A/N: I do not own Kung Fu panda, Kung Fu panda is owned by Dreamworks, this is my first fan fiction but please enjoy. Rated T, may get moved up to M as the story progresses. A big shout out to FFcrazy15 who has given me many hints and tips. All OC characters belong to me. Lets start the show. WARNING: Has mild language and some gore
Chapter 1: Torment
Time: Present Day, Location: Unknown
The clouds were dark, blotting out the sky. The rain was heavy, wearing down on the weary villagers. Lightning struck, signaling ill omens to come. Everyone was silent, what words could be said? Everyone was scared.
The villagers from the Valley of Peace set up tents for the night around the fire, all of them wished this was a bad dream they could wake up from. Never had any of them witnessed such brutality.
Shifu and the Furious 5 set up separate tents around the villagers, in case of attackers. Shifu lay in his tent while Mantis tended to the wound deep within his Masters stomach. Monkey tended to the injured civilians, most of which were burn wounds or stab wounds. Crane circled the sky to see if there were any nearby enemies. Luckily there were none, yet. Viper just stood there looking over to her friend, not sure what to say or what to do. Viper had only seen her like this once, back in Gongmen City, when they were to be executed. She didn't speak, didn't eat, all she did was cry.
With nothing else to say, and the people needing her for help, Viper could only say one thing.
"Tigress … I'm sorry ..."
The lightning struck again as the rain got heavier. Those who had sense went into there tents.
...but not her
Tigress was sitting with her legs crossed, her hands on her lap and her eyes focused one one thing: The River. She never took her eyes of it. Why? Hope, plain and simple hope. Hope that he was …
Tigress felt something cold and wet run down her face
Though it was raining, it was impossible to hide the tears pouring from her eyes. Impossible to hide the pain in her heart. 'You had your chance and you blew it' Tigress grit her teeth as these thoughts rushed through her head.
'You lost him once, and now he is gone forever'
The tears grew heavier
'What sort of leader are you?'
Frantically she stood up and looked up and down the river for any signs of life
'He's dead'
Tigress clutched onto a bunch of letters she had held onto since the incident
"No, I wont believe it" Tigress whispered to herself
She continued to look but just like every other time, she found nothing. Tigress fell to her knees and punched the earth with her free hand.
The tears poured heavier as the once proud, strong, female tiger lifted her head to the sky to face the heavens and whispered, ever so softly.
"Po...I'm sorry"
Time: 3 Months Ago, Location Gongmen Harbour
"You're right, then I choose this!"
with that, Shen pulled out three knives in each of his hands and started his barrage against the Panda who had ruined him. Shen jumped and tried to stab him in the throat but Po simply rolled away. Shen tried again, but the Panda ducked, dodging the strike and in the process grabbed his and and spun him around. Furious, Shen swung around grazing the Panda just below his eye.
'Let it go? Never, I'll never let it go. How dare he tell me to let it go, he who destroyed my ships, my cannons, my men, MY LEGACY'
Shen threw his knives at the startled Panda, who kicked up some weak wood from the destroyed ship to block them of. Before Po could even react, Shen rushed at him, Grabbing his lance and lunging at the Panda. Luckily Po managed to dodge the deranged Peacocks blade. He had lost everything he worked hard for, 30 years, gone within mere minutes. He had failed to prove the soothsayer wrong, he failed in his conquest, but he WILL kill this Panda.
Little did Shen know, that in his rage, he was cutting the remaining support rope to the cannon, lingering above the two.
Shen jumped onto a wooden beam and into the air to try for an air strike, but such force broke the beam and the cannon began to fall. As Po rolled out the way, he saw the large cannon fall, and he ran. Shen, now confused looked behind him only to see his impending doom. With no time to move, Shen closed his eyes, and for once, in his life, accepted his fate.
However, fate can be a fickle thing.
As the cannon hit Shen, it crushed him, but did not kill him. Instead it sent him through the weak wood of his boat into the sea. As Shen floated in the water, barely able to open his eyes, he was amazed he was alive. He could already feel that a few of his bones were broken and he needed to breath quickly, but before he could even blink, the rest of the cannon exploded, sending Shen further down into the ocean.
Shen could feel his body on fire, the blast had affected him. Not only was he broken, he was burnt. The shock of the pain took what air he had out of him as he descended more and more into the dark ocean.
Shen began to panic.
He kicked his feet in an attempt to swim, but his metal talons were dragging him down. He dropped his lance and tried to use his wings to swim, but the remaining concealed knives prevented that as well. 'Shit' Shen said to himself mentally, his vision was becoming black and blurry. He refused to die like this, but the more he struggled, the more weaker he became. Now unable to move, Shen could only think about what the Panda had said to him.
' … Was he right? Should I have" just let it go"? … no … even if I did, what would that accomplish? I'd be the most hated man in china, sent to jail or executed. No, I chose my path. Now I can never go back … never … ne...ve..r'
and with that, Shens vision was nothing but black
Suddenly, his eyes shot wide open. He would NOT let it end this way. The Panda would NOT win, the Panda WILL suffer, and China WILL be his.
