Chapter Thirty-Six: The Fall of Xiangyang

A roar from the infinite stretches of time itself shrieked across the plains of Xiangyang. The dragon known as Po cascaded down the battlefield towards the city gates as the entirety of the Mongolian army followed closely behind. The beast moved with unearthly speed, and reached the triple-reinforced bulwark gates of the fortress walls in only a few strides. With a downward slash of its paw, the dragon shot out a vertical beam of crimson energy that destroyed the city gates entirely, and Xiangyang was breached at last.

Seeing the opportunity, the steppe horde charged directly for the exposed entryway; the majority of their number were completely ignoring the imperial battle lines headed by Shifu and the other kung fu masters. On the hill overlooking the critical bend of the Han River, Khasar Khan commanded his warriors forth. Having recovered from the disturbance of the panda's mythic transformation, the royal retinue reestablished order as the Khan's children came forward.

"Lead our armies into the city." Khasar directed Ganbataar and his two children. "Go forth, and erase it from the records of history."

Yuelen nodded eagerly in agreement, but Gan and Zhenjin were more weary in their acquiescence. All of them had just seen the Khan's actions as of late; even an uninformed onlooker could easily deduce that Khasar was not of sound mind. Nonetheless, he remained the unchallenged ruler of the great horde, and his will was not to be questioned by anyone - not even his own progeny. Gan looked over to the Khan for the briefest of moments, but Khasar didn't even acknowledge it as the veteran warrior passed him by. The three commanders charged onward, joining the surging forces of leopards, wolves, and other Mongolian warriors in their mad dash towards the now-open gates of Xiangyang.

Inside the city walls, the black and white horned dragon remained wreaking havoc upon any who were unfortunate enough to cross its path; it severed its way through walls and brought down entire buildings with ease. The primordial beast shot out liquified fire from its maw that consumed everything before it, turning the once-proud city to naught but unholy ruination. Even as some of the invaders themselves were being incinerated, the Mongolians continued to press the attack and capitalize upon the creature's tumultuous rage. Across from this chaos, Shifu and the remaining members of the Furious Five were trying - and failing - to maintain order within the Chinese battle ranks.

Seeing the appearance of a literal dragon upon the field - a beast that had not been recorded in thousands of years - the vast majority of the conscripts and mercenaries of the imperial forces were wavering and turning back towards the southern bank of the river. The ones who remained to fight were being repeatedly outflanked and overpowered, and the masters were helpless to turn the tide of the melee back in their favor. The waves of the Mongols who had not already swarmed into the city itself were smashing into their battered positions. As Shifu had been still left in a state of shocked bewilderment, Monkey and Mantis had been furiously cutting down any steppe fighters that tried to approach the commander of the imperial forces; they were making a tremendous account of themselves, and yet the enemy ranks continued to encroach upon them, nonetheless.

Just to the right of Shifu, Viper was desperately trying to bring the Grandmaster of the Jade Palace back to the present moment.

"Master - they are trying to cut off our escape! What is your command?" the snake pleaded as she looked between him and the approaching enemies.

He still had said nothing, grasping his staff tightly as he stared towards the rising fires over the city.

The Dragon Warrior…

"Shifu!" Viper yelled once more, and he finally snapped from his entranced state.

"Fall back! Everyone fall back!" Shifu shouted as he now leapt forward and defended several murderous attacks at once.

The other masters of the Jade Palace heeded his order with a sense of relief, moving to defend the crucial vantage point at the shallows of the river most suited for crossing back; they did their best to buy as much time as they could for the imperial army to make its retreat to their original positions. Still, the Mongols pressed the advantage as the Hwacha bombardment continued on without end. There was little hope of maintaining any semblance of cohesion, and many soldiers were being cut off from any chance of retreating to safety. Some of the most veteran warriors and many of the officers and sergeants in charge of maintaining order had been felled by the combined arms assault from the northern hordes.

