Not for the first time, Viper felt immensely grateful for the winter coat Haoxin had given her as she burrowed through the snow.

Judging from the changes of light and dark coming from the small hole above them, they had been stranded underground for two or three days. The sound of the wind outside had been their only indicator that the storm was still raging around them. Now, the wind had subsided, and all was quiet. And that meant it was now safe to get out.

Now Viper was burrowing through the snow that was blocking the cave she, Mantis and Crane had been residing in, relying only on her sense of direction to find the surface. Back in the cave, Mantis was digging at the snow with a small spoon, and Viper doubted that he was making a lot of progress. She had refused to allow Crane to join in the effort, both because of his still broken wing and his near death experience in the avalanche that had trapped them.

She would probably get dirty looks from the others if she said it out loud, but she had found the experience of being stuck in a cave for a couple of days not as bad as she had thought it would be. Because the hole provided ventilation, it had been deemed safe to light a small campfire. Once the cave had been lit and warm, Viper and her fellow warriors had engaged in what everyone did around a fire nowadays: telling stories. They weren't exactly given away long held personal secrets, exactly, just reflecting on the all the missions and battles they had partaken in prior to Po's arrival at the Jade Palace. The battle of weeping river had been the longest tale to tell: Mantis had insisted on giving a blow-by-blow account of every enemy he had defeated in that battle… 1000 to be precise. Neither Viper or Crane could bring themselves to tell Mantis to never mind the details, and for good reason. A little after they had gotten settled in the cave, the bug had started to panic. As he had frantically explained to Crane and Viper, Po and Tigress may be stuck somewhere on the mountain, but had each other to rely on. But Monkey didn't. He was on his own, in the middle of a storm, probably in the middle of a life or death battle with the Yeti as they spoke. Viper and Crane hadn't been surprised by Mantis's fear: he and Monkey had been best friends since they had first pranked each other. Even now, as Viper continued to force her way through the snow, she knew that Mantis was still worried for his buddy.

Suddenly Viper could no longer feel the cold snow against the scales of her head: she had reached the surface. She gasped in relief as she took in the snow that consumed everything within half a mile, the open air and the sky. It was evening, and there was a cool breeze that compared to the freezing howling wind of the storm felt like a soft breath.

Viper grinned and dug back down into the snow to report back to her comrades. It would take a few hours for her and Mantis to dig a hole big enough to get the injured Crane through, and after that, their first priority was to get him back to the fortress for medical attention. Then, now that the storm had passed, she and Mantis would go back out and reunite with Po and Tigress, who if they had done what Crane had told them to should still be at the back entrance to the city of Shambhala. Even now, Viper still found the fact that the fortress was connected to a mythical city hard to believe.

And then, if Po and Tigress weren't severely injured, they would resume the search for the wayward Monkey.

And once they found him, Viper would give the primate a damn good thrashing.

In the kitchen of the fortress of White Fortitude, sitting at a table in the middle of the room, Xian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Di Tan was busying himself with washing the dishes. He had been doing a lot of catering for the last few days.

"Does this person wield a weapon?" Xian asked.

"Yeah." Said Su.

"Is it a sword?" Xian asked.

"No."

"Is it… a staff?" Shifu asked.

"Yeah."

"So here's what I know so far… it's a kung fu master, he's male, he's a mammal, and he wields a staff in combat." Xian said. "And it's not Shifu."

"We're not allowed to use people currently living in this fortress, remember? You've got about eight questions left." Su replied.

"Okay… does this person have a bushy or a hairless tail?" Xian asked.

"Bushy."

"Does he have big ears?" Shifu asked.

"Yeah."

"Does he look like a sunburnt Master Shifu?" Xian asked.

Shifu glared at the tiger.

"Yeah!" Su said excitedly.

Xian grinned like a kid.

"It's Master Firefox!" He declared.

"Yeah! You win!"

"Excuse me!" Shifu snapped, looking more than a little offended. "I look nothing like Master Firefox!"

"Actually, if you'd dye your fur and trim your tail so it'd have a point at the end, you could pass as his big brother." Xian replied. "And I'm being nice by saying 'brother'."

"Ha, ha." Shifu replied sarcastically. "If we must continue this game, then I believe it is Xian's turn."

"Oh, okay." Xian said. There was a pause as he thought. "Okay, I got it."

"Is it a girl?" Su asked the question first.

The game of guessing a kung fu master was one of many Xian, Shifu, Su and Di Tan had played every night since the storm began and trapped them within the walls of the fortress. Master Eagle Jr. was elsewhere, either debriefing the sentries, observing battle plans or searching for the missing Tujiu and Sao. As the days had gone by, their sudden disappearance after the destruction of the vulture's office had grown more and more disturbing. Where had they gone? Are they still somewhere in the fortress or had they fled? If they were still here, what were they planning? It was these thoughts that had driven Xian to practically order Eagle Jr. to search non-stop until the two were found. It was also these thoughts that had driven him to spend nearly every moment of his free time around Su to make sure she wasn't on her own, playing guessing games with her, reading in the two libraries, and overall making sure she wasn't too badly traumatized by all that had happened.

Xian was secretly astounded at how well the girl was taking it. She wasn't exactly acting childish and cheerful, as if she truly didn't understand what was going on as many children her age did. Rather, she was being very calm most of the time. She always did as she was told, she never got in the way, and never spoke unless spoken to. The only sign that she had been affected by recent events was her extreme reluctance to go to sleep every night.

Truth be told, it unnerved him. The honest way to put it was that Su's ability to cope was unnatural. She didn't react to situations like most kids do, and when she did, she got over it unusually quickly. There was also her brilliance. For some reason, she never displayed it until it was convenient. Not for the first time, it occurred to Xian that Su may not entirely have the mind of a child.

