As a quick reminder, Tigress has her name now in my headcanon, so her birth name, Chen Meigui, will be shown throughout the story.

— GrayZ

Volume Five: The Shadow

Chapter XV

Battle in Hajin

Hajin Province — SONG DYNASTY

June 13, 1211

Behind the city walls of the capital of Hajin Province, the trails of black smoke rose from the north district, partially obscuring what appeared to be a thousand dots combining into groups; Master Eagle and his aces dove through the soot cloud and gave out their screeching caws to all the commanders, soaring through the pagoda gaps before the long roads ahead of them. Tigress's team had arrived right on time — two days before the morrow.

The battle had begun.

Below the path of collateral debris, the striped feline warrior sprinted on all fours and curved her body, her legs quickly fastening to yank a massive boar to the ground. After a hard flip, knocking the giant down, Chen Meigui commenced parrying the second boar who wielded spike gauntlets, screeching at her as he hurled his straight fists. When he was unable to bash at her, Meigui pivoted and trapped his arm, throwing him at the horde of bandits across the street, where the affray of Eagle's battalion of thirty and the tyrant's twenty-five members clashed. Across the field, full of tremors, Tai Lung heightened his rich growl, leaping in the air, with his acrobatic spin hammering his foot to the flying boar with a mauled muzzle. After landing on all fours, the Great Dragon knocked him with a hard fist and engaged the next horde of thugs running against him. Counting at least six, Tai Lung disarmed the large boar's spiked flail, his foot sweeping the two ankles. The leopard engaged the bovine wearing chest links, deflecting the fists and elbowing on the upper chest. Keeping the second at a distance, Tai Lung pivoted and twirled his limbs, kicking the third and fourth in their faces, combining his last high kick to the fifth boar.

Clutching the hammer with a dull flail after disarming the sixth bandit when breaking his arm, Tai Lung battered one and the following assailer, chaining his lethal hits on all three. Six to go, Tai Lung counted those who were standing and surrounding him within proximity. A thunderous caw intervened, and all four avians tackled the other four bandits at the leopard's back. As he engaged the last two attackers, a zigzag of green began delivering rapid blows toward the bovines' knees and arms; Tai Lung deflected the giant boar's fists that hammered above his head, allowing the leopard to strike his foot on both knees, heaving the giant's weight to the dirt.

"Heads up!"

Tai glared and sidestepped to the left. A round and heavy wok metal whirring as it spun, wrecked into the small bovine's muzzle, cracking his forehead to a knockout. "You're welcome!" Tai turned and saw the rabbit warrior gesticulating her head with a grin. Wrapping her sash stick, Hong mounted behind the gorilla, who drummed heavy fists on his chest when grunting. "Charge forward, Bao!"

Bao roared and rammed into the terrified boars who retreated to the main path before the courtyard and the residential complexes.

In the following alleyway, where Tai Lung hastily surveyed and heard thunderous steps sprinting, one group of a dozen boars grimaced and dashed forth — halberds and swords in hand. Focusing the attackers' eyes on the leopard's flow of tai chi, Tai Lung glared and delivered his mighty roar. His ferocity was interrupted by a rain of countless banana skins sailing towards the bandits.

"CRAP!"

"SHIT!"

Bandits shrieked and tripped over, crashing to their backs as Monkey shrieked into the air, landing beside the leopard. "That's more like it!" the langur teased, clapping his hands. "Mantis! Let's catch up to Hong and Bao!"

"On it!" the insect uttered as he shot past Tai Lung's feet, and the two warriors sprinted to the main road.

Tai Lung surveyed the broad road where his sister struck more than ten assailants at once. Tigress, pummeling the eleventh attacker with unbelievable speed from her fists, disoriented the bovine before she grasped his horn to swing on him and jumped across the alley, landing next to her leopard brother.

"This area is under control," Chen Meigui said.

"Great," Tai Lung chuffed.

"Let's move and help our friends there."

Grunting in approval, Tai Lung joined his striped feline sister and dashed on all fours across the following affray. Upon this alley, leading to the next hill, with the street filling with chalks of debris from the small residential complexes at the right side, the Nine's Heaver and Doctor engaged bandits to the top left, and Mantis and Monkey climbed on the next building and fought off a group of six archers on the catwalk platform.

