

Finally the heavy wooden door slammed inward further down the hall, wood splintering as it was ripped from the lock. The fat wolf didn't know why, but he had a feeling that it wasn't one of the guards back to give out more torture.

Sure enough, he was right. He hated when he was right.

Asmodei Koshchei stood on the other side of the bars, glaring into the cell with the three wolves, all canines now roused and alert. Yu Wang knew well enough to stay back away from the bars, regarding the leopard very fearfully; he knew the only thing keeping him alive were the iron bars separating him from the Demon of the North. His already pale face lost even more color when Koshchei pulled out a set of keys and set one into the lock and turned. The door opened with a loud creak that rang out through the empty jail like a death knell.

Lang sat on the floor, impassively staring at the leopard as he entered the cell.

Koshchei ignored the shaking Yu Wang and instead focused on Lang. "The fat one," he said in Russian, "He is injured?"

"Broken arm," Lang nodded.

That was all Koshchei needed to turn, grab Xu Jiu by the head and shoulder, then roughly snap the wolf's neck. Xu Jiu was dead before he was even aware that the leopard had passed judgment on him. "Haff no place for useless things," he said in Chinese. He leveled a glare at Yu Wang. "Vell?"

Still shaking with fear, Yu Wang bolted for the door, obeying the unspoken order. Koshchei turned back to Lang, who returned his look with a blank stare. "I figured it was only a matter of time," the young wolf said in Russian.

"You figured right."

"This wasn't my idea."

"I know; you're stupid, but not that stupid."

Lang brought his knees up to his chest. "The villagers left in the middle of the night, the village is deserted. No idea where they went. The jail's guards went with them. Somehow I doubt they just decided to abandon this place."

"You are thinking vill be, how you say, opposition?"

"I'm comfortable betting my life on it, sure," Lang said. He shrugged, "Not like you'll keep me alive if I'm wrong, right?"

Koshchei allowed himself a small smile. "So, decide to join dark side, eh, malchik?"

"Join? I thought I was already there."

Koshchei didn't like that Lang suddenly had a mouth on him; before, the youth would not have dared to speak to him so plainly, so irreverently. But he had seen it before: Lang knew he probably wouldn't live to see the end of this battle, so what did he have to lose? Lang probably thought that, if he were going to die anyway, he could either go one of two ways: completely against Koshchei and die a (stupid) hero, or join the leopard assassin entirely, and give in to the darkness inside him.

It appeared to be the latter.

Lang heaved a heavy sigh and stood, popping his back as he stood. He glanced over at Xu Jiu's corpse and rolled his eyes. "Never really liked him."

"You are villing to kill?" Koshchei asked, ignoring the dead wolf.

"Yeah, I'll kill. If I'm going to Hell, I might as well give the gods a good reason to send me there." Cracking his neck, he walked up to Koshchei then passed him, heading calmly for the door. "I'll need a weapon."

"That I can give. Spear?"

"Spear."

Koshchei smiled cruelly, knowing he had, in some small part, already won.

The croc that had once been beaten up by Master Mantis (the very first victim of the Staying Still For a Really Long Time Technique) was finding it hard to keep his cool. He had known war, and had gone into villages that had been plundered, looted, raided, the residents all run away or killed, and the destroyed buildings staying empty for years until nature reclaimed them, as no one would dare settle in a place where ghosts roamed.

This village, right now, was far creepier than any of those villages. He and his band peeked inside houses, finding coals smouldering in the fireplaces, candles burnt out at the bottom, food still on the tables. It was as if the villagers had all just dropped what they were doing and left, and left everything behind. Nothing was disturbed, valuables were still in those houses, but the croc still ordered his men not to raid them. Something just didn't feel right. He knew it as soon as he stood in the doorway of one of those houses. He felt like he was being watched. Whether it was a ghost or something more corporeal, he wasn't taking chances.

But now he was far too creeped out to stand it. He gave a fateful order to his men:

"Burn it all down. If they're there, flush 'em out."

His men struck tinder to torches, flames leaping to life. One of them held the flame to a roof and watched the flames take to the eave...

