Kung Fu Panda: The Hunt For The Heir (OC x Tigress fanfic)

Chapter 21: Strange Warriors

Around the same time, the Five had finished their meal and were currently playing a modified version of hide and seek around the Palace. It was something Po had devised as a way to test everyone's stealth skills, although there was a twist. If someone not 'it' manages to take the one who is 'it' by surprise by tapping them without being seen, then they win a point and the seeker loses a point, and the first one who manages to do it to each new seeker gets to choose who is 'it' next. Anyone who is not found but doesn't ambush the seeker gets half a point and anyone who gets found gets no points. It was fun, but also encouraged hiders to choose strategic spots to hide, and for the seeker to be on constant alert.

Mantis was the current champion at 22 points overall, with Tigress in close second with 20, Viper and Crane were tied at 17 and Monkey was fourth at 15. Po was last at 13, but he was definitely improving due to the game, which was the objective anyway. Also, whoever lost the most points in each game had to do the dishes that night. Shifu had yet to join in with them, unfortunately. Or perhaps fortunately...

Viper was currently it, and was slithering around the Palace grounds quietly, making sure no one heard her approach so they could get the jump on her... She waited by a corner and listened, tasting the air to see if she could taste any pheromones or hear breathing or a heartbeat. Nothing. She cautiously moved forwards, not letting her guard down for a moment...

However, when she rounded the corner she ran into someone. Jumping back in shock, she was relieved when it was Master Shifu... It made her glad that he didn't in fact play the game with them... Shifu looked at Viper with a raised brow. "Ah, Viper. Practising your stealth skills I see?" He mentioned with a nod to the female serpent, who nodded to him in return.

"We are, Master." She bowed her head to him then.

He smiled to her. "Excellent. Keep up the good work." Shifu said and walked away from Viper towards the Hall of Heroes as she continued onwards with the game... However, on his way he saw a Pig running up the steps to The Jade Palace as if his life depended on it. He was stopped by two Servants, although upon frantic explanation, they quickly let him through. Seeing the panic in the Pig's eyes, Shifu quickly went over to see just what the problem was...

Meanwhile, Viper had spotted Monkey's tail poking out from behind a tree for a second... She quietly approached the tree and slithered around it, finding Monkey hiding and peeking out at the Palace grounds from his position... "Found you." Viper smirked as Monkey jumped slightly and turned.

He shook his head. "Damn. Thought I picked a good spot this time." Monkey said to Viper and began to walk over to the courtyard to sit in the open. If anyone was sat there during the game, it meant they'd been caught. However, before the game could continue on, the emergency gong sounded out. "It doesn't count if the game's interrupted!" Monkey exclaimed and quickly ran towards the courtyard now before Viper could retort.

Viper rolled her eyes at that, but conceded that it wasn't really fair if they didn't get a full game in, and he wouldn't have lost or gained any points anyway. She also quickly moved to join with the others. She found everyone arriving at roughly the same time, apart from Po who was a bit late. "Damn! And I had such a good hiding place!" he exclaimed in frustration as everyone looked to Shifu and his guest. "We're here Master, whose butt needs kicking?" Po pulled a stereotypical Kung Fu pose.

Shifu gestured to his guest then. "This is Ming. He's from the rice farm village 6 miles down the road from the Palace." He informed the Five and Po.

Tigress was intrigued by where he had come from. "The rice farm that supplies our village with grains of rice and other such foodstuff?" she asked her Master, who nodded to her.

"The very same one. Ming, tell the other Masters what you told me." Shifu suggested to the Pig in question.

Ming then bowed to the Five and Po respectfully. "Of course. There's a group of strangely dressed men at our village, well not at, they're actually camped nearby, but anyway..." He shook his head at getting off topic. "They arrived not a few days ago and started demanding our food for free. We gave them what we could, thinking they were in need, but they said it wasn't enough! They started wrecking the place, and then... Well, they asked where they could find The Hunter." Ming informed the group with a worried look on his face. "They burned some of our fields and threatened to burn even more if we didn't give them our entire harvest." He spoke in a slightly shaky voice, clearly remembering the incident at that moment.