Sing, Pray

Chapter 1

Forenote: Hiya, I'm a massive KFP fan and I was coming up with plotlines for if the ending to the movie had been different. I'll try my best to stick to the plot but I can't promise it'll be accurate. That being said, there will likely be spoilers.

His wings were huddled close as he watched the fireworks and listened to the victory cries of his enemies. Emotions he hadn't felt in so long filled his body as he set off another round of what brought the people joy. Fireworks. Fireworks were never used to their full potential. Now nobody could see their power, nobody could see them used properly, used as fireworks should be. And here he was, setting them off to be used incorrectly. The peacock stifled a sigh. If he had let it out then the Kung Fu warriors upon the boat would have known he was still there.

He was soaked now, feathers ruffled and dripping wet. His clothing clung to his body, uncomfortable and cold. He remained there, legs tucked in and eyes glaring out at the water, praying that no reflection was upon it. He wondered, would death have been a kinder fate? Would death have... perhaps, put him at ease? Would it have hurt to be crushed at first, but would it have spared him further pain? It was too painful to see all that he had worked for after all the years wasted. And it hurt too to know that the only one he had trusted - in fact, the only two he had trusted even the slightest - were gone. One forever.

There was no doubt that he was not the only one who had survived. There was bound to be a wolf or two, perhaps a pack's worth of wolves, and certainly at least one gorilla. But there was no chance that anyone would want to follow him again. He'd lead them into a fight they were destined not to win, all because he had been too naive to accept his destiny, or too stupid to end what he had worked towards and avoid his fate completely. He would have likely been put into a prison of some sort afterwards. Hm. At least the people had seen him go out fighting. That was better than him giving in, appearing weak and cowardly, without a spark in him that was about to cause an explosion. He had chosen what was going to happen. His choice was to end it fighting.

Looking down, he saw that the blades hidden beneath his white feathers mostly remained. A couple had been broken, sliced and with a flat end, but the others remained sharp. His pointed weapon was gone, as he expected. A shame. It's beautiful, curving blade was very unique.

"Lord." He suddenly heard a voice and twisted around to face the direction it came from, blood red gaze hardening slightly. He couldn't see who it was, there was nobody there.

"Here." The voice snickered again, and he identified it to be female. He turned again and there they stood: a deep brown hawk with a paler underside. Her eyes were brown.

"Be quiet." He commanded, not raising his voice either. The hawk smirked.

"Very well then." She whispered, walking closer in silence. She seemed to stare straight into his soul and he hated it. Those eyes were piercing despite being a warm brown. Her posture was not at all threatening yet he felt threatened.

"My name is Lao Ying. Stop cowering behind this board, Shen. Show the warriors that you are immortal, that no explosion can kill you. Stop feeling so sorry for yourself, peacock." She hissed, reaching down to help him up. He almost allowed himself to be pulled up but returned his wing at the last second, getting up on his own and spreading his tail feathers across the wood, flat but ready to flare in the event he needed to defend himself.

Lord Shen glared at her, "Stay here, hawk, if I need aid then I expect you to come."

"Of course." She nodded, crossing her wings and watching as he quietly revealed himself to the cheering crowds.

They almost instantly fell silent as they one by one realised that he was there. That it was him. He smiled, amused. The dragon warrior thought he had won. The Kung Fu warriors thought they had won. Perhaps they had, but he was still there and alive.

He and Po suddenly met eyes and the panda had to blink several times as if he was in denial.

"Wait, am I seeing things? I was up all night talking to goat who I thought was a guy but wasn't a guy but I mean-"

"I'm alive, panda." Shen cut him off, watching as the Furious Five formed a line along with Master Croc and Master Ox. He cared not. They could form as defensive, as terrifying a line as possible but Shen knew that they could not fight him. Not now. Not without unnecessary death, at least, and nobody would want that.