...then suddenly go out.

The outlaw tried again. Set the roof eave aflame...then it went out. Another outlaw tried on a different house, with the same result. Before his men could utter the fear that perhaps spirits were protecting the houses, he ordered them all to throw the torches into the houses.

They didn't get that far.

As soon as they drew their arms back to throw, a small brown shape fell from one of the rooftops, landing with a soft "plop" in the snow. Twisting a bamboo staff around in his skilled fingers, the assailant struck each outlaw in quick succession, taking them out as swiftly and silently as possible, until each torch fell into the snow, the flames extinguished with soft hisses.

The croc was left looking at perhaps the scariest thing he had ever seen in his life. Though he had never seen it before, he knew it by reputation alone:

"Shifu!"

The bamboo staff hit the croc squarely on top of the head, knocking him out cold.

"Master Shifu, punk," the red panda snorted. After admiring his handiwork, the red panda jumped back up to the rooftops and continued on his course for the Long and Feng cafe and more importanty, their upstairs apartments. In all his planning for the invasion, and training Dalang, and ensuring all the villagers had evacuated safely, Shifu had had one major oversight: no one was there for Mei Xing.

He snuck in the window of the nursery, the only window still open. As soon as he landed on the floor though, he got hit in the head with a small wooden object. "Ow! Mei Xing, what—"

"Shifu?"

"Lotus?"

Wu Lien was already there, her folded fan having hit him on the head as a way to protect herself. Though Shifu suspected that wasn't the only reason she hit him, in hindsight. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Same as you, I reckon," she said, sticking her fan into her belt. "My girls can handle themselves just fine out there...but Mei Xing..."

"I know, I came as soon as I remembered. How is she?"

Grateful for a topic that did not include her past, Wu thumbed out the door, "She's doing chores."

"What? She's supposed to be on bedrest and she's doing chores?"

"You try reasoning with her, I've been at it for hours and she won't listen to me! Much like some other snow leopards I know..." she added dourly. "I must have a special power to make felines do exactly the opposite of what I tell them."

Shifu could have made a low blow about the lie she had told him concerning the Wu Sisters, but instead said, "Well, they're all felines, and you know the old saying about herding cats..."

Wu actually cracked a smile at that. "How is it out there?"

"Still quiet, little bouts of activity here and there. Villagers are picking them off one by one. I wager it won't be long until either half the outlaw force runs in terror at 'the haunted village', or they get angry and try to destroy it. Fifty-fifty, it seems like."

"Well, we expected something like that. How was our general area?"

"Quiet. As long as it stays that way, this house won't be bothered."

Wu let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods. Mei Xing will be glad to hear it."

"Where did you say she was?"

"Right now? Probably folding laundry. She was doing dishes earlier. I offered to help, but she refused, and when I tried to help anyway, she got upset."

"Upset?"

"She started crying. I just let her do whatever she wants, right now. I'm only here in case she...well, I hope she doesn't, and I won't say it, lest I jinx it, but I'm here just in case."

He knew what she meant: she had to be here in case the snow leopardess went into labor. And if that happened, Shifu didn't want them to be alone. He knew very little about childbirth, but he figured that if Wu would be busy with the laboring female, someone had to be there to fight if – gods forbid – the house came under attack. Sonam was out with the villagers, so that just left Shifu and Wu.

Shifu and Wu, who were still having a fight.

That last part still irritated him. But by far the most irritating thing going on was that Mei Xing—who was supposed to be on bed rest—was instead running – well, wobbling – around the house, cleaning and organizing, in a flurry of activity. And then there she was, wobbling past the door carrying some folded laundry.

Shifu followed her to keep an eye on her while Wu busied herself looking out for the enemy. His offers to help were rudely cut off by the spotted female, but it gave him time to notice a few things. She would occasionally stop and press her palm against the small of her back, take a few deep breaths, then after a pause, which started to become progressively longer and longer, she would pick up her tools and get back to work; right now, she was fixing a wobbly table, for example. Shifu had never been in a situation like this, (and Mei Xing had practically bitten off his head when he offered to fix the table for her) so it was hardly fair to him when Wu Lien came back from checking the perimeter and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said, outraged that the leopardess was doing such manual labor. Mei Xing ignored her, stood, wobbled a moment, and went back downstairs for something. "This is too much! Order her back in bed!"

