It was nearing the end of the afternoon by the time the stagecoach had reached The Valley of Peace and everyone inside could feel the balmy mid-summer air, quite the contrast from the frigid mountains of the north. The water buffalo turned out to be much faster than anticipated. It had taken the warriors three days to reach Tan Jin but only a bit more than half a day to get back. The bovines pulling the carriage must've taken a shortcut that drastically cut the time. Upon reaching the village Po and the others could see people lining the streets and cheering the Dragon Warrior and Furious Five's return. Part of Yuè wished that the people hailed his return as well, but he knew he wasn't a hero. Never was, never would be. He'd always be a wolf that hunted anyone with enough coin on their head to feed him and his daughter, and he wouldn't want it any other way. Besides, he always thought that fame was overrated. The carriage had come to a stop in front of the steps leading to the Jade Palace and the group of warriors disembarked. The moment their feet had touched the paved streets, a mob of fans and well-wishers swarmed Po and the Five all cheering for their return. Yuè watched the sight with his daughter, Jian, Kuo, and Fan all by his side, "Bet you wish that was you right now, eh Yu?" Jian asked, whispering to the wolf. Yuè shook his head with a soft grin, "Nah. I hate crowds. They get in the way." he said half-jokingly. He looked back at the carriage and walked over to the water buffalo that pulled it, "Could you guys wait up for a minute? There's somethin' I gotta do." he asked. They shrugged and allowed the wolf to go on his way. Yuè cut through the crowd with ease, Li riding on his shoulders, and made his way to Po and the Five. He took Li off of his shoulders and placed the pup on the ground next to him. The crowd went silent, watching to see what the wolf was up to.
Yuè looked down to Li and nodded. They both place a fist in the palm of their hands and simultaneously bowed, "Thank you Dragon Warrior," Yuè said rising from the bow, "Without your help I wouldn't have been able to find my daughter. For that, you have my eternal gratitude." Po waved it off, "Don't sweat it. It's what I do." Yuè chuckled, "Right, the whole hero thing. Suits you perfectly, panda." he said. Po playfully punched Yuè in the shoulder, "You're a hero too. Without you we wouldn't have come up with those plans in Tan Jin to defeat Jūnfá. You deserve just as much credit, you and your friends." the panda said, gesturing over to Jian and Fan. The crowd turned to them and cheered their praises as well, Jian waving to the crowd and soaking up the glory accredited to him, Fan only facepalmed and laughed at the prideful display. Yuè chuckled at the crocodile, "Well feel free to pass my credit on to someone else. I'm not cut out to be a hero. I already got a job. I'm a hunter...and I'm a dad. But right now, I need to be one of those things." he said, picking Li up and placing her on his shoulders again. "So what's your next move?" Po asked curiously. Yuè let out a sigh and looked around the crowd, noticing people standing together with their families. Reminding him of the life he had with Li before the kidnapping. "During this journey I almost died more times than on any bounty I've ever taken. To say the least, I need a vacation and there's no one I'd rather take one with than this little bundle of joy sitting on my shoulders. I'm gonna head back to Tan Jin and settle back in our home. Try to catch up on five months worth of lost time." he said, bouncing Li and making her giggle.
"Sounds like a plan. Think we'll see you again?" Po asked. "Maybe, but I hope so. I want a rematch." he said pointing a finger at Po with mock seriousness. The panda chuckled, "You sure? I kicked your butt pretty good." he teased. "Keep talkin' panda. I'll make you eat those words." Yuè joked, the both of them sharing a laugh. Suddenly, Yuè felt a tap on the top of his head, "Daddy, what's up there?" Li asked, pointing up the stairs leading to the Jade Palace. The wolf smiled brightly, "The Jade Palace is up there. That's where the Dragon Warrior lives." he said to the pup. Li smiled brightly and bounced with joy, "Can we go up there? Please?!" she begged. "I don't know pup. We should get going before the sun gets too low." Yuè said, his voice tinging with a bit of disappointment. Li's ears folded back and she whined lowly, sad that she wouldn't be able to see the home of the Dragon Warrior. "But," Yuè began, "If Po says it's okay, then I don't think we have a choice." he said with a smile. Li looked at Po, eyes wide and pleading, ears folded back. "How could I say 'no' to a cute face like that?" Po said with a chuckle as he ruffled the fur on Li's head. "Yay! Let's go Daddy!" the pup cheered. Yuè chuckled, "Okay, okay. Hold on tight." he told her before going on all fours and began to run up the stairs leading to the Jade Palace. Li clung tightly to the scruff of Yuè's neck as he dashed up the stairs.
