:Hours later:
"HAHAHAHAHA! So that's the great and legendary Furious Five!?" came a jeering and highly amused voice, the source of which seemed to be a Japanese Macaque wearing an Oni Mask. The Five and Po had, from the looks of things, been captured, bound and tied to trees, aside from Mantis who was left dangling in a cage above the others. "So, remind me, your plan was... And correct me if I'm wrong... Jump into our camp, strike a pose and demand our immediate surrender? And then just fight us if we refused? We would've thought you at least would try and trick us somehow!" the Macaque pointed out with another loud laugh. Tigress struggled against her restraints and growled at the Macaque's taunting, who chuckled at seeing her try. "Oh hohoho! This one's still got some fight in her!" he exclaimed to the others. The group was a mix of a Serow, a Giant Salamander, a Badger and a couple of Boars and some Leopard cats, who all chuckled at what the apparent leader had said.
Tigress grimaced at the intentionally taunting question about their plan. That... Was seemingly exactly the plan. They'd observed these 'strange warriors' drinking, laughing and joking around with one another, seemingly completely unprepared for the might of six Kung Fu Masters showing up and demanding their surrender... But they were. They'd had the Leopard cats as backup waiting in the nearby forest, and they'd managed to surround the Five and Po while holding their own against them, even managing to take Mantis hostage and threatening to kill him if the rest of them didn't stand down. Tigress had made a fatal and rookie mistake: Underestimating her enemy. And it had cost them the battle, and possibly their lives.
The Serow walked over to where the Five were all tied to a tree, except Po who was tied up separately since he was so... Large. "So disappointing... I really expected more from you." he shook his head, and the group all glared at him. "Such an idiotic mistake, and from such experienced warriors no less." the Serow tutted and walked away from the Five and Po. Tigress pulled at her chains, which caused them to shift, making the Serow jump a little before he just scoffed and shook his head. "Looks like the poor cub is trying to bare her claws and roar, but all she can do is meow." He raised his head to look down at Tigress in disdain.
One of the Boars walked over to them now, also to likely gloat. "Pfft, don't look so upset. Worst comes to worst, we'll make it quick." he snorted in laughter before walking over to Viper and looking her over. "My, but you are a pretty one." he spoke and leaned down as Viper turned her head in disgust.
She hissed aggressively at his touching her. "Don't touch me, you disgusting pig." Viper didn't even look at him, not giving him the satisfaction.
He didn't pay attention to her defiance whatsoever. "Such beauty... Wasted on frivolous Kung Fu." the Boar cupped her face in his trotter, forcing her to look at him. "Can we not keep this one, boss?" he pleaded with their leader.
The Macaque sighed and shook his head while rolling his eyes behind his mask. "They're not worth it, trust me. They'll just gain your trust and then slit your throat in your sleep. They're good as bait, and that's about it." he said to the Boar, who looked on in disappointment as he dropped Viper's head from his grasp, who shivered in disgust from being handled like a piece of meat.
Po scoffed at that in what seemed to be amusement. "You think Hunter will fall for this?" he asked the warriors, shaking his head at that. "It's the most obvious trap ever, and he's not stupid." Po pointed out to the group, all of whom looked unconvinced by his attempt to talk them out of their plan.
Tigress snarled at that then and glared at the leader. "You better hope he kills you, because if he doesn't, I will!" she said to the warriors, who all still didn't look at all moved by her rage.
Mantis then piped up. "I mean...We fell for it..." he pointed out, and if they could have, everyone at that moment would have turned their heads to glare at him. "Jus' sayin..." Mantis spoke in a small voice.
Monkey groaned at Mantis' point. "Not the time..." he said to Mantis, who realised that he kind of shot down his teammate's points...
Crane then scoffed at what they'd said. "What makes you think he'll even come for us?" he asked the warriors.
The Macaque chuckled deeply at the question. "He's honour-bound, for a start." he pointed out the first reason. "Secondly, even if he weren't, he's not going to let you all just die. Unless of course... he doesn't know you're here." The Macaque spoke as he stood over Crane and glared at him. "But you better hope he does, cause it means you get to live a little bit longer." The Macaque stated to the group and walked away.