Monkey, swinging from the hoist and bounding towards the complex, propelled his fast kicks as the emerald line flashed to his left; Mantis let out his screeching cry, ripping the bandits' bows before his attacks dislocated their leg joints. Thrashing two archers down with his limbs, the langur barged into the large room, dashing across. The other three boar archers launched and crashed to the corners of the room, with Mantis's green trails zigzagging back to the balcony outside. The next group clutched their armaments in front of Monkey, charging toward him while unleashing their hails before the window crashed in from the side. Master Eagle's claws screeched as he tackled all three with a single blow, leaving the other two from behind.

And Monkey made his run for the two assailants.

"Watch it! Oh, shi—!"

The small bandit snapped in fear, and Monkey, jumping and finishing off the second attacker with haste, clutching and forcing his head down to a knockout, threw his fists when the first assailant tried slashing side to side. But as Monkey dodged the blade when sidestepping and crouching with agility, he disarmed him with a whip of his palms, his elbows breaking his jaw and his feet after a flip behind; he shoved the bandit to where Eagle clutched and slammed him to the surface.

"Onward!" Master Eagle commanded, and Monkey sprinted on all fours, jumping out of the complex with him and Mantis.

Across the following alleyway with a broad complex road, the ape, puffing and snouting heavily, charged on all fours and projected his roar, and on his shoulder, the rabbit heightened her shout. "WRECK THEM, BAO!"

"BAO, BAO! ROOOOARRR!"

"Oh, cra—!"

"WATCH OUT!"

The last two bandits, the crocodile and the boar, made their run before the horde of their own glimpsed the path across the small courtyard with a three-story pagoda tower. But Bao, thrashing over ten assailants as Hong sprang and darted her kicks at the other ten, slammed the cobblestone surface with his fist, the tremors beneath them launching several in the air. Coming out from the opening, the bovine with curved horns growled, raising his ax; the Nine's Heaver, whose intimidating expression showed his angry posture, twirled his body and struck their snout with his elbow.

Bao began to hurl his fists thrice at the bovine's upper torso, and the fourth sent him flipping back with an uppercut. Right before the bandit's fall, the gorilla clutched his horn, throwing his whole body towards the other horde of assailants who sprinted from the closest road. More than fifteen gasped and screamed, crashing with the bovine across the path. The rest from behind prevailed with their shocked faces when glancing at the gorilla, who thundered his growl. They made their steps backward before the avians' shadows emerged from their sights. One by one, owls, cranes, and eagles tackled them with their sharp talons.

"BAO, COME! BAO, BACK!"

"You broke my nose!"

"Bao, sleep!" the Nine's Heaver sent his fist to the crocodile's head, knocking him down. Further to the northern courtyard, the Nine's Doctor, Hong, sprinting on the road and bouncing between the alleyway structures, clutched the boar's wrist and twirled him above her, slamming him into the complex window. Glimpsing her head to the right, Hong had her kicks swept three legs from two bandits and one large bovine's knee.

"Ca-CHOW*!" Hong pummeled all four attackers with her feet and fists as she flipped and sprang with haste. "COME ON!" the bunny landed on the other boar's face and battered him with her circle punches, her intense shout giving her a rampage as she sent her blows — more than thirty hits, breaking the bandit's muzzle.

"BAO, COMING! BAO COMING!" the gorilla exclaimed from behind, but Hong glared her sight onward when the crocodile unleashed the arrow from his bow.

Giving herself a boost in the air from her kick, which knocked the boar to the floor, Hong had her paws shove the bolt to the left, diving at the archer. "Come here, you!"

"Angry bunny! WHAA—?!"

The reptile attempted to flee, but Hong clutched his tail and yanked him, her feet shattering his crotch and his belly. "DOOOW! My tenders!"

Hong yanked him to the cobblestone and sent her left fist thrashing his head five times. A reptile bandit's muzzle spat out blood. "That's what you get for joining the bad side, boy!" Hong glared.

