A/N: Finally! I've added a Shen story! ^^ I've actually had this idea in my head for quite a few months now. But I only just now got inspired to write the thing out. It's a one-shot and I think it ends on a very appropriate note. This story DOES get dark, so I thought I'd warn you now. Anyway, I hope everyone really likes my story! I personally love how this one-shot came out and I'd love to get some reviews on it! Thanks for reading! Oh, and one more thing. Since this is just a one-shot, I never bothered giving original names to the peacock king and queen and the Soothsayer. So please don't give me any flack on that. Thanks!
All characters belong to DreamWorks. I wish Shen belonged to me, but he doesn't, so I'll just have to deal with it.
Everything started off as normal. The six-year-old prince was watching fireworks beside the Soothsayer, his caregiver whenever his parents were away. His parents were quite busy and away for the majority of the time. Shen had already formed in his young mind that it was because they were using every excuse in the book to leave him behind due to his color and ailment. Sadly, he had grown used to this. But this night was different. He knew his parents were coming back the next morning and was looking forward to seeing them again. It seemed like it had been eternity since they last came around!
"What time do you think my parents are coming back home tomorrow?" Shen asked the elderly goat.
"I don't know, dear," the Soothsayer replied. "There's no telling."
"I hope it's sooner than later," Shen replied back. "It sure would be nice to see them more." He paused for a minute. "Do you think they'll bring me back a present?"
"Now, Shen, you know you have more than enough toys," the Soothsayer said, in a loving-but-stern tone.
"I know, I know," said Shen. "But I love when they bring me presents. They're always a lot of fun. And I have something new to play with when they leave me again."
"Yes, I am aware of that," said the Soothsayer. Shen was unaware of the fact that his parents would bring him back presents out of guilt for not paying nearly enough attention to the young prince. They thought that they could make everything up to him by buying him off. The Soothsayer, however, was very aware of this and disapproved of their parenting approach.
"It's getting late," said the Soothsayer. "Let's get you ready for bed."
"Can't I stay awake a little longer?" Shen asked, looking up at her. "You know they're my favorite."
"No, sweetie," the Soothsayer calmly replied. "It's best you get a long good night's sleep. The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner your parents will be back home."
Shen smiled at that thought. "Okay," he quietly said, crawling into bed. "Good night, Nana."
"Good night," the Soothsayer said. She kissed him on the forehead and quietly left the room.
...
The next morning, Shen woke up to the sound of voices. He perked up immediately to figure out who was speaking. It was coming from down the hall. He quietly got out of bed and peered out the doorway. Being as small as he was, he knew that no one would see or hear him spying. This was one of his favorite activities. He tip-toed silently down the corridor closer to where the voices were coming from. He then realized they were coming from the throne room on the top floor. He sneaked up the stairs and inconspicuously peered into the room. He then realized who he was hearing. It was just the antelope guards talking away as usual. But they were standing in the way of someone, or some people.
Get out of the way!, Shen impatiently thought. They eventually did move and the people they were talking to were revealed to be his parents! Shen had a very elated look on his face. But he knew not to bother them when they were busy. Shen grudgingly waited for them to finish up their meeting.
As the antelope guards walked out, Shen's father, the king, spotted his son at the entrance way.
"Hello, son," he said. There was no emotion to his voice.
"Good morning, baba," Shen replied, pleased to see he and his mother. He slowly walked up to their throne.
"Did you have a good time while we were away?" his mother asked him.
"Yes, I did," Shen replied back. "We watched the fireworks last night and they were really good! You missed it!"
"We'll be home tonight if you want us to see the fireworks this time," his mother replied back.
"You are? You're not leaving this time?" Shen asked, pleasantly surprised.
"No, dear," Shen's mother replied back.
"But we are leaving again in a couple days," Shen's father said.
"But why?" Shen whined. "What's so important this time?"
"You have to be a grown-up to understand," was all that his father said.
"Oh, and before I forget, we brought you a present," Shen's mother said, handing him a box.
Excitedly, Shen opened it right away. He pulled out a picture of a dragon.
"I thought you would like that design," his mom said. "See? The dragon is spitting out fire."
"It's really nice," Shen said, smiling at them. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," said his mother.
"Do you think you could play with me today? Even just a little?" Shen asked with innocent eyes.
"We're very, very busy dealing with important issues," said his mother. "Perhaps another time."
"I understand..." Shen said, looking down at the picture in his wings.
"We'll see you tonight for dinner," was all Shen heard after that before leaving the room.
He sat outside the throne room studying the drawing even harder. I bet I could make fire like this dragon, he thought.