Tigress swallowed thickly at hearing that they were going to be killed either way unless they escape, realising she really should have obeyed her Master's orders... At the least to not leave Hunter behind. The last time she disobeyed, Tai Lung nerve struck the Five and they almost all were killed by him, and now again with these warriors... "Man, we really screwed up this time..." Po mumbled mainly to himself, but Tigress felt the words sting her as well, feeling the fault in full.
The Macaque then suddenly spun around to face the Five, a quizzical look on his face. "You know... Something's been bothering me." he said to the group and slowly approached them with a questioning look. "What are you, the great Masters of The Jade Palace... The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, doing protecting something like... The Hunter?" he asked the group, his tone denoting that the question was actually a serious one. "Oh sure, you could say that you're just 'protecting the village' that we already raided, but surely whoever came to you for help also told you what we were really after? Right? You could have just given him to us and saved us all the trouble of this... Unfortunate business. But instead, here you are. Protecting him, and about to die for going to the trouble." the Macaque said to the Five, who were rather confused by the question. Of course they wouldn't just give him up, he was still a citizen of China after all...
Monkey scoffed at the question posed to them. "Clearly you don't know what being a Kung Fu Master means. It's about protecting people." he stated defiantly to the leader of the warriors.
The Macaque walked over to Monkey and crouched down by him so he could meet his eyes, lifting Monkey's head to look at him. "You poor deluded fools." he shook his head before standing and moving his head closer to Crane. "Don't you know?" he asked before moving to Viper next. "You'd be protecting so many more..." the Macaque then moved over to Mantis. "Many more lives..." He moved to Po next. "If you just..." last was Tigress. "Gave him up?" he seemed to point out to the Five, who looked at him like he was stupid.
One of the Leopards, a female, then seemed shocked and confused by their reaction to being told they'd be doing China a favour by giving him up to them. "What, have you not heard the ballad?" She asked the Five and Po, all of whom looked confused by that. "You haven't?" She asked in a genuinely surprised tone.
Even the Macaque was surprised by hearing this. "We've only been in China for three weeks, and even we've heard it. Some kind of musician in a random village in the middle of nowhere sang it to us before we stole his instruments and took their food." the Macaque chuckled at the memory, leading to the Five and Po all looking at the warriors angrily. "They said he'd never even passed through there before, but still... They knew the ballad." The Macaque shrugged to them and turned to one of the other Leopard cats nearby. "You memorised the tune right? I know the lyrics." he asked, and the Leopard nodded in response, taking out the apparently stolen guitar and starting to play it. "Keep an eye on the perimeter." he ordered the other warriors, who nodded, with three of them entering the forest to make sure there were no surprises waiting.
(This is a twist on this song: )
The Leopard began strumming on the instrument then as the Macaque leader cleared his throat as the melody started up. "Ahem... #The Shadow of The Hunter creeps across your floor..." He spoke, making a creeping gesture with both his hands towards the Five, apparently quite the showman. "Go lock up all your children and paint blood upon your door..." He placed a hand on his chest as he sang. "These hills are filled with whispers of a man all dressed in black." He gestured to his own clothing then. They were shocked at the lyrics being sung that apparently many in China knew, like a campfire story or a legend being told...
The song continued. "At the toll of death's knell, he climbs from Hell to drag some poor soul back." The Macaque made a grabbing motion to simulate climbing before outstretching his hand before pulling it back to his chest, approaching the Five and Po slowly as they listened in fascination. Something was familiar here... "The Legends speak of spirits doing service unto the world." He made a wide gesture with his hand then. "The Hunter knows no master, he drinks from any cup poured." he first pointed up before shaking his finger at the first part before simulating having a cup in his hand and pouring the contents out to the ground. It likely referred to his profession as a Bounty Hunter... "Just as Banshees wail their warnings that someone that same day will die... The Hunter's deathly gaze states the same and I'll be goddamned if he tells a lie..." The Macaque shrugged as he sang, swaying a little in time with the music as an instrumental was allowed to play out, the Five and Po listening to the words, realising this was the ballad that Song had mentioned... Even she knew of it. They remembered how she had reacted to just seeing Hunter in her tent. Absolute fear. And it was no wonder...
