The Human, The Assassin and The Leopard Part 2
Leo slowly opens his eyes. He saw Kun and his sister looking down at him with the lynx cat girl. Leo quickly sat up and groans. He stared at the lynx cat. "Get behind me." Leo said to the two kids.
"Leo, wait!" Kun shouted.
"She and that leopard healed you." Biyu said.
Leo looks at them confused and looks back at the lynx. "Who are you?" Leo asks her.
"My name is Qiao Shu." Qiao answered. "And after hearing the kid say your name, you must be Leo who saved the Valley Of Peace."
"That's right." Leo slowly nodded.
"How are you feeling?" Biyu asks him. "You're covered in scratches."
"I'm fine." Leo replied. "What about you two? And where are the other children and the leopard?"
"We're a little shaken." Kun answered. "The others are sleeping and I think she's outside of the cave."
"I would like to have a word with her alone." Leo said.
"I'll take you to her." Qiao said. Qiao helps him up and leads Leo through the cave.
They entered a big room where a couple children were sleeping near the wall. The two of them exits the cave outside and it was morning. Standing several feet ahead of them was a white snow leopard. She was wearing a short white pants and a white qipao. Her fur is white and black. The leopard turns around as her blue eyes stares at Leo and Qiao walking towards her.
"I see you're awake." the leopard said. The leopard was holding his weapon.
"Who are you?" Leo asks her.
"My name is Nala Tsubaki." Nala introduce herself. "So why are you here, Leo?"
"The Emperor has sent me to stop someone or a monster that's been causing problems in the village." Leo answered. "And I'm guessing you have something to do with kidnapping the children."
"I haven't kidnaped these children." Nala replied. "I found some of them that was being chased by a creature with five tails and a horn on its head. Last night I saved those two kids from the creature."
Leo stares at her. If Nala didn't save them, then the children would be dead already. "And what about the fight last night?" he asks her.
"I thought you were a thief." Nala answered. "But after hearing your name, the assassin and I didn't continue the fight when you rescued your friend."
"Thanks." Leo said.
""You're welcome." Nala said.
"And why are you here?" Leo asks Qiao.
"I'm here doing some training." Qiao answers him. "I overheard some yelling from the forest. I decided to see what's going and saw you running into the forest. I followed you up to the mountain and saw you were fighting Nala. That's when I came down and try to assassinate you when I had the chance. But when that kid said your name and you save the kid, I decided not to fight."
"But didn't you see anything unusual from last night?" Nala asks her. "A ferocious creature?"
Qiao shakes her head. "No." she answered.
"Hm." Leo said. "I saw a footprint last night. I'm going to head back to the forest and see what else I can find."
"Be careful." Nala said to him.
Leo nodded his head, turns around and walks away.
He made it back to the bamboo forest. Leo found the footprints from last night. But something else caught his attention. There was blood on the tree near him.
"Blood." Leo said. He takes a closer look and notices a trail of blood on the trees. Leo began to follow the trail of blood. The trail led him to a small hill. Laying in the ground was a dead water buffalo bandit. The bandit's body has been ripped and torn.
"Damn." Leo cursed, as he approached. "What the hell happened?" He looks at the corpse. There was several cuts on the body and he could see the dried blood on the grass. "The bandit must've ran into the monster sometime ago." He said. Leo notice there was claw marks on the chest. "I wonder..."
"Groar!" a voice roared.
"What the hell?" Leo wondered, looking back at the mountain. "That came from the mountain." He ran towards the mountain. There was a second path that led further away from Nala and the kids. Leo continues the path until he discovers a cave at the top of a hill. He stops and notices the trail of blood that leads to the cave.
"Groar!" the same voice roared.
Leo looks up and sees another leopard lands in front of him. But this leopard is different. She was wearing a teared up black robe. Her green eyes stares at Leo with anger, showing her sharp fangs as her five tails moved across the ground. She snarls at him.
"What the hell?!" Leo shouted as he does a backflip several feet away from the leopard. "A Ning, the ancient horned beast!" He got into his tiger stance and when he was about to attack, the horned leopard fell forward and collapse. She was bleeding.
"Hey!" Leo shouted, running towards the injured leopard. He knelt down next to her and turns her over. She had a lot of cuts on her body. The Ning scratches his arm. "Gr." he grunted a bit.
She tried to scratch him again, but Leo easily caught her paw. "Easy." Leo said to her calmly. "I'm going to help you. Can you stand?"
The Ning nodded and slowly stands up. Leo puts her arm around his neck and he helps her walk into the cave. Leo sets her down gently against the wall. He takes off his shirt and tears it off.
"You... didn't need to... do that..." The Ning moans.