Shen quickly went down to his lab. Experimenting was an entirely new thing to him. Recently, he had started to become more curious about how fireworks were made and how to get all of the lovely designs out of them. So Shen decided to practice making them himself for fun. He got started by mixing around different powders and adding the right ingredients. At this point, he still only had somewhat of an idea as to what he was actually doing, but he figured practice makes perfect.
As he was doing this, he got to thinking. I wish Mama and Baba could see how good my fireworks look. Mine look just as good as the ones outside the palace. Why can't they ever see what I can do and what I'm good at? They're always too busy! And I bet they won't even bother watching the fireworks with me tonight because they'll just get busy again! There's always an excuse! Even when I'm sick, they don't spend any time with me! The only good thing is the presents... The more Shen thought about everything, the more miserable and bitter he became. His mind was starting to really connect everything that was happening to him on a day-to-day basis.
...
After being satisfied with his newest creation, Shen finished up and washed up for dinner. By this point, he was completely bummed out about his life's current events. As he was washing up, he noticeably started coughing. Oh no... Now I'm gonna get sick... again! And if I'm sick, I know they're not gonna wanna spend any time with me. I'll have to put my plan into action tonight before anything else goes wrong. Because something else always goes wrong.
Shen eventually entered the dining room and took his seat. His parents sat down as well.
"We're just going to have a small meal tonight," his father said to the servant. "We have a lot of business we need to tend to."
Shen quickly turned to him. "But you said you were going to watch the fireworks with me!" He had a very upset tone to his voice.
"Well, honey, things came up," his mother said.
"You very well know that we can't spend every waking second with you," his father added.
"I know, but-" Shen was cut off.
"No buts'," said his mother. "There will always be more opportunities. The fireworks aren't going anywhere."
His parents quickly ate their food and went back to the throne room.
Shen sat by himself at the now nearly-empty table, slowly finishing his food. Once he was done, he went over to the window he could best see the fireworks out of. Just when it was time, rain came pouring down. Oh, come on! He thought. He took a deep sigh, coughing afterwards. He decided tonight was definitely the night he was going to go through on his plan. If everything worked in his favor, he would never be separated from his parents again.
Later that night, the Soothsayer came into Shen's room. "All ready for bed?" she asked.
"Yes," Shen replied. He wanted to keep his plan a secret from her. He said no more.
"You're being quieter than usual," the Soothsayer said. "Is something the matter?"
Shen shook his head and then quickly looked away. "I'm just sleepy."
"Okay, I won't disturb you," the Soothsayer said, tucking him in. "Good night, young prince."
"Good night," Shen replied back.
...
Shen opened his eyes and looked around to see if anyone was in the proximity. Nope. He also didn't hear anyone. The coast was clear. Shen walked down to his lab as quietly as possible and grabbed all the materials his little wings could carry.
...
Shen's mother jolted awake to the smell of smoke. She gasped when she saw what was happening and motioned for her husband to wake up. Too bad he was a heavy sleeper. The Queen quickly jumped out of bed when she saw her son slowly walking towards some very tall flames. She ran over and grabbed him as quickly as possible, holding on as tightly as she possibly could.
"No! Let me go!" Shen screamed. "Let me go! I want to die!"
"Somebody! Anybody! Help me! This is an emergency!" the Queen screamed at the top of her lungs.
Her husband did awaken to this. He saw the flames and he and the guards immediately went and got water to put them out. By this point, they had engulfed a good chunk of the room and there was quite a bit of damage.
The Queen sat Shen down on her bed, firmly holding onto his shoulders.
"Shen? What were you doing? You could've killed us all! Why?"
Shen remained silent for a minute, looking down. Then looking into his mother's eyes, he replied, "So you'd never leave me. We would always be together."
"Are you out of your mind?" The King yelled. "What were you thinking?"
"I just told you," Shen replied in a monotone voice. "You'd never have to leave me again if we were all dead. You'd always be with me."
Shen's father choked on his son's words and left the room along with his mother, who had now basically gone into shock, trying to make sense of the whole situation.
"Where are you going?" Shen asked, upset that they couldn't understand. "Don't you like me?"
They gave him no response.
A/N: Bet nobody saw that coming! I just want to use this space to thank everyone that made it this far and reviews are greatly appreciated! ^^ If I do get enough encouragement, I may write another story. My first one on here (not KFP-related) got no reviews here at all, so that was kind of a downer. But I hope everyone likes this one. Parts of this story (like his parents making up to him with presents) are based on real-life events. It's not exactly easy to grow up like that. The fire is definitely not based on any personal events lol Also, if you may have noticed, some of Shen's mannerisms are based on how he was in the movie, such as the spying activity. We all know how they turns out for him much later on!
But yeah, like I said, reviews are appreciated! Please be kind! : )