Who's psyched for KFP3?! I can't wait!

I had a writing rush last time and finished a few chapters! I'll try to publish them every other day until I catch up, so please enjoy!

Chapter Nine: Friends in Dark Places

Miles deep inside a dark, dense forest was a rather large, foreboding building. Heavily guarded, anyone could tell it was a prison. It had only one floor aboveground, with floor after floor of cells beneath.

A few floors down, a new prisoner had been moved in and the strongest guards were told to guard the door with their lives.

Inside, Tigress stirred from unconsciousness. The back of her head ached from the attack, but then her broken arm seared. She woke completely and tried not to panic. She was in similar confines as Tai Lung was in Chorh-Gom!

While she was struggling to stay calm and conquer her pain, she looked around. This cell was different than the usual kind. The door of the cell was higher up on the wall, requiring stairs to access. Two guards stood at either side of her, ignoring the fact that she'd regained consciousness. But she caught on that they were growing nervous.

The cell door opened, causing the guards to stand at attention. Tigress looked up and saw a small figure descending the stairs. Ruili.

"Welcome home, Tigress," the otter taunted. "I had the room specially made for you. Don't you like it?"

Tigress refused to speak.

"Not feeling chatty?" Ruili continued. "We'll have that attitude changed by tonight. Maybe we should do a few tests... Test one!"

She landed a rather solid blow to the right side of Tigress's face, causing her to stumble to the right and make the chain on her right wrist pull tight on the injured arm. A gasp escaped as she struggled to right herself.

"That sounds more like it," Ruili said, half-amused, "though I would prefer to hear you scream."

"You'll have to try harder than that," Tigress growled quietly, a fire glowing in her angry gold eyes.

Ruili's eyes narrowed.

"We will see," she hissed back.

Outside the cell, the Masters collected on an overhang, watching the door holding their friend.

"So what now?" Po whispered.

The others remained silent, uncertainty on each face. No one could hear anything inside the cell, but they'd seen Ruili go in, making them fear for Tigress.

Then something caught Jin's eye. He seemed to be watching something intently.

"Have you guys noticed that he's been almost everywhere?" he asked quietly.

The others looked where he was looking at, finding an armored tiger.

"I haven't been paying attention," Crane told him.

"I'll be back," Jin said, and disappeared quickly.

"Wh-where's he going?!" Vixey squeaked. "We need to plan together on how to rescue Tigress!"

"Maybe he's onto something," Viper offered.

"Well, while he's gone, let's start figuring things out," Monkey said.

"If we just bust her out," Mantis started, "we'll have no room for mistakes."

"If we just wait for the best possible chance, we could lose her," Vixey added.

They were silent until Jin came back.

"That guy is the only tiger guard in the entire building," he said. "If we jump him, I can impersonate him and we'll be that much closer to freeing Tigress."

The other Masters were impressed.

"And how'd that really help us in the long run?" Crane asked.

"It's not like you could just have her handed off to you to transport her somewhere else," Vixey said. "She's too dangerous for just one guard."

Then she thought for a moment.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" she started, lighting up. "I've got it! Listen up..."

The others gathered around her, listening to what she had to say.

The tiger guard kept patrolling, trudging along almost sleepily. Certain this would be another uneventful day, he neglected to look around. Then he heard a sound in a nearby hallway. Rolling his eyes and suspecting a newbie's clumsy actions, he drew his spear and walked casually to the hall. He took a few steps inside, looked around, and turned to leave.

As soon as he'd done so, someone from behind wrapped a cloth around his face and gagged him. He dropped his spear, hoping the sound would alert others and struggled to free himself. No sound came from the fallen spear, and he started to have a strange taste in his mouth. It felt like it was numbing his tongue, then his mouth, and then his head started to spin. His eyes rolled upward and he lost consciousness.

Vixey struggled to lay him down gently, so his armor wouldn't clang on the floor.

"I was right," she said, relieved when the others came to help, "he is pretty big."

They pulled off his armor and dragged him down the hall and behind some boxes. Jin put on the armor and stood at attention. Either he was tall or the guard was short for how round he was. The difference in their clothing was indistinguishable behind the armor. Jin's face was also masked behind the helmet.

"It might be cramped in here," he told Viper, patting the belly of the armor, "but there should be enough room."

Viper slid in and curled up. The others observed that she couldn't be seen.

"It isn't too cramped, Jin," the snake said, her voice muffled and echoing slightly. "I hope this works."

Jin held his staff as the guard had held his spear. Vixey frowned.

"I bet you could make up a story for that," she said, gesturing to the bare tip.

Jin shrugged. He started walking out of the hall.

"Don't forget me!" Mantis said suddenly, jumping into the armor as well.

Po, Crane, Monkey, and Vixey climbed back up to the overhang and watched Jin leave.