When the next horde of bovine and boar assailants sprinted from the eastern alleyway as Hong spotted them above the residential complex from her back, Tai Lung and Tigress jumped and reached for the alley, landing before the Nine's Doctor. Near her, Mantis launched through the cartwheels as the insect heightened his cry, and Monkey shouted from behind, flipping and bashing his feet against the large yak's torso.

The two felines, forming the leopard and tiger styles of kung fu, vibrated their rich growls.

"You head left, and I go right. Go!" Chen Meigui shouted, and Tai Lung proceeded to his next position, his incredible blocks countering every round punch and kick, allowing him to jump and dash on all fours when on their torsos, his straight punches hitting the boar's spine before encountering the giant as he hastily sidestepped and dodged the hammer.

Tigress heightened her snarls as she performed elbow blocks; her limbs trapped the crocodile's arm and neck, forcing her to throw at her side before engaging the second reptile. Her claws clapping above her stopped his wavy sword from slicing, and she shattered the blade in half.

"Oh, no!" the crocodile yelped, and Tigress delivered a hard straight blow to his torso, sending him across the dark alleyway.

Tigress, facing the gray ox, formed her chi sao when the bovine amplified his shout and threw his hooves. Bong sao! Her forearm swept. Tan-sao, pak-sao! She blocked the other and had her palm struck to his muzzle, causing him to disorient when grunting in pain. "Why you—!"

All too easy.

She blocked his forearm and clobbered his ribcage twice from her two straight punches, knocking down the ox. As two boar bandits attempted to interfere from the sides, Tigress crouched on all fours and sharpened her sight, amplifying her growl as she engaged to the right. Sending her claws to a hard punch with the uppercut, Chen Meigui attacked the other when making a jump; her feet landed on the bandit's shoulders and made her spring towards the air, with her acrobatic rolls diving her kick to the bovine's forehead.

"HA!" Tigress knocked the ox out and faced the bandit, who she jumped. The striped feline master sent palm bashes at his jaws, having him tumble backward before she quickly turned from behind. Only three boar bandits with their axes approached her in full force, and she called her ally.

"Monkey!"

Screeching from her side, Monkey rolled with his flips, with the bamboo stick whipping one head and the next, striking the third bandit's butt.

"OW! YOU PIECE OF—!"

A green line zipping left and right battered the boar's head, causing him to collapse.

"Talk to my clawthee! Bitch!" Mantis snapped and struck the bandit, causing him to roll onward and have his body wreck into the other horde of bandits where Hong and Bao attempted to fight against the group. The Nine's Heaver drummed his chest with success.

"BAO, SURRENDER!" Bao roared.

"Stand down, lowlives!" Hong proclaimed, rounding her sash stick. "Turn yourselves in right now, or we will force you to be arrested!"

"Get off me!"

Thrusting the unconscious boar to the side with a grimace, the bovine with downward horns clenched his fists, puffing. "You and what army, tiny!"

"BAO, ARMY!"

The Nine's Heaver delivered his uppercut blow to the giant's jaw. Crashing the giant bandit into the next horde had all attackers glare at the warriors with fear. What caught their attention next was the Great Dragon countering every block with haste behind the Nine's Heaver, unable for bandits to attack and plunge their weapons on him. Sprinting towards the horde, with every claw and foot thrashing their faces in circles before somersaulting to the road, Tai Lung caught the boar's morningstar and forced it in his mouth.

"UMMNUUH!" the boar shrieked.

"Skadoosh."

Tai Lung delivered a six-inch punch to him and sent the screaming boar in the air. Before the warriors, the last line of bandits trembled their faces when they caught glimpses of the felines and other four warriors forcing their stances as the Eagle's aces in the air were surrounding them.

"BOSS! It's too many of them!" one bandit amidst the crowd shouted in horror. "What'll we do now?!"

Instead of standing there and cowering themselves in a wide open, several drew their armaments. One by one, the hawks clutched them, parrying blades and entraping them with their claws — arresting many. Only one out of twenty in this group remained standing in defiance. In the middle of the complex road with debris, a brown bovine with a scar on its fogged right eye puffed his muzzle, clenching his teeth.