"She won't listen to me!"

"She won't listen to me either! But her spotty behind needs to get into that bed before—"

"Auntie?" Mei Xing called. "Where's the good kettle?"

"Check the sink, dear. And another thing—" the red panda said, turning her attention to Shifu again. "I just got some visitors: my daughters. I understand you've been giving them orders."

"Well yes..."

Arms akimbo, she accused, "You have some nerve ordering my daughters around..."

"Oh, you mean the daughters you neglected to tell me about?" he bit back. Suddenly the unspoken truce had deteriorated into their fight once again.

"Wha—WHAT exactly did you WANT me to say? That I raised three girls as my own and they grew up to give all black sheep a bad name? Is THAT what you wanted? And what about you!"

"Don't you dare bring Tai Lung into this!"

"Why the hell not? That's your biggest failure, isn't it? And need we bring up Tigress—both of your children are emotionally inept copies of you!"

"At least I taught them self-respect!"

"Self-respect, my striped tail!"

"HEY!"

Both red pandas turned to the stairs where Mei Xing stood, holding a steaming tea kettle in one hand and had an array of towels under her other arm. The snow leopardess sighed and said, "Okay, really? You're still fighting about this? Sure, if you want to throw your marriage away, fine. But just remember you both agreed that whatever was in the past, stayed in the past, and that worked for you two. And speaking of working, Shifu, I need you to finish up the dishes downstairs, I've got a couple pots soaking in the sink..."

"WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED?" both red pandas yelled at her.

"Yeesh, chill, that's where I'm going. I just wanted to make sure the house was clean for the next few days."

"Why, are you expecting company?" Shifu scattingly replied.

Then she bit back: "As a matter of fact, smartass, my baby's probably going to be here by midnight, the way these contractions have been going. So yeah, I think I'm expecting some damn company."

Both Shifu and Wu immediately forgot what they had been fighting about. Mei Xing, however, despite having every right to be afraid, stood there on the landing, staring them down...the absolute picture of calm. "So...are you gonna wrap this up? I got hot water for washing and towels to wrap him up in, so whenever you're ready..."

"Wait!" Wu shouted. "Mei Xing...you're in labor?"

"Yeah, think so. Pretty sure this isn't another false alarm."

"So all the cleaning..."

"Yeah, I'll be indisposed for the next few weeks, so might as well make sure everything's clean. Plus, all the moving around helped the pain..."

When Shifu realized that the contractions were the reason for her frequent pausing all morning during her rounds, he responded, "How long have you been in labor?"

"Umm...not exactly sure. But I think the contractions hit early this morning. That's when I got started cleaning—at first, I thought it was another false alarm." Hoisting the tea kettle in her hand, she turned to her bedroom. "Anywho, see you in there!"

At that moment, not too far away, Tai Lung felt a slight jolt, and then a chill. Po noticed this: "You okay, buddy?"

Perplexed, the snow leopard nodded. "I...feel fine. Huh, odd sort of reaction, isn't it?"

"Do you know why you shuddered?"

"You know, I haven't the foggiest...eh, it was probably nothing."

"How much longer until we get there?" Duo griped. He was leaning heavily on Altai's arm. The rhino kept glancing down at him worriedly. "Do you need to stop?" the rhino asked.

"No, gotta keep going."

"Duo," Po said, "If you need to take a breather, just say so."

"No, I can't afford to," he said, straightening up. "If I rest, that's less time I have to save Lang from Koshchei. The sooner I get there, the better."

"Yeah, but...if you get there and you're exhausted, you won't be able to fight Koshchei," the panda pointed out.

Duo looked at the Dragon Warrior as if he had lost his mind. "Who said anything about fighting him? I was just gonna grab Lang and amscray."

"I have to admire the simplicity of your planning," Tai Lung admitted.

"Shut up. I don't have any other plan aside from that."

