~The Darkness Within~

-Prologue: The story of Hui Huang-

Fei Cui was a small province at the root of Himalayas, North of the more famous province of Gongmen. Despite its small size, Fei Cui was one of the richest provinces in whole China. The wealth came from the many gem mines that were digging deeper and deeper into the crust near the capital of Fei Cui, the Green City.

Such riches had to be managed well, and the rulers of the province were very skilled diplomats, choosing to maintain alliances with the nearby provinces instead of trusting in military power. That was mostly due to practical reasons though, as the small state with small population couldn't maintain an army, nor could it produce all the food it consumed. So being in good touch with neighbors was a must.

That's not to say that the rulers of Fei Cui didn't like peace, but being creatures that are somewhat vain in nature, they had to display their superiority somehow. The clan in rule achieved this with their excellently crafted jewelry and a royal guard of magpies trained so well and looking so magnificent in their golden armor that there was no match to them in the known world. The rulers of Fei Cui province were the Emerald Peafowl clan, and the man (or peacock) in power was Lord Zang. Zang had inherited his title from his father who had died only a few months ago, and now he was facing a problem that included another kind of display. Much to his dismay.

The name of the clan came from the colors of their feathers and the shape of their crests and eyespots, which reminded cut gems. It should be mentioned that they weren't ordinary peafowl that were found ruling some of China's provinces, but instead they were green peafowl, originating from the island of Java. Why they left their home in the first place is unknown, but once the clan settled to Fei Cui, they were there to stay. They had been ruling it with gentle but firm grip for centuries, and Zang was now part of that continuity.

Being a new ruler, he had to establish his position first. The clan consisted of rivaling families, each doing their best to get into power, or at least as close to it as possible. Ugly game wasn't too rare, and unless Zang showed he was capable to rule (basically holding the other families in line and showing them who's boss), his reign would end up rather short. With a messy end.

Zang trotted around his throne room in the Emerald Palace restlessly. He couldn't find a solution to his problem. Perhaps he was overcomplicating it to himself, but he couldn't afford a wrong choice. It would cost him everything.

He was lucky enough to not have any siblings, or things would be more dangerous now after his father had died. His father never had had that privilege, and around the time Zang hatched, his father was forced to banish other of his two brothers to ensure Zang's safety. Keeping the family line in power was the most important thing, but having too many heirs wasn't good; the younger ones weren't always content with the fact that eldest got everything. No need to say where that leaded.

But yes, keeping the family line in power was Zang's problem at the moment. He needed heirs. In other words, he had to marry. Besides, he wouldn't be considered a good ruler without a wife.

It wasn't that much of a problem if he didn't think it any deeper. He was the Lord of Fei Cui after all; he could get anyone he wanted. And the family heads would love to get their daughter in power. Yes, why not just pick the most gorgeously beautiful peahen around, get married, and make some chicks. Perfect, eh?

Except that it was just one side of the business.

The Lady of Fei Cui wasn't just a wife to the lord, but essentially a co-ruler. Whoever he'd choose to marry, Zang would've to manage with her the rest of his life, even in the politics. And that's not counting the fact that if the ruler happens to die before he has any heirs, the power shifts to the lady's family. What a perfect opportunity to certain, most power-hungry families to get their desired position.

No, Zang had to be very careful in this. He needed someone he could trust. He didn't know many peahens; the life of a royalty was rather formal, and in the end, lonely one.

But there was one. One peahen he had been friends with in his childhood, when he had still had time for that kind of things. Mei Yu. She was his cousin, actually. And last time he had seen her, she had been quite pretty, too. It was just that Zang was feeling really awkward of this. His uncle would agree without a blink of an eye, no doubt, but what he was worried of was what Mei Yu would say. Perhaps he wasn't thinking rationally, but he got the feeling it wouldn't go too well. They had been friends, but haven't really seen in years now, and then he'd suddenly appear to ask to marry her. What if she already had a loved one? As the lord, Zang would of course beat any contestant, but the result would be far from desired.

Anyways, Zang couldn't wait any longer. All the eyes were on him (figuratively of course), and he had to make a decision. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen?

Oh yeah, he could die. So nothing to worry about.

Mei Yu was casually walking in the garden of her family's mansion, enjoying the warm summer afternoon, when she spotted an antelope servant running from the front gates straight towards her.

"Miss Yu, miss Yu!"

She watched as the antelope stopped next to her to draw breath before he could continue.

"Miss Yu, where are your parents? I have to find them quickly. You should get prepared, too!"

