At The Silver Horn Inn...
Tigress, Fan, and Crane were just walking through the entrance to the inn as the sun began to set, staining the sky varying shades of orange. The group walked to the bar area to see everyone gathered around a table, "We were wonderin' when you guys would show up. I'm assumin' you got your intel?" Jian asked, his arms crossed. Fan let out a heavy breath, "Yeah, we got that and some pretty big news." she said. "We've got big news too." Po said with a wide grin, "We found Li." Everyone's jaw dropped at the news, "Really?! Where's the little furball?" Jian asked with a large smile as he looked around the bar and under tables. Mantis smacked Po's arm and glared at him before turning to look at the group, "What he means is that we know how to find her. Well, Yuè knows." he said, correcting himself. "He hasn't told you yet?" Viper asked. Po and Mantis shook their heads, "When we got back he sorta had to blow off some steam. He was pretty mad about something." Po said. Everyone shared concerned looks with each other, "Maybe someone should go talk to him. See what's got him so angry." Fan suggested. "Yeah about that, last time he needed to let out some anger like that, he broke a wooden training post that was four inches thick with his bare hands." Mantis said scratching the back his neck, "I think for all of our safety we should just let him vent." Jian cocked an eyeridge, "Damn. Yu must've been pretty pissed. Maybe I could calm him down. I am his best friend after all." he said, walking toward the stairs.
The crocodile walked to the very end of the hall and stood outside Yuè's room. Beyond the door made of wood and thin rice paper, he saw the silhouette of a wolf sitting in the middle of the room with his legs folded under him. Jian raised a hand to knock on the door when he noticed several small cuts and nicks in the rice paper. "What do you want?" Yuè asked in a grumpy voice just before Jian's hand touched the door. "Po and Mantis said you were pissed about somethin'. I wanna know what." the reptile said bluntly. For a moment Yuè was completely silent and still before sighing and walking to the door. When the wolf slid the door open, Jian saw the anger and frustration Yuè went through. His dual colored eyes were tinged more red than the usual jade and gold, his ears twitched sporadically with rage, and his muzzle creased with a scowl. He stood to the side to allow his friend access to his room. When Jian entered he saw the extent of Yuè's anger. The walls were practically covered with claw marks and the occasional throwing knife. "Looks like you were pretty upset." Jian said as he removed a blade from the wall and sat on the floor. "Livid, is a more appropriate word for it." Yuè said, closing the door and taking a seat on the floor in front of Jian. A momentary silence came between the two before Jian spoke up, "What happened? I've seen you pissed before and it's not a pretty sight. Po and Mantis said something about you finding Li?" he asked. Yuè sighed heavily, "Something like that. I got a lead and when I followed it, it sorta led me to where Li is." he explained. "If anything that should make you pretty happy. Not this." Jian said, gesturing to the markings on the walls, "What happened?" Yuè's ear twitched and his eyes tinged a bit more red, "I was so close to finding her...but it slipped away from me." he said vaguely. "You can always try again. I'm pretty sure you'll get her next time. You're not the type of wolf to give up just 'cus things are hard or tough." Jian encouraged. "I know, it's just, I was so close and to have her slip away like that... I just lost it." Yuè said, sighing heavily.
"C'mon, you're better than that, Yu. So what you've been set back. You're a hunter, and damn stubborn one at that. You don't have set backs. Stuff gets in your way and you improvise until you get past it." Jian said, "Now you can either sit in this room and be pissy, or you can come out and go back to being the sarcastic, rowdy a*** we know as Yuè." A smirk crept across Yuè's muzzle, "Rowdy and sarcastic, I'll take, but I'm not an a***." he said as he punched Jian in the shoulder playfully. "Just a bit. Now c'mon. We got some planning to do and when we're done, I got a surprise for you." Jian said, standing up and moving to the door with Yuè following behind. When the pair reached the stairs all forms of conversation in the bar stopped, leaving only silence. Yu looked around and noticed all the wary and somewhat worried glances, "Let's all pretend I didn't act like a two-year-old pup a few minutes ago and get on with business." he said, earning nods and murmurs of agreement, "Alright then, Jian, Monkey, Viper. Let's see what you got." Jian stepped forward and placed a map of Tan Jin on the wooden table in front of him, "We spotted guard patrols in the bazaar here, here, and here." he said, pointing at various areas on the map. "I saw more lining these roads and alleys." Monkey said pointing to more spots on the map. Yuè marked off the locations using a nearby brush and ink. "Tigress, Fan, Crane. Your turn." the wolf said, gesturing to the team. They proceeded to explain and map out the patrol patterns as well as explain their timing, "Good work. You said you had some big news too, right?" Yuè asked.
