Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I've been doing some thinking. I hope this doesn't count as a spoiler, but by the time I finish this fiction it will probably be about ninety chapters. Like I said months ago, this is my longest fiction yet.

Because of this, I am considering taking a leaf out of Allies of Light and Grey's (author of the necromancers of china saga) book and splitting my fiction into two parts. In your reviews, please give your opinions of whether or not I should go ahead with this.

In the meantime, here's a filler chapter.

"Euuughhh! Ugh!"

"What the hell?" Xian muttered as he approached Eagle Jr.'s door and heard the sound of retching.

When he entered the room, the first thing he saw was a little panda cub holding a large spoon to the eagle's clamped beak. She was standing on a tiny three legged stool at his bedside.

"Come on!" Su scolded. "You need to take your medicine! Now open wide!" She pressed the tip of the spoon to his beak, and Eagle Jr. whipped his head away.

"God, that stuff's vile!" He stuck his tongue out in disgust.
"Buckle up, you just need to take one more spoonful!" Su said disapprovingly. "Just take the medicine!"

"Why?"

"Because I said so!"

There she goes again, acting like a mother, Xian thought with a grin, and decided to take that moment to make himself known.

"What's going on here? Where's the medic?"

Su shot him a look, the spoon in her paw still pointed in the direction of Eagle Jr.'s mouth.

"The medic's down at the camp." She said matter-of-factly. "One of the soldiers who got injured in the explosion caught a minor infection, and he's too busy taking care of him to give Mister Stubborn Jr. here his medicine!"

"So you're doing it instead?" Xian asked casually.

"Yep. Everyone else has something to do but me, so I thought I'd give Mister Eagle his medicine. But he's refusing to take the last spoonful."

"Because it's flipping disgusting!" The eagle groaned. "Why don't you take it yourself?"

"Because I'm not the one with a broken wing!" Su snapped. "I've read about soldiers actually dying of shock from the pain of their wounds! You need this medicine to dull the pain, now shut up and drink!"

Uh oh. Xian's smile vanished. Any fool could see that the girl was beginning to lose her patience. Xian had only twice before seen a child have a temper tantrum and both times it wasn't pretty.

"Er, Master Eagle…"

"Look, the last thing I need right now is a wannabe nurse feeding me poison!"

The moment the words left Eagle Jr.'s beak, both he and Xian knew he was in the wrong, but it was too late to undo the damage. Su's pale cheeks flushed with anger and she stepped from the stool to the side of the bed.

"Wannabe nurse, huh?" Su said slyly. She glanced at Xian then back at Eagle Jr. "Hey Mister, have you ever been embarrassed in front of the emperor before?"

"Not the emperor, no." Eagle Jr. actually looked nervous.

"Well now you do. Let me show you something my mommy used to do." Su held up the spoon. Both men waited for something to happen. And then Su spoke in a sing-song voice, her smile a wicked grin. "Here comes the birdie!"

Eagle Jr.'s eyes bulged. With one wing broken, his body weakened by the effects of the medicine, the eagle was helpless as Su waved the spoon in front of him like a floating hummingbird.

"Here he comes! Yummie, yum yum!"

Xian doubled over and had to slap a paw over his mouth to suppress his laughter.

"Nyummie nymummie, nyum nyum! Nymummie nyummie, nyum nyum!" Su carefully swung the spoon from side to side before again pushing it towards Eagle Jr.'s beak.

"No! Stay away from me!"

The mortified bird desperately tried to back away, but the other side of the bed was pushed against a wall. Su climbed onto his feathered stomach and began moving upwards towards his chest.

"S-Su, what are you d-doing?" Xian stuttered from snickering so hard.

"If he insists on acting like a kid, then I'm gonna treat him like one!" Su grinned.

"No! Get away!" Eagle Jr. pleaded. Su ignored him. She was having way too much fun. She sat down on his diaphragm, and once more pushed the spoon towards his beak.

"Su, Shifu's going to be here in a couple a minutes." Xian said.

"I'll just tell him Mister Eagle Jr.'s being a stubborn doofus." She turned back to her victim. "This would have all been over by now! Now are you gonna catch the birdie or do I hafta dump it on your head?"

"Alright! Fine!" Fuming, Eagle Jr. slowly opened wide, allowing the child to pour the contents of the spoon down his throat. Eagle Jr. retched and jerked his head to lean over the bed. The motion was so sudden the spoon was sent flying from his beak.

"There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Su said. She climbed down from the bed, and pulled the covers back over the eagle. "Get settled, and I'll ask Mr. Di Tan to make you some soup."