"Why, what's happening?" Mei Yu questioned.

"He is coming to surprise visit." The antelope made a dramatic pause. "The new Lord of Fei Cui."

Mei's eyes widened in surprise: "What, Zang is coming? Oh no, and I have this on", she pointed to her dress.

"Yes… Your parents, miss Yu?"

"Oh, right, I think they're going over some trade contracts in the working room."

The antelope bowed thanks and hurried to inform his masters of the sudden situation.

Mei Yu stared after him until she startled in the realization that she should be going to change something more appropriate on. She wondered the reason for her cousin's sudden visit. Although they had been friends in the past, and admittedly, she had had a crush on him, they haven't really seen in years now. The brief moment at Zang's father's funeral didn't count.

She hurried inside the main hall and proceeded upstairs to her room. It was painted with mostly shades of yellow and green, but her bed had lovely blue cushions. Mei Yu loved to wear blue; it looked good on her feathers. As a green peahen her main color was, surprise, surprise, green. Her wings were shades of greenish turquoise and dark, almost black brown. Her neck was grass green, with iridescent yellows and darker greens mixed in. Her head was half black half turquoise-green, with white markings around eyes and continuing to her beak. Her crest was small, but bright emerald-green, like most of the members of Emerald peafowl clan had.

Mei shuffled through her wardrobe. Zang was coming, and he was the Lord of Fei Cui now. She had to put her best on in the presence of royalty. Although her family had very close relations to the ruling family, her father being little brother of the late lord, they weren't really high in the 'pecking order' anymore due to some bad decisions in the past and even worse luck. Mei picked a complex multi-layered, deep blue dress from the dresser. It was her finest one and she loved it, especially how rich the blues were and how they transitioned from lighter to darker. She couldn't understand those peahens of her clan who wore green. Really, come on, if you are green, you won't wear it, all it does it looks stupid. Still, all those oh-so-high-ranked-and-gorgeous peahens had made it clear to her that she was just lowly nuisance who thought to know something.

Almost like a peasant.

Yeah, those were the words used of her last time she had been around the daughters of other nobles. No one respected her. And it was kinda like that they didn't have any reason to. She was getting old, she was already over twenty and there was no sign of any suitors. It didn't matter that she was quite beautiful, the status was everything. Status she didn't have. Mei Yu sighed. She really hoped she could show them all one day…

But she was wasting time now, she had to change quickly. The sound of servants hurrying around in the hallways echoed through the door. Perhaps seeing Zang would cheer her up. Unless the politics had already consumed him, that was.

Fortunately, this didn't seem to be the case. Sure, Zang mostly paid attention to her father, but it was understandable. He was still his own, humorous and likable self, and he did promise to Mei to have a talk with her later.

Being a lord, business went first, and Zang apparently had a lot business. That was judging by the time he and her father had spent in the working room after the dinner, discussing some affair unknown to everyone else. Mei, lacking better things to do, waited patiently in the lounge.

Finally the door opened and Zang and Mei's father entered the room. He had an unreadable expression, but Zang looked like he was relieved and tensed up at the same time.

Mei got up. "Well, uh, you got whatever you discussed solved?"

Her father just nodded, seeming to suffer from loss of words, but Zang said 'yes'. Still, he seemed to be somehow distant. Then he snapped out of it. "It seems to be late." Indeed it was already dark outside, with only full moon glowing with silvery light. "But I promised to have a chat with my cousin, if you don't mind."

Mei's dad still couldn't get his beak open, but he didn't seem to mind anyways.

"Shall we go to the garden? It's kinda hot in here", Zang suggested.

"Oh, that's a good idea", Mei said. She was pleased with the opportunity to talk without her parents overhearing or commenting something stupid.

So the two peafowl walked out into the garden. Although it was dark, it was still warm. And there was full moon casting silvery light over the scene.

They came to a stop near a small pond. Zang observed the beautiful garden for a moment. Then he chuckled nervously; he didn't know how to approach the subject. But he knew that he had to say something or he'd face the risk of freezing up. He felt Mei Yu's look on his back. "It's been a while", Zang said at last.

"Yeah", Mei agreed sadly. "Time flows so quickly."

Zang turned to face her. The moonlight played on her feathers and reflected from her eyes in a good way. No, that's too lame term – it reflected in a great way. She looked pretty. Very pretty. He had to struggle to not look away under the gaze of those stunning jade eyes. Focus, Zang, focus. It's not that hard, he had to mentally slap himself.

