Title: Change the Fate's Design
Summary: AU. Years ago, Shen investigates his own kidnapping and a case of mistaken identity—instead of overhearing a fatal prophecy. His path is now bent on a bizarre road trip in the company of an equally bizarre traveler...
A/N: This is supposed to be in continuity with my other, still continuing KFP fic, "The Life and Times of Lord Shen," up to a point (the point being canon as mentioned in the summary). The core of this fic is a temporary surprise fusion-crossover that'll become self-evident later in this chapter. It's 'Prince' Shen, since I'm going with the idea that 'Lord' is the peacock clan and Gongmen Province's highest ranking, their ruler-and it's Lord Shen in the film, when his parents are dead, so the title could've passed to him.
chapter 1
"-what about Shen?"
The eighteen year old Prince paused at the Soothsayer's mention of him, backpedaling from the path to his workshop and looking around the corner he just passed. He found the Soothsayer with his parents.
"We're just...concerned, about his work-"
"If you could perhaps do a reading-?"
"Perhaps you should speak with him yourself…?"
Shen watched the three enter the throne room.
Curious and a little apprehensive (what had he done to offend mother and father this time?) Shen began to sneak toward the room, not above eavesdropping.
"…shit, where are they? Where's that goat? Shen's-"
The white peacock paused at another mention of his name, and much more frenzied. He turned and found Boss Wolf (or An, a name he gleefully shed once getting the proper rank, having always been embarrassed by it) clutching a scroll and virtually harassing a pig servant through sheer panic.
Shen glanced back at the throne room's cracked door. He then rolled his eyes and turned his back on it, quietly walking over to find out what was going on and calm Boss down.
###
"What about his young majesty-?"
The pig flinched as the large wolf towered over him, the fur on his neck standing on end and his tail lashing back and forth.
"Got this freakin' ransom note, saying they have Prince Shen, and that if we don't meet their demands they'll-"
"They'll what?"
Boss' ears pricked up, and he whirled around, finding Prince Shen safe and sound, looking half ticked off and faintly amused.
The pig servant glanced between the two, and silently half-walked, half-dashed off.
"Oh, I'm gonna kill whoever thought this would be a hilarious prank," Boss grumbled, running a paw down his eyes.
"Well, I'm laughing on the inside," Shen offered, smirking slightly.
Boss frowned, his ears flattening. "Shit, you didn't get bored and thought it'd be fun to give me a heart attack? Send half my men off on a wild goose chase-?"
"Point for an adequate pun," Shen replied almost cheerfully, as he plucked the ransom scroll from Boss' paws. "Now, did you really already send your men off tracking down where this note came from-?"
"Hell yes, after we checked your lab and found it freakin' empty, I ordered them to start recon while I told the goat and your parents-"
"Incidentally, try the throne room next time you're off looking for them-royalty, you know, and their advisor-throne room tends to be their second bedroom-" Shen said half-teasingly, half-distracted as he unfurled the scroll and read it over, ignoring Boss' responding grunt.
"Was on my way there-and you know, if you didn't freakin' live in your lab, I wouldn't have gotten a damn stroke over it being empty-!"
Shen's eyes roved down the scroll. He then rolled it shut and slipped it into his sleeve.
"We're going to find my 'captors,'" he said, and walked off, expecting Boss to follow him.
After a second of staring at his peacock master, the wolf did.
"Okay, never mind, this is someone's really clever idea of a trap." When Shen didn't answer, Boss continued, "Sir, you're not really thinking of looking for the guys who sent the ransom-?"
"Was I too vague? Yes, we are."
"Why the hell are we?"
"Possibly a case of mistaken identity."
Boss growled. "Even if some helpless schmuck got captured by mistake-" The wolf paused when the second coin dropped. "Wait…do you seriously think it's another albino peacock…?"
"It's a possibility, yes."
"…Okay, so this is a freakin' genius trap."
Shen rolled his eyes, but full out glared when Boss stepped in front of him, bowing down and looking up. "Sir, c'mon, this is-look, someone's messing with your head so you'll do something stupid and walk straight into their-"
The white peacock sidestepped his guard and continued on.