As the instrumental began, haunting whistling echoed through the clearing that... Sounded an awful lot like Itsy Bitsy Spider at first... Hearing it along with the music and the lyrics, the Five realised this was the tune that Hunter sometimes whistled to himself... One of the warriors must have been whistling the tune currently though.
...
A black handwrap slowly caressing a tree as it passed... Slow, methodical and almost silent footsteps sounding out against the forest floor, the source of the whistling in question was walking through the forest near the camp... The Hunter slowly stalked through the woodland, hearing the sounds, the music, the tune he knew so well. That followed him wherever he went.
He walked through the forest while continuing to whistle the tune and spotted a few of the warriors patrolling. He continued walking and whistling, the tune carrying in a ghostly echo, although the patrolling guards just thought it was part of the song... As did everyone else in the camp. One of them spun around to face Hunter, only to find nothing there, continuing on his patrol...
One of the others swore he saw a shadow moving and went to check... Nothing. The last guard walked forwards and looked around, only to find nothing there as well... However, above him, hanging upside down from a branch was a figure cloaked in darkness...
...
The Macaque then continued singing once the instrumental and the whistling stopped as one of the other guards went into the forest to check on the guards patrolling. "Some falsely say that night-birds are the harbingers of death..." he sang, slowly walking to the Five, taking out a knife and pointing at them with it. Meanwhile the guard in the forest saw three of the guards leaning against the tree... "It's The Hunter's blade of long sharp steel that'll seize your living breath..." The leader sang, taking his knife and running the tip down Viper's body with a smirk on his face. Meanwhile, the forest guard tapped his friend on the shoulder, only for him to slide backwards and slump to the ground, dead... His body was held up by a knife as the other two also fell... "You'll see him walking into town all dressed up like a tomb..." The leader did the same to Monkey, tracing the blade up to his face and close to his eye. The guard in the forest turned to run for help, but before he could make a sound, a hand shot out of the darkness, clamping over his muzzle. "When you see him that eve on the outbound street, you know some poor soul met their doom..." The Hunter stepped out of the shadows, his finger on his mask where his lips would be to signify silence as the guard quaked in fear...
Meanwhile, the song was still being sung. "The Hunter kills not from hate but all fear him just the same." The leader played with his knife in his hands before mildly gesturing out with it and his hand and nodding in a kind of 'of course' manner. "His presence foretells both blood and death yet he shoulders not the blame." he shook his head then, gesturing to his own shoulder as he began to walk over to Tigress in a taunting fashion. "Like the shadow of the vulture circling blackly overhead." he made an upwards circle gesture with one of his fingers before placing the knife on Tigress' red tunic and lightly pressing down. "The Hunter is drawn to death like a knife is drawn to red." he traced over her tunic and finished the song by slightly flicking the knife over her cheek. Once it was finished, the warriors all chuckled and nodded, giving praise to both of the ones who had sang and played it.
On their part, the Five and even Po were stunned by it all. It was a rather damning song to say the least, but it also filled them with sadness. Tigress looked down then in shock, having a revelation about what the song, the ballad, meant. Hunter was suffering from the same fate that she had long ago, it was a feeling she still hadn't completely shaken off... He was feared by people as some kind of horrific monster, a tale to make your children behave or else. No wonder he didn't ever let anyone get close to him. He'd been cast as a monster, a freak, for so long that he likely believed it himself. It scared her how easily it could have been herself were it not for Shifu and even the Five and Po... But The Hunter... He didn't have Shifu, or... Anyone as far as she knew. Added to in that he was the only one of his kind that he knew of. Sure, he'd had Oogway to support him for a time whenever they could visit with each other, but the old Master was no longer with them.
And he still used his own money to feed the poor... To help those in need. Even after his, from the little they knew, terrible childhood. Even his job was putting his own life at risk to bring criminals to justice. Yet no one sung about those kinder aspects of him, no one told tales of his 'legendary charity work' or the like. Tigress felt something she hadn't felt in a long while... Shame. True shame in her thoughts and actions. She'd treated Hunter how she had once been treated, and it made her sick to her stomach to realise it. It was no wonder that he didn't even consider staying at the Jade Palace, or that he didn't bother trying to mingle with them at all. He was preceded by this ballad, almost even... Shadowed by it. After all, the warriors had learned it in a village Hunter had never even visited...
