The skies were as clear as water that morning.
The breeze was light and the sun was soft on the eyes.
Perfect weather for a speech.
Emperor Xian stood before the mass of imperial soldiers that gathered in the fortress's courtyard, taking in the many weary yet attentive faces. Every single surviving man was here, waiting for their ruler to speak.
Master Eagle Jr. stood to his right. No-one stood to his left. Su and Di Tan were absent, busy entertaining themselves in the library, with Shifu watching over them in case Tujiu and Sao made a reappearance.
The armor Xian bore, shining darkly on his torso, felt light and cold, even though he was still wearing his vest underneath. He didn't bother with a helmet, but a glimmering sword hung by his side.
His audience continued to wait. Xian closed his eyes as he thought about what he was about to say. And then he spoke.
"With the passing of the storm, I have decided to use this opportunity to speak to you all." He said. The soldiers stayed silent. "Firstly, I believe I owe you all an apology." Several of them actually looked surprised. "None of you would be in this predicament if I had not given to authorization for this ill-fated expedition. If I had even been remotely aware of how this would end, I would never have allowed General Tujiu to bring you all here. For that, I am sorry."
There was a murmur here and there, but what shocked Xian was the fact that the minute he'd finished his statement, no-one was glaring at him. Not one of the men was giving him an accusing look, or eyes full of blame and hatred. Why weren't they blaming him?
A moment later Xian understood why. They already had someone else to blame.
"As you all know, we have had many tragedies befall us over the last few weeks. More than a hundred of your comrades have died at the hands of a brutal and intelligent killer. As I have already said, if we had not been here, none of this would have happened. While I blame myself partially for these events, I feel that the former General Tujiu is also holds some responsibility."
More murmurs, and this time, they were of agreement. Xian suspected that they had been blaming Tujiu long before Xian, Shifu and the Jade Palace masters came to the fortress.
"You may not know this, but when I received word of the murders, I had sent repeated orders for Tujiu to cancel the expedition and organize a full retreat. Every one he has ignored. And so I feel he is mostly to blame. I also believe that Colonel Sao holds some responsibility as well. It has recently come to my attention that he and Tujiu have been conspiring together. For what and why I do not know. But both Tujiu and Sao have been missing for the last several days."
The murmurs got a little louder. Xian waited for the murmurs to fade before continuing. This was good. Everyone here knew Tujiu was responsible. It would make what he was about so say next a lot easier to get across.
"Every single one of you, the moment you enlisted in the imperial army, swore an oath of allegiance to the royal family. Now I want every single one of you to live up to that oath. As of this moment, General Tujiu and Colonel Sao are officially traitors, and must be brought to justice. If anyone sees or hears any sign of Tujiu and Sao's whereabouts, they must report it immediately so they can be apprehended. If I find that anyone is withholding information, or worse, harboring these traitors, it will be considered not only treason, but the ultimate dishonor. Is that clear?"
Silence. Xian decided to take it as a yes.
"Good." He said.
Now for the hard part. He never was very good at speeches. He could see the hopelessness and grief in many of their faces. Bringing back hope was not going to be easy.
Unless… he didn't have to.
Xian's eyes widened as he remembered who he was talking to. Soldiers. Warriors of all ages and all species who all had one thing in common: they were all willing to die to protect their country. Even though that wasn't entirely true, Tujiu and Sao being prime examples, Xian realized that hope that they would all get out of this alive wasn't what they needed; they all knew it was false hope. What they needed was a purpose. A mission. For the last few days all they've done was patrol around aimlessly waiting for death.
And now that was about to change.
"As I have said, we have lost many men these last few weeks. Every one of us has lost comrades. Some of them were even friends. I know how it feels to lose someone you care about. If you've ever heard of the fire that destroyed the royal palace nearly three decades ago, then you know I'm telling the truth." As he spoke, Xian put a paw on his chest armor. Beneath the armor and his vest, the locket rested against his aching heart. "I am asking you now… do not let their deaths be in vain. Remember why you came here in the first place. Your job is to protect this fortress and ensure that it does not fall into the hands of the enemy. With the storm gone, an attack from our enemy could occur at any moment. Remember why we have claimed this fortress. This building possesses powerful secrets, secrets that in the wrong hands, could spell catastrophe for China. Every one of you must defend this building to the very last man."