Tigress and Fan both had somewhat grim expressions at the mention of their discovery, "We went to the palace in the middle of the city and we found Jūnfá." Tigress said in a dispirited tone. Yuè cocked an eyebrow, "This is great information and all, but why would you go to the palace?" he asked curiously. Fan spoke up, "I was curious. It was heavily guarded and I wanted to know why. As well as get a few...souvenirs." she said with a wry and ashamed grin. Yuè crossed his arms, slightly disappointed at the reckless action, "You could've led someone here and put everyone in this inn in danger. *sigh* At least tell me you got some good intel on this guy...or at least something valuable since you've got sticky fingers." he said scrubbing a hand down his face. Fan reached into a small pack on her hip and placed the rubies on the table. "Jūnfá's the leader of this whole attack on the city as we know, but he's more ruthless than we could've imagined. He doesn't care for the lives of his soldiers and is more than willing to kill them himself." Tigress said as the memory of the dying soldier flashed in her mind, "The tiger you interrogated a few days ago, at the outpost, proved it. Jūnfá bit him and he started foaming at the mouth, seizing up, then...died." Yuè looked off in thought, 'A seizure and foaming at the mouth from a bite?' he thought to himself, "Jūnfá must be a komodo dragon. Those guys are the worst. Their mouths are full of bacteria and venom, and if you don't get the wound treated fast...well, you saw what happens." He paused with an exasperated sigh. "A pretty bad way to go out. You did good though. This is pretty valuable information. We can get to planning out next move soon." Yuè said.
"What about you?" Viper asked, "Po and Mantis say you know where Li is." Yuè was silent for a moment before speaking up, "I met with a contact, who turned out to be a huge prick by the way, that pointed me in the direction of a fortune teller." Jian's eyes widened, "You went to a fortune teller? I thought you said they were all huge fakes?" he asked incredulously. "They are. Just not this one apparently. Anyway, she pointed me to someone with a black hood and no more than a few minutes after I left the shop, I saw the black hood. I chased the guy through the streets until I hit a dead end and he vanished. Couldn't even pick up his scent." Yuè said in a disgruntled voice, his anger slowly boiling but still kept at bay. "Well, now seems as good a time as any for the surprise." Jian said cheerfully as he reached for a small burlap sack hanging from his hip. Yuè looked on in bewilderment and curiosity, "What's that and why didn't I notice it before?" he asked. Jian chuckled lightly, "You were a little 'livid' at the time." he said as he opened the sack and removed the parchment covered gift. A faint smell permeated the room with Yuè's sensitive nose being one of the only ones to recognize the scent, "No way!" he said cheering up instantly. Jian placed the parchment on the table and unwrapped it, revealing the slabs of meat glistening in the light of the room. "I found a butcher while we were scouting out the market. Thought you'd like it." he said with a wide grin. A wide smile spread across Yuè's muzzle as his jaw hung open slightly, tongue hanging as drool fell onto the hardwood floor of the bar. "So, exactly how much of it is mine?" he asked as he held in the urge let out a joyful bark. "You get one, I get one, and the rest is for everyone else. If they wanna try some." Jian said with a smirk as he looked to Po and the Five, their eyes wide from the sight of the meat.
Yuè quickly snatched up his slice and immediately dug in, tearing a large chunk of flesh with his sharp canines. He closed his eyes as he blissfully savored the taste of the meat, somewhat sweet on his taste buds with a strong, bitter, metallic aftertaste – blood. Normally the taste of blood would cause one to stop eating and spit the food out, but Yuè's more feral instincts allowed him to enjoy the taste and relish the flavor. The wolf was so caught up in his meal that he hadn't noticed the bewildered and disgusted looks on the faces of Po and the Five. Just as he was about to take another bite, Yuè looked up and saw the looks on their faces, "What?" he asked unabashed. "You...do realize that hasn't been cooked yet, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but people that eat meat usually cook it, right?" Crane asked uncertainly. Yuè wiped the saliva and a bit of beef from his muzzle, "It's optional. Well, for me and Jian at least. I grew up on it so it's an acquired taste." he said as he chomped down into the meat. Po and the Five cringed at the sight of the wolf eating the flesh and let out a collective disgusted groan. Monkey covered his mouth to keep from vomiting, Crane nearly fainted, and everyone else turned away until they heard the satisfied sigh of a content lupine. "Are you done?" Tigress asked in a disgusted tone. Yuè chuckled, "Yeah, I'm done. So does that mean you guys don't want yours?" he asked with a grin. All at once they clamored to object without hesitation. Yuè cringed slightly, his ears folding back, "Okaay. Guess I'll be taking that other stea-" he said turning to see the other steak missing. The wolf looked around the bar to see where it went. He turned to see Jian smirking with a satisfied look on his face and licking his snout and patting his belly. "Seriously?" Yuè asked incredulously, cocking an eyebrow. "What?" Jian asked innocently, feigning bewilderment. Yuè scoffed before walking off, "What'd I do?"Jian asked with a chuckle.
