That night, the dark mountain was speckled with glowing orange dots of the army's campfires, surrounded by grim faced soldiers as they conversed and roasted nuts, waiting anxiously for the morning when they would finally leave this accursed place.
Out of all the glowing dots, only one flickered within the boundaries of the fortress of White Fortitude. In the stone courtyard, nearly a dozen figures surrounded it, filled with slightly higher spirits.
"Here you go! Tsampa all around!" With a wave of his ladle, Di Tan filled eleven freshly washed china bowls with an unusual yellowish substance.
"Uhhh… Di Tan?" Xian lifted his spoon to his nose and sniffed cautiously. Opposite the campfire, Po was already digging in with an ecstatic look in his eyes. "What exactly is this?"
"I told you, it's Tsampa!" Di Tan gave the tiger a light tap on this nose with the ladle for his ignorance. "A popular dish in this region! I've always wanted to prepare it!"
"This stuff's awesome!" Po lifted his face for a brief moment to reveal a yellow mustache. "What's in it?"
"Cooked barley meal, tea and butter." Di Tan replied with pride. "Not as disgusting as it sounds."
"I'm surprised you're so cheery after everything that's happened." Shifu gave Di Tan a knowing look. "How much will this cost?"
"Well, how much to you have?" Di Tan cocked an eyebrow. A second later he burst out laughing. "I'm only joking, it's on the house!"
"Hmmm." Shifu said gruffly and returned to his meal. "I prefer noodle soup."
"Very well, you can make it yourself." Di Tan said sharply, having obviously taken offence.
"Master Shifu, don't be mean." Su said reproachingly, from his right side. "He read the recipe scroll for two hours to make sure he got it right. Mr. Di Tan, it tastes really nice."
"It looks and tastes like vomit." Shifu muttered under his breath. Di Tan heard him.
"Well at least it's freshly cooked puke!" He snapped.
"And it has barley instead of carrots." Su added. That got a laugh from the entire group, and a pair of red cheeks from Shifu.
"Good one, Su!" Mantis chortled. "Me and Monkey are gonna hafta write that one down!"
Monkey remained silent, his eyes on the fire.
Xian leaned slightly towards the sulking Eagle Jr.
"What did I tell you?" He murmured with a grin. "Just like old times."
"In the old times, you were a prince, I was your arch rival, and there wasn't a ten foot monster on the loose."
"Oh lighten up, or I'll mess up your other wing."
Xian turned his head back to face the rest of the group.
"Don't mind him, he hates being stuck on the ground." He said. "Did you know that when I first came to the Jade Palace to train, he had recently broken his wing in a training accident? He was in such a bad mood that at first it was impossible for us to get along."
"You forgot to mention that the accident was your bloody fault." Eagle Jr. said. Xian gave him a half-hearted look of annoyance.
"Did you get into any fights?" Po asked eagerly.
"It's a kung fu temple, of course we got into fights!" Xian replied. "Anyway, the day after his wing healed, we got into a proper sparring contest. I thought for sure I was going to tan his hide."
"It was written all over your stripey face." Eagle Jr. added, with the slightest hint of a smile. "Anyway, it was a bad day, the day we sparred. I had a bad dream the night before, and it was still fresh in my mind. The moment the gong rang, Xian started wisecracking. He was taunting me, and not doing a very good job of it."
Shifu fought against a smile as he remembered the frequent bad jokes and puns he had endured while Xian had trained at the palace. Eagle Jr. continued speaking.
"I wasn't in the mood for someone else's-"
"Ssss!" Viper hissed and jerked her head in Su's direction.
"-stupidity, so I finished the spar quickly."
Xian mimed a sharp punch to the skull.
"When the little smart mouth currently sitting next to me came to, I thought for sure he was going to start whining like a spoilt little rich kid. Instead, he just laughed. Said it was about time someone knocked some sense into him. We went to a tavern in the village, talked, got to know each other properly, and that was that."
"What was what?" Po asked.
"After that little incident, we stopped wanting to kill each other."
