So sorry for the really long wait! I've been going insane with the new trailer for Kung Fu Panda 3, but here's a new chapter for you awesome people! I will make a serious effort to upload on a regular basis!

Enjoy!

Chapter Six: Revelation

Tigress watched the campfire numbly. The others sat in silence. The sun had long since gone down, and no one had a thought about sleep.

"Are you sure you're okay, Tigress?" Vixey asked. "You sort of took a bad hit back there."

"I'm fine," Tigress answered before they sank back into silence.

It was a moment or two before Vixey spoke up again.

"You know what?" the fox announced. "I'm going to make a great dinner for tonight. Who's with me?"

Everyone but Tigress answered with half-hearted cheers.

"Hey!" Vixey started. "Are you saying my cooking's bad?"

"No, we're not," Viper told her. "Everyone's just tired from today and the news we got. I'll help you find what you need."

"Sure, I'll go, too," Crane piped up.

"Count me in," Mantis added.

Monkey and Jin also stood to help. But Po sat, watching Tigress.

Vixey was about to ask if they wanted to come as well, but stopped herself.

"We'll be back," she said before disappearing with the others into the darkness.

Po looked back at Tigress. She definitely seemed tired, or at least upset.

"Worrying about home?" he asked.

Tigress let out a quiet sigh.

"I guess so," she said softly. "I feel we should have returned home. I can't stand feeling hopeless."

"You and me both," Po told her. "Why don't you use your Seeing ability? I'm sure it'll come in handy."

Tigress looked at him.

"I can't," she said. "The only times I've cast my presence like that were with the help of candles."

"You can't say you can't until you try," Po suggested.

Tigress thought about it for a moment.

"If you think about home a lot," Po continued, "you can imagine you're there."

Tigress stood up.

"Okay," she said, "I'll try."

She made a ready stance and closed her eyes. She imagined the candles were right in front of her. She began her technique, opening her eyes near its end. When she finished, she froze. Po saw that her eyes were unfocused.

"I knew it," he whispered to himself.

"Um, what's going on with Tigress?"

Po turned to see the others returning with various herbs and berries.

"She's Seeing," he said simply.

"Are you serious?" Vixey asked with a gasp. "Is she supposed to look all weird like this?"

"Pretty much," Po responded. "Is that all you guys found?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Vixey said. "Still, a little is better than nothing."

Po was about to answer that, to him, little was nothing, when Tigress came out of her trance. She stumbled backward and caught herself before she could fall. She sat down on the small boulder behind her, looking very troubled.

"The Jade Palace has been taken," she said at once.

Seven jaws dropped. Then everyone began blubbering at the same time.

"What- what happened?!" Vixey cried.

"Shifu lost?!" Crane started. "He can't have!"

"When I began Seeing," Tigress began, "I saw long lines of those strange golden cats we fought, marching up to the Palace. There was nothing the servants could do. They marched right in to Shifu's study, where he faced them."

"Then what?" Po asked.

"Then my vision cut out," Tigress said. "I wanted desperately to see what happened, but at the same time I didn't."

The Masters looked solemnly to each other.

"What do we do now?" Viper asked.

"We make our way to the Emperor," Tigress said. "If we can't protect the Valley or the Jade Palace, we'll protect him."

"But what if..." Monkey started. "What if Shifu was...?"

He couldn't finish. Everyone understood what he was saying.

"Then I lead you as I always have," Tigress answered, "and once we return, the Valley will look to me as the new leader."

The others were surprised.

"When we returned from fighting Wang," she continued, "Shifu told he that my level of Kung Fu was beyond his. He asked me to be his successor in the event of his passing."

The others still remained silent.

"I am the next Grand Master of the Jade Palace," she said humbly.

The others were silent for a second or two.

"I... I can't believe I didn't realize that," Vixey started quietly. "So on to the Imperial City?"

"And then on to save the Valley of Peace," Tigress finished.

The she cried out and put a paw on her neck. When she withdrew it, she was holding a small dart.

Everyone turned to where the dart had come from and found a small, dark figure hanging upside-down in a tree. He cackled and speedily flew away.

"Let's get out of here!" Monkey cried.

Crane kicked dirt over the fire and they all started to run. But then Tigress came to an abrupt stop.

"I can't see anything," she told them, panicked. "My night vision is shot."

"Then stay close!" Vixey cried.

They began to flee, remaining within a few inches of each other for Tigress's sake. She could barely sense where the others were and the little that she could see was beginning to distort. She was worried that the drug would overtake her before they could all get away, making things much tougher for everyone.

They passed through a forest, sounds of many figures rustling through the bushes on either side.

"Sounds like we'll have to fight our way through!" Mantis cried.

"Then do it!" Tigress ordered.

"Punch right!" Vixey suddenly shouted.

Tigress obeyed immediately and made contact with an unknown figure, sending it flying. She began hearing sounds of fighting. However, she was now completely blind.

"Are we still running?" she shouted.

"Yes!" came Viper's cry. "Duck!"

Tigress ducked and rolled, the tip of her tail brushing past a thick, low-hanging branch. Before even a second was over, she was back on her feet.

Her friends continued to shout orders for her to immediately follow for her own protection while they, too repelled their opponents. After they ran quite a ways, things got very quiet.

"I... I think we can stop here..." Monkey said, breathing heavily.

They all stopped near a cliff wall, nearly overshadowed by the rock formation above them.

"We shouldn't rest long," Jin told them. "Five seconds and we have to leave again. Tigress? Tigress!"

Everyone saw her blindly reach for the cliff wall and sink down beside it. They all dove at her and tried to rouse her, but she was unconscious.

Vixey began to panic.

"This isn't good!" she started as Jin picked up their fallen friend. "This seriously limits our chances!"

"Calm down or you'll get us all caught!" Mantis snapped.

"Shh!" Viper said suddenly.

Everyone got quiet. They all heard the slightest noise.

"Move!" Crane told them.

The Masters all bolted in the same direction, but in the chaos that ensued, no one saw if or when another fell. They continued to run, trusting that the others would make it to safety.

Vixey slid into a small cave and peeked around the corner at where she'd just come from.

"I think we're safe," she said, turning.

She was shocked that no one else was there.

She looked around with wide eyes.

"Guys?" she whimpered.

She was all alone.

She started stepping backwards in fear. Then she felt a large hand cover her mouth and she felt a dagger sink into her lower back. She was barely able to yelp. The dagger was withdrawn and the hand let her go. The fox sank to the ground, barely holding onto consciousness as she lay whimpering.

"Tell her we caught them," she heard someone say before she lost her grip on reality.