"It's like we just yesterday played here, on the grass", Mei recalled.

"And now we are required to attend to all sorts of boring meetings, make hard decisions, and even get married", Zang added.

Mei jerked under a sting of annoyance and shame. Why he had to bring that up? That was a topic she didn't like to talk about, mainly because she had nothing to talk about.

Zang noticed that Mei didn't feel comfortable about the subject, but this was the only logical way he could reach his goal without serious awkwardness. "I'm lord now, Mei. Everyone looks up to my every movement and judges me according to it. It's tough."

"I wish I could do something for you", Mei said with a look of concern.

She looked so, so… – Zang had to close his eyes for a second to prevent himself blurting it out in an idiotic manner. Not yet.

Mei, of course, interpreted it in a different way. "I didn't know it is that hard, I mean-"

"No no, it's alright. I know how I'll solve this. I'll show them all that I am not weak ruler."

"So you have decided already? Who's the lucky one, do I know her?" Mei couldn't help but feel a little jealous towards that peahen. Guess her crush hadn't faded that much over time. And Zang was handsome. He had been the prince of her dreams… but now, he wasn't prince anymore, and the dreams had become really unrealistic.

Zang managed to hold back a nervously amused smile. "I'd expect you to."

"It's one of the triplets, isn't it?" She was looking a little depressed now. The triplets were daughters to one of the most high-ranking nobles in the clan. They were younger than Mei, and more beautiful, even though she hated to admit it. Marrying one of them would be the most logical choice for Zang.

"Guess I would get anyone of them now, huh? But no." He should stop circling around already. "You know Mei, I came to a conclusion that looks isn't everything. Or even status."

"Oh?"

"I need someone by my side who I know. Who I can trust. Who also cares for me and not just the title. There's only one peahen who matches that description, with the added bonus that she's very pretty."

As Zang gazed deep in her eyes, Mei got filled with a feeling of utter disbelief. He couldn't mean that! He couldn't mean – of course he couldn't mean that. It wouldn't make any sense, it was just her wild imagination and stupid hopes. Yes, calm down Mei. Always so quick to jump in weird conclusions.

Or that was what she assured to herself, until Zang took her wing into his, and suddenly she was being stared at by tens and tens of yellow-blue eyespots. For a second the mesmerizing, mystic eyes caught all her attention and she got the feeling that she really was something special to be looked upon by those fascinating, charming observers. Then her eyes registered Zang, who was now kneeled in front of her, holding her wing and – yes, that was the cause of the sudden appearance of those eyes; he was displaying to her. Oh gods.

There was a determined look in Zang's eyes as he asked the question that Mei thought to never, ever hear.

"Mei Yu, will you marry me?"

Mei couldn't do anything but stare with wide eyes. She was rendered totally speechless. Somewhere at the back of her head a voice told her that she had left her beak hanging wide open. Oh gods. Breathe Mei, breathe. A garbled giggle escaped her throat and she covered her mouth with her free wing. Her brain seemed to malfunction under the should-have-been-impossible situation. Everything had been going wrong in her life for a long time, and now there she was with Zang proposing her.

Zang was proposing her.

Zang was proposing her.

Zang was proposing her!

Slowly Mei came in terms with what was really happening at the moment, and she was able to give her response. With eyes glittering with tears of joy and laughter escaping her beak, she said 'yes'.

Zang looked absolutely relieved, like he had been afraid that she would really say no. "You do? That's great! I mean –"

Mei silenced him by placing her finger (okay, primary feather, but never mind) at the tip of his beak. Zang looked at her somewhat abashed, not knowing what to do.

But Mei did.

Ever so slowly, she kissed him.

All had gone as planned, and Lord Zang and Lady Mei Yu had firmly established their place as the rulers of Fei Cui province. Now, ten months after their marriage their first chick hatched. The little boy was named Hui Huang, and being the crown prince, province-wide celebrations took place.

Not everyone was happy, though.

Certain families of the clan were deeply offended by Zang's decision to marry Mei Yu, and now they were even more disturbed with the arrival of an heir. It considerably lessened their chances to get the position they desired. They had to remake their plans, but no one dared to put them in action. Yet.

The royal family knew nothing of this, and they were living particularly joyful time. Little Hui Huang grew fast, and soon the chick had learned to walk and speak with limited vocabulary (his first word was, no, not 'ma' or 'pa', but 'green' (Well okay, it sounded more like 'gleen', but he was a hatchling after all.)).

When Hui was three, the second prince hatched and the joy only increased.

