Prolouge
Silence.
That was the word that you would use to describe the Dragon's grotto. It was a place of unrivaled peace, the perfect location to dwell on deep thoughts, to look for the answers for life's great questions. It was a place of quiet stillness, of slow movements, and quiet breaths.
The two creatures filled each of these requirements, as they both moved with slow, flowing Tai Chi movements.
But there was one here who did not feel that he belonged.
Next to the panda, who moved with flowing grace unaccustomed to his body, stood the ghostly white body of a peacock, Lord... Well, former Lord, Shen Lee Han.
It was a exercise in peace and harmony, an exercise that both Shen and the panda, Po, enjoyed a good deal more than the other exercises that they were required to do.
Despite the fact that the peacock had not the slightest idea of what he was supposed to do.
Only four months ago, Shen had come to the Jade palace under no ordinary circumstances, the brunt of an unfortunate mistake that caused him to split into two separate individuals. Both of these individuals had chosen different paths, but they led together in the end, as one Shen was forced to fight the other in possibly the strangest battle in history.
One had come out the victor, the peacock that had taken the path of redemption, using newly-found peace to overcome his adversary.
But now, as they trained to channel that same peace, it seemed to have deserted him.
When he had stared down the falling airship, everything had come naturally. It had just... Flowed. But now...
Po traced a circle on the ground with his foot, and reached upwards with his eyes closed. Shen watched, as the outstretched paw gently caught a falling water drop, letting it run unbroken down his arms. It looked like a glass ball, running down from one arm to the next, before carefully dropping it into the pool nearby.
Shen watched closely, with fascinated eyes. He could watch that spectacle a thousand times, and not get tired. It was like a magnet for his eyes.
Po stepped aside, and gestured to Shen.
"Alright then, your turn, Shen," he said.
"Oh no," Shen replied quickly, shaking his wings, "I-I can't..."
"Yes, you can!" Po assured, "Go ahead!"
Shen shook his head, sighed, and stepped forward, beneath the stalactite that the water ran off.
His mind rushed frantically, as he closed his eyes.
"Come on now..." he thought to himself, "Just catch the drop. It's not that hard."
His foot traced a circle on the ground, identical to Po's. but it was different, like someone aiming an unloaded gun, the soul was not in it.
He reached upwards with his wing, a little bit hesitatingly, as he had no idea what he was doing. The water drop missed his wing completely, striking him on the end of his beak.
Shen's eyes sprang open, and he brushed the water droplets from his beak in disgust. He stepped away from the circle, shaking his wings and neck disappointedly.
"See?" he growled at the panda, who was giggling softly, "I told you I couldn't... I can't do it anymore!"
"Eeh, that wasn't so bad!" Po reassured, "I mean, I must have done worse on my first try!"
Shen only huffed disconsolately, and sat down.
"What matters is that you can do it when you need to, right?" Po asked cheerily.
"You can do it whenever you want," Shen snarled in reply, "I can't do it at all..."
"What, you can't be thinking of quitting now, are you?" Po questioned incredulously, spreading his arms, "You just started!"
"Face it, panda, I'm not any good at this!" the peacock hissed, "Inner peace is found through suffering-"
"Well, it can be-"
"I have suffered more than any person imaginable!" Shen continued, standing up, and beginning to walk round in circles, "I have SUFFERED through my childhood, STRUGGLED through every moment of my whole blasted and wretched life..." Shen kicked the water ruthlessly, and a large torrent of water flew into the air and drenched him.
He seemed to calm down at the cold touch of the water, and deflated sadly by the shore.
"I have gone through every horrible thing imaginable... I've died and come back... And yet I still can't catch a water drop."
Po was about to say something, but Shen continued.
"I'm not good at anything here. I'm not as strong as Tigress, can't fly as well as Crane, and not as fast or as flexible as Mantis or Viper. I don't fit in at all."