The lupine had missed doing things like this with his daughter. During the run up he'd started to look back at his life with Li and the time he'd missed out on due to work and the most recent venture. He'd always been busy and traveling for work so he could make enough money to put food on the table so he and his pup wouldn't starve. But was missing all that time with her worth it? Look where it lead, a psychotic takin hiring an assassin to kill the only family he had left, the assassin kidnapping Li to keep her safe from harm, and a dangerous journey to get her back. Looking back at the adventure made Yuè realize just how much Li meant to him and more. If anything, the risk was well worth the reward. He had gotten his daughter back and along the way became allies with some of the greatest kung fu masters in China, the legendary Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five.
The canine had come out of his self-reflection to look around the sights of the mountain. The sun had begun to set, turning the once blue sky into a bright red-orange. A brisk summer breeze flew through his fur, sending a chill down his spine and making him shiver a bit. Looking up the stairs, Yuè realized he was nearing his destination: the Jade Palace. Just a few more steps and he would be at the Dragon Warrior's doorstep. On his back he could feel the weight of his daughter, the one who had put him up to taking her to the sacred location. Moments later he had reached the top of the stairs and barely felt any fatigue. This wasn't the case for Po, who had been right behind Yuè. The Dragon Warrior was several feet below Yuè and was panting from running up the tall flight of stairs. The two wolves laughed at the sight, "Havin' trouble keepin' up down there?" Yuè called down to Po. The panda chuckled, "Ha ha, very funny. Just gimme a minute, I'll be up there." he called back. Li tapped on Yuè's head and pointed to his far right, "Daddy, look at the sun. Isn't it pretty?" she asked. Yuè, still on all fours, walked to the far right edge of the patio and sat on his haunches, gazing at the slow fall of the star, "Yeah, pup. Very pretty." he said with a wide smile across his muzzle and his tail wagging happily from side to side. There he sat for several minutes, basking in the dying warmth of the sun with the most important person in his life on his back, her chin resting between his ears. He was so caught up in the moment that he hadn't noticed that Po and the others had joined him to watch the sun set as well. They had decided not to say anything as to not ruin the moment.
Several more minutes passed and the sun rested on the horizon. The sky was tinged indigo due to the light's slow disappearance. The heat from the sun had disappeared, leaving behind cool air carried by gentle breezes. Yuè could hear the soft sound of breathing above his head. Li had fallen asleep while watching the sunset beyond the horizon at the edge of the valley. Yuè took Li off of his back and held her in his arms before standing up. He turned to see Po, the Furious Five, Jian, Fan, and Kuo all sitting behind him, also starting towards the horizon. He cocked his eyebrow, as well as an ear, "How long have you guys been there?" he asked. "Since you got up here. And I thought wolves had sensitive noses." Jian said jokingly. "Well, I wasn't aware I should keep my guard up and search for scents twenty-four seven." he said feigning offense. Just then he heard a small yawn, and a soft voice following it, "Daddy. Can we stay here? The valley is very pretty." Li asked sleepily, her eyelids heavy with sleep. "Sorry pup. We already have a home. But maybe we could visit sometime and stay a day or two." Yuè said with a light sigh. The pup smiled, "Okay. That sounds nice too." she said before trailing off and going back to sleep. Yuè looked to Po and the others with a smile, "Thanks again, guys. For everything. I do wish we could stay but we have somewhere we need to be." he said with slight disappointment in his tone. "Same here. You sure you can't stay? You're gonna miss so much here. There's Dragon Warrior day, and the Festival of Figurines, oh, and we're even holding a kung fu camp." Po said excitedly. "Dragon Warrior day? You actually have a holiday?" Yuè asked incredulously. "Oh yeah. It's awesome. Sure you don't wanna stick around for it?" Po asked, his tone bordering on begging. "Sorry panda. Gonna have to take a rain check on your offer. Thanks for the invitation though. Maybe next year." Yuè said.
As much as he disliked parties, festivals, and pretty much any other kind of celebration, Yuè genuinely felt bad about turning down the offer. He'd love to spend more time with his new friends, but he had his duties as a father, and those always came first. Perhaps he'd remember to tell Li about the celebrations and she'd want to go. But that was a discussion for another time. He began to make his way toward the stairs and stopped at the edge of the first step, "Hey Jian, Fan. You guys comin' with?" he asked. Jian looked over to Fan and they both shook their heads, "Nah. We're gonna stay in one of the local inns and head to Thieves' Landing in the morning. You go home with your pup. We'd hate to stop you on your way." Jian said. "You sure? There's plenty of room in the stagecoach." Yuè persisted. "No, no. You just head on your way and quit stallin'. Like you said, you got five months to make up for with that little furball. You'd better not miss a second." he said with a playful threat. Yuè chuckled, "Alright. Whatever you say 'Uncle Ji-Ji'." the wolf teased. Jian growled lowly, "If you weren't holding Li..." he trailed off with the somewhat more serious threat. "Okay. Last time, I swear." Yuè said before starting down the stairs, his daughter sleeping in his arms.