"Oh."
"What happened after you finished your training at the palace?" Tigress asked.
"When it was time for me to return to the Imperial City, I offered Eagle Jr. a position as my personal bodyguard." Xian said.
"It wasn't a difficult decision." Eagle Jr. said. "The alternative was returning to my hometown, and there's nothing there but bad memories."
"What bad memories?" Po started to ask, but at the moment Shifu grunted, as if to tell the panda to cut the question short.
"So, did you and Eagle Jr. go on many missions during your stay in the Valley?" Crane asked.
"Oh sure. Nowhere near as many as the famous Furious Five, but we've had our fair share of near death experiences." Xian said. "Remember the Hajin Province, Eagle Jr.?"
"Of course."
Xian took the last spoonful from his bowl before speaking.
"A couple of years after we became friends, the Iron Fist of Justice was…"
"The Iron Fist of Justice!" Po suddenly yelled. "You mean the Iron Fist of Justice the blacksmith Jin Hu forged after his right hand was cut off by marauding bandits?"
"Yes, that Iron Fist of Justice." Xian replied, a little taken aback. Shifu closed his eyes in embarrassment.
"Please forgive Po, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of kung fu folklore. That and he is a big fan." He said.
"Right." Xian said. "As I was saying, the Iron Fist of Justice was one day stolen from the Hall of Warriors by a gang of bandits. I, Eagle Jr., and a third kung fu master were sent to retrieve it. Let's just say our confidence got the better of us."
"In other words, we got ambushed." Eagle Jr. added bluntly.
"Yes. At first, they were just going to kill us, but when they discovered I was the crown prince, they changed their minds and decided to hold me and the others for ransom." Xian said.
"Who warned them that that was the worst idea ever?" Eagle Jr. asked.
"You did, if I remember correctly." Xian replied. "Luckily we managed to figure out that the Fist was located in the head honcho's tent before we got chained to a tree."
"How did you escape?" Viper asked.
"Comrade number three got the brilliant idea to use one of my feathers to pick the lock on our chains. We unchained ourselves, retrieved the Fist, and pummeled the bandits into the dust." Eagle Jr. said.
"Of course when we got back, Shifu gave us a tongue lashing for not mastering patience." Xian said. "Not only that, he made us all clean the training hall with nothing but our tails."
"Sadistic little furball." Eagle Jr. muttered. Shifu overheard, but merely smirked.
"Okay, that's enough about us." Xian said with a wave of his paw. "Po, why don't you tell me and my friends about how you became the Dragon Warrior? The most I've ever heard is that you somehow fell out of the sky in a ball of fire, and I have always desired to learn the whole story."
"Huh? Oh sure!" Po scraped off the remaining contents of his bowl with his finger. "Well, Mr. Emperor, it was-"
"Please call me Xian. Titles don't really mean much around here."
"Okay… Xian, it was like this: I was just doing my usual waitering in my dad's restaurant when a group of palace servants pasted a totally awesome poster on the wall…"
When Po finished, second helpings of Tsampa were served and the conversation moved on to a topic that almost everyone knew best: kung fu techniques. After ten minutes Xian excused himself to take a bathroom break and returned to the fortress.
When he emerged from the bathroom in his bedroom, he wasn't surprised to find a certain red panda standing by one of the three ornate chairs in the room, waiting for him.
Xian sighed.
"It's alright. No-one else is around. We can talk."
He gestured for Shifu to take a seat. The three chairs were all surrounding a small table. The emperor and the grandmaster sat opposite each other. For a moment, no-one talked.
"You go first." Xian said.
"I will repeat my earlier question." Shifu said. "Why did you have gunpowder kegs intended for cannons inside the storage building?"
"First of all, it wasn't my idea." Xian said. "I was not aware that Tujiu had brought powder kegs with him. When I questioned him, he said it was in case of large obstacles."
"But you knew that the Imperial Army is planning on mass producing Shen's cannon." Shifu said, almost accusingly.