Po rolled his eyes. This peacock never seemed to know when to stop bashing himself.
"Shen, no-one can throw a knife as well as you can..." he pointed out.
"But no-one thinks that's part of Kung Fu. When it comes down it, the only thing that is ever measured are your hands and feet," Shen replied, "And I can't do anything with either of those."
"Yeah you can!" Po reminded,
"I spent all that time teaching you, remember? You even beat me once."
Shen sighed, remembering the days at Heaven's pothole, when Po had spent time teaching the peacock in unarmed combat. The thought seemed to cheer him up a little.
"Now, how about you try again?" Po asked coaxingly, "I'm going to quote Mei Ling on this, you never know until you try... And if you never know, well... You'll never know!"
Shen stood up slowly, brushing the remaining water off his clothes. "But I'm all wet."
Po crossed his arms, and glared.
"Fine, panda, I'll try again. But I still don't understand what I'm doing..." Shen grumbled, walking back under the stalactite, "It would be nice if you could PERHAPS give me some advice!"
Po did not respond, only looked up quickly.
"Phhmmmfff. Fine. Suit yourself," Shen growled, closing his eyes.
"I'm waiting for the magic word," Po replied, his eyes still on the sky.
Magic word? Wha... Oh, that.
"Pand- Po, I..." the peacock stuttered, then deflated, "Oh fine. Po, could you PLEASE help me to do this?"
Po's response to the word was so immediate, that Shen almost wondered it it really was a magic word. He looked down at the peacock, and kneeled down next to him.
Shen shifted uncomfortably. He never liked having such a large animal so close to him.
"Now, Shen, Shifu is way better at this, but he's not here, so... Anyway," Po began, launching into the basic premise of inner peace that Shen had heard a million times before, and he peacock's mind began to wander.
Shifu would have been teaching him, and had in fact tried, but had in the end turned the job over to Po. Why? Because the panda was actually able to get results, where no-one else could.
Shen had a rare respect for the panda, even if he had sometimes a little trouble showing it. At least, that's what Master Shifu had said to them at the time...
Shen secretly wondered if it was just because the Grandmaster was uncomfortable around him. It was hard to blame him, though, considering what Shen used to be...
A murderer. A warlord. A criminal. A dangerous one at that, too. He had created a weapon to take China and end Kung Fu, and led an army to accomplish those goals. He would have won, too...
Had it not been for a bizarre twist of fate, which brought the Dragon Warrior, Po, to defeat him and his weapon. The twist was that the dragon warrior was probably one of the last surviving pandas... last surviving because Shen had massacred them as a young man, in order to stop a prophecy... Only to bring it to life.
Shen's beak twisted downwards, at the thought of his past crimes... Crimes which still haunted him, even now.
He brought himself from his thoughts quickly, and focused back in on what Po was saying.
"... and that road can lead you there. Did you get that?"
Shen blinked quickly, trying to recall what the panda had been saying. He came up with nothing, so he shook his head, a little shamefacedly.
"What!? Don't tell me I've gotta explain it all again!" Po exclaimed, placing a disturbed paw on his face, "That had a load of hard-to-say words in it too..."
Shen rolled his eyes. "Perhaps you could brush over it?"
Now it was Po's turn to roll his eyes. "Shen, there are some things you just can't brush over. And this is one of them."
"Well, it couldn't hurt to just... skip past a little, would it?" Shen asked hopefully.
"Nah," came the reply, "Stand over here, and just try again."
Shen stood up again, and grudgingly moved into his tai chi stance. Po corrected the stance minimally, but not much. This was one of those things that each person had to do for himself.
All the same, there was ONE thing that Po thought was needing correction.
"Shen, are you feeling peaceful?" he asked, somewhat haltingly, "Because you don't look it..."
That seemed to spark something inside Shen's highly volatile nature, and he whirled. "I am PERFECTLY peaceful!" then, realizing what he had just done, he continued.