The rest of the Five and Po were in the same boat. They already felt bad about what they'd said the other day, but this... This was something else. The ballad was almost a warning... 'If you see The Hunter, death will follow.' He was known as an omen of death not just to criminals, but to anyone... the phrase 'feared by many loved by none' came to mind. He might have been blunt and abrasive, even rude at times... But they could see now that it was a way to keep people at a distance, because he didn't want to get his hopes up, didn't want to risk it. He probably even really believed he was some kind of omen of death...
The Macaque leader laughed then at the praise he got from his group. "It was good, but who added the whistling? That was a really nice touch." he nodded in appreciation as everyone looked at each other in confusion at the compliment.
The Serow of the group shook his head. "We uhh... We thought that was you, boss." he stated, leading to the Boss looking confused as well.
He seemed to think about it for a second before shrugging. "It was probably one of the Leopard boys, the damn jokers. Someone go fetch them, as well as Rung, he should have gotten back from the forest by now. Fucking layabouts." the boss grumbled as the Boar quickly ran into the forest to do as ordered. He then sighed. "Well, I don't think The Hunter's coming..." the boss decided and looked to the Five and Po. "Unlucky you."
The female Leopard then looked at the boss unsurely, stepping forwards. "You sure boss? What about the Valley? We can't just leave it open to common bandits." she pointed out, showing some hesitation.
The Macaque leader then chuckled. "Well, we'll need all of us to take on The Hunter, and leaving these guys unattended is not a risk worth taking. Besides, when he's dead, we'll just take their place as protectors of the Valley." he decided, leading to the Leopard nodding hesitantly in agreement with this plan.
The Salamander then stood up and unsheathed her sword from her back, a glint in her eye. "Want me to take care of 'em?" she asked, her tongue flicking out and a grin spreading across her face.
The boss hesitated but nodded to her eventually. "They're all yours. I'll save bloodying my blade for now." he decided and walked away as the Salamander approached Tigress first and prepared her sword to strike down at her.
The rest of the Five and Po struggled against their restraints to stop what was going to happen, but made no progress in getting loose. "Such raw power. Tck. Wasted." She swung her sword downwards as Tigress closed her eyes and prepared for the end to come for her.
But it never did. Instead, the sound of metal meeting metal rang out and Tigress opened her eyes to find a blade had intercepted the one heading straight for her... It was Hunter! Everyone turned their heads and saw him, shock present on their faces. Even the Five were surprised to find him there. He swiftly and easily redirected the blade aside and kicked the Salamander away from Tigress before getting into a fighting stance. "If you want to kill them, you'll have to go through me." he spoke, his voice once more holding no emotion, but it had a dark tinge to it this time.
The Salamander then narrowed her eyes, clearly unhappy at having her kill taken from her, she then charged in a blind rage at Hunter while slashing at him wildly. However, he easily and calmly blocked her frenzied strikes, and on one of them, directed her blade downwards to the ground. When it got stuck in a crack in the rock, Hunter hit her in the face with the pommel of his sword to daze her and then spun around in a 360 to gain some momentum before running her through the chest.
He removed his blade as she fell to the ground dead, the rest of the warriors having all unsheathed their own swords, watching in shock as he easily cut one of them down... "Boss! Boss! The twins as well as Akihiko and Hachirō... They're all... Dead..." The Boar who'd gone into the woods cut off as he noticed Hunter standing in front of the Five and the Salamander laying dead at his feet.
The leader scoffed at being told what had happened to the others. "Using stealth and trickery? I should've expected such dishonourable tactics from a freak like you." he snarled as he pointed his sword at Hunter, who kept his blade in position.
Hunter chuckled at the accusation from the Macaque. "That's rich coming from you, Makaku. Burning down farms? Demanding food for free? Using hostages? Tell me which of us is the dishonourable one here again, I must have misheard you." He taunted the leader apparently named Makaku right back.
