The Lion and the Ox

The Truth is Out

The long-awaited chapter is finally here! Thanks, everyone for being so patient with me and sticking with me through my first year of university! I will be taking 1 university class this summer (just to keep my mind busy), but now I finally have the mental space and time to consistently work on the story!

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Milu

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Milu, Ri Chu, Wan, and Lie Ren were all gathered in the living space of the tiny house. Wan was leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom, staring at everything but the other animals in front of him. Ri Chu was sitting at an eating table while Lie Ren paced anxiously back and forth in front of the front door. Milu was heating some soup he found in a kettle to try and split between Ri Chu and Wan.

"Are you sure there is no one left?" Lie Ren asked Wan for the third time since he entered the house.

Wan stared at his feet, "If there are, they've done a good job at keeping to themselves. I told you already, there is no pack left." He said defeatedly.

The atmosphere began to grow heavy as reality set in. Ri Chu pinned her ears to her head, "That's where you are wrong." She said stubbornly, "We are what's left of the pack. Us and Huo. So we have to fight. We can't just lay down and die out like this!"

"And why not?" Wan challenged her. He stood up from the door frame and glared at Ri Chu. "We already know we can't beat Kai. And if the Jade Palace Masters can't beat him, then who can? If you want to try, fine, because I'm not going to kill myself fighting an unstoppable opponent."

Ri Chu looked visibly disgusted at her packmates outburst. Lie Ren cast his gaze submissively to the floor, and Milu turned from his soup to watch the stare down. Ri Chu's lips curled into a snarl as she spoke, "We have to fight because it is our duty. We are wolves, and you know as well as I do that the strength of the wolf is the pack.

"How can you call yourself a wolf when you are so ready to give up? Where is the Wan that waited nearly a whole day just to see Huo be born? Where is the Wan that spent an entire year building a village so he could sleep with a roof over his head? Where is the Wan I nearly died trying to protect?!" Ri Chu straightened, her voice lowering dangerously, "Because all I see in front of me is a dirty mongrel who abandons his kin when they need him the most." She growled.

Ri Chu turned to Lie Ren and Milu, who were stunned into silence by her outburst. "I am going to find my sword, and I am going to the Jade Palace to find Huo." She said, her voice conveying an authority that nobody dared challenge.

"Huo is with Tigress and Tai Lung." Lie Ren quickly, yet quietly, interjected. Ri Chu turned her attention to him, but it was Milu who spoke up next.

"He is right. When Kai attacked, Master Tigress and Tai Lung evacuated the Palace to go to a panda village. There, the Dragon Warrior is mastering the art of chi to defeat Kai."

"Fine." Ri Chu set her jaw and marched towards the door, "I'm going to find my sword and I'm going to that panda village."

"You don't even know where it is," Wan spoke, his arms crossed.

"I'll head to the Jade Palace and follow their scent from there." Ri Chu opened the door and left, marching determinedly to the edge of the village to find her sword.

Milu, Wan, and Lie Ren were left standing awkwardly in her wake. Wan sighed loudly. "She's always stubborn like that."

"But... it might be a good idea." Lie Ren said hesitantly. "If we hurry we can beat Kai to the village and help Master Po with whatever he needs."