Prince from the South

Chapter 1

The path slowly began to fade as I crossed across the forest, The shrub seemed more dense that usual. Well, considering the fact that the last time I crossed this path was years ago I was not surprised, but at least I expected it to be a bit more... cleared.

I continued down the path, whacking away at any branches that was in my way. Not a sound to be heard, just the gentle gushing of the wind and the sound of leaves swaying along with it. As I continued, the path began to widen up. The forest slowly faded into a short brick wall, it's paint weathered away and seemed to be falling apart. Walking right past the wall (I assumed that there used to be a gate of some sort) the forest gave way to a relatively flat field of grass. I could hear voices, A village perhaps?

I look back at my rucksack, just by the weight of it I could say that I'm already low on supplies, Sheathing my sabre back into the scabbard, I proceeded to walk across the field into an open road. A wide central road ran across the middle of the village, an it seemed to lead up a very, very tall temple of some sorts, After I've spent a fair amount of time gazing upon the valley and making myself suspicious to the surrounding villagers, I decided to make my way to the local market. It didn't take long as I luckily entered from the right side of the valley. I make out one peach seller out of the crowd. "Hello there, how much for three peaches" I ask him. "th... three yuan sir" he stutters. Needless to say It was obvious that I' intimidated him, I reach down to my pockets to get the money when-

"Bandits!" 

Bandits? Seriously? I mean to be fair I do look like one, but lord I was just trying to buy some peaches. I look around to see villages running around in a panic, at least it seems that I'm not the bandit here. I stand, alert with my paws on the hilt, I look around for any signs of the bandits, slowly making my way to the commotion.

'Whoosh'- five figures fall from the sky, with a sixth, the size of a boulder following right behind them. As the dust clears, A monkey, mantis, snake, a bird of some type and a panda, standing right infront of me
"You there!" he says pointing his finger at me "prepare for a hot serving of justi-"

Just as the panda was  about to finish, I felt a sharp object pierce my side, and a punch, knocking me over to the side of a wall.

"wait, not you, You!" the Panda says, pointing his finger at the figure standing a few feet in front of me, looking to be wolves armed with swords of some type. I look down to see a puddle of red, pouring  from my side- an intense pain slowly begins to radiate from that side an I Take of my coat, trying to wrap it around my waist to stop the bleeding

"What is with you raiding us on Sundays?" he says in frustration
"Shut up panda, we're here to finish you off for good" the Wolf says drawing his sword out, with five other wolves walking up behind him.

"Oh yeah, a fair fight, bring it on big guy"  the panda says, making hand gestures which seemed to piss off the wolf even further

"Says the guy who is already three hundred pounds" The mantis remarks "Dude I'm only two ninety" 
"Enough of this blabbering, ATTACK"

The wolf charges the panda, sword drawn but he manages to doge him. "Is that all you've got?" He says, repeatedly blocking the wolf's every attack and proceeds to toy him around. The bird gracefully flies over, under  and around the wolf guard, snatching his weapon from his paws the bird flings it to the air and drops it on his head, dispatching the wolf. The snake uses her tail to fight against the third wolfs hammer, why doesn't she just bite him? I wondered to myself as she strangled him. The mantis? I couldn't see him, the Wolf was already dead.

The tiger did not go easy on him, they blocked every swing of the wolfs hammer, punching him repeatedly in the head, with the last one las brutal kick, breaking his neck. The Panda belly gongs him into the wall right next to me. He was in poor condition but didn't seem to give up. He gets up and he makes eye contact with me- momentarily , it felt like minutes when he grabbed me by the neck. I was too weak to defend myself, he held a knife up to my throat.

"Step any closer, and he'll be a goner" He said, slowly bringing the knife closer and closer to my throat. I did what I can to break free of his grip but it was for nothing. 

"Don't do it dude, just let him go" The panda said, gently backing off step by step
"You... don't you tell me what to do, panda. This is not the end" He growls, I reach for my belt, trying to maneuver so that I could pull it out.

"Dude, please just let him go, you don't have to do this" Said the panda, inching closer and closer. 
The wolf lets out a growl, "Well, I've come too far to end it like this, I will make short work of you myself when I'm done with him" He says, 

*BANG*

I was able to pull the trigger in time, the wolf drops lifeless on the ground, missing a part of his face too. I draw my sabre out and point it at them.

"St.. stay back" I stutter, barely able to stand with my other paw pressed against my side. "We ain't trying to hurt you, chill out dude" the panda says, making his way towards me, the tiger beside him, does not look too happy of my presence, their eyes looking directly at mine, as if she was about to kill me. "Well, she might but I won't" the Panda says, nudging the tiger.

I sheath my sabre back in, but still stand in a defensive position as I still can't trust them, especially the tiger. "W..... what's going on?" I ask, still maintaining a fair distance away from them. "Well lets see, you were attacked by the bandits, got to witness my epic Kung Fu skills and almost got your throat slit open" the panda says, acting out the entire situation "You... uuhh don't look too good" he says, "C'mon dude, let us help you" He says swaying his paws at the five of them.

I had no choice but to accept his offer, The pain was getting too strong for me to stand on my own. "I .... I can't" I stutter, coughing  between each word, dropping down to my knees. "Let's get you to some place where we could take care of you" the panda reaching his paw out to me, helping me up by the shoulder, "I got him" the bird says holding me up by the other side, taking me up the enormous flight of stairs that lead to that temple.. thing. Would I bleed out before I reach this "place" of theirs? Probably as my vision begins to fade. "C.. can't see" I say coughing in between words, a trail of red stains the stairs as they take me up. I could see the temple.. thing approaching closer and closer until it fades to black.