"Oh, panda. Don't bother." He snickered, slowly making his way across the wood before lunging backwards, tail feathers fully opening. Despite how wet they were, they still seemed magnificent. Well, to him, at least. Shen's metal claws grasped the top of the board as he looked down upon them all before jumping to the sky and gliding all the way down towards a house, where he landed and began to sprint. He was not used to the odd texture of the roof tiles but didn't care for his only aim was to escape. Shen heard the cry of a hawk nearby, and looked up for a split second to see her in flight. Peacocks were flightless birds so he couldn't join her in the sky, but the ability of flight was sacrificed for pure grace in the form of feathers, and he took pride in knowing his were gorgeous.

He knew that the Furious Five and their hopeless panda warrior would be following. In fact, to catch them off guard, he whisked around to deliver a flight of arrows to whatever was behind him and he could see the tiger catching a blade with her bare hand. Impressive. He continued on his path before using his feathers to glide across to the houses behind, where he landed and then did the same again, seeing that this had come to a forest.

Shen had not expected to land in a tree, but he managed to, claws desperately grasping the branch as he tried his best not to fall off and injure himself any further than the slight (despite there being a huge explosion and stuff) burns on his body and the small scratches earned from splintery wood.

"Nice escape, peacock." Lao Ying chuckled, landing beside him almost silently and causing the branch to dip a little. Lord Shen sighed, then opened his feathers once more to swiftly and carefully land on the ground beneath. His expression was almost one of disgust at the touch of the grass on his feet. Oh, how he missed that feeling though. Roaming the gardens of his home had always brought him some form of joy. He'd often stay there when not working with fireworks, simply to enjoy the quiet and the delicately-cut bushes surrounding him or to relax at the fountain.

"Brings you memories, huh?" Lao asked quietly, once again meeting him at his side.

"Many." He gave in, not seeing the point in hiding anything from her now that she'd decided to pester him by being his follower, or companion he supposed.

"My mother and father told me never to fly over the Tower of Sacred Flame, or its gardens... I remember when I ignored them and flew over once, and I saw you, Shen. You looked truly at peace with the world." She sighed, causing him to scowl.

"I have never been at peace with the world." He hissed, spreading his wing to fire out a few blades at the nearest trees before curving in his wing in the hawk's direction. She seemed not to be threatened by this.

"Go ahead and try, peacock, I bet you can't land a blade on me. Royals don't value aim because they're too busy admiring their feathers in the mirror." She taunted.

"What do you bet?" he asked, smirking.

"My life." She laughed before a spray of deadly blades was sent in her direction. She leaped into the air, deflecting a couple with her talons, before landing, position similar to that he'd seen used by Kung-Fu masters. Shen sent two lots her way this time, but once more she dodged them and sent one straight back at the peacock, which he easily leaped out of the way of. Shen suddenly flung himself closer, causing her to throw up a wing in defence, but he used that moment to strike her with the blades, pleased with the sight of them lodging into her wing. Shen reached up with his foot to wrap his talons around her neck, then pushed her down onto the ground, smirking.

"Luckily for you, I do not bet." He let go, gracefully folding in his tail feathers and craning his neck to quickly peck at a little dirt that had worked into a feather somehow.

"Impressive. Didn't think you'd be so merciful, though." She sighed, massaging her throat with her wing. It reminded him of when the panda had managed to pin him to a post with a forked metal piece.

"There is no need to kill as of now." The albino peacock folded his wings in so that they slotted through his sleeves, not visible at a front view.

"What if I were... say, one of the furious five? Perhaps the dragon warrior...?" she asked, a clear smirk forming upon her face. He frowned.

"Then I wouldn't have hesitated to kill you, like I should have killed them all at my home."

Lao sighed, "The home that you destroyed... The people of Gongmen want to rebuild it."

"And tell me," Shen turned to stare at her, blood red eyes piercing hers, "do you think they will leave it to be guarded?"

"Yes." She nodded. The white-feathered male closed his eyes for a second.

"Master Croc and Master Ox, I'd assume." He placed himself upon a clean rock and then lowered himself down upon it, finding it a decent place to rest.

"Certainly. They'll probably use another as well, just for... y'know, maximum security. Especially now that they know you're alive." She shrugged, flying up to perch upon a branch. She began to pull the blades from her bleeding wing. She brushed away the blood, not even wincing. Tough. Shen decided, watching. But perhaps too confident. It's unwise to bet your life on anything.