"It's over, Zhen!" the Nine's Doctor hollered in front of the gorilla. "You have done enough damage to this city! Call your army to stand down!"

"Bao, surrender!" the gorilla glared.

One avian, swinging his glide down, went for a hard landing with his wings sweeping over the cobblestone. Master Eagle was behind Zhen. "The city is no longer under your control, Commander Zhen," Master Eagle said, his eyes squinting. "Drop your weapon and stand down."

Commander Zhen deafened his grunt in defeat, glaring at the avian before facing the Nine's Doctor and Heaver. Observing what this bovine could do when looking at the dagger in his grip, Commander Zhen closed his eyes and declared to his enemies:

"I would rather die before you put me in a cell."

"NO!" his right-hand ally, a boar with a mohawk in pressure cuffs, cried out to him. Zhen held a dagger and forced the cold blade against his neck. He slit his own throat.

"NO! ZHEN!" the boar sobbed on his knees as two avians with medic sigils flew down to him and attempted to pressure his neck laceration.

Oogway's blessing!

Hong scurried to the doctors, leaving her group behind as Tai Lung and Tigress exchanged glances before Monkey and Mantis did. Bao could see Hong hopping and reaching for Zhen's neck, where the center of his throat spurted most of his crimson blood out. Giving all the attempts they could do to revive the bovine, the doctors saw his eyes open wide and his signs no longer active after Zhen coughed his last breath.

The Boar's Commander was now dead, and every bandit accepted their surrender after their loss.

Three hours passed as the sun began to set above the peaks, coloring orange-tan before the Realm. Serving themselves with rice dumplings and vegetables in the not-critically damaged restaurant of Yoo's Radishes and Dumplings with only five avians sitting ahead of their tables, the sextet warriors ate their meals, with Tai Lung drinking water next to Tigress, who grasped one dumpling with a pair of chopsticks. Chen Meigui looked at the corner where news scrolls on the clay wall near the two archways. One painting depicting the old serpent with a vicious glare, white fangs, and a thin white manchu beard showed a description that clutched Tigress's heart in regret, unable to stay with her serpent sister after seeing the news that would soon spread far and wide.

Great Viper's health in critical condition; Refineries remain halted; Crime rates in Du Songzi* upsurge.

Only one out of three news was depressing to Chen Meigui; she would not let it overwhelm her after handling the major incursion throughout the capital of Hajin Province and witnessing the dead Commander before her eyes. Instead, Tigress continued eating a dumpling that soothed her mind as if her stomach approved the food well, but she preferred Po's noodles and dumplings.

"I hate to break this to you all, but that fighting was a little rough," Mantis commented, chopping a few rice dumplings with his chopsticks. "I had no idea how serious that was going to be."

"Neither do I, Mantis," Monkey said after drinking his water. "I say it was too easy for me."

"Yeah, like all the lowlives tripping all over the roads with banana skins?" Mantis grunted, giving a rough nudge to his friend's forearm. "HA! Nobody was eyeballing at me because I moved too fast."

"Bao, fast. Bao, bandits. Bao, dumb-dumbs," the gorilla worded, gorging over ten dumplings in his mouth full.

"You did great out there, Bao," Monkey praised him, nudging the ape's bulky shoulder with his fist. "How did you do your fists hammering the road, throwing people off guard?"

"Bao, smash. Bao, fly. Bao, strong."

"Like that? That's impressive, Bao."

"Bao, Bao," the ape simpered.

"Wow," Mantis was in awe. "I wish I could do that with my thorax."

"I thought you already had," the snow leopard, Tai Lung, pondered with his slight grin.

"I could smash the floor and tell them, 'Fear the bug! Fly, you little shits!'"

Monkey spat his water, almost choking, but suppressed his chortles. "Auh, Mantis."

"Then maybe you could try without doubting yourself, Mantis," Tai Lung said, his chopsticks grasping his dumpling. "You could even create unimaginable moments to impress every living."

"Why thank you, Tai!" Mantis nodded. "You know, you have respected me the first time. Did Po teach you some manners?"

The Great Dragon let out his husky chuckles. "Unlikely. Grandmaster Oogway did," he said, chewing the food.