Turning around halfway across the river, Shifu unleashed a chi attack of his own unique energetic signature, a bluish-green pulse of light that pushed up a wave of liquid to temporarily separate the retreating Chinese from their pursuers. The interrupting of their advance was invaluable but desperate fighting still ensued soon after, and the muddy shallows were awash with blood once again. After several minutes of this hopeless struggle, and seeing that the city itself was now in flames and being overwhelmed, the kung fu warriors themselves departed back to the main camp before they would surely be killed amidst the fighting. Arriving there to find a chaotic scene of fleeing soldiers and workers hastily packing supplies to continue the retreat, Shifu quickly picked out the group of other imperial leaders gathered near the main tent.

"Where have you been?" Li Tingzhi asked the red panda as soon as he'd arrived. "You should have led an ordered withdrawal, not this stampede!"

The other representatives of the Masters Council appeared ragged and bloody, also clearly sensing the impending defeat. Most of the masters were present, except for Bear and Chicken, who were still unaccounted for. They all looked to Shifu, expecting some sort of response.

"We had no choice; they were driving us back on all fronts!" Shifu declared. "With the city breached, we must pull the entire army back - now!"

The tiger general looked at the other commanders blankly, as they all knew what the red panda had reported to be self-evident.

"Master Shifu shall take the survivors south from here. I have already ordered our navy to retreat downriver to begin the defensive blockade of Hangzhou." the general announced somberly. "I will remain behind."

Master Eagle stepped forward from the others, "Why? The day is clearly lost! There is no need to stay…"

"I swore an oath before the Emperor to defend this city to the end. I prefer this rather than returning to face the shame of my failure."

"Do not abandon your life so foolishly!" Master Lizard added, standing with Eagle in support. "We may still fight another day."

"I will buy you as much time as I can with the rearguard and any others who choose to join me." the tiger answered with pride. "It will not be a wasted end."

The others were taken aback somewhat by his words, not entirely sure if he was acting with honor or foolishness. The bird master among them seemed to size up the tiger for a moment, and was the first to pass judgment.

"As you wish - goodbye, Tingzhi." Eagle said, turning to leave as he shook his head. "May you tread freely in the world beyond."

Master Lizard followed his avian friend, and Shifu and his students moved on as well - but not before each gave the general a bowed salute for his brave gesture. As the other kung fu warriors went to join those retreating, Masters Yao and Shengqi did not move.

"And what of you two?" Li Tingzhi asked, puzzled by their continued presence there.

"We shall stand with you." Yao answered, bowing as well. "To whatever end may come."

Standing beside the markhor goat master, the water buffalo Shengqi matched the gesture to signal his solidarity. The tiger general nodded, and the three moribund commanders turned back towards the river with a small retinue to delay the swarming enemies for as long as they could.

In the streets of Xiangyang, the Mongols were making incredibly quick progress, moving through the streets with ease and being uncontested more often than not. Heeding their Khan's orders, the steppe soldiers were putting anyone and everyone they found to the sword promptly. Any buildings that had not been already set alight by the rampaging dragon were now being inflamed by the torches of the attackers themselves. At the front of the advance forces were the trio of Gan, Yuelen, and Zhenjin; completely taken aback by how easily they had managed to penetrate the inner defenses of the city, they were now closing in upon the central fortified positions of the Lord of Xiangyang's palace.

Here, where the streets narrowed briefly and the dragon had yet to arrive to sow its fiery discord, the defenders managed to mount a semblance of some resistance. The children of the Khan, easily denoted by their expensive weapons and armor, unsheathed their armaments and entered the fray with a pronounced enthusiasm. Seldom had they ever fought together at once, and like everything else in life, this immediately became a form of competition between them. Gan watched from shortly behind as the prince and princess sliced apart their enemies in a matched parallel of killing prowess. While he'd long since known that Yuelen was quite the warrior, he had never seen Zhenjin fighting the way he was before - it was undeniably impressive how he kept pace with his sister as they steadily worked their way through the remaining soldiers of Xiangyang.

Drawing his own weapons and joining them, Gan and his Kheshig bodyguards helped form the tip of the spear as the final stages of the siege devolved into brutal house-to-house fighting. As they rapidly approached the end of the main corridor of the city that led to the palace steps, they found that the last line of defense constituted a makeshift catapult that had been built up just in front of the Lord of Xiangyang's residence. Skidding across the street and seeing it at the last moment, Zhenjin yelled to warn his allies.