Boss growled, stomping after him. "Just think about it-what are the freakin' odds that there's another peacock, white like the sole heir of this province, and no one's ever gossiped about it before-?"
"…If he's a commoner and not a public figure like I was from birth, he might've-"
"No, no one would've shut up about that-"
"An," the Prince said, and the wolf stopped his protest, gulping. "Your concern is duly noted, but we are going to track down the authors of this note and find out what's going on, do I make myself clear?"
Boss sighed; "Yep."
"Good. And incidentally, how much are you willing to wager that this other albino peacock possibly mistaken for yours truly is all a figment of my imagination?"
Boss whimpered lowly. It was going to be a long day.
###
The closest village to the kidnappers' campsite was a panda community, and even that was a distance away, separated by a small wooden dam system near some caves. Still it was agreed that Shen, Boss, and their small company of other wolf soldiers would meet there if battle separated them.
From their hiding spot in the brush, the group observed a band of oxen and lynxes.
Chained to a tree was a white peacock, his dark beak roped shut and lowered, unconscious.
Boss gaped, his voice low. "You've gotta be kidding me."
Shen's eyes were narrowed. He muttered under his breath, "Never seen tail feathers that long before."
"Freakin' understatement of the century!" Boss whispered hoarsely, a headache coming on. The bound peacock's white tail feathers were just obscenely long, curling at the end; and with yellow eye spots instead of red ones like Shen's. Perhaps that was why the captors hadn't tried pinning them behind their hostage's back in between the tree, but rather let them lay limp on the dirt floor before him. Still, that seemed kinda…stupid. Then again, the other bird looked like his lights were knocked out for the count.
"How can he even walk like that-?"
Boss shut up and Shen's eyes narrowed further when they saw the other white peacock groggily come to, and then slap his impossibly long tail feathers hard against the ground, kicking up dirt and a strong gust of wind that actually blew some of his captors back a little. But as he kept it up, pounding the ground with his impossibly large and surprisingly effective tail, they were forced back inch by inch.
"Not a completely helpless schmuck, is he?" Shen murmured, reaching into his robe.
Boss watched him pull out the flash bomb. The guard and his master caught each other's eye; both nodded imperceptibly.
Shen darted to the side, going into a full sharp glide; the bomb dropped into one talon, the other pulling off the small ignition chord. He flung it away quick, then dived back into the trees.
The bomb flashed, red sparking, curling fireworks that drew the captors' attention and blinded them momentarily. Just in time for them to be caught off guard by Boss and the other wolves striking their flank, their whole company wearing goggled masks not only against the flash bomb, but the wind and dirt the captive still kicked up with his abnormally long tail.
As they fought, Shen slipped back out of the woods and closer to the tree the other white peacock (the sight of him still sent a numb shock down his spine) was chained to. The chain. Damn. The few grenades Shen carried with him couldn't blow apart the chain without probably harming the other man.
He looked at the other peacock. Though his tail feathers were longer, Shen noticed the rest of him was smaller. His eyes were soft and green, and narrowed at his pounding tail, concentrating. The other albino hadn't noticed him yet.
Shen leant down behind him, whispering; "Don't move."
Those green eyes shot him a backward glance, but his tail stopped, lying flat. Shen pulled out his moon blade. To make it so that it could be on his person at all times, he'd made the pole arm somewhat collapsible, able to be twisted down to a third of its length and transported like a particularly long dagger, then untwisted to its full length when needed.
Shen had practiced with it and bore it in actual combat enough times so that he could flick the pole arm to its normal size quick and sure. The Prince deftly sliced through the bark behind the captive albino.
"Push up," he ordered and the captive complied, as Shen shoved the split up bark away. The captive got the picture, pushing up and forward as the bark slipped—and when he and the bark passed each other, the captive climbed out of his chains, even touching down on the falling bark and jumping off it, clear of everything.
With a substantial part of its bark gone, the tree trembled ominously, and both (both!) albino peacocks started a quick retreat.