"Oh," Mantis gestured his head with apprehension. With his limb, the insect tapped the bowl with his spoon. "I've always wondered what the Spirit Realm is like over there. How peaceful is that place?"

"The Spirit Realm is more tranquil than here, where you meet fame and honorable masters, including several like you."

"Wait. Really? Sign me up."

"Unless you like to be dead, or should I say otherwise, you could meditate and be there," the Great Dragon said, softening his rock-grinding chuckles while smiling. "Not for long, but it is worth peeking."

"Take me with you," Monkey raised his hand.

"Not when I get there first! HA!" Mantis teased him.

The conversation about wishing to travel to Spirit Realm kept going for slightly longer as Tai Lung and Chen Meigui pondered what could be next for the group after the incursion. Without a doubt, as Masters of Jade Palace, the Valley of Peace needed guardians to defend the citizens while Bao-Panda, Lei Lei, and Zeng were under supervision as the other three pandas of the Four Constellations included. With his amber eyes glittering, Tai Lung saw the Nine's Doctor who fiddled the edge of her bowl, tapping. Hong's other paw was underneath her chin.

"Hong."

The Nine's Doctor woke up from daydreaming and could see the snow leopard giving her attention. "Yes, Master Tai Lung?"

"You are not hungry?"

She looked at her bowl, filled with chopped cabbages and radishes. Her mind had wandered off when thinking of the last moments of Commander Zhen before her eyes. "I..." her voice trailed off, her ears drooping on her back. "I could eat on the go."

She hopped off the chair and headed for the archway. "Bao, Hong?" the Nine's Heaver called.

"I need to walk," Hong said before she turned away and merged into the alley road, where citizens and avian fighters randomly strolled.

"I will go with her," Tigress said, placing the chopsticks in her bowl standing up.

"Tigress?" Monkey asked as Mantis, Bao, and Tai Lung glanced at her.

"I'll be back. We won't be far," Tigress said. "Save me a plate on the go, Monkey."

As Monkey gestured his head with comprehension, the striped feline master hurried herself to the road as Tai Lung could see her entering the river of pedestrians.

Across the broadway, full of villagers brushing off the debris at a few corners before the feline, Tigress surveyed the passages and alleyways in dark places, but little did she know that no warriors could linger in the shadows to appear. Strolling across one hill that emerged three pagoda towers and a large temple on the apex in the distance, Chen Meigui caught sight of the rabbit sitting on a five-step stairs platform in front of the cottage house with a dry clay wall and a wooden door, sinking her head with her paws on her eyes.

The feline approached Hong with a casual appearance, giving time for her to weep. A few onlookers of Eagle's avians and citizens could see Tigress sitting beside Hong, who wiped off her tears while sniffling.

"Hong?" the feline leaned closer; her claw caressing the bunny's back had prevented Hong from shedding. The Nine's Doctor had her moments to breathe; the dusklight of tea rose burnished the heavens brightly on them. The eyes and the light did not bother Hong.

"This has never happened to me before," Hong quivered her head.

"What is?" Tigress asked, raising her brows.

The Nine's Doctor looked at her paws before her. "The way I looked down to Commander Zhen. I tried to mend his throat, but he didn't let me."

Hong attempted to wipe off her tears, but the tears flooded her sight, overwhelming her. "How could I be a doctor when I watched him die in front of me?" she pitched her disheartening tone.

"What he did, Hong, was up to him. He was not going to be apprehended," Tigress said, expressing sympathy.

"I didn't see that one coming. He really meant that," Hong wept, trying not to draw the people's attention. "The look in his eyes, Tigress..."

I know.

Tigress was not the only one when she and the group approached Hong and saw Zhen's body motionless with the eyes open, the stream of blood on the cobblestone flowing away. "All I saw was him accepting his death," Hong continued, her tears saturating her face. "All because. . . He had failed, so I thought Zhen was a broken warrior. He was here too, Tigress. The first time I met him."

When her eyes became dry, giving her a long sigh of depression, Hong reflected. "If I could have convinced him not to kill himself, maybe he would have accepted his defeat and faced crimes," she said, shaking her head in dismay. "I am sorry, Tigress."