Little Hui Huang loved his little brother, who was named Jiao. When Jiao grew a little, the siblings become almost inseparable, and their plays around the palace tended to cause much extra work to the servants.

They lived their lives that way, not always happy or without troubles, but content. That was, until everything changed.

It happened when Hui Huang was seven years old.

He was sitting in the corner of the room, next to the door. He didn't want to go to sleep; the events of the day were totally filling his mind at the moment. He had been causing trouble with Jiao today and they had been ordered to bed early. Hui didn't want to sleep, though, and he had been sitting in the corner now for hours, most likely.

Suddenly he heard a faint thud from the hallway. Before he could react in any way, the door opened slowly and quietly. Hui knew that there was a guard stationed behind the door every night, and he knew also that the guard shouldn't have any reason to open the door. This was something else.

Hui held his breath as the intruder walked inside, but stopped soon as it noticed that the bed was empty. The figure was wearing a black cloak, but Hui was still able to tell that it was some kind of feline, from the way it moved. They didn't have any feline servants at the palace, so it had to have come from outside. Hui could only think of one possibility, of which his father had warned him: the cloaked figure was an assassin. Assassin was an evil person sent by some jealous clan member, and it was after the heirs of the royal family. That meant it was after him.

Hui gulped as silently as he could.

The lack of a prince in bed seemed to throw the assassin's plan off. It quickly scanned the room, but didn't think of the possibility that the prince could be behind the door. The feline made a nervous grunt and retreated from the room, closing the door silently.

Hui forced himself to stand up. There was an evil assassin in the palace! He'd have to alert his father.

But what if the assassin was waiting behind the door?

Hui hesitated.

He couldn't stay in the room; the assassin could come back and search a little more carefully this time.

Deciding that it was the best course of action, Hui carefully opened the door as silently as he could. The first thing he saw was some dark form lying on the floor in front of the door.

The guard, he realized. The assassin had done something to his guard. Hui didn't see any blood, but neither did he see any signs of life from the magpie. He felt his legs trembling as he looked the hallway left and right. There was nothing to be seen. The feline had disappeared somewhere.

Good.

Hui broke into run, down the hallway towards his parents' chamber. He was scared, and every shadow looked like it contained a murderous feline ready to jump on him. The image of the still, fallen guard haunted in his mind.

Thinking of guards, why didn't he get the guard that was guarding Jiao's room just behind the corner from his room? But what if that guard had been also -!

A shocking thought made Hui stop and turn around.

Jiao!

Hui ran faster than ever, back towards his room. He got to the junction and looked left. There, in front of the opened door of his brother's room, was a limp, black-and-white feathered form of a royal guard.

Unbearable dread filled Hui, and for a moment he couldn't move. Just when he managed to force himself to move onward, a dark figure appeared from the room. Hui froze in place as the feline glanced at him. Time itself seemed to drag as they stared each other for a brief second.

Then the assassin took a long, vicious looking curved knife from its belt.

Hui backed off and ran. His hart was certainly beating harder than it was healthy. He had no chance. No chance. No chance… He was only a peachick, and the hunter was an adult feline. It'd catch him in mere seconds. He couldn't even shout for help; fear had captured his voice somewhere in his throat.

He passed his room and for a second he considered locking himself in there. But no, that'd be truly the end of him. His eyes searched desperately for a solution. And they found it.

Balcony.

Hui glanced behind at the same moment as he swung the balcony door open. The assassin was mere ten meters behind him. He won a few precious seconds by slamming the door at the feline's face.

The wing of the palace where the royal family's rooms were located was only three floors high, but the problem was that they were on the third floor, and Hui still couldn't fly. It was a long way down for a small peachick.

That's why he had to go up.

Hui jumped on the railing, grabbed the nearest wooden support pillar and begun to climb. He heard the door swung open, but it was already too late for the feline; he got a hold of the edges of the roof tiles and pulled himself up.

"Be a good boy and come here!" He heard a female voice snarl after him. Naturally he didn't stop. Instead, he climbed up to the rooftop. The Emerald Palace was a beautiful sight in moonlight, but Hui couldn't enjoy the sight now.

A quick look around told him that there was a tree growing near the building at the end of the roof. He could jump there, climb down and find the guards. Or perhaps he could hide in the tree? It was dark, and he'd blend in there pretty well amidst the leaves.

Loud crack and a bit later few crashes told him that the threat was closing on him again. The assassin was struggling to get to the roof, crushing roof tiles and making them to fall down in the process.