"Everyone get back!" the tiger prince screamed.

It was too late for many of the Mongols, as the siege weapon fired its ordinance point-blank into the street before it. A cloud of shattered cobblestone and dust shot up into the air in all directions as mangled bits of soldiers stained the walls on either side of the street. Yuelen was the first to rise, finding herself mostly unharmed; as others quickly did so as well, they rushed at the guards who had fired the weapon. The impact had left many of the attackers dazed and confused, and in the uncertain chaos, the fiendish princess sensed opportunity. Spying her brother stumbling nearby - having taken a much worse blow from the impact - she approached with haste, her movements still obscured by the dust cloud.

"Apologies, brother." Yue delivered with cold aggression, snatching up a wayward arrow from the ground. "But you will stand in my way no longer."

In a lighting-fast move, the leopardess drove the shaft of the weapon into the back of the prince, felling him to the ground at once. Remorseless, she backed away into the obfuscating ashcloud unseen, rejoining the ongoing assault.

At the top of the palace steps, Gan and the Kheshig elites had just finished with the last of the Xiangyang sentinels, and the gates to the palace now stood unguarded.

"We're ready to breach the final stronghold, princess." Gan reported, but immediately took note of the absence of Zhenjin. "Where is your brother?"

Yue did not look him in the eyes, but still answered forthright, "It's no matter, he just… fell behind."

Gan gave her a strange look, but she spoke again before he could deliver further questions.

"Let's finish this."

At once, the guards knocked in the great decorative doors of the palace, and the two leopard commanders rushed in to join their troops. Hacking and slashing with delirious rage, Yue took the lead as they sprinted down the halls towards the center of the palace. She didn't care who was standing before her - she killed them without hesitation as she submerged the guilt of what she had just done with ceaseless murder. Nearing the entrance to the throne room, Gan watched as she approached a pig servant who stepped back with arms raised.

"Please, please!" the pig begged as the leopardess raised her blood-soaked twin blades. "I am unarmed!"

Yuelen cared not for his pleas, decapitating the pig with a single paired strike of her weapons.

Inside the great hall, Crane remained, still pinning the Lord of Xiangyang down. Hearing the commotion outside, the arrogant ibex lord called out to his servant despite his current predicament.

"Zhang Wei! What the hell is going on out there?!" he screamed.

Without further delay, the great doors were thrown open once again, revealing not the palace servants but the invading Mongolians instead. The first to enter the hall and begin pacing towards the throne was the princess of the Khanate herself. Yuelen was holding a blade in one paw and the severed head of the pig servant in the other, drawing the unanimous gaze of everyone in the room at once.

"Zhang Wei?" the leopardess questioned mockingly, lifting the head to face herself. "I suppose that must've been you!"

The nauseating laugh of the princess filled the room, and Crane released the ibex. There were now enemies of greater importance here. The princess dropped the decapitated head to the floor with a thud and drew her other weapon.

"Ah, finally!" the Lord of Xiangyang exclaimed, dusting himself off as he rose. "Looks like I chose to deal with the winning side after all!"

The ibex lord was eagerly matching step with the advancing Mongols, assuming his allies had come to his timely rescue from the intrusions of Crane and Mei Ling. The bird and golden cat just let him go, knowing the leopardess' nature much better than he did, clearly. Yue just kept pacing forward, an unhinged disturbance barely hiding behind her lilac glare. She was clearly quite amused by the ibex's confidence as she held her blades out to her sides with anticipation.

"I see now what a little shift in loyalties can achieve - isn't that right?" he joked in a patronizing manner. "I appreciate the rescue, but I expect to be reinstated as lord of this province immediately once your business here is concluded."

Yuelen paused now, meeting the lord just before the throne.

"Business… yes." she said, mocking him.

The leopardess drove both of her blades into the chest of the treacherous lord, lifting him from his feet as the sabers punctured further in. Yuelen's perpetually grim resolve savored every second of it, looking him directly in the face with a fanged smile as she took his life.