"Hm. Hopefully nobody who can defeat me." He pecked at his chest feathers, straightening them out and flattening them after the water had soaked them terribly.

"You know you won't be able to defeat anybody like Master Rhino without your weapon." Lao Ying told him, brown eyes watching him closely.

"Then how will I take back my home?" he asked.

"You need a new army... Luckily for you, I have friends in high places." The deep brown hawk smirked and his eyes brightened.

"An army of what sorts?" the peacock questioned.

"An army of foxes." She chuckled, and Shen smiled.

"Tricksters, aren't they? That would help – we could trick the Stupid Six into trusting them. We could lead them into so many places, so many scenarios! This is wonderful. Lao, please do lend me a wing." Lord Shen requested, pressing his own wings close to his body.

"That is why I brought it up." She chuckled, and Shen curled his head close.

"Please, tell me more when we wake." He said abruptly before closing his eyes, surprisingly comfortable but excited for tomorrow. He was to rise again. Lord Shen would return, in his full glory!

The morning was beautiful – the dark grey-blue sky was streaked with red beneath deep grey clouds. The sun was not visible in the sky. The top, which was a darker blue, was dotted with little white stars. As you looked further down, it seemed painted with watercolours, delicately brushed against a canvas to mix with the darker colours above. It faded into a dark blue-purple, then a royal purple, which formed into a brief lotus pink streak. It then became a more watery pink before fading into a light orange, then a purer orange.

Lord Shen's peace soon became fear. Last time he'd looked, the trees had come higher than the line in the horizon and he hadn't been able to even see Gongmen city's buildings at all. Why was it now that he could? He didn't recall ever jumping up to sleep on a branch, he'd been sat upon a smooth, warm rock.

But now he was seated upon something cold.

The albino peacock blinked, confused, before sitting up and looking around, unsure of his location. He noticed the hawk nearby, sprawled out on the red flooring. He almost choked – red? But he'd destroyed the Tower of Sacred Flame! Wasn't red the colour of only the royal places?

Suddenly, it hit him.

They were in Gongmen jail.

Not in a cell, no, but in the middle of the entire jail.

Shen turned his head to stare at the hawk. She looked less like she was sleeping and more like she'd been knocked out. Wonderful.

"Lao." He whispered, reaching out with one wing to prod hers. She curled onto her side.

"Lao, wake up right this instant." The peacock hissed quietly.

She finally shuddered and opened her brown eyes, "What's the matter?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Shen stopped himself from raising his voice but didn't bother to hide his annoyance from his tone

"Wait, Gongmen jail...? Why aren't we in a cell?" she asked, getting to her feet swiftly. Shen did so too, folding his wings together.

"I asked myself the same thing. Our dragon warrior probably got his followers to drag us here. How's your wing?" The albino peacock scowled, approaching a cell and quietly looking inside. Sitting there, middle fingers slotted across each other, was a leopard. In fact, it was a leopard he remembered hearing word of during his banishment. Lord Shen suddenly smiled.

"Doing okay." Lao told him, following closely to look through into the cell too.

"Leopard." He whispered through the barred door, watching as they opened a pair of light yellow eyes.

"Peacock." They whispered back. Again, a female. His wings drooped for a second. Was he going to be surrounded by females all this time? They were certainly quite troublesome and were considered weaker, whereas males were strong. However, this one looked like she had... potential.

"Wait, aren't you Wei Xue?" Lao asked, and the leopard's pupils raised to focus upon her.

"That is my name." she responded. Shen searched through his memory to find what she was guilty of. Was it murder? She gave him murderer vibes. The white peacock looked around for the keys. They'd always been kept on Lang. Unfortunately, Lang was dead.

Dead, and I'm the one who killed him. Shen thought sorrowfully, wondering if he'd ever find a replacement for who had possibly been his best friend. His best friend, who he'd treated so horribly. Yet he didn't feel as bad as he expected himself to.

"Your friend seems lost. Apologies, the prince seems lost." Wei commented, yanking him from his thoughts. He faced her, and suddenly he felt dread rush through him.

"You know me." He couldn't stop his voice from becoming weak at that moment. The leopard shot him a grin.

"They say that grief killed your parents. But so did I."