"Look, I know how this looks. But before I say anything more, I want you to swear that you will not tell anyone about what I am about to tell you without my permission. Swear, Shifu."
"I swear."
"Good." Xian rubbed his arms. It was a cold night and he had left the window open. "Do you remember that after Lord Shen was defeated, you and the Master's Council rounded up his remaining forces and incarcerated them?"
Shifu nodded.
"Well, a few days after you and your students returned to the Valley of Peace, Eagle Jr. travelled to Gongmen City and interrogated the wolves. You see, Shen obviously had to have had a base of operations to build his cannon prior to invading the city, and we needed to recover the plans for the cannon before someone else did."
"Did the wolves talk?"
"Yes. But when the army reached the fortress, they were too late. Someone had beaten us to it. They're probably mass producing the cannon as we speak."
Shifu shuddered at the thought.
"So that's why you're making cannons yourself." The red panda said. "To make sure you're evenly matched should this enemy attempt an invasion." Xian nodded. "How are you able to build cannons without the plans?"
"When a few of the cannons were fished from Gongmen Harbor, they were in good enough condition to analyze. The cannon's design is actually simpler than it looks." Xian said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. If word got out that the most deadly mechanical weapon ever built had fallen into the wrong hands, it would cause a panic."
"I understand." Shifu said. "Thank you for being honest."
"Now my turn." Xian said, almost looking relieved that he had gotten the information off his chest. "Is there anything you learned about this fortress since we last spoke?"
"As a matter of fact, there is." Shifu stood up. "Come with me."
A few minutes later, Xian was intensely scanning the scrolls that made up the ambassador's journal one by one.
"Ember…" He whispered. "Who the hell is Ember?"
"According to this ambassador, she's some sort of 'Dragon Empress'." Shifu said. "I don't recall such a person ever being recorded in the Jade Palace library."
"Because she wasn't recorded." Xian said, remembering the many hours he had spent in the library after maturing somewhat. "It makes you wonder just what kind of person she was."
"Indeed."
"There is something else that bothers me." Xian said. "The Ambassador talks about some sort of key called the Seal of Yingxiong. Its description sounds a lot like Su's lucky coin. You don't think that…"
"The Seal of Yingxiong and Su's coin are the same?" Shifu said. "Yes, I do."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Remember when Su fell through that secret door and injured herself? Well, she lost her coin in the process. I found it a few minutes later, and I admit that I had forgotten to give it back to her. To get to the point, right before I discovered she was missing, my robe had been unclasped and the coin was gone."
Xian remembered what Shifu had told him, of the sight of the half-conscious Su leaning over the vat of molten metal with coin in hand, and his heart skipped a beat.
"You mean…"
"This entity wasn't trying to manipulate Su into killing herself. It was trying to manipulate her into destroying the Seal."
"Son of a…" Xian whispered. "What the hell is going on around here?"
"I don't know, and I don't care." Shifu said gruffly. "In the morning we will be on our way out of here, away from all this madness. This fortress and its secrets are not worth dying over."
"I know that." Xian sighed. "You're right. Let's just stuff these scrolls back under the bed and pretend they never existed."
"Good idea. Then we can head back before Po scoffs all the third helpings." Shifu said.
"Is he always so obsessed with food?"
"Yes."
They put the Ambassador's journal back where they had found it just as the door opened and Tigress stepped into the room.
"Tigress, what are you-" Shifu stopped himself when he saw the sleeping panda cub in her arms. "She fell asleep while Di Tan was telling a story." She said softly.
"Was it the one with the river, the silver wok and the gold wok?" Xian asked.
"I think so."
"No wonder she went out like a light." Xian smirked. "Don't tell him I said that."
"She wasn't the only one." Tigress said. Shifu's eyes widened when he saw the praying mantis lying flat on Su's stomach. "Luckily Di Tan didn't seem to take offense."
Shifu chuckled.
"Will you be heading back outside?"
"No, I'm on the verge of passing out myself." Tigress replied.