"Don't worry about it." Leo said. He looks over his shoulder and notices a lake behind him. Leo walks over and puts his piece of cloth to be wet. He wrings it out and walks back to her. "I'm only going to remove your robe so I can wash the blood off from your cuts."
The horned leopard nodded. Leo began to proceed to remove her robe. She was wearing a orange and black cyclone bikini. There was two cuts above her stomach and one between her breasts. The cut on her thigh wasn't bad but her right arm wasn't good. Her legs have a few cuts as well.
He begins to wash her stomach.
"Gr!" She growls in pain.
After Leo was done with her stomach, he moves on to the cut between her breast. He kept his cool as he washes the cut. The horned leopard relaxed as he washes the cut. Leo finished cleaning the cut and cleaned the cut on her right arm and legs. He notices how sharp her teeth and horns are.
"She could definitely kill anyone with those teeth and that horn too." Leo thought. He turns around and walks over to the lake so he can wash up his hands. Leo walks back to her and kneel down next to her, taking out a couple of apples. "Here." He said, offering her the apples.
"Thank you." she replied. She takes a bite of the apple.
"You're welcome." Leo nodded. "Get some rest after you eat. And here, use my shirt as a pillow to help you sleep better." He hands her his shirt and walks over to the lake.
The horned leopard place the shirt behind her head and closed her eyes. Leo walks over to the mouth of the cave and sits down. He begins to mediate. The sun has set as it was nighttime. The horned leopard wakes up.
She sees Leo sitting in front of a fire. The horned leopard gets up and walks to him. As she sits down next to him, she notices Leo has been meditating.
"How are you feeling?" Leo asks her, opening his eyes.
"Still feeling sore." she answers. "But I'm recovering nicely."
"That's good to hear." Leo said. He looks at her with a serious look on his face. "Because I have some questions to ask you."
The horned leopard nodded hear head.
"Who are you?" Leo asks her.
"My name is Zhi Weichi." Zhi answers him as she introduced herself.
"I thought the Zheng Ning never exist." Leo said. "You're one of China's ghosts."
"Well the Zheng Ning is fierce and sinister." Zhi said with a chuckle.
"Which brings me to my next question." Leo said. "Why were you covered in cuts and bleeding? How did you end up here?"
"To answer your first question, I was in a fierce battle with Hai Li, a hired assassin." Zhi answered. "I barely escaped from him. When I saw you, I thought you were a friend of his."
"I'm no friend of this assassin." Leo stated.
"Then why are you here?" Zhi asks him.
"The Emperor has received several reports that a village was being attacked by something or someone." Leo answered. "He sent me to investigate."
"I see." Zhi nodded.
"There were several people injured, including the soldiers." Leo replied. "They were hurt pretty bad. I couldn't think on an empty so a couple of kids invited me to stay the night. But they were taken away to the mountain. I discovered a new footprint and followed it to the lower part of the mountain. Then I met up with two people."
"What happened after that?" she asks him.
"We were going to fight, but I saved one of the children from a boulder." Leo answered. "I woke up after several hours and talked to Nala and Qiao, the two people I just met and one of them is training to be an assassin. Later on, I went to the bamboo forest and discovered blood that lead to a dead bandit. The trail of blood leads me to a higher part of the mountain and that's when we met."
"Oh." Zhi said.
"Nala tells me that she saved two kids from you last night." Leo said.
"I thought she was stealing those kids for the assassin." Zhi replied.
"And the other children?" Leo asks her.
"Those children are the ones I saved from Hai." She answered. "And to answer your second question, I don't remember how I ended up here."
"I see." Leo said, looking at the fire. "Do you know what Hai's plan is?"
"No." she replied with an answer.
Leo began thinking of what's happening so far. A hired assassin kidnapping children and a Zheng Ning in China who doesn't remember how she got here. Why would Hai kidnap children? "Hm." Leo spoke. "This doesn't make any sense."
"Huh?" Zhi asked confused.
"Why would an assassin kidnap children in the first place?" Leo asks as he looks at her.
"I'm not sure." Zhi answered.
"Then we're going to need some help." Leo said. He stands up. "Can you stand?"
Zhi nodded her head and stands up next to him.
"Then come on." Leo said to her.
Zhi followed him out of the cave. As they were walking on the path, Leo can see the lower cave. He knew he was going to explain the situation to Nala and Qiao. But Leo doesn't know what Hai's plan is. Whatever the plan is, Hai must be stop.
Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was a little tricky to work out. But I bet you weren't expecting a Zheng Ning to appear! Having a Zheng Ning in this story will be very exciting and awesome! The next chapter is going to be very interesting. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and leave a review!