"Payment for your services, Lord of Xiangyang." she taunted.

With that, Yue discarded the ibex to the ground, dead. She now looked up to the throne platform where Crane and Mei Ling remained, neither of them having much remorse for the slain ruler of the city.

"Ah - I had a feeling we'd meet again, pretty bird."

As Crane scowled at the princess, Mei Ling stepped forward and lifted one of the discarded spears of the defeated Xiangyang guards to challenge her. But just as she had done so, the golden cat master noticed who had joined the leopardess. Pacing out from among the other Mongolian soldiers who had since crowded the throne room, Ganbataar stood beside Yue and faced down his daughter.

"I wish it had not come to this, Kökejin."

Mei Ling turned her head away upon hearing him speak, "I told you to never call me by that name."

Yue smirked, entertained by the growing tension and animosity between the four of them that now stood before the ruined throne.

"It seems all of us have unfinished business." the princess challenged, readying her weapons.

Crane lowered his stance and outstretched his wings, matching her malevolent inflection when he spoke.

"That we do."

The leopardess waved off her soldiers; the four warriors would be undisturbed.

"Come on then, bird - try and take your vengeance! I'll bleed you dry just like I did your friend!"

Crane would wait no longer. He screamed in anger as he shot forth to engage the princess and they were trading blows back and forth immediately. Quickly following them were Gan and Mei Ling, who met just to their side and began to duel one another, albeit more reluctantly. Crane's rage was more and more apparent with every successive exchange with the leopardess; he would weave his nimble form around her calculated stabs and slashes only to frantically jab his wings back into her. Yue absorbed the hits without seeming affected, the pain of his ruthless attacks only fuelling her own aggression. She was provoking his force of thunder, inciting his speed of lightning - and enjoying just how much animus she could draw from his hot-running blood.

Ganbataar wanted to avoid seriously hurting his own daughter, but as their own fight wore on, he found it to be growing in intensity. Mei Ling was showing her own contempt now, thrusting her spear and reversing strikes at him that would be lethal if not countered properly. Blocking the shaft of her weapon with both blades, the old leopard kicked her away only for them to enter yet another sequence of traded parries that sent sparks flying from their blade edges. Out of the corner of her eye, the golden cat master could see Crane and Yue still locked in a death-dance of odious hatred.

As the princess cut towards the bird master at a downward angle, he reversed his entire body, lifting his legs and temporarily hovering to avoid the attack. Spinning into a flourish with his wings, he sent Yue backwards with a surging gust of air - only to close the distance immediately. Crane's momentum carried him into a pair of scissor kicks that the leopardess flipped backwards to avoid. When she counterattacked again, the bird fluidly pivoted himself around her thrusting arm with one appendage and drove his other wing into her face; the hit drew spatterings of blood that stained the white of his outer contour feathers.

Just as the bird and leopardess had briefly separated, the golden cat vaulted over Crane to avoid the paired swords of her father. The avian briefly engaged the leopard for a time as Mei went after Yue, exchanging their opponents as the fight continued. The golden cat and the princess knew each other's fighting styles well enough by this point that neither stood much chance of landing any hits - they went at each other mercilessly, nonetheless.

"So you're the one," Gan said as he swung his blade at Crane's neck, "that turned my daughter against me?!"

Crane directed the next stab down away from himself, and punched back fiercely with his wing, "You have done that yourself, lap-dog of the Khan!"

Gan delivered a hearty roar as he came at the bird with both weapons at once, a savage attack that Crane avoided by sweeping to the side and pushing the leopard on in the direction of his momentum; Yue had to jump back towards the avian to avoid running into her ally. Without hesitation, she returned to her previous opponent just as Mei Ling and Gan renewed their own engagement. The surrounding soldiers watched as the chaos went on still, the minutes of the fight dragging on and on inconclusively.

Crane and Yue shifted the balance of momentum back and forth like a pendulum in its endless routine, their matching footwork and attack speed making it hard for the observers to follow. Crane had just caught her arms and planted a kick to the princess' chest, and her blades scraped against the floor as she was sent back again. Hissing in anger she launched a number of small knives at him, which he angled away precisely with the shielding technique of his wings, backing away. Running out of projectiles, Yue then threw one of her matched blades with incredible speed - it took everything Crane had just to intercept it as she took a running start and jumped into a mighty overhead slash with the other weapon.