An Hour and a Half Later...
The occupants of the inn all slept soundly, everyone rested with either a soft snore or the absence of snoring, except Jian whose snoring still caused the inn to shake. However, one guest was wide awake. Yuè was awake, tossing and turning in his bed with thoughts of the events that occurred earlier, how he allowed the kidnapper to escape because he wasn't fast enough. With a sigh he sat up, 'Get over it. You need sleep if you wanna catch him.' he thought to himself. He looked around the darkness of his room, his night vision adjusting so he can see. He saw the scratches marking the walls, each one a product of unbridled rage caused by failure. He growled quietly as the mere thought caused his anger to resurface, 'No. No sleep. I'm gonna make this right. Tonight.' he thought as he climbed outta bed. Yuè quickly got dressed in his leather vest, a pair of black pants, and his black shroud, putting his hood over his head with his ears poking out of openings at the top. He strapped a sheathed dagger across the small of his back and began thinking about a stealthy way to leave the inn without waking anyone. A moment later he looked to the window on the back wall of the room. He opened the shutters to a small flurry of snow lightly pelting the city. Yuè looked back to his room one more time before climbing out and landing in a small snow drift, the powder cushioning his fall. He looked around and sniffed the air to see if a guard or any other unwanted guests were nearby. Seeing the coast was clear, the lupine took off into the night and began retracing the route he took to chase the kidnapper.
The wind howled through city streets. The frigid air slowly caused Yuè's tail and ear fur to frost over slightly. A he walked he would occasionally pass street lamps, their light piercing the darkness. "Damn it's cold." Yuè said quietly to himself. As he trudged through the snow, the lupine watched his surroundings carefully to keep an eye and ear out for guards that may be on patrol. "Like anyone's actually out here. The only soul out in this weather is a stupid, desperate wolf. *sigh* I should've stayed at the inn." he said to himself. After a few minutes of walking, Yuè decided to take a break and leaned against the wall of a closed shop. The mini-blizzard began to let up and the wind dissipated, causing snow to fall more gently. Yuè reached a hand out a caught a snowflake in his palm, the spec of frozen rain quickly melted from his body heat causing a brief memory flashed in his mind. Several years ago, after Li was born, she experienced her first winter and was captivated by the snowflakes. However, when she found out they disappeared when she touched them, the 3-year-old pup became sad and began to cry. Yuè comforted her by telling Li that the snowflakes were playing a game of tag and they left because she was 'it'. This comforted the young wolf because tag was her favorite game next to 'follow the leader'.
Yuè's trance was broken by the clattering of roof tiles above him. He looked up only to be met with a face full of snow. Quickly shaking it off, Yuè jumped onto the edge of the roof and pulled himself up onto the top of the building. Before him he saw the expanses of countless other rooftops, but what really caught his attention was a figure dressed in all black crouching near the roofs edge. He quickly sniffed the air and found the figure had the exact same scent as the man with the black hood, they were even wearing a black hood. "Nice night to be standing on a roof, eh?" he asked. The man quickly looked up, his deep blue eyes were barely visible in the dark of the night and his muzzle was covered by a black face cover. "Who are you?" he asked, or rather she asked. Yuè noticed the pitch of the voice was too high to be male, 'A girl?' he thought to himself. "Who I am isn't important. However, who you are, is a bit more interesting to me." he said crossing his arms. She stood up and placed a hand on her hip, "Why? Tryin' to set up a date?" she asked in a flirty tone. Yuè looked closer and noticed the two ears sticking out of the openings in her hood, one missing the entire top half, "Not interested in a date. I wanna know where you're holding my daughter." he said in a more serious voice. One of her ears cocked to the side in confusion, "Daughter? I don't have a clue what you're talking about." she said in bewilderment. Yuè bit back the growl threatening to rise from his throat, "A little girl. Wolf, green eyes with a bit of blue. Ringing any bells?" he asked in a more agitated tone. The stranger shook her head, "Nope. Still in the dark." she said. "How about this, she has fur as white as snow." Yuè said, putting emphasis on the last three words. The stranger's eyes went wide and her ears perked up, "So Jong must've found me, huh?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as she began to crouch slightly and subtly reached behind her back. Yuè crouched low as well, suspecting the stranger to run, "I don't care about Jong right now. I'm just looking for my daughter. If you have her I wanna know. Otherwise we gotta do this-" he said before being cutoff by an arrow flying toward him. He turned sideways to dodge it and saw it land beside his foot. He looked back up to see the stranger running off and jumping to the next building over, "-the hard way." Yuè said, finishing his sentence before taking to all fours to chase down the kidnapper.