"So if you're not taking down Koshchei..." Altai said.

Duo pointed at the panda and snow leopard, "Yeah, I thought that was their job, taking out bad guys. I'm a bad guy. Bad guys don't take out bad guys unless they're even worse bad guys. Isn't that how these stories work?"

"So sure you're a baddie, eh?" Tai Lung asked, somewhat smugly.

Duo ticked off his sins: "Lets see...petty larceny, grand larceny, kidnapping, burglary, breaking and entering, attempted murder, murder...you sure you want me to keep going? It's a pretty long rap sheet."

"Mine's even longer," Tai Lung reminded. "And I've a good feeling you're hardly as bad as you purport yourself to be."

"Whatever."

"There it is!" Po said excitedly. The travelers stopped long enough to admire the snow-covered landscape of the village ahead and the Jade Mountain towering above it. Altai, even though he was used to such lovely vistas through his years of travel across the empire, had to stop and admire it, despite the seriousness of the task ahead. Duo, however, was most struck by the sight.

"So that's it..."

"What's it?" Po asked the wolf.

Duo pointed at the view ahead of them. "That's why you fight so hard. Damn. If this were my home, I'd fight for it, too."

Po and Tai Lung shared a knowing smile before continuing down the path. Altai stopped them, however, grabbing them by the shoulders and yanking them back under cover. "Wait!"

"Why?"

"Look!"

They poked their heads up, snow leopard, panda, wolf, rhino, and tiny red panda, and saw what was going on below them in the early morning light: battle.

Po's heart fell. "Oh no, we're too late!"

"Nope," Altai said, with a little relief. "We're right on time. Looks like it just got started."

Tai Lung jumped up. "Right, we need to get in there."

"What about weapons?" Duo reminded them.

"We'll stop by the Long and Feng. If Dad's still there," Tai Lung said confidently, "There's bound to be a whole blessed arsenal."

Getting to the Long and Feng undetected was no easy task. They had to dodge various bands of outlaws that vastly outnumbered them. Though Po was more than happy to take them on himself, Altai convinced him that discretion was the better part of valor, and they soldiered on. Finally, the Long and Feng came into sight. They snuck in the front entrance and tried the door. Locked.

"Around the back," Po whispered. "Follow me." Around the back they went, and found that the back door was likewise locked. But the nursery window was still open.

"Right," Tai Lung said, dropping his pack. "No one's home, but I'll just swing in there, unlock the door from the inside."

"I dunno," Duo said, dubiously eyeing the dark window. "This stinks of a trap."

"Don't be paranoid, it's not a trap." He launched himself up, grabbing hold of the windowsill and pulled himself up through the window and into the nursery. He stopped for a moment, realizing that it had been finished in the time he had left. It was stunning. Crane must have painted murals, and Sonam had to have built those cribs: one for Shang when he was a little older, and one for Tai Lung's own child.

He felt his chest tightening. His child, and Mei Xing...now that he had come home, he realized how foolish he was to have ever left.

Then he realized that his chest tightening had nothing to do with emotion. Someone had performed a nerve attack on him. This became apparent to him when he hit the floor face-first.

"Ow."

"Tai Lung?"

"Shifu?"

The old red panda was so overjoyed, he hugged the snow leopard, momentarily forgetting that the latter was still in the body-bind. "Thank the gods you're back!"

"Um..."

"We were getting worried!"

"That's great, but..."

"And I must say you have impeccable timing."

"Shifu? The nerve strike?"

"What? Oh, right. Sorry." Shifu quickly released the snow leopard from the nerve attack and allowed him to sit up. Tai Lung popped his back and sighed. "Were you expecting company?" he quipped.

"Ah," Shifu paused. "In a manner of speaking, yes, we are expecting company..."

"Good, because Po and a couple others on our side are waiting outside."

"Allies?"

"Men we can trust."

Shifu sighed. "Good, the more we have on our side, the better. No doubt you've seen the battle?"

"Bits here and there, yes..."

A door swung open down the hall. Before anything was said, Shifu called back, "It's Tai Lung, he's back! Po, too!"