In response, Makaku let out a monkey's screech and ran at Hunter with his blade at the ready. He struck out in a stab at Hunter, a quick attempt to end the fight. Hunter angled his blade to the ground and deflected it with relative ease, denying him the swift finish. Makaku didn't relent and struck from the right. He was the storm to Hunter's calm, who not only blocked the strike, but countered with a hard side kick to his face. The force was such that it sent Makaku flying backwards, shards from his now damaged Oni mask falling in his wake. "Why are you just standing there?! Get him!" Makaku exclaimed as he lay on the ground.
At that the others all scrambled and ran forwards toward Hunter, who cracked his neck preparation. "Let's dance." He spoke with barely restrained enthusiasm and once again held his blade in position at the ready.
The Boar, like his leader led with an attempted lethal stab. Big mistake. Hunter brought his blade up and redirected the strike to the side, which ended up with the Boar's blade embedded in the chest of the Leopard beside him, to his apparent horror. Before he had time to regret, Hunter's blade sliced through air, flesh and bone, and his disembodied head hit the ground. As the others once again charged, Hunter put his foot under the head, rolled it onto his foot proper and lifted his leg, kicking the head into the air before entering a spinning kick, sending the head soaring toward the Serow and another Leopard, this one female.
It hit the Serow's head and bounced off, hitting the head of the Leopard as well, leaving the two dazed and the Serow partially blind from getting a blood spurt right in the eye. Hunter used this fully to his advantage and slashed, taking both of the Serow's eyes in one strike, leading to him falling to the side and screaming in pain while clutching his bleeding eyes. Turning quickly to the stumbling Leopard coming towards him, Hunter effortlessly disarmed her and pointed his blade at her neck as she fell to her knees, pleading for her life. "Please... Please don't..." she looked up at him, frightened.
Hunter lightly jabbed her throat with his sword "Give me a reason, Sakura." he requested of her.
She seemed to be trying to think of one. "I-I'll help rebuild what we destroyed! I'll dedicate my life to helping those we wronged! Just please don't kill me!" Sakura bowed deeply on the ground before him in fear and respect of his skills. Taking a moment to consider her plea, he then moved aside and gestured for her to take her leave. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and ran on all fours for the hills.
Makaku had recovered from the kick he'd received by this point, although his nose was as broken as his mask from the looks of it. "Coward!" he yelled after Sakura as she kept on running, not looking back for a second.
Suddenly... "On your left!" Came Tigress' voice as Hunter swiftly turned and found the previously blinded Serow swinging for him wildly, still screaming loudly in pain as he did. Hunter blocked the erratic strikes while backing off on the defence. Looking for an opening, he found one as the Serow's blade struck near Hunter's feet before going high. Hunter blocked this and swiped his feet out from under him before placing his own foot on the chest of the Serow and plunging his blade into his chest.
However due to being on the defence, Hunter had been pushed away from the Five by the crazed Serow's strikes. When he looked up towards the Five and Po he saw Makaku standing by them, his blade angled dangerously next to Tigress. "You killed my soldiers!" Makaku exclaimed in pure anger. "You should never have been allowed to learn our ways!" he screamed out, raising his blade to Tigress' throat. "Now they will pay for your insolence!"
Hunter held up his hand then. "Makaku, don't!" he bade the Macaque leader, but he didn't listen. Makaku moved his blade into position and backed off, getting some clearance between himself and his target. He was aware he had very limited time to kill them, so he wanted to stab straight through Tigress, and hopefully hit Crane who was opposite her on the tree as well in one strike... Two was better than none.
"No!" The rest of the Five and Po yelled out in horror. Makaku then ran a couple of steps and thrust his blade forwards, but felt an impact sooner than he'd expected. Looking up, he saw Hunter had taken the blow instead... Shocked, he didn't do anything from being stunned into inaction.
Using the distraction, Hunter then grabbed Makaku's hand and pulled the sword deeper into his chest, bringing Makaku closer. "Got you, fucker." he grinned a bloodied grin and shoved a dagger into the side of the Macaque's throat, having used the opportunity to get close enough to kill Makaku without resistance... He grabbed the dagger's handle and pulled it outwards, slicing his throat completely open.
Makaku gargled and choked on his own blood, falling backwards, dead... It was finally done...