Guidance Ignored
By CookieM2012
The atmosphere was silent and peaceful as Oogway was meditating peacefully in the hall of heroes when the messenger came through the door; Zeng, the-Palace-assistant-in-training, came crashing through the door, whacking his head every time he made a full tumble, giving out a few ow's, ahh's, oh!'s and one final YOW!, as he found himself lying flat on his stomach (and face) in front of the turtle, as he slowly climbed down his staff in silence. "Are you alright young Zeng?" He asked. The goose wheezed out in response, raising his wings to gesture 'time out' before a praying gesture, losing one or two feathers. The turtle nodded slowly, giving him permission to get his breath back. During the short duration, as Oogway walked down the steps, and just as Zeng stood up, a red panda entered the room, reading a scroll.
"Zeng! You dropped this on the way here... how I know?" He gently touch the side of his head when Zeng slowly turned and looked, a few inches from his large twitching ears, grumbling to himself a little as he stared at the scroll container in his other paw. "Also, I saw you plummet through the doors." He twisted the scroll this way and that. "What is it anyways?"
"It's... for... Master Ooooo..." He coughed. "Oogway!" He said finally, and almost normally. "From Gongmen city." Shifu jumped over Zeng, landed on one knee, bowing his head as he passed the scroll to his Master. Oogway took it, and slowly opened it, smacking his lips together as if he was going to announce what was written, but he scanned it first, before his lips suck inwards, and then into a frown.
"What is it Master?" Shifu asked, while helping Zeng to his feet. "Is it another enemy?"
"Possibly..." Oogway swallowed calmly as he closed his eyes, and closed the scroll. "Shifu, I need to go away on business for a few days."
"I'll come too-"
"No, you must stay and look after the child." Oogway held the scroll against his chest lightly, and lowered his head a little. His eyes slowly closed briefly. "This mission is for me to go... alone. If you were called upon as well, I would tell you, and then the boy would have to come with us... but you're not, you'll have to stay."
Shifu nodded. "Yes Master..."
Upon arriving at the mighty gates, which it's golden outlines glowed brightly in the haze of the sun taking it's rest. The sky was burning away from it's heavenly blue, and was turning a light pink mixed with red to make a exquisite color paint the sky, with lighter streaks... before his very eyes. At home he never saw a sun set like this... only such coloring was done in the morning... He wanted to stop and watch the sun set some more...
But this wasn't a holiday.
"Honorable Master Oogway," he watched a pink form float down the steps, followed by a blue form. "Of the Valley of Peace..." The pink form, a feminine one, held his arms and kissed his cheeks. "Welcome."
"Honor to be here Nuo Ning." He straightened up and nodded towards the blue, masculine figure. "Sir Quánwēi, my dear friend..."
"Oogway," Quánwēi smiled as he bowed. "So good to see you again..."
"If only my time here was the same..." Quánwēi frowned while his Lady pulled away from Oogway and held herself with her wings, lowering her head as she looked at her husband worriedly. "Now, in my letter, I didn't receive that much information... mind going into full detail?"
Quánwēi shook his head, and gestured him to follow. "No need to go into detail if we have something to show." He hesitated. "We'll show you to him. Right this way."
Quánwēi and Nuo Ning watched from the door in silence as a ball of light illuminated the room and reflect off their faces, as Oogway observed in deeper detail. A white peacock, with eyes as wild as the north high winds he was greeted in the mountains, and inked with the color of a pure red rose, but watered down to insanity as they looked straight down at the bowl (contents the tortoise couldn't see from a distance mind you, but he had a decent idea what would be in there. Gun powder... Potassium nitrate... Sulfur... Other ingredients... And BOOM! There you have it. Fireworks.) "We had consulted a Soothsayer," Quánwēi said softly. "But Nuo suggested we'd ask you for some advice as well..."
"What we need that advice from a close friend," the male peacock explained, who smiled weakly when the old turtle's gaze turned to him, as his wing wrapped around his wife's shoulders. "And who better... than you?"
"There is so much I can do..." Oogway began to slowly walk away from the door, and went down the hall in silence. The two birds glanced at one another, as they quietly glided after him. "But I can't guarantee the right results."
"Every little helps," Nuo Ning whispered helpfully, but she couldn't help but look so sad. "As my mother used to say..." Her feathers clumped together slowly. "So... what can be done about our son? We had a Soothsayer speak with us, and she speaks of this... warrior, a warrior of black and white? Our view on this is unclear... this warrior could be anyone. But... he had attacked a village of pandas... we have officials investigating the area... but it's not good."
"I have no choice but... but to banish him."
Oogway slowly gazed at the young peacock, oblivious to their conversation. His eyes watched him calmly, but deep down, he had a sick feeling dwelling within him. How could an innocent young man, become such a cold blooded killer? As accurate as the punishment in the situation is, he still could grasp his mind around the fact it was his son was the one being expelled."My dear friends, as much as I want to do so much for Shen... this warrior... will be his potential enemy if he continues down this path."