"Lovely." Eagle Jr. muttered.

Suddenly Su's smile vanished.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "I crossed a line. I shouldn't have done that."

"H-hang on a sec, I'm not mad at you!" Eagle Jr. yelped when he saw the cub's expression. "That medicine's the most disgusting substance I have ever ingested!"

"Well it's not gonna kill you, is it?" Su asked. "Get some rest and I'll bring you some soup." On her way out she bowed to Xian. "Good evening, Mr. Emperor."

"Good evening, Su." Xian replied. "How's your knee?"

"It's good. Thank you for asking." Su replied. The devious look in her eyes was gone. She had a small smile that for some reason appeared false. "Is there anything you need?"

"No, I just wanted to inform Eagle Jr. of the current situation." Xian said. "Run along, now."

Su bowed again and left the room.

Xian chuckled and sat down on the stool.

"She's getting a mean streak." He said.

"Remind me to have a word with Monkey and Mantis about the importance of good influence once I get out of this room."

Xian's teeth clenched with silent laughter. His heart felt lighter than it had been in years. After his heated encounter with Tujiu earlier this morning, Su had really made his day.

"So, what brings you to my little slice of boredom?" Eagle Jr. asked.

"I thought I'd inform you that we're almost ready for departure. We'll be leaving in the morning."

"Oh goody. And I'll be forced to walk the whole bloody way."

"Oh hush." Xian said. "It's not all that bad. After all the hell we've been through these past few days, the Dragon Warrior thought we could lift each other's spirits with a little campfire in the fortress courtyard."

"A campfire?" Eagle Jr. rolled his eyes. "Great. Save me a seat."

"Come on, it'll be like old times!" Xian placed a paw on Eagle Jr.'s uninjured shoulder. "The night before a mission… roasting nuts over the flames… telling each other stories…"

"Right after you slip a plate of sticky honey onto my seat right before I sit down, right?"

"Right."

"Fine. But no honey."

"No honey. This time it will be good old fashioned glue."

"If you weren't the emperor, I'd punch your shoulder."

"You two haven't changed a bit." With a smirk, Shifu entered the room at that very moment and bowed to Xian before speaking further. "Where is Su?"

"She just left to get some soup. Why?"

"I want her to remain with Viper and Crane until we leave this fortress. I do not want her wandering around this building by herself."

"Are you worried she may start sleepwalking again?"

"Not exactly." Shifu adjusted his grip on his staff. "Three times. Three times one of us has been assaulted by mysterious forces in this fortress. All three incidents have occurred at night. What with tonight being our last night in this place, I am afraid that something even worse will happen."

"Hey, relax!" Eagle Jr. said. "Whatever's playing mind tricks on us is obviously trying to scare us into leaving. Why would it attack us again if we're doing what it wants?"

Shifu sighed.

"You're right. We should stick to the plan and-"

"I'm back!"

"Gah!" Shifu gasped in surprise as Su materialized behind him, holding two bowls of soup. "Su, don't sneak up on people like that!"

"Sorry. Here's your soup, Master Eagle Jr.!" Su walked across the room and placed one bowl on the bedside table. Eagle Jr. hesitated before grabbing it. "Don't worry, it wasn't made by a wannabe cook to be fed to a wannabe warrior."

"Hey, I'm sorry, alright." Eagle Jr. scowled. "I shouldn't have that earlier. It was wrong."

"That's okay. Here's your soup, Mr. Emperor." Su handed Xian the other bowl. "Di Tan said you hadn't eaten since last night."

"That's right. Thank you."

"Su, go spend some time with Crane and Viper. They should be in the library." Shifu said.

"Okay, Master." Su saluted the red panda and departed.

Shifu turned to his two former students.

"Care to explain what her wannabe comment was all about?"

Xian snickered.

"Master Shifu, it is a long story that begins with-"

"Xian…" Eagle Jr. said ominously. "If you say one more word I will tell the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five everything about you from when you were seventeen…"

"Sorry, Master, my lips are sealed!" Xian quickly said.

Shifu shook his head.

"I need to go check on Tujiu, make sure he's still in his office. I will leave you two to your meals." He turned to the door.

"Wait, Master, I want a word with you." Eagle Jr. said. "How is your student, Monkey doing?"

Shifu turned back round.

"He's been quiet since I forced the truth out of him the other day. Why?"

Eagle Jr. paused.

"Is he usually this quiet?"

"No. What are you getting at, Eagle Jr.?"

"Look, I know how it feels to lose someone you care about. It can either soften you or harden you beyond recognition."