Wu rushed in, her sleeves rolled up to the elbow, an apron over her dress. She grinned ear to ear to see him. "Oh thank heavens! And excellent timing indeed! Come this way!" She took the snow leopard's hand while Shifu went down to let the other warriors inside.

Wu led Tai Lung across the hall to his room, where Mei Xing sat on the edge of the bed. He stopped short in the doorway for several reasons: one, he had forgotten just how long he had been gone, and he had truly missed her; two, in the last two months, she had – well, there was no nice way to say this – she had gotten huge. But seeing her relieved smile to see him made it okay. He rushed to her side and took her hands in his and gave her a hearty kiss and hug.

"I was beginning to think..." she started to say.

"Don't. I would never do that to you."

"I know." She was smiling at him. He noticed how tired she looked, how worried, but also that there was a thin sheen of sweat on her brow. "Darling? Are you warm? I can open a window..."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Can I get you anything, then?"

"No, Auntie's pretty much gotten it taken care of, and anything she can't get, Shifu's got. But honey, there's something I need to tell you..."

"What is it?"

Mei Xing gasped and grasped her stomach, biting her lip until a spasm of pain left her. Unsure what happened, but worried nonetheless, Tai Lung gripped her hand. "Was it the baby kicking again?"

"Something like that. Listen, sweetie...it's time."

It took him a minute for this to sink in, and when it did (of course), Po and and the others were standing in the doorway to watch him freak out:

"It's time? It's..." he looked into his wife's eyes, then noted the hot water, the towels, Wu wearing an apron and ready with certain herbs... "Time? It's...oh. Oh. Oh gods, it's time!"

"Yeah," his wife said with a weary smile. "Yup, kid's poppin' out. Good thing too, being pregnant was really starting to get on my nerves."

"How are you so calm?" he asked, mystified. Because he was absolutely panicking.

"Honestly? I'm plotting ways to get back at you for doing this to me."

"Save the plotting for later," Wu said, "This isn't even the hard part."

"She's got a hell of a bedside manner," Tai Lung heard Duo mutter, then yelp in pain from Shifu smacking him.

Mei Xing looked up to see the other males standing in the doorway. She smiled and waved at Po, but the smile fell to see the other three. "So...new friends?"

"Two new, one old," Tai Lung explained, and introduced Altai, Little Brother, and Duo. Mei Xing pointed at the wolf:

"I remember you—you stiffed me fifteen percent gratuity."

Duo scowled and grumbled while Little Brother giggled: "Leave one bad tip and no one lets you forget it..." He glared at Mei Xing, "I'm only being nice to you because you're knocked up."

She grinned at him. "Lock him in this room with me. Give me five minutes with the wuffie."

"No," her husband said; he knew her too well.

Altai grabbed Duo by the shoulder and squeezed hard, a silent signal for the wolf to shut his trap if he knew what was good for him; while travelling with Tai Lung, the rhino had been told too many stories about Mei Xing's temper. "We forgetting there's a battle outside? And we need weapons?" the old soldier reminded them.

"Good luck," Wu said. "Sonam took all the ones we had to give to the villagers."

Po and Tai Lung stared at her, then at Shifu. "The villagers?" Po asked incredulously.

"Ah, yes," the red panda said, "We've trained the villagers to use whatever tools were available to them. Lotus style, mostly, applied it for use by farmers, merchants...even Mr. Ping. Yes, I was as surprised as you. Tigress has largely orchestrated the offensive; she's rather good at it."

"Yeah, but we knew Tigress was good at battle planning."

"Yes. Methinks that she could give the Army's best a run for their money," Shifu said with a proud smile.

Altai had to smirk at this.

Mei Xing hissed as yet another contraction hit, gripping her husband's hand through it. Once it had passed, she let go of his hand. He had to massage it to check if any bones had broken. "You need to get going," she told him.

"I can't leave you, not again, not now."

"You can, and you will," she said stubbornly. "I have Auntie here, I can handle the rest." When he looked like he would protest again, she said, "Do you really want to be here to hear me plotting out your future torture for putting me through this?"

