Chapter Fourteen: An Old Memory

"Vixey! He's bleeding!"

Everyone turned to look at Shifu, shocked at Tigress's claim. The fear was evident when they saw the blood on his hand and that he looked close to fainting. Vixey rushed immediately to him with Mantis just behind.

Tigress turned to look at the others, who were still in shock.

"We have better things to do than just wait around," she started. "Monkey, get a fire going. Po, see what you can make with the materials we have. The rest of you, scout around."

No one wasted another moment. As soon as everyone was busy, Tigress turned back to look on Shifu's progress. Confident Vixey and Mantis had the situation under control, she joined the scouting party.

"He's not as bad as he looked," Mantis said once the others had started gathering around the fire. "Looks like Ruili only nicked him."

"He was just dizzy after the jump," Vixey said. "That can happen if you're injured or even just not ready for it. If you're exhausted, it'll even knock you out."

Everyone looked at Shifu, laying only a few inches behind the fox. He was asleep under a blanket.

"I was actually worried about poisoning," Vixey continued, setting everyone on edge, "but it surely would've taken effect by now. My disappearing trick would've sped it up."

The others sighed.

"Well," Po started, "soup's on. Sorry if it tastes a little bland."

Viper helped pass bowls along and sat one next to the fire, keeping it warm for Shifu.

"Every little bit helps," Crane said, gulping the soup down.

"Tastes better than what we've had lately," Monkey added.

Everyone fell silent as they ate.

"So where to now?" Jin asked. "We can't just go straight for the Valley. It's still a long way off and Shifu needs to rest."

"We'll be pressed for strength if we're attacked at all," Tigress said. "He can't fight in this condition."

"If the wound was just on his hand or arm, he'd be able to fight just fine," Vixey added. "But it's on his side. If he moves too much, he could accidentally open the wound again. It may seem small, but he could still bleed a lot from it."

"We need a safe house," Viper said.

"But everywhere we go, they're right behind us," Monkey said. "If we even stop for a few hours, they'll be on us in no time."

"We could go to my birth village," Po suggested.

"We can't go there," Vixey responded. "We can't honestly bring all this trouble onto your dad after what happened with Shen!"

"No, not that village!" Po continued. "My real birth village! It's been abandoned ever since the attack!"

Everyone looked at him with surprise.

"The original..." Vixey started, taking out her map. "Of course! It's practically fallen off the map! No doubt Ruili has no idea where it is!"

She gasped.

"It's only about a couple days away," she continued. "Just over one day if Shifu wasn't injured."

They heard a groan and all looked at Shifu. He'd woken and was trying to carefully sit up.

"Are you all right, Master?" Tigress asked as Vixey went to help.

Shifu held his side and painfully limped toward the circle of friends to sit down.

"I'll live," he said, taking the bowl of soup Po offered. "I agree that we should head for that abandoned village. Without the signs of life, it's hard to stumble upon."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Well then," Jin started, "we've wasted enough time here, so we should..."

Everyone fell silent, listening. Every Master was looking in a different direction, scanning everything around them. Then there was a sound in a nearby bush Shifu had pointed to.

"Gotcha!" Mantis shouted as he jumped out of the bush with another figure.

The small figure squeaked with surprise and slid toward the other Masters, each now on his or her feet. He hadn't seen Mantis disappear and was quite ready to have a heart attack now that all eyes were on him.

"Who are you?" Tigress demanded.

The small figure, a few inches bigger than Mantis and looking somewhat like a rodent, looked like he was going to keep his mouth shut. Then he started screaming for his life.

"I swear I didn't volunteer for this job!" he pled. "She has my wife and children! Please don't kill me!"

"You were following us?" Viper asked.

"Y-yes!" the small figure answered. "My name is Loris! It won't matter because you're about to kill me! Please don't kill me!"

He started sobbing. The Masters looked at each other, exchanging looks of confusion and worry.

