Hello everyone, welcome to the next chapter! A lot has been going on right now with me but I'm still trying to make time to write these chapters for y'all With that being said, our heroes are in for some hard times it seems, and with the mysterious villian always two steps ahead, who knows what the outcome will be... The villians' identity is sooo close to being revealed and things are going to heat up fast. I do apologize for making you guys wait so long until the reveal but everything has it's place So many obstacles and so little time so without further a due, the rest of the story.

Chapter 11: Tigress's lost days prt1

It was nearly dusk as the two master's Po and Tigress, were walking down the dirt road towards Nanchang, engaging in their conversations, and checking the map in front of them. The air was cool and crisp, and it could be felt through their fur as a gentle breeze swirled around the two masters. Po was still carrying the tiger on his back so that her injuries could heal, and she greatly appreciated this. Meanwhile, they were searching for more food in addition to the small stock they already had which consisted of fish, walnuts, and wild, sweet berries in a small basket Tigress had constructed earlier using bamboo branches.

"I think we should stop soon - it's getting pretty late." Po commented to the female tiger on his back.

"Yeah, it is. Let's make camp over there, Po." Tigress said casually, pointing over his shoulder to a rather tall tree with large branches, that seemed to form a roof from the elements. This spot seemed perfect as it provided them with some cover for it was surrounded by various plantation.

Po nodded in agreement with his usual smile and walked over to it, some twenty feet off from the main dusty road. At this point, the tiger was feeling quite drowsy from the ride, and almost fell asleep a few times on the panda's back, for he was much more... comfortable than she had anticipated. This surprised her, but Po was a large panda after all, and she was grateful he would do this nevertheless. Po approached the trees trunk and knelt down in front of it, allowing the tiger to climb off his back. She did so, and Tigress placed her paw on the tree trunk to steady herself, while Po laid their packs down near a large rock.

"Thanks for carrying me this far, Po." she smiled. "It certainly did help my wounds." she stated as some of the soreness had gone away since she been off her feet for some time now.

"Anytime, Ti!" he clapped returning her gentle smile with his usual, goofy grin. "I'm just making sure you stay off your wounds for as long as possible." he said before his tone changed.

"You really scared the daylights out of me back there when I saw you go down. I... I thought I would lose you." Po said, with despair and pain in his voice that Tigress could hear. This however, was rather heartwarming to hear how much her friend was concerned about her well being.

"He really does worry a lot for me..." The tiger thought to herself in her head as she pulled out the chess board for the two to play a few rounds and keep their minds sharp.

The tiger smiled sadly at the panda and sighed, releasing some air from her lungs, "But you didn't and won't either. I'm tougher than you think." she smirked playfully, punching his arm in an attempt to cheer him up.

It worked, as an audible groan of pain was heard from the panda and then he smiled at her. Po nodded and began to gather some wood he discovered laying on the dusty ground to build a fire. Before too long, a fire was soon roaring and crackling in front of the two master's and then began to roast some left over fish over it. While their supper cooked over the toasty, warm fire, the panda opened up their packs and removed their blankets as the sun was almost set over the horizon.

After handing Tigress a blanket, to which she nodded in thanks, Po sat down across from her with his feet together, near the game board with his blanket wrapped snuggly around his shoulders, ready to play. Crickets could be heard chirping around them as night time was drawing closer by the second and the crackling fire seemed to be their only source of light.

"You ready to lose again?" The female tiger teased, while setting up her various black game pieces, and Po his white ones.

"Not a chance, Ti!" He shot back dramatically as they both got ready to start their game. "Prepare to lose because I have plan this time."

Tigress just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure you do." she said chuckling with a knowing smile before she moved her first pawn.

"Oh, you shall see." The panda added as the two began to play their game, carefully reading each other's moves, while in the mean time, checking on their fish that was roasting over the fire.

After a few minutes, the two paused to check on the fish and after flipping the fish over so the other side could cook evenly, the Master's returned to their game. Not too long into the game however, Tigress had taken most of Po's pieces and likewise he had taken some of hers. This time, he had more than the last time they had played.