Tai Lung thought about the list of things she'd said she wanted to do to her ex-husband, and decided against staying. "Probably not."

"Damn right you don't." She leaned forward and kissed him again. "Go out there and kick some ass. I'll be fine."

Still unsure, Tai Lung had to have Altai and Po tear him away so they could fight. Po reminded him, "You can protect her out there. You can protect them both."

"He's right," Altai said, "There's not a whole lot you can do right now."

"Oh there's plenty I can do."

"Anything besides drinking and fainting at the sight of your wife in labor?"

The snow leopard scowled at the rhino. "One, that is a horribly over-used trope, and I doubt that happens as often as people say. And two, I don't faint."

Po coughed and cleared his throat. Tai Lung glared at him. "Okay, that was one time, and I had lost a lot of blood. That was a perfectly legitimate reason..."

"Speaking of legitimate reasons," Duo spoke up, grabbing Little Brother by the back of his robes. "Is there a good reason to bring the kid into battle with us? He's just going to get in the way. OW!"

Duo let go when Little Brother kicked him soundly in the chin...the mere fact that such a small child could scale the height from the floor to the rather tall wolf's head no less remarkable than the fact none of them had expected it. The little red panda scowled at the wolf and actually growled. And Duo was actually watching him now very warily.

And Wu had witnessed the whole thing.

"Well! Don't we have a little hell-raiser?" she grinned. Anyone who knew the old woman knew what that smile really meant. Little Brother, however, was perfectly oblivious, and actually appeared flattered to be getting attention from an elder. Wu trotted over and offered her hand. "Looks like we have quite a little warrior, don't we? Do you know, young man, that I am in great need of a brave, strong warrior? Someone needs to stay here with me and Shifu, someone to guard us and keep us from harm. Could you please?"

Somehow, that worked. Little Brother smiled and nodded excitedly, but not without first turning to Altai with a questioning gaze. The rhino gave his consent, grateful for Wu's quick thinking. She had yet one more trick up her sleeve: "A strong warrior like you looks like he's in need of a couple cookies. How does that sound?"

While she distracted the red panda child with sweets, Shifu gave his last instructions to the warriors: "Go out the nursery window, cover your tracks. We evacuated the villages to lure the enemy in, then strike."

"Good old pincer movements," Altai nodded.

"Take the back path up the mountain, you know the one," he nodded to Po and Tai Lung, "The one that runs by the forge. Sonam is bound to have something stockpiled. There must be something there for each of you. Be quick, be silent, and most of all...be careful."

With that, he sent them on their way. Shifu sighed, wondering how the day would pan out. He banished all worries from his mind, however, when he heard Mei Xing's pained whines from the next room. The battle would have to wait for him. He had some more pressing matters to attend to.

A couple notes:

The croc who tried to warn Zi Hao about Mrs. Chin and her knitting circle is loosely based on Fung, the croc from Legends of Awesomeness. Imagining Joe DiMaggio's voice as I wrote the dialogue helped immensely. Sure, it doesn't beat a Scottish accent, but it'll do.

Speaking of Mrs. Chin: Yes, I had to. It was too easy. Should I have avoided it? Probably. Could I have avoided it? Like hell I would.

Mei Xing's 'false alarm' is known today as Braxton-Hicks contractions. According to my research [never had a baby (yet), so all pregnancy-related issues are the result of painstaking research], Braxton-Hicks contractions are characterized by initial discomfort, and irregularity. "Real" contractions are supposed to be much more painful [again, I've never been pregnant], increase in frequency over time, and are much more predictable. And contrary to the displays in the media, a woman going into labor is not really something to panic over...except during a high-risk pregnancy, or when any number of issues pop up. So yeah, admittedly, Mei being perfectly cool about going into labor may seem a bit unbelievable, but I bet if you ask your mothers about the day you were born, you'd hear some pretty funny stories...

And I know Tai and Po got there a lot sooner than it seems they should have...I just figured no one wanted to read about them crossing the bridge again. And the Phoenix Scroll will be explained in greater detail later on. I'm still working on Chapter 20, so please be patient.

Anyways, please read and review, it is greatly appreciated!