The green-eyed albino ripped off the gag on his beak and said in a decidedly feminine voice, "Thanks!"
Shen blinked. That really sounded like a woman-and now that he got a closer look, even the eyes, the whole face, the beak, looked feminine-more like his mother, and other peahens he had met-but the tail, that was the longest damn tail he'd ever seen on any peafowl, that was surely a man's-
The other albino peacock jerked, his (her?) tail feathers twitching, and they turned to find an ox had an embedded a knife in one, right in the center of its yellow eye spot-and he was charging them.
Shen fought back his instinct to dodge-he dashed forward, blade first. The ox turned so that his horns caught the blade. The pole arm trembled slightly in his wings, his talons and their metal guards sunk a little into the dirt as he fought with those horns. He knew a direct assault wouldn't be the best; but behind him, Shen glanced back at the other albino, who dashed forward and pulled the dagger out of his (her? its?) tail feathers.
Immediately he twisted away from the ox and fought him more naturally, flitting in and out of reach. His own tail feathers flared up and in front of his enemy's face-then a knife thrown in his throat. The ox fell-and in his place immediately a couple of lynx leapt at Shen; he sidestepped quickly, but still one claw sliced across his shoulder. He parried their claws and swords. Flared his tail feathers again and almost beheaded one of them-but then out of the corner of his eye saw another ox charge for his back, coming too fast. He barely twisted out of the way, so that the horn only threw him down instead of straight through his back. Shen still winced from the impact though, clutching his moon blade tight. When he tried to attack again, his wince became more pronounced, as one wing left his moon blade and grabbed his chest. He hoped his rib was just bruised.
His attackers approached him, agitated.
"Shit, there's two of them-"
"I told you the tail feathers were too long-"
"There's only one damn albino peacock in the whole province!"
The ox snapped at the arguing lynx, "Shut it, we just have to grab them both, alive-"
Shen raised his moon blade back up, rising-he stilled at a familiar, ominous crack. He hadn't noticed during the fight, but he now faced the tree the other albino had been chained to, his enemies' backs to it. Those chains were now tied around what remained of the tree's bark, the other end of them jangling in the green-eyed peacock's wings—who pulled on them tightly, breaking what was left of the wood.
"Run!" The other albino shrieked in an absolutely feminine voice.
Shen leapt to the side as the former captive gave one final tug on the chain, and the tree came down, straight for the ox and the lynx.
The other albino soon ran along his side, and Shen noticed her wince at sounds of lynx shrieks and ox bellows and the crash of the tree. He also noted with some approval that she kept the chains.
Shen scanned the battlefield-it was chaos, as usual. His wolves fought with the oxen and lynx; his soldiers ramming them on all fours with their fangs sinking in; his soldiers rising up on their hind legs to swing their spears and swords. Fortunately he spied none on the ground dead, or anyone injured and being carted off and protected by another pack member.
He caught something out of the corner of his eye, and immediately pulled the other albino away as another ox embedded his hammer in the ground. The ox growled, lifted his hammer again-and it was a little funny, the way the green-eyed albino shouted, alarmed, yet lassoed the chain around his weapon arm with surprising ease. Shen immediately took advantage of the bound arm, and rushed forward, slicing it off and ramming the opposite, blunt end of the pole arm into the ox's stomach. The enemy fell, the wind knocked out of him, gagging on his blood.
Shen glanced at the other albino, who stared at him, some blank horror in her eyes as blood stained her white face, down her neck and even dotting her light purple robe; her wings now slack around the chain, the other end still tied around the disembodied arm. Shen dashed forward while she remained in shock, untying the chain from the useless arm. He threw the loose end of the chain at her, hissing, "Snap out of it!"
The other albino jerked, catching the other end of her chain, but was still too slow for Shen's comfort. He ran forward, pulling her along, his moon blade in one wing. The Prince raised it when more lynx leapt in their way-but froze in mid swing when they slumped forward, with Boss above them with his hammer raised.
