Reborn
Chapter II
City of Sin
Hours of desperate running later, Tigress stood upon a hill, just beyond the wall that encircled Gongmen City, a silhouette against the darkening sky. The crow took to the air, circling the city. Tigress closed her eyes, sharing the bird's eyes for a moment. The wall opened at key points, all guarded. She would never be able to get in, unless she were to appear as a merchant. Through the crow's eyes, she saw one of the officers at the northern gate write something on a piece of parchment, presumably for Shen, or one of his officials, while a group of soldiers tore through the merchant's wares.
They're keeping track of who enters and leaves the city, and with what, Tigress realized. That would be a bit problematic. She needed to slip into the city unnoticed, with none of her adversaries aware of her presence. Once in, subtlety was less of a concern. Scaling the wall, it seemed, was her only alternative.
The crow, invisible against the inky sky, returned to Tigress's shoulder, and pecked her softly. Tigress looked at the bird, but returned her attention to the wall before her. She took a deep breath, extended her claws, and began to climb, her fingers finding cracks and hand holds in the stone that only a spider should have been able to find. She scaled the rampart silently, invisible to any potential observers.
She gracefully slid herself onto the walkway, looking around cautiously for any of Shen's conscripts that might be patrolling the wall. When she felt certain she was alone, she moved quickly across the walkway, and jumped off the edge, arms spread out like wings. She landed with a soft thump, and rolled behind a pile of refuse just as the soldier she had landed behind, turned around, dao drawn.
The soldier looked around warily, before turning his back once again, still searching for the source of the noise.
That was his biggest mistake.
Tigress emerged from her hiding spot, and closed the distance between the soldier and herself. Faster than one could blink, she drew two claws across the wolf's throat, slicing it open. He was dead before he had even dropped to the ground. Tigress lifted the cooling corpse, and tossed it behind the refuse pile that she had briefly hidden behind, before jogging off , heading further into the city.
Tigress stopped some time later, having put a considerable distance between her and the wall. She paused and looked around, vaguely recognizing the portion of the Gongmen she had wandered into. Almost immediately after she had realized it, Tigress stumbled back against the wall of a building, her head feeling as if it were splitting in two. She froze, gripped by pain, as memories long lost returned, and played out before her eyes.
She remembered chains, and iron bars. A sunless place lit by torches. A dank place, seeped in despair and sin. A home for murderers and rapists.
A prison.
Tigress stumbled out into the crowd, guided by snippets of memory, with the crow flying above her, silent and dark like the night. She wandered in what would seem like an aimless way to those who would bother to observe her, but she was far from aimless.
It was not long before she stood in front of Gongmen prison, long abandoned, for Shen had done away with prison, favoring death as a punishment for any infraction. She tore the boards that blocked her passage away, and opened the door, savoring the moist, rust-scented air. She meandered down the corridor, deeper into the bowels of the abandoned building, looking around in something like wonder. She stopped when she reached a large, circular room. To her left, she saw a cell door, opened. She turned, taking in the room, and remembered the events that had taken place here; the recovery of masters Storming Ox, and Croc. She had told Po to stay here, and let the Five apprehend Shen.
"Po, why didn't you listen?" she whispered, morosely slamming her fist against the wall, as if to vent her frustration. However, the moment her fist connected with the wall, she received her answer:
"You really should listen to her, kid," Croc said, leaning against the wall of his cell as Po went to leave.
"I can't. I need to know," Po responded, not looking at Croc. "And besides I can't let her go it alone."
"Her?" Ox questioned.
"Them," Po back-tracked. "I meant to say them."
"That's a pretty big Freudian slip, kid," Croc observed.
"Look, can we kindly drop the subject?" Po said, a little annoyed.
"Maybe I don't want to," Croc taunted. "You gonna talk?"
"What's there to talk about?" Po said defensively. Croc shrugged.
"Well," Croc said. "I'm just gonna throw some advice out there: if you do have something to say, say it before it's too late. Because you might not get another chance."
"I'll keep that in mind," Po said, as he left.
Tigress jerked her hand away from the wall, unnerved by what she had seen, what she had felt.
"Po," she called softly, wondering if the panda would hear her. "If you anything, anything at all, to say to me, now is as good a time as any."
There was no response. Tigress sighed.
"I figured as much," Tigress muttered. The crow cawed softly, and took flight, with Tigress following close behind.
Fǔbài sat behind the bar, polishing the glasses like he did after closing every night, when , like most nights, he was disturbed by a tapping on the locked door of the bar. Assuming it to be a drunk unaware of the time, he simply called out, "We're closed. You'll have to come back tomorrow."
But, what he hadn't expected, was the door to go flying across the bar, and slam into a wall on the opposite side of the establishment. Fǔbài turned, terrified, for a lack of a better word.
Tigress stepped in, and leaned on the door frame, saying just loud enough for Fǔbài to hear her, "Suddenly, I heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. You heard me rapping, didn't you, Fǔbài?"
"Who are you?" Fǔbài said, his voice a few octaves higher out of fear, though he didn't notice. He looked across the bar to the destroyed door. "What are you?"
"Allow me to kill two peacocks with one stone," Tigress said amiably. "Spirit of vengeance."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Fǔbài said, rapidly become panicked by his lack of control of the situation. The pig was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"It means I need some information from you," Tigress said pointedly, walking over to lean over the bar imposingly. "Shen's dogs come here for drinks. I need there names, and where I can find them. Now."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Fǔbài said, deadpan. He had seen these crazy revolutionaries before. If he bluffed well enough, they went away.
"Wrong answer!" Tigress said, sounding exasperated and disappointed. She grabbed him with supernatural speed, swung him over the bar, and sent him hurtling into a heavy oaken table, squealing in terror.
"Now," Tigress said, calmly, as if she hadn't just assaulted the pig, as she knelt down beside him. "Names. Places. Now. Before I get mean."
"Zhu," Fǔbài wheezed, struggling to breathe. "Wolf Boss, Lu, Chun, and Li."
"That's a start," Tigress said, smiling a little. "Now, where can I find them?"
"Zhu hangs around in the western quarter, sleeping with anything that has a heartbeat," Fǔbài said. "Wolf Boss sticks close to Shen, in the heart of the city. Lu deals in those black lotus flowers, the ones that make you feel weird, in the southern quarter. Chun's over in the eastern quarter, handling all the military type stuff. Weapons, explosive powder, things like that. Li's up in the northern quarter. He's a sick one. He'll pick a citizen, mark them, and set them running through the streets, so he can hunt them."
Fǔbài looked at Tigress, and implored. "Look, that's all I've got. Please...just let me go."
Tigress pondered the thought for a moment, before stepping back, and turning to leave. "If you see them before I do, tell them death is coming for them. All of them."
Fǔbài watched her go. "You know they'll kill you right? You don't stand a ghost of a chance!"
Tigress paused. "Yeah, I suppose they'll kill me once or twice. If they're good."
And with that, she left, leaving Fǔbài to pick himself up off the ground, and come to terms with his sudden sense of mortality.
Author's note: I felt it was a natural stopping point. We've got a ways to go, but it's gonna be one hell of a ride there. So buckle up, and give me a yee-haw.
Oh, and please, if you suddenly feel the urge, review. I love to hear feedback from my readers. Don't leave me hanging, guys.
I would also like to acknowledge Edgar Allen Poe, for giving me the wonderful poem "The Raven", from which I was able to draw a wonderful line.