"Well done, Dragon warrior." The female tiger said slyly before taking the panda's last knight, to which he groaned. "But you're still moving your pieces too fast, Po."

"Aw, man!" he exclaimed. "Is that it!?"

"That, and you're not taking the time to think before you move your piece."

The giant panda nodded, agreeing to her advice and took a mental note to put it into practice when it was his turn once more, considering he mindlessly moved his rook straight out into the open of the game board. The tiger saw her opportunity, and after reading all the possible outcomes, took his rook and the last of his pawns with her knight.

"Dang it!" he exclaimed, slumping some, knowing she was getting closer to check-mate.

"Nice try, Dragon Warrior." she said with amusement in her voice. "Next time try to think a little harder."

"But... that seems hard."

"I've noticed." The tiger teased to which the panda slumped, before she stopping to check on the fish that was over the fire. "Wait, I think the fish is done - we'll resume this later."

Po nodded and put the pieces and game board away while Tigress reached over to check on one of the sizzling cuts of meat. After close inspection, pulling some of the meat apart to see if it was well cooked, Tigress removed the steaming, hot fish from the fire, and handed her panda friend one. The smell was mouthwatering to the two hungry Masters and now a thin steam arose from the freshly-cooked meat. A few minutes later, the tender meat was now cool enough for a bite and the two Masters began to eat the water creature, hungrily.

"Oh, man this is so good!" The panda said taking another juicy bite.

"Mhmm."

Afterwards, when they ate to their filling, the duo decided it was time to get some sleep before the long, continuing journey the next day. However, Po decided before the two would sleep that he would check on his tiger friend's injuries to see if they were healing any better than before. After agreeing to Po's suggestion to check her wounds, Tigress sat down in front of him, undone the wraps from her right ankle and rolled up her black, silk pant leg to let him inspect her laceration on her thigh. Tigress wished to keep this to herself for her own privacy but she understood it was necessary to keep an eye on this.

The area surrounding the wound was bruised lightly, discolored from the blow from earlier, but on the bright side, it seemed to be healing as a scab was visable beneath her orange fur.

"It's healing a bit, but you're bruised, Tigress. Try not to put too much pressure on it."

She nodded, "I'll try not to. But I've been through worse than this - I can keep going." the tiger stated knowingly as she began to roll her pant leg back down and re-wrap it at the base of her ankle.

Po nodded knowing how tough the tiger was and that she rather disliked being treated as some "damsel in distress." After letting the crackling fire die down in order to keep their location secret from bandits, the two Masters then prepared their sleeping mats next to the fire, which was now a cluster of glowing coals. Po and Tigress then said their usual good night's before laying down under their blankets, and closing eyes for some much needed sleep.

Several minutes later, Unbeknownst to them however, a group of wolves armed with clubs and sabers, watched the two with interest from the shadows - lustful and preying eyes swarmed over the Masters, particularly over Master Tigress. One of them quietly gave a signal, and the other wolves began to advance towards their camp. The Masters were sleeping peacefully when the tiger heard a twig snap, breaking her from her slumber. Her glowing amber eyes flickered open slightly, and her ear twitched, hearing movement coming towards them. Sitting up, she turned to her side to wake the sleeping panda shaking him some with her paw.

"Po...PO! Wake up. I think we're being ambushed!" The female warrior whisper shouted and Po groggily opened his Jade orbs.

"What? Ugh again!?" he whispered back sitting up too.

Before the Masters could react, two of the wolves swung their clubs, striking simultaneously across the back of their heads, knocking them to the ground, dazed.

crack!

"Ughhh... Tigress?" Po groaned reaching for his tiger friend as his vision began to grow blurry due to the blow. The pandas' ears began to ring as well while everything was starting to fade.

"Po..." she whispered feintly, her sight of him fading by the second.

The Panda briefly saw her pass out before he too lost consciousness as another blow from a club struck him over the head.

Thunk!

With the two Master's now out cold, the unpleasant band of devious wolves could now do as they pleased to their new prisoners.

