Gone ... everything he had had been gone only within one night. All his warship ... his deadly fire-breathing weapons ... his men. No more left.
All was because of that panda
He still watched at his destroyed precious treasures with eyes full of despair. "H-how did you ... how did you do it?" he asked his enemy.
"Well, you know. You just gotta keep your elbows up and keep the shoulder loose -"
"Not that!" he cut off. "How did you find peace? I have took your parents. Everything. I - I scarred you for life."
"See, that's the thing, Shen. Scars heal."
"No, they don't. Wounds heal."
"Oh, yeah? What do scars do? They fade, I guess."
"I don't care what scars do."
"You should, Shen. You gotta let go of that stuff from the past because it just doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now."
No.
There was nothing left to choose
No more future. Thirty years he had craved his dreams ; to take over his city, to conquer China and for revenge on those who had humiliated him, who had banished him. But all his plans and ambitions now vanished just like that, as if he just woke up from a long sleep and someone told him that he was just dreaming.
"You're right," he nodded slowly. There was, at least, still one more choice left. "Then I choose this!"
Shen pulled out his knife. The only thing he wanted now was to finish off that panda although he was aware of how the difference of their kung fu skill. He was no match for The Dragon Warrior. To be precise, he just wanted to excite all his anger to that stinky panda.
Useless ...
Beside, what else would he do if that panda died now? He had nothing to rebuild his army.
The peacock took his sword. He used it to attack The Dragon Warrior. He realized it when his action had accidently cut the rope that supported his ruined cannon near him. But he didn't care.
Crack
Lord Shen titled his head upwards. His creation started to topple, ready to fall and crush him. And the peacock soon closed his eyes, readying himself to accept his last fate.
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Kung Fu Panda Fanfic
White Phoenix
Disclaimer : I do not own Kung Fu Panda
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He felt the touch of the cold water of Gongmen River wetted his beautiful white feathers. His body began to sink ... and sink deeper to the bottom. No one would help him.
He was just free, finally. Free from commiting more sins.
Slowly, he sensed all burdens he had was lifted up. It felt very light now. Was it because he had let them go? Greed. Revenge. Ambitions.
The morning sunlight started not being able to be seen anymore. Now, only darkness with him.
He was alone.
He had no one.
This was a mutual feeling when he had been first banished from his city. But this time, without anger.
His back touched riverbed, followed by a stalled breath.
"…"
"…Shen?"
His eyelids made a little movement. A familiar wing rubbed his face gently.
"Shen."
That female voice called him again. He recognized that voice even though twenty years had passed since the last time he heard her speak.
"Shen, My son."
The albino peacock slowly opened his eyes. No more water, no more darkness. He was now in a new world which was very different from real one. His gaze met two figures vaguely. A blue peacock and a peahen stared at him softly.
He sighed. "Father? Mother?"
The emperor's spirit smiled. He offered his right wings to his only son.
"Y-you -" Shen stopped for a moment. "But how?"
"We come to pick you up, Dear," his mother told him. "You've been through tough time, Now it's time for us to be together again, just like we used to be."
"Come with us," said his father.
Shen refused his father's proffered wing. "What do you want?" he instead asked ruthlessly, not even bothering himself to look at his parents. "You have wronged me and sent me away from your life." He returned his glance to them full of hate. "And now you want me to come with you? What exactly do you want, Your Majesty?"
"We never hate you, Dear." His mother answered. A tears came from her eyes with a smile spreaded across her beak. "Never."
"Lie," Shen almost laughed. "Why didn't you just leave me here alone, huh? I never wish to see your face anymore."
"We love you. We love you so much."
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The same words that Shootsayer ever told him whom he tried to ignore.
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It was juts a lie, he attempted to deny.
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"Nonsense," he laughed bitterly, then started a serious talk as he gazed at his parents deeply. "Love? How dare you say it after what you did to me. Don't you know how pain and sufferings I had been through? Twenty years is not a short time!"
"Shen -"
"I struggle for life, lived in an isolated mountain. How do you say about what I felt that time?"
"Shen –"
"I survived from hunger in winter without food. How do you think I was?"
"Please, Shen -"
"I wished that someday you would come to forgive me, but you never did!"
"Shen, we did it to save you," his mother finished her sentence.
A silence hung up in the air.
His father put a wing on his shoulder. "We forgave you since long ago," he said firmly. "But China would never forgive for what you did to those innocent pandas. Believe me, we never wanted our son leave."
"I never want either," replied Shen. "But you did banish me."
"If I must choose between my life and you, I'll choose you even if it kills me."
"An another lie from you."
"Your mother fell ill and died only a few days after you left."
Shen closed his eyes and turned his head from his father. Enough of this falsity.
"We've tried to call and invited you back to our palace although for several days but we never found you."
The prince's heart beated fast. "You ... looked for me?"
"Listen, we know how mad you are at us, Shen," his mother said. "But you never know how much we miss you."
"And how miserable we were without you," his father added. "I never sit on my throne since that day because it would just remind me of you - you who played beside me when you were little."
"You remember?"
"We remember everything about you, My son." He rubbed his head softly. "we always do, including the day when you were born and it hurted us more."
He had always thought that his parents hated him. The egoism and dissapoinment had clouded his mind since twenty years ago.
His father looked at his eyes earnestly. He knew there was no lie behind that gaze. The hate he kept had blocked him from seeing the truth. The memory of his childhod began to surface. He remembered being in the wings of his mother when the empress cradled him and watched the fireworks from the palace balcony on his first birthday. He recalled the memory when he played his toy sword beside his father's throne, and his father would join to play with him before putting him on his seat, promising him that someday his throne would be his as he ignored the servant that was reading his daily schedule.
"We never saw you since you're gone," his father continued. "Now fate has got us united in spirit world, Don't you want to stay with us?"
A smile was formed on Shen's beak. What Shootsayer told him was the truth. And as the tortured soul broke, he hugged them.
"Please don't let me be alone anymore."