"The others will keep 'em busy-c'mon, we've got you guys covered-"
Shen felt himself pulled away as the other albino shouted, an ox tossed onto her tail feathers and rolling away, with her getting steadily caught up in his horns.
"Shit!" Shen heard Boss shout behind him. The Prince's red eyes widened, as he realized they were on a hill, and he and the other albino and the ox were about to get tangled into a full-on roll. The other white peacock had his wing in a death grip. Regretfully, he ditched his moon blade-he did not want that around in an uncontrolled roll with a civilian and the only white peacock (peahen?) he had ever seen in the way.
The Prince cursed, the other albino shouted and the ox bellowed as they rolled down the hill with increasing acceleration. Shen jerked and pulled as best as he could to avoid the ox's weight, bumping into the other albino as she did the same. There was one final sickening bounce, where they were suspended in the air and in a second, had the cold realization that both peafowl had to make sure they made it out on top. Shen and the other albino madly twisted and shifted their weight so that-
The ox landed on his back with a loud gasp of lost air.
Shen moved quickly, grabbing the chain from the other albino and wrapping it around the ox's neck, while she madly worked to untangle her eerily long tail feathers.
As the ox choked under his grip, he head over its dying gasps the other albino's (female) voice, "I'm out-you can let him go now-come on, we have to go-let him go-!"
Shen ripped the chain away, leaving the enemy sucking in fresh breaths of air as the other albino dragged him away.
"Where-?" she began; then ducked as a spear flew over her head. Oxen and lynx were crawling down the hill, with no wolves in sight.
Shen pulled her away, running farther down, into the trees.
When they broke out the other side, Shen realized they'd made it to the wooden dam.
"There are caves here," he told the other albino as he pulled her forward.
"What if we get lost in them? Trapped?" She asked, shooting a look over her shoulder. Their pursuers were gaining; soon they'd break through the trees too.
"If you can fly as well as a goose, you're welcome to go," Shen snapped, again regretting his kind's limited flight and gliding abilities.
He was a little surprised when the other albino hissed, but pressed forward with him, keeping up.
"Go on," the Prince told her, letting go of her wing and reaching into his robe for a couple more grenades and flash bombs. He pulled off ignition chords and flung them in rapid succession. He wanted to get them off before running further into the dam's area and past its supports. Some lynx and oxen were stopped dead in their tracks by the explosions and blinded by the light—but others leapt over the bodies and some had figured out his tactic and shielded their eyes.
Shen dashed after the other albino, and they ran through the dam's support system.
The Prince glanced back at a lynx coming too fast, leaping—he twisted back, lassoing his chain around her incoming kick, swinging her into a rock wall. He looked up, cursing at another lynx about to jump him, claws outstretched—he couldn't get the chain up in time, or pull out a dagger-he'd have to dodge-
He froze when white tail feathers-tightly stuck against each other-looped around the lynx's tail and whipped her back, yowling.
Shen blinked at the other albino unwinding and pulling back her tail feathers and running for him. He supposed they were long enough to serve as a lasso-they clearly were, given her technique before his very eyes-
"Where are your caves?" She shrieked, and he ran alongside her again.
"Some-"
Several spears overshot them, striking and breaking through several dam supports instead.
"-where..."
The two albino peafowl were already twisting around the other way as the dam began to creak and sprays of water arced out between cracks in the wooden boards. Their pursuers were similarly starting to retreat in the opposite direction, finally giving up the chase.
The dam exploded, the full force of the water rushing out and chasing everyone, its roar momentarily deafening them.
"There-"
"Yes, I know-" Shen snapped, having spotted the cave opening the same time as the green-eyed albino.
The two bolted inside, past wooden support beams that weren't all that reassuring, and when there was soon dark all around them, ran straight into a dead end.
Shen stared, disbelieving-then felt the other albino clutch him, followed by the water smashing into them, after knocking down the wooden beams that now blocked the entrance. Instinctively he tried to swim against the current, the other albino desperately holding on to him-oh gods, did she not know how to swim?-but the water rushed in fast and hard, carrying them up, past the blocked entrance.