"There is no need to be sorry, Hong. I know what you are going through," Tigress spoke, comforting her. "Do you think you are the only one who sometimes thinks about a few who don't deserve to die?"

The Nine's Doctor took moments to contemplate what Tigress mentioned. She thought about her feline brother, who grieved for the loss of his former competitor. Hong sometimes had her thoughts about Wang being distressed as Han, the Nine's new member, shared his story about his red deer brother, the feeling of pity and sorrow ruling in their hearts. She and the Nine's Dancer, Lotus, went to Chen Xing's chamber and slept beside him, alleviating his stress.

"No," Hong answered.

"I thought about someone during the first mission while taking back the village," Tigress began, looking down at her feet. "Not always a relentless one, but he was a good villager with his sentimentality. I learned from him not to expect high hopes from anyone other than those you trust. The bear knew the risk of helping the village, but he sacrificed his life to save the Furious Five."

Hong looked up to Tigress. "Who?"

Tigress could still picture a bear in his sleeveless brown top and baggy ebony trousers with a rich smell of herbs puffing out of his muzzle and mouth, emerging from the dark alleyway. The bear, whose pipe glittering with herbal embers, revealing the face in the shadow, approached the teen Tigress before the young warriors appeared to meet the witness.

"Ju Lung."

"Hmm," Hong nodded.

The two warriors took time to reflect, still sitting on the front porch when Hong dried her eyes, staring at the western horizon, full of dry roses dipping into rotten oranges. "This place, Tigress. This place feels like I have returned, but it is still always a mess, which makes me sad about it," the Nine's Doctor said, her ears sinking back. "I thought the town deserves to be protected, with the lives of citizens always at risk. I could even save people from getting killed, especially with physicians..."

The bunny weighed her eyelids closed, letting her breaths in and out with an overwhelming sigh into realization. "I can't save many. Not everyone could, as my old teacher used to say before Chen Ming," Hong said. "He was right."

"This unfortunate event is not your fault or anyone else's, Hong," Tigress said. "Losses do occur, and when you think of what you could have saved, it will not change anything either way. As the people's guardians, we do what we can to save as many as possible. Never let self-doubts overwhelm you."

Hong could regard that there was confidence in her heart as if she would be willing to keep citizens alive. "What keeps you going after you lost, Master Tigress?"

"I keep moving forward as to what the Furious Five can do. Whatever Po needs us to do. And..."

Tigress had her thoughts drift to remembering the night when she met her red panda father before her eyes — Shifu's smile had her knees fall and look up to the stars. "And what Grandmaster Shifu had us continue."

Hong stood up and looked at her, the feeling of hope dominating her heart. "It is what the Nine should do," she said. "Thank you for letting me keep my head above the water, Master."

The striped feline master droned her chuffs, accepting the bunny's appreciation. The moment before the fighters nearly walked out of the front porch, the door of the house opened with harsh whines where they sat, and Tigress, looking back, filled her silent breaths in her lungs.

"Tigress?" an elderly female voice called the feline.

Before Tigress's amber eyes, hoping to see someone again after several years, was a sheep caretaker from Bao Gu Orphanage.

Author's Note:

— Special thanks to the beta readers The Dragon Chronicle, and gsmith1030 for suggestions and corrections! Thankee!

— (*1) Ca-CHOW! Lightning McQueen, anyone? I could not delete it there because I had fun writing my character going for the fighting spree. At least, that's part of a small easter egg reference.

— (*2) As you may have caught sight of the words, I translated Juniper to Du Songzi, allowing me to make Chinese themes as much as possible. From my headcanon, only guessing, I think Juniper City rests somewhere either in the eastern domain before the East China Sea or south before the South China Sea, depending on where the fictional town thrives. I'll have to fetch the KFP 4 book this quarter or the last and figure out where DreamWorks got their original idea.

— The name of this character, Ju Lung, belongs to a fellow writer named Mastrrtt. Penguin! Your big boy will show up in only one chapter as a cameo appearance! It's been a while to remember that I wrote something about wanting him in my fanfic novel, and you may have wished for me to do so. Hopefully, I'll return to Dragon's DreamWorks this half year and see where I left my permission somewhere.