This is just a quick story I randomly thought of. Inspired by A Child Called 'It'.
I could have saved him.
I could have saved this kid. I am the Dragon Warrior after all. But now I feel like a traitor. I sit here now wishing so much I had seen the signs and put them together in time and been there for him before disaster struck. I sit here looking at the corpse of Isaac Xue. This kid had become my friend in only one day but now he was gone.
I can still recall yesterday, the day I met him. It was a normal day for me. I was simply at my dad's shop taking a break from training, when a small leopard walked in. I don't know how he caught my eye so well. He just did. His fur was frazzled and ratty and he was rather skinny. His clothes were torn and had a few holes in random places. Even with his fur, I could see bruises and scars all over him. It was winter and he didn't even have a coat. I could see him shivering. He looked all around the shop as if he expected someone he knew to be there waiting for him, but I guess no one was because he slowly walked over to the counter.
I couldn't stop myself as I slowly walked towards the counter a little ways behind him. He took out a single silver coin and looked slowly up at my dad.
"Can this buy me anything?" he asked in a quiet and somewhat shaky voice while placing the coin on the counter.
My dad looked at the coin. I knew the boy didn't have enough for anything and I felt sorry for him. I could tell Dad felt sorry for him too. With an apologetic look on his face, he slowly pushed the coin back to him.
"I'm sorry young man, but you don't have enough money for anything." he said. The boy just looked down and started walking towards a table. I couldn't stop myself as I went up to the boy and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me looking slightly afraid.
"It's okay Dad. He's with me. Give me two secret ingredient soups and two almond cookies." I said. Dad smiled and began to prepare the food.
I looked back down at the boy. He was smiling and I could tell he was grateful. "Thank you Dragon Warrior." he said.
"No problem and you call me Po." I said and smiled back at him.
"I'm Isaac Xue." he replied.
My dad came back out and gave us our soup and cookies. We went over to a table and sat down. I was about to ask Isaac where he was from but he began to devour his soup as if he hadn't eaten in days so I let him eat.
When he had finished his soup he began to eat his cookie. I warned him not to eat so fast and he savored it as if it were his last meal.
"So Isaac, where do you live?" I asked.
Isaac suddenly stopped eating his cookie. All he did was look down at his lap. There was a long silence.
"Come on, Isaac. I want to help you. I know there's somebody worrying about you." I said. Isaac continued to look at his lap. "Please?" I asked.
He looked at me and I suddenly noticed how hollow and fearful his eyes looked. "I don't live anywhere." he slowly replied. "I ran away from home." Suddenly he slapped himself as if he wasn't supposed to say that. I put my hand on his shoulder again. He slowly looked up at me.
"Isaac, we need to take you home. Your mother must be scared to death." I said. Isaac's eyes grew wide and I could tell he was frightened. I had a feeling he had never been in trouble with his mom before.
"Isaac, like I said, I want to help you. We're friends right?" I asked.
"You consider me a friend?" he asked in a surprised voice. From the sound of what he said, you figure he never had a friend before. He gave me a small smile that made my heart melt.
After a long silence, Isaac finally told me where he lived. We walked towards his home in total silence. He looked scared and I had to remind him he was my friend again. Finally, he broke the silence.
"Po, I'm a huge fan of you and the Furious Five. Someday, I want to be a warrior just like you." he said. Once again, my heart melted. Before I could say anything in reply, Isaac pointed out his house with his head down. It was at the end of a road with a dead end.
"Hey." I said. "Can I come visit tomorrow?" I asked.
Isaac smiled again but then frowned. "I have school tomorrow. You can come visit me there if you want. I go to Bao Gu Elementary." he said. (A.N. I made the school up.)
I then got an idea. "Sure. If you like I can bring the Furious Five." I replied. His eyes grew wide and he nodded vigorously. He then gave me a hug, which I gently returned.
We walked up to his house and knocked on the door. A female leopard answered the door. "Isaac! I've been looking all over for you!" she said in a sweet voice and wrapped him in a huge hug. I started to wonder why Isaac ran away from home. His mother seemed so sweet.
"Mom, this is Po, the Dragon Warrior. Po, this is my mom." Isaac said in a timid voice.
"Thank you so much for bringing him home!" Ms. Xue said with tears in her eyes. Isaac gave me another hug.
"I'll see you soon Isaac." I said after returning the hug. He smiled at me and his mom led him in the house. She shut the door behind the two of them. I walked back to the Palace unable to wait for tomorrow.
Well the next day came and this time, I brought the five. Master Shifu reluctantly allowed us the day off after figuring out how much it meant to Isaac and after a long walk, we arrived at the Bao Gu Elementary. We walked through the doors and a secretary greeted us.
"Which class is Isaac Xue in?" I asked. The secretary went to her desk and flipped through a few sheets of paper. She then frowned.
"Isaac didn't come to school today." she said. I told her it was ok and we walked out the doors again. I told the others I knew where Isaac lived and we continued to walk the way. When we saw his house I smiled knowing I was about to make Isaac really happy but when we were about five feet away from the front door, I heard something that scared me to death. A cry of deep pain came from the house.
"What was that?" I heard Monkey ask but I had already started running to the door. Forgetting I could just knock, I broke down the door. What I saw next would haunt me forever. Isaac was laying on the ground and a knife was in his stomach. There was someone still holding the knife and was now looking at me with a scared expression on her face.
It was Ms. Xue.
I dashed up to Isaac pushing his Mom out of the way. I slowly took the knife out of his stomach and began to cry. I had just met Isaac. I couldn't lose him.
"Isaac! Who did this?" I asked. Isaac slowly and painfully pointed at his mom. Suddenly, everything made sense. I now knew why Isaac had ran away from home, why his eyes were hollow and full of fear, why his fur and clothes were in the condition they were in and why he had bruises all over his body. Everything pointed to one thing.
Isaac suffered from child abuse.
The five tackled Ms. Xue before she could get away. Isaac suddenly tried his best to tell me something. "Po… I was afraid… to tell you… the truth… I know now… I sh- should have…" he said painfully.
"No. I should have seen the signs. I'm supposed to save lives not put them in danger! I'll never forgive myself!" I said while crying my eyes out.
"Po… don't hate… yourself… you gave me… something I've never… had… you gave me a… a friend…" he said while trying to smile. My heart completely melted more than the last two times.
"I'll never forget you Isaac." I said while choking back tears. The five walked over and looked at Isaac while still holding his mom. Isaac finally managed to smile and I heard him take his last breath.
After we took Ms. Xue to jail, we brought Isaac back to the Jade Palace. Tigress and I wrapped him in blankets while the others dug a grave. When we were done we gently lay him in the grave.
Before we buried him, I spoke up. "I'd like to give him something." I revealed something I was holding in my hands. It was all my action figures of the Furious Five and one of me. I put them in the grave with him. With that, we buried Isaac. I put a stone on top of his grave. I had engraved these words-
Here lies Isaac Xue
A Courageous Warrior
Everyone else silently went back inside after a few minutes and I stayed for a bit. I knew one thing for sure, as long as I lived, I would never forget Isaac.
The End