No guards suspected a thing. The other Masters suspected he'd practiced a lot of mimicry in the past, since he'd had so little time to study the guard. He copied everything from the length of his stride to the slight slouch in his posture. He even copied the tiny limp in his right leg that the others still didn't catch.

Jin walked right up to Tigress's cell. The two guards standing watch looked to be dozing off. Jin cleared his throat gruffly, causing them both to jump. They stood at attention.

"Yessir!" they both said.

"Dozing off a bit, are you?" Jin asked, altering his voice to that of the guard's.

"N-not at all!" one guard said before the other could speak. "Well... It's been a long shift. Nothing's happened so far..."

"I'm feeling particularly gracious today," Jin started, "so why don't I take your place? Just for today."

The first guard brightened considerably while the other seemed upset at his own mistake of not speaking up first.

"W-will you?" the first asked. "Thank you! I'll even give you half my pay for today!"

He strode off with a skip in his step. Jin took his place next to the door.

"Really, man?" the other guard started.

"I could probably do something for you, too," Jin said, appearing to think.

The other guard scoffed.

"Like what?" he asked.

Jin thrust his palm at him and Viper jumped out, smacking him full in the face and knocking him out. She wrapped herself around him and made him stand up as if he were still conscious. She made sure no part of her body was visible.

As if nothing had happened, they simply stood there. They even waved to the two guards that happened to pass by.

"Your turn, Mantis," Jin whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Mantis crawled out of his hiding spot and climbed the wall, into pipes leading into the cell. He walked until he came to the opening, looking down on the inhabitants of the room. He arrived just in time to see Tigress get hit again, though she didn't seem bothered by it at all.

Ruili became frustrated.

"You will speak by the time this day is over!" she hissed. "If you don't, we will torture you until you have no will to live and kill you in front of everyone you hold dear!"

"Sounds like a picnic," Tigress murmured.

In her fury, Ruili drew a dagger and slashed out at the prisoner, cutting her cheek. Tigress didn't seem fazed at all.

"Don't get cocky," the otter growled.

She whirled around and stomped to the cell door. It clanged shut loudly behind her.

After a few seconds, Mantis made his move. He tapped on the pipes so they echoed. The two guards looked around to see what was making the noise.

Ooooooooooo...

Oooooooooooooooooo...

Tigress immediately tensed up, fear visible on every inch of her face. She knew exactly who that was.

"Wh-who's there?" one of the guards started.

He and his colleague held their spears threateningly at the voice. They couldn't tell where the sound was coming from, since it bounced off the barren walls of the cell.

"Reeevenge..." came the voice. "Reeeeevenge is miiiiiiine!"

Tigress knew exactly who Mantis was imitating and could tell it was a horrible impersonation. But the guards didn't know because they'd never come into contact with the real deal.

"Who are you?!" the second guard almost screamed. "What do you want revenge for?!"

"Revenge for my imprisonment!" Mantis shouted. "I will destroy all who get in my way!"

The guards were literally shaking in their boots.

"I AM THE GHOST OF TAI LUNG!" Mantis proclaimed.

The guards screamed, dropping their spears and trying to hide behind anything they could find, which was barely anything at all.

They continued to scream when Ruili came back. She glared at the two cowering guards and stormed over to them.

"What the devil are you doing?!" she shouted.

"Th-the gh-ghost!" one of the guards screamed. "It's c-coming for us!"

The other was sobbing hysterically.

Ruili was about to strike out at them when Jin cleared his throat from the doorway.

"Maybe we could take their places?" he suggested. "We aren't scared of any gh-gh-ghosts that could be lurking about."

The two cowards were too traumatized to be offended by Jin's remark. Instead, they agreed wholeheartedly to the switch.

"Fine then!" Ruili snapped. "Just switch! If I'm called back before I decide my break is over, I'll have your heads! Understand?"

The cowards nodded enthusiastically and raced for the door of the cell. Jin and Viper's guard walked calmly past Ruili, as if all this was normal. Ruili slammed the cell door behind her.

"Well, that was a good show," Mantis started as he jumped down from the pipes. "I wasn't even trying!"

When Mantis leapt out of his hiding spot, Tigress knew immediately who else was there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, a slight anger in her voice. "You shouldn't have come after me."

Jin got out of the armor and Viper let her guard fall to the floor as they both turned to help their friend.

"We couldn't just leave you here," Viper said, starting to pick the lock.

"Getting you back is worth the risk," Jin said.

"Am I worth losing China?" Tigress asked.

The lock clicked and the mechanism fell apart. Jin broke the cuffs and Tigress almost fell to the floor, exhausted.

"Looks like a serious break," Mantis said, very carefully prodding Tigress's arm. "It'll take a while to heal."

Jin took Tigress's uninjured arm and lifted her up, putting her arm over his shoulder. He nodded to Mantis, who then climbed back into the pipes.