"At least I was... Just not on the inside."
"That's the thing, Shen," Po replied, "I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you need to be peaceful on the inside for inner peace."
Shen blinked. "Of course you do, panda. I do believe that is why they call it 'Inner' peace."
"It's like a river, Shen," Po continued, seemingly ignoring Shen's statement, "With eddies and whorls, and a main flow. The river is your chi. Inner peace is the maintained control of that flow, in order to make it flow, well, smooth. When every ounce of your fiber is concentrated, you can be surprised at what you are capable of."
"I am aware of all that panda," Shen replied, a little testily, "My question is, what must I do to attain that state?"
"Concentrate," Po replied simply. That's what everyone told him, perhaps it would work for Shen.
"On what? What do I concentrate on? The water drop? I have done that the whole time!"
Po suddenly felt a flash inside his head. "THAT'S what you have been doing wrong this whole time, Shen!" he exclaimed excitedly, "You are supposed to concentrate on yourself! Here, try again, and this time, look inside. Search yourself within, find any deep places, uncover any lost things. That might help."
Shen stepped forward again, and closed his eyes, searching himself. Perhaps there was a part of him missing, that he just needed to find... He shut his eyes tightly, as images of his life began to flash in front of him.
Look deeper... There he was, directly after his exile, full of hate and anger... And pain, and sorrow.
Look deeper... There he was, before his exile, watching his fiancé, Laeia, run off into the snow, never for him to see again.
Look deeper... There he was, meeting up with a lonely, one-eyed wolf, who quickly became his first real friend. Both outcasts, both lonely...
Look deeper... There he was, as a fiery blue bolt flew in front of his face, striking his siblings, who he had loved more that anyone else... Taking them forever.
Look deeper... There he was, seeing the shocked faces of his parents for the first time, then seeing their smiles as he pushed out of his eggshell.
Look deeper still... How can you look any deeper than that? That was his entire life...
Forget your body... Look into your soul...
Shen, almost unconsciously, extended his wingtips, catching a falling water-drop perfectly on his snowy-white feathers.
Look into your soul...
Shen forgot his memories, forgot everything... and just listened.
The water-drop rolled along the edge of his wing, and slid onto his side, where it was caught by the waiting feathers of his other wing.
Suddenly, a flash! There was lightning within Shen's mind, as a bright light erupted. Suddenly, his head was filled with visions, or memories, that he had never seen before. They were garbled, and tattered... Nothing complete. It wasn't that he didn't remember the rest, it was like he only had part of it there.
The water-drop ran like a glass sphere down his secondary flight feathers, and slid along his back, sliding down his long train.
Suddenly, one thing from the images came crystal clear. A view was spread before him, and it was beautiful. It looked like an enormously picturesque city, and it almost... sparkled. He heard a soft voice, which he assumed must be his.
"What now? What am I to do now?"
The voice came from his throat, but it didn't sound like him.
It sounded almost... feminine. In fact, it sounded VERY feminine.
Soft wings rubbed over his eyes, and he could feel the phantom memory of tears in his eyes.
"Whatever happens," the feminine Shen-memory-voice continued, "Happiness is an attitude. Remember that, and sorrow will trail behind."
The water-drop swirled, as Shen moved his train around in front of him, and serenly dropped it into the pool.
It was like being released from a grip. Shen's eyes flew open, and he was suddenly dizzy and disoriented.
"You did it! That was so totally awesome!" Po's voice echoed faintly in his ears, but failed to register. What was that!?
"Shen?" Po asked, confused, "What's the matter? What did you see?"
Shen stuttered, and sat down slowly. Looking up at the panda, he finally answered.
"I don't know, panda," he murmured breathlessly, "I don't know what it was... But I think I looked deep enough."
"Describe it!" Po said enthusiastically, "Perhaps it's a missing part of you, that needs to be filled before you can truly achieve peace!"
