A/N: I've seen plenty of stories surrounding Shen's childhood and how he came to be. A perfect example would be "The Life and Times of Lord Shen" by Domenic, its complete genius and I love it to pieces. But I've decided to do my own spin-off and see how it develops. Keep in mind that these are just snippets of Shen's past it's more of a collection than an actual story.
And before I forget, I portray the characters differently from how DreamWorks has developed them such as the Soothsayer actually being around the same age as Shen and is one of his childhood friends, along with the Wolf Boss.
I'll Stare
He had seen her around the palace trailing behind another goat, perhaps her mother. He wasn't stupid, he could see her from the corner of his eyes taking quick glances at him whenever she'd get the chance, but whenever he would try to take a peek at her, the little goat would hide back behind her mother's robes. It irritated Shen, because at some point the constant staring of those amber eyes looking at him got awkward.
Now, whenever he'd see the blasted goat staring at him he'd continue on as if he hadn't noticed anything. He could understand why if not everyone, some people took a second glance at his features.
He was different, so what? White wasn't exactly the color of luck in China, so what? People wore white at funerals, and he's been to plenty, none of which had proven to be at all worth of his time – but he went, to pay his respects. If paying respect to the dead was easily done at a funeral, why did people treat him differently whenever he'd step foot outside the palace? Even his own parents sometimes showed signs of fear or hesitation, they'd never admit it but he could see it in their eyes.
But that goat, that damn goat – he hated that brat. Always staring and never leaving him alone. She was everywhere! Whenever he'd make his way to the other side of the palace to meet his tutor, she was there passing by him in the halls carrying a pile of folded laundry in her arms. When he went to train with Thundering Rhino, the goat was there watching him. When he was eating with his parents, she stood silently by a pillar waiting to offer his next meal along with other servants. It was a relief that she wasn't around when it was his time to bathe, thank the gods.
Weeks would pass and Shen would find the same goat staring at him, her striking ambers burning into his crimson ones. Her blank stare made the experience even worse, and he tried not to imagine finding her at the foot of his bed at night just staring at him. What a scare that would be, he wouldn't be able to sleep alone for months, maybe even a year.
Shen shuddered at the thought as he continued out into the gardens where Thundering Rhino would usually be waiting. The master wasn't there, and the prince raised a brow at this. "… Master Rhino?"
He waited for a moment and no one came. Shen was beginning to think it was some sort of new test his training master had bestowed onto him to test his patience, but when a guard standing erect at his post called to him, Shen's shoulders dropped. "He is discussing important matters with the Council at the moment, your lordship. He apologizes for not telling you sooner, the call came so suddenly."
"Oh, okay." his little voice replied, and the peacock child began heading back inside when he remembered something. The goat was there, guaranteed and today would be the day he confronted the brat. He couldn't stand her staring at him any longer, but when Shen turned to expect a petite figure by a tree, his little observer wasn't there too.
"Huh? What…" He trailed off at realization that no one would be observing him today.
He couldn't help but think about the little goat, despite the fact that she gave him the most strangest of feelings; butterflies in his stomach. Shen blinked once, twice to make sure that he wasn't mental and had been imagining things all along before he trotted inside and headed towards the library.
Somewhere on his way to the book room, he heard faint coughs and sniffles drifting into the hallway. He followed the soft cries and entered the servant's quarters.
There, sitting on the bed was the goat. Shen frowned and stood straight with his beak in the air, it was time to approach his annoying observer. Of course, he would've continued if he hadn't noticed the hiccupping cries were coming from the other child. He looked around the room to see if anyone else was present, before making his way over.
"Are you okay?" Shen asked hesitantly, he didn't want to startle the girl.
The goat stopped her crying to look at the prince who had entered the room, for a moment she looked like she was going to respond but ended up crying again, desperately wiping at her eyes with the help of her hooves.
Shen's features wore of sadness and worry, "Where's your mama? The tall goat is your mama, right?" Please say yes, please answer. He hadn't the slight clue why the girl was crying, but he didn't know what else to ask or do to distract the goat from whatever she was feeling at the moment.
He almost smiled when she responded with a slight nod of a head and continued to sniffle, "Where is your mama? Why are you crying?"
"… She went to get medicine from the market."
"Why?"
"I don't feel good, my heard hurts a lot."
"Oh."
"Why are you here?"
Shen raised his brows, "What?"
"Don't you have important things to do?" the girl responded between slowing sobs, and alas she wiped the final of her tears and waited for an answer.
Her stare wasn't one of awkwardness like the ones Shen had witnessed before, but it could very well be because the goat wasn't entirely focused at the moment. She had just been balling her eyes out before he decided to come in and tried to comfort her, and so far his company has been a good distraction. "I was wondering where you were because you'd always be watching me."
The goat said nothing and only looked down. Shen knew something was up, and he wasn't leaving until he found out, "Why are you always watching me?" there was a hint of annoyance in his voice, but he kept his control from shouting it out.
Again, the goat said nothing and Shen urged, louder this time, "Don't you have any servant duties to do?" he stated rather coldly and regretted it when the goat began to sniffle again, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…"
"You looked lonely."
It was Shen's turn to hang his head, he did feel lonely but only because other peacocks of his age found him rather strange to play with. They said that it didn't matter if they were his cousin, or a commoner but his colors were so striking and bright that he'd always be the center of their attention – he wouldn't be much of a challenge to find in a game of hide and seek, and he'd only be a distraction in tag and other games that involved normal kids to play them normal games. Normal games his tail feathers.
"… Do you want to be friends?" Shen was surprised at this, especially when it had been him who said it. He said nothing for the question felt right coming from his beak, and so he waited.
When the goat slowly smiled, he knew what the answer would be.
