The little peacock stared up at the sky, eyes wide with wonder. There had been a pop and a whistle, and then what looked like stars had spread across the night sky. It was beautiful, and he was disappointed when it only lasted a second.
"Mother!" he cried breathlessly, running back indoors. "What was that?"
She looked down at him with a smile, gathering him in her wings. "That was a firework, dear Sheng," she said warmly. "Aren't they lovely? And they'll bring great riches to our kingdom, for everyone will want them!"
"Yes, but, what are they?" Sheng repeated, his tail feathers quivering with excitement.
His mother laughed. "Of course. Come, let me show you." Holding him by the wing, she led him to a wide bowl filled with black powder.
The little peacock dipped his beak into it curiously, then drew back coughing. "It's gritty and nasty!" he complained.
"It is," his mother agreed. She lifted a torch from it's sconce, blowing a single spark onto the small mound.
It burst into sparks that spiraled upwards in the air, smoking. The sparks were the same color as the fireworks, and Sheng understood. "Oh. So lots of this would make a firework?" he asked curiously. "But how do you get them into the air?"
"For that, we put them in special containers," his mother told him. She picked up a small rocket and showed it to him. "See this little rope here? We set it on fire, and the sparks trail from the end, sending it into the air. We measure out the rope so that it has enough time to get high enough before it explodes."
Sheng screwed up his beak. "Isn't exploding a bad thing?" he asked, remembering the time he tried using the kitchen. It had ended very badly, and he'd been grounded for a week.
"Usually," his mother said. She drew him close. "Fireworks are pretty things, though, and not meant to be harmful. As long as we are smart about it, we will be fine." She nuzzled him and he laughed, but he thought about it for a while afterwards.
He liked knowing how things worked. Sheng could see how fireworks could be dangerous, but he decided his mother was right. As long as they were smart about it, nothing bad would happen.
Sheng hated it when he made a mistake.
However, he had to admit even he hadn't seen this coming. He heaved, his dinner splatting out onto the floor. Dimly he could hear shouting, but all Sheng could think about was the food.
What had he eaten recently…?
What had he drunk recently…?
And who had brought it to him?
Sheng shoved away the concerned paws and hooves descending on him. "Lord Yun!" he shouted, staggering upright. "Where are you?!"
His servants tried to hold him back, but he took to the air, sweeping over the city. His white feathers glowed in the moonlight as, through his blurry vision, he tried to find the lord's home. Locating it by it's unique rooftop, he collapsed on the tiles.
The peacock felt his breathing grow heavier, but he managed to fall to the balcony. There, he wasn't surprised to find Lord Yun.
The panda, however, looked very surprised to see him. "You!" he hissed, snatching a dagger up in his talons. "I should have had you murdered instead of poisoned!" Lord Yun lunged at Sheng, who was slow to react. He took a hit to his side, a long gash that started to bleed.
"I thought so," Sheng muttered. He dodged the next attack, sliding behind his enemy. "You gave me wine as a gift, didn't you?"
"Clever, sneaky brat," Lord Yun snapped, spinning around. "No wonder no one's managed to kill you yet."
Sheng ducked the next swipe, then swiped his tail beneath the panda's legs, throwing him off balance. Snatching away the dagger with his beak, Sheng pressed the blade to Lord Yun's throat. His eyes, though slightly unfocused, promised murder.
"Why?" the young peacock hissed.
He didn't need to ask, though. He already knew. Lord Yung narrowed his eyes. "You're not worthy of the throne!" he spat, beating his wings.
Sheng drove the dagger deep in the crane's neck. Blood spurted out onto the peacock's feathers, but the young lord didn't notice. The world around him was already fading to black.
Sheng looked at the papers before him, furious. Not worthy, not proper - was his coloring always going to be a stigma against him? He swept all the documents to the floor, angry. After all this! Why did he even bother? What was he missing?
"My lord!"
He turned to see a young retainer in his doorway, out of breath. He remembered giving the little one extra payment, in return for reporting any unusual occurrences. "What?" he asked, resisting the urge to snap.
The crane straightened. "Your parents, they… they're to consult a soothsayer to discover your destiny!" he gasped.
Sheng froze. His parents.
His first thought was to send the retainer scurrying. How dare he spy on Sheng's parents? He stayed his wing though, as he realized that this could be wise. Perhaps he would learn how he might keep the throne. With that in mind, he sent the retainer away with a promise of payment, then took to the air.
A few hops and he slipped back into the palace, sprinting through the corridors. He'd asked where they planned to meet beforehand, and he knew the place like the back of his talons.
Drawing close to the room, he peered around a wooden pillar. Expecting to hear that he needed to defeat this enemy or that enemy to rise up. Thinking his future was promised, as it always had been. Instead, he heard his defeat predicted by the old goat.
Defeat… at the hands of a warrior of black and white.
The young lord's feathers bristled with anger as he slipped away. How dare they - how dare they! His own parents desired his death!
He calmed. No. Perhaps they merely worried for him.
Shen recalled his recent experiments. Gunpowder was a lethal weapon, if lit in the right amounts. In the right containers. It was still too volatile though, so instead he turned to the wolves. They would do anything for money. This would change his fate. This would fix everything.