Moving back to the remains of the throne, all Crane could do was lift his appendages upward as she brought down the leaping strike. Both fighters had thought for sure it would result in a mortal wound, but Crane was surprised to find that the wood of the throne he was pinned down against had caught the embedded blade and prevented him from being cut. Even still - he was now stuck with nowhere to go. Yuelen withdrew the saber and looked to have the upper hand.

"Looks like I was right, pretty bird… now you die!"

Just as the leopardess had initiated her killing stroke, Mei Ling intervened.

"Crane!" she yelled as a golden burst of chi sent the princess against the opposing columns around the throne.

The avian master had never seen an energy attack of such power from anyone other than Po. Yue was noticeably injured from the impact, grasping at her side in agony.

"Thank you-" Crane tried to say, but Mei's attention immediately turned back as Gan had also come to try and kill the bird master.

Mei Ling stymied the advance of her father once again, neither of them holding anything back. As both fighters neared the extent of their willpower, Gan severed his daughter's spear weapon and she spun about in response to kick away one of his blades. Angered by her continued resistance, the veteran fighter shoved the disarmed golden cat aside roughly, and moved right at Crane to finish what Yue had started. Still weak, there was little that Crane could do.

"I should have done this the moment I first met you!" Gan yelled, drawing back his remaining shortblade.

At the last second, Mei Ling executed a perfect leap overhead and landed between them; she caught her father's wrist as he thrusted the weapon and redirected it around completely - driving it straight into his chest.

There was a collective gasp among the surrounding Kheshig as the father and daughter remained standing together for a time, both of them grasping the single blade. Many of them were horrified to see their leader's body stagger backwards; losing blood quickly, Gan would have fallen to the ground had Mei not supported him. The two looked each other in the eyes.

"Heh." Gan smiled slightly, a red current having sprung from the corner of his mouth. "That was a pretty good move."

Mei Ling's features had frozen, a twinge of remorse already overtaking her as she realized what was happening. It had been a sudden reaction - she was just trying to defend Crane.

"You gave me no choice!" she screamed, tears threatening to well up in her eyes.

"It's fitting really…" Gan coughed on his own blood. "I killed my father too, it is only right that it ends this way."

Mei bared her teeth in anguish as she failed to hold back her tears any longer, "You old fool! I hope your loyalty to that maniac was worth it to you!"

Gan looked downward, seeing how his paw was now coated in thick crimson as well.

"That is not for either of us to judge." the dying leopard said.

"Perhaps it's not." Mei answered. "But my mother is avenged at last."

She let him fall to the ground.

"Goodbye, father."

Mei tried to help Crane up, as the wounded Yue was desperately trying to crawl towards them still. Succeeding in helping the bird master, the two masters found that the Kheshig were now edging in on them. The warriors seemed to be unsure whether to intervene or not, as to violate a duel was still dishonorable. Taking advantage of their hesitance, Crane found one last store of energy and swept the two of them upwards. As all the doors to the place were obstructed by angry Mongolians, Crane struck the ceiling itself and cracked straight through it. The falling debris covered them as the masters made their escape from the palace. Overhead, they could see the horrific scene of destruction below; the unleashed dragon was continuing to level entire swaths of the city with its hellfire as the invaders poured in relentlessly. Xiangyang had fallen.

Back inside the throne room, Yuelen had crawled over to Gan, both angered and terrified by the state she'd found him in.

"Gan, we need to get back after them! I will have the healers and shamans - the best in the entire empire - attend to you at once!"

"It's no use. I know you can see that."

The leopardess' eyes were widened in denial, but also genuine fear.

"No! It's not too late, we just-"

Gan interrupted her by taking the paw that was stemming the bleeding from his chest and raising it to her shoulder.

"It is over, Yue. It's alright… we are all born to die, especially those of our heritage."