About half an hour later Yuè had reached the bottom of the staircase and stood at the door to the stagecoach set to take him back to Tan Jin city. When he'd open the door he was greeted by someone he'd completely forgotten about since he arrived in the Valley of Peace, "Kuo? What're you doing in the stagecoach." he asked the she-wolf. Kuo smiled slyly, "Just waiting for you and Li to get here. I wanted to make sure she gets back home safe." Yuè huffed lightly, "Well, that's sorta why I'm her father. I'm perfectly capable of making sure she gets home safely." he said as he climbed into the back of the carriage and gently set Li down in the seat to his left, Kuo sitting on his right. "Sure you are." she teased with a giggle. The stagecoach began to move and started on its way out of the Valley of Peace. Outside of the carriage, street lanterns could be seen illuminating the dark streets on that summer night. The occasional firefly could be seen flashing its light, only to vanish into the darkness and reappear elsewhere like a phantom. The inside of the stagecoach was dead silent as a quiet tension filled the air between Yuè and Kuo. They both had thoughts swirling inside their heads, the common thought between the two of them, the awkward kiss inside the burning palace. "So, *ahem* back at the palace, when it was kind of burning down. You, uh...you kissed me." Yuè said breaking the awkward silence with an even more awkward statement.
Kuo's cheeks warmed up and her inner ears felt like they were burning, "Oh... Right... That did happen didn't it?" she asked absent-mindedly, scratching the back of her neck nervously. Yuè nodded and looked away, turning his attention to whatever was happening outside of the stagecoach, "Yeah..." he said trailing off. The two became quiet once again for a moment before Kuo decided to speak up, "And when we were leaving you said that I was 'hot'." she retorted as if trying to defend her actions. Yuè's ears quickly began to flush as well, "I did...didn't I?" he asked absent-mindedly as well, receiving only a nod of confirmation from Kuo. Silence and tension once again overtook the air between the wolves as they tried to find the words to express what needed to be said. "Look, I'm sorry about the kiss. I didn't know what I was doing... It was sort of a 'spur-of-the-moment' type deal. I promise it won't happen again." Kuo apologized, breaking the silence. "It's fine... And, uh... Sorry about the whole, 'you're hot' thing, heh. Just...you blew up an entire building, a palace at that, with a single bomb. I wasn't even sure that something as badass as that was possible." Yuè gushed. Just then he realized he was still going on about Kuo and blushed brightly once more, "I mean... Uh, yeah... Won't happen again." he said before becoming silent again.
An hour had passed since the three wolves had entered the stagecoach and started on their way back to Tan Jin. Li had been asleep since they'd gotten into the carriage and Yuè and Kuo had been having a rather awkward discussion before going silent for what seemed like forever. Yuè decided to look outside and watch the countryside pass as they made their way to the liberated city. His thoughts ended up drifting to what the people had gone through and the state of the city. There would have to be reconstruction to fix what Jūnfá had done to Tan Jin and the least Yuè could do would be to help. But he'd have to volunteer his services when he'd have the free time away from Li. But did he even want that? Earlier that day he'd been thinking of how much he wanted to devote all of his time to the wolf pup and already he was forgetting about that. Volunteering would have to wait, family comes first. Now that he'd finished that thought, his mind drifted to other things. Did he have enough money to support Li? Of course. The wolf had made sure to put away a large sum of yuans just in case. What exactly would they do together? That, he was unsure of. Li always had been adventurous and imaginative, as well as clever and smart. Just like her mother.
Then Yuè's thoughts drifted off to the Valley of Peace. The people there, though meek grazers, seemed okay. There wasn't much danger in the area, especially since it's home to the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. The best friends he'd made since Fan and Jian. They didn't exactly hit it off when they first met, courtesy of a certain wolf, but as Yuè spent more and more time with them, especially Po, he began to feel a sense of comradery. Something he hadn't felt since he left his old pack years ago, a decision he has no regrets about. He wondered if he'll ever seen them again. Friends like those aren't exactly forgettable, especially since his daughter is one of Po's biggest admirers. Yeah, he'd definitely have to visit those guys sometime and stay a couple of days in the valley. Then his thoughts drifted off to one other person, Kuo Yang, a.k.a the second reason he had gone to Tan Jin. A small part of Yuè wanted to thank the she-wolf. Without her, he'd have never found Li not would he have realized how important the pup was to him. In a strange way, maybe Li had to be kidnapped. Before she had been, Yuè would have to leave the pup alone for extended periods of time. Working tirelessly to feed her and keep the pup happy. But now, the entire journey made Yuè take a look at himself as well as the life he had before. When Li was much younger, he had quit bounty hunting and focused completely on her and making sure they had a life together. Keeping her fed or clothed wasn't an issue because of all the money he had been able to save up. And protection? Yuè can be a very light sleeper. The slightest sound or errant scent would put him on the intruder's case fast as lightning.
