Kung Fu Panda: The Spirit Rifts

Trapped

As Po and company began to emerge from their slumbers, a plan in mind for the following morning as they arranged the symphony that would orchestrate Qianzhi's seemingly inevitable downfall; none other than Qianzhi herself was receiving news from one of her most reliable scouting parties in regards to Po's whereabouts regarding his escape whilst also putting some independent research into the history of the pandas.

She sat ominously atop her throne within the Chameleon's transformative lair, of which her throne was made partially out of the very enchanted steel that housed the Chameleon during her final moments. Two bulls would constantly hold burning blue-flamed torches that illuminated her room as the ground would rise and fall depending on where she needed to meet her fellow Spirit Warriors alongside what kind of business she wished to conduct.

The glow of the fresh and blue-skied dawn amidst the smokey air contrasted neatly with one another, clashing as if they were yin and yang as the sun broke through some of the iron-chained windows surrounding the lair to illuminate Qianzhi's scarred raccoon face. Her scar, which ran from the left side of her nose, down near her cheekbone as it narrowly missed her eye before cutting off at her jawline; it stood as a reminder of one of her last moments when fighting against the Chinese Emperor... When she let arrogance take hold of her as opposed to her genuine mission.

A genuine mission which had seemingly melted away, for thirty years of damnation within the timeless Spirit Realm gave her all the time she needed for reflection, yet that reflection always stared back at her with an ambitious gaze. She didn't wish to forgive herself for failure, or see beyond her ideas. No, she wished to go one level above and that was to evolve her ideas into the very conquest of China she had dreamed of.

The dreams of that righteous triumph, the ousting of oligarchs and bureaucrats, declaring herself as China's saviour. Once such a noble mission twisted by thirty years of hate for the very man that sat on the throne she attempted to rip away with her Mieshi Dynasty. Now that she was back within the Mortal Realm and she had exhausted most of the power of Po's Jade Staff of Wisdom by opening up gateways to the Spirit Realm, the only thing standing in her way happened to be the Spiritual Leader as well as the Dragon Warrior themselves.

Qianzhi's visions of grandeur would soon be halted, though, as amidst her conjuring of visions of endless triumph alongside riches for the Spirit Warriors she had ripped away from their times of peace; her scouting party of snakes, lizards as well as wolves seemingly arrived without fruit to bear regarding her hunt for the pudgy panda standing in the way of her destiny.

"Hmph, those lowly faces, bowing in shame... You don't even have to amuse me with your confessions to failure. You couldn't find the Dragon Warrior, the Spiritual Leader, even that ridiculous 'Chief Shan' with his Cloudhammer. I rip you away from the Spirit Realm with the promise of immortality and endless riches and this is how you repay me?" Qianzhi lifted herself from her throne before grabbing one of the scouting snakes by the head, crushing their essence into amethyst dust which represented their ascent into the Spirit Realm. "Let that be a warning to those who dare to fail me. Qianzhi giveth a second chance, Qianzhi taketh if you disappoint me. However, your failure comes with its reasons, yes?" Qianzhi went from being a menace to questioning one of the exhausted wolves sent out on such a scouting mission.

"We knew a panda couldn't be that fast, but we still split up amidst multiple cities and even recruited other Spirit Warriors you summoned to keep on the lookout. Every single town within a fifty mile radius has been patrolled, messages sent by hawks and owls all say the same thing... They can't be found, yet the Imperial Army is already moving in on us. At least, that's their speculation. From what I can remember, the Imperial Army is still busy dealing with the Khamag Mongol to really put up a fight against internal affairs," Yet, this wolf found his tongue immediately being caught by Qianzhi as she twisted his mere soul with her infuriated state.