With new found strength, the half drowned Peacock ripped open his robe and allowed his knives to fall to the bottom of the ocean. With all the weight gone, Shen used his wings to swim to the top, luckily there was a current on his side, carrying him higher and to shore, hopefully. He was close, he saw the light and finally...
SPLASH
Shen head rose out the water, he gasped for air as we was being blinded by the morning sun. Feeling faint, he rested on top of the water, letting the current carry him.
Shen looked to his right, and in the distance he saw the people of Gongmen, the Furious 5, the remaining members of the council, Shifu and the Panda that bested him.
Shen had hoped that the explosion killed that detestable Panda. As Shen was carried away, his eyes began to close and all he could say before embracing the warmth of sleep was "Damn"
The next day
Shen awoke on a riverbank somewhere deep in the forest. Before Shen could think, he immediately coughed up alot of sea water. The taste of the salt rising up his throat was enough to make him gag.
"Cough ... cough ... gasp ... gasp ... that was ... gasp ... most ... unpleasant ... ugh"
As soon as he composed himself, he slowly stood up to look apon his surroundings. What he saw made him cringe with irony, rage and defeat.
He arrived were it all started: The Panda village.
It was 30 years since he had been in this village, killing all the panda's ... well, except one. This thought made Shen want to kill something, anything, but he moved on. He was injured, he needed help. Nearby he saw a run down hut that had medical equipment inside. "Strange, i would have thought these would've been destroyed in the fire" said Shen as he rummaged through the medical equipment. Eventually he found what he needed.
Wood to be used as a splint for his broken wing.
Bandages to covers his wounds and hold the wood together
and some Ginseng tea leaves to sooth the pain.
Once all his wounds were covered, Shen looked around for a kettle to brew some tea. Upon further inspection, he noticed this hut had been used recently, but it did not matter. Apon locating the kettle, he made some Ginseng tea and quickly drank it.
Shen, now composed and ready, had to move, and fast.
Shen was prideful but that did not get in the way of his tactical brain. If, for some reason, his conquest were to fail. He gave orders to all his men to retreat to the great cave, 10 miles from Gongmen city. Without Shen, his army would no doubt do something foolish. Without hesitating Shen ran as fast as he could before all his men tore each other apart.
The next day
The Great Cave
"I dont give a damn what you say, Lord Shen is dead and so is the Boss. I say we avenge them!"
With this, a bunch of wolfs let out a howl to the moon, showing they agree with him. Opposite the Wolf was another, although much smaller and younger, he was not about to back down.
"Avenge them? Believe me, no one wants to get revenge more than me, but you would have us run towards our death. Did you SEE the Panda? He destroyed everything, by himself. You want revenge? go yourself, but i wont have you risk my pack"
The bigger wolf stepped forward "Your pack?"
The smaller wold stepped forward looking up at his opponent "Yes, My pack. My Brother was the wolf boss, I am next in line to command, not some scruffy, flea bitten mutt like you!"
As soon as the final word was said, the bigger wolf retracted his fist and punched his opponent in the jaw, knocking him to the floor. He pulled out his knife and held it to his throat. The smaller wolf looked at his potential killer without fear.
"You are weak, boy. You think you could command all these men?"
He felt a glob of warm spit hit him in the face, as the smaller wolf just smirked.
"you insolent cur!" he raised up the smaller wolf by his throat so all the other wolves could see. "I am in charge now. If Shen were here, he would want revenge, but he isnt, so I shall be his voice. It is what he would have wanted" As he pulled back his hand holding the knife, ready to stab the young wolf, he suddenly froze, as did all the other wolves.
Clang
The knife wielding wolf gulped
Clang
He dropped the younger wolf to the floor
Clang
The young wolf looked up and recognized the metal talons noise. It was a noise that would send a shiver down anyones spine.
Clang
Out of the darkness came a figure that shocked all the wolves to there core: Shen. He walked by the stunned wolves over to the wolf, who had now dropped the knife and bowed before his master. Shen was no more than two feet away from the wolf. He bent forward towards the wolfs ear, and said very calmy, very smoothly "so ... you think you know whats best, do you?" without even looking up the wolf replied "I was p-planning to carry on your plan, sir". Shen leaned back up straight, and planted a humoured smirk on his face, his red eyes locked onto the wolf before him. He quickly looked around to see a great number of wolves surrounding him, once again he focused on the one before him. "Stand up" said Shen as he let out a small chuckle, the wolf did as he was told. "So, your a mind reader are you?" said Shen mockingly "well go on then, tell me..." his smirk turned into a devious smile and his eyelids lowered halfway, as to look down on the wolf "what am i thinking, now?" No one liked the way Shen said those last few words, they all knew whenever he spoke like that, trouble was brewing. A smart man would have backed away, but these wolves, werent so smart.