"Good, then you can stay with Su, tonight. I am not having her left on her own after what happened to her."
"Very well, Master."
"Take her to your room, and we'll see you in the morning. Good night, Tigress."
"Goodnight, Master." Something in Tigress's eyes indicated to Shifu that she suspected that he and Xian had just been talking about something secret. Instead of inquiring, she merely turned and left the room with Su in her arms.
It wasn't until Shifu and Xian returned to the entrance hall that either of them spoke again.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to let the Seal remain with the girl?" Xian asked. "If the entity tries to manipulate her again…"
"It won't." Shifu replied. Xian raised his eyebrows.
"What makes you so sure?"
"The only reason the attempted destruction of the Seal came so close to success was because none of us suspected what the entity would try to do." Shifu said. "Now that we know, and we are taking precautions, I doubt it will make a second attempt."
"But if it wants the Seal destroyed…"
"Only if it thinks we're a threat." Shifu replied. "In case you hadn't noticed, things have calmed down since you decided that we were leaving. That may mean that the entity is willing to leave us alone as long as we leave it alone."
"'May mean'? You're risking our lives on a 'may mean'?"
"Well, what do you suggest we do? Lead an all out assault on this fortress and hope that no-one else gets killed?"
"That's not what I-"
"What did you mean then?!"
Xian shut his mouth. Shifu sighed. He had been wrong to snap, and he knew it.
"I'm sorry." He said. "But you're right. I don't know if doing nothing will improve our situation. But right now, I don't know what else to do."
There was a small pause.
"In that case, we'll just, as you put it, 'do nothing.'" Xian said. "Come on, let's get back to the camp before all the Tsampa's gone."
Shifu struggled to hide his dismay as they exited the fortress and made their way back to the campfire.
Crane had to admit, Viper looked rather nice in her 'coat'.
All the same, the sight of her wasn't enough to distract him from the chilly breeze that assaulted his bare head. God, he missed his hat.
"Don't worry about it, Crane, you'll be able to get a new hat once we get back to the Valley." Viper said suddenly. It was if she had read his mind.
"How did you-" He started.
"You've just put your head beneath your wing."
Crane pulled his head back upright. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed.
"Sorry." He muttered.
"Oh, don't be." Viper giggled at his embarrassment. "You know what, when I get back to the Valley, I'm going to replace my flower decorations with purple ones. I've always wanted to wear something purple, but I've always been a little worried that it wouldn't suit me."
Purple.
If only she knew that, hidden in a small box in Po and Crane's room, was a snake-sized purple jeweled choker with her name engraved on it.
"When I get back, I'm going to learn how to make Tsampa!" Po patted his bulging full stomach in contentment. "You know, I actually had a bad feeling about this mission when we first came here, but all things considered… it could have been a lot worse."
"Emperor Xian! Grandmaster Shifu!" Di Tan bowed respectfully as the two returned to their seats. "Don't worry, there's still plenty of fresh puke to go around!"
Shifu's ears flattened against his head. That goose could go to hell.
Suddenly his ears flicked back up.
"Did you just hear a strange sound just now?" He asked.
"Huh? Nope, nothing?" Crane replied.
"Me neither." Po replied. "Shifu, are you okay?"
Shifu was staring at the ground, looking uncharacteristically anxious.
I definitely heard something, he thought. A wet, crunching sound, the sound of something hard punching through something soft like… like…
Oh god no…
"It came from the army camp!" He shot up to his feet. "I'm going to see what's going on!"
"Wait, hang on a mo'!" Po shouted as he and the others got up and ran after Shifu as he rushed to the gate.
The closer he got to the camp, the greater the dread in his gut grew as he ran down the path towards the camp.
"Go back to the fortress, all of you!" He shouted to his pursuers. "Do as you're-"
"Grandmaster Shifu!"
Shifu almost collided with a panicked soldier.
"Grandmaster…" The soldier gasped. "What are you… did you hear…"
"What?!" Shifu demanded, a small commotion occurring behind him as the others caught up. "What happened?"
