A/N: I am so so sorry for being so late. But school took so hard on me that, for my own fault, I had to slow down a bit. But now I have finished Spread Your Wings, and I have published a new Skyrim fic, that truly have gotten my inspiration back! I write 1000 words for fanfiction each day; something I haven't done since I started at the new school.

So I am glad to report that I am back. If you haven't read the ending of Spread Your Wings yet, then what are you waiting for? Also, if there are any Skyrim fans out there, please check out my new story "Bloodstained Smiles", if you like the Dark Brotherhood.

I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Long Lost, Long Hidden
A Storm Cloud Is Stirring

"Guys!" Mantis called, jumping as fast as he could. "Monkey!" he shouted, seeing his friend at the gate of the Hall of Warriors.

"What?" Monkey said, landing in front of him. Sensing the bug's panic, he asked, "What happened?"

"It's Mr. Ping!"

"What about him?!"

"He-!" Mantis suddenly lowered his voice, looking around nervously. "He's been kidnapped!"

"WHAT?!"

"Don't let Tigress hear you; she'll just storm off and then we'll have to catch her!"

Monkey, understanding what he meant, lowered to the ground to be in eye-height with him. "Good thinking. But what should we do?" There was desperation in his voice; the same could be seen in Mantis' eyes.

He opened his mouth, paused, and then revealed, "I don't know. We should tell Master Shifu, but… We have to stay here."

"No, Monkey said, "She has to stay."

"You know," a voice came above them, "I am a tiger. And tigers have great ears." Tigress' face then turned very serious. "Don't try to hide things from me. We are support to build up trust, remember?"

The boys looked at each other, stunned. "So," Mantis began, "you are not going to run after them?"

"Oh, I am already making plans," she revealed, "but nothing like that. Besides, when Po finds out, he is going to act without thinking. One of you should definitely tell Master Shifu, though. They might want to change their plans."

"Poor Po," Monkey said. "I'll go. I am the fastest after all." When he heard Tigress snort mockingly, he turned to her, "What? You just said you aren't going!"

"I am not. Not exactly at least."

"You are planning something," Mantis muttered, glancing at her suspiciously. "I do not like that."

"I am the leader after all."

"That was a dirty trick!"

Tigress crossed her arms. "It's the truth. But you should hurry," she told Monkey. He nodded and disappeared into the forest to follow his master and comrades.

Mantis and Tigress stared after him. "This is bad," the bug said.

"Indeed."

"How many spies do you think Jung have?" he then asked her.

"More than plenty."

Silence.

"Okay, when are we leaving?"

The tiger widened her eyes, quite surprised. "What?"

Mantis winked at her. "Come on! You may not remember me that well, but I know you. Ten more minutes, and you'll be running off, following your own plan."

Tigress now wore an amused expression. "So you are coming with me?"

"We are not going to face Jung directly, are we?"

"No," Tigress said honestly and started walking, "but the others need backup."

"Mother!" Kiew cried happily, jumping towards the older panda to give her a hug. Though, it was quite hard since her paws were bound.

"Kiew!" Ruolan said, surprised to the core. She had been told that her daughter was in the Jade Palace; she was supposed to be safe! But now she was here, stuck in the dungeon with her and Ning.

The guards locked the door when they left. "Are you alright?" Ning asked quickly, as Kiew sat down next to them.

"They did not harm me," she said shortly. "But they weren't nice either."

Ning snorted loudly. "I don't think they know what 'being nice' is."

"At least you are safe," Ruolan said with a small smile.

"What about you?"

"We are fine," Ruolan said, "Just some stiff limbs from sitting here all day long."

Kiew looked up towards her. "I was worried."

"It's alright, Kiew," Ning said and then asked, "What about the Masters?"

"I don't know," the panda revealed shamefully, "I was taken away while they were distracted. But I think they are using us to lure them towards here."

The healer nodded. "Oh, yes. They want to gather us all here. What happens then, I do not know."

A thick silence fell upon the room. Kiew sighed deeply. "We can't do anything, right?"

"Let's wait and see what happens. I believe the masters will come for us, and then we will try and help the best that we can," Ruolan said softly, keeping hope. "How is Tigress?"

"Better. I think she likes being home… You know, the Jade Palace. Her memory is getting better too," she explained. "She remembers situations and such. She is still quite unsure of how to treat them, but… Well, everything is better."

"Let's see what happens when she face Jung," Ning muttered darkly. She still remembered the time where the she-wolf had taken over their village and how the tiger had reacted.

Kiew dropped her jaw in fear. "Don't say such a thing!" she scolded the healer.

"I don't think it will be so bad," Ruolan comforted her. "Not for her at least. But I am sure Jung will get what she deserves."

"Whish is a clawed face," Kiew smiled softly. She sighed again and stood up.

"Don't think you can break the door," Ning warned her. "Because you can't."

"I know that! I am just taking a look. Do you think we are going to stay here for long? We should at least try and look for holes in the wall," she said, starting her river of words.

"The guards will soon come back to grant us dinner, so sit down and behave."