If anything, this reevaluation on his life is all thanks to his daughter's kidnapper. The thing that really caught Yuè off guard, was that she wasn't like any other kidnapper. Kuo cared for Li like the pup was her own. Keeping her safe from Jong as well as making sure she had company as well as a friend. Yuè owed her big time. "Hey Kuo." he said breaking the silence. The she-wolf had been so accustomed to the quiet that she'd jumped a little from the sudden sound, "Yeah?" she asked. "I just remembered the whole 'kidnapping' thing and wanted to thank you again for taking care of Li... And apologize for trying to kill you, heh. Got sorta caught up." Yuè said with a nervous chuckle. A small smile creased the corner of Kuo's muzzle, "No problem, and sorry for taking your pup. The whole 'trying-to-kill-me' thing was completely justified. Shows how much you truly care for her... And I'd like to apologize for saying that you didn't. I was outta line and upset that a father would leave their child like that. Set off a few red flags in my head." she said, looking away. Yuè waved it off, "It's fine. I shouldn't have left her by herself. You're right... It does make me irresponsible." he said, his ears flattening against his head. Kuo quickly waved her hands defensively, "No, no! You're not irresponsible! You were doing everything in your power to take care of Li. If anything that makes you a great father. Then after she disappeared you tirelessly hunted after her, that makes you an even greater parent than most. Not to mention brave and courageous." she praised. Yuè cocked an eyebrow, "What else do you think I am?" he asked curiously. "Strong, handsome. You act like a bit of an idiot but, you're heart's in the right place. And you're can be a real grump but I think-" Kuo continued before being stopped by a passionate kiss from Yuè. Kuo's eyes went wide and she didn't know what to do for a moment. But she decided to accept it, and kiss back.
The wolves kissed for several seconds before they parted lips. Kuo looked into Yuè's eyes with bewilderment. The wolf had a sly smile on his face, "What was that for?" Kuo asked. Yuè brushed her cheek with his hand, gently holding her face, "Just repaying that favor I owe you." he said smoothly before the two reconnected for another kiss.
The End
A/N:
And so ends Hunter's Gambit. I'd like to thank each and every last person that stuck around all the way through my very first story. And I'd like to give a bigger thanks to everyone that reviewed the story and gave me such positive reviews. You guys and girls were the driving force that kept me writing this because you like it so much, and if you didn't, I'd probably have stopped writing a while ago. But then again, maybe not.
I'd also like to shout a huge thanks to Cybroid, Joe 'Po' Navark, DemoODST, The Cool Kat, Dardarax, Evo Tobias Royale, and SilfurLycan for moral support.
I'd also like to thank Cybroid, Joe 'Po' Navark and DemoODST for the characters they contributed to the story. For just so you get the credit you deserve, here's a list of characters you guys contributed:
Cybroid: Fan, Jian, Jūnfá
DemoODST: Kuo Yang
Joe 'Po' Navark: Madam Weibao
Without you guys this story may not have gone on as long as it has.
I'd also like to thank The Cool Kat and Joe 'Po' Navark once again for inspiring me to write this story. I read Cool Kat's story 'Erdan 2' and Joe's trilogy 'The Next Dragon Warrior' that followed the adventures of Jo Dakota Crevan. These stories were the inspiration behind Hunter's Gambit, and I'm sure those of you that read those stories could see the similarities.
And saving the biggest thanks for last, thought appreciation stems to no amount to everyone, I'd like to thank Cybroid for urging me to write the story as well as publishing it. You're one of the best friends I've made on this site and I'm glad to have met you. The same goes out to Joe, Evo, Silfur, and Demo. You guys are the best and I look forward to talking to you more.
But, I've rambled on enough. The bottom line is that I'm glad you enjoyed the story and I'm even happier to know that you even have it the time of day, or night, or whenever you're reading this. It means so much to me.
Also, for the sake of being a nerdy nerd, I've hidden a reference to the popular video game series 'Metal Gear Solid' (more specifically Metal Gear Solid 4) in the chapter. Three hints: It is said between Snake and Meryl. It is the start of the chapter of this story. It is in the first half of the game. 10 points to whoever finds it and posts the line in the reviews ^_^
Anyways, I'm done talking now. Glad you guys stayed and read the story. Feel free to post a review if you want, you have no obligation to do so. And if you wish to talk more, be it story ideas, requests to read a story of yours, or even just to talk, feel free to send me a PM on my profile: Drac0tam3r Rod