Shen shook his head. "I doubt it... It was probably only a hallucination."
Po didn't accept that theory. "Shen, it's impossible to catch a raindrop, and have a hallucination at the same time. One or the other, not both."
"I suppose you know everything about it, then?" Shen retorted, a little harshly. He looked up at Po, and sighed.
"Fine. I'll tell you..." he took a deep breath, and continued, "It was like... I was standing on a balcony, impossibly high... Below me, a city spread, glittering, almost golden. It was amazing... But then I heard a voice... I suppose it was mine, there was no-one else there, it asked 'what now'."
Shen stopped, and looked up to see if the panda was listening. He was.
"Go on..." Po encouraged.
"But it didn't sound like me at all!" Shen exclaimed, "The voice, I mean, it sounded like a girl! Or actually, a woman. But it wasn't me."
Po scrunched up his face. "Think... Um... Anyone you know?"
Shen thought a while, then thought some more. "Now that you mention it... The voice does seem oddly familiar... But I can't place it."
Po thought, then seemed to think of something. "Perhaps if you list off all the women you have ever met..."
"That's ridiculous," Shen replied, blushing, "I have met far too many, and it's just not right to go listing off women..."
"Well, peacock, what do you suggest?" Po asked loftily.
"I don't know. Just forget it," Shen told himself, "It was probably only a hallucination anyway."
"If you say so, Shen. But remember it, it might be important," Po advised.
"How am I supposed to forget it AND remember it, Panda?" Shen asked, with an odd half-smile on his white face.
Po had been caught. "I don't know!" he shrugged, "Put it in the back of your mind, or something. Now, let's get back to Master Shifu."
"Yes, we have spent a rather long time over here," Shen frowned, standing up and moving in the direction of the Jade palace, "Longer than we were supposed to.."
"Huh?" Po asked absently, "Oh yeah, no actually I was thinking that it's time for lunch. Gotta keep the old tummy full, ya'know."
Shen blinked. "There is something seriously wrong with your priorities, panda."
"When the time comes, I can get 'em straight," the panda replies, "But for now, let's go get some munchies!"
He raced off down the mountain, and Shen glided down after him, placing his odd vision in the back of his mind, for now.
Halfway down, a sudden blur of orange and black ran into Po full-tilt.
"Huaahh!" the panda yelped, "ARGH! Oof, ow!"
Shen, from his position in the air, watched Po and Tigress roll down the mountainside, eventually stopping in a small flat area. He landed just in time to watch Po getting flipped into the air by the striped feline.
"...look where you're going next time!" she was exclaiming, brushing dirt and grass from her arms.
"Alright, alright!" Po replied placatingly, "I will!"
"Good," Tigress replied shortly, dropping the black-and-white bear to the ground.
"Gee, thanks..." Po said, getting from his position on the dirt, "What where you doing out here, anyway?"
"I was sent by Master Shifu to get you," she informed, "He was beginning to wonder where you had vanished to."
"Well, we were just going there," Shen interjected, "We were a little held up."
Tigress fixed the avian in a glare. Shen returned it, and the two attacked each other with their eyes for a second.
Then Shen looked away, breaking the connection. His relationship with the tiger was less than friendly. Although he was still on unsteady terms with most of the Five, Tigress was the only one who was openly hostile. It was no secret that she was eagerly awaiting the day that Shen would screw up, and whenever he did, she was there to criticize him for it, with relish.
"Well, Po, Shen," she said slowly, "We should get back now."
The three warriors hiked down the mountain together, in a less-than-friendly silence.
Author's note: And here starts the sequel to 'The return of Lord Shen', released ahead of schedule! Now, I have three projects right now, as you can seepay my profile, but this one is top priority, then Defiant-Candle's Drabble collection, then circling flames. Anyway, please read and review!
This will probably be just as long, perhaps longer, than the last one, so a rather slow start. This is only the Prolouge, after all.
Until next time, goodbye!