Quánwēi nodded slowly. "As Soothsayer said..." He paused, and raised a brow. "But... he wiped out a village of pandas?"
"Who knows if Soothsayer meant some other being of black and white." The two peacocks looked at one another questioningly. "And as I was here when he hatched..." His eyes wandered to the room once more, where Shen's crouching form took a startled step back from the sudden burst of smoke from pot. He waited for Shen's mere chuckle to finish in the background, before he added;
"The only thing I can do is warn him... warn him of what lies ahead."
Shen wasn't even hungry, as he glided up the stairs to his Father's Throne Room. Why must his parents persist on interrupting him to do something he wasn't even thinking of? Food was the last thing on his mind. What he wanted to keep on doing until he was starving was his experiments in the his lair...
The colors exploded in his mind. They were everywhere he looked. In his mind, nothing can be defined without a color. He challenged himself as he continued his way, looking at something and describing it's color, going into deeper detail by naming the shade of said object, like the Crimson Lanterns that hung out of his reach from the banisters, the the light that it provided. It was truly beautiful. He thought. Could enjoy a color of their liking...
"But is, and always will be loved in their own individual, and unique way." He jumped with a shout of surprise, and raised a feather knife, pointing at the form not far from him, silhouetted by the darkness that Shen didn't even notice. "Hello, young Prince."
"Who are you?!" Shen demanded. "Show yourself!" The form slowly materialized, and Shen's defensive face turned to a soft look of surprise. "Master Oogway?" A smile crawled across his face. "Where are you been hiding? Last time I saw you I was only a child-"
"Define that duration in one's life for me Shen." The peacock slowly raised a brow at this interruption. "Define 'child'."
"Al-alright... a child is a young living specimen under the legal age to do certain things... why?"
The old turtle took hold of a glass, staring at the colorless, and odorless content swishing inside. "Where's the thirst for adventure? The creative imagination? The hunger for adventure? Everything you were a child."
"Well that's all there. It's obvious in every individual being..."
"Indeed." Oogway looked at the young man that stood before, searching for the little boy he remembered on his last visit... as he smashed the glass against one of the pillars that held the ceiling. The sound of it smashing echoed through the room, and carried itself out the window. Shen yelled out in surprise as he backed away from the shards of glass that spread across the floor. "If you show physical negativity towards glassware, it becomes a dangerous weapon." The remains of what was left sitting in his grasp broke away as well, and joined the rest on the floor. "Those who take the wrong path use that method because it's the best way to hide the fear they feel inside."
"Fear... What fear?"
"Young Shen... this interest you have with the power of fireworks, is unhealthy for you, let alone many others. I..." he turned away, clearing his throat a little. "You wish to rule with such a craft, but the you will get hurt playing with fire. You're hiding insecurities, the very ones that will over shadow you when you take your father's throne."
"Pah!" The peacock scoffed with venom brewing slowly at the tip of his tongue. "I have no insecurities. Like a child, might I add, I happen to get curious of many things. Fireworks," his tongue hissed the 's' for a few seconds, almost intimidating a snake as he took a step around the broken glass, "just happen to be one of them."
The old turtle shook his head slowly. "I heard of what you had done to a village of pandas." The peacock's eyes dilated. "Have you even heard of the saying; 'curiosity killed the cat'?"
Shen's eyes rolled. "Where is this conversation even going old man?" He asked in a tone that served lack of interest. "I haven't got time for your silly riddles. Of course I know that saying."
"Young Prince," Oogway raised his claw slowly, pointing to the darkness behind him. "You must realize, that the mistakes you do, any negative actions, and any damage you cause, will send you spiraling into the dark side. "A warrior... of black and white... could be anyone, anything... any species, and the one individual, will have the power to make you realize that you are using a beautiful invention, that brings smiles to many people, in a negative, and dangerous way. The very glassware I had broken, will be your insecurities, multiplying, and multiplying, until you have found yourself in the very depths of darkness, with each piece lying around you, and this curiosity will eventually be the reason of your light's ending. Your actions today will dig you into a deeper hole."
Shen ran his feather knife along the tips of his feathers. "I have no regrets in anything I have done." He replied simply. "That Soothsayer was a hoax, nothing but lies! I destroyed every panda there was! Other beings of black and white... pah." He slowly pulled out another knife. "Nothing will change. Everyone who tries to fight me, will perish, as will their loved ones. Whether this warrior was a panda or not, I will be victorious. What you have told me... only bounces off me. In one ear, and out the other." He pointed the blades at Oogway, chuckling. "You really think your a man of miracles, don't you? What you need to see, is that- that I don't care about the glassware, or of an immature child. My death may not be glorious, but I will be remembered." He watched Oogway walk towards the staircase, shaking his head as he put the knife back. "Old fool..." he muttered as soon as he disappeared down the steps, but when looking out the window in sudden silence, seeing the smoke floating through the air continuously, and miles away from the city, he then frowned.
What if... what if that turtle was right?
Nuo Ning- Gracious Person of Peace.
Quánwēi - Leading Authority
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