"We have them at last!" One of the tall canines exclaimed with a twisted grin, eyeing Master Tigress up and down

"What do we do now?" A tall, grey wolf asked their apparent leader, who was wearing a black helmet and some armor over their chest.

"You'll see." Remarked the leader before they proceeded to drag the two warriors away.

However, as they were doing so, the hunch-backed wolves appeared to be struggling to drag the giant panda through the dirt with his weight appeared to be slowing them down. The leader observed this, and stopped in his tracks, motioning for the others to just leave the panda in the dirt and take only Master Tigress. They agreed and proceeded to carry the unconscious tiger away into a rock and bolder scattered mountain - miles away from her panda friend.

Meanwhile, Po was laying unconscious on the windswept ground, and he soon began to enter a dream.

Dreamscape

A dark void spat forth and surrounded the panda style master with flashes of lightning being his only source of light until he recognized where he was. A look of fear and anxiety washed over his face as he realized he was in the old panda village which was destroyed by Shen over 20 years prior. He looked around at the charred remains in silence until he saw a figure approach him from the shadows.

"Hello, Dragon Warrior." A smooth, velvety voice greeted as a flash of light revealed the figure to be the old Soothsayer from Gongmen.

Po gasped slightly but was relieved to see a familiar face. "Soothsayer? What's going on - what's happening right now?" The panda asked anxiously as his environment was quite unsettling.

The old goat feebly walked towards Po with her cane ever so gently. "You're in a dream - you're in a great deal of trouble so I decided to speak with you and warn you.."

"Warn me?" The panda questioned as the goat walked around him a few times, as if inspecting him while light illuminated their surroundings. "Can you tell me why all of this is happening? I-I don't even know where my friends are because of this guy..." Po stated with despair in his tone while the soothsayer prepared a few items in a bowl.

"You are in what is called a Crucible in which you will be tested greatly, but the foe you're up against... is unlike any you've ever faced before." The soothsayer stated gravely before the giant panda spoke up after a few moments of eerie silence.

"Oh... so do you know who he is?" Po asked in fear of whom it might be, given that he is connected to Shen. "Like... have you seen his face?

The old goat nodded while leaning on her cane. "Would you like to? It's time you learned." The soothsayer then set fire to the contents of the bowl and a cloud of smoke arose.

Inside the cloud of smoke, the panda saw the dark, cloaked figure with glowing, red eyes standing in what appeared to be a cave. Po watched carefully as the figure threw down a helpless leopard, which he held by the throat, before lifting his hood back from his head, revealing the creature to be a dark-scaled Komodo Dragon. He appeared young, strong and much hatred laid behind those red orbs of his but mostly pain.The reptile walked towards the terrified leopard slowly, and with a slight limp in his steps. The leopard, practically shaking with fear, was trying to back away but it was no use - a wall stopped him. The Komodo dragon unsheathed his claws, and Po looked away.

"His name is Jian and he is more dangerous than any threat you've ever faced, Po... or that China has faced." The soothsayer spoke up as the giant warrior was at a loss for words but he was beginning to understand.

"I see... but how was he connected to Shen?" Po asked, trying to process all of this information.

"Jian was Shen's Mercenary." Soothsayer replied in a way that sent a cold chill down Po's spine causing him to remember the genocide.

A look of shock but mostly horror came over the pandas face, "Please tell me the story... I-I need to know." Po inquired quietly, desiring to know if this Jian had anything to do with his mother.

A smile formed on the soothsayers face as their surroundings changed with a flash of lightning. "Very well but... are you prepared to hear what I will say?" The old goat asked as they were now standing in the region of Tibet.

"I'm ready."

Well this chapter is long over due but here it is! I do apologise for that, I've been going through a lot recently. Anyway I'm trying to include darker elements and keep everyone in character, since I was informed I wasn't doing so. Also I was told that Tigress would not be struggling like she is, but everyone has their limit and no one is invincible. The wounds were meant to slow her down, but now with the identity of the villian being revealed, more pressing matters are at hand. What are his plans and why does he seem to always be two steps ahead of our heroes? Find out in the next chapter with more of his story to come! Hope you enjoyed this update - see you in the next one!

- Tipo-fan-4-life