Shen swam instinctively up, one wing wrapping around the other albino, and soon they broke the surface, gasping. But the rush of water had just slowed down, still rising and threatening to fill up their space and blot out their oxygen.
"Can you swim?" Shen finally asked, and when the other albino shook her head, he cursed, unhappy with his suspicion proved right.
"Just hold on to this rock-hold on-" Shen fitted her talons and wings around the rock, trying to avoid her terrified green eyes.
Then the Prince took a breath and dived back down; he dimly heard the other albino shout after him. Shen tried to search for another way out, but the water was a murky darkness. He desperately felt along the rock walls, finding no purchase, no cracks, until the need for air overwhelmed him and he swam back up. The water was higher now.
He stared at her wide green eyes.
"It's no use; it's pitch black down there, I can't-"
Shen looked away, swallowing hard, this final failure washing over him.
His experiments with fireworks and gunpowder and cannons-but no, they wouldn't have worked in this situation, they couldn't have passed through the water intact and blown open a hole, just like the grenades wouldn't have, even if had any left, their key fire would've been soaked through, useless-he hadn't even really tried cracking the problem of underwater application, he wanted to at least get it working on land first, and now he would never finish, would never see if he could've gotten it to work-
The two albino peafowl slowly breathed, water soaking their feathers.
"Didn't think I'd die like this," Shen murmured, the inevitable and unexpected end loosening his tongue. He had always thought that one day after a fight with an assassin, the resulting wounds would be severe enough that he'd fall ill, be confined to bed one last time, and die, weak and helpless (finally meeting his parents and everyone else's expectations). But he'd never thought he'd drown like this.
Then again, he never thought he'd find another albino peacock or peahen or strange mix of both, no matter how brief the time. That was a bright side. It was just viscerally nice to see another of his kind wear the same doomed color. And they were doomed, literally. Shen resisted the urge to chuckle hysterically; the bad omen had come to pass after all.
It had galled him to admit it, such weakness and yearning, but he felt less…just felt better with this white stranger. And Shen realized it was worth it then-perhaps it was pathetic, but he couldn't deny that he thought it was worth his life for this brief moment. To know there was someone else.
That someone else sobbed. "Mama—she was right—"
(The Soothsayer immediately came to mind-how would she take it, if he died here? Shen remembered the few times where she actually lost it when he was injured and bed-ridden after battle, berating him for his recklessness, the anger and fear in her voice. Or had she known this would happen? Had she learned about this in the reading with his parents? It'd be just his luck, his fate to miss out on that crucial piece of information.)
"-I never should have left the tower-I'm so…so sorry, this is all my fault—"
She cried in earnest, eyes squeezed shut. "-you're going to die too, after trying to help me-!"
The Prince felt awkward, unwieldy, and something tight squeeze his chest real hard. His tongue was useless for a few seconds before his beak finally moved, and he said, "No, I-it's mine-my fault, they were after me-"
(Had Boss and the rest gotten out all right? They'd better have. Boss would be angry when he found his body, would curse him out, and then drag him back home for the funeral.)
"After you?" The other albino sniffled, trying to wipe her eyes dry, failing to realize her wing had just come up from the still rising water. "B-but why?" She swallowed, hard; Shen watched the lump in her throat. "Do all peafowl h-have magic tail feathers that glow when they sing?"
Shen was fairly certain he'd lost enough oxygen to hallucinate.
But the other albino's green eyes widened, lighting up with some realization. "I have magic tail feathers that glow when I sing!"
Or maybe she'd lost enough oxygen.
Either way, it would soon all be lost to both of them-the water was jumping up their necks-
"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine-"
Shen watched the other albino sing a rushed melody before the water overtook them and all went black.
Then it was pierced by a soft warm glow emanating from the other albino's tail feathers, pulsating along the surface.
Shen stared. Fortunately he was too shocked to shout, given that he was underwater.