"In the medical tent…"
"What is going on?" Xian pushed himself in front of Shifu.
"The medic… he…" The soldier threw up on the spot.
"Show me!" Xian ordered.
The soldier wiped his mouth and did as ordered, leading the group into the camp. A small crowd had formed around the medical tent.
"Let us through!" Shifu and Xian pushed their way through the crowd and into the tent.
Several seconds passed.
They stepped out again, their expressions grim.
"What happened, Master?" Mantis asked.
"He's dead." Shifu glanced at Monkey for a split second. "Stalactite through the chest."
There was a horrified silence. Po in particular looked gutted. Monkey went completely stiff.
"So the Yeti was trying to trick us after-" SMACK!
Po was cut off mid-sentence by a scaled tail striking him across the face.
"Ow!" Po held a paw to his reddening cheek. "What was that for?"
"That's for saying it could have been a lot worse!" Viper shouted. Her azure eyes were very wet.
"Why are you getting mad at him?" Xian growled, making everyone turn toward him. His eyes were tea colored slits, paws clenched so tightly his claws were piercing his pads. "Because it's always his fault, isn't it? Have you all forgotten that I'm the reason we're in this mess?!"
Shifu gave him a stern look.
"That's not true, and you know it."
Xian did not reply. He merely uncurled his fists and silently examined the damage.
Suddenly Mantis spoke.
"Guys… where's Monkey?"
They said it may be hiding out in some old ruins. The lotka paper lantern is proof of that.
Monkey held onto those thoughts as he swung through one of the high windows of the left hand tower. All the salvaged weapons, supplies, and more had been moved into the massive warehouse, and so the warehouse was his first stop.
The armory section of the tower was so extensive that it took him a few minutes to find what he was looking for: a crossbow, and not just any crossbow: it was a Zhuge Crossbow, or 'repeating crossbow'. Instead of having to fire, and then pull back the string to load another arrow, this particular crossbow used a 'magazine' which could carry up to ten arrows at once. By simply pulling a lever at the back of the weapon, the user could simply reload the crossbow after firing without the need to pull back the stiff string.
Of course, this by itself would not be enough to bring down the Yeti, but if he somehow managed to pierce the skin, the poison the individual arrowheads had been dipped in would finish the job for him. It was more than the monster deserved.
This time, the Yeti had gone too far. This latest attack, the murder of a medic in the same manner as his father, was the final factor in Monkey's decision. He was going to kill the monster or die trying. For the Furious Five, who stood by him even after his lies had been revealed. For Po, who had come so close to death at the Yeti's hands. For Su, who out of all of them had been endangered the most. For his father, who never made it home to his family.
Monkey filled a small bag with crossbow magazines before travelling to the supplies section. There, he filled his travel pack with the basic essentials: food, water, a spare change of clothes, enough to last three weeks. If hunting down the monster would take that long.
He was sure that no-one had noticed him leave, to pre-occupied by the sudden horrific event. But now several minutes had passed. By now, they would have noticed and started looking. He had to get out while he could.
But first he needed to make one more stop.
Hoisting his travel pack over his shoulders. Monkey leapt through the same window he had entered through and made his way into the main building. In next to no time, he was in his guestroom, strapping his father's dao swords to his pack. With luck, he would be able to succeed where his father had failed and plunge both blades into the monster's vile heart.
He heard voices coming close. Mantis. Shifu. Po.
"I'm sorry, guys." Monkey whispered.
He put on his travel pack, opened the window and fled through it.
Po, Shifu and Mantis burst into the guestroom. Just as they had feared, the dao swords were gone. Thick curtains fluttered in the open window.
"We're too late." Shifu growled.
"Aw, Monkey…" Po sank to his knees. "You stupid big-cheeked moron…"
"Where do you want to start looking for him, Master?" Mantis asked, his eyes unusually wide.
"I…" Shifu leaned his forehead against his staff. "I don't know."
His students stared at him like he had lost his mind. And then Tigress entered the room, looking tired and confused as hell.