"So Ruili sent you," Jin started, "and she has your family..."

"Yes, or I'd never have agreed to this!" Loris replied hurriedly. "She'd kill me if she knew I was found out! Then where'd my wife and children be?"

"Couldn't you just give her a false trail?" Monkey asked.

"I can't just make things up on the go!" Loris told him. "I'm not that imaginative! I'd have to tell her the truth!"

The Masters immediately started thinking up other possible plans they'd make, but none of them seemed to really work.

"Where would we go?" Vixey asked. "The only logical choice is Po's village."

Tigress shook her head.

"Gongmen City," she said. "We know Ruili is afraid of engaging Ting before she's dealt with us. Tell her that's where we're going."

Everyone looked at her dubiously.

"That's impractical," Vixey told her. "It's too far away and we'd never make it with our reduced pace."

"Exactly," Tigress continued. "After dealing with Nyota, we could have decided to go straight to Gongmen City for more protection from Ruili."

Then she gasped and her eyes grew wide with fear. She turned to Loris.

"You saw us take Nyota," she started. "What did you tell Ruili?"

Loris shrugged.

"I said you killed her," he said simply.

The Masters looked dumbfounded.

"You could plainly see we only knocked her out," Crane said. "Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

"Because of her son," Loris said. "She would've gone and found Nyota and killed the both of them. With my own family in the way of harm, I couldn't do that."

He could tell the Masters were impressed with him.

"Okay, so Gongmen City," he continued. "After I tell her this, she'd have everyone rushing to head you guys. She'd be almost sure she'd catch you, but if she doesn't find you and goes for Gongmen City... Then what? She could draw out that peahen and kill her just like she tried you guys."

Tigress shook her head.

"Ting is much wiser than that," she said. "With word about the Valley spreading, she would have used her Sight to see what's really going on. And I will tell her long in advance that Ruili's forces are coming."

Loris jumped back in surprise.

"How can you tell her that?" he asked. "Are you a Seer?"

"Yes, but still a beginner," she told him. "If I can't contact her directly, I can send her the impression to contact me. By the time that happens, you still wouldn't have gotten to Ruili."

Loris nodded.

Jin noticed Shifu seemed conflicted.

"Is something wrong, Master?" he asked, drawing all attention.

Shifu thought for a moment, as if he didn't know what to say, but then dismissed it.

"It... It isn't important," he said.

"So, Loris," Vixey began, "are the armies coming this way now?"

Loris looked nervous.

"Yes," he said. "They should probably get here within the hour."

"Then we'll use a nerve strike on you," Tigress told him. "When you're found, they'll know we found you and Ruili will have to look for someone else to spy on us. When you wake a few hours later, tell her about Gongmen City. Then take your family and run."

Loris nodded determinedly, but couldn't hide his fear.

"Oh, and I need to tell you," he started. "Ruili doesn't use poisoned weapons. She isn't an expert with any weapon and still has that risk of cutting herself. But the Da Brothers... If they're trying to kill someone, in war or in a one-on-one fight, they'll always use poisoned weapons."

"Thank you for telling us," Shifu told him.

"Oh, but it's one Da Brother now, isn't it?" Loris added. "I forgot about that boat explosion. Every official across China heard about it."

He stood up straight.

"Okay, I'm ready," he said, shaking a little.

After a nod from Shifu, Mantis jumped forward and struck Loris, leaving him paralyzed. Vixey was about to say something, but paused.

"I was thinking we should move him to a safer place," she started, "but that could give away the fact that we agreed on something."

Everyone started making ready to leave. Tigress kicked dirt over the fire and turned to Shifu.

"Can you walk or would you rather one of us carry you?" she asked.

Shifu walked to her, leaning heavily against his staff.

"At this point in time," he started, "we should leave as quickly as possible. If you would...?"

Tigress knelt and let him jump up onto her shoulder.

"Let's go," she told everyone.