Kiew did what she was told; still trying to shake off the memory of the guards grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the palace… If she had been a fighter than she would not be here right now!

Before settling down in one of the corners, she thought for a moment that she heard a dull honk.

"They're just up ahead," Crane said as he landed next to his master. "I just saw them."

"Good," Shifu said. "We must follow them until they have reached the lair. I am sure it is very well hidden."

"Was Kiew with them?" Viper asked the bird.

He shook his head. "Not from what I could see."

Viper hissed, "That's weird. Perhaps they have already given her to Jung somehow?"

"I'll go after them again," Crane declared.

Shifu nodded, "Keep your distance; we will follow."

The group had only been walking in about five minutes, when something caused a sound from behind them. Someone was coming towards them, but who?

With a nod to his students, they all jumped in different directions, trying to hide so they could create an ambush on whoever was following them.

Po crunched down behind a bush, waiting. When he heard the footstep coming near, he let out a wordless yell and jumped; landing directly on Monkey.

Monkey moaned slightly before saying, "Get off me, Po!"

The others came out from their hiding place, watching their friend in wonder. However, Shifu was not so glad by the sight. "What are you doing here?" he asked, realizing something had to be wrong for his student to cross his orders. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Po," Monkey muttered. "It's your dad. They took him."

"WHAT?!"

"Mantis visited the shop and he was gone," Monkey explained. "It must have happened when they also took Kiew."

"Dad," Po whimpered, fearing for his father's life.

Shifu's expression had gone dark; Jung was getting worse and worse in his eyes. "They won't harm him, Po," he said sternly. "They are merely using him as bait; just like they are doing with Kiew."

"We gotta rescue him!"

"All of them," Viper added, worry in her eyes.

Shifu looked at Monkey, but before he could ask, the student has already answered, "Tigress and Mantis stayed at the palace."

"Good."

"So how you found anything yet?"

"Crane's on it," Po said. "Wait… We were supposed to follow him!"

We better catch up then, before he disappears completely," Viper said. "He could get in troubles."

Monkey faced his master. "So, should I go back or can I come with you?"

"It would be a waste of time for you to travel back," Shifu declared. "You can help us against Jung."

"Guys!" a voice called from above them. They all looked up to see Crane. "I found their hide-out! I- Monkey?! What are you doing here?"

"Helping you," he answered.

"Let's get going," Po said, worry still darkening his expression. "We need to get Dad back!"

They followed Crane through the forest, walking more slowly and quietly as they neared the area he had been speaking of. It was a cave; the entrance almost impossible to see because of a boulder.

The students moved forward but stopped as Shifu held up a hand. "Wait," he barked quietly. "It's a trap." They then looked in the direction he was now pointing at, and they could barely see a dark figure at the top of the cliff.

They moved a little backwards. "What now?" Po asked. "Should we totally make a run for it or-"

"If we even manage to enter the lair, do you then think we would make it?" Shifu questioned him with a scolding voice.

"Well, yeah, we are pretty awesome and I am quite angry right now so-"

"The moment they have the chance, they will threat us by their lives," Shifu told him. "Both of them. I promised Tigress I would bring Kiew back, and we need to stop Jung before any more can be dragged into this."

"Guys," Viper said quietly.

Po cut her off without hearing her. "So do we have to use stealth mode? I can do that!"

"Po-" Shifu said, but then Viper laid her tail on his arm.

"I think they know we are here," she told him with a low voice, eyes locked on the figure that was sitting in a tree in the distance.

They all took their fighting stances, though nothing rushed at them. "How many are there?" Crane asked quietly.

"Master?"

Shifu stared at the place Viper had pointed out. Then his ear twitched and he yelled to his students, "Down!"

"So… Will you tell me now?" Mantis asked the tiger as they walked.

"I haven't finished the details yet," she revealed. "But if we can find the others, we should. Though I am not looking forward to meet Master Shifu."

"So we should have stayed at the palace?" the bug asked, keeping having questions.

"Master Shifu would probably say so. But we can't help them if we stay there."

"And we are going to help them how?"

"They are going to be in trouble," Tigress said quietly as they moved through the forest. They did not run as Tigress wanted her surroundings as quiet as possible; she had to listen if anyone was sneaking up on her. "Jung knows that we will be coming."

"So we are going to ambush the ones who are ambushing Master Shifu and the others who are trying to ambush Jung's warriors." Mantis stopped for a moment and frowned. "That's just complicated."

"Shh," Tigress hissed at him. "We are getting close."

"And how do you know that? I don't even know where we are!"

"Alright. I don't know," Tigress revealed shamefully and a bit irritated. "But I am supposed to know it." She stopped and looked around. When she found nothing suspicious, she sighed and said, "Let's continue."

A/N: I know; a very short chapter. But my inspiration for this story is kinda low for the moment, but I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't abandoned anything :D So yeah, hopefully the action will soon come. Forgive me for being so lazy, but most of you know that I've been dealing with some mental problems. Anyways, I feel a lot better now; my inspiration is just not at KFP any longer…

Hope you will all hear from me soon :D If not; Merry Christmas and such, if I have not updated until then!