On the other side, he waved to his remaining friends. They all waited for the next patrol to pass and then rushed the two frightened guards. They fell without a sound.

Vixey knocked on the door and it swung open seconds later, Viper swiftly picking it. They all evaded patrols until they got to the same hallway they'd ambushed the tiger guard, stopping to allow Tigress a break.

"You're all idiots for rescuing me," she growled. "If you'd just continued without me, we wouldn't all be trapped down here."

"We'll get out," Vixey assured her. "Trust me, we'll -!"

"She may be right," Jin said solemnly.

Sure enough, several guards were alerted to the missing prisoner. The halls were very lively, causing the Masters to hide behind the boxes they'd hidden the other guard.

The guard had begun to regain consciousness, but Tigress kicked him in the face, knocking him out again.

Vixey tried to think of what to do next, coming to a blank.

"Any ideas, Jin?" she asked.

Jin was silent.

"We're going to be found," he said. "They're starting to look for us."

Everyone was silent for a little, growing unnerved as guards surged past.

"This is a narrow hallway with only one way in or out," Tigress started. "If we're going to be found out, we might as well attract them to us and defeat as many as we can. Viper and Mantis, scout for a way out and keep watch for Ruili or those cats. As soon as even one of them shows up, we might as well die trying to escape."

Everyone looked at each other.

"Po, Monkey," Jin started, "stay here with me and we'll keep them down here. Crane and Vixey, get Tigress up to the overhang and get as far as you can. Viper and Mantis, you heard her."

Everyone leapt into action. Viper climbed to the overhang, wrapped her tail around Tigress, and lifted her up before doing her duty. Po, Monkey, and Jin rearranged the boxes so no one would notice who was hiding behind them, if there was anyone. As soon as it was only the three of them and the unconscious guard in the hallway, Jin threw the guard's spear toward the main hall, imbedding the spearhead into the opposite wall and attracting attention.

As soon as guards stormed in, Po, Monkey, and Jin charged, knocking out dozens in very little time.

"You all right?" Vixey asked when Tigress gasped slightly for the umpteenth time.

"Shut up and keep going," the tiger growled.

They'd gone quite a distance when all seemed silent in the halls.

"Looks like they've attracted the entire building," Crane said.

Then an arrow flew past his beak. He assumed fighting stance, facing the archers firing from the ground.

"Go! Hurry!" he told the girls.

He deflected a few arrows before the archers got scared enough to start running. Crane flew after them, intent on stopping them before they got to their employer.

Vixey got Tigress only a few feet farther when Monkey startled her. Tigress saw that Po and Jin were just behind them.

"We got out of there when they were getting confused," Po said, out of breath.

"They're coming!" Mantis said, appearing from out of nowhere.

Just then, Tigress stepped in just the wrong spot and slipped off the overhang, Vixey tumbling after her. The fox leapt up and hit two guards with darts before helping Tigress up and running down the other hall. She let Tigress go upon hearing other footsteps and attacked oncoming guards.

"Run, Tigress!" she shouted.

Tigress, worn out from everything, stumbled and almost fell. Then Jin grabbed her and nearly carried her away, escaping more guards that Po and Monkey attended to.

Tigress lost track of where they'd gone off to. When she and Jin found themselves in front of a staircase, they were slightly relieved. Only slightly because there was another whole floor of cells to find their way through before they were free.

Then dozens of figures seemed to materialize out of thin air. They approached the two tigers threateningly. Jin held his staff, ready to strike. But then he saw that these figures weren't the regular guards. They were all white tigers, dressed in dark clothing, all similar as if they were uniforms of a secret society.

Then the white tigers stopped approaching. They all started making a certain series of hand signals, over and over again. They'd started the series over a third time when Jin realized what was going on. It was the fourth time when Tigress saw that he was making the same hand signals.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Don't worry about it, Tigress," Jin told her. "We're all safe now."

Tigress looked at him dubiously as he put his staff into the clip on his back. Then he struck out at her. Tigress was about to counter, but Jin quickly performed a nerve-strike, rendering her unconscious.

He caught her before she hit the floor and handed her to the other tigers.

"Take her to safety," he said. "I'll get the others."

He started to run to find the other Masters and met up with them before a minute was over.

"Guys!" he started. "We found the way out!"

"Let's go!" Monkey said.

They all followed Jin to the stairs, where they once again were cornered by the white tigers.

"Who are these guys?!" Vixey cried.

Then the white tigers rushed forward. Every Master was unconscious within seconds.

Tigress felt like she was drifting out of a dark mist. She felt like her eyes were glued shut and she couldn't move at all. Then she felt like something was stabbing into her injured arm. She forced her eyes open.

She was in a dimly lit room. Three white tigers looked down at her, making her realize she was on a bed in the center of the room. She tried to move and realized she was pinned down by two of the tigers.