"I-i think that you would want reve - "
Before the wolf could even finish, Shen twirled and slashed the wolfs throat open with his metal talons. The blood oozed from his neck as he tried to gasp for air. Some blood spat out and hit Shen and a few other wolves in the face. As Shens foot hit the floor, he could feel the blood from the razor, trickle onto his bare foot. Shen waited until the wolf hit the floor before turning back to face him.
"Wrong! No one gives the orders but me" Shen turned to his wolves "DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" The wolves all nodded as they stared at the wolf, dead, he had suffered the wrath of Shen, they did not want the same fate. "THEN MOVE! Set up camp, get provisions and someone find me a doctor, NOW!"
Within seconds the wolves were gone, off to do multiple jobs. Shen looked down to the young wolf pull himself up from the floor. The wolf bowed down to Shen but did not dare look at him. Shen did not look well.
"I'm glad your alive my Lord"
Shen let out a sigh of relief as he looked down at the blood covered wolf. "I feel, much, better. Hmph" Shen turned to face the bowing wolf " Ah, your ... Fang wasn't it?"
"Yes my Lord, my brother was your right hand man" said Fang in a slightly sad tone
"Ah ... oh!" Shen remembered that HE was the one who killed him. If news of this got out, the wolves may turn on him. Killing a wolf was bad, but killing there pack leader was worse, a crime no wolf would let slide by. Without even giving it a second thought, Shen replied to this by putting a wing on the boys shoulder "Dont worry, the Panda who killed your brother will get whats coming to him"
The wolf raised his head to face his master, he put a small smirk in his face, stood up and guided Shen to his tent.
"I'll need new robes, new weapons and bring me my blueprints. i have some alterations to make"
"Yes sir"
"How many wolves are left?"
"About one hundred, sir"
"Damn, i'll need to make other arrangments"
"Very well sir. Is there anything else you would like?"
The two entered a giant tent, made for whoever lead the army. Inside were lanterns to light the tent, porclein tables, a soft relaxing bed, top quality carpeting and a fragrance of lavander to sooth the soul. On the table in the middle of the room was eating utensils. The other table to the far back had an inkwell, a paperweight and many, many documents.
"Yes, i am aosrry for your loss, but you are now in charge of the wolf pack" Shen took a step towards Fang "Do not fail me"
Fang could feel the peacocks eyes burn holes into his. His eyes were not the only thing to catch his attention however. He did not want to ask but if it wasnt treated, it could get infected.
"Understood sir"
"Good" Shen walked away, waving his good wing to dismiss the wolf
"Sir? do you want some ointment?"
Shen stopped in his tracks, he turned around with a rather confused look on his face "Ointment? What for"
The wolf gulped. It was now obvious that Shen did not know about his new condition.
"Y-your burn marks sir"
Shen had forgotten. He was crushed but then there was the explosion. He didn't feel any pain but maybe the water from the sea soothed it or the Ginseng was still taking effect. Either way, Shen was burnt, but from what he could see, he saw no markings on his wings. "Fetch me a mirror"
"A-are you sure sir" Thw wolf did not want Shen to see this
"Yes yes, get on with it"
The wolf left, then returned with a full body mirror behind him. He really did not want to suffer Shens anger, so he placed the Mirror down next the tent wall, leaving it barely to stand. The wolf spoke in a nervous tone, with an even more nervous smile on his face "Heh, ugh, here you are, sir"
Shen was getting annoyed at this wolfs cowardice. Normally Shen loved it when people feared him, it made him feel dominant, but he was tired, sore and hungry. He pushed the wolf out of the way and began to look into the mirror.
"Ugh honestly, how bad can it ... "
Shen saw the horror he now was. The cannon that crushed him, cracked the right side of his beak. It was noticable even from a distance. The cannonball shards sliced his chest right down the middle, leaving a horiffic scar to be seen at all times. Finally, the burn mark. He could feel his blood boil as he looked at his face, was it trickery?, was it fate? or was it just bad luck. Shen has black burn marks on the right side of his face. There were minor burns marks on his train, his upper wing and thigh, but his face was the most noticable. If you squinted your eyes, Shens face almost looked like the Yin and Yang symbol, but Shen did not see this, he saw this as a mockery to his pride. This mark would never go away. It would remind him of the Panda who beat him. Why? Because He was now a warrior of black and white. He was now a constant reminder of his greatest failure. The more he looked in the mirror, the more he saw the black and white blend together, the more he thought of that imbecilic, fat, Panda.
Fang took a few steps back, he saw that Shen was about to lose it.
Shen stormed of and walked over to the far of table
"I"
He picked up the paperweight
"HATE!"
He threw the paperweight at the mirror shattering it into tiny little pieces on the floor
"PANDAS!"
Shens whole army heard him scream, and they all knew why. They saw what the Panda did to him and now through each of there minds ran the same thought.
The Panda will pay
A/N Well there you go, my first chapter to my first story. Please review so i can do a better job next time.
So Shen lives, and now he is scarred for life, what will he do to get his revenge, find out soon enough. Laters