"What's going on here?" She asked.
When they told her, her fur turned pale.
"The medic's dead?" She whispered. "And Monkey's… oh god, that idiot."
"So, I guess we're not going to be leaving any time soon." Po said softly.
"No." Shifu said. "That monster was never going to let us leave alive."
"I can't believe it lied like that." Po got back to his feet, looking angrier than the lot of them put together. "And we fell for it like fools."
"It wasn't foolishness, it was hope." Shifu said. "Do not blame yourselves."
"What do you want us to do, Master?" Tigress asked.
"You go back to the other room and keep Su safe. Po, Mantis, gather the others and wait for me outside the entrance doors."
"Wait, where are you going?" Po asked.
"I'm going to pay Tujiu a visit." Shifu replied. "He may be a madman, but he needs to know what has happened."
He took off before his students could reply.
In next to no time he was striding through the ex-general's private mess hall. As he approached the door to Tujiu's quarters, the door opened and the vulture stepped out. His feathers were ruffled and his eyes were harder than usual as he turned his gaze to the red panda.
"What is happening, Shifu?" Tujiu demanded. "I could see some sort of commotion from my window."
"One of the medics has been murdered." Shifu said.
"Good god! Really?!" Tujiu was being sarcastically over-reactive, and they both knew it.
"I'd watch the attitude if I were you." Shifu growled. "He was one of your own men."
"I tried to warn you that the creature would never let you leave."
"So you did, and it seems you were right. Don't think this changes anything for you, though. This fortress is now your prison, and until this crisis is over it is going to stay that way."
"Fair enough. Do you think I could join in on your little meeting? Just to observe?"
Shifu glared at the vulture. Tujiu seemed a little too content with the current situation.
"If you keep your mouth shut, I don't see why not." Shifu eventually said. "Come along."
"In a moment, Shifu." Tujiu said. "Colonel Sao is still in my study. I only came out to greet you when I heard you coming. I still need to brief him on what has just happened."
"Be quick." Shifu said. Tujiu stepped back into his office, where Colonel Sao was still sitting at the map table.
"I overheard you and the grandmaster talking outside." Sao said. Everything about his face but his smoldering eyes was neutral. "So, I take it we're staying here."
Tujiu nodded. Sao slammed his fist on the table in frustration.
"Damn it!" He snapped. "Just when I thought I would get away from this fricking place!"
"Now, now, Sao." Tujiu put a wing on Sao's shoulder. "In case you haven't noticed, we have a great opportunity on our hands."
Sao glared at the vulture incredulously.
"Opportunity, you call it?" The Tibetan fox asked.
"This Yeti appears to be an indiscriminate killer." Tujiu replied calmly. "Anyone could be next."
"Anyone?"
"I'll explain later. Dismissed."
Sao gave Tujiu one more suspicious look before exiting the study, passing Grandmaster Shifu with a curt nod, and disappearing through the far door of the private mess hall. Tujiu stepped out a moment later and returned to Shifu's side.
"Sorry for the wait." Tujiu said. "Shall we?"
Shifu harrumphed. They started walking through the mess hall in the direction of the far door.
There was a flash of red.
The entire far wall was suddenly ablaze.
The farthest tables exploded into fireballs.
The far door melted into the flaming wall and disappeared.
In the midst of it all, a black slender shape slowly stalked towards them.
What?
The inferno seemed to be following the figure's footsteps. The closer she became, the closer the inferno.
Tables burst into flame, were tossed around the room by invisible hands, smashed into fiery pieces against the walls.
They couldn't fight it. The heat was too much.
They backed away, as the fire and its master slowly approached.
Then their backs hit the wall.
They felt the wall behind them begin to crumble as something unimaginably powerful began to push at it. At them. The pressure on their chests was agonizing.
Then the demon pushed once more with its power, and the wall, the red panda, and the vulture were flying, across the now blazing study, through the outer wall.
A fireball the size of a house followed them as they plummeted towards the courtyard below.
O...M...G.