The strange albino tried to follow the glow of her tail feathers, and soon Shen got the picture, grabbing her and helping her along her eerie glowing train, that drifted toward a small crack in the rocks. They immediately clawed at it with their talons and stabbed with their beaks under the light of her tail feathers. Finally the last rock gave way and thunderous water sounded in their ears and smashed them forward. They sucked in air, grateful-but the other albino was soon screaming as the water carried them rapidly forward and down at an insane slope.
Shen tried to keep calm, letting the current pull him down-he still held the other albino's wing, and he felt her struggle against the waves.
"Don't fight it-"
He gagged as the current pulled him under, then back up again. The other albino's wing gripped his own so tight, he thought it was going to break. The water submersed her too, and she bobbed up again, coughing.
The river just seemed to be going faster and faster-Shen's eyes widened at the upcoming waterfall, and he heard the other albino shout a curse that would've impressed Boss—he realized it was the curse he'd used earlier.
And then-
###
Shen coughed. Had he gotten into a fight? Now at his age, he only ever got sick and had to be confined to bed after he suffered injury that typically never healed right or fast or easily.
The Prince felt the distinct grain and slosh of mud under his cheek.
He heard another smaller cough next to him.
Felt sensation in his wing-held in a death grip.
Definitely not his bed.
His eyes opened, slowly, to the sight of another albino peafowl blinking at him owlishly, on a muddy river bank. Still clutching his wing.
Oh, right. Miss or Mister Mistaken Identity and Gender, Other Albino Peafowl with the Long Glowing Tail Feathers that Could Not Swim.
Shen conceded that he could be dreaming the whole thing.
The two heard delighted gibberish. Shen found he couldn't even lift his head-damn it, he probably would get sick after this-just sort of roll it around to see. The other albino, he noted, could lift her head.
Both blinked at a baby panda reach for them with a grabby paw, a doll held in the other. He continued babbling gibberish as he began to crawl toward them from the boards of his house.
"Now sweetie, what's-"
A larger female panda stepped out and froze, staring at them.
"Dear!" She called out over her shoulder, to a field beyond.
"What?" Shouted a gruff voice, and a male panda stepped into view, carrying a farming rake.
The other albino gulped, then lowered her head and looked at Shen.
"...My name's Rui," she whispered.
"Shen," he mumbled, his head lolling in the mud.
The baby panda babbled loudly as his parents spoke in hushed tones.
Shen knew this was going to be a long day.
A/N: Yes, I'm going to play around with the idea of "OC" romance for KFP2's Big Bad (and avoid Mary-Sue), through mostly fusion-crossover with the Rapunzel fairy tale/Disney's "Tangled" film (and I found that the "after you" exchange reminded me of Disney's "Aladdin"). I'd like to bring in more KFP-ized versions of more Rapunzel/Tangled characters in later (a version of Mother Gothel will definitely be here). Online I found that Rui meant in Chinese/Japanese "gem life"/"sharp intellect." I wanted an 'R' name still, that would still have a meaning that could connect to the character—even though I found that in Chinese, Rapunzel=Chángfagūniang.
And I just tried to figure out how Shen can carry and hide his awesome spear/pole arm/moon blade (found online a Chinese weapon that resembled Shen's, and that was one of its names—the others were Guan Dao, Kwan Dao, or Kuan Tao). called it "a cross-breed between a Flamberge and a Naginata." If anyone knows its proper name(s), could you please let me know? Anyway, from what I've read, apparently in canon he's really just supposed to hide that weapon in his tail feathers, and even that stretches my imagination. How can that work? I guess Shen has magical tail feathers too. XD Or my source could be wrong—can't even remember where I read that. (The weapon described here is either meant to be the one in canon or like an earlier prototype, I'm not quite sure yet, but should that difference actually become relevant I'll have to make up my mind.)
I really got a kick out of writing the banter between Shen and Boss Wolf. I couldn't resist the AU having another twist/point against canon by having Shen and Rui wash up at the panda village and meet up with baby Po and his parents (hoped that was set up by that one preceding line earlier). And now I really enjoy using a peafowl with a ridiculously long tail for the Rapunzel fairy tale—I seriously can't think of another animal that would fit her.