"What do you want with me?" she furiously demanded.

The other tigers said nothing. The third tiger proceeded to put another two acupuncture needles in her injured arm, causing her to wince and try to get free.

"She is ready for you," the third tiger said to someone out of Tigress's sight.

Tigress was ready to fight to the death to escape. But then the fourth figure came into her sight. She was relieved.

"Dianli!" she cried.

The leopard gave her a warm smile and then looked at the injured arm. She started to act as if she was going to move the needles without touching them, and Tigress knew what she was about to do. She prepared herself.

Suddenly, Dianli's eyes grew blank. Her hands still moved, but the needles started moving on their own. Tigress began to feel a piercing, burning feeling in her arm and closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing.

She gasped and her eyes shot open. It felt like the bone in her arm was contorting, causing severe pain. This felt like it lasted hours, when it really only lasted a few seconds. When the pain stopped, she was gasping for breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the needles come out of her arm and clatter to the floor.

Dianli returned to normal. She pointed to Tigress's arm.

"Bruised," she simply said.

She bowed to her and walked away.

The two other tigers let her go and the third walked up to her.

"Rest now," the third said. "The pain will subside."

Tigress nodded and closed her eyes.

"What the heck where you thinking?!" Vixey nearly shrieked. "These guys could have killed us!"

The other seven Masters sat in a large room with many beds as several white tigers tended to their injuries.

"But they weren't going to," Jin told her.

"And how'd you know that?" Crane asked, peeved.

"The White Shadow Militia is well known to certain towns in Ju Long," Jin said. "Every youth in Miao Zhen grows up learning their ways and how to recognize them. They're dedicated to freeing those wrongly imprisoned, like slaves for example. But I don't know why they're so far from Ju Long."

"Your friend brought this division here," one of the healers said. "The silent one."

Everyone perked up.

"Dianli?!" Po cried.

"Yes," the healer said, "but she has gone now. She only stayed to heal your friend's most serious injury."

"Wait, what?" Mantis started. "She can fix broken bones? That's impossible!"

"So is moving vines with your mind," Viper added, silencing Mantis.

"Healing bones is extremely painful," the healer continued. "Your friend will be resting for some time before she joins you."

The Masters looked at each other.

"As long as she rests," Vixey said.

It was a couple of hours before they finally saw Tigress. She entered the room with her arm in a sling and gave Jin a glare when she saw him. He was talking to Vixey while holding his staff.

"You doing all right, Tigress?" he asked.

Tigress didn't answer him. However, she kicked the bottom of the staff away from him so the top would hit his face. She walked away and sat on one of the spare beds as he rubbed his nose.

"Where to now?" Po asked.

Vixey pulled a map out of her bag and set it on one of the beds.

"We're here now," she said, pointing. "I think we're here, at least."

A healer looked at the map and moved Vixey's finger to a spot farther east.

"Thanks," the fox said flatly as the tiger walked off.

The Masters studied the map and thought for a few seconds.

"Tigress, any ideas?" Monkey asked. "Tigress?"

They turned to see her asleep on the bed she'd been sitting on.

"She was awake a second ago," Crane said.

"Well, if she needs to sleep..." Vixey started.

Then Tigress jumped and woke up. She sat up quickly as if she hadn't planned to sleep just yet.

"Are you all right, Tigress?" Po asked. "You can just keep sleeping if you want."

"I'm fine," Tigress said quickly. "North of here is a small town with an abandoned factory. We can get more supplies and form a strategy there."

The others looked at the map.

"I just sort of feel like we're not getting anything done," Mantis said.

"Which is why we need a strategy," Tigress said. "We can't just keep ducking in and out of towns and away from Ruili. We're going to have to face her."

"What about protecting the Emperor?" Viper asked. "Ruili might go after him if she can't get us."

"His army will protect him," Tigress told her. "They'll more likely kill us anyway because of the rumors flying around."

Everyone fell silent.

"Then... does that mean we're going to free the Valley?" Po asked.

"It seems to be the only thing we can do right now," Tigress said.

Everyone was silent again.

"That'll probably put us face-to-face with Ruili," Jin said.

"So be it," Tigress told him. "We can't keep running forever. It'll be best to fight her and her armies on familiar ground, despite our current disadvantages."

The others thought, and then agreed.

As Vixey was putting the map away, one of the white tigers approached.

"We have received a report that Ruili is coming this way," he said. "We would prefer that you stayed longer to recover, but this will be too close of an escape as is."

"What will you do after we leave?" Viper asked. "They'll know we've been here."

The white tiger nodded.

"We will ransack this building to show that you made a difficult escape," he said. "We wish you well and a good journey."

He and those behind him bowed to the Masters, who bowed back.

"Now, leave us to our work and be on your way."