Hui ran along the rooftop towards the tree, his heart hammering in his ears. Just as he reached the edge, the sound of tiles getting knocked loose by something not intended to run on them grew louder quickly. Although the nearest branch strong enough to support him was some distance away, Hui didn't hesitate. With a giant leap he reached the branch and gripped it firmly with his talons. With no time to waste, he jumped down on the branch below, and then to the next one, getting closer to the tree trunk at the same time.

Heavily rustling leaves somewhere above told him that the assassin was also in the tree now.

Hui hoped to get down faster than the feline would. He knew that the tree was growing in the main yard, and there were several guards stationed there. As he had almost reached the ground, he couldn't resist looking back. At that exact moment something hit against him hard, knocking him down the tree.

The impact with ground made air escape his lungs. Hui was dizzy, hurting and feeling a strange pressure on his chest. A couple of blinks to focus his vision revealed him the reason for the pressure: the assassin was pinning him down with her foot.

Hui's eyes widened in terror as the feline raised the curved knife. Somewhere over the distance he could hear the guards shouting. But it was too late.

The feline – a black panther, he could now see – smiled to him. It was not a warm, comforting smile, but a cold and emotionless one.

"This won't hurt", the panther assured with the same smile pasted on her lips.

Just when Hui was about to close his eyes, the assassin, instead of striking with the dagger, decided to grow a third arm.

It was not a pretty thing to look at, and judging from the blood it was rather painful process, too. Right from the middle of her chest bursted out the third arm. In shape it didn't remind the panther's other arms at all. In fact, it resembled Hui's dad's valued lance. It even had a similar emerald embedded in it. Funny.

The panther made gurgling sounds and grabbed her chest, dropping the dagger and falling to her knees. Only then Hui could see his father standing behind the assassin, holding his lance with his train fanned out and looking so fierce that Hui got scared even more than he was already.

Lord Zang kicked the feline to the back so that the blade went partly back inside the animal. The panther gasped and gurgled as Zang leaned towards her, eyes burning with hatred.

"How DARE you hurt my son!"

Zang twisted the blade and the pulled it out with force, resulting in disgusting smacking sound. The assassin collapsed to ground, never to move anymore.

All this was too much for Hui, and he began to cry. Loudly. Zang dropped his weapon and picked up his shaking son.

In his father's embrace, Hui didn't care of rest of the world. He vaguely sensed the presence multiple guards that were gathering to the scene, and he couldn't bring himself to understand the orders his father was giving to them. It was warm and safe, rest didn't matter.

Except for a one pressing corner that was now filling his mind when his life wasn't in danger anymore.

"Dad", he said faintly, sniffing at the same time.

"Yes, Hui?" Zang asked affectionately. After observing his son's shaken frame for a second, he added worriedly: "Are you hurt?"

Hui shook his head. "No, dad… Jiao?"

His father didn't seem to understand for a few seconds, then his eyes widened. Hui clung to him as he hurried inside and then up to the third floor. The footsteps following in their wake told that several magpies were escorting them now.

They reached Jiao's room. The dead guard was still lying in the hallway. Zang came to halt at the doorway. Mei Yu was already there.

She was kneeled next to the bed, her back towards the door. Hearing their arrival, she turned to look at Zang and Hui.

That look shattered their world.

There was nothing but his opponent. Nothing else. He didn't feel the cold rain, or the muddy ground; they weren't important. Hui Huang had closed his eyes in concentration. He held a scimitar in a ready stance in both of his wings. He felt every scratch and marking in the handles of the weapons, and knew every curve of the pointed steel blades.

He pictured his opponent in his mind; a young antelope standing short distance in front of him, holding a decorated longsword at ready. Hui snorted. Their master had announced the antelope three times in a row as the best student of the year.

That wasn't good enough. Only he could be the best.

Hui imagined the antelope in a dark cloak, and instead of a sword, he pictured him wielding a sharp, curved dagger.

That's how he found strength.

Without a warning Hui opened his eyes and dashed forward. Swinging both blades in a great arc, he attacked the antelope's defense furiously. He came from two directions continuously, making the mammal struggle seriously to block all the attacks. It didn't matter how good his opponent's were; none of them had dared to try master using two weapons at once, like he had. With that he was all but invincible. He had to.

Suddenly the antelope tried to make a counter-attack. Unfortunately for him, the longsword's speed was vastly inferior to Hui's scimitars. Hui blocked the sword between his broad blades and twisted them simultaneously, at the same time kicking the mammal to chest. That made the sword fly from the antelopes grasp. The strike was followed with a heavy swing to face with the scimitar's flat side.