No murmurs this time, but a few doubtful looks from those who looked the most despairing.
"I'm not asking for obedience. I'm asking you to trust. Trust that when this is over, not just our lives will be saved, but our country too. Trust that honor, loyalty, and teamwork will be enough to get us through the days ahead."
Xian took a step back, the most important part of his speech finished. Now to finish off.
"With General Tujiu no longer available, I have now fully passed on command to my ally, Master Eagle Jr. Not only is he proficient in kung fu, he has military experience. From now on, he is officially in command of this army."
The whispering that followed was louder than ever. Positive or negative, Xian wasn't sure, but right now he couldn't care less. His speech was finished, and right now he wanted nothing more than to be in the company of friends.
Xian stepped back into the main building, leaving Eagle Jr. to step forward and begin his first action as acting commander-in-chief, and made his way to the library to check up on Shifu and the others.
As always, the halls he wandered through were empty and quiet, a lot different than back home in the royal palace. As a child he would pretend he was a kung fu master, having desired to learn the art longer before he was sent to the jade palace to learn the skills of manhood, and play in the many corridors, punching and kicking at invisible enemies and shouting like a lunatic. Of course at the end of every day his father would sit him down very gently and remind him that he was a prince, and as a prince you could do many things, but behaving like a toddler in full view of the servants was not one of them. Xian smiled at the memory. His father had never been a strict man, but he had always held honor very close to his heart. That was probably the reason why he had been sent to the jade palace when he was a teen.
Xian stepped into the last corridor before the library. He approached the sharp bend.
Don't let them take me.
Xian froze mid step.
Who had said that?
Xian's tea colored eyes scanned the corridor ahead. The voice had definitely come from right in front of him.
Why did you come here? Do you know who they are?
Xian stepped forward towards the sound of the voice. He blinked. Did he just see someone peek out from around the corner?
"Hey!"
Xian started running. Whoever that was, it definitely wasn't someone he knew.
He reached the corner, arm reached out to grab whoever he had just seen-
"Konnichiwa!"
Xian found himself staring down at a little panda girl who was looking cheerfully back with beautiful dark blue eyes.
"Huh?" Xian wasn't quite sure what he'd heard.
"O genki desu ka?"
On a bench sitting against the wall, Di Tan was chuckling at Xian's puzzled expression.
"Su, sweetheart, I don't think he understands Japanese."
"Japanese?" Xian asked. Suddenly it clicked. "Ah! Japanese!" He quickly glanced around the library. Su was standing in front of him. Di Tan was sitting on a bench. Shifu was just emerging from the entrance to the second library. There was no-one else in the room. "Actually my father taught me a few languages. It's one of the things a future ruler needs to know." Xian knelt down to Su's level. "Hai, genki desu. Anata wu?"
"Hai, genki desu." Su replied sweetly. It was so endearing that for a moment Xian forgot about his strange encounter. Xian smiled back at her and looked at Shifu.
"Do you mind telling me why she's speaking Japanese all of a sudden?" He asked.
Shifu jerked his thumb at Di Tan.
"Hey, when I asked her about all these languages she learned, I didn't mean to flip a switch!" Di Tan replied defensively.
"To cut a long story short, we came across these Japanese scrolls, our conversation moved to Su knowing Japanese, and now she's showing off." Shifu replied dryly. "She probably reckoned that we didn't believe her when she said she knew five languages."
"Do you have any idea what she's saying?" Di Tan asked.
"Well, just now she asked, 'Hello, how are you?" Xian replied. Su shuffled her feet bashfully. "And I said I was fine, and asked how she was. She said she was fine, too. By that way, that was very good."
"Domo." Su replied happily.
"Su, I think you've proved your point." Di Tan said warmly. "Would you like to go back to speaking mandarin, now?"
"Okay!" Su spoke. "Oh and Master Shifu… Anata wa subarashīdesu!"