Suddenly the room was quiet. The humor in Xian's eyes were gone, as was Shifu's exasperation.

"Are you talking about what happened in the Hondan Province?" Shifu asked quietly.

"Yes. Let me tell you something. Back then I wasn't exactly the best of men. After my mother died giving birth to my brother I rebelled against everything and anything, especially my father. When my father told me to stop getting in bar-fights, I would get in street fights. When he wanted me go to the Jade Palace I flew off to the nearest abandoned house to do whatever the hell I wanted. My brother followed me… and so did half a dozen hyenas." His eyes hardened. "You remember when my father slew the hyena bandits with the Blade of Baoding? Well, those that were left spotted me enter the building and decided to get payback. I saw them coming and made out through the back. My brother on the other hand…"

Xian tightened his grip on his bowl of soup.

"If I hadn't rejected kung fu I would have been able to save him. That's what I told myself as I stood over his grave. That and I made a promise to bring his killers to justice. After two years of training with my father, I was strong enough to track the bandits down and send them to a nice tidy prison."

"Good for you." Shifu said.

"However, prison guards are easy to bribe. They escaped two days later." Eagle Jr. downed the rest of his soup in one gulp. "That was the last straw for me, so I left home and fulfilled my father's wish to go to the Jade Palace."

"But?" Xian asked quietly.

"But I had made a promise to my brother…" Eagle Jr. fiddled with his spoon, which at that moment looked like a spearhead. "And once I tracked those bandits down again I kept it."

There was a heavy silence. Xian set down his now stone cold soup.

"And you point is?" Shifu asked.

"My point is that when it comes to grief and revenge, even the nicest guy can turn dark and dangerous. Do me a favor and keep an eye on Monkey for me, okay?"

Po was the first to arrive at the spot in the courtyard where they would have their campfire. In his arms was the firewood he had collected from the kitchen, though he couldn't figure out where they got wood in a massive forestless mountain range.

He gazed at his surroundings. The nearest people were at the far side of the courtyard, and the sun was sinking below the horizon. Po huffed and set to work.

He formed a small circle of stones on the paved ground and set up a pile of wood. He added the kindling and had just struck a match when he spotted a striped feeling slowly walking towards him.

"Hey, Po."

"Hi, Tigress." Po said softly, and turned his attention back to the firewood without another word. He and Tigress hadn't spoken properly to each other since last night. Even now he felt a certain gap between them.

"Is everything almost ready?" She asked. She sounded just as nervous as he was. He wasn't sure why.

"Yup. I just need to YOWCH!" Po dropped the burned down match and sucked on his singed fingers.

"Po!" Tigress stepped around the firewood. "Are you okay?"

"Yup I ud muf worsfe." Po replied, his fingers still in his mouth.

"I beg your pardon?"

Po pulled his paw out his mouth.

"I said I had much worse." He said. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"You invited us all down to a campfire, remember?" Tigress replied and crossed her arms. "Are you still mad?"

"What, you mean about last night?" Po was distracted from sucking on his fingers again. "Nah, I'm not mad, what makes you think I'm mad?"

"Well, I did overreact and spill hot tea on your bean buns." Tigress broke eye contact out of shame.

"What bean buns?" Po blinked in confusion. "I don't remember us having bean buns last night."

"Not real bean buns, I meant-" Tigress stopped herself just in time and blushed. "N-never mind. I'm sorry for my earlier behavior."

"Nah, don't be." Po waved it away. "It was my own darn fault for bringing up you and Shifu." He remembered the night before. On his way back to his room he had been silently berating himself non-stop for bringing up such a sensitive subject.

"What is it with you?" Tigress asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Why do you insist on forgiving every single thing I do to you? I scalded your privates for crying out loud!" She was practically glaring at him at this point.

"Hey, it's better than holding a grudge and ruining everything I've worked for."

"Huh?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to get you to like me?"

Tigress's eyes widened and she looked away. Po realized what he had said.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like-"

"Hey, Po!"

Po felt two pairs of tiny feet land on his shoulder.

Darn it, Mantis!

"Po, how come the fire's not lit?" Mantis asked.

"Because I haven't had a chance to." Po replied through gritted teeth.

"I'll do it." Tigress spoke up. "Pass me the matches, Po."

As she took the matches and knelt before the wood pile, Po turned his head to look at Mantis. The bug pursed his lips nervously at the panda's expression.

"What did I do?"

Po lowered his voice so Tigress wouldn't hear.

"What part of 'don't interrupt when I try to apologize to Tigress for bringing up the father daughter thing' did you not understand?"

"Oh. You said that before you left. Right. Sorry."