Was this why Tujiu had been so interested in her? Had her brilliance and unusual ability to adapt to even the most horrific of situations intrigued the vulture into considering her as an asset? If so, then all the more reason to play with Su and make sure she had company. If Tujiu had decided that she would become an asset after all, then Xian wasn't going to let the crazy bird have a chance to spirit her away.

Perhaps this was the same reason Shifu had joined them. After all, Xian had never known the red panda to take part in silly games such as this, even before Tai Lung.

"Master Flying Rhino." Shifu said after the eighteenth question.

"Yes." Xian said.

"I guess it's my turn then." Shifu said. "Alright, I have my answer. Start asking."

"Are you Master Yao?" Su asked.

There was a heavy pause.

"This is why I hate this game." Shifu said coolly. "Why don't we do something else?"

"Actually, it's getting late." Xian fought back a yawn. "Su, go on and get some sleep."

Su didn't move. She stared down at the table, lips pressed together nervously. Xian knew why. He exchanged glances with Di Tan. The goose sighed sympathetically, dried the last cup and walked over to Su.

"Come on, dear. I'll help you get comfortable."

It was this gentle nudging that allowed Di Tan to lead Su out the room.

Once they were alone, Xian turned to Shifu.

"You're been moody all day." He said. "You're still worried about your students, aren't you?"

"If we'd done the smart thing and left this place when we had the chance, then they wouldn't be stranded out in the most dangerous place in Asia." Shifu spoke. He spoke very quietly, his eyes cast down. "Maybe they're already dead."

"Stop blaming yourself, and don't worry about Tigress." Xian replied. "Don't forget that she has five loyal comrades to take care of her, and Eagle Jr. had made sure they'd taken the necessary medical supplies."

"I know, I know. But Tigress is still my daughter, even though I never treated her like one. I'm just afraid that I may never be able to set things right."

"Don't worry, you will. Now that the storm is over and it's no longer suicide to go outside, I'm sure your students will be back soon." When Shifu didn't reply, he added, "Look, if there's no sign of them by the morning after next, we'll head out to look for them ourselves. We still have the co-ordinates for the lost city, we can start there."

Tujiu was sleeping.

He was mumbling, but he was definitely asleep.

Slowly, silently, Colonel Sao climbed out of his sleeping bag and reached into the small bag. It was difficult rummaging around in the dark, but he didn't dare light a lantern. He pulled out the mirror of communication, stood up, and crept out of the room where they had been hiding for the last several days.

He entered a room where spare mechanical parts were kept and shut the door. Then he lit the lamp, allowing himself to see the mirror clearly.

He held the mirror up to his face and waited.

He knew he would be waking her up, and Hei Nuwang would be angry. But right now he had no choice but to speak to her alone. He just hoped she would have enough patience to listen.

A few minutes passed, and then he saw her face in the mirror. Sure enough, she looked ready to strangle him.

"Tujiu, I ought to eat your heart for-" She stopped, mildly surprised despite her anger. "Oh, you're the colonel. Do you know what time this is?"

"I'm sorry, my lady, but this was the only time I could speak with you without Tujiu knowing."

Hei Nuwang didn't reply for a few seconds.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

"I'm worried about Tujiu." Sao said. "We thought that if we hid ourselves, then we wouldn't have the emperor and the grandmaster breathing down our necks. But I fear it's made things worse."

"Go on."

"He's losing it." Sao spoke quietly and quickly. "A few days ago, he could keep it under control whenever our enemies were present, but down here it's gotten worse. He keeps muttering about Xian and how he's ruined everything for him. Even you would be disturbed by the things he's said. I am worried that he's letting his grudge with Xian overcome him."

"Why do I not have a surprised feeling?" Hei Nuwang asked. She leaned closer to the mirror's surface. Her purple eyes seemed to be glowing, and she was showing off her fangs with a cruel smile. "Colonel Sao, can I tell you a little secret?"

Nervously, Sao nodded.

"I've been contemplating how to get rid of him for a long time." She said cheerfully. "And thanks to Tujiu's brilliant idea to send a message to the Valley of Peace, I had a lovely idea!"

"What did you do?" Sao asked cautiously.

"Let's just say that the royal family now knows Tujiu for the insane imbecile he is. Now back to business. What do you expect me to do something about him?" Hei Nuwang asked icily.

"Nothing." Sao said quickly. "All I ask for is your approval."

"Approval?"

"Lady Hei Nuwang, the reason why I am telling you this is because I feel that Tujiu is becoming a liability. If he completely loses it, he could jeopardize the mission. I am requesting permission to eliminate him if I decide he's become too dangerous."

Hei Nuwang tilted her head. Sao waited for her answer. And then, she smiled.

"Well, nice to know someone respects my authority. Fine, you have my permission."

"Thank you, my-"

"I'm not finished." Hei Nuwang spoke. "First, I want you to follow his plan. Let him create a little chaos in the fortress. And then you can decide his fate. Personally, I hope you decide to eviscerate the fool. Let his guts spill to the floor and stink the place up like a dead horse in august."

"Y-Yes, my lady."

"Once things quiet down, there will be many casualties. With luck, the Yeti will be one of them. I want you to finish off all those who are not loyal to the order and then secure the sarcophagus."

"What if the Yeti reaches the sarcophagus before I do?"

"Then you will be deemed a failure like Tujiu and killed."

"Oh."

"However…" Hei Nuwang suddenly looked thoughtful. "There is a little something you can do for me… something that will allow me to forgive you if you fail to acquire the sarcophagus…"

"What do you want?"

"It's very simple. All you have to do is…"