Shifu raised his eyebrows.
"And what does that mean?"
"It means, 'you are awesome!" Su replied. "I thought it might be something Po would like to learn! He said once that he always wanted to try Japanese food. I thought he'd like to know how to say all his weird catchphrases in another language. Another one I'm thinking about is Anata ga sono saigo no dango o motte iru tsumoridesu ka?"
Xian stifled his laughter.
"What does that mean?"
Su gave her most genuinely innocent look.
"It means, 'are you going to have that last dumpling?"
Di Tan snorted into the book he was reading while Shifu lifted a hand to cover the huge grin on his face.
"What's 'skadoosh' in Japanese?" Shifu asked.
Su rubbed her chin. "I'm sorry, I don't know that one. I never said my Japanese was perfect. Maybe he'd like to learn Ow, watashi no nyūsatsu!"
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Xian didn't know this particular phrase, and was looking forward to finding out.
"Um, it means 'ow, my tenders.'"
Shifu hunched over as he fought to keep from laughing. Xian and Di Tan had lost that battle before it even begun. Su stared at the three of them in confusion, innocently wondering what she had done to make them laugh so hard, until they eventually calmed down.
"I absolutely love that kid!" Di Tan wiped tears from his eyes as Su tilted her head, still very puzzled. "I am definitely telling my family about this when I get home!"
"What? What did I do?" Su asked.
"I'll tell you when you're older." Di Tan said, now calmed down somewhat. He then got up from the bench. "Right, I think I'll go to the kitchen and whip up something!"
"I'll go with you." Xian said. "Until Tujiu and his accomplice are found I don't want you going anywhere on your own."
"Oh alright." Di Tan said, though he looked a little disgruntled. "So there's still no sign of that two-faced trouble-maker?"
Xian shook his head.
"Either he's fled or plotting something. Until he's either found or confirmed no longer in this fortress, I want you under watch at all times. There's a chance he might end up using you or Su as a hostage."
Di Tan gulped.
"I see." He said. "Su, would you like to come with us? Didn't you say you wanted to practice your cooking?"
"Hai!" Su ran to Di Tan's side.
"I'll take that as a yes." The goose chuckled. "Xian, you'll have to teach me the lingo, sometime.
"Count on it-" Xian stopped mid-sentence when a soldier stepped into the room.
"Your highness." He spoke respectfully.
"What news?" Xian asked simply.
"Master Eagle Jr. sends his apologies, but he is unable to speak to you himself at the moment. He has told me to inform you that the defense strategy is in place and every soldier is at their designated post."
"Good." Xian said.
"He has also requested that you remain within this building at all times, for your own safety. He said that despite your fighting ability you are still the Emperor, and it is our duty to protect you, and it will be safer it you remain indoors where it is more secure."
"Well that's fair enough." Xian sighed. "Anything else?"
"He has also requested that you and Grandmaster Shifu meet with him as soon as possible to discuss battle strategy. He has arranged for Mr. Di Tan and the girl-"
"Her name is Su." Shifu spoke sharply.
"Su, my apologies." The soldier corrected himself. "He has arranged for them to be watched by four guards during the meeting."
"Very well. Tell him we will be there straight away." Xian said. "You may go."
The soldier bowed and left.
"Alright, let's go." Xian said. "Su, Di Tan, you'd better come with us until we meet this guard."
Now that the storm had passed, he could get back to work.
The Yeti pulled the sack full of powder kegs from the crack in the rock and made his way back up the mountain.
He could no longer use the back entrance, he thought with anger. The place had been compromised, and though it was unlikely that anyone other than the panda and tiger would come across it any time soon, it was too risky. Fortunately there were others ways into the city, ways only he and Ember knew.
The Yeti slung the sack over his shoulder, took a lingering look at the fortress far away and kept moving.
He felt her stir. She was getting restless. The measures taken to suppress her anger were getting weaker by the hour. Soon the monsters who'd hurt her would be suffering before she was ever released.
The Yeti felt mild pleasure at the thought, but turned away from the fortress and tightened his grip on the sack of explosive powder.
He had a lot of work to do before the first attack.