The impact made the antelope groan and stumble backwards, and Hui used the moment to jump on him and make him fall. Hui stood on his chest and held the weapons at ready. The antelope was totally shocked at this sudden fall.

Hui glanced at his master, an old but very skilled Indian tiger, who was watching the match at the edge of the training grounds. The master nodded as a sign that the fight was over. Hui sheathed his blades and turned to walk away, not saying a word. He had just become the champion of the year, but it didn't bring any satisfaction. He had known that'd be the case for a long time.

He was the best sword fighter in the province, and most probably one of the best in the whole China, only at the age of fifteen. He should've been happy. He should've been proud. But he wasn't.

Ever since he had begun training sword fighting under the master tiger seven years ago, he had aimed to be the best. That's why he chose unusual weapon and unusual wielding style. He had to be ready, had to be capable to kill anyone or anything that threatened him or those he cared about. He owed that to…

No, he wouldn't think about that, he had decided it years ago. Why were his thoughts trailing to that event so often?

Hui entered the barracks to change the combat gear off. He removed the leather straps around his wings, and the cape showing his prince status. Just then he heard closing footsteps, which told him that he'd have one of those discussions soon. He hated them.

That's why he wasn't surprised to see his master standing at the doorway, examining him with his gaze. When Hui didn't say anything and just continued to remove his armor, the tiger sighed.

"Hui."

No answer.

"Hui Huang, look at me when I speak to you." The voice wasn't stern, but it carried authority.

Reluctantly Hui lifted his gaze to match the tiger's.

"Hui, you just won the title of the champion. Shouldn't you be rejoicing, telling your parents and so on?"

Now it was Hui's turn to sigh. "Master, there's not any reason for that. Ever since I mastered dual wielding earlier this year, I've been the best. None of the other students are match for me. You know that too, or why else you'd have restricted other than the most skilled ones from sparring with me?"

"Hui-"

"With all respect, master, I bet I could beat you too. I knew I was the best, the victory was no surprise; there is no reason to celebrate." Hui turned to look away, his crest flattening.

After a moment of silence the master sat down on the bench next to the young peacock. Hui still didn't look at him.

"I'm sure you could. But this isn't about that, is it?" Receiving no answer, the tiger continued: "I'm worried of you; you are carrying a great burden. I know you've been through a lot, but you have to understand that your brother's death was not your-"

Hui's crest bolted up in anger as he turned to face his master. "Do NOT talk about my brother, I don't HAVE a brother! Do you understand?" He was shaking in rage for a second before getting up and storming out in the rain, still wearing half of his armor.

Master tiger sighed sadly. The whole situation was so very unfortunate. Hui Huang had been his student since he had moved to Fei Cui province, which was seven years ago. He had learned of the tragedy that had fallen on the royal family. He had seen the guiltiness in little Hui, which drove him into training harder and achieving the impossible. He knew that the prince wanted nothing more than vengeance, but it was never found out who had been behind the attack. Hui had no target for his hatred, and this had eventually leaded him hating a little of everyone. Well, except his parents.

Hui had never opened to anyone about his feelings; instead he had bottled them all inside. It gave him power, true, but if he wouldn't let it go, the darkness within would eventually consume him.

That was what concerned master tiger.

A/N: OK, so the story begins. I have many things to say of it. Firstly, I wrote this prologue in over a month's time, and it's over two times longer than anything I've written before (13 pages in MS word T.T). I could still use days to tweak it, but I don't want to hold it back any longer. So I really wish you think it's alright.

I stole the prologue name from the KFP2 soundtrack (Ancient China/Story of Shen), as this is a little simiral background story for my OC Hui Huang, later known as Cike. I apologize the tragicness of this prologue, but it was kinda necessary. You see, that's where the story name comes from :P

But yes, this is what I'd call a Shen-fic. Where is he then, you ask? Patience, this is just the prologue, the first 'real' chapter will contain plenty of Shen. He is the antagonist of this story after all. Hui/Cike will be the protagonist. And this is most certainly the only chapter in the fic that contains romance. Just to make things clear.

Last note: I'll be drawing some illustrations for each chapter; this prologues' ones will be up in a hour or two. I'll post the links in my profile, or you can hunt down my DA account (also named ToothlessFuture).

DISCLAIMER: Dreamworks owns Kung Fu Panda and it's characters. But I own all my OC's and this story.