The princess couldn't bear to face the reality of it, shrieking in disconsolate rage. Seeing the inevitable though, her features grew twisted in hatred - already thirsty for her own revenge. Her eyes squinted from the flood of tears that so rarely - if ever - had come forth.

"Then I swear to you - I will find that cat and I will make her suffer! I will tear out her entrails with my own claws! I will hunt her to the ends of the earth if I have to!"

Gan had no interest in her tormented vows of retribution. He was growing weaker by the second, and the Kheshig had now gathered around closely.

"As my final request…" he mumbled, causing her to lower herself even further to hear it. "I ask that you do not harm Kökejin."

Yue immediately recoiled in confused anger again, "What?! Why? Why should I spare her after what she has done to you? I was always more of a daughter to you than she ever was!"

Gan smiled, already knowing what she did not.

"Because… she is your sister." he said faintly.

The mouth of the princess hung agape, just as surprised as everyone else to hear him say this. In an instant she was grasping him again, shaking him for answers.

"What?! You mean-"

It was no use, the old leopard had merely fallen limp, dying in her arms. Yue was simultaneously furious and devastated. She let go, and his body slumped to the floor once again. Rising to stand weakly, she looked down at the deceased warrior - her father.

"After all these years…"

It had all been for nothing. Her ceaseless attempts to grow her own power and prestige within the realm, in the meager hope of one day becoming Khan. What she had done to Zhenjin… it was all a wasted effort. The mind of the leopardess simply could not handle it. The Kheshig watched her expression grow completely blank.

She departed the palace alone.

Limping out into the streets, she casually embraced the abject anarchy all around. It did not bother her. She watched as Chinese soldiers - her sworn enemies - came running by in formation, some of the last vestiges of the city's defense. She did nothing.

She no longer cared.

Crane came to an abrupt landing atop one of the rolling hills just south of the burning city of Xiangyang. Mei Ling was still feeling irrevocably shattered by what had just happened, and as she gathered herself from the impact with the ground, she wept uncontrollably. Crane certainly understood, having seen what she had been forced to do to protect him. For miles in every direction around them, steady columns of retreating imperial forces cascaded over the hills to move as far southwards as possible to escape the Mongolian onslaught.

Turning his attention back to the golden cat, he tried to speak with her, "Mei, I'm sorry… I know your father was our enemy, but-"

"We never should have been there!"

"What?" Crane asked, surprised that her anguish had now been turned on him.

"If you hadn't gone after the Lord of Xiangyang, none of this would have happened!"

Crane just looked back at her, unsure what to say. There was truth in her words, and in her eyes he could see that she was devastated.

"We should have been with the others!" Mei continued. "They clearly needed our help!"

The avian was confused, but also felt backed into a corner by her accusations.

"You cannot say everything that has happened is my fault! If I hadn't fought Tigress on your behalf, she would be alive now, and the Mongols would have never gotten the weapon back!"

Mei could see how he had just turned things around on her, but she did not care as much about the blame. What had happened was over and could not be changed. What bothered her was that Crane was now questioning if it was right to have set aside his commitment to kung fu and the emperor to pursue a life with her. The look in his eyes showed it wasn't just her own head conjuring up such suspicions. She wanted to get even angrier, to lash out at him, but she also knew deep down that he didn't deserve it. Instead, she just held her tongue and turned away, saying nothing as she started to join the thousands of others walking south.

Crane had seen it all on her face as well, and lowered his head. He had never known if he could ever truly forgive himself for his greatest failures in life - but it was uncanny how many of them seemed to revolve around Mei Ling. Looking back again to the devastation of Xiangyang, the bird master wondered what could have been.

And what was still yet to come.

Author's Notes:

- First off, thanks to The Great Ying and Mastrrt for their insight and beta-reading help with this chapter; I really wanted to make sure I got these scenes the way I wanted them to be

- Addressing the numerous character deaths, I will not be addressing them any further :)

- But keeping it real, since the beginning, I have always set out to write a tragedy with this fic; if you are surprised that I've taken this approach, I'm sorry to have led you to believe otherwise… my bad

- Regardless, just try to stick with it - there's still quite a ways to go!

- Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you think if you like!

- Until next time!